THE STORY OF THE FOUR WATCHES: A PLEA FOR THE OTHER SIDE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9242, 20 December 1888, Page 3

THE STORY OF THE FOUR WATCHES: A PLEA FOR THE OTHER SIDE.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—l read with interest the subleader in your issue of the 13th instant, and Mr. J. C. Firth's letter in the Herald of the 14th on the above subject, and while acknowledging that you have made out a good case for the defendant, yet I, for one, am nofe convinced that the Customs officers exceeded their duty. On the contrary, Mr. Shimeal should not have been allowed to take the watches up the wharf. Surely Mr. Shimeal must know something of the Customs Law of the United States, and if so, he must be aware that a passenger from Auckland to London, via 'Frisco, will on landing afc the latter port be searched, and if he should happen to have any extra jewellery abouthim (say, presents for friends at home) he will be fortunate if he gets off by paying the duty on it, although he has no intention of leaving it in the States. If Mr. Shimeal was not aware that we possessed a Customs tariff and officers to look after it, then his friend the watchmaker should have known and supplied him.with the information before he gave him the watches to sell. No one would regret more than myself that Mr. Shimeal should suffer unjustly, and yet he must admit that he is alone to blame for it, for if before landing he had asked the captain of the Alameda about our Customs regulations, lie would have shown him what to do if he wanted to take his samples on shore without risking their seizure, as by simply going to the landing waiter and depositing the amount of duty required he would nave been free to sell his watches if he chose to do so, or would have had the money refunded on taking them again on board the vessel. Of course I am taking it for granted that Mr. Shiineal's version of the story is quite correct, and that he is more verdant than most of his countrymen. Still I am pleased to see our Customs officers do their duty. And what a howl would be raised if a paragraph like the following appeared some day in the Herald : — ''A through passenger by the mail steamer to Sydney yesterday made good use of the short time" at his disposal during the few hours the vessel remained here, by quickly disposing of forty-eight gold watches and sixty diamond pins, and that, too, ■•without troubling the Customs by passing the entries and paying duty. A rumour of the gentleman's business had reached the ears of one of our Customs officials, and on his return' to the steamer he was accosted by the Customs official, and politely requested to disgorge, which lie at once did, and at the same time explained that he had only taken the two watches and five pins up town to see if ho could do a trade in them. This explanation satisfied the Customs official, and the gentleman was permitted to return on board, and one of our reporters heard him boasting to a fellow-passenger of the amount of business he had done, and how he had swindled tho Customs. Iso

wonder our taxes are so heavy, while wholesale smuggling like this is carried on under the very noses of pur wooden-headed . Customs officers." In conclusion, I would ask you to remember the Customs officer has sworn to do his duty, and must do so or forfeit hi? position and pay the loss, if any lias been sustained through his neglect.—[ am, &c, " S.C.M.