Show Mow the Customs Arose The origin of the word Customs in its present application and of the beginning of the system of government levying which it designates has given rise to much speculation spec-ulation Tolls on merchandise were collected col-lected among commercial peoples from the earliest times Among the eastern nations of antiquity these dues were chiefly levied at tho gates through which tho trains of merchandise passed and in some instances the light to collect these dues was sold at a fixed sum to a contractor Webster Elmes Esq In a recent valuable valu-able work The Law of the Customs gives some interesting points bearing on this topic He says that the customes were levied from the earliest times in Great Britain where the dues were given in payment pay-ment for the use of the Kings warehouses weights and measurements and were considered a prerogative of the throne without the consent of parliament Lord Coke says that the system arose in the time of Edward I when parliament gave its consent Sir William Blackstone says that these dues being held to be the customary inheritance of the king were according to some accounts called customs Chitty adopts another derivation deriva-tion During the First Edwars reign warehouses were built at the varidus ports for imports and export purposes and tho charge3 were mado for the custodian or guardian of the wares whence came the term custom Parliament finally disputed dis-puted with the throne the right to add to these duties andthis led to the enactment during the reign of Edward III and Richard Rich-ard II of two statutes providing that no customs should be levied on wool woolfels and leatherthe three chief articles of commercewithout the concurrence of fee parliament The bill of rights embraced in the statute of William and Mary destroyed de-stroyed this power of the crown CustomHouse Custom-House News |