Photo
Clarke & Hyde.
The Custom House Officers at Work.
Dutiable articles sent through the Post Office are opened and examined by the Custom House officials. Cigars, wines, cigarettes, etc., are shown here.
It may seem strange to have Customs officers working in a Parcel Sorting Office, but these individuals may be seen at all hours of the day at Mount Pleasant, at Liverpool, and other seaports. The officials are present at the offices to examine parcels coming into the United Kingdom from abroad. All parcels from the Colonies or foreign countries are liable to Customs examination, and every parcel coming into the country has therefore to be accompanied by papers declaring the contents of the parcel. Many tales could be told of the discrepancies between declared and actual contents: the smuggling habit seems to be ingrained in the human race.
It is a melancholy fact that a large number of the public cannot be trusted to send a parcel honestly, that a still larger number cannot be relied on to address one correctly, and that a yet larger number cannot pack a parcel. If the faults of the public in these respects could be remedied to any great extent, the force at Mount Pleasant could be reduced considerably, and there would be a substantial gain to the revenue.