THE PRESENT CUSTOM HOUSE—A MEMORIAL OF 1790 FOR A CUSTOM HOUSE INDEPENDENT OF QUEBEC—THAT OF 1799 RECANTING THE FORMER MEMORIAL—THE MONTREAL COMMITTEE OF TRADE OF 1831—STEAM VESSELS CHANGE CONDITIONS—FIRST CUSTOM HOUSE PROPER AT MONTREAL—THE COLLECTORS’ NAMES—THE SHIPPING FEDERATION—STATISTICS—EXPORTS AND IMPORTS SINCE 1842—TRADE OF PORT OF MONTREAL—CUSTOMS DUTIES SINCE CONFEDERATION—EXCISE DEPARTMENT OF MONTREAL.
The business of the Customs was conducted before 1840 in a building on Capitol Street. In 1836 the building now used by the Inland Revenue on Place Royale was commenced and opened for the customs office in 1845. It is of the Tuscan order and was designed by Mr. Ostell.
In 1790 in the fall the merchants of Montreal presented a memorial desiring the establishment of a custom house separate from that of Quebec on two grounds: (1) the necessity of having the goods landed at Quebec; (2) the want of authority in the surveyor of the ports to grant certificates for the exportation of pot and pearl ashes. This was strenuously objected to by the naval officers, on the ground that were the prayer answered the passage between Quebec and Montreal would be taken advantage of by the country merchants, shop keepers, publicans, etc., to carry on an illicit trade “to the injury of the revenue and the fur traders.” The complaints in the memorial state that the landing at Quebec of cargoes for Montreal “must be attended with very heavy expense for agents, wharfage and labourers, besides the waste that will happen on cargoes of liquor by landing. What is of still greater consequence, is the loss of time which may arise, it being well known that the delay of a few hours waiting for a clearance upwards has occasioned vessels to be many weeks in performing a voyage of sixty leagues.” This is, of course, an allusion to the sailing vessels then solely used. These inconveniences were removed and the application was not repeated. A further memorial, dated from Montreal the 21st of October, 1799, represents that certain modifications are all that are required and that “a separate and independent custom house may introduce intricacies, difficulties, delays and expense beyond what at present exists and can be foreseen and if so render the means of redress extremely tedious, not to say impracticable.” The names attached to the memorial are Isaac Todd, Forsyth, Richardson & Company, Auldjo, Maitland & Co.; Leith, Jameson & Company; John Gray; Samuel David; James and Andrew McGill; David David; McTavish, Frobisher & Company; J. Laing; Parker, Gerard & Ogilvie; Richard Dobie.
The introduction of steam vessels made new regulations necessary. In 1831 vessels coming to Montreal continued to report at Quebec. In consequence of remonstrances the superintendent of customs residing at Montreal was authorized by a provisional act to collect the provincial revenues there, but this was only a partial relief, as the crown duties had still to be settled for at Quebec, to the great loss of merchants, shippers and consignees. The Committee of Trade of Montreal represented in their memorial of 1831 that the navigation of the St. Lawrence between Quebec and Montreal was rendered speedy and certain by the employment of steam towboats, but the necessity of entering the vessels at the Quebec custom house caused a delay of one day and sometimes two days in unloading. The burdens laid upon the shipping coming to Montreal, the memorial states to have been exceptional for that city, no other instance being known of a merchant being compelled to pay duties on his importations at a distance of 180 miles from the port of discharge, the expense and inconvenience thence arising being equivalent to an extra tax. The memorial reveals the difference of the two ports today. It states that the vessels resorting to Montreal bore a small proportion to those entering Quebec, but the memorials already anticipated that by improvements in the river, vessels from sea would land at Montreal the whole of the goods for its own district, Upper Canada and the adjoining frontier of the United States.
The first Custom House building situated at Place Royale was begun in 1836 and finished in 1838. Montreal, accordingly obtained its own completed Custom House in 1838. In 1870 the Government purchased from the Royal Insurance Company the present Custom House building at 1 Common Street. A newly erected Custom House is now (1914) in course of completion on Youville Square.
The Collectors of Customs at the Port of Montreal have been:
Wm. Hall, from 1838 to 1849: Tancrède Bouthillier, from July, 1850, to November, 1863; Benj. Holmes, from December, 1863, to May, 1865; John Lewis, acting, from May, 1865, to September, 1866; A.M. Delisle, from September, 1866, to October, 1873; W.B. Simpson, from November, 1873, to June, 1882; M.P. Ryan, from July, 1882, to January, 1893; W.J. O’Hara, acting, from January, 1893, to December, 1895; R.S. White, from January, 1896.
Montreal became a port of entry in 1842.
THE MONTREAL PILOTAGE AUTHORITY
In the early part of the eighteenth century an official knowing the navigation of the St. Lawrence boarded the king’s ships and brought them to Quebec, and in 1731 the first official pilot was appointed, and sent each season thereafter to Isle Verte, to await ships arrivals. This appears to have been the beginning of the St. Lawrence Pilotage.