TO CONTINUE THE DUTIES LEVIED ON COAL AND WINE BY THE CORPORATION OF LONDON.

24 & 25 VICT. CAP. 42.

22ND JULY, 1861.

WHEREAS by an Act passed in the session holden in the fifth and sixth years of the reign of King William and Queen Mary, chapter ten, intituled "An Act for the relief of the Orphans (a) and other Creditors of the City of London," it was enacted, amongst other things, that towards raising a fund as therein mentioned a duty of 4s. per tun should be imposed upon all sorts of wines (b) whatsoever which, from and after the 4th day of June, 1694, should be imported into the port of the city of London, or the members thereof, by way

(a) See the Coal and Wine Duties Continuance Act, 1863, the Coal and Wine Duties Continuance Act, 1868, the Kew and other Bridges Act, 1869, and the Kew and other Bridges Act, 1869 (Amendment) Act, 1874, referred to in note (c) to section 1, infra. By the shutting of the Exchequer in the close of Charles the Second's reign, funds to the amount of £75,000, consisting of orphans' moneys which had been invested by the court, were wholly lost to the corporation, and the mode of paying off the orphan's claims was settled by Act of parliament 5 & 6 Will. & M. c. 10, by which, besides various other charges upon the city estates, an annual sum of £2,000 was directed to be raised from the present property of the inhabitants, and collected in each ward, but the orphan's claims having since been satisfied, the charges upon the corporate estates have been applied in various public improvements; Pulling's Laws of the City and Port of London, 114. A portion of the duties which had formerly been a part of the Orphan Fund, were continued by Act of parliament, and the fund was from time to time charged with various amounts for the purpose of making the approaches to London Bridge and effecting other public improvements. See the course of legislation with regard to these duties described in the Third Report from Select Committee on Metropolitan Local Taxation, with minutes of evidence, ordered by the House of Commons to be printed, 2nd May, 1861.

(b) See origin and history of the duties on wines in the port of London Pulling's Laws of the City and Port of London, p. 395, Notes.

Preamble.

1 & 2 W. 4, c. 76.

1 & 2 Vict. c. 101.

8 & 9 Vict. c. 101.

14 & 15 Vict. c. 146.

of merchandise, over and above the then present duties charged or chargeable thereupon, and so proportionately for a greater or lesser quantity, which said duty should from time to time for ever be paid by the importer thereof unto the mayor, commonalty, and citizens of the city of London, hereinafter called "the Corporation of London :" And whereas by the Acts hereinafter mentioned, and hereinafter referred to as the Coal Duties Acts (that is to say):

1. An Act passed in the session of Parliament holden in the first and second years of the reign of His late Majesty King William the Fourth, chapter seventy-six, intituled, "An Act for regulating the Vend and Delivery of Coals in the Cities of London and Westminster, and in certain Parts of the Counties of Middlesex, Surrey, Kent, Essex, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and Berkshire :"

2. An Act passed in the session of Parliament holden in the first and second years of the reign of Her present Majesty, chapter one hundred and one, intituled, "An Act to continue for Seven Years an Act for Regulating the Vend and Delivery of Coals in London and Westminster, and in certain Parts of the adjacent Counties :”

3. An Act passed in the session of Parliament holden in the session of the eighth and ninth years of the reign of Her said Majesty, intituled, "An Act to continue until the fifth day of July, 1862, the Acts for regulating the Vend and Delivery of Coals in London and Westminster, and in certain Parts of the adjacent Counties; and to alter and amend the said Acts :" 4. An Act passed in the session of Parliament holden in the fourteenth and fifteenth years of the reign of Her said Majesty, intituled, "An Act to amend the Acts relating to the Vend and Delivery of Coals in London and Westminster, and in certain Parts of the adjacent Counties; and to allow a drawback on Coals conveyed beyond certain Limits:" and which Acts are hereinafter referred to as the Coal Duties Acts, or some or one of such Acts, two several duties of 1d. (a), and 1s. (b) per ton are authorized to be levied by the corporation of London upon all coals, culm, and cinders brought to any place within the port of London, or within the cities of London and Westminster, and the borough of Southwark, or to any place within the distance of twenty miles from the General Post Office in the city of London, by any railway already constructed, or hereafter to be constructed, or by inland navigation, or by any other means of conveyance: And whereas it is apprehended that the duty of Sd., part of the said duty

(a) The 1d. duty was imposed by 47 Geo. 3, c. 68, and it was continued by succeeding Acts till 5th July, 1862. This duty was originally imposed in order to establish a coal market, and 8 & 9 Vict. c. 101, continued it for the purpose of providing a fund for the opening of poor and densely populated districts in the metropolis, or for keeping open spaces in the immediate vicinity of the same, as a means of promoting the public convenience, recreation, and health.

(b) This duty consists of an 8d. and a 4d. duty. The 8d. duty was by various Acts of parliament especially appropriated to public improvements, and a considerable proportion of the improvements effected in late years have been defrayed out of it. The 8d. duty was included in the London Bridge Approaches Fund, and its net produce was paid over to Her Majesty's Office of Works for the liquidation of loans raised on the credit of it. The 4d. duty has always been claimed by the corporation of London as a part of the city's estate.

of 18., will expire in the year 1861, and the said duty of 1d. in the month of July, 1862, unless provision be made by parliament for the continuance of such duties: And whereas it is expedient that the said duties of 4s. on wines, and 1s. 1d. on coals, culm, and cinders should be continued for a period of ten years: Be it enacted by the Queen's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, in this present parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

Preamble.

1. The above-mentioned duty of 4s. a tun on wines shall continue Continuation and be levied in all respects in the same manner as the same is now of wine duties leviable until the 5th day of July, 1872.

(c) By 26 & 27 Vict. c. 46, the Coal and Wine Duties Continuance Act, 1863, section 1, all duties continued by this Act, and all Acts relating thereto, were further continued until the 5th of July, 1882; and by section 2, the net proceeds of the duty of 4d., part of the duty of 12d., on coal, culm, and cinders, continued by this Act, were directed to be applied by the corporation of London in the first instance, in payment of the interest and in discharge of so much of the principal of the sums mentioned in the 6th section of this Act, as remained unpaid. The Act further provided that after discharging such sums and interest the said duty of 4d. should be applied by the corporation in the first instance towards the raising of Holborn Valley, and afterwards to such other public improvements in or adjacent to the city of London, as parliament should thereafter sanction. By 31 Vic. c. 17, the London Coal and Wine Duties Continuance Act, 1868, all duties by the before-mentioned Acts continued till the 5th July, 1882, and all Acts relating thereto, were further continued until the 5th July, 1889; and by section 2, the net proceeds of the duty of 4d., part of the duty of 12d. on coal, culm, and cinders continued by the Act, were to be applied by the corporation of London, so far as the same were not already appropriated by parliament, in the first instance in completing the Holborn Valley Viaduct, new streets and improvements under the Holborn Valley Improvement Act, 1864, and the Holborn Valley Improvement (Additional Works) Act, 1867, and other improvements connected therewith, and afterwards towards such public improvement or improvements in or adjacent to the city of London as parliament might thereafter sanction. By section 5 the several coal and wine duties by this Act continued for the year ending the 5th day of July, 1889, were to be applied in the first instance in freeing from toll the following bridges on the Thames, viz., Kew, Kingston-onThames, Hampton Court, Walton-on-Thames, and Staines; and next in making free from toll Chingford Bridge and Tottenham Mills, bridges on the Lea, and any surplus was directed to be applied as parliament might thereafter direct. The 32 & 33 Vict. c. 19, the Kew and other Bridges Act, 1869, constituted and incorporated a joint committee of the corporation of London and the metropolitan board, by the name of "the Bridges Joint Committee of the Corporation of London and Metropolitan Board of Works." It enacted that the London coal and wine duties for the year ending 5th July, 1889, should be paid to the joint committee, and directed their application and empowered the joint committee, and the companies, &c., entitled to or interested in the bridges mentioned in the Coal and Wine Duties Continuance Act, 1868, to enter into agreements for a transfer, &c., of the undertakings to the board, with certain exceptions and savings.

The joint committee were authorized to raise moneys not exceeding the amount therein limited, on the security or on account of the London coal and wine duties for the year ending 5th July, 1889, and to issue joint or several bonds or other joint or several securities under seal, for securing repayment with interest out of the said duties in the last-mentioned year to be applied for the purposes of the Act. The 37 & 38 Vict. c. 21, the Kew and other Bridges, 1869, (Amendment) Act, 1874, empowered the

(c).

Section 2.

Continuance of

2. All duties authorized by the Coal Duties Acts, or any of them, to be levied upon coal, culm, and cinders, shall continue and be levied in the same manner in which the same are now leviable until

coal duties (a). the 5th day of July, 1872, subject to the following qualification : That, notwithstanding anything contained in the said Acts, no duties shall be payable in respect of any coal, culm, or cinders, unless the same is contained in some ship or vessel arriving at her moorings within some part of the port of London (b) to the westward of Gravesend, within the limits of the metropolitan police district as defined by Act of Parliament (c), or be brought by railway, or by inland navigation, or by some other mode of conveyance within the said limits of the metropolitan police district, including the cities of London and Westminster.

Metropolitan police district substituted for

the London district.

Commence

ment of metropolitan police district to be marked in canals, railways, and roads.

Application of duties (e).

3. After the passing of this Act the expression "London district," (d) used in the said recited Act of the fourteenth and fifteenth Victoria, chapter one hundred and forty-six, shall no longer have the meaning assigned to it by that Act, but shall mean so much of the several counties of Middlesex, Surrey, Kent, Herts, Essex, Bucks, and Berks, as shall be situate within the metropolitan police district, and shall include the cities of London and Westminster.

4. All the directions, powers, and provisions in the said recited Act of the fourteenth and fifteenth Victoria, chapter one hundred and forty-six, with respect to returns, certificates, and accounts, and to the erection of boxes, and stations, and boundary stones, or permanent marks on the point of any canal, inland navigation, or railway, or any turnpike or public road which shall be distant twenty miles from the General Post Office, and all other matters and things relating thereto, shall apply to returns, certificates, and accounts, and to the erection of boxes, and stations, and boundary stones, or permanent marks on the point where any canal, inland navigation, or railway, or any turnpike or public road, first enters or comes within the metropolitan police district.

5. The duty of 1d. per ton on coals, culm, and cinders shall from and after the passing of this Act, and the said duty of 4s. per tun on

joint committee to borrow from the Metropolitan Board of Works, and the board to lend, on the security of the said duties for the year ending the 5th July, 1889, sums not exceeding the amount specified, and for that purpose authorized the board to create consolidated stock under the Metropolitan Board of Works (Loans) Act, 1869.

(a) See note to previous section.

(b) The port of London extends from Staines, in the county of Middlesex, to Yantlete Creek, in the county of Kent.

(c) See definition of these limits in 10 Geo. 4, c. 44, s. 4, and Schedule to the Act, and 2 & 3 Vic. c. 47, s. 2.

(d) The London district was by 14 & 15 Vict. c. 146, s. 50, defined to mean so much of the counties of Middlesex, Surrey, Kent, Essex, Herts, Bucks, and Berks, as should be situate within the distance of twenty miles in a direct line from the General Post Office, and to include the cities of London and Westminster.

(e) The 30th section of the Metropolitan Board of Works (Loans) Act, 1869, enacted that in the event therein mentioned the Thames embankment or Metropolis Improvement Fund Account should be transferred from the Treasury into the name of the metropolitan board, and the duties payable to that account under the London Coal and Wine Duties Continuance Act, 1861, and the Acts continuing the same, should continue to be paid to such account and provided for the application thereof; see the Act, post.