PORT REVENUES

The heaping and blending of tea.

The husking, polishing and sizing of coffee beans.

The sampling and garbling of tobacco.

In the compilation of port rates on goods, care is
necessary to ascertain the amount which such goods can
bear in relation to the market in which they are sold. It
would be possible by imposts of too heavy a nature to
bring about the diversion of goods to another port, where
conditions are, perhaps, more favourable or less onerous.
The schedule of port rates on goods should therefore be
revised from time to time and consideration given to
market conditions and to other circumstances which may
affect the situation.

The whole subject of the levying of port rates and
charges needs careful investigation at the hands of com-
petent officials. The trade of a port is a delicate growth
which is developed by the presence, or retarded by the
absence, of favourable conditions. The effect of high
rates is to depress it or to stunt its development. In any
case, the rates imposed must be recouped by the merchant
from his customers, and the effect of an increase or decrease
in the rates will be reflected in the retail price of the
commodity in the shops, and will therefore become a
matter of personal interest to the individual members of
the port community, though this fact, not being very
obvious, is sometimes lost sight of.

From the point of view of the importer, however, it
should be mentioned that, owing to the great diversity
of the ““ custom of the port,” it is not an easy matter to
make an effective and reliable comparison of the rates
and charges at rival ports. It can be done, of course, but
superficial comparisons are liable to be misleading, and
it is necessary to have a full and complete knowledge of
all the services comprised under the respective rates.
This can rarely be obtained otherwise than by practical
experience.

For guidance in regard to the payment of rates on

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