BELGIUM : GHENT. 
19 
and the affixing and preservation of the labels. The employees of the 
customs service are attached to it to assist in carrying out the service 
by specially guarding each of the magazines of the warehouses. 
The keys to the warehouses and those of the magazines are in the 
custody of the warehouse keeper. He, when need arises, satisfies 
himself with the commission that the premises and buildings of the 
warehouse are kept in good condition, and guarantees the security 
and preservation required. lie makes all necessary repairs in good 
season. A workman is employed by the city to keep the premises 
clean. 
The receipts of the warehouses are turned over quarterly to the 
credit of the city by the warehouse keeper, 2 per cent being retained 
hy the Central Government for expenses of collection. The city has 
no expense except to keep the warehouses in good repair. The ware 
houses are exempt from land and personal taxes. 
PAYMENT OF DUTY. 
The regulations require the payment of duty when the goods are 
taken out for use, but do not demand payment of duty when (he 
goods are in transit. The scale of charges for storage is as follows: 
Lumber, per square yard of surface occupied, $0.01; wood for 
furniture making, per 220.46 pounds, $0.01; coal, per 220.46 pounds, 
$0-01; spices, per 220.46 pounds, $0.04 ; flour and starch, per 220.46 
pounds, $0,016; beans and peas, in cases, per 220.46 pounds, $0,016; 
beans and peas, in bulk, per 2 bushels, 3.35 pecks, $0,008; fruits, 
green, per 220.46 pounds, $0.03: fruits, dried, per 220.46 pounds, 
$0.02; grain and seeds, per 2 bushels, 3.35 pecks, $0,016; liquids, in 
barrels, per 26.5 gallons, $0.02; liquids, in bottles, per 26.5 gallons, 
$6-03; hops, in bulk, 220.46 pounds, $0.02 ; textile materials, mechan 
ically pressed, per 220.46 pounds, $0.02; textile materials, in bales, 
per 220.46 pounds, $0,024; cement, under cover, per 220.46 pounds, 
$0,006 ; ores and stones, under cover, per 220.46 pounds, $0.02 ; crude 
iron, etc., under cover, per 220.46 pounds, $0,006; machines, etc., 
under cover, per 220.46 pounds, $0.02. 
STORAGE OF GOODS. 
All foreign merchandise upon which duty is levied is received in 
fhe public warehouses, except things which are dangerous for other 
merchandise, as inflammable merchandise, and living animals, salt, 
otc. The warehouse keeper also receives any merchandise manu 
factured in Belgium which is subject to the excise laws, such as 
sugar, distilled liquors, etc., upon which it is desired to defer the pay 
ment of the excise taxes. At Ghent, the principal merchandise 
stored in the warehouses is tobacco in hogsheads, boxes, and bales; 
foreign sugar, dried fruits, and domestic sugar. 
Americans do not directly make use of the warehouses, but they 
ean use them, as the merchandise is a guaranty for the customs 
duties and warehouse dues. Belgian buyers of American tobacco 
store all the tobacco for which they have not immediate use. There 
m no distinction made as to the treatment of the different nationali 
ties by the administrators of the warehouses. 
While some kinds of merchandise may remain in the warehouses