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124
NORTH AMERICA.
DOMINION OF CANADA.
(From United States Consul-General Foster, Ottaica, Canada.)
Through the courtesy of Mr. John McDougald, Canadian commissioner
of customs, I have received the following answers to the questions
submitted by the Department of State in circular dated May 19,
1904 :
The size and original cost of warehouses in Canada vary widely,
according to class and location—the size from 100 square feet to
100,000 square feet floor space, and the cost from $100 to $100,000 or
more. Warehouses are owned by railway companies, steamship companies,
or other corporations, firms, or persons applying for warehousing
privileges; the King’s warehouses or stores, occupied by the government,
being used only for storage pending sale for nonpayment of
customs duties.
An importer by warehousing his goods is enabled to defer payment
of duty until the goods are required for consumption, but not
longer than two years, except in respect of spirituous liquors. Warehouses
(except sufferance warehouses) are secured under customs
locks, and an officer of customs is in attendance when required for
receiving or delivering goods. The " proprietor ” of the warehouse
keeps an account of goods received into and delivered from the
warehouse. The warehouse fees received by the government at
present are $40 per annum for bonded warehouses of class 2 and
from $40 to $100 per annum for bonded warehouses of class 3. The
scale of charges is not uniform in different places. The statement®
hereto appended shows the scale of storage charges at one of the principal
bonded warehouses in the city of Montreal.
The customs department has no information as to receipts and
expenditures on account of the storage of bonded goods in warehouses.
The classes of goods stored in bond are shown in the following
statement, which exhibits the value of goods in warehouses June 30,
1903:
«On file in tlie Bureau of Statistics, Department of Commerce and Labor,
where it may be consulted by persons interested.