Wine, the vine and the cellar / [Thomas George Shaw].

  • Shaw, Thomas George.
Date:
1863
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Wine, the vine and the cellar / [Thomas George Shaw]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    paratively short time ago, but I can assure tire incredulous that her Majesty’s revenue officers were almost ubiquitous. There are few who have not had experience of their presence on arriving from a foreign country, but I can state from personal know- ledge that on one occasion I was not allowed to go to a foreign country without having my portmanteau searched: it was in 1823, when, embarking at Newhaven for Dieppe, a strict examination was made to discover if I was carrying abroad any models or plans of machinery! A few years pre- viously, just after the war, great distress existed, and many weavers from Paisley wished to emigrate. It was feared that they would carry with them our skill m weaving, and the customs officers in Greenock, and, I suppose, in other parts, had instructions to examine the hands of emigrants, and to stop those who had soft, weaver-hke hands ! The excise officers were generally men who had been trained to, and understood, their work; but many of the customs officers were old butlers, gardeners, &c., who got their appointments by par- liamentary influence, and were of course entirely ignorant of their duties. Even their superiors, both at the Excise and Customs Boards, at that time consisted, with few exceptions, of men whose hves had been passed in occupations unfitted to qualify them for such important posts. The whole system, in short, was a mass of con- fusion, annoyance, delay, and expense; but I re-