CHAPTER XIII.

Licences and Duties.

Manufacturing silversmiths, and all persons trading in silver wares of more than five pennyweights each, are compelled to take out a licence; articles under that weight being exempt. The licence has to be taken out annually, and costs £2 6_s._ for manufacturing or trading in articles under thirty ounces in weight, and £5 15_s._ for articles of thirty ounces and upwards. It should be taken out on the 6th day of July in each year at the Excise Office. This Act of the Legislature was passed in the year 1803, 43 George III. c. 69, and is not the only one which refers to the subject we are now considering. There are other conditions besides the compulsory _Plate Licence_, as it is called, to which manufacturing silversmiths are subject, such as the supervision of the assay offices, in the case of certain descriptions of goods; and the payment of duty on all such goods. At the present time all hall-marked silver articles have to pay a duty of 1_s._ 6_d._ per ounce, calculated not on their gross weight, but on five-sixths of the weight, the other sixth being allowed for waste in finishing the articles, as they are sent to the Hall in a half-finished state. The duty is paid at the Assay Office at the time the goods are sent to be marked. Some dissatisfaction just now exists in a portion of the trade with regard to the above duty, as it is considered excessive, besides having a tendency to discourage the manufacture of silver wares; be this as it may with respect to a certain description of goods, on the bulk of the trade it can have no injurious effect whatever. The duty is paid only on manufactured _plate_ and such other articles as are requested to be hall-marked; besides which the trade in this particular department of manufacture has never been very extensive, being confined to a few firms of eminence only.

Before going into the general details of this question, it will be as well, perhaps, if we give a short history of the imposts that have existed in the silver trade for some time back. The first impost that we can find recorded took the shape of a _duty_, and was levied as far back as the year 1720, by 6 George I. c. 11, which placed a tax of 6_d._ per ounce on all silver plate manufactured in Great Britain, which, should be assayed or marked. The officers of the Excise were to collect the tax, but the great difficulty of ascertaining the number of ounces worked up, which the provisions of the Act did not clearly set forth, soon rendered it ineffectual, and it was consequently repealed by the statute 31 George II. c. 32, and a licence then substituted had to be taken out by manufacturers and dealers in plate. The licence at this period amounted to forty shillings, and had to be renewed annually. In 1759, 32 George II. c. 14, it was increased to £5 per annum, for every person trading in silver wares of thirty ounces and upwards; wares in one piece not exceeding five pennyweights in weight being exempted.

The next change that took place was in the year 1784, 24 George III. c. 53, when a duty was again imposed of 6_d._ per ounce on silver plate. It was also enacted that the assay masters should stamp the work with the additional mark of the "King's head," as well as the others already ordered by the various Acts of the Legislature. The mark of the King's head represented that of the reigning sovereign, and showed that the duty had been paid on the work. The present mark, therefore, is the Queen's head.

By an Act passed in the year 1797, 37 George III. c. 90, the duty on silver ware was increased to one shilling per ounce, but the Act which subjected silver wares to a duty of 6_d._ per ounce (24 George III. c. 53) has not been repealed, and is therefore in existence to this very day; by its provisions, however, the duty has been increased from time to time, until it has reached the amount at which it now stands.

The present annual licences of £2 6_s._ and £5 15_s._ respectively, were enacted in the year 1803 by an Act of 43 George III. c. 69, and by these regulations every person making or trading in silver wares, or otherwise dealing in the raw material, is compelled to take out an annual licence, or render himself liable to a penalty of £50.

Another Act was passed in reference to the duty on silver goods in the year following, 1804, 44 George III. c. 98, whereby it was increased to 1_s._ 3_d._ per ounce. And in the year 1815, 55 George III. c. 185, the Act was further extended to 1_s._ 6_d._ per oz. calculated in the manner we have described at the beginning of this chapter. To sum up, therefore, the silver _duties_ in their several forms, bearing upon the trade at the present time, we find them as follows:--

Manufacturers of silver wares under 5 dwts. in weights.--_Exempted from all duties._

Vendors and dealers in silver wares under 5 dwts. in weight.--_Exempted from all duties._

Manufacturers of silver wares under 30 oz. in weight.--_A plate licence of £2 6s. annually._

Vendors and dealers in silver wares under 30 oz. in weight.--_A plate licence of £2 6s. annually._

Manufacturers of silver wares of more than 30 oz. in weight.--_A plate licence of £5 15s. annually._

Vendors and dealers in silver wares of more than 30 oz. in weight.--_A plate licence of £5 15s. annually._

Bullion dealers, refiners, and assayers.--_A plate licence of £5 15s. annually._

Manufacturers of plate.--_A duty of 1s. 6d. per ounce._

Hall-marked goods.--_A duty of 1s. 6d. per ounce._

Manufactured plate includes silver wares, such as spoons, forks, snuff-boxes, tea-sets, &c., and other articles used by the rich, and upon which the duty is compulsory; the duty on hall-marked goods, refers to all articles--with the exception of watch-cases, which are free--marked at the request of intended purchasers, which then pay duty on the manufacture of them. It will be observed from these remarks, that the silver trade generally is not at all affected by the _duty tax_; the wares manufactured by the trade at large not coming directly under the compulsory provisions of the law bearing upon this subject. It has been said that the silver trade ministers to luxury, and no doubt that portion of it which manufactures costly articles of plate for the wealthy does so; but we fail to see exactly, that the same remark applies to that vast and increasing commercial industry which has sprung up of late years, and which bids fair to become one of the staple trades of the country. The duty-bearing articles are generally purchased by the classes of society who can well afford to pay the little extra which the duty imposes, and as the tax affects only that section of the silver trade which manufactures the article of luxury, it is not at all likely that the general trade would be increased by its entire removal. The duty, no doubt to most persons, may seem excessive, when calculated upon the percentage system; such for instance, as a tax of 20 per cent. upon spoons and forks; or one of 15 per cent. upon chains; or of 12-1/2 per cent. upon tea-sets, &c.; this appears unjustly oppressive, and undoubtedly affects the _silver-plate_ manufacturer more vitally than any one else.

To the ordinary silversmith this question of duty is not likely to be of much importance; the agitation therefore commenced against it, may be expected to confine itself to those persons more directly affected, and whose interests would be advanced by its abolition.

The question of licences is one of far greater importance to the trade generally than that of duties, every manufacturer and dealer being compelled to procure a licence before he can carry on his business. If more direct action were taken in regard to this particular question, we believe that the whole trade would enter into it; for it resolves itself into this:--Why should the silversmith or goldsmith pay for a licence for the purpose of manufacturing and dealing, any more than the coppersmith, or the manufacturer of electro-plate, both of whom escape scot-free? We believe this to be an unjust tax, and that it ought not to be levied upon one particular trade any more than another. We have also distinctions made in the general class of silversmiths: we have those who may trade without any licence at all; those who may trade with a 46_s._ licence; and those who may trade with 115_s._ licence, that is, those who work or sell under 5 dwts., those who work or sell under 30 oz., and those who work or sell at any weight. Now this way of arranging the matter is very unsatisfactory to the trade generally; and any one of the first two traders to whom we have referred, is liable at any moment to be summoned before a criminal court for an infringement of the law, if he should happen to sell an article slightly over the weight for which he is duly licensed. At the present time a raid is being made upon the goldsmiths with reference to this particular question, and a number have already been summoned for infringing their licences in this manner. However, there appears to be some doubt with respect to the Act of Parliament bearing upon the subject, as in most of the cases the defendants have gained a verdict, the line of defence on their behalf being, that the clause of the act which bore upon the cases referred to, meant the weight in fine metal, _i.e._ "pure gold," of which the article was composed, and not that of the gross weight of the article sold. It was urged by those engaged in the various cases on the side of the defendants, that, for a 46_s._ licence, the vendor could sell an article in which the gold did not exceed two ounces, without any regard to the quality and weight made by alloy, and on this plea the magistrates granted them a verdict. In the higher courts we believe such verdicts would be reversed, for we firmly believe that the framers of the act meant no such thing, however defective may have been the legality of the points raised. The clause of the act to which we have alluded is No. 5, and runs as follows:--"All articles sold, or offered for sale, or taken in pawn, or delivered out of pawn, and alleged to be composed wholly, or in part, of gold or silver, are for the purposes of the above act to be deemed to be composed of gold or silver respectively; and if upon the hearing of any information for any offence against this act, any question shall arise touching the _quantity_ of gold or silver contained _in any article_, the _proof of such quantity_ shall be upon the defendant." The Excise authorities argue that this clause means that the absolute or gross weight of an article sold as gold must not exceed two ounces, and one sold as silver must not exceed thirty ounces, gross weight. If this view of the meaning of the act be eventually taken, and we believe it will, it will certainly operate to a greater extent against makers and vendors of gold articles than it will against silversmiths.

That part of the _clause_ referring to the quantity of gold or silver contained in a given article, we believe has reference to articles containing jewels, &c., in their construction, which renders it exceedingly difficult to get at their exact weight, when the work is finally completed with these jewels properly affixed upon it, and not to the amount of fine material any article may contain by assay. The last part of the clause we have marked in italics, "proof of such quantity shall be upon the defendant," fully bears out these observations, because he is supposed to know the gross weight of any special article before the addition to it of any jewels.

We have been led to make these few remarks, in order to point out the gross anomalies which exist in the trade with respect to these licences, and to show the necessity of a reform taking place in a trade singled out from all the others, and made to pay a tax for the privilege of being allowed to make, or sell, articles in which gold or silver forms a component part. Therefore, if any action is to be taken in the matter, it must not be confined (if it is to be successful) to one particular branch of this important trade, but all must unite, and every influence should be brought to bear upon it in as forcible a manner as possible. The electro-plate manufacturer, and the dealer in _his_ wares, ought in all common fairness to the trade, to be put upon the same footing as the silversmith, if this licence is to be still continued. In electro-plating establishments, thousands of ounces of silver are being annually used on the surface of such wares as are manufactured there; and if such decisions as those lately given at the Thames and other police courts, with reference to the Act of Parliament on the subject of gold and silver wares are upheld, we fail to see how the manufacturers of silver-plated articles, who are continually making and selling them, containing as they do, more silver than the general public would suppose, are to escape much longer these new interpretations of the Act of Parliament, and avoid being called upon to take out a licence in the same manner as the silversmiths. This is a tax in which the holder gets no direct return, and is levied in an unfair manner by the establishment of various grades of silversmiths, so that it gives a just cause for grievance. If the tax is to be upheld at all, why not make it equal by the establishment of one uniform rate for all trades alike?