d been
withheld on the ground that the Act was confined in its operation to
four denominations of Christians,--the Wesleyan Methodists, the
Baptists, the Presbyterian seceders from the Church of Scotland, and the
Independents. It appeared, therefore, that the Act had been disallowed
because it was not liberal enough, but this defect was speedily remedied
by the passage of another bill during the session of 1834 in the terms
suggested by the colonial secretary, and the Dissenters' Marriage
Question was thus settled.

{IMPERIAL CUSTOM DUTIES}

It has already been stated that the British government continued to
maintain a custom-house establishment in New Brunswick, and to impose
duties on goods imported into the province. These duties, which were
levied for the regulation of trade, were disposed of by the British
government and by the lieutenant-governor of the province with little
reference to the wishes of the legislature. The old restrictive system
which placed shackles on trade was modified by two Acts passed by the
imperial parliament in 1822, under which the importation of provisions,
lumber, cattle, tobacco and other articles from any foreign country in
North and South America and the West Indies, into ports of British North
America and the British West Indies, was allowed under a fixed scale of
duty, and a free export was allowed to goods going from all our ports to
these countries. The importation of the productions of foreign countries
in Europe into the ports of British North America was also permitted,
and a schedule of duties annexed. Under these Acts it was provided that
the duties on both imports and exports were to be collected by the
imperial officers of customs, and the net revenue thus obtained was to
be placed at the disposal of the colonial treasuries. This arrangement
was a decided gain to New Brunswick, because, for the first time, it
placed nearly all the revenue collected by the imperial officers under
the control of the legislature.

The Acts of the imperial parliament, 6th George IV, Chapters 73 and 114,
went still farther in the way of removing restrictions from colonial
trade. These Acts provided that the duties imposed under them should be
paid by the collector of customs into the hands of the treasurer or
receiver-general of the colony, to be applied to such uses as were
directed by the local legislature of such colony, exception being made
in regard to the produce of duties payable to Hi