“On the recommendation of the Honourable the Minister of Customs, the Committee advise an uniform _ad valorem_ duty throughout this Dominion of 12½ per cent., being the rate fixed and collected in the Province of Canada, previous to the Confederation of the Provinces—and to establish such regulations and conditions as may be subsistent with any Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom then in force as may be deemed requisite and equitable with regard to the admission of such books, and to the distribution of the proceeds of such duty to or among the party or parties _beneficially_ interested in the Copyright.” (_From Memorandum by the Minister of Finance._) “Not one-tenth part of the reprints which find their way to Canada are entered at the Custom-house, or pay duty.... It is proposed, in order perfectly to secure the English author, that every Canadian publisher who reprints English Copyrights should take out a licence, and that effectual practical checks should be interposed, so that the duty on the number of copies actually issued from the press should be paid into the Canadian Government by Canadian publishers for the benefit of the English authors. It is believed that the English authors would benefit enormously by the proposed change. At present the amount received by Canada for duty on English Copyrights, and paid over by Canada to the Imperial Government for the benefit of English authors, is a mere trifle.” (_From Mr. Lovell._) “Montreal, June 11, 1868. “In 1849, I believe, the Government of Canada, with the sanction of Her Majesty the Queen, gave United States publishers the right to bring reprints of English Copyright works into this country on payment of Customs duty of 15 per cent., which has since been reduced to 12½ per cent., the proceeds of the duties to be forwarded to the English authors as a compensation for the privileges secured to the American publishers. “The people of the Dominion, and especially the printing and publishing interests, feel that they ought to possess at least equal privileges to those conceded to the foreigner. There are several establishments in the Dominion that would esteem it a great boon to be allowed to reprint English Copyrights on the same terms as are now secured to United States publishers, and would gladly pay the 12½ per cent. to the English authors on the _total number_ of copies printed, sure to be very considerable. At present only a few hundred copies pay duty, but many thousands pass into the country without registration, and pay nothing at all; thus having the effect of seriously injuring the publishers of Great Britain, to the consequent advantage of those of the United States.” (_Extract from Letter from Sir Louis Mallet to the Under-Secretary of State, C.O._)