Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1831-11-17

ue'uuliD llOlh S'ouhu VI Sob-
petition and obliged to abandon the i'm
portatlon of this species of goods. s.-lle
addressed himself to manufacturers who
were suffering under the cravings of
secret canker worm that was eating out
the vtals of their profits. They were
told that the English could afford to sell
cloths Of the same value as cheap as they
could-ard the selling price was COM
pared with the quality to prove it. Very
true; but not if the lawful duties were
paid on the goods. The auction system
was the great engine of destruction to
American industry by which these irand-
ulcnt proceedings were effected. Until
very lately 1t was the practice to send
one bale IN every twenty to the Custom
House to be examined, and the remain
my nineteen on the same day to the
auction store-to be scattered, before
next morning to all the winds, and with
out any marks by which they could be
recognized and traced. In the mean
while the other bale lay in some cases
three or six months before ii was exam
ircd The goods were then found to
have been underchargcd, and what was
the consequence! the onl y remedy was
that that one bale was forfeited, while
the Government had lost $sIO0 of reven-
ue on each bale, and the manufacturers
80 much oiprotcctlon.
I, MIR. f.. went into further statement
in relation to the pcrnicous effects OF
the auction system. 1t was the means of
pressing in upon this market all the over
stock OF Europe hen the foreign
manufacturer had sold eighty per cent
Of his goods and had the rest lying on hls
hands, he sent the balance here-this re-
fuse and surplus was received by the
great auction engine, and disposed of at
any price it might bring-n addition to
this, the surplus of what had been sent
into foreign markets by spectators, at-
ter lying there unsold, came here and
/ was crammcd through the auctions into
our market. Bales of goods that had
:, lain long in Mexico were reshipped and
sold here for any thing, no matter how lii
/ tie.
! 1t was true that for some months back
the Collector had been more rigid in his
enforcement of the law; the public sent
ment was relaxing. 1t had been ascer-
tanned that the frauds were so gross that
he had been induce ed to have all the bales
examined, instead of one of twenty; and
the consequence was, that in six months,
24OO pieces of broadcIoth had been found
undercharged, by false invoices. Let
then the newspapers which have so long
teemcd with abuse, cease TO cry ''thcre
are no frauds; there are 10 frauds. y.
/ To one individual in this city, who had
faithfully exposed this iniquity until he
had been publicly denounced, the manu-
facturers of this country owed deep
debt of thanks. (AppIause.) Let those
gentlemen calculate the difference OF dI-
ty received on these 2iO0 pieces, and
they would find that within six months it
amounted to the sum Of Sl8 200. O.-Man-
uiacturers, listen! cried Mr.. r.. in six
months you would have been delraudrd
of your protection to the amount of forty
eight thousand dollars. (Applausc. y,
With such state OF facts openly proved,
it was idle to sit and spend time in talk
ing about raising or lowering the Tariff
The Tariff was almost "A nullity. In the
face of all its provisions the manufacture
er did not in reality enjoy protection of
more than forty or forty five per cent
/ The owners of more than half of these
twenty -four hundred pieces said not
word about the matter, but quietly paid
the duty. But had they not, few hours
! before, sworn that the valuation of their
invoices was Just and true! And what
could gentlemen make ofthis but perjury?
! A few hours after taking the solemn oath
required by the law, they walked up to
the Custom-liouse and paid an addition
al duty of dollar yard. Did any
gentleman enquire why this thing was
not prosecuted to conviction and the
goods forteited?-The answer was the
same. The same mistaken current OF
: public opinion entered and Influenced the
Jury-box which prevailed upon change,
men thought the law rigorous and severe
., they considered it hard that man
should forfeit large amount of property
for mere attempt to evade an enormous
duty. In two years there was but a sim
, ole case pursued into a Court of justice,
although 500 packages had been fraud
uenty entered within six months. IL
, the merchant prove by the oath of a 'n-
gle witness, that the cloth cost only 6-8
in England, it was in vain the prosecutor
brought fifty competent witnesses to
swear that it was worth los. a yard. A
gentleman who was perfect Judge Of
cloths had been on jury in n case Of
this kind, perfectly clear and plain case
of fraud-seven jurors were so convinc-
cd that they thought il would not be
necessary to leave the box, but on retir-