The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1839-06-19
FRAUDS IN THE REVENUE.
From iAs Uniied States Gassiis. Jane IL.

On the thirteenth Of last month, We called the ailen-
toa Of The merchants Of Phsdepbia, 10 The extensive
frauds which. Il was believed had been committed 10
The Cusiom-house at New York, by which not only
the revenue Of The nation was desuded but the regu
lar business Of honest rnerprisng American merchants
was made not merely unpohtable but almost useless
We took occasion at that time, while we limited al
the easy virtue Of certain officers IN New York. and the
liberal policy Of irregular importers 10 suggest 10 Phi
adelphls merchants the propfety OF taking such com
bined order in The natter would tendto secure them
from the evil influences OF these Illegal actions, and
save the people from the immoral tendencies Of fraud
that suppresses ihe violation OF special OATH and the
giving and receiving Of brides neglect OF the
l6lnent OF official duties The subject then did not
arrest 80 much Of public attention as we supposed IL
deserved at least could discover at that lime no
indication OF disposition for abatng
the eyil--h session OF active business time
when day and night given to the harvest Of met
chants hopes, and could scarcely expect that sub
ect which required time and attention should at such
moment be made paramount.
Subsequent events have again brought the matter be-
fore the pubic at when II can have fair and
full consideration. Our absence from the city Tor two
weeks has prevented earlier resumption oil the sub
jeci We now ask the attention Of the merchants OF
Philadelphia TO this matter not only as consersslors OF
their interests, but as friends TO sound morals and
the proper interests Of their own country.
The fraud, II Is said, has been committed IN several
ways among them may be noted that Of making false
ing to false understanding that certain goods
which contained scarcely thread OF silk, were wholly
principally composed Of silkthe number OF yards
pieces Of goods is falsely staledand all this is the
fraud Of only ono sde there Is correspondent fraud, 1t
is Inferred on the other sde or the attempt would not
be successful In short, there is said to be collision
between importers and cusom-house officers, by which
immense Quantities of foreign merchandise are thrown
into the American market without the payment Of pre-
scrbed duties, TO the defeat Of the honest foreign trade
and the destruction Of domestic manufactures. We
shall pursue ths subject with view TO a remedy. In
the meantime, we copy the suboined notice Of the
mode Of deceising and defraudlng:
From the Boston Aaas.
The invoice furnishes the foundation upon which
the duties calculated, aud il is by false invoices
hat most Of these frauds perpetated These in
voices false IN particulars In the hrst place, they
made TO represent the goods having cost much
less per yard than actually paid for them and
the duty TO be paid, being ad valorem duty de-
ponds IN cert degree upon the original cost Of the
goods portion Of is thus evaded In the second place,
the Is made convey false representation of
the number OF pieces of cloth contained the several
packages enumerated in the invoice. Each package.
Tor example, will be represented as containing twenty
pieces, when IN fact It contains twenty live so that
upon these five pieces the duties evaded alto
gclher Not satisfied with this, the invoices often mis-
represent the number Of yards contained in each piece,
putting them down, for instance, twenty 6ve when,
in reality, they contain thirty; so that in addition to
the FIVE pieces IN each package which escape duties al
together the duties also evaded upon five yards in
each piece; and, as we have seen before, that
portion Of the cloth which pays duties is made pay
upon an under estimate of its value. Simultaneously
with these fse invoices made up to cheat the custom
house, there out true invoices for the private in
formation of the agent importer here. He takes the
false invoice 10 the custom house, and cooly and de-
berately commits perjury BY swearing that the invoice
which he presents is the best Of his knowledge and
belief, true and correct
Knowing, however, that tho oaths of importers are
not always to be relied upon, the law provides for
examination Of the goods by appraisers, and If the
voice is found TO be false the goods are forfeit The
has been to select number of bales, say one
ten, TO be examined and If they found
taken for granted that the rest To eavde the
effect Of this xaninaton, the smuggers have resorted
two different articles, each sufficiently daring They
have always taken to have several bales III the lot
about many as 1t is usual to select for examina-
ton--pu up IN exact accordance to the invoice. In
cases they have brlhed the officer to whom be-
ouged the selection Of the bales TO be examined to
mark for that purpose, such numbers they should
point or where the officer honest for their
purpose, they have boldly altered the permit that it
should designate for inspection such bales had been
specially prepared for that purpose thus adding the
guilt Of forgery TO their other crimes.
1t is to be supposed that all these contrivances
for evadng the law have been resored every case
Perhaps the greater number Of these smuggling gentry
have confined themselves to undertaking The cost Of
goods practice which has been long and extern
slveiy carried as TO have completely confused the
judgment and vitiaed the knowledge Of the appraisers
attached TO the custom house. They naturally form
their opinion Of the Of goods from comparison Of
invoice prices with the quality Of goods coming under
their inspection; process which would be correct
enough if The invoices generally authentic, but
where the larger proportion Of the invoices false,
tain TO lead TO confusion and error and deprive the
inspectors of all means Of detecting the imposition which
is practsed upon them.
We learn that these contrivances for deraudIng the
revenue have been extended Of late from woolien to
cotton goods, and that cotton goods begin to
put up in like those which contain silk goods
and set down silks in the invoice. Silk goods it
will be recoeceI, are duty free.