New-York tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1841-1842, 1841-12-25

- 80. 40, ,.ken IF the loan already au
,or;1od hall he redees,abe, amounting TO- say
To reissue Of the Treasury notes heretofore
an-borjzed BY law, amounting to $5,0OO,0OO.
2 Tn. balance still required of % 7l8 $40 66,
I ,ogerber with an additional sum of S2.0O00O0, q
.u5olus deemed necessary in the Treasury, to
meo, emergencies of the public scryice,) 10 be sup
pied from imposis upon such foreign articles in
ported as may be selected with due regard TO
rigid restriction, in amount to the actual Of
the Government, and proper economy in ~ ad-
mnistration.
III Re-odjustD.ent Of the Tartg.
The last reduction Of duties on imports provided
for by the act OF the ID March 1893, VIII takS ef
feet Immediately after the Both of June next. From
that day duty viii exis; imported articles ex-
ceedng twenty per cent. ad vaIorem; and certain
other Legal provisions OF the act, of greas I'M
portance, are to come into operation at the same
time
One of them Is the enactment which, after that
period requires all duties - be paid in ready money
thus putting an end 20 a system Of credit which
has prevailed from the FIRST establishment Of this
Governments system which. however necessary
or convenient in the infancy OF our commerce,
when the mercantile capital Of the country was IN
;.nd encourage foreign trade BY all practicable
means, may at the present day well yield to the
important objects 20 be secured by cash payments.
Another, deemed at the same time essential
provision OF the act, Is that which declares that,
after June. 1912, all duties On imported articles
,hyl be assessed upon the value Of such articles a
The port where the somc shall be entered, under
such regulations as shall be prescribed by law.
Hitherto throughout the whole history OF the Gov
,rnmsnt the cost Or value In the foreign market
las been assumed a. the basis for the calculation
Of nd valorem duties, and to this value GER
tain additions have been made, supposed to be
equivalent to the charges of Importation. But IN
der valuations abroad, frauds, real supposed in
invoices, and the unjust advantages which were
believed to exist IN the hands Of foreign manufac
turerS, who had become, in fact, themselves the I'M
portsrs into the country OF large proportion 81 the
manufactured goods from Europe led Congress. TO
look to a home valuation for security as well rs to
the American importing merchant as TO the reyc-
nue., and to the producer OF similar articles in the
United States
The legal effect Of the act Of 1888 would seem
. re, to abolish the practice, after June 3Otb Of
assessing duties upon invoices of foreign valuation,
and, therefore, if Congress shall this session
prescribe regulations for assessing duties upon
valuation TO be made Il: the port OF entry pass
some law modifying the act OF 1888, it may well be
questioned whether any ad yalorem duties can be
collected after the Goth cf June. The language OF
tue law seems cx rcit. Ii Is that, from and after
The day last aforesaid" (Junc 30, 1922 The du
les required to be paid by law goods wares
and merchandise, shall be assessed upon the value
hereofat tbeport where the same shall beentcrcd un'
Ter such regulations shall be prescribed by law.
And it is farther declared, that so much of any
III. hall
and is repealed
The assessment of duties, after the day limited,
IN the basis of the foreign cost or value is incon
,isent with the act and the law authorizing it
aust therefore, as it would seem, be consi Tered as
repealed.
The act of 1888, as must be obvious to ell,
templates other than ad vaIorem duties after
June, 1912; for although in given case, specific
duty may not amount to 20 per cent. on the cost
If the article, yet that fact cannot be ascertained
without referring 10 price value-thinss cor
SANITY hsctusting-and much uncertainty, and per-
maps confusion, would arise, changes In the mar
Sct price Of articles might carry the duty beyond
The lisit at one period, though withiE it another
Indeed there can be little room for doubt that ii
was in the contemplation of Congress, at the pass
ing the act, that duties imports should exist
in the country atei June, 1912, but ad valorem du
ties 1t must be admitted that this very i'm !
portant change in the whole system OF imports into
the United States, since 1t has heretofore been re-
sarded us the dictate OF high prudence and the
teaching of long experience, that, for the pieven-
lion Of frauds and the security OF the revenue, du
hes ought, as far practicable, to be made, not
I'D valorem, but specific.
OF the essential or peremp,ory provisions OF
the act there are TWO which, it is not to be dis
suiscd, were intended to stand toward each other
IN the relation OF equivalents mutual cO,sldcra-
ions. These are the reduction OF all duties TO
twenty per cent ad vslorem. and the assessment |
Il. those duties upon home valuation. Ii Is i'm |
possible read the itself, and still more impos
'ibe TO advert to the history OF the times, without
arriving mt the most pcrtcc; conviction that the
nome valuation was resorted to for the purpose o
guarding the revenue against fraud and protecting
American manufacturers against under-valuatloss.
There could he no other possible object in this pro-
vision. II is a part OF the act, therefore, con
lecicd with another part, and inserted Tor the pur
pose Of qualifying essentially the operation CT the
ottcr part.
BUTT is highly proper to look at the circunls,an-
which led TO the passage OF the act OF 1853,
and TO regard the motives in which it appears TO
have had its origin. 1t was the result OF spirit
If compromise and Cancellation, ut time when
considerable agitation existed and much diversity
If opinion prevailed Ii events shall appear TO
make it necessary to reconsider adjust the pro-
visions ci that law all proceedings toward that
end should be conducted under the influence OF The
same spirit. The undersigned is most deeply inn
pressed with the force OF these convictions, while
,,lering suggestions to Congress tie subject -
he i constrained 10 admit that II has appeared to
nim that the interests Of the country required
,omc modification OF the uet OF 1883. In support
OF his opinion, he would first mention the great, ii
aot insurinouniable difficulties of establishing
home valuation at our various ports, without incur