New-York tribune., 1842-03-24

"d> oceiI posed DN ne committee OF Navs anc
Means IN the Pc2nsyivania Legislature to provide
TOT the certain and permanent interest on the State
debt. I he quota of each county Is 20 be desie-
mated bya Board of Tax Conlrni= sioners. and the
respective sums TO be then ra.cd as the counties
may drect.Zsnother loan Is anticipated Of 81.
100000 topay Recommendations how 10 be
raised. matter Of docbi
% We commend to the especial perlsal Of
Messrs. Maxwell. Kerchun & Co OF the late
Meeting al the Exchange. The leader in Tuesday;
.4l5oay Argus, uniting WIKI them N a cordial
condemnation 81 t5s present Congress. &c. &c.
Call you tl.isbacking your friends -
sn.ngElinZ-A New Device Of the Enemy.
To Tic Ed0r# Of Td> Tribune.
| memorial OF q Merchants and Others of the
City of NewiorA recently been addressed
. To The Honorable the Scnateand House of F}ep-
resentetivc. Of tho t. 5. zof=America in Congress
| assembled. representing 10 those honorable bo-
dies, among other things against smuggling. and
asserting that since the Compromise Tariff wen,
INTO operation, contr.band trade has been carried
On to such ~ extent as to drive the fair importer
! from certain branches ot=business. To remedy
the evils complained Of the prayer othc Memorial
ts sets forth tilatno duts exceeding 90 per cent
should be paid upon the foreign cost 81 any, arti-
cio and tina, the duty upon good. Of small bulk
and great value such silks, linen cambrics.
aces, Nc should rot be raised abovcl24 pei
cent. Knowing many Of the views presented in
the paper in question to be incorrect, and bccv-
ing them 10 be nsidious asd deceptive have sub
| mitted copy Of the document TO a gentleman OF
this city, whosc intelligence high responsibility
and large experience both rs an importer and an
officer OF the Customs entitlc his statements to
the very highest consideration. beg permission
to lay his views on certain points before the pub
lie, through the medium Of your widely circulated
paper They ere as follows:
"ltis unfucstiouablS true that excessive du-
tres offer inducements 10 those interested to evade
their payment, but question extremely whether
smuys ling is carried to any great extent, in this
country, unless it be of .iewelry precious stones
something OF the kind of so ittIc bulk that ii
may be carried on shore about the person. This
country is so far removed from Europe, whence
goods imported that the same process by
which smuggling is carried on lherc-nto Eng
land Tor instance-would not ans wcr here. There
small craft watch their opportunity of slipping
across the Channel and int" some by-port upper
ccived. But to eros. the Atlantic requires Il
vessel OF considerable size, to be despatched for
the express purpose, ut great expense, and the
arrival of such q vessel at unrcqucntcd points on
our coast would excite remark and inquiry and
lead to detection. At our large ports could only
be done by bribng or under the cover of night =
the former | do n., believe is Of frequent
renee, and the latter is "A hazardous experiment,
too much so to be reSortcd TO. TO any great ex-
tent.
By far the greater evasions of the Revenue oc-
cur from under valuations OF Invoice. It is we'll
known that Large number Of instances have oc-
CURED within the last nine months where the in
voice price of goodshas been augmented by the
Appraisers from - to 100 per cent, lnanv OF
,lcsc instances could be related if it were deemed
proper to divu!sc private transactions. These
goods. in almost every instance, were owned by
foreign houses; some Of the descriptions had
been imported and passed for a long series of
years without detection. The Collector has
deemed il his duty, in cases OF Fapaplc fraud 10
seize the goods. In most cases, where the import
ers OF con,ignecs have desired an appraiscmcnt By
disinlercstcd Merchants the Appraisers valuation
has been sustained. In several instances the par
ties have not called for an OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
less conscious that their invoice prices would not
bcsustaincd.
Another class of augmcnlations have =laltcrlv
been Of frequent occurrence. The impression has
been very general among torcgncrs--I right say
almost univcrsal-that producers Of good, abroad,
at liberty enter them at the actual cost.
without regard TO the market value at the place
where imported, and Of consequence they have
for years been accustomed TO enter them at this
rate This abuse lis now, however, III the OF
correction; an advance of from ) to Ii per cent.
10 cover this difference ha, inthcsc instances been
added. This statement discloSes, no doubt, in
great degree. the true reason why large ror-
ton OF our importing business is il the hands
OF foreigners. espcciallyzo manufacturers through
their agents.
With proper MGR stationed at the post of Sc
erecting can see no reason WHY the fears of the
mcmoriali>tS as To smuggling will be realized, il
the duties are put rate to produce sufficient
to pay the current expenses OF the government,
and gradually TO liquid the existing debt. An
average of so per cent. I'D ralorem would be SUIT
tcicnt for this purpose and can just
son why there should not be 4 fair discrimination
used in this matter. The na,cinlu1n should no,
exceed 90 percent. if 50 much thence down to
per cent. for raw material. Thirty per cent. on
the foreign cost will be about equal 10 the mini-
mam under the present tariff law on the basis of
the home raluatton
But, Mr. Editor il may be SAID that here arc
the opinions Of only one or two men in opposi-
ton to the authority OF large number. In order
tina, YOU may be enabled to decide how much
weight is due TO this fact. beg leave state that
while the trco are nature born imericons and not
interested, at present. either directly in Inpora
hons or Domestic Manufactures, the memorial IN
question was drawn up By subjectot the Queen
Of Great Britain: the signatures 10 /; were OBJ
tanned BY his personal eNer;ions. and. owing to
the great length of the document, some ot.them
| We're given in total ignorance OF its details; and