Polynesian., 1844-08-24

cApldldtiOu ncdfIy III the
same terms, of how, by
the relaxations referred
to, the treasury had gain
ed 1,565, 34O-7-25
also, without any loss to individual industry.
as the same goods would have been supplied
by the Contrabandists, if the relaXations of
duties had not taken place.
There are many other luminous and sound
illusions to the same subject, all OF which
seem to have been lost sight Of when the poll
cy Of national manufactures, forced and fos-
tered by prohibitions, became adopted in
this country.
From what ! have before said upon the
subject of contraband, as an evil existing in
spite of the government, both before the in
dependence and since that period, | do not see
how the present prohibitive system can fail
to give it a fresh impulse, for the difference
between the prices current here, for coarse
Cottons, Cotton Thread, Hardware, Sc,
and the cost at which they can be imported
from Europe, is exactly the premium which
it holds out to smuggle the latter. That
this premium is a high one will be UNDER
stood when | mention that coarse Cottons,
called here "mantas", which can be made
in England at about i'd a yard, sell here
for led, and that the difference on thread
is in proportion.
For these reasons, it appears to me the
total prohibition of such goods will yield
a less protection to the manufacturer than
their allowed Introduction under a dineren-
tial duty on such goods, so calculated as
without entirely excluding the foreign manu-
i%acturer, to place the native on somewhat
better ground. In fact, a plan of this kind
was tried in 1887. BY a decree dated 22d
May, that year, a duty Of 4 cent. on each
square raru of foreign coarse Cottons, was
imposed and levied on such goods when
cleared for the interior, the express object
of the decree being to enable the manutac-
lures made in the country, to compete with
those Of foreign make; this duty of 4 cent.
produced in 1889 S27 ,O52-4-1: it only
lasted until such goods could be introduced
legally, and never appears to have been
well collected. Yet | have been assured by
the manufacturers themselves, that they
made more money then, than they do no,c,
that the prohibitions are absolute.
That this should be so, is not so strange
as may appear at first sight. Goods of licit
introduction, when Struggled, are introduced
through the concealment and connivance of
the government custom house officers, who
of course require u large bride, the amount
of which added to the prime cost and char
ges, and the portion of duties paid, augments
the price at which the importer must sell
those goods. With goods mhoily prohibited,
again, the case is otherwise; they attract
more attention from the notoriety of their
prohibition, and the difficulty of passing
them through the custom-houses is so much
greater, that the importer is generally forced
to run all risks Of their Introduction, by
ports, bays, or points along the coast, little
known, little frequented, and consequently
beyond the range of the custom house guards.
Thus we frequently hear of bales of raw
cotton, cotton thread, and cotton cloth, being
seized, in places quite out Of the way
of transit from the regular ports of entry;
and it is commonly understood that for
every bale that is seized, two or three es-
cape.* We hear also of these goods being
confiscated and burnt, as the law requires;
but it is generally suspected that the captors
only so deal with a small portion of the goods
so seized, for the sake of appearance, and
that they are either bribed to allow the rest
to pass, or they pass them on their own
account, and afterwards sell them at what
ever they will bring. ! do not say that this
is the case, for | know of no well ascer-
tanned instance of the kind; | only relate
what ] have often heard, and it is certainly
difficult upon any other supposition to ac-
count for the remarkable fact, before stated,
that the native manufacturers are now worse
"Since writing the above, l have been assured that a
much larger proportion of the goods seized, are in one
way or other thrown upon the market.