Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1844-03-29

ness nhue nces OF such marked business regularty,
and of such constantly changing legislative action, the
members Of the Committee are no better judges than
the other members of the House they present il, and
he facIs and circumstances which surrounded the pc
Rod, and leave the nerences 10 each NINA winch shall
examine the table,
The fac. of the great falling Oft in the mportaons
or many mporant articles, well in the aggregate
OF duabe impor,ations under the present law will be
nnna,en,. and whats other Influences may have af
sec,ed IN. trade of the country during The various
vears il will be difficult 10 believe that the high duties
nndar the preseni law have not bad powerful effect
If not the chef agency in producing the result. The
accounts of imporatlons under the various Tariff laws
do permit the comparison 10 be made as strk'ngy
or "a minu,ely as could be desirable because the pre-
sen law 81 ss,ss the articles aud imposes the duties
in manv cases so differently from the former, that the
can only be nude to the general class OF
articles end not between the various qualities and de-
sct,ntions Of goods which compose the class. The
,h,d table marked C has been prepared for The dou
HE nurnose of showing what the present law is what
dn,es il in fact and what changes in those du
lies the committee propose to make; exhibiting as to
every article the rate or amount proposed TO be retain
Cd md tbe amount reduction increase ofevery duty
nronoeed 10 be changed The margin OF this table will
show The names of the articles in the order in which
they are named in the present law and the same order
il retained so far the articles named the pro-
nosed hill The first column presents the duty upon
each article as fixed by the present law whether ad-
vaorem or specific; and when specific, the advalorem
rate also which equal to the specific duty The only
data cult 10 be obtained for the composition OF this
table have been the advalorem rates which equva-
lent to the specific duties imposed by the law. The
committee have resorted TO two modes TO obtain these
dao The first nd that upon which they base the table,
was n call upon the treasury Department tor slate
of the actual importatlons OF the 'hree quarters
i before mentioned, shown by the returns from The
custom houses Finding they did, that those returns
ofter the quarter ending on the 30th Of September,
IS1. would not permit them to extend the COLL for a
who lie year. the statement required 10 embrace Inc
names of the articles of import as FULLY as they were
ker by the collectors the values where Inc ouies are
m under the present law, aud The quantities
and values where the duties specific, together with
the amounts Of duty actually paid or changed aud 10 De
oa;d upon such importatlons. In addition to this the
statement was required further, to give the rates OF
duty fixed by the present law, "here the Gltes are
adj pnorcm and where they specic, the rates hxed
y the wv and the eo a. aen ad valorem calculated
u,on the value OF the import Tor the three quarters, and
he amount of duty paid upon IT. Such statement
was oblgingly furnished under the PERMISSION and d.
rec,ion of the Secretary of the Treasury, and has
been to a very great extent, the guide of the commit
tee in ne proposed reductions where The duties are
By the present law, specific This statement appears
to them SO valuable and so practical, being based
upon the actual transactions OF three quarters oil year.
under the operation Of the present law that they pro-
pose to annex it TO this report; and they feel the
more strongly bound to do this, because IT 10 made the
basis of the ad-vaorem rates. as equivalent 10 sPechc
duties given first column Of the table they have
formed and are describing. The second column
Of this table exhibits the rates OF duty proposed to be
retained by the bill reported by the committee, whether
adyalorem or specific. The third column presents the
amount of reduction for each duty, as hxed by the
present law which the committee propose to make IN
every case where they propose any reduction and the
;ourh column exhibits the amount OF increase IN the
few cases in which they propose To increase the rate
of day be yond that fixed by the present lnw. The fifth
column presents the esus of the efforts of the commit
tee b. second mode learn wha, advaorea rates are
in fact equal to the specific duties imposed under The pre-
sent law This mode was resort to The importing mer-
chants from the actual TRANSACTIONS under
the law general circular was sent to the principal
nnortng houses in several Of the large commercial CT
ties and the Information communicated has been va
riops and important. In relation 10 The actual ad va'
rem rates Of DUTY equivalent to the spechc duties, aid
the duties affected by the nInmums under The present
law made from the bs Of purchases, and accounts ct
charres the observe, that The merchant ales
usually exceed very considerably those gwen in The
Treasury which they have reie red THIS,
presumed, proceeds from the TACT, mat the hef
chan; Statement are usually made from single invoice
bill, probably selected because It is bill of goods Of
such quality as will show distinctly as any other
the severity of the duty; while the treasury statement
shows general average rate upon the 1mpoTtations to
three quarters OF year. OF all the qualities OF the same
general class OF goods
For the same reason az is supposed, the statements
received from different houses as to the actual adva-
loren rate OF duty upon an article OF The same genera
denominations frequently differ several per cent The
statements Of the merchants by no means extend 10 a
the articles named the table, but are tather conhneu
to the more important classes OF articles The dfer-
between these and the treasury statement DO mol
appear To the committee to be such es TO me
authority of either bat rather TO confirm both as the
General accuracy and any event. TO aford The iul-
es evidence that the advaloem rates OF the treasury
table above the actual and practical rates under
the law The differences betseen The merchant stale
ments themselves, render 1t impossible TO present
single rate in the fifth column Of the committee table
with JUSTICE TO the merchants who have generously
come forward to owe information, TO the Information
given. The committee have therefore where there are
varying statements placed IN the column the highest
and the lowest rates found in any oil The commun'ca
tons touching the same articles, that IT Will give
the range of mercantile calculation aud mercantile ex
pprlegce The fourth table which the committee an
nex (naiked 3D. is the treasury statement, already
described furnished from the office OF the Register
of the Treasury, and authenticated by that oicer a
reference the remarks explanatory oil the hFst c.
umn Of table G, will supersede the necessity OF any
further description Of this statement few observa-
tons, however, reference to some entries IN the Ia
ble exhibiting results which, at first SIGHT, would seem
to impair lis force and weaken its authenticity, are
considered to he necessary Upon reference 10 The
article of pg-lead in the present law, it will be seen
! that the duty is specifc-5 cents per pound The va
ue Of this article in principal cities is oeeVed 10
range from to cents, showing the duty to be equi-
|
probably rather than under that rate, but not very
far from it. reference to the treasury statement will
show that in these three quarters OF gear, 2O pounds
Of pg-ead imported; custom-house value, as re-
turned, So This lead paid the duty OF 3 cents per
pound, which, upon 2g0 pounds, was So 7O equal 10
ad vaorem rate Of 300 per cent TINS is an actual
transaction, bot not natural one. The importation
doubtless CASUAL and moi in the course OF any re
guar trade, he amount Of the importation shows
tina, here is no trade The value placed 10 this lead
may be cos, for that accidental purchase, but 1t is
all the mercantile market value OF the proper
ty; ard hence the extravagant result upon comparl-
son between the value and the duty So The ENTITY as
the article of barley shows The importation OF 1ol
bushels, valued at only SlO6-between and cents
per bushsl The duty upon barley is spec'ic-2O cts
ps. husel; which, upon the ,10 bushels, is sl0 20,
equal 10 an All vao,em rate Of 800 per censrm Here,
again. The transaction actual but most unnatural
The value unCr criant 10 the collector, b. cause
the duiy specific; aut it IS apparent that the va
ue bears scarcely relation 10 the market value OF
mercantile barley, while the importation shows that
there regular trade in The article. THIS was pro-
baby damaged grain, anu purchased for nominal
price, because the purchaser supposed that Ii would
| warrant the payment Il the freight aud the duty
uan. nam The other side, the importation OF