The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-06-18

be small, the Involvement 10 theft and 10 fraud
Will be small In addition, il the penalties be Sc
we're, that, taken with the smallBess OF indueement,
would tend largely TO prevent frauds.
But while am upon this subject, | ask leave TO
present TO the committee, and have read an amend
ment which ! intend TO offer at the proper time TO
this bill for the further prevention of fraud.
The clerk read the following
And for the purpose Of preventing frauds the
enus be liarths[ enacted That all and every person WHO
states shall deliver 10 the collector duplicate invoices of
all articles imported BY him or them and after the
have heeB examined aud ascesns1 10 be & and genuine
the collector shall endorse his each them and
have tbs seal OF his Office Oxed thereto Of which he
shall be deposited In the once Of the collector subject to
the examination ofsny and all persons and Of
any peIsOn copy OF the same duly certified shall be fur
nshsd said person proposing purchase any Of
articles upon their paying the reasonable expense Of copy
ing the same"
Ii will be perceived (said Mr.. J.) that, by this
amendment each importer is required to present du-
plieate invoices to the collector and the collector
after having examined and pronounced them gen.
uine, is 10 endorse his name upon them and afix
the seal Of his Office One is then TO be given 10 the
importer, and the other to be kept in the Office OF
the collector The object Of the amendment is this:
II the importer Is an honest man and deals fairly
he will show his invoice to the purchaser and ii
he refuse to do So is at once an indication Of dis
honesty If he has given a false invoice to the
collector, he cannot show an invoice with the name
and stamp Of the collector TO the purchaser; else he
will cheat himself He will not only lose his
profit on part Of the cost, but part Of the cost itself
The course Of the trade 10 this when an importer
is called on by purchaser, he sells his goods at
such per cent upon the cost, enough TO cover the
duties and his expenses and pay him a reasonable
profit II will be easily seen that II his invoices
are stamped, he will be obliged TO show TO the
purchaser the duplicate invoice Of the one he de-
iyered TO the collector; II he refuses 10 do so,
M hnneat man ought a deal with him foY he
may be sure he is not honest.
This amendment has not yet been adopted by the
Committee Of Ways and Means; IL win be offered
to them, and whether adopted or not, shall press
Il upon the House.
The next thing 10 which invite the attention Of
the committee, ia the duty on and coffee, contem.
plated by the Secretary Of tho Treasury. He has
advised Congress 10 put duty Of 20 per cent. upon
them. | am aware that this tax meets with strong
objections. | am acquainted with none worth no.
teing but that Is taxing necessary Of life. Now
| would ask to whom is tea and coffee a necessary
Of llfel To no class Of community. IL is a con.
venience, II Is comfort-Day, sometimes Il may
be called a luxury, both to the rich and the poor
IL Is real uxury-a strong cup Of coffee to a man
who has taken the tee-total pledge and needs some
thing to revive hint is a real luxury 10 him. a
necessary 10 nobody. IL is a comfort a great com.
fort convenience, great convenience; and, as !
before said, It is sometimes called luxury. Now
If there is such an adherence TO taxing tea and
cofle because they are necessares what would gen.
temen say to taxing from Why not leave that
free' 40, but" (says the gentleman from
Pennsylyenia-l refer to 70 particular gentleman -
I'VE raise iron IN our State; and want protection ~
But dear sirs, if necessary ought not To be taxed
do not tax iron for 1t s absolutely necessary. Il
serves the female for her scissors and needle the
farmer for his plough and the manufacturer for his
machinery, and all classes for many OF the neces
sary implements Of their business. In war il is the
l.fta ,.F,n IL =
If we cannot tax tea and coffee, then, because they
are nccessaries ofe, for eonsistencys sake do not
tax iron. Coal, also-another necessary Of life
stands nearly alongside Of iron; iron is taxed 30 per
cent, coal 20 per cent. under this BILL by the bill
Of 1872 iron is taxed from 40 TO lis per cent? coal
10 per cent. Salt, too, has been taxed cents per
bushel Of Sc pounds by the tariff Of 1872 strange
to tell, that is about 100 per cent. upon an absolute
necessary Of life. Now, how can gentlemen who
startled TO perfect adherence at the idea of tax.
ing tea and coffee % per cent go for taxing other
necessaries OF life, many of them, too, at much
higher rates.
While upon this subject of tea and coffee, allow
me to state what duty of 20 per cent. upon them
would produce. You may put il down in round
numbers at $4,000, 900. The two last years have
been the shortest years of importation for some
time; but from calculation, | find that duty Of
~ per cent upon the importaons Of these two years
will give an average amount of 81, $50, 7l2 each
year; and we may calculate that $4,000, 900 will
be the amount, because these two years being the
shortest years, we may naturally conclude that the
next two years will, in consequence, be greater.
Mr. further called the attention ofthe committee to
the tax on cotton.bagging. That a necessary Of
life; enabled the South 10 put up their cottons for
expectation IL taxed only l0l per cent There
was no objection TO taxing that although a necessa-
ry-heing indispensable TO the bringing into market
of the great staple with which all the goods wer,
purchased, from which were derived nearly all the
II, Ill ILL., O.
however, to gentlemen TO tax this because il is made
in some parts of some States He also adverted to
the enormous tax on sugar, which he went into
some details to show amounted to about 100 per
cent, lin which calculation he was confirmed by Mr.
HoLMEs,) and which was necessary to sweetep
those necessarles Of life, coffee and tea. Coarse
cotton was taxed he would not say how much per
cent, but to prohibition. No man can afford to i'm
port cottons worth six cents per yard paying duty
Of six cents upon them Coarse woollens he said
did not stand much behind They were taxed at 40
per cent and blankets worth IS cents and less were
taxed is per cent. Coarse fannels were taxed IA
cents the square yard-equa to 100 per cent. All
these articles were necessaries of life than tea
and coffee. One of my friends from the West had
said man in his section of the country could not
be made to believe he could live without tea and cof
fee. am sorry for that man, for if he goes to the
Mexican war, (as doubt not all the West will.
whenever necessarily he will find that he cannot al
milk.
Sir, if any man will take the trouble to look AT
the tariff of 1912 he will find various articles which
are quasi Injuries that taxed without stint and
whatever objection any man may have to taxing
tea and coffee, hope no will say it is because
they are necessaries of life. Whether necessary or
luxury, is necessary to tax them to raise rev.
enue for prosecuting the war vigorously and effec-
lively; and although | have a warm personal friend
belonging to the wing party who was beaten, have
no doubt, upon the tea and coffee question: my peo-
pie will come up as one man to pay the duty which
may be levied upon them to defray the indispensa.
Die expenses of the country in a time of war
The chairman's hammer here fell, announcing the
expiration Of Mr.. Us hour
Mr. MCLEAN obtained the floor, but yielded
for moment to
Mr. JONES' who stated that he would mention
one thing he had forgotten about the proposed
change of this bill The Committee of WAYS and
Means would probably propose to tax spirits 100
per cent instead Of U.s. and reduce the tax on cor
dias, &c, from IS to 40 or so per cent.
One word more, and he was done. We have
remedy in our own hands to which we do not like