The Nevada journal., 1852-09-03
Democratic Political Economy.

lection Dy speclnc autles; ana very
plainly gave bis opinion that the tariff
Of 1916 is perfect humbug, and il per-
sisted in viii ruin the coahtry. Col
B. brought the sargunsent home to the
Missourians oy calling attention to the
fact that thousand tons .ef iron was
then.on the way up the Mississippi from
Wellsh, rolling mills to besdelivefed at
st Louis at s25 per ton, when every
man among his audience knew that a
few miles in the rear were mountains
Of almost pure iron, and on the opposite
bank Of the Mississippi immcasurablc
deposits of coal. Here is light from a
dark place, and we hope it will have.
some effect in opening the eyes Of the
| people who will insist upon overlooking
our own resources, to the benefit Of
other countries = WdJash Com.
One of tho most singular phenomena
now presented to the world is the fact
that party organised upon such loose
notions of political economy as is the
democratic party, can hold such num-
bers to its interest. Principles that no
merchant would act upon in his business
too crude and impolitic tointroduce to
tho government of business of hun
dred thousand a year, are applied by
the democracy whenever they get q
chance to tho vast business of the coun-
try, and involvement, fraud and loss are
the consequences.
The adoption Of ad valorum duties,
constituted the novel feature in the
democratic tariff of lS46 As an entire
system il was an untried experiment,
before it was patronized by tho dcmoc-
racy. 1t had never been tried in the
United States and in none of the COM
mercial countries Of the Old World. In
France the duties are exclusively spe-
cifc, and in England nineteen-twen-
ticths Of the tariff Of lS47 were specific.
Nearly six years experience in this
country has shown conclusively that this
experiment Of democratic schemers is a
failure. The whole system is imprac.
ticablc because it is built upon an IRA
tlonal and untenablc bnss-for it as
sumes that the sanctity OF an oath is
inviolable, that all importers are honest,
and finally, that custom house officers
are endowed with that rare knowledge
that will enable them to detect fraud
whenever attempted.
There is not nn importing merchant
in this State who does not know that
the invoice cost of goods from foreign
countries is often falsely made out, and
that the revenue is continually largely
defrauded by this means. The .aboli-
tion of specific duties by the democrats
opened tho door. for thesc vast frauds.
and introduced principle into the col
lection OF thcrevenue that has caused
the most serious us'embarrassment Every
honest importer, extensively engaged in
the business, ean furnish proof cor
roberation Of the existence of, the fact
that the custom house laws are continue
tally eyqded by the dishonest importers
Of the article in which they deal In
deed, such is the measure of fraud prac-
ticed by means of false invoices, that It
has become to be regarded almost as
commercial usage.
| The effect Of this system is not only
to open q deor to frauds, but it invites
importations on foreign account, and
and lakes away business from our own
merchants. In New York where about
62 per cent of the entire revenue is col
lectcd, this is literally true Previous
to 1912, when the duties were reduced
to 20 per cent ad valorum, "A per cent
of the imports into that city from this
side of the cape of Good Hope were on
foreign account. Under the operation
Of the specific duties of 1912, the i'm
ports in 1916 on foreign account fell
down to Al per cent. Under the ad
valorum tariff of 1876, the proportion of
these imports is rs per cent on foreign
to 25 per cent on American account,
The same disproportion exists in our
other large commercial cities. In New
/ Orleans, American importers are giving
way to foreigners, and in the article Of
liquors there are but one or two Ameri-
can importers at this time. The COM
petition of foreigners, and the prevailing
custom of undervaluat:ons, have driven
American houses from the trade.
But promising that the law is impli-
citely obeyed, and that no undervalua-
tions are practiced, the system of ad