New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1858-11-23


csl weary which closed with last June, were ofileiauy
valued at S2s2 6l3, 10, of which 81? con.
sisted Of specie and bullion, and S6i,eai,''9 oil
free goods leaving but soc 9e', so as the of'
csly estimated or invoeed value Of the goods that
paid duty. This was falling of from the proceed
ing year Of more than Nirtts Millions u Dottars
in the estimated value Of Imports that paid duty
and uesIly Eighty Millions in the total value oil
Imports excluding Specie. On the other side Of
the account, our total export Of American Produce
was valued q S2Jl ,3Jl o33, more than halt oil IT,
or xI3I, $50 Col. consisting Of raw Cotton alone.
Foreign Peoduce ard Merchandise TO the value OF
500. 66O, 2il were likewise exported, with Com
and Bullion to the value of S5?,6;S, AZ; making
the total estiated yalue Of our Exporsi the Sst
fiscal Yesr 1921 ga, i2l, or $i2 0S1,2 more than
the value Of our Imports Allowing that $50.
900. 600 Of th, sum was required and appropriated
to pay the interest accruing on our heavy lndeot'
edness abroad, public and private it would seem
that We crawled out Of debt to the tune Of at least
So OOO, 600 during the last fiscal year.
This exhibit shows how utterly unreliable our
Custom. House Statistics are and must be 90 long
sswe impose Ad Yalorem rates on Imports, while
our Exports are mainly entered at European ports
under Specific duties For example: ship clears
from one of our ports fully freighted with Cotton
and Tobacco, on which almost or quite every civil
lied nation leyies Specific duties If any. Of
course no conceivable motive exists for invoicing
that Cotton that Tobacco, farthing below their
actual yalue-but rather the contrary-and so they
figure in our table Of Exports for every cent they
are worth. But that same ship comes back
ireighted with Fabrics and bsllasted with Metals,
on all which we charge Ad Nalorem duties; and
Of course the owners and cousisnees Of said cargo
they dare. Thus Ne have seen and shown that the
Wines which came to us under the Specific duties
of tie Tara OF ~ iuvoiced at certain
rates, were inyoiced at about one third of
those rates when imported, just afterward,
under the Ad Nalorem Tariff OF 1916
Who can be SO blind as not to discover here the
cause from tie effect And never, until the cause
be removed will the effect cease; for most men
who import goods would rather pay $1,000 for
duties on consignment than $1,000, and the diff
ference is easily made by dexterous shufiling be-
tween the consignor aud tie coasignee. In a few
ir stances, the discrepancy between the actual aud
the declared value is SO fragrant and obvious that
the Appraisers intcrpOse corrections; but nineteen
times in twenty the invoice governs and custom
house oath is taken as CONCLUSIVE. Hence the large
apparent balance Of Exports during the past year
An exhibit which every one who has watched the
course OF trade and of exchange knows to be unreal
AN the reduction made on our Foreign Debt during
the past year has been effected by mercantile aud
corporate insolvencies. Bidding our readers bear
in mind these facts, We give next the official aggrs
gates of imports aud exports for the last fourteen
fiscal years.