The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1858-12-07

cicnt TO the demands Of the public service 1t
has been proposed TO repeal the act of 1851 aud restore
the act OF 1916 To this suggestion there are serious OBJ
jecions, which, TO my mind, insuperable. am well
satisfied that the wants OF the government do not require
permanent increase of the taxes TO the extent OF revi
wing the tariff Of 1916. The duties of forty aud
hadfed per cent imposed by that act in the present
condition Of trade and commerce, wholly indeiensiblc
The public mind of the country will scarcely be brought
again TO acquesce in any higher schedule than thirty per
cent the maximum of the present law IL would GER
tnly require urgeut necessity than exists at
this time to justify such
II has also been proposed to adopt the principle o
home valuation, with view, FIRST of increasing the
rates Of duty aud secondly, of guarding against under
valuation and other frauds, which alleged TO exist
under our present system.
As for increasing the revenue, this PROPOSE
tiQn possesses merit 1t seeks to do indirectly what
can be better effected directly IL the sole object is to
increase the taxes il Is better To do in bold and
manly way. At present the duty is imposed upon
the market value OF the merchandise in the principal
markets of the country from which the importation s
made, including all costs and charges Of shipment
To substitute for this rule the principle of home vau
alton would be TO add to such value of the merchandise
the insurance. cost OF transportation duty levied, and
profits of the importer
II ought to be q sufficient reply TO the proposition that
Of these elements entering into the home value
not legitimate subjects of taxation Other and more
rous objections will be considered in another connexion
The reason in favor of home valuation, which has been
pressed with the most earnestness, Is that IL protect
the from fraud by under valuation The advo-
Gates of the change aege that under present system
the government is dcfrauded by various means Of its
legitimate duties upon large portion OF the imports
In proof of this charge comparison has been Instituted
between the value of exports and imports for the last
three years, showing that the imports were less, by
large amount, than the exports.
This difference is charged to under valuation. The
remedy proposed is either home valuation specific du
ties 1t is that the exports for the last few years
have exceeded the imports but the inference which has
been drawn from it is not necessarily correct Other
causes have contributed to- bring about this result Ii
should be borne in mind that exports valued at
the port of expectation. When these exports reach
falling market abroad the return cargo will exhibit in
the diminished value of the importation the loss sus
tanned by the whose account the exports have
been shipped This often constitutes important e!e
in accounting for that of exports which has
been attributed to fraud The payment by our citizens
of their debts in Europe which for two years past has
been largely done the transactions of bankers and bro
kers in exchange aud smuggling, species of fraud COM
to every system all affect the comparative amounts
of exports and imports.
If il were true that the difference in favor of ex-
ports imports chargeabe to the ad valorcm sys
tenn and the present mode Of valuation, then the fact
should be found to exist not only during the last few
years but during the whole period OF the existence of the
present system An examination of exports and i'm
ports las will be by reference to table ~ for series
of years. will show that such is not the case The tariff
of 1916 was in operation over ten years During that
period the whole amount OF our exports was ~,
327 and imports during the period amounted
to So 500 250 32S The advocates of home valuation
have fallen into the by coninng their comparison
| to limited number of years.
The general result which have stated indicates that
if frauds have been pracised upon the revenue IT is not
owing to present dd pae system This will appear
from comparison of the exports and imports during the
operation of the tariff act of 1912 That act, the dis
tngushing features of which specific duties and
minimum valuations, in operation nearly four years
During that time exports amounted to Si23, ,6S ,64S
and imports to $4l2, l35, 1876. IL the argument
drawn from the Of exports imports be correct
this statement would indicate that greater frauds have
been committed under tariff of specific duties than un
der the ad rdlo act of 1916 IL, however, IL be true
that frauds committed under our present system to
the extent charged will change to home valuation pre-
vent the evil To furnish satisfactory answer to this
inquiry it will be proper to examine the manner Of
certaning the utabc value of imports under existing
laws and what would be required TO be done under the
proposed change At present the appraiser called upon
to ascertain the value OF the article in the principal
kets Of the country from which ii is brought The data
upon which he is to make mp his Judgment are lst
The priccscurrent which every commercial community sup
plies I'd The information to be derived from the CONF
nunicatoiis of ,oIlsus and other commercial agents.
Sd. The invoice of the importer, made under oath, and
also made in view of heavy penalties incurred for fraud
and under valuation. 4th comparison of the invoices
of the various importers engaged in the business,
and not unfrcauently Of the same date 5th The ex-
pcrence derived from daily examinations OF the charac-
ter, value and price Of the article.
These, with other ordinary channels of information
to the public, furnish, it would seem, ample
means for the and faithful discharge Of the duty
The additional element Of cost and charges of shipment
cannot bo calculated with the certainty. IL, how
evor constitutes small portion OF the dutabc value and
the experience of the appraisers will enable them to guard
against any serious injury from that quarter To subat
ute for this plan home valuation would be to require
the appraisers to ascertain the value of the article by
inquiry into its value at the port of importation In
what manner shall he proceed to do 30 He must take
the price current of the market furnished in the ordinary
mode and such information AS he gather from his
intercourse with commercial men, and his knowledge of
the trade and business of his port The result would be
that the duty levied the article would We differ
ent in the different ports of the country aud this would
happen, though the appraisers might discharge their
duty honestly and faithfully Such would be the
under the favorable view of the subject but
cannot close to the fact that the adoption Of
the system of home valuation would inevitably lead to
difficulties and cmbarrassments.
1t would become the interest Of importers to control
the market value at their respective ports with view
to the amount of duty to be paid by them. In what
manner and to what extent combinations for this Oh
iect would be made especially at the smaller ports 1t
is impossible to anticipate. The who enabled to
evade the present law and dcaud the treasury in spite
of its restrictions, and with the checks thrown
around them would not find il difficult to establish,
when il suited their purposes fictitious market value
for the most if not ALL of ports II the appraiser,
convinced that by such combinations other means
fraud attempted should find IL necessary to ascertain
the bone de market value, his most efficient means of do
ing would be to go to the of information
that he now uses. He would be compelled then now,
to look to the foreign market, and the cost and
charges of shipment, but he would be required to
tend his investigation TO the other elements which
20 to make up the home value of the article After
ascertaning the duabe value of the goods at pres
ent he must ascertain the insurance, the freight the