New-York daily tribune., 1859-01-01

CrRIors DISCOVERY The Moaue~~ contains .
repor, to Prince Napoleon, Minister Of Algeria ana the
Colonies, from NJ ReDier, of the los'itute giving an
account II singular discovery OF stone tablet oon-
taipirg Customs tariff of the time Of Septimus Seve.
rus-that is Of the 202d year of the Christian era
was found in the ruins OF Zraa, the ancient Cecua
Julia ZaIa, situated in the saodiyisoe o. SH ~
tbs district oc uped by the ibe OF the Ousd SeIlo;
the finders Of II were some men employed Ia sgssng
foundations for mill tor the Csid Of the place. ose
81 Moktar. An impression OF the taI'h having ooeh
taken in oil payer, by Italian mason, and GanemH
ted 10 Paris the imprint shows thst some mutil
e,st in the tablet but the greater part ~nss GUY
in 1t can be perfectly we'll made out. IL begins Win
the words: :" Impsrdtsrsbus Cesar'oks Lscss sep
"hm,o Serere ct Marco Anred0 A"l,nmS A"Sysss
Pts Consuibus; Ltr porius post dtscssssn se1er-
us tnst,tta" which is" The Enperors ana C@safs
"Lucius Septimus Severus and Marcus Aureius An
.'topinus, pous and august, beiog Consuis Customs
regulations established alter the depSnuIe =, ~. AZ
"co6oIt" 1t then goes to specify, IN s@PsIste d
visions and item by item, the duties 70 'o'
fiOus objects oD.. A.. 4. -.,a
n.r bssd.u are the following: "A here, dsnsr this
toin WA worth sboa, 3D. . horse or a maze, IL; .
niue, IA; a pig, Grdistinctl; a sucking p'g, IS
s,eep or poet, -" aud Q nots says thst, "crtie
des,ired for market are exempt f'om duties." The
"a table cover n dsp. q light col,red sunic, II;
bed coveriog, /; purple sagum, Il" and .dds,
"Other African stufs pay per piece. Iae ne1t dl-
vieion il fm SKINS but the duties ar sfaced "A skin
horse, or gost sIp, -; cord, eu~ per b., =; sopa
-" The re1t division runs as follows: :" Pdscpal
Customs regulation: Pasture An nails sod beasts OF
burden are exempt from duty; for other thiegs see
the chapter which ooscerDs them. An smphofs ct
wine, =; ~ amphors of date wine, - dsses per
quintsl, 1 den.; hgs per quiDtal, - - per ~
bushels .u'' PEI ~ Cosns Oossy Z.rS ct % vSch
this tariff applies, was between l36 and iS Of the
Christian era the garrison Of cohort, and prob
able that mp TO the yesr 2O2 the cobo charges 70 de-
Customs na sn dutes tn. ooon was situated on one Of
the most fIeque ned roads which led from the desert
TO the CesaTisn Mauritania.
Among tue objects mentioned 10 the tamil are sone
which are still made In the 0asis OF ZbADd and bcd el
Dsrd in the south OF the Regency VI Tanis For ex-
ample the eight colorsd tanics" ere evidently the
bacs which wealthy Arabs wear st present, and which
have lately b,e uted by Eoropesn ladies - shswls
the saga are nov the ganiorras which form the IN
sigma Of command in the Regency Of Tdnisj AID tho
btd-coyeriDgs perhaps the ysJy-colored bsckets
which still used IN those psre. The date. vine u
Lot the same as palm vine bat was fermsated hquor
which readily intoIi ated Piny makes mention OF IL,
and it il replsced in the Oasis by sort OF alcohol
made from 6gs. The meaning Of the words cardseu1
and ropa is not very clear, but perhaps they are not
correctly copied It has hitherto been supp Dsed that
the Customs duties Of the Roman Empire wore uni-
formIy tho 40th part Of the value OF the gooSs-thae
sun having been levied in Italy Sicily, the two 8sus
Aria Minor, Brtbyns, Pontus AMI Psphagonisi but
tho tablet which has Low been fJund proves that the
ou,ies were not uniform.
1t proves, also, that in Africa at al events, they
were infenor to one-fortieih OF the value; thus.
Papinianus q law.writer who lived N the time OF
Sepimus Severus states that the legal price OF slaves
was fixed at 20 got pieces or 500 denar the forieeh
part Of which Is l2l deDj but, may be SEEN only
ia are inscribed in the tariff Again, the Thsodos.an
cvde which was drawn up previously ~ the year +0l
Of our era 6Ies the price Of horses the csvaly In
Eumids at 400 den. the forietb Of which Is loi yet
the duty on horses IL the TAR onlyii The sIsmp
ton from duty OF o,ep destined for markets and Of
pssurage Of sbirnnis explained by the fact that the
Goyersnsnt levied market and pasture taxes on them,
aud could not, consequently, make them pay twice
ovsr and ss to the exemption Of beasts OF burden,
ia no doubt owing TO the consideration that it would
have been unjust tax both the goods ana the animal
which carried them. Gslbsnani's Messenger.