Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1860-12-04

the revenue. In this aspect, desire to reiteate the
recommendation contained in my last two annual mes
sages, in favor of imposing specific instead of ad nal
duties all imported articles to which these can be
Properly applied FROM long observation dnd experience
ana convinced that specific duties are necessary both 70
protect the revenue and to secure to our manufacturing
interests that AMOUNT Of incidental which
unavodably results frc,A revenue tariff
AS abstract proposition it roy ROY % admitted that ad
Sa'orem duties won.a, theory, be the most just and
equal if the experience of this and of all other com
ercia nations has demonstrated that such duties cannot
be assessed and collected without great frauds upon the
revenue then the part of wisdom to resort to specific
duties Indeed from the very nature of an dd vaore
duty this must be the result Under it the inevitable
consequence is that foreign goods will be entered
at less than their true valhe The treasury WILL there
FORE lose the duty the difference between their real
and fictitious Value and to this extent defrauded
The temptations which ad palorem duties present Is
dishonest importer irresistible His object to pass
his goods through the house at the very lowest
valuation necessary to them from cOnfscation. In
this he too often succeeds in spite of the vigilance of the
revenue officers Hence the resort to false invoices
for the purchaser and another for the custom house. and
to other expcdients to defraud the Government The
honest importer produces his invoice to the collector
stating the actual price at which he purchased the ar
Giles abroad Not the dishones importer and the agent
OF the foreign manufacturer. And here 1t may be OBJ
served that very large proportion of the manufactures
imported from abroad are consigned for sale to commits
sion merchants who are agents employed by the
manufacturers. In such actual sale has been
made to fix their value The foreign manufacturer if he
be dishonest prepares invoice of the goods not their
actual value but at the very lowest rate necessary
escape detection. In this the dishonest i'm
porter and the foreign manufacturer enjoy decided
advantage the honest merchant They are thus en-
abled to derse the fair trader and drive him from the
market In fact the operation of this system has already
driven from the pursuits of honorable many of
that class of regular and conscientious merchants whose
character ia Drde Of
try.
The remedy for these evils is to be found in specific
duties, far this may be practicable They dispense
with any inquiry at the custom house into the actual
cost value of the article and it pays the precise
amount of duty previously fixed by law. They present
temptations to the appraisers of foreign goods who
receive but small salaries and might by underyaluation
In few cases, render themselves independent.
Besides specific duties best conform to the requiston
in the Constitution that no preference shall be given by
any regulation of to the ports of
State those of another. Under al uatore
system such preferences to some extent inevitable
and complaints have often been made that the spirit of
this provision has been violated by lower apprasement
of the same articles at one port than at another.
An impression strangely enough prevails to some ex
tent that specific duties necessarily protective duties
Nothing can be more faacious Great Britain gories in
free trade and yet her whole from imports at
the present moment collected under system of specific
duties is striking fact In this connection that, in
the commercial treaty of 23d January 1850 between
France and England of the articles provides that the
dd oQor duties which 1t imposes shall be converted into
specific duties within six months from its date and these
to be asceraned by making average OF the prices
for six months previous to that time The reverse OF the
proposition would be tho truth, because much
larger amount Of would be collected by merely
converting the ad gGor duties of tariff into equva
lent specific duties To this extent the revenue would
be increased, and In the proportion the specific
duty might be diminished.
Specific duties would secure to the American manufac
turer the incidental protection 70 which he is fairly en
tied under revenue tariff and to this surely person
would object. The trainers of the existing tariff have
gone further and I'm liberal spirit have Disseminated in
of large and useful branches of manufactures
by raising the rate Of duty upon the importation Of
similar articles from abroad but what is the in effect
by admitting articles fcs of duty which enter into the
| composition of their fabrics
Under the present System 1t has been often truly re-
marked that this incidental protection decreases when the
manufacturer needs most and increases when he needs
1t least and constitutes sliding scale which always OPP
crates against him. The OF the country sub
jcct to similar lnctuaton Instead of approaching
steady standard as would be the under system of
specific dutes they sink and rise with the sinking and
rising prices articles foreign countries 1t would not
be difficult for Congress to arrange system OF specific du
ties which would afford additional stability both to our
and manufactures, and without injury or III
Justice to any interest of the country This might be &C
compsed by ascertaning the average value of given
article for series of years at the place OF e1portaon
and by simply converting the rate of oa sars duty upon
which might be deemed necessary for revenue purposes
could not iniure the If he should pay greater
amount of duty one year. this would be eounerbalanced
by lesser amount the next and in the end the aggre
gate would be the same
desire to call your immediate attention to the pres
ent condition of the Treasury ably and clearly pre-
sented by the Secretary 10 his report to Congress and to
recommend that be promptly adopted to ena
BILE it to discharge its pressing obligations The other
recommendations of tho report are well worthy OF your
favorable consideration
herewith transmit to Congress the reports of the
Secretaries of War; of the Navy of the Interior and of
the Postmaster General The recommendations and sug
cestions which they contain highly valuable and de-
serve your careful attention.
The report of the Postmaster General details the cir
cumstances under which Cornelius Vanderbilt my re-
quest agreed in the month Of July last to carry the
ocean mails between Atlantic and Pacific coasts Had
he not thus acted this important INSTRUMENTATION
must have been suspended at least for The
Postmaster General had power to make him any other
compensation than the hostages the mail matter which
he might carry. 1t known at the time that these
hostages would fall far short of adequate conpensa-
lion as well as of the which the same service had
previously cost the Government. Mr.. Vanderbilt, in
commendabe spirit, willing to rely upon the justice
of Congress to make UP the deficiency and therefore,
recommend that appropriation may be granted for this
purpose.
should do great injustice to the Attorney General,
were to omit the mention of his distinguished services
in the measures adopted and prosecuted by him for the
defence of the Government against numerous and I'M
founded claims to land in California; purporng to have
been made by the Mexican government previous to the
treaty of cession The successful opposition to these
claims has saved to the United States public property
worth many millions of dollars and to individuals hold
ing title under them to at least equal amount.
1t has been represented to me, from which
deem reliable that the inhabitants in several portions of
Kansas have been reduced nearly to state of starvation
on account of the almost total failure of their crops
whilst the harvests in every other portion of the country
have been abundant The prospect before them for the
approaching winter is well calculated to enlist the sympa