Wabash express. [volume] (Terre-Haute, Vigo Co[unty], Ind.) 1841-186?, 1860-12-12


laws, until differentperiods, extending
from the beginning of August next un-
til the 9th Of November; and you re-
member in my last Message | gave
warning that in a..time of sudden and
alarming danger, the salvation OF our
institutions might depend upon the
power of the President Immediately to
assemble a full Congress to meet the
emergency.
TARIFF.
1t is now quite evident that the r.
nancial necessitios of the Government
will revuirs a modification OF the Tar
iff during your present session. for the
purpose of increasing.
THE REVENUE.
In this respect, 1 desire TO reiterate
the recommendation contained In my
last two annuel messages, in favor oil
imposing specific, instead OF advai'
Drum duties, on all imported articles
to which these can properly be ap.
piled. From long observation AND
experience, I am convinced that spa
cific duties are necessary, both to pro-
lect the revenue, and TO secure TO our
manufacturing interests thatamount oil
occidental encouragement which un-
avoidibly results from revenue tariff,
As an abstract proposition it may be
adm tied that ad valorum duties would
in theory, be the mosl just and equal,
bat if the experience of this and all
other commercial nations has dem
onstrated that such duties cannot be
asked and collected without great
frauds upon the revenue, then 1T is the
part Of wisdom to resort to spaclhc
duties: Indeed, from the very nature
of an ad va1orum duty this must be the
result under it.
The inevitable consequence Is that
foreign goods will be entered at less
than their true value. The Treasury
will therefore lose the duty on the
difference between their real and fictit-
ious, value, and to this extent we are
defrauded. The temptations which
ad yalorem duties present to a dishon-
est importer, are irresistible. His OBJ
ject is to pass his goods through the
custom house at the very lowest val
uation necessary to save them from
confscation. In this he too often
secceeds, in spite of the vigilance Of
the revenue officers. Hence the re-
sor. to false invoices, one for the pur-
chaser, another for the custom house;
and to other expedients to defraud the
Government. The honest importer
produces his invoice to the collector,
stating the actual price at which he
purchased the articles abroad: Not
so the dishonest importer, and the
agent of the foreign manufactures
And here it may be observed that a
very large proportion of the foreign
manufactures Imported from abroad,
are consigned for sale to commission
merchants, who are mere agents EN-
ployed by the manufacturers. In such
cases, where no actual sale has been
made to fix their value, the foreign
manufacture if he be be dishonest,
prepares an invoice Of the goods, not
at their actual value, but at the very
lowest rate necessasy 10 escape detec-
ton. In this manner the dishonest
importer and the foreign manufactured
enjoy decided advantage over the
honest merchan3. They are thus en-
abled to undersell the fair trader and
drive him from the market. In fact,
the operation of this system has al
ready driven from the pursuit of hon.
orable commerce many of that class OF
regular aud conscientious merchants,
whose character drought the world is
the pride Of our country.
The remedy for these evils is to be
found in specific duties. SO far as this
NAV be practicable. They dispense
with any inquiry at the Custom
House into the actual cost or value OF
the article, and it pays the precise "a
mount of duty previously fixed by law
They present no temptations to the
appraisers of foreign goods, who re-
eeive but small salaries, and might by
differentiation in a few cases, render
themselves independent. Besides,
specific duties best conform to the re-
QUESTION in the Constitution, that no
preference shall be given by any reg
ulation of commerce or revenue to the
ports Of ore Stale over those Of anoth-
or. Under our at Valorem system
such preferences are, TO some extent,
inevitable, and complaints have often
been made. that the spirit of this pro-
vision has been violated by lower ap
praisement oi articles at one port than
at mother. An impression strangely
CROUCH prevails to some extent, that
specific duties are necessarily protec-
tive duties. Nothing can be more
fallacious. Great Britain glories in
her free trade, and yether whole rev.
nue. from imports. is at the present
moment collected under system oil
specific duties. 1t is a striking fact,
in this connection, that in the COM
mercial treaty of 23d January, 1860.
between France and England. one OF
the articles provides that the al calor-
en- duties which it imposes shall be
converted into specific duties within
six months from its date, and these
are TO be ascertained by making an av
erage of the prices for six months pre-
vious to that time The reverse of the
proposition would be nearer to the
truth, because much larger amount
ofFevenue would be collected by mere
ly converting the ad poLorem duties of
a tariff into general equivalent specific
duties. To this extent the revenue
would be increased, and in the same
proportion the specific duty might be
diminished. Specific duties would
secure to the American manufacturer
the Incidental protection to which he
is fairly entitled under revenue tar
iff, and to this. surely no person would
object. The trainers Of the existing