The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1860-12-07

j with general approbation, in the appoint
ment Of the same day throughout the Union
for holding the election Of electors for Pres.
ident and Vice President of the United
States. My attention was earnestly direct.
ed to this subject from the fact that the 35th
/ Congress terminated on the Sd of March,
1859, without making the necessary appro.
priation for the service of the Post Office
Department. was then forced to consider
the best remedy for this omission, and an
immediate call Of the present Congress was
the nataral resort. Upon inquiry, however,
| asCertsined that fifteen out of the thirty
three States composing the Coniederacy %.
were without representatives, and that, con.
sequently these fifteen States would be dis.
franchsed by such a call. These fifteen
States will be in the same condition on the
4th Of March next. Ten of them cannot
elect representatives, according to existing
State lave, until different periods, extend
ing from the beginning OF August next untfl
the months OF October and November.
10 my last message gave warning that,
in time Of sudden and alarming danger,
the salvation OF our institutions may depend
upon the power OF the President to assemble
full Congress, to meet the emergency,
~ ~ ~" 4uttV ONioOub Ihub
necessities of the government will require q
modification of the tariff during the present
session, for the purpose of increasing the
revenue. In this aspect, desire to reiterate
the recommendation contained in my last
two annual messages, in favor Of imposing
specific, instead of ad vaIorem, duties on all
imported articles to which these can be
properly applied. From long observation
!. ond I hat G..
duties are necessary, both to protect the
revenue and to secure to our manufacturing
interests that amount of incidental encour-'
ment which unavoidably results from rev.
enus tariff. ,,r
AS an abstract proposition it may be ad.
mitted that ad valo.em duties would, in
theory, be the most just and equal. But il
the experience of this and of all other com.
| mercial nations has demonstrated that such
, duties cannot be assessed and collected
without great frauds upon the revenue, then
it is the part of wisdom to resort to specific
duties. Indeed, from the very nature OF an
8 ad valorem duty, this must be the result
Y Uuder it the inevitable consequence is that
r foreign goods will be entered at less than
d their true value. The treasury will, there.
fore, lose the duty on the difference between
d the real and fictitious value, and to this ex-
!, tent we are d9Frauled.
:. The temptations which ad v4lorem dutfss
o present to dishonest importer are irress.
e ,.ible. His object is to pass his goods thro'
II the Custom Houe at the very 10 vest vall.
}. alton necessary to save thom from coniscl.
s ton. In this he too often succeeds, in spite
Il of the vigilance Of the revenue officers.--
d Hence the resort to false invoices, one for
J. the purchaser and another for the Custom
e House, and TO other expsdients to dofraud
h the government. The honest importer pre-
Q sen.s his invoice to the collector, stating the
= actual prize at which he purchased thu arii.
h Gle abroad. Not 90 the dishonsst i'm porter
% and agent OF the foreign manufacturer. AMI
e here it may be observed thgt very largo
lr proportion OF the manufacturer Imported
Q from abro1d are consigned for sale t. CON.
,s mission merchants, W10 are mare agents
m employed by the ma1ufacturers. La such
b cases no actual sale has baen made to fix
- their value. The foreign manufacturer, it
,r he be dishonest, prepares an invoice OF the
N goods, not at their actual value, but at the
of very lowest rate necessary to escape detec.
lr lion. In this manner the dishonest impor-
0, ter and the foreign manufacturer ehjJy D.
9 decided advantage over the honest merchtnt.,
). They are thus enabled to undersal their fair
j. trader, and drive him from the market. In
O. TACT, the operation OF this systen has al
= ready driven rom the pursuit OF h}no able
5. conm ,rce many OF that class Of regular and
g conscientious merchants, whose ch rlcter,
+ throughout the world, is the pride OF our
10 country.
10 The remedy Of these evils is to be fou1i
o. in specific duties 50 far ss this may b. prac.
tic bic. They dispense with any inq qtiry
at at the Custom House into the actual cost or
t value of the Oricla, aud it pays the precise
e, amount Of duty previlasy fixed By law
at They present no em2tatiols to the ap2rais.
ls ers of foreign goods who receive bat small
in salaries, and might by underVaultion in q
Or lew cases render themselves independent.
at Besides, specific duties best conform to
J. the requisiton in the Constitution that "no
le preference shall be given by any regulation
le of commerce or revenue to the ports Of one
Id State over those Of another" Under our ad
80 vaIorem system such preference are to some
extent inevitable, and complaints have often
d. been made that the spirit OF this provision
he has b,en violated by a lower appraiser. .nt
to Of the same articles at one port than at ans
n. other.
CT AN impression, strangely enough, pre-
4 walls to some extent, that spec ic duties are
st NECESSARILY protective duties. Nothing can
IN be more fallacious. Great Britain oIories
,e in free trade, and yet her whole revenue
ts from imports at the present m)ment is col.
I'D lected under system of specific duties. 1t
IN is striking fact in this connection that. in
te the commercial treaty of 23d January, 1860
IN between France and England, one of the
in articles provides that the ad valorem duties
to which it imposes shall be converted into
d. specific duties within six months from its
date,' and these are to be ascertained by
IL making an average of the prices for six
st months previous to that time. The reverse
en- of the proposition would be nearer to the
IN truth, because a much larger amount of re.
We venue would be collected by merely con.
a vertng the ad valorem duties of tariff into
of equivalent specific duties. To this extent
g. the revenue would be increasvd, and in the
Of same proportion the specific duty might be
te increased. Ts
Specific duties would secure to the Ameri.
ic can manufacturer the incidental protection
he to which he is fairly entitled under revenue
MS tariff, and to this surely no person would
to object. The trainers of the existing tariff
he have gone further, and in liberal spiri
We have Disseminated in favor of large and
py useful branches of our manufactures, not b.
n. raising the rate OF duty upon the importe
o. ton OF similar articles from abroad hu
an is the same in effpcf hv ndmitfino nsfiaIa