The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1860-12-04

The revenue. In Ills aspect ierio to rei;e lie the
recommendation contained in my last two annual meg
sages, in favor OF imposing specific instead of ad paoa
duties all imported articles to which these can be
properly applied From long observation and experience
am convinced that specific duties necessary both to
protect the revenue and to secure to manufacturing
interests that amount of incidental encouragement which
unavodably results from tariff.
AS abstract proposition it may bs admitted that
V7l0rem duties would, in theory be the most Just and
equal But if the experience of this and of all other
meroa nations has demonstrated that such duties cannot
be assessed and collected without great frauds upon the
revenue then the part of wisdom to resort specific
duties. Indeed from the very of od ratorm
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 there
FORE lose the duty the difference between their real
and fictitious value, and to this extent defauded
The temptations which adj putmen duties present to a
dishonest importer irresistible. His object is to pass
his goods through the custom house at the very lowest
valuation necessary to save them from conscation. In
this no 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 hou and
to other expedtsnts to deraud the Government. The
honest importer produces his invoice to the collector
stating the actual price at which he purchased the a
Giles abroad Not the dishonest importer and the agent
of the foreign manufactured And here it may be OBJ
served that very largo proportion of the manufactures
imported from abroad consigned for sale to commits
sion merchants who ale mere 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 at their
actual value but at the very lowest rate necessary
escape detection. In this manner the dishonest i'm
porter and the foreign manufacturer enjoy decided
advantage the honest merchant They are thus en-
abed 10 undersa the fair trader and drive him from the
market In fact the operation of ths system has already
driven from the pursuits OF honorable many of
that class of regular and conscientious merchants whose
character throughout the world is the pride Of our coun
try
The remedy for these evils Ii to be found in specific
duties far this may 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
amount of duty previously fixed by law. They present
no temptations to the appraisers of foreign goods who
receive but small salaries, and might by naturalization
10 few cases, render themselves independent.
Besides, specific duties best conform to the reQuiston
in the Constitution that preference shall be given by
any regulation OF commerce or revenue to the ports of
one State those of another" Under our od palore
system such preferences are to 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 bs faacous. Great Britain glores In
free trade. aud yet her whols revenue from imports is at
the present moment collected under system of specific
duties 1t is striking fact in this connection that
the commercial treaty of 23d January 1860 between
France and England one of tho articles provides that the
ad rdn duties which 1t imposes shall be converted into
specific duties within six months fom its date and these
are to be ascertaned by making average of the prices
Tor six months previous to that time The OF the
proposition would be to tho truth because much
larger amount Of revenue woud be collected by merely
converting the al Vorsn duties of tariff Into equva-
lent specific duties To this extent tho revenue would
be increased and In the same proportion the specific
duty might be diminished.
Specific duties would to the American manufao-
turer the incidental protection 10 which he is fairly emit
tied under revenue tariff aud to this surely no person
would object The trainers OF the existing tariff have
gone further and in liberal spirit have Disseminated in
favor of large and useful branches of manufactures
not by raising the rate Of duty upon the importation Of
similar articles from abroad but what is the In effect
10y admitting articles free Of duty which enter into the
composition of their fabrics.
Under the present system it has been often truly TO-
marked that this incidental protection decreases when the
manufacturer needs most and increases when he needs
it least and constitutes sliding scale which always CD.
crates against him. The OF the country sub
ject to similar iuotuation- Instead of approaching
steady standard would be the osse under system of
specific dues they sink and rise With the sinking and
rising prices of articles in foreign countries 1t would
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 in
justice to any interest of the country This might be &C
oomshed by ascerhing the average value of any given
article for series of at the place of expectation
and by simply converting the rate of I'D urn duty upon
1t which might be deemed necessary for purposes
into the form of specific duty. Such an arrangement
could not inure the he should pay greater
amount of duty year. this would be counterbaanced
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
emit condition of the Treasury ably and clearly pre-
sed by the Secretary In his report to Congress and to
HI. # to d;sohara. @ 30 promptly adopted to
ois IL 70 oisohaFSo lts pressing The other
recommendations of the report well worthy of vonr
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-
getions which they contain highly valuable and de-
serve your careful attention.
The report of the Postmaster General details the cir
cumsances under which Cornelius Vanderbilt on nv re-
quest agreed in the month Of July last to carry the
mails between Atlantic and Pacific coasts Had
he not thus acted this important INSTRUMENTATION
must have been suspended, at least for season The
Postmaster General had power to make him any other
compensation than the hostages tho mail matter which
he might carry 1t known at the time that these
hostages would fall far short of an adequate compensa
ton well of the which the same service had
previously cost the Government Mr. Vanderbilt in q
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
to omit the mention Of his distinguished services
in the adopted and prosecuted by him for the
defence of the Government against numerous and I'M
founded claims to Land in California purportin3 to have
been made by the Mexican government previous the
treaty of oesion. 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 an equal amount
1t has been Represented to me- from sources which
deem reliable that The inhabitants In several portions of
Kansas have been reduced nearly starvation
on account of the almost total failure of their crops
whilst the harvest in every other portion Of the country
have been abundant The prospect before them for the
approaching winter is well calculated to enlist the sypa
thies OF every heart hs restitution appears to be SO