Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1860-12-13

no actual sale has boon made TO fix their val
ne.
The foreign manufacturer, II he DO dishon-
est, prepares an invoice Of the goods not at
their actual value, but at the very lowest
rate necessary to escape detection. In this
manner the dishonest importer and the foreign
manufacturer enjoy a decided advantage ov
er the honest merchant. They are thus en-
abled to undersell their fair trader, and drive
him from the market. In fact, the operation
of this system has already driven from the
pursuits of honorable commerce many ofthat
class of regular and conscientious merchants
whose character, throughout the world, is tho
pride of our country.
The remedy for these evils is to be found
in specific duties, so far as this may be prac.
ticable. They dispense with any inquiry at
the Custom House into the actual cost or
value of the article and IL pays the precise
amount ofduty previously fixed by law. They
present no temptations to the appraisers of
foreign goods, who receive but small salar-
les, and might by differentiation in a few
cases, render themselves independent.
Besides, specific duties best conform to the
requistion in the constitution that ''no pref
erence shall be given by any regulation Of
commerce or revenue TO the ports of one
State over those of another" Under our ad-
valerem system such preferences are to some
extent inevitable, and complaints have often
been made that the spirit uf this provision
has been violated by lower appraisement of
the same articles ut one port than at anoth-
er.
An impression strangely enough prevails
10 sohio extent 'hat specihc uut,es a'o no'es'
sar'! P,o'ect'e uut'es, No'n,"s eau pe
more 1allacious. Great britain g'orles In Iree
trade, ana yet hcr wnoie revenue from I'M
ports Is at the present moment coliected un-
der system OF spccl1c duties. IL Is strik-
ing TACT IN this connection, that, IN the COM
mcrclal treaty OF 23d January, l>oO, between
France and England, one of the articles pro-
vidcs that the advalorem duties which it i'm
poses shall be converted into specific duti es
within SIN months from its date, and these ar 9
to he ascc,tained by making an averag" of the
prices for six months previous to that time.
The reverse of the proposition would be
nearer to the truth, because q much large r
amount of revenue would be collected by
merely converting the advalorem duties of a
tariff into eouivaicnt specifc dnties. To this
extent the revenue would be increase and
In the same nronortion the specific dut mipht
be diminished.
Snoc6c dntios would secpre IN the Ameroon n
r,c,nrer tho incidental nrote,tion IN which bo
fairly entitled nndor revenue tariff and IN tb;s
surely no person would object. The trainers of
the existing tariffhave gone further, and in lib.
eral spirit have Disseminated in favor of large and
useful branches of our manufactures, not by rails.
ing the rate of duty upon the importation OF similar
articles from abroad but what il the same in effect
by admitting articles free of duty, which enter in
to tho comnosition of their fabrics
Under In. nrcsent system It has often been re-.
marked that this incidental protection decreases
when the manufacturer needs it most, and increas.
,s when he needs il least, and constitutes sliding
which always operates against him. The revenues
of the country are subject to similar Huctuatton
instead of onnroachnS n steady standard. as wopld
he the case under the system of speciGc duties.
thew sink and riso with the sinking and rising pri
ces tbeof articles in foreign countries 1t would no,
he difficult for Congress- to arrange n system OF
snecifc duties VIII ch would afford additional sta
bility both to revenue and our manufactures. and
without injury or Injustice to any interest of the
country. This might be accomplished by ascer.
taiuug the average yalue of ony given article for
a series of years at the place ofexportation. and
bv simply converting the rate of advalorem duty
upon il which might be deemed necessary for rev.
cnue purposes into the form of a specific duty
Such an arrangement could not injure the consum.
er If he should pay n greater am unt of duty one
year, this would be counter balanced by a lesser
amount the next, and in tho end the aggregate
would be the same
7 dosro to cou your Immediate o,tept;on IN ,bo
,ro ,o,t cond;,;on oc ,ha Troasrrv 90 ahI, onJ
clearlv nrosnntod hy rho socro,arv in bis ,e,r, 20
Congrcss and to recommend that meosures ho
nronntlv adonted N enable i, to discharge ;ts
pressing obIjpations Tbe other recommendation
of the report are well worthy of your favorable
consideration.
herewith transmit to Conpre,s The reports of
the Secretaries of War. of the NAVY. of the Int.
rier and the Postmaster General The recon-.
mendutions and suggestions which thew contain
are highly valuable and deserve YOUR careful at.
tention.
The report of the Postmaster G eneral details the
circumstances under which Cornelius Vanderbilt,
nmy request, agreed in the month of July last
to carry the ocean mails between the Atlantic and
and Pacific coasts. Had he not thus acted this
important ntercommunication must have been sus.
pended for a season The Postmaster General
had no power to make him any other compensa.
ton than the postage on the mail matter he might
carry 1t was known at the time that those post
ages would fall far short of an adequate compensa
ton, rs well as of the sum which the same service
had previously cost the government. Mr.. Van.
derbit, with commendable spirit. was willing to
rely upon the Justice of Congress to make up the
deficiency; and therefore recommend that an ap.
preparation be granted for this purpose.
| should do great injustice to the Attorney Gen.
eral were to omit the mention of his distinguish
ea services III tne measures auoPteu ana prosecuted