Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1860-12-12
THE RAFTsNlAN's JOURNAL,

was the natural resort. Upon inquiry, how
ever, ascertaned that fifteen out of the thir-
ty-three States composing the C0ufederacy
were without Representatives, and that. .conse-
quently, these fifteen States would be disfran-
chised By such call. These fifteen States
will be in the same condition on the 4th of
March next. Ten of them cannot elect Rep
resentatiyes, according to existing State laws,
until different periods, extending from the be-
ginning of August next until the months of
October and November. In my message L
gave warning that, in a time OF sudden and
alarming danger, the salvation of our institu-
tions might depend upon the power of the
President Immediately to assemble q full
Congress to meet the emergency.
THE TARIFF QUESTION.
1t is now quite evident that the financial ne
cessites of theGovernment will require mod
itication of the tariff during your present ses-
sion for the purpose of increasing the revenue.
In this respect desire TO reiterate the recon-
mendation contained in my last two annual
messages, in favor of imposing specific instead
of ad raloreni duties on all imported articles to
which these can be properly applied. From
long observation and experience am convnc-
ed that specific duties are necessary, both to
protect the revenue and to secure to our man
uiacturing interests that amount of incidental
protection which unayo oidably results from
revenue tariff. AS an abstract proposition it
may be admitted that ad Uaiorem duties would,
in theory be the most Just and equal. But if
the experience OF this and of all other COM
mercial nations has demonstrated that such
duties can not be assessed and collected with
out great frauds upon the revenue, then it is
the part of wisdom to resort to specific duties.
Indeed, from the very nature of an dd ralorem
duty, this must be the result. Under il the
inevitable consequences is, that foreign goods
will be entered at less than true value. The
her.. fora loSa hpd N w fhp
ference between their real and fictitious value,
and to this extent we are defrauded. The
temptation which ad uaioren, duties present to
a dishonest importer are irresistable. His OBJ
ject is to pass his goods through the custom
house at the very lowest valuation necessary
to save them from confiscation. In this he too
often succeeds in 5pite of the vigilance of the
revenue officers. Hence, the resort to false
invoices, one Tor the purchaser and another for
the custom house, and to other eXpedients to
defraud the Government. The honest impor-
ter produces his invoice to the collector. sta
ting the actual price at which he purchased
the articles abroad. Not so the dishonest ini-
porter and agent of the foreign manufacturer
And here it may be observed that very large
proportion of the manufactured articles inn
ported from abroad are consigned for commits
sion merchants who are mere agents employed
by the manufacturers. In such cases no actual
sale has been made to fl their value. The
foreign manufacturer, if he be dishonest, pre-
pares an invoice of the goods, not at their ac-
tual value, but at the very lowest rate neces-
sary to escape detection. In this manner the
dishonest importer and the foreign manufactu-
rer enjoy decided advantage over the honest
merchant. They are thus enabled to under
sell the fair trader, and drive him from the
market. In fact, the operation of this system
has already driven from the pursuits of honor
able commerce many of that class of merchants,
whose character throughout the world, is the
pride of our country. The remedy for these
evils is to be found in specific duties, SO far
as this may be practicable. They dispense
with any inquiry at the custom house into the
actual cost or valne of the article, and it pays
the precise amount of duty previously fixed
by law. They present no temptations to the
appraiser 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 re-
QUESTION in the Constitution that ssno prefer
ence shall be given by any regulation of com
merce or revenue to the ports Of one State o.
yer those of another.' Under our ad valorem
system such preferences are to some extent in
evitable, and complaints have often been made
that the spirit of this provision has been viola
ted by lower apprasement Of the same arti-
cles at one port than at another. An impress
sion, strangely enough, prevails to some ex-
tent that SPECIFIC duties are necessarily pro-
tective duties. Nothing can be more falla-
cious. Great Britain glorieS in free trade, and
yet her whole revenue from imports is at the
present moment collected under a system of
specific duties. 1t is a striking fact in this
connection that, in the commercial treaty of
23d January. 1860, between France and Eng
land, one OF the articles provides that the ad
valorem dnties which it imposes shall be con-
verted into specific duties, within six months
from its date, and these are to be ascertained
Inv III nn rf thr f,.r c,x
months previous to that time. The reverse of
the proposition would be nearer the truth, be-
cause q much larger amount OF revenue would
be collected by merely converting the ad va
lorem duties of tariff into equivalent specific
duties. To this extent, the revenue would be
increased, and in the same proportion the spe-
ciic duty might be diminished Specific du-
ties would secure to the American manufactu-
rer the incidental protection to which fhe is
fairly entitled under revenue tariff and to
this surely no person would object. The fra |
mers of the existing tariff have gone further,
and, in a liberal spirit, Disseminated in favor
of large and useful branches of our manufac-
lures, not by raising the rate of duty upon the |
importation Of similar articles from abroad,
but what is the same in effect, by admitting
articles free of duty which enter into the COM
position of their fabrics. Under the present |
system it has been often truly remarked that |
this incidental protection decreases when the |
neeuS IL most, ana increases
when he needs it least, and constitutes a slid
ing scale which always operates against him.
The revenues of the country are subjected to |
similar huctuation. Instead of approaching a |
steady standard, as would be the case under |
system of specific duties, they sink and rise |
with the sinking and rising prices Of articles
in foreign countries. It would not be difficult |
for Congress to arrange system of specific |
duties which would afford additional stability |
both to our revenue and our manufactures, and |
without injury or injustice to any interest of |