Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1860-12-15

encouragement "n'cn u""'O'O"1
from revenue tariff. II
Asan abstract proposition il may be al a
mIlted that dd UaioreHn duties would ln .he
orv. be the most just and equal But u !
ire experience Of this and OF all other com
mercial nations has demonstrated that sucn
duties cannot be assessed aud collected q
without great frauds upon the revenue, then 1
Il Is the part Of wisdom to resort tospec'hc t
duties. Indeed, from the very nature OF
an ad ralOrem duty this must be the result. {
Under II the inevitable consequence Is that
foreign goods will be entered at less than
their true value. The treasury viii, there
fore loose the duty on the difference be-
tween their real aud fictitious value, and to
this extent we are defrauded.
The temptations which ad ralOrem duties
present TO dishonest importer are irresist- |
IDLE. His object to pass his goods through |
the cus,om.house at the very lowest valua-
tion necessary to save them from con6sca-
ton. In this he too often succeeds in spite
of the vigilance Of the revenue officers.
Hence the resort to false invoices one for
the purchaser and the other for the custom
house. and to other expedientS to delraud
the Government. The honest importer
produces his invoices TO the collector, stat
ing the actual price at which he purchashed
the articles abroad Not so the dishonest
importer and the agent of the manufactur-
er. And here It may be observed that
very large proportion Of the man'actures
imported from abroad are consigned for
sale by commission merchants who are mere
agents employed by the manufacturers. In
such cases no actual sale has been made to
tx their value The foreign manufacturer,
if be be dishonest, prepares an invoice OF
the goods, not at their actual value, but at
the lowest rate necessary to escape detec-
tion. In this manner the dishonest impor-
ter aud the foreign manufacturer enjoys q
decided advantage over the honest mer-
chant. They are thus enabled to undersell
the fair trader, and drive him from the mar
ket. In fact, the operation Of this system
has already driven from the pursuits of
honorable commerce many of that class Of
regular and conscientious merchants, whose
character throughout the world, is the pride
Of cur country.
The remedy for these evils is to be found in
specific duties so far as this may be practica-
bic. They dispense with any inquiry at the
custom-hou into the actual cost or value OF
the article, aud 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
undervauation in few cases, render themselves
independent
Besides specific duties best conform to the
reuuisition 10 the constitution that no prefer
euee shall be given by any regulation OF COM
merce or revenue to the ports of one state over
those of another. Under our 0d uaIorem sys-
TEN such preferences are to some extent inevlta-
bic, and complaints have often been made that
the spirit of this provision had been violated
BY nlower appraisement of the same articles at
one port than at another.
An impression strangely enough prevails to
some extent. that specific duties are necessarily
protective duties. Nothing can be more fala.
ciOus Great Britain glories in free trade and
yet her whole revenue from imports is at the
present moment collected under system Of spe-
ciHc duties 1t is a striking fact in this conuec-
ton that in the commercial treaty Of 23d Janu-
ary, 1860, between France and England, one of
the articles provides that the dd raLorem duties
which it imposes shall be converted into specific
duties within six months from its date aud these
are to be ascertained by making and average Of
the prices for six months previous to that time.
The reverse of the proposition would be nearer
the truth, because a much larger amount of re.
venue would be collected by merely converting
the ad vaLorem duties Of tariff into 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 the American
manufacturer the incidental protection to which
he is fairly entitled under a revenue tariff aud
to this surely 10 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 our manuac.
turcs not by raising the raie of duty upon the
importation Of similar articles from abroad, but
what is the same 10 effect by Uniting articles
free of duty which enter into the composition OF
their fabrics.
Under the present system it has been often
truly remarked that this incidental protec-
tion decreases when the manufacturer needs it
most, and increases when he needs it least, aud
constitutes q sliding scale which always oper.
etes against him. The revenues Of the country
ere subject to similar duetuaton. Instead o.
approaching a steady standard as would be the
case under q system Of specific duties, they sink
and rise with the sinking and rising of prices o
articles in foreign countries. 1t would not bt
difficult for Congress to arrange a system o.
specific duties which would afford additional sta
bility both 10 our revenue and our manufactures
and without injury or injustice TO any interest
Of the country. This might be accomplished
by ascsrtaining the average value Of any given
article for a series Of years at the place Of ex.
poFtation, aud by simply converting the rate oil
Gd UGIorem duty upon it which might be DEEM
ed necessary for revenue purposes, iuto the form
Of q specific duty Such an arrangement could
not injure the consumer. II he should pay a
greater amount OF duty one year. this would be
counterbalanced by lesser AMOUNT the next
and in the eud the aggregate would be tie same
1 desire to call your immediate attention /,
the present condition ni the Treasury, so abb
aad clearly presented by TIE Secretary iu hi
report to Congress; and to recommend thG
measures be promptly adopted to enable II
discharge its pressing obligations. The otht
recommendations Of the report are well worth
Of your favorable consideration.
herewith transmit to Congress the report
OF the Secretary Of War; Of the Navy. of th
IntsssOE, and of the Postmaster General. Th
recommendations aud suggestions which the
contain are highly valuable aud deserve you
careful attention.
The report Of the Postmaster GensEal detail
the circumstances under which Cornelius Wan
derbilt. on my request, agreed, 10 the month o
July last 10 carry the ocean mails between ou
Atlantic aDd Pacific coasts Had he not thu
acted. this important inter-communication mus
have been susDeDded at least for a saason Tht