New-York tribune., 1869-01-07
g if we produced none whatever:

The duties levied on articles which we DO
not produce will be seen from the above
schedule to be almost wholly specific I. e.,
upon the pound or the bushcl, and, therefore,
certain of collection at their full amounts. The
tariff on foreign wines, tins, spices, precious
stones, oils, &C. are al ralOrem, in whole or
in part and, therefore, of less certain collection.
The tariff on silks is dd udlorem, but it Is so
high 60 per cent, rs to be sure of q heavy
revenue. But the tariff on the leading articles
of daily food, to wit, coffee, sugars, molasses,
and teas, used by rich and poor, individually, as
largely as by the rich, and by the poor
collectively hundred times more largely
than by the rich, are all specific, !. e., upon
the pound or the gallon.
While tariffs on articles we do not produce,
and which are not designed to protect our in
dustry, are thus made impossible of evasion, it
is general characteristic of the tariffs levied on
articles which we do produce that they are ad
raIorem, and therefore capable of constant and
enormous evasioos by underyaluation. Thus
nearly all the manufactures OF copper and of
cotton goods are dd ralorem, at about 3j per
cent, which, by easy underyauations, is re-
duced to Is per cent About half the manu-
lures Of iron are Gd rdlOrem at the same rates,
though some branches of IRON are eiii-
cienty protected by specific duties; and
the effect is seen in the Commissioners
statement that our production of pig iron has
increased 81 per cent in ten years (and iron
manufactures in proportion), while in Great
Britain and France it has declined Nearly
our entire tariff on woods is also dd rdlorem,
whereby much of the pretended protection to
American wool is lost large portion of the
imported woods and woolens are of Il quality
or manufacture which does not compete with
our own domestic woods and woolens. OF our
entire importation of woods and woolens,
amounting in value to S3G.O00,0O, doubtless
half is of kinds with which we do not aim to
compete. Averaging the revenue at 80 per
cent on these, we have further sum of SG00O,-
600 TO be added to the tariffs on articles
which we do not produce, and which there
fore are not levied for protection in any de-
gree So Of the tariff on several kinds of
leather manufactures, including kids and
cheveri and of paints, jute, flax, watches,
chloride of lime or bleaching powders, and
other materials of which we can produce but a
small part These, with opium, on which we
collect 100000, and other articles omitted from
the above list, arc sufficient to equal any posi-
BILE 0ver-estimate of the amount of duties col
lected on the merchandise included in
the schedule. 1t appears therefore, that
out of the entire Sl64,48i590 Sc col
lected in gold during the past year from the
tariff not less than S112,000,OOO were collected
from articles which we do not produce, and
cannot therefore protect. They were levied
for revenue only, and in pursuance of the
principles of the Free Traders. There remains,
therefore, about S5O00O,O00 (or less than third
of our entire tariff which was levied on arti-
cles which it is possible to protect. Included
therein is the $l,JCO,OOO levied as tariff on
lumber.
Mr.. Wells states that S7,5OO,OOO worth of luin-
Der has been imported Che tariff on which at 20
per cent. would he S1,5OOY0O0) and that the
importation of this quantity of lumber under
this tariff has added 25 per cent to the cost of
all the other lumber produced in the country
competition with which. as Mr. Wells
" guesses," amounts to S54,0O0,000 worth Of
American lumber. In other words, the impor-
tation Of S100O0OO worth of Canadian lumber
under a 25 per cent tariff makes us pay
S14,O0OOOO more than we otherwise would for
the lumber which We produce at home This
proposition develops some new and hitherto un-
discovered law relative to prices. II has been
currently supposed, especially by economists,
that the price of an article depends OH the
entire supply. Any portion of the supply affects
the prco in the ratio OF its quantity to the aggre
gate supply. If Canada supplies one-hundredth
part of our lumber, and we the other ninety
nine one-hundredths, her supply will exercise
Q9s pjpety ninth part VI tho influence