The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1873-05-08
The Laws Oppre ssion.

life the great poet classes ''the laws de-
lay, the lnsolence of office" The gov
eminent of the United States, since the
high tariff has become Il part of its policy,
is multiplying instances in which the law,
that presumed Instrument of Justice, IS
made a means of oppression to those
whom it ought to protect. The false sys-
tenn of protection drags in its train I'M
numbered evils. 1t necessitates the en-
couragement of spies, informers, and
hosts Of disreputable scamps, whose wits
and activity are sharpened by the promise
of a share in the plumber they may cap
ture. Merchants, honorable men, intend
ing to deal fairly with the world and the
government, are ensnared by these artful
rogues, entangled in the net of revenue
law which no one can understand, and
are ruined.
The case of Phelps, Dodge & Co, which
is making great sensation in commercial
circles, is a sample Of the way in which
the present laws and regulations work.
This firm, heavy importers of hardware,
tin, &c, were charged with fraudulent
under-valuation of their goods, by which
a large amount Of advalorem duty was
lost to the custom house. 1t was in vain
that they offered to show that the cost of
the goods abroad had greatly fiuctuated
during their many years of business I'M
der the protective tariff. In vain tley
offered to show that they had paid as much
in over valuation of invoices as the most
ingenious twisting of the law could show
that they had apparently fallen short
Their books were seized and submitted to
men schooled in making fraud appear
where none existed, and they were sum-
moned to defend an array of suits in the
United States Court Judge Noah Davis,
who was then acting District Attorney,
after a careful examination of the whole
matter, gave his opinion that the firm had
committed no intentional frauds, and was
confirmed in that opinion by the fact that
the Government was gamer rather than
loser in the aggregate, by the alleged
unlawful invoicing.
The custom house experts, however,
who were entitled to a share Of the fines
and forfetures, claimed that the firm owed
the government million dollars. Rather
than defend vexatious suits with the GOV
eminent as a plaintiff, to get their books
and resume their business, they paid
1927 900 which high minded official like
Judge Davis said they did not equitably
owe.
The New York Evening Post, which
though republican paper, does excel
lent service by exposing the folly and
wrongs of the high tariff policy, says that
the particular case of Phelps, Dodge &
GO. IS much more common one than is
generally supposed. A commercial house
of high standing in New York made a
contract with manufacturers in England
for certain class Of wooden goods, for
which the demand in this country was
fixed but limited But the contract was
made for certain quantity of these goods
to be forwarded at stated periods at an
agreed price. They were duly shipped
and duly invoiced at that cost, and the
duty duly levied and paid. So far, SO
well. But it happened that at about the
time of the expiration OF the contract the
importers wanted more of the goods than
they had contracted for, and ordered them
OF the same manufacturers They were
made and shipped, but not at the price of
the goods previously forwarded under the
contract, the manufacturers averring. and
truthtully, that, as the price of the raw
material had risen, they could not afford
to make more of that class of goods on
the terms of the original contract For
this last lot, therefore, the importers paid
the high price demanded, invoicing them
of course at the actual cost and paving
duties accordingly.
Now, could a Treasury agent have got
hold of these facts, he would have dis
covered by comparison Of the cores
pondence and the invoices that the mer-
chant had been receiving and paying
duties on goods at a certain cost for some
| months which the manufacturers declared
they could not have then made at that
price because of the enhancement in the
value of the raw material, and that they
| therefore were invoiced below the market
value. And as proof Of it the informer
could produce the invoice of the last ship
ment, in which the goods were charged at
a higher rate than for some time previous
Yet, nevertheless, there was no fraud
| either in fact or intent, though the tran
| saction might be construed as an evasion
of the law The goods We're not of a
kind that are ever kept in stock, as they
are only made to order, and there is no
other way of estimating their market
value except from their cost. Their cost
was the contract price, notwithstanding
the fact that during the continuance of a
portion of the time OF that contract new
one could not have been made at the same
rate, and consequently the goods could
not have been bought at that price. But
the merchant was not bound to know, and
really did not know, till he ordered more
goods than he had contracted for, that
those he had been receiving, though in
voiced at precisely what they cost him,
were undervalued il measured by what
they would have cost him had he ordered
them at the price which the manufacturers
would have consented to supply them on
a new order.
1t is for such cases as these that spies
and informers, promptedby the tariff laws,