, 1874-01-01

| with the Consul, the Consul sends Que to the
signed, and the third ID sent to the importer.
Upon tue arrival of the vessel. tho Custom
House officers inspect tho cargo and make Q re-
turn to tho Surveyors office. The merchant
then delivers lis iuyuice to broker. who maEes
| out an entry in the form prescribed by Law,
and duplicate, one Of which is delivered
| to the Collector md the other to tie
Naval Officer. This catry, NTH The invoice
! ana bill Of lading, is examined b5 tho cutry
clerk. If the three papers compare correctly, he
estimates the dutiss On the invoice vaue aud
quantity, certiHcs the invoice, and grants per-
NIT for the final delivery Of the gouds, making
also minute Of the American gold value Tor the
|. foreign gold value. In the Office of tho Naval
Officer these papers are all examined with like
particularly, and the invoice and permit arc
taken back to the Collectors Office, where the
DeputyColIec.or administers tho oath, and dcs;g-
mates On the entry, invoice, aad permit tho
packages to be sent to the Apprniser's Office fog
examination. This completes the first STEP
Experts in the Appraisers Office examine tho
contents OF tho various packages, and mark upon
the invoice The specific and dd ralorem duty Of
each article. These calculations aro often c1-
tremcly delicate. Tho following rates Of tariff
under tue law Of 1870 will show the complex
pature OF this examination:
Cotton tissues other than je2ns ETC., weighing
ounces per square yard, no. over 1G0 threads per
square inch, warp AID dilIug-Hc PER square yard
and 10 per cent uI r1loTeR..
D:tto 100 not $50 threads per square inch
6Ec per square yard and 20 per cent nd r,t!orem,
Ditto, 1850 and not 200 threads per squaro
iuch-same duty.
Ditto, oveS 100 threads-sa1ne duty.
The sane Determinations through MI the lines
Of cotton goods tho duty varying according to the
weight, number Of threads and ;alEe, and being both
specific and cd ralofem.
These examinations are made with powerful
maGnifying gl2saas by exports, aud then the |
invoice, bearing the result OF this critical re-
search, il returned to tie amendment clerk in
the Custom-House, who, in red ink, amends the |
invoice according to tho Appraisers return. All |
the preceding forma]ities amount to nothing
because the Appraisers return Of the invoice is
final. Tho wlclo invoice stands as nothing
-64-A49*
is allowed but it is to determine the accuracy Of
the Appraisers valuation, and not Tint Of the
invoice. The slightest error III computing the
weight, or the number OF threads, or the pro-
portion Of silk, cotton, or worsted in tho fab
RIGS, may double or reduce the amount Of the
legal duty. Alter nll this, tho importer pays the
duty certi1 ed by the Appraiser to be due, and
gets his goods. That in business amounting
to, perhaps, I've millions Of dollars year, with
imports embracing every variety Of textile fab
nc, mistakes will happen, is inevitable. Tho law
seems to hare been prepared to mako these mis-
akes as numerous possible. 1t vi1l be seen
hat the law, after spreading wido its
lets in order to catch every importer at some
ir,s in some mistake or error, establishes after
u the arbitrary decision Of its OWL Appraisers
g final and conclusive against the importer,
hrowing tho latter's invoice out Of the reckon
ng altogether. After five years, these customs' |
licers discover errors in the original Invoices, {
nd proceed to destroy the business aud charac-
er of merchants, and conascate millions Of dol {
ars' worth Of property the pretenee that there
al been loss Of few hundred dollars Of rev. i
oue. It may turn out tlat Jordan, Mnrsh j. t
Q. have willfully violated the law, but it is t
ut at jeopardy the immense business Of their ,
ouse Ito say nothing Of their good name us s
for tho tria;ng SUM which they could | i.
kpect to make as smugglors.
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