National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-12-01

ton of the libels and their Endorsement to
the prejudice and injary of General But
Ter and Judge Poland, of the Committee on
Revision of Laws, the Pyst assumes the
| full responsibility of their circulation.
How are the mighty fallen, when the
great, old, and highly respectable or
| gan of free trade in the commercial
emporium consents to play second fiddle
to bombastic young journal which is con-
fessedly conducted under such a cloud of
English prejudice as to debar all purely
American interests from obtaining more
than mere secondary consideration in its
columns when antagonized by those of
Great Britain!
The Post charges that Judge Poland and
his fellow committeeman ''have so con-
"strued their prerogaIives as to have act
"ually increased the rates of duty on sew
"eral articles" 1t then copies the Times
list, pretending to contrast the rates of De-
cember l, 1878, with those ruling since
January %, 1874, under the revision, as
proof of its charge, assuming it to be cor
rect, and concludes with menace of care
L
increase of the duties, bad enough in it
{" self, is not so great wrong as the action
"of the committee in thus OverStepping
"their powers and setting aside by a
"stroke of their pen, the laws Of the land.
"The subject should receive the promptest
"attention as soon as Congress meets, and
Judge Poland and General Butler, on
90 oh, he do Cd oil
:'should be called to an instant account"
Now, what was the act of these gentle
| men for which they should be called to an
instant acc cunt at the behest of a selfstyled,
Independent press and its echoes, which
are the avOwed and uncompromising advo-
Gates of free trade? The Secretary of the
Treasury, in his circular No 50, August
81, 1874, promulgating the revision of the
customs laws, holds the following Ian
guagc: "The act of June 90 1874, is, by
" its terms, an authoritative interprsta-
/" ton Of the lao as 1t cristed on December
q, 1875 and, in addition, an absolute re-
"peal of all former and other acts what
"ever, relative to duties upon imports,
from and after June %, 1874" Surely
this is plain enough. The New York i'm
pOrteTs and press were furnished with copies
of this circular, and through it perfectly
understood the position Of the committee of
Congress and of the Department upon this
matter of revision. And that is Just what
3rdS the matter with the whole business.
The press, the importers and their con freres,
the customs agents and attorneys, had been
in the habit of browbeating and coaxing
the Department into the most alarming in
consistencies, in its interpretations and
constructions of our tariff laws. Congress
determined, as far as possible in this re-
vision, to simplify and cOnstrue the true
meaning of the acts in force on December
l, 1873. Its object was to relieve the laws
Of all ambiguity, and render their pro-
visions so plain that every ordinary intel
lect could comprehend them and their full
meaning without the intervention of agents,
attorneys or y 3ny-a-liners. That these re-
suits migh : attained for the future with
out pref &c 10 the interests of any in
past transactions not yet fully adjusted, the
repeating clauses fully attest to have been
the design of Congress
Upon this head the Secretary remarks in
the circular before quoted: ''In its char
"acter as an Interpretation and legislative
construction of acts in force December
Il, 1873, it is not, however, mandatory as
against any duly authorized construction
prevailing previous to the date of its
enactment. In the absence of such
authorized construction holding ad-
"versely, either of the courts or of the
Secretary Of the Treasury, its interpreta-
"tiOn must be complied with" So much
for past transactions. The above applies
to the enforcement of the laws antecedent
to the revision. Now, as to the future, the
transactions since June 90, 1874, about
which so much complaint and appeal is
being made. Here is what the Secretary
says in the same circular upon that head,
and we think it is plain enough, even for
the selfstyled independent press and its
echoes TO comprehend: after June 90,
1874, however, its requirements are abso-
" lutte law, to be enforced upon all impor-
cations, without provision for time
"elapsing or for the date of being put on
"shipboard at any foreign port, or any
other condition or reservation what
ever
We will cite one more clause from the
same circular to show how utterly disin-
genuous, false and unfair was the list
printed by the Times and Endorsed by the
Post. 1t is as follows: Several clauses
''of the tariff acts of March ., 1861, and
July IA, 1862, which were at first supposed
ITO be modified or repealed by the act of June
$50, 1864, and subsequent acts, but which
were revived at various times through
decisions of the courts, or of this Depart
''ment, are decisively excluded from the
present act, and. therefore cease to have
force after the date of its passage Among
these are, first, the rate of duty on GER
tain descriptions of linens, viz: drills,
"coatings, brown hollands, blay linens,
"damasks, which, being names or descrip- |
''tions mentioned in the acts of 1861 and |
1852, were not repeated in the act of 1864. |
''Also a class Of articles coming under the |
general designation of manufactures not |
otherwise provided for, composed of |
''mixed materials, in part of cotton, silk,
wool, or worsted, hemp, jute, or flax
'the rate of duty imposed by these two
''acts being thirty-fve per cent. ad va
'1orem. Many fabrics have remained
"chargeable with duty under authority of |
this clause, but no such classification is
Continued in the act OF June %, 1874, |
"all goods formerly so classed being now
charged with duty according to their |
identity with or assimilation to other de-
fined classes"
The foregoing will serve to show the
principles upon which the Secretary is adj
ministering the laws. The classes of |
goods above named occupy conspicuous
places in the Times lists, and are paraded |
as evidence of snap judgment having been
taken by the committee Tor the Secretary
upon the importers or foreign manufae-
turers. But it will be seen that the whole
business was explained when the law was