, 1874-05-24
HULIORS OF THE TARIFF.

| SO m1nJ and extraordinary aDautoitles RnQ III
oonsistencies, that the careful student Of the
American tariff will find the 1udicrous and the
stupid everywhere commingled- There are
many legends related Of our legislation on the
ago the printer, in sott1ng up the list OF articles
in the free list, accidentally "pied stickful Of
the matter. Ho VAS abie to correct all the lines
except one, and into that ho put all the
| type that WAS left without any reference to the
order Of the letters. The word they produced
Was OF sesquipodalan length, and it WAS duly
published in the law. Every time the tariff VAS
amended aud re-onacted, this unpronounceable
name Of son,o UNKNOWN article wns repeated in
the free List. When the War broke out, and the
protectionist7 got control, thoy took it from the
free List md put duty of 90 Fer cent On it; in
subsequent acts, the duty Was Increased to 80
and 40 per cent under the theory OF protecting
homo industry, and thus it contln.f,d until few
years ago when the origin of 10 mysterious
article in the tariff was made knoss>-=sld then
the name WAS dropped from the law.
| .NIr. David 4. Wells, in letter in d New York
paper, relates eome incidents in tho way OF tink-
| ering the tariff even in the earlier days OF the
Republic, and gives the true version Of the i'm
| poztation of 1eaden statuary in order to avoid
the tariff laws. He prefaccs it with the story of
the law enacted BY tho authorities OF q French
town to the effect that mo citizen should walk
| out after dark without lantern r.; and how 3
fo3. $hia 1o&v md md
punishment by proving that he had q lantern
| with him, but which contained no candid. The
| law WAS amended go ns to require both lantorn
and candle, and tho same man escaped punish
meut by exhibiting his lantern with An unlighted
candlein it; the Law was again amended so rs to
require lantern and lighted candle, and the same
man again defeated tho law by using dark Ian
tern in which Was concealed lighted candle
This story was burlesque upon the incapacity
Of the rural Frenchmen to make laws; but 1t
has been substantially repeated by the United
States in their attempt to put tax on imported
lead.
From 1916 to 1925 there WAS low duty on i'm
ported lead, and the manufacture Of white lead
| Us q basis for paints became great American
industry. About this time occurred the dis
oovery Of the lead mines at Galena, and the
belief existed that these mines would be able to
supply the entire world. The next thing was to
protect American lead from competition.
Therefore, the duty was doubled and in 1928
the duty on lead in pigs and bars Was increased
to cents pound, boing an addition OF 200 per
cent. Tho law, however, did not chango tho
duty on white lead, and tho American manu-
facturo1s woro threatened With the annihia:ion
Of their business, md therefore they put on
their spectaclcp to find como defect in tho law.
They found that, while Congress had put tax
Of cents q pound on pig lead, it had left tho
duty on old lead at Is por cent. Agents we're at
once sent to Europe By the houses engaged in the
importation Of metals to purchase MI the old
lead that could be found So sharp was the
search that the supply WAS exhausted and con-
tracts we're act1nlly made to furnieh now lead in
exchange for old; old roofs were taken or and
new ones put On without cost to the owner
the American tariff actually making old lead
moro valuable in this county than new. Old
quantities; the Custom House authorities we're
astounded at tho tender Of Is por cont duty, and
refused it. The case WAS sent to Washington,
and decided in favor OF the merchants, the law
being defective, and its speedy amendment was
promised.
Tho merchants, upon further examination OF
the tariff laws, discovered that any person i'm
porting muskct-balls or leaden bullets should
pay duty thereon OF Is per cent or the goods
should boforfeitod. They therefore instructed
their agents in Europe to buy up ell the u1usket-
balls and 1cadon bullets they could find, and to
have others manufactured, all Of which in time
wero received in the United States. There Was
another TOW at tho Castom-House, but the
authorities at Washington were forced to decide
that lead in this form was only subject to tho
duty of Is per cent, but declared that the law
would be amended.
Then followed an extraordinary interest in
getting hold OF new sets of standard weights,
the weights varying from halt an ounce up to
ffty-six pounds, md also clock-Teights and
leads used BY na7igatoEs for deep-sea sound
IuHH LtuQ III All lAESS 1OIIUa HA6 EAL6ISlFelJ
imported, and the CuBtom-Houses demanded tho
duty Of cents per pound. This being refused,
they soized the ''clock-wc1ghts, acale-weghts,"
aud 'sounding-leada " that wero imported. The |
case WAS heard at Washington, and again it was
decided that the law. with all the amendments, |
did not cover these articles, so the importers re-
ooived thoir goods at Is per cen. duty. Some |
time after this, New York merchant I'M
ported, for d publisher, an invoice Of |
stereotype metal, which was then on the free
list. The metal came over in pigs and bars, and |
as it consisted merely OF lead mixed with q small |
proportion of antimony and bismnth, the Gus
tom-Houso authorities regarded it as another |.
trick of the lead dealers, who would undoubtedly
separate. the constituents, and sell the lead
separately. Tho invoice WAS seized, and suit
was entered in the courts. The trial waa short