, 1874-02-27

4dH &E2AQh6 QE 1oVtn0 04s0 H41&Z3s
Mr. 8. B. Eaton, htely of Chicago, now
member Of the New York Bar, has written IN
able and interesting pamphlet entitled ''seizing
Booka sud Papers under the Revenue Lh1s,"
which the New York Chamber OF Commerce his
published.
Tho process OF seizure is simple 4 SPY
lodges IN information Judge Issues seeret
warrant; the books and pape1a ara seized and
arc kept, IN the words Of the law, "as long IS in
his [the Judge's] opinion the retention thereof
may be necessary" This is very different from
the eeizure Of amuggled goods. The two are
sometimes spoken Of as identical in prin-
ciple, but 10 parallel lies between than~
Merchandise, hAble to conhscztlon, Is seized
and held for trial; papers. not Lis
bio to confscation, are seized and held as evil
dence- This arbitrary interference is poaaibls
whenever it appeara that ''any fraud on tho
revenue has been committed" "F1sud," in
the dictionary, implies deliberate deception; IN
the Revenue Law it implies nothing Of the sort.
L mistake may have been usado through acci-
dent, ignorance, negligence, omission Of tech
nicality, or what not. In any cage it Is fraud
Now, cur Revenue laws arc such q mass OF oon-'
tradictions and antiquities, that no man can be
sure Of understanding them. The Secretary o.
the Treasury was appealed to for arbitrary inter"
p1etations OF different phrases Ave thousand
times within the last year. Mr- Eaton eaJB:
The law requires invoices, oaths, certificates, snd
declarations, not once only but sometimes in dup-.
cate and sometimes in trrltzte Of conaignota ton'
su1s OWNERS agents. purchasers, and conss2nee5, re-
gardng the most minute particulars Of cost oarke'
yz1ue freghts inland and innumerable other charges
In respect any Of which particulars siuas error
no matter how unimportant, renders an importers
books and papers nabla to seizure.
After the seizure, the importer must LOOK fof
Justice to set OF officials, every ono OF "hon1'.
save the Judge snd the Secretary Of the Treas
ury. has ''direct pecuniary interest aEa'ns1s
him." That their zeal for conviction rnsg 70
sufficiently great, it is provided that not only
the goods wrongly entered, but the whole n
voice containing that entry, ahal be condscatea.
Thus Phelps, Dodge i Co., charged with fraud
to the amount of $1,000, compromised the eae'
by paying the Government and its suboralnases
$271, 900.
The law ia declared to be unconstitutional
The power OF Congress in respect to auch mat
ters is all drawn from the following proT7s'ona
of Art. !, Sec. 8:
The Coueress shall hsys power:
To lay and collect taxas, dutiss, imposts, and az
eses and
To uaake Ill laws which tha be necessary auo p1op*&
for carrying into execution the foregoing po"<1S-
The fear that tho Federal powers might be TOO
great led to the adoption OF the fourth ano
Fifth Amendments:
The right Of the people to b secure IN their pe'oo
houses, papers, and effects, agstnss n"'eaao9'aos.
seqrches and setzures Bha not ba vioated; anu nv
warrant shall tasue but upon probable eause' soP
ported by oath affirmation, md particularly dksM ~
1 tho pl1ce to b searched and tbs pezsona or thne1
to b seized.
No pe1son aha1l 10 deprived Of llfe ubery OF prop
ezty rithoue due process Of las1.
|. The Supreme Court has decided that tho 'due
process OF law" retera to the "settled ussse'
and modes Of proceeding existing in tho eon.~
mon and statute Law OF England before too
emigration Of cur arc.stors~" LII. Eaton qoose'
Z mass OF authorities to show that Nan csnno'
| be compelled to csiminate himseH, BY e'snef
oral OF written testimony, in eou1t Of hH o1