The anti-monopolist. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1874-1878, 1875-04-15

to be almost prohibifoyy: Ad valorem IS Fer
cent; per pound, 81 cents; consul fees, insur-
an,e, transportation to Liverpool, ocean
freightage, brokerage, carriage, aggregst;ng Is
to 100 per cent The duties on ready made
clothing, together with other charges attendant !
1Don its importation, very nearly equal those |
mon the raw material so that it would be i'm |
possible for private citizen to purchase his
clothing from an English tailor, by order, to
any advantage. But the metnoo OF evaolng
the payment of duties on goods 1T this charac-
ter aIe numerous and easy Of adoption. a
prominent Chestnut street merchant states that
one of his customers-a gentleman widely
known in this city and State, and generally
esteemed-was the recipient recently OF an
offer from a famous London house to fill his
orders and deliver clothing IN this city at pre-
ciselv the Same rates which they charged in
England. and similar proposal from Mon
treat (Canada) firm To do this, recourse must
be had to smuggling. This, as we have said,
NAV be accomplished in many ways: but the
most fashionable is that practiced by the Eu-
| ropean tourist, who, returning from the con. :
tinent, brings with him the commissions OF
| relatives and friends, and without the slightest
twinge of conscience has tenn passed by the
1rhe,un a0's' of ' dollars worth Of
fine clothing may thus be sent free Ct duty in
he course Of the year to the fashionable
smugglers of Philadelphia, who take the
ground rents and interest moneys of Phila-
| delphia tailors to pay their bills to London
tailors But scarcely less guilty is he who bar
| gains with foreign houses Tor his clothing, con-
scious that they will be sent to him unin-
| voiced and by the way of Canada Bogus emf
grants trunks, dishonest appraisers, lying
| tourists-all c,nspire, not merely to cheat
the Government OF its legal dues, but to ruin
| the trade of our merchants and increase the
xe ,eral depression in business. From the most
careful estimates of our leading tailors the di-
rect loss to the trade in this city through these
| smuggling operations may be safely stated at
t,oo hundred thousand dollars yearly, quite
| three times that amount in New York and
neatly that in Boston and Baltimore together.
Now then what are the conclusions de-
ducable from this article?
l. That we pay, under the tariff,
twice as much for our clothing
as it would cost without the tariff. Fig
ure up, dear reader, how much the cloth
ing Of yourself and family have cost yor
during the last ten years, 1.-THE war closet
ten years ago. and then divide it in half
and one-half was tax levied
on you; about one-tenth Of
which went up to the govern
ment and the remaining nine-tenths int
) the pockets of the manufacturers. The
ask yourself what you got in exchang
for all that money, possibly represented
to-day by mortgage on your farm. An
/ then remember that this is only part
the robbery. That tho same system ha
affected the price Of your nails, iror
tools. horsc-shoes, ploughs, machinery
glass. paint, putty, lumber, in shor
: almost everything you have purchased.
9. This letter illustrates how the yer
vllainy of the system defeats itself b
e provoking smuggling for the benefit of tt
$ rich. The poor have no such resource
d they must pay and suffer; they cann'
9 make a trip to Europe and come hon
= with loads of clothing.
e There is no remedy bat to vote dow
l. this old Wing party in new disguise,a Al
: destroy the pernioious system.