The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-11-05
WARM W0RHIN BRIMST0NE
SENATOR JONES AND FRED GRANTS
PROFIrABLE SULPH UR NINE

PROEIff RLE SULPH UR NINE.
A Plain Violation Of the Constitution OBJ
bling the Merchants TO Rus Brimstone
Mine In Nevsda-A custom House Ordes.
prominent merchant said yesterday,
:" with the ordinary exaotions aud asoalities Of
Republican ofnoials, high aud low. we are all
familiar. but such an outrageous violation OF
the rights OF merchants has never been heard
Of II oonclusivey proves that neither COM
meroial nor manufacturing Industries OF any
description are safe where toll oan be levied
upon them for the benefit Of friends or relations
OF tho party In power. Though 1 have always
been Republican. my vote shall be cast against
Grantism, for n It Is perpetuated. l see nothing
In the future but a practical Paralysis OF the
vital powers Of tho nation"
Tho outrage calling out these energetic re-
marks was the illegal ox,ction OF a duty Of $40
ton on crude birthstone. This has virtually
paralyzed the large refining business done In
birthstone by New York merchants, and the
charge was openly made that this Illegal duty
was put on to protect the operations OF Senator
Jones and Fred Grant, who have a birthstone
mine In Nevada. From the foundation OF the
Gov srnment up to the present time. with the
exception OF one short interval, crude brim-
stone has ALWAYS been admitted free OF duty.
1t comes IN large sacks, principally as ballast
though occasionally, when there Is a scarcity in
the market. small profit Is made In its impOr-
/ tatiOn. All that comes to this country has
hitherto been brought from Sicily. Under the
act Of June 20. 1864. duty Of 90 per ton was I'M
| posed upon crude brimstonc. This, however.
was for war purposes, aud, by the act OF July
| IA, 1870 crude birthstone was again made free,
and continued. without question. until this
| fall, when, under secret orders from Washing
| ton, duty of $40 per ton was laid upon IT, THIS
| Is the same duty exactly as that placed upon
refined brimstone, or birthstone In rolls.
! The plot was cunningly contrived. Tho duty
was collected In this way. On the plea tnat
there WIS some irregularty In the entries, de-
posit Of $40 a ton ON all entries Of crude orim-
| stone was exacted. The entry was then not
| hquidated; In otncr words, the money was
| tained. Alarmed at this. test case was made
| by one or two merchants. ana their entries were
| lquidated at $40 IA ton; the result being the
sime IN both c 'ses VIZ: that an illegal duty OF
| $40 a ton was charged. One of the prlncipll
officials In the Custom House was expostul ted
! with about the matter. He admitted that
| the exacuon illegal and violation
of the rights OF merchants. lie excused AIM
self bv saving that It was orders from headquar.
ters and. shrusgins his shoulders significantly,
| he drew his finger across his throat a. much -
| to say that It would be a. much rs his head
was worth to dlsobcy. A SVN representative,
| who visited the Custom House, found the ilqui-
ddng department very reticent In reference to
Are you charging duty Of $40 a ton on
| crude brinstoucT asked a gentleman who ac-
cOmpanled d him OF one OF the head official. ~ no
| Is that with your replied the officials. lie finally
| admitted that entries hld been huudated at
| mon rumor that senator Jones and frediGrant
had hrin stone mine. In the rotunda on the
| order book tor the use OF the entry clerks, was
| the following order; -
Collectors order No. 5l'
You are hereby notified to exact ceposit OF slo
orders. JonS u LYpRcxER.
Aciing Collector.
Iti.allttle singular tnat so important an or
| der should have been issued by a subOrdin, ,te
! oificer IN the Collectors absence. An Official
| attempted To- Justify tins exaction by saving it
| apDraisers claiming
| birthstone rolls as refined, whether they
fraudulently entered as crude. and was sold to
gunpOwder manufacturers, who cannot use II,
unless chemically pure. lie SAID III II VIII lt some
| Of the merchants claim TO be crude Is in one
| sense sublinated, being passed down into tho
hold Of the vessel over hot plates. aad that an
| The importers rehners, an 4 guupowder manu-
| facturers denounce this statement as false. \
| gunpOwder manufacturer seated that although
| brimstone was sometimes bought crude it had
ALWAYS TO be refined by cleaning II Of all voa-
| tho impurities, acids, Ac before they couli use
| II. For some time the reiners labured to
discover the secret Of the exlciion. bui IN
vain the so per ton for crude briustone was re-
| morseiessiy exscted. II was soon found out that
refined urlmstnne was on the We tern mark kets
| at a considerably lower price than II could be
| bought for IN New York. simultaneously, the
news was W fled east that av ,iuabls birthstone
mine had been discovered IN Nevada some time
since, and tuat senator Jones had secretly pur-
chased 1t aud given Fred Grant an important
interest. OF Cours Eastern renner- could not
paw duty OF $40 per ton on crude birthstone,
and refine II Ia con petition with the owner, Of
"A mountain OF urltbStOue III NtNuua, VINO hdd no
such tax 10 pay. petition was al once Tor
rded t. the Secretary Of tho Treasury by the
prOmln mt rcnrers. setting forth the uuJ Justness
OF the cxactiOn, but up to date he mas not
deigned to return an answer. In the meaniiin1
the renaers are forced To discontinue business
or to carry II on at rates SIMPLY ruinous
prominent importer of crude birthstone said :;
" TITS unn't hurt the Importers, but ~ u death
to the rehners who can't stni Il West 10 c m
pete with the Nevada mine" lie continued 4:
y early all the refined birthstone has hitherto
been manufactured ~ New York and the VI
cinity and sent round the Horn % the Pacific
coast, where II j. used largely. THIS mine l. un-
derstood to be owned by senator Jones and Fred
Grant. We have been wears IN the business and
never heard of "A duty teing levied on crude brtn-
stone efore, except Tor short time during the
war. Importers OF course, Will aid the duty to
the price and viii not be losers, but II Will be
| simply impossible Tor renners to pay duty Of
| SO ton and compete with those who have to
| pay none. 1t In understood tnat this duty 10
| levied on the ground that the birthstone Is burned
| out OF the ground and therefore refined but II
Is singular that the entry OF the article free has
been allowed for nearly ahundred years, and
that Just now, after the discovery OF "A or1m-
stono mine IN Nevada, IL has been found out
that the article Is refined There Is no truth In
| the ASSUMPTIONS OF the Custom House ap-
casionelly found 81 may little pure nOwtrs OF
sulphur be once and while found In crude
brims tone Ihe duty W 5 put on the rennei
article TO protect renners aud to prohibit the
sulphur. but TO continue the duty on the crude
article will efectually destroy an important
branch OF commercial industry"
| Should no decision be made IN their favor, the
| rellners propose to carry the matter into the
| courts. They have ninety days to commence a
suit In, but II is probable that after next Tuesday
| they will he content 70 await the arrival az the
| White House Of a President who nas no rela-
| tioDs interested in birthstone mine.
a ~ YrT