, 1881-04-17
PROTECTION FOE HoMEHAoE sroaKs.

! The female sex, rs 1T present constituted
! may be divided into two comprehensive
classes-viz.: women who paint anu wolll-
! ell who paint china. The latter class
may be Sltbdiydel into women WHO, for
some inscrutable reason,- paint soup-aishes
ant. buttcr-bowis: women who paint plaques
| with gaunt storks engaged III one-lesged
reflection upon colossal frogs several miles
! away; women who paint tiles with sunf1ow-
ers which are Caillarine wheels aud with
eiln trees growing il tluwer-pots; women
who paint fans on tlatirons; and women who
paint Gargan1uan mDnstrosities upon screens,
blue owls upon pink trees, green ships
sailing upon yellow seas, cat-tails growing in
deserts, and morbid japanese women enyel-
oped in patchwork dolmans. This latter
class Of women who paint things have re-
Gently been brought into close RELATIONS with
the United States Supreme Court and the
Treasury Department. The story is brief
but touching. It seems that some one
attempted to bring into New York a
lot of plates with pictures on them ;nvoiccl
rs chlnawarc, with the fot1l intcnt Of de-
franding the revt.nGe bypay1ng only the duty
that would be collected for ordinary wasl.-
bowls and stone jugs that have never been
transformed into symphonies Of color By
the estietic young woman. Tile customs
officers seized and held tie symphonies, and
the case went into litigation. Tie lower
court was esthe1ic in its views, ard had cyi-
IDENTIFY been trained nj home to distinguish |
between kioto stork and Kankakce
swamp heron, kllcw datlo~ from M inter- |
mar iota ns,9 Il
duet itselt:tl!at 1t should be worthy of the
andirons which Its wife hud raked out Of /
her giandmotter's 4earrct. Consequently it
held broadly tllat the value of pictures (
painted by land depended upon the skill Df
the particular artist who painted them
IN coursc Of time the case went into tile
Supreme Court Of the United States.
md the venerable old gentlemen who
compose that august body, having no
blasted esthetic nonsense about them, no
sentimental pning for storkS, dryiI-lsh,
dragons, and other monstrosi~
les that now form the s1a1le of modern art,
md who can't tell symphony III coIor from
page out OF the Nibeiungen Trilogy, de-
iberateiy sat dawn upo, the whole thing and
eld that no amount Of painting upon china !
ould make it anything but china; conse-
ueitly. that painted plates, no matter how
lceIy they are painted, are only plates, and
My rs such are dutiable. Under this rule
hey become decorated china or porcelain ,
ARE, and pay only 10 per cent atl ualoren,
uty, instead of paying 60 per cent I'D rttlo- \
m, as paintings OIL china or porcelain. IS
Such decision as this must be al iron
hicl1 will enter the soul of the young won- :.
who palnts things, for it must naturally
nd to stimulate the Importation, of paint I
plates and jugs, and by SO much diminish II
e protection afforded to homemade plates 4
III jugs. III this there is a great principle =
volved. It lnaKes no difference that our
)ul:. women who paint things will grow II
hortleberries on oak trees and cocoanuts i
ground pine; that they will plaster every c
Ing III the house from the kitchen table to
e Old trunk i'll the attic with evidences of
cir l,andlwork; that they will swarm every b
ling with tlocks Of fms; that thty will | n
rSist in having the most extraordinary ! - =,
'rks chase the most extraordinary butter :,
Is across mountains that are a5 biz as HEX | d.
nuts; or that they will make bulrushes 81
'sstnl out in water-liiies, and heur de lis W
DIV on running vines. This is not to be o.
nsidered. Our home industry must be ~ ~
)tec;ed. II our laundresses cannot -,
along without 6atIrnns adorned with m
rhs and green yiolets. shall wc be cum- ee