, 1882-04-22

between No. Z and No. 10. The law pro"
yides that sugar not above No. Z Dutch
standard shall pay a duty OF fig cents per
pound and 20 per cent ad valOrem; sugar
above No. Z and not above No. 10 2, cents
per pound and % per cent ad valorem,a and
SO on through the higher grades. OF the
i 5000, 900, 900 pounds imported during the
last fiscal year over Il, 900, 000, 900 came in
and paid duty as not above No. 10.
About four years ago the Treasury De.
partment discovered that sugars of high
saccharine strength were being manufac-
tured of so dark color as to rank below No.
Z, and thereby secure admission at a low
rate of duty. Secretary Sherman claim.
ed that the coloring was done arti1-
cially after the sugar was made and for
the express purpose of defrauding the
government. This, the importers claimed,
was not true; that the c~oloring was the
natural result of the manufacture of the
sugar, and not done artificially or with
fraudulent intent.
"The result of Secretary Sherman's
alleged discovery was that in September,
1879, he issued that famous order which
audaciously interpreted the act of n
gless so as to permit the government in
SpectOrS to use the pOlariScOpe as the test
for the grade of the sugar, disregarding
the color. The departments claim was
that the Dutch standard in color as used
III the statutes meant the color of the sugar
obtained by the ordinary processes OF
manufacture as practiSed at the time OF
the enactment of the law adopting such
standard, and that any means@ used to
degrade the color of the sugar during or
after the process of manufacture was a
fraud upon the revenue. The Department
5vrA,,aNoI ,c4o.~ - onur. 4h0% oil CIR ~ ~
the apparent color of which was not No. z
Dutch Standard, and which contained
over uinety-three per cent and not over
Dlncty seven per cent of crystallizable
sugar in 100 parts of the dry substance,
should be classified as above No. z and
not above No. 10, Dutch standard.
Where the percentage was over ninety
seven per cent the sugar was to b9 CLASH
fed as above No. 10. Customs Officers
were instructed to seize sugars for for.
fixture where they were satisfied the
importer, owner, agent or cOnsignee had
knowledge that they were artifcially
colored for the purpose of d%efrauding the
revenue.
"In the bitter contest between the
importers and the government which fol-
lowed this order hundreds of thousands OF
dollars worth of sugars have been seized,
over three hundred lawsuits have been
begun and over 80, 000, 900 in duties have
been paid under protest. This money will
now be at once returned to the importers,
and one firm alone will receive S5OO,OOO
of it.
"WiII the result Of the decision be an
act of Congress changing the ta:itf so as
to Justify the chemical or pOlariscOpe testF'
asked the Herald reporter.
at may possibly follow. Mr.. Chandler
has already introduced a bill making Q
uniform duty of twenty-five per cent ad
yalorem."
allow would the importers regard
that 2"
ooh, that would suit them, of course,
because they now pay, even under a legal
Interpretation of the tariff, from fifty to
seventy-fve per cent"
Assistant District Attorney Herrick,
who was prosecuting counsel in the suit,
stated that the Supreme Court in its
decision had given the same view that he
had ~takeninhis opening address to.the jury
namely, that the law for the collection
of duties on sugar, which was passed in
1870. was then an ad valorem duty, and
all subsequent legislation had proceeded
on the assumption that Dutch STANDARD
was the standard for color; science had,
made great progress since then,
and it had brought about a change in the
of the relations between the
sugar importer and the government. He
conceded with the Supreme Court when
It stated that further legislation by Con.
gress was absolutely needed if the govern
..o-4 uoo r. 11@o;n tho ran1,iCsfae ~