The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1884-12-31
TREASURY DEPARrMEST,


.' BUREAU OF STATISTICS
WASHINGTON, ID. c., DEC. 90, 1881.
"Dr. John Il. Hayes, Secretary ofihe Naiioua
As'9cia'i0a Of IHool Manufacturers, Boston
Mass: /
"AIr DEAR sIa-When I saw you in
Boston a'few days ago, You remarked tc
me that in your opinion an erroneous i'm
preston has been produced us to the getl.
eral result of the tariff net OF March 8
1883, and as to the work oil the tariff com,
mission, OF which You were chairman, in
consequence Of n misapprchension arising
IRON my official statement that .lteaverare
nj valorem rate on MI imported merclaI,.
disc has been reduced only about fire per.
cent? s1.5'F'Sf + :.
u told you ! would write you on tho
subject after my return to Washington.
u have also seen in the public press
one Or two comments Of tho same nature
rs that made by you. As you know, |
gave in detail the effect Of the tariff act OF
March 8, 1883, upon each commodity and
class OF commodities. I did not, there.
fore, deem it advisable to instruct the pub.
tic rs to the meaning which they should
attach to the expression average
al valorem rate Figures are but
words, and the fntfrmities of speech attach
to them US to other words. might have
expatiated upon the precise significance
OF the expression referred to, and perhaps
have prevented any such misapprehension
as that OF which you spoke, but Il there is
a fault which l desire most carefully 10
guard against, it is Of prolixity.
"ln illustration Of the pyssible inlirmity
OF the expression average nd valorem
rate, asapplied to the results Of our tariff
laws, will tell you story.
"a sound Irishman visited Rome, and
there met u friend and fellow.country-
man, who was pursuing the vocation OF
butcher. The butcher acted rs n guide,
and this is part of Pats story OF sight
seeing rs toldto his sweetheart upon his
return.
:" The most wonderful man I saw in
Rome WIS 4 shtone man, --..s-
ga shtone MANI calculated Mary.
"Yes, replied Pat; and. they called
him the Polly Belvedere. AS We were
looking at the shtone man, says the butch.
er to me, says he, Pat, you and the Polly
Belvedcre are very much aloike," and on
that we measured. 1 was broader than
him in the iut, but he was higher than
me in the instep. l was larger than
him around the ankle, but he had me in
the cali. Of the leg. My knee was larger
than his, but he was better than me in
the thigh. My belly was twice us large
around as his; but his brist was twice us
large around as mine. Then again, nv
neck was much larger than his, but his
head was muah larger than mine; but MS
the butcher said, on the general average,
We were just about the same thing.
So recurring to the tariff, you reduced
the duties on iron and steel, butyou raised
them OH carthcn and china ware you put
the duties down on wool, but YOU put
them up on glass and glassware; again you
lowered them considerably on manuiac-
lures OF silk, but you raised them consider
ably on spirits and wines; but on the gen
crat average-weii, this not quite so
broad as Pats story, but it does seem to
squint little that way.
"What shall We do then? Shall we
warn the public against the possibly mis-
leading nature OF the representatives.
age nd valorem rates? It may possibly
be OF some interest for you to know that
have actually done something OF this sort
in my forthcoming report, showing in de-
tails the operation Of the tariff act Of
March 3, 1883, for the last fiscal year.
hope to be able to send you a copy OF this
report on Monday next. am, my dear
sir, very respectfully yours,
Jos. NIMNo, JR."