Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-10-24
MKlNLEY'S
o,,esrIos OF THE VALIDITY OF THE
TARIFF ACT.
ono,., r,pre.sion with Respect to It-No
Fears Entertained by Friends
of the Law.
,.,o~r.nh 20 the DIspatch.I

various grounds, one pcuIB 0ioi'""i VI
rors and omissions in the enrolment OF
tho hill with the conference committee
changes. Concerning these publications
Secretary Window said this morningthat
he knew nothing officially about protests
AGAINST the legality OF the Mckinley
tariff hill AZ do not, he said, regard
Il "a a proyince OF an executive oihcer 10
nnestion the constitutionality OF acts OF
Congress. II is for him TO enforce
the law as he finds it and not TO
determine questions affecting Its le-
Calitv. am therefore executing the
Mckinley tariff act a. ! find 1t approved
by the President Of the United States
and certified TO as correct by the Presi-
dent of the Senate and the Speaker OF
the House of Representatives., and
shall continue to do so unless compe-
tent legal tribunal, such as the Supreme
Court, decides that the law is
unconstitutional. 1t IS not for me
to question the validity Of any OF the
SIGNATURES TO the bill as enrolled.
Neither is il for me to determine whether
the bill signed by the President did or
did not in fact pass the lower house.
Much less is it for me to determine
whether the omission Of the tobacco
drawback section or any other provision
of the bill invalidates the law as whole.
AS | understand it the act of October !,
1890. is q law OF the land. My duty,
therefore,. is plain, and ! shall execute
its provisions to the best Of my ability.
It's constitutionality is a question for the
courts, and until they decide against II
1 shall be governed by it as it stands.
Attorney General Miller positively de.
clined 10 discuss the question in any OF
its bearings, saying that it would be
manifestly improper for him to do SO
unless it came to him in an official way.
Commissioner of Internal Revenue
Mason, who is specially charged with
the execution of the tobacco provisions
of the law, confined his remarks In re-
gard to the alleged illegality of the law
to the following statement: 81 viii
obey the law as certified by
the Secretary Of State. 1t IS not
for me to say whether or not
the omission OF the tobacco rebate pro-
visions violates the law. Being merely
an executive officer of the Government,
| must enforce it as find it. Anyhow
the tobacco schedule does not take effect
until January LIST, so that if Congress de-
sires to refund two cents pound on all
tobacco on hand when the law takes ef-
feet it has ample time TO legislste to that
end.
no ALARM.
Noalarm whatever is felt here among
the friends Of the Mckinley bill as to
the legality Of its enactment The pre-
cedents of unnumbered years, an old
and experienced employee Of the House
said to-day, leave no doubt that an err
ror, whether of omission or commission
in the enrolment of bill passed by
Congress, does not vitiate any part OF the
measure except that part to which the
error relates. Errors of some kind
occur, he said, at every session OF Con-
gress in at least one or more important
bills, and to hold that the omission or
insertion Of any paragraph, word, or
punctuation mark invalidates not only
the part Of the bill to which the error is
relevent, but the entire measure would
establish chaos in the affairs of the Gov
eminent and compel Congress to remain
constantly in session to correct immedi-
ately on discovery errors IN bills signed
by the President in order that the opera
tons of the Government might be car
ried on.
at is safe to say" he added, "that an
error occurs in at least one appropriation
bill during each Congress, and yet there
has never been any doubt entertained by
the accounting officers of the Govern
ment or by any one else as to the validity
of all appropriations except the particu-
lar one affected by such error. In the
enrolment of the tariff act of 1888 a
comma was improperly used in the
'fruit-plant paragraph and the mani
fest intention of Congress thereby de-
feated, to the great loss Of custom-reve-
nues, but there was no question as to the
validity of the other provisions OF the
law when it was passed upon by the Su-
preme Court.
During the very last session of Con-
gress an error was made in the enroll
ment of the river and harbor appropria-
ton bill by the omission OF two ciphers
in the amount appropriated for the i'm
provement of the Illinois river, so that
81, 200 instead of 500, 900 was appro-
priated. A week or more after the bill
became law the error was discovered
and Congress promptly passed joint
resolution to correct it. The fact" he
continued, "that in this joint resolution
as in numerous others passed for the
correction of similar errors, Congress
enacted no provision to give legal effect
to the remainder of the bill, shows con-
clusively that in the opinion of the legis-
lative branch Of the Government an
error in one part OF measure does not
vitiate it as a whole"
THE New York Herald says that the
importers Of that city are determined to
test the validity Of the Mckinley tariff
law. 1t is claimed that section 80 OF the
printed copy of the bill given out as
having been signed by the President is
incomplete. 1t now reads as follows:
Section 80. That on and after the LIST
day of January, 1891, the internal taxes
on smoking and manufactured tobacco
shall be 6 cents per pound and on snuff
6 cents per pound.
In the original bill passed by the
House On. X. 9416) this section read:
(4l9) Section 80. That on oil original
and unbroken factory packages OF
smoking and manufactured-toba and
snuff, held by manufacturers or dealers
at the time the reduction herein provi-
ded for shall 60 into effect, upon which
the tax has been paid, there shall be al
lowed a drawback or rebate of the full
amount of the reduction, but the Same
shall not apply in any case where the
the claim has not been presented within
sixty days following the date of reduc-
ton and such rebate to manufacturers
may be paid in stamps at the reduced
rate and no claim shall be allowed or
drawback paid for less amount than
s..
1t shall be the duty of the commits
sloner of internal revenue, with the APP
proval Of the Secretary of the Treasury,
to adopt such rnles and regulations and
to prescribe and to furnish such blanks
and forms as may be necessary to carry