The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1890-07-05
COL. DUDLEy'S LITTLE
:, FECTUALLY Baked.
Fat Fried In Vain-The History OF Certain
Rulings In Relation to The Duty on Ma
hogany When Sawn Into Boards-Poli-
tics In Protection.

The duty on sawn lumber is So ne,
thousand square feet. Round logs anG
hewn timber are free of duty. Hence il
is that cheap lumber, like spruce, hem.
lock and white pine, of which the houses
Of the common people are built, pays q
duty, while mahogany and other cabinet
woods used only by the rich are admitted
free, as they come in logs.
There is n curious exception to this.
An importer Of nchogany of large
means some years ago built a saw mill
In the country where the mahogany
grows.
BY saving the mahogany logs into
boards at the point Of shipment o large
saving in freight Is effected, although it
subjects the sawn mahogany to the So
per thousand feet duty.
This venture proving asuccess, mahog-
any boards began to be imported into
New York in considerable quantities.
This did not quite suit the views of the
owners of those mills which had formerly
had the entire business Of making mahog-
any boards. In order to get back that
part of the business the mill owners un.
dertook to obtain a treasury decision to
the effect that mahogany boards were
not lumber, but a manufacture of wood,
and consequently subject to a duty of IS
per cent. I'D valorem. Such a decision
would make the duty on mahogany
boards anywhere from $50 to 500 per
thousand feet, according to quality. This
would, of course, prohibit the importa-
ton Of mahogany boards and give the
mills in New York the entire business of
saving mahogany logs.
The question was brought to the notice
of the treasury department during the
Cleveland administration, and was ar
gued on behalf Of the mill men by the
Hon. Roscoe Conkling.
The importer argued his own case; but
before going to Washington he took the
%precaution to obtain in writing the opin-
ion of a large number of the New York
lumber dealers as to whether the product
of a mahogany log sawn into boards
constituted lumber or a manufacture Of
wood. The result was that Mr.. Conkling
lost his case, the treasury department de-
Gliding that mahogany boards should be
classed as lumber the same as boards
sawn from any other kind Of logs. This
decision agreed with the written opinion
Of the New York lumber dealers above
referred to.
The mill owners were not yet disposed,
however, to give up the fight. The story
Of their next move, as told by those who
pretend to know, is briefly as follows:
During the last presidential campaign
Col. Dudley was seen, and in considera-
ton Of a certain amount of fat he agreed
to use his best offices with the treasury
department Should Harrison be elected
to have a correct and proper decision
rendered in the matter of mahogany
boards. -
Whether there is any truth in the Dud-
ley story or not, it is a fact that the mill
owners went to Washington after EIarri-
son took his seat and tried to get the
former decision reversed. Some say they
went over to Washington to obtain the
goods they bought of Col. Dudley. The
latter is certainly brutal way Of putting
it. But the mill men were again disap-
pointed. The decision was that boards
were boards, whether sawn from ma
hogany, oak. walnut or pine logs. and
that all boards SO sawn must be Chased
as lumber by the treasury department.
While this mahogany question is not
of very great magnitude, it contains all
the elements of the protective principle
in its simplest terms. !
The fact that under our tariff all the
costly woods used by the rich come in free
while the lumber used by the poor man
is heavily taxed Is a feature of the entire
tariff list. Tho exception of mahogany
boards is one that should not be allowed
to exist. 1t is clearly in violation of the
protective principle. The committee of
ways and means should not overlook it
because it is of comparatively small ac-
count. The principle is there-the mill
wne have given up their fat and
should be rewarded. They should not
be obliged to i their mills in corlpe-
tition with q mill situated in a tropical
country and manned by the pauper labor
of Mexicoor Central America.
Besides that the importer OF these MAJ
hogany boards should be punished. All
importers are wicked, but this particular
importer is particularly SO. Besides be-
ing an Importer he is said to be q Demo
crat. II that is true he certainly gave
UP no fat TO Dudley. but may have con-
tribated money to the other side, and
thus forfeited all claim to protection.