The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1891-06-12


usv Ysrk c.ston sssnss Ome<rs Tryia< -
kill Foreign Trade -Extra putir<- fee-
alfi~s and Delays An Angry Importer.
| Mckinley i dead politically. for the
| time being. but his soul goes marching
on The war which he declared
against our foreign commerce i being
prosecuted vigorously and ruthleSsls BY
the New York custom house oflieer~
There are loud and frequent complaints
| from importers against the unnecessary
DELAY in getting their goods through
! the Official mill AZ the custom house.
and they claim that through these UNI
| explained delays the sale 81 their goods
| 4 lost The merchants in interior
cities grow weary 81 waiting and tinally
countermand the ir orders. leaving the
I importer in the lurch
One curious provision in the Nckin-
lev law is that whenever there ! any
doubt a 70 which Of two duties applies
70 any article the higher duty isrto Be
assessed. Not long ago = merchant in
New York imported some s>oo worth 81
weits for making gloves The subor-
dinafe officers in the custom house
were in doubt. and 50 selected the
higher duty. making il sii.ooo. Bat
this was too steep for the collector. he
reduced the dnty 20 some S20A
Another way in which the customs
officers are applying McKinlyism i in
arbitrarily raising invoices in order 10
make the duties heavier. and in imp0s-
ing fines for pretended underyaluat.ons
of goods
Not long ago a New York firm Of
clock manufacturers received from Paris
small invoice OF marble clock cases
which were inroiced AZ the same price
that the firm had been paying for
years and which had always been passed
at that price BY the custom house OFF,
GERS The firm fits up these cases with
its own clock-work- Soon after this in
voice arrived the firm was notified that
its value had been raised p per cent
I've appealed" saws the treasurer Of
the firm land on reappraiSal prices
were reduced on some patterns 20 the
invoice and on some 70 about 1. per
cent above the invoice We appealed
again. and were told By the board be-
fore whom we appeared that We were
buying these goods cheaper than the
law declared TO be market rates that
buying but few patterns-by the hum
bred at time-we were getting lower
prices than dealer could get who
bought by the dozen. and that the price
the latter would pay was the market
value at which the goods should pay
duty We were assured that there was
no implication against the honesty Of
our entry
'Onthis re-appeal the last figures were
confirmed. advancing prices about II
per cent on some Of the patterns The
invoice was a small o1e-only $50
and we made no further objection
| The duty on these goods previous 70
the last tariff was 80 per cent The last
tariff increased il 20 80 per cent Our
entry was advanced SO. on which the
additional duty was SIS We received
bill from the custom house of Sl39.
sl06 being charged as penalty. and we
are advised by counsel that there IS no
remedy. We must pay
| The treasurer well denounce< this q
1 "down right robbery The spirit Of
/ the law seems 70 be- he adds. that An
| importer is thief. and i TO Be treated
accordingly Never in my twenty-six
| years business in New York have l en-
countered any thing which has given
me such feeling of outrage or made
/ me 50 indignant
The importer is but an agent Of the
people who buy his goods. the injustice
and the hardships which Mckinley ism
heaps upon him il heaps upon the
American consumers Of his goods DO
those consumers like it3