Sharp County record., 1891-06-25
s......s.-s-.s.sxCuSTOMS.
5fk Custom House Officers Trying to
al Foreign TUade-Extra Duties, PEN

II al Foreign TUade-Extra Duties, PEN
s'aIties and Delays-An Angry Importer
Mckinley is dead politically, for the
time being but his soul goes marching
on. The war which he declared
against our foreign commerce is being
prosecuted vigorously and ruthlessly by
the New York custom house officers.
There are loud and frequent complaints
from Importers against the unnecessary
delay in getting their goods through
the official mill at the custom house;
and they claim that through these un-
explained delays the sale of their goods
is lost. The merchants in interior
cities grow weary of waiting and finally
countermand their ORDERS leaving the
importer in the lurch.
One curious provision in the McKin-
ley law is that whenever there is any
doubt as to which of two duties applies
to any article the higher duty is to be
assessed. Not long ago merchant in
New York imported some $500 worth of
welts for making gloves. The subor-
dinate officers in the custom house
were In doubt, and so selected the
higher duty, making it $1,000. But
this was too steep for the collector; he
reduced the duty to some 5000.
Another way in which the customs
officers are applying McKinlyism is in
arbitrarily raising invoices in order to
make the duties heavier, and in impos-
ing fines for pretended undervalua tions
of goods.
Not long ago a New York firm of
clock manufacturers received from Paris
small invoice of marble clock cases,
which were invoiced at 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 clocli-work. Soon after this in
voice arrived the firm was notified that
its value had been raised 25 per cent.
"We appealed" says the treasurer of
the firm "and on reappraisal prices
were reduced on some patterns to the
invoice and on some to about II 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 hun
dred at a time-We were getting lower
prices than a 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.
sOn thisre-appeal the last figures were
confirmed, advancing prices about II
per cent on some of the patterns, The
invoice was a small one--only $3.50
and we made no further objection
''The duty on these goods previous to
the last tariff was 80 per cent The last
tariff increased it to 80 per cent Our
entry was advanced $40, on which the
additional duty was S23. We received
bill from the custom house of S129,
SlU0 Delng charged as apenalty, ana we
are advised by counsel that there is no
remedy. We must pay,
The treasurer we'll denounces this as
"down right robbery" "The spirit of
the law seems to be-" he adds, that an
importer is a thief, and is to be treated
accordingly. Never in my twenty-six
wears business in New York have | en-
countered any thing which has given
me such feeling Of outrage or made
me SO indignant"
The importer is but an agent of the
people who buy his goods; the injustice
and the hardships which McKinleyism
heaps upon him it heaps upon the
American consumers of his goods. Do
those consumers like it?