The Forrest City times., 1891-08-14
A COMPLICATED DUTY.
SOme of the Absurdities of the America
 Tarifr Upon Lead Ores.

Iarln Upon Lead Ores. It was complained of one Roman Elm perOr that he caused the laws to be writ ten fin exceedingly small characters and hung high upon the pillars of publica- tion, so that the short-legged and the short-sighted could learn the Emperor will only through the courtesy of tall and ar-sighted friends. Whether or not the Emperor had grudge against little and weak-eyed men this story does not say, but his evil design was to make it difficult for citizens to know the law, and betray them into crime ih order that he might enjoy the spectacle of tlieir punishment
 Cautiously enough. among modern na- tions, the free republic of the United States is one of several to emulate the practice of this Roman Emperor. It requires an expert to know what are the tariff laws of this country, and private citizens are deterred from importing foreign goods because it is so easy for the importer to break the law. The lead ore tariff is an admirable illustra- tiOn of this very point. Ores Of the precious metals are, and have always been admitted to the United States free of duty. But ores of lead pay duty. Now, it happens that most of the silver now produced Is found in combination with lead. Mexico sends us a great deal of such ore. This being the case, it be- came necessary to determine what DOT ton of the douby laden ore should come in free and what portion should pay duty on tho lead contained In 1880, says Wa ngton correspondent, the Treasury Deu4Ftment decided, in n specai case, that a silver-iron ore was entitled to free entry as silver ore, in which the value of the silver was "large- ly in excess of the value of the iron, |" The principle involved in this decision was twice reattrmed six years later in the case of ores containing silver and lead the Senate Judiciary Committee also, in 1888, reported in favor of the classification of such mixed ores accord ing to the metal which predominated in value
 Bearing in mind the technical distinc- tion between 8 silver ore and an ore of baser metal, even though the latter may
 have a modcum of silver in 1t, and. that lead ores, and the lead contained in si- yer ores, pay duty of one and one-half cents pound, it is very important to find out, when a load of ore containing both silver and lead comes into this country from Mexico, whether 1t is tech nically silver ore or lead ore: for, in the one case, duty must be paid on the whole bulk, while in the other 1t is paid on q part only.
 Within a few days a Treasury circular came out announcing that "in determin- ing the value of lead contained in Mexi- can ores, such values will be computed at
 the latest known price of bar lead in the New York market less 13 cents per | pound."
 This means that there has been fresh l onslaught by the owners of American
 smelting works to procure change in the valuation established year ago, namely, the New York price of bar lead less l cent pound These men have been anxious to get the deduction from the New York price increased to cents, while the few owners of American mines which produce silver-lead ores that can be used in fuxing have worked hard to keep the old rate intact. The cent-and- a-half basis is the result of compro- mise between the two conflicting inter- eSts.
 One and one-hali cents duty on a pound of lead ore means $50 a ton---a tax which operates as an absolute prohi- bition.
 Now, how is the question of ciassifica- tion settled9 Specimens of the ore as 1t reaches the American port of entry are taken out of the cargo and assayed. The amount of silver in weight to the ton, is estimated from this assay, and also the amount of lead. The Collector then ascertains the New York price of silver, according to the latest available advices, and deducts 5 per cent. from that--supposed to be about equivalent to the cost of transportation across the United States, and thus to represent fairly the difference between the value of silver at the Mexican border and in the metropolitan market. By multiplying this capitalized price by the weight of silver to the ton of ore as shown by the assay, the silver valuation of the ore is determined.
 A like process is gone through with the lead in the ore, except that specific sum per pound, instead of percentage,
 is deducted from the New York price. If, on comparing the two results, it is found that the value of the silver in
 ton of the ore would be greater than the
 value of the lead in the same ton, the ore is treated as silver ore, and ad-
 mitted on payment of the. duty of l 5s
 cents per pound on the lead which could Uc cAJl dCtCu HUH buc OIc
 This Mexican ore business illustrates the charm of our protective tariff sys-
 tenn as few other things can.
 Suppose shrewd Mexican shipper to
 have discovered loose joint here and
 there in the method of handling ores preparatory to the assay, and to avail
 himself of this discovery by arranging
 his shipments so that only high grade I samples shall fall into the hands of the
 assayer, while low-grade ores are really
 in the majority. It is not reasonable to
 expect that, with tens of thousands of
 tons of ore crossing the Mexican border
 every year. the utmost care can be exer-
 cised by the inferior customs force em- | ployed there. Moreover, the incen-
 tives to corruption under the present
 regime are very great, and an unscrupu- | lous mine-owner could we'll afford to
 smooth the path of his low-grade ores l into this country if he could find the
 right men on this side of the frontier to
 help him by picking their specimens
 knowingly
 But, even supposing the matter to be
 honestly conducted. it has taken several
 days, let us say, for the shipper to get
 his ore from the mines to the border
 When it left the mines. the price of sil-
 yer was one dollar and two cents an
 ounce in New York, but, by the sudden
 unloading of spectators, it has dropped
 to ninety-five cents before the assayer 1 gets chance to pass upon the speci-
 mems; or lead, which has been three and
 q half cents pound for some time, has I mOuut0d tO fivA centS Either nf tho a