The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-08-22
Period Omitted i'm Section Five of the
Free List and the Paragraph Rem
dered Unintelligible.
CUSTOMS PART AMBIGUOUS
Goods in Bonded Warehouses
Likely to Be Affected.
President Cleveland to Be i'm Washing
ton To-Day, Having Left Gray
Gables Yesterday Afternoon. =

WASHINGTON, Aug 21.-Additional er-
rors in punctuation in the new tariff bill
are constantly being discovered by the
treasury officials. To-day an important
mistake was found in Section of the free
list This section provides that articles of
foreign manufacture must be stamped with
the name of the country of origin, and then
says: And until so marked, stamped,
branded or labeled, they shall not be deliv-
cred to the importer should any article of
imported merchandise be marked, stamped,
etc., in excess of the quantity actually con-
tanned in such article" 1t is assumed that
there should have been a period placed be-
tween the words importer and should"
but as there is none. the paragraph as it
stands is unintelligible, and may lead to
serious embarrassments in its execution.
There is another serious blunder that is
said to leave it an open question whether
the imported merchandise now in bond is
subject to the old duties or the new ones.
Deputy Collector Couch, of New York,
came over Saturday TO ask the Secretary of
the Treasury TO decide this question. He
had not discovered the ambiguity of the
language before, and, of course, had given
the matter no thought, supposlng, every
else did, that the new law applied TO
goods in bond well as to those on the
way, but when he read the text he con-
concluded to reflect awhile before express
ing an opinion. The customs part Of the
tariff bill is divided into two sections. Sec
tion / embraces the schedules of articles
upon which duties are imposed, and Section
contains the free list section l says that
"All articles imported from foreign coun-
tries or Withdrawn for consumption shall
pay such and such duties. Section says:
The following articles when imported shall
be exempt from duty, which the Secretary
~,I.r l.I
warehouses when the bill becomes a law.
This applies TO raw wool, lumber, burlaps,
baggng and everything else that has been
placed upon the free list. If they are with
drawn for consumption directly from the
bonded warehouses they must pay the old
duties. The only way to escape them is to
withdraw the goods for export, give them q
sea voyage or send them by rail 10 Canada,
then reimport them, when they can come in
free. Senator Aldrich says that he called
the attention of the Democratic members
of the finance committee several times to
the ambiguity of the section, but they did
not appear to consider il of any impOr-
tance The Congressional Record shows
this to be a fact. The chief of the customs
division Of the Treasury Department also
spoke to Senator Jones and Senator Vest
OF the matter, but they paid no attention 10
him.
Up to this time Secretary Carlisle has
not asked any opinion from the Attorney
general upon the many mistakes in the
bill, and he will probably not do so until
after the bill becomes a law. The Secre-
tary, however. has expressed the opinion
that all goods now in bond which have
been changed from dutiable to free list
will be subject to the duty in force when
imported if Withdrawn for consumption
The goods can, however, be exported and
then reimported, and thus receive the bene-
fits of the free list. 1t is known, however
that this not the intention of Congress-
Early in the preparation of the bill this
question was raised. but the words. "Or
withdrawn from consumption" which ap-
pear in the enacting clause We're then
deemed to clearly indicate that goods in
bond could be withdrawn at the new rates.
But the true significance of the words,
land mentioned i'm the schedules herein con-
tained," which follow do not seem to have
been fully understood.