St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-03-17
FIGHT ON MAYO.
Tobacco Importers Find Fault
With the Customs Ap-
praiser.
COMMERCIAL CLUB ASKED
To Have Experts Come to Ex-
anime Tobacco He Re-
fused to Pass.
BOTH SIDES OF THE CASE.
Mr.. Mayo Says 1t Is Purely
a Matter Of Judg-
ment.
BOTH SIDES OF THE CASE

| A fight is being made by some Of
! the tobacco importers on Charles E..
! Mayo, customs appraiser, on ac-
count of his refusal to pass at the
| lower rate of duty all the tobacco in
| a large consignment recently re-
| ceived here for the firm of Mitchell
| son & Spencer. The following letter,
| which the firm has prepared to send
| to the Commercial club, fully ex-
| plains their side of the case:
ITO the St.Paul Commercial Club
Gentlemen: We desire to bring to
your notice, with a view to enlisting
your cooperation in remedying it,,
a disadvantage under which the i'm
porters of tobacco in this city are
at present laboring-a disadvantage
that directly affects adversely the
business interests of the city. The
hardship to which we refer is due
to the lack of knowledge and fair
ness on the part of the customs ap-
praiser here, Charles E. Mayo, in
his appraisement of imported to-
baccos.
1--WE are engaged in the business
of importing tobaccos, and recently
imported 14S bales of what is known
in our business as Havana filler
and binder tobacco. These bales
average about 120 pounds each, and
the rate Of duty is 50 cents per
pound. The rate of duty on what is
known as wrapper tobacco is $1.5O
per pound, and the law provides that
this rate shall apply to any stock
that runs
OVER 10 PER CENT WRAPPER
tobacco to the bale, presumably to
prevent the avoidance of the higher
rate Of duty by shipping the higher
grade stock mixed with the lower
grade. Through lack of knowledge
of tobaccos or a spirit Of unfairness,
or both, the appraiser charged us
the higher rate Of duty on twenty
one bales of our consignment, where
as we claim, and can prove, that it
was all filler and binder stock
When we protested he cut down to
twenty the number of bales on
which this higher rate should be
paid, and when we still complained,
he reduced it to sixteen, making a
difference of $1,965 between the
amount of duty charged and the
amount actually due.
THE law further provides that
one bale in ten is to be examined,
and it is not contemplated that this
examination is to be made in such a
manner as to damage the goods, it
being no difficult matter to open
the bales in a way that will make
it easy to rebind them. Instead of
this, Mr.. Mayo cut the cords on most
of the bales in our entire shipment,
causing us a damage of at least
$500-nOt that the stock was injured
to that amount, but that purchasers
to whom bales thus opened are sent
get the impression that the stock
has been opened by some other pur-
chaser and rejected.
AT the ports of New York, Chi
cago, Milwaukee and ST. Louis,
where experienced tobacconists are
retained as appraisers, the same
class Of goods on which we have
been charged the higher rate of duty
here are admitted under the lower
rate. The result will be, and has
been, to drive the importation from
this port of entry. Importers will
have their goods entered at ports
Where there are experienced ap-
praisers to classify them, thus put
ting the st. Paul
IMPORTER TO INCONVENIENCE
and the city to a disadvantage in
the comparison of it's imports with
other cities.
THE amount Of duty paid on i'm
ported tobacco more than equals
that on all other imports, taken as
whole, at this port of entry. The
duty on the tobacco now in bond
here for our firm and the firm of
Kuhles & Stock will reach the sum
of $4,000, which gives some idea of
the Importance of the business. But
practically no more will be imported
here until an experienced and fair
minded appraiser has been selected
to classify the goods. While it is a
TACT that the petition of Mr.. Mayo
for his reappointment by the present
collector was signed by a number of
importers, it was done for the reason
that at least some of the signers