New-York tribune., 1896-01-30
Inv rrtrnRAPU TO THE TRIMMED

| WAYS and Means Committee to-day On tne p'N
nosed amendments OF the customs
law was an interesting one anu S' - -,
suggesfions were offered for the colS"c' '.'o "
,ho committee The amendments sugSes'eu ny ''
! General apprasers were approved in the NIL" "'
=, ., tho nersons who addressed the cohlihi''ee'
a,rorp whom were j. X Leeson. president oi .''e
! Hoston Merchants Association; : y. - >o'''
sccretarv of the National Association oi "o'' i"'
ufacturers and Frank Hopewel, oi hoS'''' w
,pp.ared as a special committee oi 'ne
| ,ion. I IL Roese representing w N D. 'o""
I Iohn X Wright representing Arnold 'ohS''o''
! ~, simon Godenberg, representing 'o'"e"'''s
| Yrothers A CO.. and \. A. Reed Oh '"' '
| Goods Economist" representing some thirts ~
| inent importing firms. all Of New-iofN wv 49,
| portnnt facts disclosed by CHAIRMAN '''''''
| in the course OF the hearing . T.,
First, The proposition to submit lHliois,sl,,,
ices TO the scrutiny of domestic
as one of the means OF asc.r,',nS ~, NAMED by the
value OF goods has been de''h''e''
Second-The committee Is no longer ser9gHN n mr. ro
,'1rin, .be proposition TO depend on t"re'sn W -.
sldrhs 'ne ,iong in trade journals and Offers 20
sell as among the means 10 W. rrrs 'vaiue OF I'M
fishing the foreign whoieS"'e "''
| ported goods
MR. Lessons STATEMENT.
| NJ Lesson was the chairman Of commune
| that prepared the original dram OF p',' "',',"
was the foundation Of customs aH"'"''
| isl,tlon He began his statement 'o-nas ~ r.,
| ing that the root Of the main diin'"''' " o, ~
urs ~ Section : Of the Act Of June io ISv' 'nc
| ~ =, bitch uas to impose additional duties IN
| 800 NJ differentiation exceeding 10 per cent :"
,o,,co H.. said this section OF thn Ia" - vi"
| ,ually imperative. In a large proportion u "a -,
| coming before the Board Of General Npp'"''' -
uhich invoice values are advanced ''' '''
1oos no, exceed 10 per cent. and in large proper
~ =. -, cosas in which the advance exceeds
| ,ha, figure the additional duties are re'n''''" "'
| Ira Secretary Of the Treasury. Mr Lesson *
| rrasssl the opinion th,t Il might be b'Ner 10
| sweep away Section and depend al'og''h'' o'
| the discretion and judgment oi the gen''" ai-
pralsors Thee were many cases ne SA''' j" WIN u
| ,ba ,emr,atlon 10 fraud might be- as strong a''
| ,bs evdenc. Of {, as conclusive on An unf"fVa'"a-
,ior ~ 4 or per cent one of % or . per oen
| in other cases Moreover. there might o' ana
o.,,,u, were many cases In which there were IN
1orv,lna,lons in excess even q 10 per cen; where
,h.re was utter absence Of fraudulent intent.
In regard T. remission OF additional duties by the
soro,orv Of the Treasury. Mr. Leeson said II ought
| ,o, - no allowed IN his Judgment In any cas-" "N-
ccp, on the recommendation OF tho Local. appraiser
vr roosor dwet with much emphasis on the deslr-
ability and even necessity Of having local Appraisers
a, every custom house throughout the country
nromptly Informed Of tho nature and scope OF every
| decision Of the Board ~ General Appraisers. AZ
nrcsent these decisions distributed only one" a
| month and that In the form % a printed circNa ar
| ,ssue1 by the Treasury Department tn" result is
,ha, local appraiser at Chicago. san Francisco or
| any other place remote from N"w-fork may t' o"
for weeks appraislng invoices contrary 10 decisions
rendered by M general appraisers NJ. Lesson
| ,l.o regarded II as of great importance tat inc
| number of general appraisers should he increased
| from nine 10 thirteen T. would then Doe pracichh"
| 20 organlzc three suh-boards or courts. a. th"y
are now called and assign - one Of them al cases
| involving textiles. to another all cases an"c'ng
metals and - another all cases affecting other
classes o( Imports At present no such division OF
| Duties Z. practicable one court" may pass on an
| nvolce say Of worsf-i goods and advance the
| y,iue IN Der cent next week another ana an
fcreni court" may pass on an invoice OF me same
| kind and quality of goods with exactly the same
| evidence before u and advance u" NaN' - peg
| cent and the following week third court may
pass on an exactly similar cas-" Win IN" same EVIL
donce before IL and advance ~" invoice p per cent
Mr Lesson asserted that ihls vas by no means an
masnaly S,emsn, hn, one oaSec ', n, "'. W , ,ss ,.e
Uniformity O' c4a-s4N'Ai.oii a. W. - '' o.. -,
ulent he regarded OF vital impor;dnc' ana 10 So
| cure the former he though, 70 would De Ni-r ana
necessary 70 make ne decision o ~, n.'ir ~.
cral Appraisers binding on tOH''iots an" ','a i
Gers 81 customs Ia all cases except mos" IN "hrh
ia" Secretary Of the Treasury sho''n '"Ne d" "P'
| peal
NEW YORK IMPORTERS VIEWS.
simon Godenbers Il Ncw-York. who Is an iIi-
| n,rter or laces and embro.dores Of some forty
years experience. discussed the pending bI from
that poin, of view. The main question. In MS op'n
ION was 70 prevent unleryaludtons. which nhde
the business II the honest importer "A precaron.
one and which IN his line OF bus. ness he thought
exceeded ~ per cent Of the toiaI amount ol 'l'- M
an importer Mr.. Goldenberg has been calleI IN as
a merchant appraiser several hunirei tin's 10y
customs officials assist IN fixing the actual value
OF goods In cases where the invoices aroused sus-
pciOn. As the result OF the experience mus ob-
,elned he was convinced that whenever under
valuations found In an invoice the who.'
should be advanced. Instead OF only those artlc.es
,h .lvftr n "A
tha, It s honcycombed with fraud. ana ne earnestly
recommended anne niment which would TX IN,
responsibility Of unier'auHiions on 'h' ar'uA a.
| owner or ultimate consignee. Instead OF on an IT.
responsible agent or "stool,pseon. AcSorIins l., \,
| Mr. Goldenbcrg considerable business Is done DS
foreign manufacturers with importers IN this coui
try on Joint account The goods are osiensibly so,
10 the latter and invoiced far below the market
value and after the goods are rcsoid the prohts are
divided between the importer ana IN" MANUFACTURED r
lie mentioned one recent transaction Of this sor
which yielded a profit Of 30 per cent 10 each or h'
MIR Iiopewen appeared as a representative OF
American wooller manufacturers and also az al
importer on his own account. II" advocated th'
amendment which is designed to secure greater uni
formlty by giving the decisions OF the general ap
pralsers greater force than they now have. II wa.
within his knowledge that In cases whore Invoice
had been advanced by the general appraisers an'
the advances sustained the Treasury Department
mad instructed collectors and local appraisers Il
.dmit without advance. other Invoices OF the sam
kinds and qualities Of goods lie SAID that the hni
ngs OF fact by the general appraisers should by al
means be final. In order 10 secure uniformity o
results and prevent mistakes and frauds II,
should be taken away from the Secretary OF tn
treasury and he also called attention to another ex
ercse OF power by that official who often instruct
collectors Of customs In cases where Invoices hnv
been advanced to llquilate the entries at the al
vanced rate This IL On.y roundabout way Of re-
hitting the additional duties which the law imposes
and IL Is asserted by competent and experienced
customs officials that while the drec, REMISSION