The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1897-08-07

| Although appraisers functions legaHy
| go no further than this. II has long been
customary for them 10 fix the amount
| Of duty also. and IL IL exceedingly rare
| for collector TO make change elmer
I'm the rate or the total The warehouses
and stores" of the United States are IN
/ charge of the appraisers, and their en-
ployees include examiners, gaugers,
| chemists and experts i'm the manufac.
! ture. component parts and value OF ev-
cry sort OF article that the ingenuity of
man has led him to invent. labora-
| tory is attached TO each of the larger
appraisers offices and is a most essen
| tial adjunct OF the service. The analy-
| sis OF sugars is the most important
| function Of these laboratories perhaps
| but samples OF all sorts OF imported
oils. emulsions, essences, perfumes
paints. alcoholic preparations. etc. also
/ pass through them.
Not all ports OF entry have appraisers,
! there being Ga custom houses and only
"A appraisers offices The latter are
located only in the largest ports Of entry
and are all situated on the Atlantic
Pacific and gulf coasts except those at
/ Buffalo. Cincinnati, Cleveland ST. LOUIS,
Chicago and Detroit. Naturally the lar
gest appraisers office is I'm New York.
for more than 70 per cent of all the i'm
portatons of the United States are re-
| ceved at that port. AT the present time
! the United States appraisers Office
| there. with its 430 employees, and what
/ are known as the public stores" are
| located I'm three or four dingy old con-
Meeting buildings on Washington street.
! The floor space OF these quarters is
much too small and the arrangement Of
] l,a ic at "a
/ be. but the Offices and stores will be re-
moved next December 10 the great new
/ structure now building on Christopher
| street. No one i'm his sober senses can
| speak OF this building as a thing of
beauty. but IL is certainly large. and the
attaches of the office are eagerly look
ing forward to doing business under it's
broad roof.
The general appraisers. nine In num-
ber. whose jurisdiction extends over all
ports of entry, are also located in New
York 1t is their chief function to hear
and decide appeals from the rulings OF
appraisers and collectors.
Besides the collectors and appraisers
offices. there are the naval officers and
their assistants, whose function IL is to
keep close tab on all the transactions Of
the collectors: the revenue cutter serv-
ice. organized TO prevent the surrepti-
tious landing of goods at points other
than ports of entry, and the special
treasury agents. These last in effect
make up sort OF detective bureau for
the discovery OF all sorts OF frauds con-
nected with the fixing and payment Of
CUSTOMS duties.
ttl IA MOST INTRICATE SERVICE.
To the outsider the customs service
seems hopelessly intricate. Its records
| alone are voluminous almost beyond
! comprehension, and for checking and
other purposes nearly or quite all are
duplicated, many are IMPLICATED, and of
some Ii might be said they are multipli-
| Gated, so many times and I'm so many
| places is the information they contain
set down. Have you imported an in
voice Of goods? Every little detail of
interest TO the government about the
Importation Is recorded at least thrice
on the appraisers. the collectors and
! the naval officers books-and the rec
ords are SO indexed that each separate
detail could be looked up 10 years or 100
years from now, The date Of entry. the
value and the classification OF the
goods. the amount OF duty determined
upon and the date Of payment are all
/ inclUieu. w ntlntl iHlONEH fNNiituA VI
design. II your goods have been under
valued or improperly classified your
name is sure TO he set down in the lists
Of those for whom the governments GUS
toms service must be on the lookout. II
John Smith, a customs employee, is
suspected of funny business" of any
sort such as being in the pay of an inn
porter, his name goes down In the lists
I OF the special treasury agents, and so
does the name OF the suspected import
4 n.
From an these lists and records and
the elaborate indexes that are kept
I complete and detailed history OF every
man's transactions with the customs
service Nigh be collated in an exceed
ingly short time n Is a singular thing
I in the circumstances that the books and
records OF the customs service are not
kept on uniform models. but they are
not. though there is a probability that
this defect win be remedied under the
present administration. Spasmodic CT
forts have been made in this direction
/ IN the past. bu. the coming attempts
seem more likely to be successful, as the
service is now SO enormous as 10 make
4 uniformity almost indispensable to the
proper dispatch of business.
Attaches Ot the customs service must
not only familarize themselves thor
oughy with the current law as u stands.
but also with it's Interpretation az
shown forth i'm the various court and
other decisions ia appeals, and the de-
mand for such information was years
ago so great as To lead 60 the establish
ment of The United States Revenue
Journal a periodical devoted TO the
joint news of the internal ievenue and
the customs services. Each Issue OF
this paper contains the full text or di-
gests OF the latest rulings and decisions,
synopses OF questions raised. lists OF the
principal officials In both the customs
and the internal revenue services, etc.
and II Is made constant use OF not only
by government attaches. but also by
many importers. brokers. distlllors and
men who have 20 DO with all sorts Of
products taxed either directly or indi-
rectly by the general government
The newspapers have been fillcd FOR
days with elaborate analyses OF the new
schedules and comparisons between
them and the old ones. but few OF these