The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-07-20
POLITICAL MATTERS OF A
WEEK AT WASHINGTON.
Importers are Making the rost Of Their
Opportunity.
RESERVE WILL Be LIGHT,
Importations Of Articles Free OF Duty
March to July 90, and Custom Re-
ceipts for the Same Period.

WASHINGTON. d. c., July 20, 1s37.-The
importers are evidently making the most
of their opportunity The completion of
the tariff bill by the Senate gave them a
much more accurate idea Of what its final
provisions ore to be and they now seem to
be engaged in the final round of gathering
into their warehouses every article upon
which the proposed new law is likely to in.
crease the rates of duty. The Treasury
receipts this month have averaged moro
than million dollars day for the busi.
ness days OF the month"; and it is evident
that the rush of importations is going to
continue up to the very day of the final
enactment Of the new law.
This means, of course, that the revenue
during the first few months OF the now
law will be light. Careful estimates made
by experts lead to the conclusion that
much more than q years supply of for
eign woods have been brought into tho
country in the past few months and that
in many other articles the requirements
for year are now in warehouses, duty
paid. 1t is not improbable that the
receipts under the new law may drop in its
first two or three months to Il lower point
than has been known i'll many years, per.
haps in the memory Of this generation.
| If this proves to be the fact the people
should and doubtless will understand the
cause the enormous importations which
have been made In view Of the expected
increase in duties.
| No other tariff law in the memory Of the
| present generation has offered this special
advantage in the period of its preparation
| to those desiring to profit by advance i'm
port ATOMS of largo class of articles. Tho
various tariff acts which have been passed
since the war have in every case reduc-
| ton in general terms and consequently
| have not stimulated the importationS
prior to their final enactment as has been
the case in this instance.
The Wilson law increased the rates OF
duty on sugar and it is well remembered
that in this particular article its final
passage was pre- c,ned, by the importation
Of enormous quantities of sugar by which
alone there was caused n great reduction
in tho revenues under the unfortunate law
during its first few months. But theco
has been 10 case since the war tariffs, prior
to this one in which the pending measure
promised general advance all along the
line and al consequence no such lncen-
tive to general over,importation in nearly
all classes of articles affected by the tariff.
The result will be that instead of the rev.
enue being reduced by excessive importa-
tions of two or three articles as was the
case three years ago when the Wilson law
went into effect, the Dingley law. when it
takes effect, will find many months stock
of nearly every class of foreign goods in
hand and AS n consequence very light i'm.
portations during several months Of its
early history.
A few examples will Indicate to some
extent tho enormous increase in importa-
tions during the past few months. The
monthly summary of Finance and Com.
merce just issued shows the May importa.
tions OF dutiable cattle to be 1895 in num-
Der against l0,067 in May of last year,
while the April importa,ions of cattle in
1897 were e. $40 against 13. Al in April Of
last year.
The May iinportatons Of caustc soda
amounted $50, 755 pounds against 4,223,-
| l50 in the corresponding worth last year,
while April tmp1rtutions were also more
than double those Of April 1896. Tho i'm
portatons OF chicory root in May wero
over 3,0OO, ,CO) pounds against l,36O,0OJ in
May, 1895, while in April tho importations
were nearly s. 100000 pounds against l,2SO,-
000 of the preceding year.
The prospect Of duty on Egyptian cot
ton has stirred up the importers of that ar
| ticlc, the May importations amounting to
> 800 900 pounds against l,36sU0J in May
of the preceding year while tho April i'm
portations were nearly 100000 against u
lrifle over 5,00)C0) in April, 1876,
The following tables show tho importa.
tions of dutiabe md non -dutiable goods
during March, April, May and June OF the
present year compared with the corre-
spending months in last year.
Importation of articles FREQ of duty
Murrh tn Univ 1SDS ~.