The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-02-22

tories. The court decided that Tampicc
was foreign port, and Chief Justict
fancy used the following language:
This construction of the revenue laws
/ has been uniformly given by the admins
trative department of the government in
every case that has come before it, and Il
has indeed been given in cases where
| there appears TO have been stronger
ground for regarding the place of ship
ment as domestic port. For after
| Florida had been ceded to the United
| States, and the forces of the United
States had taken possession of Pensa-
cola, it was decided by the treasury de-
partment that goods imported from Pen
| sacola before an act Of congress was
passed erecting it into a collection dis
trict and authorizing the appointment of
a collector, were liable to duty. That is,
that although Florida had by cession &C
tually become a part of the United States
and was in our possession, yet under our
revenue laws its ports must be regarded
as foreign until they were established as
domestic by the, act Of congress. And it
appears that this decision was sanctioned
at the time by the attorney general of the
United States, the law officer OF the gov
eminent.
'' The principle thus adopted and acted
upon by the executive department of the
government has been sanctioned by the
decisions in this court and the circuit
courts whenever the question came before
them. We do not proposeto comment
upon the cases cited in the argument. It
is sufficient to say that there is no dis
crepancy between them, and all of them
so far as they apply, maintain that under
our revenue laws every port is regarded
as a foreign one unless the custom house
from which the vessel clears is within
a collection district established by act of
congress, and the officers granting the
clearance exercise their functions under
the authority and control Of the United
States
1.-THE substitute reported by the COM
mittee does not extend our internal reve-
nue. or customs laws to Puerto Rico. 1t
does not establish a collection district in
Puerto Rico. 1t leaves the collection of
the duties where it is now, with the
president of the United States, and sim
ply fixes the rates that he 9nall impose
upon goods coming into Puerto Rico from
foreign countries and on goods coming
into Puerto Rico from this country. The
president has power to establish civil
government in Puerto Rico without
awaiting the action of congress. A tariff
is already in force in that island under
the orders of the president. He will
modify that tariff if this bill becomes a
law. But the machinery for collecting
the duties is that already established by
the president. Under the decisions above
referred to, will not the ports of Puerto
Rico continue to be foreign ports?
"Our customs and revenue laws have
been extended to all the states and terri
tories in North America, and this bill de-
parts from the rule of uniformity. We
believe we are within the decisions of the
supreme court, although this exact ques-
ton has not been before the court for
decision. There are expressions in some
opinj' rs that may not be in accord with
the legislation proposed in this bill, but
as the question has not been decided we
believe that the court, if a case is pre-
sented. viii decide it under the rules that
the court has established.
'As to the weight that is to be given
to general expressions in an opinion,
Chief Justice Marshall, in Cohen VS.. Vir-
ginia e Wheaton, 1899, said:
- Tt is maxim not to be disregarded,
that general expressions, in every opin-
ion, are to be taken in connection with
the case in which these expressions are
used. IF they go beyond the case, they
may be respected, but ought not to con-
troll the judgment in a subsequent suit
when the very point is presented for de-
cision. The reason fSr thi 5 maxim is
obvious. The question actually before
the court is investigated with care, and
in its full extent Other prin-
ciples which may serve to illustrate it,
are considered in their relation to the
case, but their possible bearing on all
other cases is seldom completely investi-
gated
AS to the value of precedents and the
duty of the court not to follow them
when they are wrong, Chief Justice
fancy, in p Howard, ass, said:
q" 1t is the decision in the case of the F!
Thomas Jefferson which mainly embraces |
the court in the present inquiry. We are |
sensible of the great weight to which it is |
entitled But at the same time, we are |
convinced that, if we follow it, we fol- |
low an erroneous decision into which the !
court fell. when the great Importance Of |