Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-01-31
PHILIPPINE TARIFF
The Commission Points Out the
Necessity for a Revision.
SPANISH CUSTOMS IN FORCE
Exhaustive Review Of a Subject
of Vast Commercial Interest.
IN ASE IN TR A D E

The division of insular affairs of the
| War Department publishes the following
| interesting extract from the report Of the
| Philippine commission Of November 80.
| 1900 concerning customs in the Philippine
| Islands:
| 1.-THE custom house at Manila was opened
| for business by the United States military
| government August 20, 1898. The Spanish
| tariff and customs regulations found in
| force We're continued. In anticipation OF
| the occupation of Manila, translation OF
| the Spanish tariff, with some notifications,
| had been prepared in Washington prior to
| the arrival of the troops, and by order of
| the President, dated July 13. 1898, directions
| were given to proclaim and enforce this
| tariff in the islands soon as the United
States forces obtained possession This
tariff and the accompanying orders were
received at Manila in September, after the
custom houses had been in operation for
seIne weeks. 1t was at once published, to
take effect October 1, 1898. The proclama-
ton of this new tariff and the short notice
given of the change brought forth many
protests, petitions and requests from mer-
chants and other persons doing business in
Manila, and it was decided by the military
governor that if put into effect at once the
new customs duties would derange trade
and prejudice American interests. He there
fore postponed it's Enforcement until No
Vcmber 10, 1885, Meanwhile a board of Of
ficers was appointed to consider the nlodi-
fcation the consumption excise taxes
ON cigars and cigarettes, which had been
proposed by the authorities in Washington
In connection with the tariff. Upon recon-
mendation of this board these excise taxes
were suspended. In October, 1893, an eX-
pert on revenue matters sent out by The
VlaANl lnnt li1 in fhn rt.,rp
of the tariff arrived at Manila, and he was
instructed to make such revision seemed
reedful. The tariff and regulations pre-
pared by him were practically translation
of the Spanish tariff and regulations. and
We're put into force November TO- 1898, in
place of the tariff above referred to. which
had been prepared in Washington The
tariff and regulations thus es tabliShed, with
some slight notifications which appeared
necessary from time to time, are still in
effect.
Necessity for Revision.
The Spanish tariff and customs regula-
lions were framed to meet conditions es-
sentially different from those which have
prevailed under American rule and in con-
sequence there is an urgent need for re
vision. Objections have been made both
to the tariff itself and to the regulations
under which it is enforced. The objections to
the regulations are, however, of much greater
frequency than those to the tariff. 1t is COM
planned that the present regulations involve
unnecessary delay and expense in clearing
goods, and constitute serious restraint on
trade. The rates of duty have been crti-
cised in numerous instances and there are
serious faults in the classified ton, but there
has been comparatively little complaint
with the tariff as a whole
thorough revision of the tariff and of
the regulations was begun in June, 1900, by
a board of officers appointed by the military
governor under Instructions from the War
n atar NJ
War this board reported to the United
States Philippine commission on August 25
1900, and turned over with Its report all
the information, correspondence papers
etc, which it had collected as bearing on
the revision. The United States Philippine
commission has taken up the task of re-
vising the tariff. and has a new tariff law
| nearly completed. When completed and
| approved the new tariff law will be pub
| lisbed and a sufficient interval allowed be-
| fore it goes into effect to enable importers
to adjust their business thereto. In the in
| terVal the regulations Will be revised in the
| form of an administrative act to go into
effect on the same date as the tariff.
| Complex Character.
| The Spanish tariff now in force consists
| OF (a) specific duties on all imports; (b),
sur-taxes for harbor Improvements; (c) So
| called ad valorem taxes on imports; Cd.
| consumption taxes on certain Imports; (e)
| miscellaneous charges, and (D, export du-
ties In its present form 1t originated in
| the royal decree of January Z, 1891. This
| decree established specific duties on all
| goods imported to these islands, and upon
| certain goods exported Other taxes were
| established subsequently,
| 1t is somewhat difficult to arrive at an
| estimate OF the exact burden which the
tariff lays on the commerce Of the islands
| owing to the fact that the invoice values
| are not used as basis for calculating the
duties and do not necessarily correspond 20
| Inc true market values At the
time there is no temptation to understate
the values, as would be the case If the de-
clared values We're used as the basis for
the tax. The statistics published by the
| Spanish government end with the year
| 1884, and the records for later years are
missing. AS most of the rates were alter
ed between that date and the American
| occupation, these elder records are not
particularly useful for comparison. More
| over, we cannot now ascertain the princi-
pies on which the Spanish statistics were
compiled, and cannot, therefore, correct
the many apparent errors and contradic-
| tions with which these reports are filled.
But taking e~fgures we have them,
it appears that the Spanish tariff imposed
| in 1894, a burden Of about sixteen per cent
| on the commerce of the islands, goods
| from Spain being excluded from the cal
culation. Taking the declared values as
| basis. the total duties collected by the
United States custom houses in the islands
on all dutiable imports amounted to 3d.
per cent ad valorem. which corresponds
quite CLOSELY TO the result OBTAINED dUOVe
| from the Spanish statistics, If allowance
| be made for the s per cent ad valorem
taxes which were added to the Spanish tar
if between 1894 and 1898. On all the i'm
ports, free and dutiable together. the bur-
den is about p per cent. 1t is safe to
say therefore, that the import duties con-
sumo about one-fifth Of the value Of the
goods.
Duties on Specific Articles.
1t is, however, much more important to
consider the effect of the duties on particu-
lar articles. A duty some one article
so high as to be well nigh prohibitory
would not effect the general average, as
such articles contribute very little to the
total duties paid.
OF the twenty-one commodities, the total
importation Of which exceeded 100000
(gold) during the calendar year 1899. one,
namely glass. paid 81 per cent, and. one.
petroleum, 1912 per cent OF the invoice
values. -
One striking characteristic of the Spanish
| tariff is that 1t descriminates in a marked
| way against the poor and in favor of the
rich Thus cotton cloth and rice. the poor ma
tives' dress and food. pay 25.6 per cent and
1872 per cent, respectively. while silk and
| prepared foods pay only 2O.S per cent and
"a per cent. respectively. Beer Is not q