Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1901-05-25
A CELEBRATED CASE.

Federal Court Decision Which Strikes .
blow q Undervaluation-
A legal question of extraordinary in
terest and Importance in its varied
bearings and it's remarkable possibili-
ties has just been decided by the
United States Circuit Court Of APP
peals. In the year 1898 the treasury
department learned through reliable
sources that a system of large under
valuations existed in connection with
the Importation of embroideries from
Switzerland and other countries. By
the instructions of the department
different customs officers took up the
subject for customs investigation, and
during the. following year this class
of merchandise coming especially from
Switzerland was advanced from 80 to
40 per cent by the appraiser at New
York, and this action by the appraiser
was appealed by the importers to the
United States Board of General APP
praisers, where the cases were heard
by General Appraiser Sharretts. who
promptly reduced the advances referred
to above to Az per cent.
One appeal was left to the govern
ment, namely, from one general ap-
praiser to the full board of general
app aisers, and it was expected and
believed that the collector at New
York would promptly appeal the case
He not only did not appeal, but re-
fused to take this action, and was f.
nally overruled by the treasury de-
partment and ordered to appeal the
cases to the full board of general ap-
praisers for final adjudication The
full board of general appraisers sus-
tanned the original advances referred
to of 80 and 40 per cent. The case
was taken before the classification
branch of the General Board of APP
praisers on the purely technical ques-
ton of jurisdiction, and this branch of
the board decided in favor of the i'm
porter, thus invalidating the action of
the full board of appraisers. The
treasury department then took the
case to the United States Circuit
Court, and Judge Townsend, following
his usual inclination, turned down the
government, thus sustaining the ac-
ten of the collector of the port and
of General Appraiser Sharretts.
The treasury department again ap-
pea1ed the case to the United States
Circuit Court of Appeals for the Sec
ond District of New York. The decis-
ion has just been handed down from
this court, which reverses Judge Town
send, Collector Bidwell, General APP
praiser Sharretts and the Classification
Board and sustains the position taken
by the government.
In legal points and stripped of con-
fusing technicalities, the case is this:
Enormous undervaluations existed.
This was proved and confirmed by the
highest court, but the collector of the
port claimed and actually exercised
the absolute right of final judgment
as to whether the government should
or should not appeal from an unsatis-
factory appraisement by a single mem
Der of the Board of General Apprais-
ers. Had the decision of Collector
Bidwell been sustained the govern
ment would have been compelled to
rebate 1854, 900 to the very undervsl-
uers who now are paying duties based
Sson the final appraisement made in
this case. 1t would have had the effect
of practically placing the appraising
department of the government in the
hands of the collectors of customs
throughout the country, and of strip
ping the treasury department of the
power to compel the collection of rev.
enues to which the government was
entitled under the law. 1t would have
made a subordinate officer of the
treasury department superior to the
secretary of the treasury himself, SUI
perior to the courts, superior to the
law 1t would have made the local
collector 1.-The whole thing" as re-
CARDS valuation. appraisement and the
collection of hundreds of millions of
revenue Fortunately the United
States Circuit Court OF Appeals saw
the danger and the illegality of such
a state of things and smashed it,