New-York tribune., 1912-04-02
TOBACCO IMPORT DOUBLES
outy Paid on Cuban Wrapper
I caf Shows 100 P. c, Increase.
nIIE TO CLOSER WATCH
c,,,eotor Loeb's Policy of In
snecting Every Bale Proves
profitable to Custom House

- tbs publication cf the semi-sn-
y, tobacco import and export taoies yes
h"e q vas disclosed that in the last year
r'u. has been 1Oo per cent increase IN
tei' .o,nt Of Cuban wrapper leaf. on
tns s.,' f,rl wrapper duty IS paid by Ameri-
ran importers -
r,n ,abIes mark the first practical sta
., occourt of tobacco imports under
so, regulations Of tho Treasury De-
..,a,+ made after the countrywide IN
pI.1ua,,on Of the tobacco importation bust
-, the customs officials. which vas
,...,r.,v announced IN The Tribune y
year sgc ..
4, .old at that time, the wrapper tobacco
,.no-s especially from cuba. from which
-, nv far the greater bulk of the to-
,...o imported. were very small. and the
=, ,ba Governments investigation was
.ss allegation that much Of the tobacco
,.., tbst was actually used a. wrapper for
,I.rsna CIGARS came into this country as
susr tobacco. and hence paid much small
~ dutv than II should.
rba Anal result of the country-"ihe IN
,,.,,r,,,on was an order ~ customs Off
riz1e that fOE2CCD E-4lLAI ~ s.-ANle-'~' ~
,,o r.r cent examination. Before that IT
had been the rule 10 examine only ore
h,,s IN every ten Tobacco importers
,,,.Ad AZ the complete examination. claim
,,, that the customs force would have to
r. increased 10 an impossible degree
U-iniam Loeb. ir. Collector Of the Port
q, New York. which. With Tampa and KEY
west imports the bulk Of the Cuban leaf.
,,.d yesterday that the 100 per cent exam
,nation had been accomplished, with moth
inc r,ors than a negligible increase Of en-
moves. and the increased duties accruins
70 the government had far more than paid
for the trifing increase in cost Of eNamina-
ton.
In figures. III. tables show that there we're
ssss pounds Of Cuban wrapper leaf tobacco
imported in January 1912. as against 1'p'
hounds I'm the same month Of last year
The valuation Of the I 4n7 pounds on which
wrapper duty was paid in 1911 was s2.7H.
while the valuation on the e,63s pounds On
which wrapper duty was paid in January,
1872. was slL715
During the seven months ended with jar
uary. 1872 according 70 The Tobacco
Leaf" 5l.s4s pounds of Cuban wrapper leaf
was levied upon as wrapper and was valued
st Si17o whereas during the seven months
ended With January. 1911 before the Treas
ivy Departments investigation and new
ruling. 1900 pounds came into this country
as tobacco upon which wrapper duty was
raid. and It's valuation was set down as
inEs.
Comment upon these figures Yesterday by
leading importers Of Cuban leaf was all 10
the effect that they are now paving wrap
rer duty on Cuban leaf which they cannot
use for wrapper, and some importers as
serted that the maximum percentage ~
wrapper leaf in the bales they import from
Cuba was not above 40
The tariff law specifies that II more than
Is per cent of the leaf in a bale is found
10 be suitable for cigar wrappers the
whole bale shall be assessed as wrapper
leaf Before the investigation the custom
Of examining only one bale in Ten was held
By the government officials TO make the eX-
animation almost farcical.
Collector Loeb's only comment upon the
CAIN Of the importers that under present
t6ndltTons they were paying duty on wrap
per leaf that they had 10 use for filler was
That his records disclosed that such bales
we're usually iuvoiced at something in the
heighborhood Of $50. and that 1t was highly
improbable the importers would pay wrap
per prices for filler leaf