The Washington times., 1913-08-05
IMPORTERS ACTIVE
DESPITE NEW TARIFF.
Bonded Warehouses Filled to
Brim, Even Though New
Rates Will Be Fixed Soon.

An impending low tariff has. appar-
emily. had no effect upon vast quanti-
ties of importers goods held in bonded
warehouses. Merchants seem to he car
rying as heavy a stock in Uncle Sans
storage houses as ever, even though it
would seem possible with the coming
tariff change to clean up the present
supply and import new goods under
lower duties when the new law is ef-
fective.
Merchandise in the bonded ware
houses at the end of the fiscal year
1913 showed a larger value than ever
before, the total being $lO6 900 900,
against s72,Ooo. 900 at the eorresponding
date last year. Domestic figures are
from official reports of the Bureau of
Foreign and Domestic Commerce, De-
partment of Commerce, which indicate
that that the quantity OF number Of prin-
cipal articles upon which a reduction
of duty Is proposed by the pending tar
iff measure, are held in greater uuan-
titles then ever before
In Bonded Warehouse.
OF sugar, for example, the quantity
in bonded warehouses was on June 30,
77s.0O0,00O pounds, against 2O5,OOO.O 900
pounds on June 80 last year. OF leaf
houses was 100000 pounds, against
A,00.0oo pounds on the same date of last
year. OF raw wool, the amount in ware
houses was 100000 POUNDS, against
5e.0O0.O0 pounds at the same date of last
year.
About two-thirds of the merchandise
now remaining In warehouses is at the
port of New York, which showed in its
report for June S6S,OO0,000 worth of mer-
chandise in bonded warehouses against
s4b. $4,000 at the corresponding date of
last year. The value of imported mer-
chandse in bonded warehouses at the
present time s more than double that in
warehouses Immediately prior to the
enactment OF the tariff laws of 1880 and
1894, five times greater than in 1897. and
about 20 per cent larger than in 1909.
The bonded warehousing'' system of
the United states is described by an
accepted authority as a system whereby
the Government extends the time FOR
the payment of duties on imported mer-
chandise. retaining them in its posses
sion meanwhile to secure such payment.
Duties on imports, 1t adds, naturally
fall due as soon as the goods arrive in
port, but the economy and convenience
OF importing in great quantities and in
advance of their actual requirement for
mediate payment of duties would often
involve such a large and unremunera-
tive investment of the capital of in-
porters, that the principle of warehous-
Ing goods in Government custody, with
reasonable extension Of time for the
payment of duties, has been adopted
by all leading commercial nations.
Payment Secured By Bond.
The payment Of duties is secured By
bond given by the importer or owner
OF the goods and the goods are then
said to be in 'in bond and the places of
deposit are known as bonded ware
houses" These are chiefly warehouses
owned and controlled by private par
ties who carry on an ordinary storage
business for their own profit, the Gov
ernment extending its authority over
them and retaining a virtual possession
OF and control over the goods stored
therein. No person, however, has a
right to keep a warehouse for the stor-
age OF dutiable goods unless appointed
by the Secretary of the Treasury, who
may revoke such appointment at his
pleasure. An importer may establish
his own private warehouse but ii must
be exclusively devoted to the purpose
and under charge of a United States
customs officer. The warehousing sys-
TEN as applied to imported merchan-
disc was. according to the same au-
thority, first adopted in Great Britain
In 1902 and In the United States in 1916