paid on being exported thence, and upon satisfactory proof being adduced, conformably to regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, that the coal so exported, if not landed abroad, was not relanded in the United States, but was consumed on board the vessel in which it was so exported upon the voyage of exportation before arriving at the foreign port of destination.

SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That in the case of all goods, wares, and merchandise, imported on and after the day this act goes into operation, and entitled to debenture under existing laws, no drawback of the duties shall be allowed on the same, unless said goods, wares, or merchandise, shall be exported from the United States within one year from the date of importation of the same; nor shall the additional rate of duty levied by this act on goods, wares, and merchandise, imported in foreign vessels be refunded in case of re-exportation: Provided, That two and one-half per cent on the amount of all drawbacks allowed, except on foreign refined sugars, shall be retained for the use of the United States, by the collectors paying such drawbacks, respectively; and in the case of foreign refined sugars, fifteen per cent shall be so retained.

SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That, in all cases where the actual foreign price or value of any goods, wares, or merchandise, imported into the United States, or of the square yard, or of any specified quantity or parcel thereof, shall by law be directed to be ascertained, it shall be the duty of the collector, within whose district the same shall be imported or entered, to cause the actual market value or wholesale price thereof, at the time purchased in the principal markets of the country from which the same shall have been imported into the United States, or of the yards, parcels, or quantities, as the case may be, to be appraised, estimated, and ascertained; and it shall, in every such case, be the duty of the appraisers of the United States, and every of them, and every person who shall act as such appraiser, or of the collector and naval officer, as the case may be, by all the reasonable ways and means in his or their power, to ascertain, estimate, and appraise the true and actual market value and wholesale price, any invoice or affidavit thereto to the contrary notwithstanding, of the said goods, wares, and merchandise, at the time purchased, and in the principal markets of the country whence the same shall have been imported into the United States, and the number of such yards, parcels, or quantities, and such actual market value or wholesale price of every of them, as the case may require; and all such goods, wares, or merchandise, being manufactured of wool, or whereof wool shall be a component part, which shall be imported into the United States in an unfinished condition, shall, in every such appraisal, be taken, deemed, and estimated, to have been, at the time purchased, and place whence the same were imported into the United States, of as great value as if the same had been entirely finished: Provided, That in all cases where the foreign price or value of any goods, wares, or merchandise, imported into the United States, or of the square yard, or of any specified quantity or parcel thereof, shall by law be directed to be ascertained, and in all cases where any specific quantity or parcel of such goods, wares, and merchandise, shall have been imported into the United States from a country in which the same have not been manufactured or produced, they shall be appraised and estimated according to the current market value or wholesale price of similar articles at the principle markets of the country of production or manufacture, at the period of the exporation of said goods, wares, and merchandise, to the United States.

SEC. 14. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the appraisers, or the collector and naval officer, as the case may be, to call before them and examine, upon oath or affirmation, any owner, importer, consignee, or other person, touching any matter or thing which they may deem material in ascertaining the true market value or wholesale price of any merchandise imported, the foreign value of which is directed by law to be ascertained, and to require the production, on oath or affirmation, to the collector or to any permanent appraiser, of any letters, accounts, or invoices in his possession, relating to the same, for which purpose they are hereby respectively authorized to administer oaths and affirmations; and if any person so called shall neglect or refuse to attend, or shall decline to answer, or shall, if required, refuse to answer, in writing, any interrogatories, and subscribe his name to his deposition, or to produce such papers when so required, he shall forfeit and pay to the United States the sum of one hundred dollars; and, if such person be the owner, importer, or consignee, the appraisement which the said appraisers, or collector and naval officer, where there are no legal appraisers, may make of the goods, wares, and merchandise, shall be final and conclusive, any act of Congress to the contrary notwithstanding; and any person who shall swear or affirm falsely on such examination shall be deemed guilty of perjury; and if he be the owner, importer, or consignee, the merchandise shall be forfeited; and all testimony in writing, or depositions taken by virtue of this section, shall be filed in the collector's office, and preserved for future use or

reference, or be transmitted to the Secretary of the Treasury, when he shall require the same: Provided, That if the importer, owner, agent, or consignee, of any such goods, shall be dissatisfied with the appraisement, and shall have complied with the foregoing requisitions, he may forthwith give notice to the collector, in writing, of such dissatisfaction; on the receipt of which the collector shall select two discreet and experienced merchants, familiar with the character and value of the goods in question, to examine and appraise the same, agreeably to the foregoing provisions; and, if they shall disagree, the collector shall decide between them; and the appraisement thus determined shall be final, and deemed and taken to be the true foreign value of said goods, any act of Congress to the contrary notwithstanding: Provided, also, That, in all cases where the actual foreign value of any goods, wares, or merchandise, imported into the United States, or of the square yard or other parcel or quantity thereof, directed by law to be ascertained, shall be found to exceed, by ten per cent, or more, the invoice value, then, in addition to the duty imposed by law on the same, there shall be levied and collected, on the same goods, wares, and merchandise, fifty per centum of the duty imposed on the same, when fairly invoiced.

SEC. 15. And be it further enacted, That there shall be levied, collected, and paid, on each and every non-enumerated article which bears a similitude, either in material, quality, texture, or the use to which it may be applied, to any enumerated article chargeable with duty, the same rate of duty which is levied and charged on the enumer ated article which it most resembles in any of the particulars before mentioned; and if any non-enumerated article equally resembles two or more enumerated articles, on which different rates of duty are chargeable, there shall be levied, collected, and paid, on such non-enumerated article, the same rate of duty as is chargeable on the article which it resembles paying the highest duty; and on all articles manufactured from two or more materials, the duty shall be assessed at the highest rates at which any of its component parts may be chargeable.

SEC. 16. And be it further enacted, That the collector shall designate on the invoice at least one package of every invoice, and one package at least of every ten packages of goods, wares, or merchandise, and a greater number should he deem it necessary, imported into such port, to be opened, examined, and appraised, and shall order the package or packages, so designated, to the public stores for examination; and if any package be found by the appraisers to contain any article not specified in the invoice, and they, or a majority of them, shall be of opinion that such article was omitted in the invoice with fraudulent intent on the part of the shipper, owner, or agent, the contents of the entire package in which the article may be shall be forfeited; but if said appraisers shall be of opinion that no such fraudulent intent existed, then the value of such article shall be added to the entry, and the duties thereon paid accordingly, and the same shall be delivered to the importer, agent, or consignee: Provided, That such forfeiture may be remitted by the Secretary of the Treasury, on the production of evidence, satisfactory to him, that no fraud was intended: Provided, further, That if, on the opening of any package or packages of goods, a deficiency of any article shall be found on examination by the appraisers, the same shall be certified to the collector on the invoice, and an allowance for the same be made in estimating the duties.

SEC. 17. And be it further enacted, That where goods, wares, and merchandise shall be entered at ports where there are no appraisers, the mode herein before prescribed of ascertaining the foreign value thereof shall be carefully observed by the revenue officers to whom is committed the estimating and collection of duties.

SEC. 18. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury from time to time to establish such rules and regulations, not inconsistent with the laws of the United States, to secure a just, faithful, and impartial appraisal of all goods, wares, and merchandise, as aforesaid, imported into the United States, and just and proper entries of such actual market value or wholesale price thereof, and of the square yards, parcels, or other quantities, as the case may require, and of such actual market value or wholesale price of every of them.

SEC. 19. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of all collectors and other officers of the customs, to execute and carry into effect all instructions of the Secretary of the Treasury relative to the execution of the revenue laws; and in case any difficulty shall arise as to the true construction or meaning of any part of such revenue laws, the decision of the Secretary of the Treasury shall be conclusive and binding upon all such collectors and other officers of the customs.

SEC. 20. And be it further enacted, That nothing in this act contained shall apply to goods shipped in a vessel bound to any port of the United States, actually having left her last port of lading eastward of the Cape of Good Hope or beyond Cape Horn prior to the first day of August, eighteen hundred and forty-two; and all legal provi

sions and regulations existing immediately before the thirtieth day of June, eighteen hundred and forty-two, shall be applied to importations which may be made in vessels which have left such last ports of lading eastward of the Cape of Good Hope or beyond Cape Horn prior to said first day of August, eighteen hundred and forty-two.

SEC. 21. And be it further enacted, That the existing laws shall extend to and be in force for the collection of the duties imposed by this act on goods, wares, and merchandise, imported into the United States, and for the recovery, collection, distribution, and remission of all fines, penalties, and forfeitures, and for the allowance of the drawbacks by this act authorized, as fully and effectually as if every regulation, restriction, penalty, forfeiture, provision, clause, matter, and thing, in the existing laws contained, had been inserted in and re-enacted by this act; and that all provisions of any former law inconsistent with this act shall be, and the same are hereby, repealed.

SEC. 22. And be it further enacted, That the proviso to the sixth section of the act entitled, "An act to appropriate the proceeds of the sales of the public lands, and to grant pre-emption rights," approved September fourth, eighteen hundred and forty-one, be, and the same is hereby, repealed.

SEC. 23. And be it further enacted, That the annual statistical accounts of the commerce of the United States with foreign countries, required by the act of the tenth of February, eighteen hundred and twenty, entitled, An act to provide for obtaining accurate statements of the foreign commerce of the United States," shall hereafter be made up and completed by the Register of the Treasury, under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, to the thirtieth day of September of each year, comprehending in the same the twelve months preceding, and shall be laid before Congress, by the Secretary of the Treasury, on the first Monday in December of the same year. SEC. 24. And be it further enacted, That in lieu of the quarter-yearly returns, required by the said act of February tenth, eighteen hundred and twenty, the several collectors shall hereafter make monthly returns to the Register of the Treasury of all the facts and matters which they are in the said act required to ascertain, together with the wholesale market price of all articles imported and entered, in the port where entered, on the first day of each month, and any other information which the Secretary of the Treasury may from time to time require; which said returns shall be made up and transmitted to the Register of the Treasury on or before the last day of the month succeeding the month for which the return is made: Provided, That the returns required shall be confined to goods, wares, and merchandise, entered at the several custom-houses, either on importation or for exportation.

SEC. 25. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to prepare, and cause to be published in at least one of the newspapers of the city of Washington, a monthly abstract of the information so received.

SEC. 26. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to appoint suitable persons to inquire into and ascertain the wholesale market value in the principal markets of the United States of the articles herein valued as shown by the sales of imports made under this bill, at least as often as once in two years, and to report to Congress any variations between the market value and the value of articles herein declared, if such variations be of sufficient amount as in his opinion to render an alteration necessary in the values fixed for the assessment of duties upon the importation of such goods.

SEC. 27. And be it further enacted, That the importation of all indecent and obscene prints, paintings, lithographs, engravings, and transparencies is hereby prohibited; and no invoice or package whatever, or any part thereof, shall be admitted to entry, in which any such articles are contained; and all invoices and packages whereof any such articles shall compose a part are hereby declared to be forfeited, and the said articles shall be forthwith destroyed.

SEC. 28. And be it further enacted, That wherever the word "ton" is used in this act, it shall be deemed and taken to be twenty hundred weight, each hundred weight being one hundred and twelve pounds avoirdupois.

SEC. 29. And be it further enacted, That an addition of ten per cent shall be made to the several rates of duties by this act imposed, in respect to all goods, wares, and merchandise, on the importation of which, in American or foreign vessels, a specific discrimination between them is not herein made, which, from and after the time when this act shall take effect and go into operation, shall be imported in ships or vessels not of the United States; and that a further addition of ten per cent shall be made to the several rates of duties imposed by this act on all goods, wares, and merchandise, except teas, which shall be imported from any port or place east of the Cape of Good Hope, in foreign vessels: Provided, That these additional duties

shall not apply to goods, wares, or merchandise, which shall be imported, after the day that this act goes into operation, in ships or vessels not of the United States, entitled by treaty, or by any act or acts of Congress, to be entered in the ports of the United States, on the payment of the same duties as shall then be paid on goods, wares, or merchandise, imported in ships or vessels of the United States, during the existence of the treaties referred to.

HOUSE REPORT NO. 461, TWENTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION. MARCH 31, 1842.

TARIFF.

The Committee on Manufactures, to whom was referred "so much of the President's message, with the accompanying documents, as relates to discriminating duties and domestic manufactures," and also a great number of petitions, memorials, and resolutions on the same subjects and upon the tariff and its revision, have considered the subject referred to them.

The committee have attended to the duty assigned them, under a deep sense of the importance and the delicate nature of the subject referred to them. They are aware that it is connected with all the great interests of the country, commercial, agricultural, and manufacturing, and they have given it that consideration which its vast importance demands.

From the course of debate on the question of commitment, and from the nature of the subject referred to them, they inferred that the preparation of a revenue bill and the revision of the tariff were committed to them. The question of discrimination in the assessment of duties involves, necessarily, the consideration of the manner in which they shall be adjusted and, indeed, the whole question of raising a revenue by duties on imports.

The first question with the committee was how they should proceed. For the purpose of judicious discrimination, it was obvious that information was wanted as to all the great interests to be affected by the tariff, and particularly as to those great and interesting manufacturing interests which have sprung up and prospered in our country and are now so connected with, and have such an influence upon, all other branches of industry. Two modes of obtaining the necessary information presented themselves to the committee: By a correspondence and by receiving oral or written statements from such persons as might appear before them for the purpose, or by summoning witnesses, practical and intelligent men, to give evidence. They preferred the latter mode, supposing that it would be the most acceptable to the House and would give greater weight and authority to their report and to the result to which they might come. They therefore, on the 6th of January, offered a resolution to the House "that the committee be authorized to send for witnesses and take testimony on the subject of the present tariff laws, their operation upon the interests of the country, and the alteration which those interests may require." On the 10th day of February this was "ordered to lie on the table."

The committee had, before that time, in consequence of the delay of that resolution, determined to receive written statements and hear such persons as might appear before them for the purpose of giving information upon the subjects under their consideration, and they have the satisfaction to state that they have collected a great body of sta

tistical and other information from persons whose means of knowledge and whose accuracy can not be questioned, and which has enabled them to proceed to the discharge of their duty with reasonable confidence in the result of their deliberations.

They have, however, suffered much inconvenience and delay from the rejection of their request for leave to summon witnesses, and their information on some subjects is less full and satisfactory than it would have been had their request been granted. It is possible, also, that they have made some mistakes in the arrangement of duties, which would otherwise have been avoided, and they have no doubt that an authority to summon witnesses would have enabled them to have reported a bill at an earlier day. The committee offer no apology for the time they have found it necessary to occupy. It has been unavoidable.

The first and great object in the framing of an act by which duties are to be laid on imported articles is the provision of an adequate and fully sufficient revenue for the support of the Government.

All agree in the necessity of this. Revenue must be raised, and our only source of revenue, to any considerable extent, is the imposition of duties upon imported goods. The state of the Treasury and the condition of our public credit imperiously demand the prompt and decisive action of Congress. The character of our Government, and that it may be enabled to support our great institutions with proper efficiency, requires a revenue which shall put an end to the practice of borrowing from time to time for ordinary expenditures, and shall also provide the means for the early payment of the existing debt and for strengthening and increasing the Navy and putting the country in a suitable state of defense. A people who have voluntarily and cheerfully imposed on themselves taxes which have enabled them to discharge the enormous debts of the Revolutionary and the subsequent war will not suffer a debt of $17,000,000 or $18,000,000 to remain long uncanceled.

The first question is, What will be the probable amount of the annual expenditures of the Government? On this point it is impossible to arrive at certainty, the power of appropriation being in Congress. The estimate of expenditures can only be made for such as are required under existing laws and as arise under the ordinary operations of the Government. It appears, by the House Document No. 31 of the last session, that the average ordinary expenditures for the years 1837, 1838, 1839, and 1840 was nearly $28,000,000.

By the report of the Secretary of the Treasury at the beginning of this session, it appears that the expenditures in 1841 (including an estimate for the last quarter of the year) were $26,504,174, in which is included part of the appropriations made for the naval and military service at the last session, and which the situation of the country, in the opinion of Congress, demanded.

The Secretary of the Treasury has presented estimates for the current year, which, together with appropriations made by existing laws, amount to $26,000,000. In the same report he states that, under the present revenue laws, there would be a deficit at the end of the year of about $14,000,000. Whether the expenditures will fall within the estimated amount can not be determined. Professions of a desire for an economical administration of the Government