Customs Credits 187 



In 1820 a reaction appeared and great effort was made to 

 limit customs credits to drugs, dye stuffs, and groceries, except 

 wines and ardent spirits, at three months and six months ; to 

 teas, at three, six and nine months ; and to require that duties 

 on manufactured goods be paid on arrival, or be deposited for 

 six months and then sold at auction if the duties were not paid. 

 The importer who might contemplate re-exportation was to have 

 three alternatives : to avail himself of the system of drawbacks, 

 by giving his bond for the duties and taking the debenture on 

 re-exportation, or to declare his intention at the time of entry, 

 giving his bond for security, to export and not re-land the goods ; 

 or, in lieu of such surety, to deposit them in a warehouse and 

 take his time to decide whether to sell in the domestic or the 

 foreign market. No discrimination was made in this bill between 

 importation on foreign and domestic account, although consider- 

 able pressure was brought to that end; the reasons against 

 discrimination were (a) the desire to retain the dwindling carry- 

 ing trade**® and (b) the shipping agreements with England.**^ 

 The bill did not satisfy those merchants who petitioned the indis- 

 criminate abolition of credits ; the Congressional leaders believed 

 so radical a measure would confound our commerce, and saw no 

 reason for tampering with the West India trade which was in 

 the hands of American merchants and did not operate to injure 

 our manufactures. Credits to the Far East were to be reduced, 

 so the arguments ran, because the balance of trade with these 

 countries was adverse and led to exportation of specie, and it 

 was not best to encourage such trade, and because the merchants 

 who conducted it were rich capitalists who did not need credits 

 of longer term than was required to make a single voyage. 



This bill of 1820 failed to pass, but marks the reversion of 

 opinion in the matter of credit extensions. In 1832 the law 

 was decisively changed, so that "duties on wool, woolens and 

 all merchandise of which wool formed a part, were required 

 to be paid in cash without discount, or, at the option of the 

 importer, be stored under bond at his risk, subject to the pay- 

 ment of interest from the date of importation. On all other 

 merchandise, the duty, if not exceeding $200, must be paid in 



*'Niles, 18: 301. 

 '"Niles, 18: 302. 



