380 KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



was reversed by the auditor of the treasury department, with instruc- 

 tions to reliquidate the entries and charge duties on designated arti- 

 cles. We were required to pay $704 on the apparatus, and $122 on 

 chemicals. We protested in no uncertain terms. Our case was heard 

 by the board of United States appraisers in New York on the 5th in- 

 stant. Though it cost good money, we put up a strong fight. The 

 secretary and purchasing agent of the University, Mr. Willis K. Folks, 

 engaged the attention of the board two days. The board gave our 

 matters close attention and decided one case entirely duty free, re- 

 turning the entire $122, and the apparatus was cleared on about 

 seventy per cent, of the articles. This we are glad of ; but schools and 

 colleges ought not to be compelled to protest and to go to great ex- 

 pense to secure the privileges Congress intended they should enjoy. 



There are three tribunals in front of each importation, viz., the 

 surveyor of the port, the United States board of general appraisers, 

 and the United States circuit court. The duty-free importations are 

 not just now known by these arbiters by list or in any agreed sched- 

 ule. Because a beaker or casserole may pass free to an educational 

 institution to-day at New York does not indicate that it will pass next 

 spring at New York or to-day at Philadelphia. The attitude of the 

 board of general appraisers seems now to be more favorable to colleges 

 than either the treasury department or the United States courts. We 

 also believe that some agents in New York or Philadelphia are more 

 successful in getting articles passed than the colleges are. It is 

 charged that the American Tariff League are urging the treasury de- 

 partment and the surveyors of the ports of entry to restrict importa- 

 tions for colleges. There have been some very liberal affidavits filed 

 by officers of these colleges requesting duty-free privileges on house- 

 hold and farm implements. 



Several colleges and universities which have had difficulty in secur- 

 ing the benefit of the duty-free privileges have suggested to us that 

 we combine in request to Congress to change the wording of the 

 phrase, "philosophical and scientific instruments and preparations," 

 to cover all needed importations for use of laboratories and other 

 scientific work. 



It is about time, then, to importune Congress to change the law so 

 that no decision of a court can misinterpret it. This could perhaps 

 be done readily, for the educational institutions of each state could 

 depend on the support of their senators and congressmen, were it not 

 for the fact that in the game of politics, which they are all playing, 

 just now they may be afraid to tinker with the tariff. The American 

 Chemical Society has an efficient committee on this subject, and, with 

 the support of all the educational institutions, it is hoped that some- 

 thing definite can be done very soon. Just now it is difficult to 

 answer the question, "Who owns the government, the educational 

 institutions of the country or the protected manufacturers ?" 



