790 



UNITED STATES, FINANCES OF THE. 



result from the changes made in the internal 

 revenue laws, and $30,000,000 to $32,000,000 

 from the cutting down of customs duties. 



The act as passed repealed the tax on the 

 capital and deposits of banks, bankers, and na- 

 tional banking associations ; the stamp-tax on 

 checks and drafts; and the tax on matches, 

 perfumery, medicinal preparations, cosmetics, 

 and the like. The tax on dealers in and manu- 

 facturers of tobacco was largely reduced ; the 

 tax on tobacco was reduced from 16 to 8 cents 

 a pound ; on cigars from $6 to $3 a thousand ; 

 and on cigarettes from $1.75 to 50 cents a 

 thousand. The following are some of the 

 more important changes in the rates of duty 

 made by the bill : 



The duty on sugar was reduced from rates 

 ranging from 2 T 3 to 5 cents a pound, to rates 

 ranging from 1-^j- to 3 cents a pound ; on 

 clothing and combing-wools valued at less 

 than 30 cents a pound, from 10 cents a pound 

 and 11 per cent, ad valorem to 10 cents a 

 pound ; on car pet- wools, from 3 and 6 cents 

 for different grades to 2 and 5 cents; on 

 woolen cloths and other manufactures of wool 

 not otherwise provided for, from 50 cents 

 a pound and 35 per cent, ad valorem to 35 

 cents a pound and 35 and 40 per cent, ad 

 valorem ; on ready-made clothing and wear- 

 ing-apparel of wool and worsted, from 50 cents 

 a pound and 40 per cent, to 40 cents a pound 

 and 35 per cent. ; on silk goods, from 60 to 50 

 per cent, ad valorem ; on hats of vegetable ma- 

 terial, etc., from 40 to 30 per cent., and on such 

 hat materials from 30 to 20 per cent. ; on bar- 

 ley, from 15 to 10 cents a bushel; on cleaned 

 rice, from 2 to 2 cents a pound ; on bleached 

 cottons (except jeans, etc.), from 5 to 3, 4, 

 and 5 cents a square yard according to grade ; 

 on finer and lighter cotton prints (except jeans, 

 etc.), from 5 cents a square yard and 20 per 

 cent, ad valorem to 5 and 6 cents a yard and 

 to 40 per cent, ad valorem for the higher- 

 priced goods ; on linens, etc., valued at above 

 30 cents a yard, from 40 to 35 per cent. ; on 

 raisins, from 2 to 2 cents a pound ; on articles 

 of fur, from 35 to 30 per cent. ; on jute-butts, 

 from $6 to $5 a ton; flat bar- iron of medium 

 dimensions, from 1 to -^ of a cent a pound ; 

 on pig-iron, from $7 a ton to*^ of a cent a 

 pound; on wrought scrap-iron, from $8 a ton 

 to f ^ of a cent a pound; on steel railway- 

 bars or rails, from 1 cent a pound to $17 a 

 ton; on calfskins, from 25 to 20 per cent.; 

 on musical instruments, from 30 to 25 per 

 cent. ; on molasses not above 56 degrees, from 

 6^ to 4 cents a gallon ; on tin plates or sheets, 

 terne plates and tagger's tin, from 1 T V cent to 

 1 cent a pound ; on woolen dress goods valued 

 at not exceeding 20 cents a yard, from 6 cents 

 a yard and 35 per cent., to 5 cents a yard and 

 35 per cent. ; valued at above 20 cents, from 8 

 cents and 40 per cent, to 7 cents and 40 per 

 cent. Considerable reductions were also made 

 in the chemical schedule, and some additions 

 were made to the free list. The duty on cot- 



ton laces, embroideries, etc., was advanced 

 from 35 to 40 per cent. ; on decorated china 

 and porcelain-ware, etc., from 50 to 60 per 

 cent. ; on similar ware not decorated, from 45 

 to 55 per cent. ; on all earthen, stone, and 

 ^crockery ware, white, glazed or edged, not 

 otherwise provided for, from 40 to 55 per 

 cent. ; on the finer grades of cotton hosiery, 

 from 35 to 40 per cent. ; on opium, from 

 $6 to $10 a pound ; on champagne and other 

 sparkling wines, from $6 to $7 a dozen quarts; 

 on still wines, from 40 to 50 cents a gallon ; 

 and on paintings and statuary, from 10 to 30 

 per cent, ad valorem. 



The act also repealed the provisions of law 

 requiring the cost of transportation from the 

 place of production to the vessel in which ship- 

 ment is to be made to the United States, the 

 value of the covering of the goods, commissions, 

 brokerage, export duty, and other charges for 

 putting up, preparing, and packing for trans- 

 portation or shipment, to be added to the 

 dutiable value of merchandise. It further pro- 

 vided for the assessment of duties on all su- 

 gars not above No. 13 of the Dutch stand- 

 ard in color, according to their saccharine 

 strength as shown by the polariscope test, in- 

 stead of according to their color by the Dutch 

 standard, as formerly. 



The reduction of revenue thus far has not 

 come up to the estimates of either the Tariff 

 Commission or the committees of conference. 



The reduction in the receipts from customs 

 for the six months ending Dec. 31, 1883, as 

 compared with the corresponding six months 

 of 1882, was $12,546,157.37; in internal rev- 

 enue, $13,930,432.15 ; and in the tax on capital 

 and deposits of national banks, $2,971,146.28. 

 The total decrease is at the rate of $58,895,- 

 471.60 a year. 



The Commissioner of Internal Revenue, in 

 his annual report for 1883, estimated that the 

 aggregate amount of the reductions in internal 

 revenue taxes would not be less than $37,000,- 

 000, but that the revenue from distilled spirits 

 would be so increased as to make the aggre- 

 gate receipts for the fiscal year at least $120,- 

 000, or about $24,700,000 less than for the 

 fiscal year 1883. ~ The actual receipts from in- 

 ternal revenue for the six months ending Dec. 

 31, 1883, were $60,814,896.27, or at the rate of 

 $121,629,792.54 a year, conforming very nearly 

 to the commissioner's estimate. 



The reduction in the receipts from duties on 

 imports for the six months is at the rate of but 

 little more than $25,000,000, or less than 12 

 per cent, of the receipts for the fiscal year 1883. 

 A computation made by the Bureau of Statis- 

 tics shows that for the three months ending 

 Sept. 30, 1883, as compared with the corre- 

 sponding three months of 1882, the reduction 

 in the average ad-valorem rates of duty on 

 dutiable merchandise was only 2*12 percent. 

 from 44-20 to 42-08 per cent. The reduction 

 in the average ad-valorem rate of duty on both 

 free and dutiable merchandise was from 32-12 



