pare ee as Lh Aa). 
| 
20 REPORT OF SCHIMMEL 8 Co. APRIL 1914. 
Dh 3 
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that general business conditions, which have shown a certain abatement on account 
of a rather reserved attitude during the last few months, will again assume a normal 
and prosperous aspect, as soon as the benefits of the installation of a central banking 
system after the pattern of the Bank of England or the Deutsche Reichsbank will be 
fully understood. The only possible danger which may befall American business, we 
see in the Mexican tangle, from which further serious complications may arise at . 
any minute. 
A recent action of the new Secretary of Agriculture, Houston, seems to be 
destined to make quite some change in the administration of the Pure Food Law. 
The Secretary ordered the dissolution of the so-called Board of Food and Drug 
Inspection which was originally created by the former Secretary Wilson for the pur- 
pose of curtailing the administrative power of the Chief Chemist, which position was 
in the hands of Dr. Harvey Wiley at that time. 
This three-cornered administrative body has been, during its entire life, an impedi- 
ment to quick and effective working methods of the Bureau of Chemistry, and its 
removal will therefore be welcomed by all those interested in the efficiency of this 
Department. It is quite correct that this action entrusts the present Chief, Dr. Als- 
berg, with an almost unrestricted power in reference to pure food matters, but since 
this official has so far shown wise judgment in the application of the law in all his 
actions, trade circles expect that this change will work to their best interest. 
As had to be expected, the regulations of the new Tariff Act give rise to 
numerous controversies between the official circles and the importers in regard to 
their proper application. So particularly paragraph 49 of Schedule A, which provides 
a 20°/o ad val. duty on several enumerated articles, continuing: “and all natural or 
synthetic odoriferous or aromatic substances, preparations, and mixtures used in the 
manufacture of, but not marketable as, perfumes or cosmetics”, has proved to be a 
veritable source of greatly diverging opinions as to the underlying intention of the 
framer of the law in regard to the articles falling under its scope. The customs 
officials claimed that any article, no matter what its general nature or characteristics 
might be, would be properly covered by this paragraph, if it could be directly or 
indirectly used as a basic material for the production of an accessory in the manu- 
facture of perfumes or cosmetics. In accordance with this official conception, articles 
like sandalwood in logs, orris root, lavender flowers, etc., have been assessed by the 
appraisers of merchandise at 20°/o ad val. duty, while the same articles have so far 
always been classified as vegetable drugs, enjoying either duty-free entry or a duty 
of only 10 per cent ad val. if in a condition of advanced value. 
A vigorous protest against the above mentioned classification has been entered 
by the affected trade circles and a recent Treasury Decision issued to the Collector- 
of Customs of the Port of New York reverses the official conception and upholds the 
dissenting opinion of the importers. | 
Our Canadian business has not fully kept up with the remarkable development of 
last year’s progress in the United States. This may be attributed to two main reasons. 
First, there has not been the stimulating influence in Canada which the new Customs 
Tariff exerted on the United States business, and, secondly, it seems that the last 
year has brought a certain standstill in business in the Dominion, after the extra- 
ordinary activity during the last few years, which has not been devoid of an over- 
speculative tendency that was fraught with all the elements of a timely reaction. 
This seems, however, to have been more especially confined to the real estate market, 
and has not seriously affected general trade conditions. We are, therefore, justified 
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