SCIENCE. 



437 



SCIENCE: 



A Weekly Record of Scientific 

 Procress. 



JOHN MICHELS, Editor. 



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Published at 

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SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 18S1. 



In a recent Government publication, prepared by 

 Professor F. W. Clarke, S. B., of Cincinnati, we find 

 the following paragraph relating to the purchase of 

 scientific apparatus, which may be studied with profit 

 by the manufacturers : 



"Some years ago Congress passed an act authorizing 

 schools and colleges to import apparatus free of duty. 

 This act is not so widely known among teachers as it ought 

 to be, nor do those who know it fully realize the saving in 

 expense which it implies. Goods bought of a local mid- 

 dleman cost their European price, plus a heavy duty and 

 the expense of transportation, with a large profit to the 

 dealer over and above the sum of the foregoing items. A 

 school, by importing its apparatus directly, can save the 

 duties and the local dealer's profit — a retrenchment of from 

 forty to fifty per cent. A hundred dollars thus expended 

 on a direct foreign order will buy as much material as a 

 hundred and fifty laid out at home. A knowledge and an 

 applicat'on of these facts will enable many a school to do 

 far more in the way of laboratory work than is considered 

 possible now. To be sure, it is desirable that home trade 

 should be patronized, but not in such a way as to cripple 

 science. The present duties bring in but a trifling revenue 

 to the government and might be abolished without injury to 

 any one. If this were done, our schools and colleges could 

 afford to buy more goods of American dealers ; the latter, 

 with larger sales, could ask more reasonable profits ; and so 

 both buyer and seller would be benefited. 



This paragraph once more revives a question 

 which we trust will not be dismissed until some prac- 

 tical decision has been arrived at. Congress has 

 abolished the duty on scientific apparatus and instru- 

 ments, in the interest of colleges and other rich cor- 

 porations, but, demands of the poor student, a tax of 

 fifty per cent, upon every instrument purchased by 

 him. 



Such a discrimination in the collection of duties is 

 neither just nor reasonable, and appears to have failed 

 even in achieving any good results in the direction an- 

 ticipated. On the contrary, it has crippled the busi- 



ness of the American manufacturers, and forced them 

 to charge exorbitant prices on the limited sales 

 they could make under such a system. 



We fully concur in the suggestion made by Pro- 

 fessor Clarke, that, as these duties bring in but a 

 trifling revenue to the government, they might be 

 abolished, and that without injury to anyone. 



We are also glad to find Professor Clarke, while 

 speaking as the representative of the class most bene- 

 fited by this discriminative legislation, taking such a 

 liberal view, and advocating its entire abolition. 



We are unable to offer the view that " the trade " 

 may take on a measure which will bring them in open 

 competition with European manufacturers, possibly 

 they may require to be educated to an apppreciation 

 of a course, that will ultimately result in a condition 

 of business, which will be beneficial to their best in- 

 terest. 



With the abolition of the discrimination in favor of 

 colleges, etc., and of all duties on scientific instru- 

 ments, the first result would be to equalize the prices 

 of such manufactures, irrespective of the place where 

 they are made. Universities and colleges in such a 

 case could afford to buy of the domestic manufacturer 

 and would doubtless do so. The one point that 

 would have to be considered in such an open market, 

 would be that of quality, and the American manufac- 

 turer of scientific apparatus has nothing to fear on 

 that head, while with larger sales more reasonable 

 profits could be accepted ; thus both buyer and seller 

 would be benefited. We trust that the next Congress 

 will take some action in this matter, and place scien- 

 tific apparatus and instruments on the free list of the 

 tariff, and thus remove an obnoxious tax on -know- 

 ledge, and increase the facilities for the acquisition of 

 scientific and technical education among the masses 

 of the people. 



We are informed that Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, of Mon- 

 treal, and Professor James Wall, sailed for Europe on 

 the 10th instant, for the purpose of attending the In- 

 ternational Geological Congress, to be held at Bologna, 

 Italy, on the 26th of September. We have written to 

 Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, who is both a subscriber and 

 contributor to this journal, to send us a report of this 

 meeting, and have no doubt that we shall be thus en- 

 abled to place before our readers a reliable account of 

 the doings of this Congress. 



We understand the Edison Light Company has been no- 

 tified that the French Government, after inspecting all the 

 electric lights in the Paris Electrical Exposition, has se- 

 lected the Edison Company to light the Grand Opera-house 

 of Paris with the Edison electric light. The Edison Com- 

 pany will ship the necessary electrical machinery to France 

 by the next French steamer, and will light up 800 Edison 

 electric lamps in the opera-house on Oct. 7. 



