Oct. 2, 1909.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
543 
DORCHEN II. 
Tax on Foreign-Built Yachts. 
The new law taxing foreign-built yachts is 
going to cause some trouble, not only to yachts- 
nen, but to officers of the Government. The 
-ecently enacted tariff law had a clause impos- 
ng a tax of $7 a ton, pross, on all foreign-built 
■adits owned by American citizens, or if they 
;o elect they can pay an ad valorem duty of 
iS per cent, and obtain an American registry. 
Collector of the Port, William Loeb, Jr., 
•ent to several owners a notice that they must 
>ay the tax before Sept. 15, but up to that time 
mly two paid any attention to this notice, 
oseph Pulitzer paid $11,249 tax on the Liberty, 
ind_ Frederick Gallatin paid $2,856 on the 
Riviera. Walter Jennings, owner of Hope, and 
^rederickW. Vanderbilt, owner of Conqueror 
.nd Warrior, asked for appraisements of those 
''essels. 
Just how these taxes are to be collected is 
lot yet known even by the officials. Collector 
>f the Port Loeb has sent a list of owners, 
heir yachts and the amount of the tax to 
Jnited States District-Attorney Henry A. 
Vise with the _ request that he collect the 
mount. This list is as follows: 
^Charles M. Hall, Caress, $280; A. Edward 
tower, Erl King, $3,108; W. L: Harkness, 
junilda, $2,702; W. S. Pierce, Gundreda, $2,058: 
Fiver and J. B. Harriman, Mohican, $1,687; 
’j rs - Robert Goeleit, Naham, $12,180; Lucius 
i. Smith, Queen Mab, $287; Col. Francis L. 
vdand, Safa-El-Bahr, $3,409; W. K. Vanderbilt, 
r.. Tarantula, $860; C. K. G. Billings, Vanadis, 
7,644; Eugene Higgins, Varuna, $11,018; L. V. 
tarkness, Wakiva I., $2,919, same owner, 
Valova II., $6,971; H. Cohen, Zinita, $133; 
yeorge J. Gould, Atalanta, $9,121; W. S. 
Gilmer, Remlik, $3,024; James Gordon Bennett, 
yysistrata, $13,601; Investors Realty Trading 
-ompany, Allita, $7,186: H. R. Walcott, Pebble, 
po; H. Clay Pierce, Yacona, $3,682; H. A. C. 
aylor, Wanderer,, $2,534; total, $92,540. 
these are only a few of the large foreign- 
lll “t yachts that are owned in this country, 
nd why only a partial list has been made 
uhlic is something the yachtsmen cannot 
nderstand. They have not been idle, however, 
nd two or three combinations of owners have 
een formed and counsel has been retained to 
tlleir intere sts- When District-At- 
'rney Wise makes a move he will find that they 
re ready to protect their interests, and a long, 
uibborn fight is anticipated. 
For many years builders and designers in this 
country have been trying to get a law taxing 
foreign yachts, but they have failed. Yachts 
have been built on the other, side, brought here 
and enjoyed all the privileges of home-built 
vessels. Merchant vessels, in order to fly the 
American flag, are required to have spent on 
them two-thirds of itheir original cost in this 
country. One yacht has an American registry 
under this law. Waturus was built at Leith in 
1900 and is owned by Randall Morgan, of Phila¬ 
delphia. Mr. Morgan a few years ago spent a 
lot of money remodeling the yacht, putting in 
new machinery, and after this had been done 
he applied for an American registry and got it. 
The peculiar workings of the tariff laws are 
shown in yachts. If an owner, until the passage 
of the present law, imported all the parts of a 
yacht—-the steel plating, steel frames, joiner 
work, interior fittings, machinery, furnishings, 
instruments and the thousand and one things 
that are found on a yacht—he would have had 
to pay duty of about 40 or 45 per cent.; but if 
he had these parts assembled in some foreign 
yard, had the yacht built and equipped there and 
then fitted out and sent to these waters, the 
yacht came in without paying one cent of duty. 
Had he assembled the parts here he would have 
been fostering American industry and have 
given work to hundreds of mechanics, but by 
having the yacht built abroad he took work 
from people of his own country. 
If the law is constitutional, vessels are to be 
appraised and 35 per cent, duty paid on the ap¬ 
praised value. A. J. McIntosh, a. broker, has 
been appointed as one of the appraisers, but just 
how he is going to determine the value of these 
vessels is hard to find out. Some of the big 
yachts have cost more than $750,000. The 
Iolanda, Morton F. Plant’s yacht, built last 
year, cost about $800,000, but if she were to be 
sold now under forced sale, it is doubtful if she 
would bring $200,000. 
A yacht depreciates in value very fast, and 
owners have been wondering if the appraise¬ 
ment is to be on the original cost or the present 
value. Some yachts are quite old. Ituna was 
built twenty-three years ago, and she cost about 
$110,000. She was sold not long ago for 
$18,000, and her present owner has had the 
yacht thoroughly overhauled, so that he would 
not take $40,000 for her. That price would 
properly represent her value, but of that amount 
more than $20,000 was spent here. 
The opinion of many yachtsmen and some 
lawyers who have looked into the matter is 
that some new law will have to be passed deal¬ 
ing specially with foreign-built yachts. 
According to Lloyds’ Yacht Register, the 
ioreign-built yachts owned by American citizens 
are: 
Agawa, C. W. Harkness, str. 
Alcedo, G. W. C. Drexel, str. 
Allita, Investors’ Trading Co. str 
Anenome C. L. Tutt, estate adx.. iIO 
Atalanta, George J. Gould, str. 1 303 
Athena, Ralph E. Towle, str. 447 
Calantha, J. A. Hinckley, str. 
Caress, Charles M. Hall, yawl. 
Carmel, Charles A. Starbuck, str. 
Caro la IV., Leonard Richards, str. 
Cassandra, Roy A. Rainey, str. 1 227 
Christabel, W. Ferguson, str. *0.10 
Conqueror, F. W. Vanderbilt, str.. 
Cysne, E. B. Morton, str. 
Diana, C. L. Blair, str. 
Eelin, Gordon Dexter, sloop. 
Emblanche, J. Rosenbaum, str. 
Enchantress, N. L. McCready, aux 
Enterprise, F. L. Perin, aux. 
Erl King, A. Edward Tower, str. 
Gundreda, W. S. Pierce, str. 294 
Gunlida, W. L. Harkness, str. 385 
Hester, C. II. Dodge, cutter. no 
Iolanda, Morton F. Plant, str. 1647 
Isolde, F. M. Hoyt, cutter. 
Ituna, VV. B. Dinsmore, str. 
Jessica, M. R. Schuyler, cutter. 
Liberty, J. Pulitzer, str. 
Lysistrata, J. G. Bennett, str..... 
Margarita, A. J. Drexel, str. 
May, A. Van Rensselaer, str. 
Mohican, O. & J. B. Harriman, str. 
Nahma, Mrs. Robert Goelet, str. 1739 
Narada, Henry Walters, str. 
North Star, C. Vanderbilt, str... 
Queen Mab, L. H. Smith, cutter 
O-We-Ra, F. H. Stevens, str_ 
Riviera, Frederick Gallatin, str.... 
Safa-El-Bahr, F. L. Leland, str... 
Senta, Capt. J. A. Fish, yawl. 
Shona, Charles H. Tweed, cutter. 
Surf, John H. Hanan, str. 
Sybarite, W. G. Brokaw, yawl. 214 
Tarantula, W. K. Vanderbilt, Jr., str_ 
duscarora, Mrs. O. B. Jennings estate, str. 
Valiant, W. K. Vanderbilt, str. „ 
Vanadis, C. K. G. Billings, str. l’o92 
Varuna, Eugene Higgins, str. 1,573 
Venetia, George W. Elkins, str... 
Wakiva I., L. V. Harkness, str... 
Wakiva II., L. V. Harkness, str.. 
Wanderer, H. A. C. Taylor, str. 
Warrior, F. W. Vanderbilt, str. 1,097 
Yacona, H. Clay Pierce, str..*. 527 
Zara, A. L. Stevens, str. 
Zinita, W. Cohen, cutter. 
Xarifa, C. N. Nelson, str. 
Pebble, H. R. Walcott, str. 
Remlik, W. S. Klimer, str. 
Total . 32,147 
Tonnage. 
Built. 
1907 
. 983 
1895 
504 
.... 11.8 
1899 
.... 1,303 
1903 
1887 
350 
1898 
1895 
1870 
240 
1885 
.... 1,227 
1908 
1893 
386 
1889 
1899 
1896 
1899 
1885 
189 
1875 
1882 
443 
1894 
1893 
385 
1897 
1895 
1908 
1895 
1886 
1890 
1908 
.... 1,942 
1900 
1900 
1891 
231 
1890 
.... 1,739 
1897 
490 
1889 
818 
1893 
40 
1907 
407 
1898 
487 
1894 
1898 
1884 
1898 
214 
1900 
.... 123 
1902 
str. 540 
1S97 
.... 1,823 
1893 
.... 1,092 
1908 
1896 
.... 5S8 
1903 
417 
1903 
853 
1907 
362 
1897 
.... 1,097 
1904 
.... 527 
1898 
1891 
1896 
378 
1894 
14 
.... 385 
1906 
As it stands now, the owners of the large 
steam yachts have agreed among themselves 
to wait for the Government officials to proceed 
and then a test case will be made. These yachts¬ 
men maintain that the law is unconstitutional 
because it is retroactive. 
A yachtsman arguing against the imposition 
of the tax recently declared that it was not fair 
to impose taxes on yachts that, were built 
prior to the passage of the new tariff act, and 
he did not see how the courts could sustain 
the act. The yachts were built before any law 
was on the statute books imposing a tax, and 
those yachtsmen who preferred for various rea¬ 
sons to go to foreign shipyards for their vessels 
did so without any idea that later they would 
have to pay duty to the United States ’Govern- 
men. This yachtsman said: 
“I am not opposed to yachts being taxed. 
Instead. I am heartily in favor of taxes being 
imposed on yachts, automobiles and other 
luxuries that the rich enjoy, and I think that 
if they can afford these luxuries they can afford 
to pay something for the support of the Govern¬ 
ment of this country. I am in favor, too, of .1 
duty on foreign-built yachts, so that home in¬ 
dustries can be fostered. 
“A man under the old conditions went abroad 
to get a yacht because he saved at least 25 per 
cent. He would tell you that he went abroad 
because large steam yachts could not be built 
here as they are on the other side. American 
builders have turned out some handsome 
vessels, and they would do still better if they 
had more experience. 
“After these yachts have been built and 
brought here it is not fair to tax them, and if 
it is legal to put a tax of $7 a ton now, who 
will it not be legal later on to double this tax? 
Then a man will not know where things are 
going to stop. It seems to me that it would be 
