Mr. COUCH. Yes, sir.

Senator JONES, of Arkansas. Would there be any trouble in stating the aggregate values, as you have stated the aggregate numbers? Mr. COUCH. I think there would be, but it can be collated.

Senator JONES, of Arkansas. Will you please furnish that information?

Mr. COUCH. I will.

The statement referred to is as follows:

Statement of the values of merchandise entered for warehouse and for immediate transportation without appraisement at the port of New York during the fiscal years ending June 30, 1893, to June 30, 1898.

Senator PLATT, of Connecticut. I wish to ask you about the practice in the ascertainment of value in I. T. entries. Is it not a fact that usually at the port of ultimate destination, the smaller ports, the value is fixed according to the invoices?

Mr. COUCH. I can not answer the question, for I never see their liquidations. It is so reported.

Senator PLATT, of Connecticut. So far as you have hearsay knowledge in the custom-house, there is not much change in the values at small ports of destination?

Mr. COUCH. That is my information, by hearsay.

Senator PLATT, of Connecticut. All the rulings of the Treasury Department at Washington, I suppose, are printed and communicated to the smaller ports?

Mr. COUCH. All the printed ones.

Senator PLATT, of Connecticut. But the decisions here in the New York custom-house with reference to classifications and with reference to values never reach the smaller ports in printed form?

Mr. COUCH. Not unless they are matters of appeal. A decision that is a matter of protest and appeal would go into the records of the general appraisers, and their action on appeal is reported to the Department.

Senator PLATT, of Connecticut. Do you know how many ports there are besides New York where they have what may be called an independent bureau of appraisement? Have they one in Boston?

Mr. COUCH. One in Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Orleans, San Francisco, and Chicago.

Senator PLATT, of Connecticut. Those are all, as far as you can remember?

Mr. COUCH. Those are all I can certify to.

Senator PLATT, of Connecticut. In the other ports the ascertainment of values or the appraisal of goods is made by the collector or some ordinary official connected with the custom-house who is designated for that purpose?

Mr. COUCH. That is as I understand it.

Mr. BIDWELL. Take a port like Buffalo.

How do you understand

that that is conducted? That is a pretty big port.

Mr. COUCH. There is a collector there, no naval office, no surveyor, I think. I do not think there is an appraiser there.

Mr. BIDWELL. I think the deputy collector acts as the appraiser. Mr. COUCH. You can get the offices from the Blue Book.

Mr. BIDWELL. Take a port like Buffalo, for instance. They would use in smaller quantity for consumption in the city of Buffalo almost all the classes of goods that we use here. For instance, these very embroideries. Take tobacco, as to which there is a great contention with respect to what is wrapper and what is filler; and all staples of that kind, which must be used in large quantities in those ports. If there is a technical and extreme system of appraisement in New York it ought to cover all such ports. Take, for instance, the city of Hartford. The big department stores and the dry-goods stores there use all the same kind of goods that are used here. If the method of appraisement changes with an Administration, as it does and as it has with this, where they have undertaken to ferret out all undervaluations and to advance the goods, it affects a port like this where it might not affect a port like Hartford.

Senator PLATT, of Connecticut. By way of illustration you yesterday mentioned the port of Bridgeport, Conn. Do you know whether parties who have had trouble about their valuations or classifications in New York have changed the place where they liquidate their duties from New York to Bridgeport?

Mr. BIDWELL. We have no definite knowledge to that effect.
Senator PLATT, of Connecticut. I have heard it.

Mr. BIDWELL. We have heard it. It seems to me that a suggestion might be made to the Department to take up that matter and put a man on it and ascertain the fact. If we find that the Strauss, for instance, who are large importers of china and ware of that description, are entering their goods at Newport News or Baltimore or Bridgeport, or even Philadelphia, there must be some reason for it, and it would be very easy for the Department to take up their entries at those points and compare them with the invoices entered here and see what is being done.

Senator PLATT, of Connecticut. In the smaller ports, I understand, there is nothing which corresponds to the public stores in New York, where goods are ordered into a building for examination?

Mr. COUCH. There may be; I do not know how that is; probably there are.

Mr. BIDWELL. I think they have a warehouse. they use a bonded warehouse.

In Buffalo I know

Senator PLATT, of Connecticut. I saw yesterday that there was a port at a place in Vermont which I did not recognize, but it can not be possible that there would be any very complete machinery there for the examination of goods. Uniformity in classification and in the ascertainment of value and in liquidation is of the utmost importance to the business of the country as well as to the Government.

Mr. COUCH. There is no question about that.

Mr. BIDWELL. I heard, but I can not remember how I got the information, that since the advances were made by the appraisers here on Limoges ware, which I do not contend was not proper at all, they have been importing Limoges ware through Newport News.

Mr. COUCH. I have heard such a statement. I have no verification

Mr. BIDWELL. There can be no reason for a merchant importing Limoges ware through Newport News except to get a different appraisement from that here.

Senator PLATT, of Connecticut. Can you make any suggestions of a change in the law by which uniformity of classification and ascertainment of values can be had?

Mr. BIDWELL. I think it is in the line of the work of the general appraisers, if perhaps they were accorded larger force and a better system, or by the creation of a department which under their direction should investigate just such things as we are talking about now. The scope of the work all comes under the general appraisers, if it was carried out.

Senator PLATT, of Connecticut. Does it occur to you that the system has been extended too much; that is, that too many places have been made subports of entry?

Mr. COUCH. We have held that view for a long time.

Mr. BIDWELL. That is undoubtedly true.

Senator PLATT, of Connecticut. In New York and the larger cities where there is an appraiser's division you are supposed to have people having expert knowledge with reference to almost all classes of goods? Mr. COUCH. Yes, sir.

Senator PLATT, of Connecticut. That is not true at the smaller ports, or, if so, it is only true to a limited extent? Mr. COUCH. That is the way we understand it. You were speaking about the line of procedure to reach that matter. If you will notice in section 12, which provides for the appointment of the Board of General Appraisers, it is provided

"They shall be employed at such ports and within such territorial limits as the Secretary of the Treasury may from time to time prescribe, and are hereby authorized to exercise the powers and duties devolved upon them by this act, and to exercise, under the general direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, such other supervision over appraisements and classifications for duty of imported merchandise as may be needful to secure lawful and uniform appraisements and classifications at the several ports.'

Eliminate for a moment the classification and hold to the appraisement. I suppose that the act contemplated that there should be a certain supervision by that board over the appraiséments at the several ports, under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury might prescribe. But how far that has been put into working shape I do not know.

Senator PLATT, of Connecticut. You have connected with the custom-house in New York some special agents?

Mr. COUCH. They are distributed all over the country.

Senator PLATT, of Connecticut, There are a certain number here? Mr. COUCH. Yes, sir.

Senator PLATT, of Connecticut. Do their duties or their supervision extend beyond the port of New York?

Mr. COUCH. The special agents?

Senator PLATT, of Connecticut. There is another set of them under the Treasury Department in Washington?

Mr. COUCH. The special agents are all directly under the Treasury, and they are located with some permanence, for instance, here and at the principal ports, and then they are sent all around. They are the immediate officers of the Secretary, and they deal with such matters as are referred to them by the Secretary.

Senator PLATT, of Connecticut. Suppose that a merchant should complain to a special agent here that importers were getting their goods valued at an interior point at less than similar goods were valued at New York; would it be a part of his duty to investigate the matter?

Mr. COUCH. He would either investigate it or make a report of the fact to the Secretary and await instructions.

Senator JONES, of Arkansas. I wish to ask the collector a question. He made a statement which created the impression on my mind that the idea was that questions of valuation settled in New York ought in his opinion to govern other ports or subports in the vicinity, or something of that kind. I did not catch exactly what he meant by that statement, and I wish to ask him about it.

Mr. BIDWELL. Of course New York, collecting 75 per cent of the customs revenues of the United States, naturally handles all classes of merchandise imported, and on account of the volume of business here the Department is enabled to install a department and examiners who are experts in their various lines of goods. For instance, there is an expert examiner of linens, of silks, of wools, and of hardware. The hardware examiner has nothing whatever to do with linens. The point I wish to bring out is that on account of the volume of business handled here we can have experts in the various lines who are enabled, by their experience and by reason of handling these articles especially, to be experts in determining their value. The same condition might exist in Chicago, but not to so great an extent, and in Philadelphia and in Boston, but it could not possibly exist in ports like Buffalo or Cleveland.

Senator JONES, of Arkansas. How could you have an appraisement made in New York which could govern in any port outside of New York? It seems to me the appraisement must be made as to each individual entry. When an entry is made that goes through New York to Buffalo, for instance, unless the custom-house officers here could examine it, unless it was entered for appraisement here before it went to Buffalo, I do not see how it would be possible to make an appraisement at New York to govern at Buffalo, because an item invoiced here and appraised here might differ totally from an invoice of the same goods or the same character of goods at Buffalo. might differ in quality, texture, or in value.

It

It does not seem to me it would be possible to have an arbitrary rule by which, for instance, all sugar should be appraised or all tobacco should be appraised. There is a difference in each invoice. It seems to me the purpose of the law is that each invoice shall be appraised by itself and not with any other invoice. I can understand how it might be that I. T. goods passing through New York, for instance, could be opened and appraised in New York before they went to the subport to have the duties liquidated and the goods finally delivered. That might be practicable, because you could examine the identical goods here; but how you are to have an appraisement without an inspection by the inspector of the particular goods, or one case in ten, is beyond my comprehension. The law recognizes that fact, because it requires that one package in ten shall be examined. The goods may differ in value and therefore the appraiser has to take out one in ten of the cases that come in under each invoice. I do not see how it would be possible to make appraisements in New York govern at other places under those circumstances, and if you can suggest a way to do it I should like to have your idea.

Mr. COUCH. Arbitrarily I do not suppose that would be possible, but take, for instance, this provision

Senator JONES, of Arkansas. Before you finish, let me ask another question. Is there any system in the customs business of the United States of ports of entry keeping informed of the action of other ports of entry in matters of classification and valuation?

Mr. COUCH. That is a point which I think is not covered properly, but I do not know.

Senator JONES, of Arkansas. Proceed.

Mr. COUCH. The appraisers get their information of market value by certain standard lines of goods--goods that are understood and recognized by the trade. You have provided in the law for the collection of samples at the general appraiser's. We are receiving from the consuls samples of the different classes of goods. They come at the time of the importation, and they are sent up to our appraiser. It has occurred to me that there might be a system of administration by which appraising officers would work in touch if the sample matter was made use of and the general appraisers had fixed the value of certain recognized lines of goods and would furnish that information to the appraisers at other ports. Then those samples would stand as a guide, as a means of comparison, as a test, as a rule, if you please, by which they could measure relative values. That has occurred to me as being a possible line.

Senator JONES, of Arkansas. It looks to me as if there might be something done in that way.

Senator PLATT, of Connecticut. Take as an illustration the silk duties and the wool duties. Wool duties are higher. If there is any wool in the silk there would be a higher duty on that fabric. Now, in New York the appraisers might find that a certain fabric was to be classified under the wool schedule. In Buffalo the appraisers might find that it was to be classified under the silk schedule. Would there be any difficulty in the Secretary of the Treasury, when an appraisement has been made in New York, sending out a circular and informing the other ports what was the rule and have them conform to it?

Mr. COUCH. There is no difficulty in the matter of classification. Senator PLATT, of Connecticut. But in the matter of value? Mr. COUCH. You want to keep the two things entirely apart. Senator PLATT, of Connecticut. I do. The appraiser at Buffalo, in the instance referred to, might say "there is not any wool in this article and therefore it should come in the silk schedule," when the appraiser in New York had said there was wool in it and it should come in the wool schedule.

Mr. COUCH. That is classification. When you come to value, the question is, "What is that piece of goods worth per unit of price, per yard or per measure?”

Senator JONES, of Arkansas. That must be a matter of judgment on the part of the appraiser?

Mr. COUCH. That must be a matter of judgment for the appraiser. That is where the appraiser's act is final.

Senator PLATT, of Connecticut. The Treasury Department can not say, in a way which would control the action of the appraising officers at interior ports, that a certain fabric is to be appraised at a certain value?

Mr. COUCH. No.

Senator PLATT, of Connecticut. That is impracticable?