be allowed a drawback equal in amount to the tax found to have been paid on the alcohol so used:

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Provided, That no other than domestic tax-paid alcohol shall have been used in the manufacture or production of such preparations. Such drawback shall be determined and paid under such rules and regulations, and upon the filing of such notices, bonds, bills of lading, and other evidence of payment of tax and exportation, as the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe.

"Provided, That imported salt in bond may be used in curing fish taken by vessels licensed to engage in the fisheries and in curing fish on the shores of the navigable waters of the United States, under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe; and upon proof that the salt has been used for either of the purposes stated in this proviso, the duties on the same shall be remitted:

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Provided further, That exporters of meats, whether packed or smoked, which have been cured in the United States with imported salt shall, upon satisfactory proof, under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe, that such meats have been cured with imported salt, have refunded to them from the Treasury the duties paid on the salt so used in curing such exported meats, in amounts not less than $100.

"That the provisions of this section shall apply to materials used in the construction and equipment of vessels built for foreign account and ownership, or for the government of any foreign country, notwithstanding that such vessels may not, within the strict meaning of the term, be articles exported."

Supplementary note No. 14.-Canadian wheat movement through United

States.

The tonnage of Canadian wheat moving on this continent for export has reached enormous proportions, the annual movement being between two hundred to two hundred and fifty million bushels, or, in round figures, 200,000 carloads.

Of this movement, 60 per cent has formerly moved via the United States, affording a haul varying from 500 to 1,000 miles of over 100,000 carloads annually. This business is constantly increasing, as the development of the lands of far western Canada progresses. The time is not far distant when the volume of Canadian wheat crop will have doubled, with a relative increase in exports. The preservation and development of this tonnage by United States railroads is a matter of prime importance, both to them and to the country at large.

The use this Canadian wheat in United States mills, together with the increased percentage of United States wheats, affords the railways absolutely original tonnage to that degree.

The by-product produced in manufacturing flour is the principal constituent part of milk production, and through its greater supply and greater cost will increase such milk production. This will afford additional tonnage of a most desirable character to our railroads. The soil enrichment resulting from the fertilizing value of these feeds means increased production and additional transportation tonnage.

The more continuous and larger operation of United States mills will mean cheaper flour because of the lessening cost of production, which means cheaper bread. Labor is more vitally interested in the price of bread than in anything else excepting its own wage.

ties.

Supplementary note No. 15.-Development of Canadian transportation faciliCanada is developing already established lines of ocean steamers, interior waterways, and coast communications which will permit them to carry on their own rails and in their own bottoms the tremendously increasing crop of wheat, 60 per cent of which until recently has passed through the hands of United States carriers.

The figures shown in the table under supplementary note 5 show that the percentage of Canadian movement through the United States is undergoing a marked diminution. Last year, from September 1 to the close of navigation, Canadian shipments via the Lakes were 99,000,000 bushels, of which 52 per cent went to Buffalo and 9 per cent to other United States ports; 39 per cent going to Canadian ports.

From the opening of navigation this year to the end of August, 1921, shipments were 78,000,000 bushels, of which Buffalo got 17 per cent, other United States ports 4 per cent, and Canadian ports 78 per cent.

Milling centers in line of flow of Canadian wheat: Milling centers in line of flow of Canadian wheat through the United States, on present freight structure, where Canadian wheat can be imported, milled in bond, and handled on a com

petitive basis under the regulations proposed, are those located at or tributary to Green Bay, Gladstone, Manitowoc, Racine, Milwaukee, Chicago, Michigan City, Traverse City, Benton Harbor, Muskegon, Ludington, Manistee, Petosky, Cheboygan, Alpena, Bay City, Port Huron, Toledo, Sandusky, Erie, Cleveland, Buffalo, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington.

The response that could be expected from carriers would undoubtedly allow Canadian wheat carried in bond through these ports to reach seaboard in the form of flour at Gulf ports, Newport News, or the other Atlantic ports at rates of freight which would enable all mills to participate in the business.

Canadian flour exports for September, October, and November, 1921.

Values were unobtainable except for the following for the first 20 days of November:

Importations at Niagara Falls and Black Rock (the all-rail entry of Buf

This shows the average valuation of imports at the two points to be $6.25. The imports probably originated and were valued as at Port Colborne, which would reconcile with values of $5.10 bulk shown for Fort William in supplementary note No. 1.

To United States, September, October, and November:

19201921.

77, 415, 000 _do___ 57, 529, 000

__do_____
_do_.

8, 623, 000 4, 156, 000

_do___ 18, 414, 000 __do____ 16, 002, 000

1 There are 16,000,000 bushels of Canadian wheat afloat in bond at Buffalo, which by

a mere custom entry at Buffalo can be transferred into United States importations.

ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

MODIFICATIONS OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

STATEMENT OF JOSEPH F. LOCKETT, REPRESENTING THE CUSTOMS BAR ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK CITY.

Mr. LOCKETT. The Customs Bar Association of New York City, through its committee on practice and procedure, has prepared a very complete and exhaustive analysis of certain parts of the administrative section of the Fordney bill, and through a misunderstanding the brief is not now here for presentation to this committee. They wired and asked me to request the committee to receive the brief when it arrives to-morrow.

Senator MCCUMBER. Very well.

(The brief is as follows:)

The purpose of this memorandum is to lay before your committee certain modifications of the administrative provisions in Title IV of the general tariff bill (H. R. 7456) as proposed by the committee on practice, procedure, and legislation of the Association of the Customs Bar.

The Association of the Customs Bar is an organization of attorneys practicing before the Board of United States General Appraisers and the United States Court of Customs Appeals. Among its principal objects are the maintenance and improvement of the standards and methods of practice under the Federal laws relating to the customs and revenue and the promotion of reforms in such legislation.

The Association of the Customs Bar has given careful study to the administration features of the pending bill and believes it to be great improvement over any previous administrative system. In matters of fundamental policy, like the American-valuation plan, the association does not undertake to express the views of its members. It recommends only certain changes that, in its judgment, will contribute to the simplicity and effectiveness of the law, but is convinced that these are highly important. The objects of the amendments are summarized below and this summary is followed by the proposed amendments and the reasons therefor.

OBJECTS SOUGHT BY THE PROPOSED AMENDMENTS.

1. The shipper or owner, or the agent of either, should be permitted to sign consular invoices of purchased goods in the country of exportation, as well as the seller. (Section 482, infra.)

2. The requirement that consular invoices be sworn to before a notary public, before production to a United States consul, will cause inconvenience to shippers with no resulting benefit. It should be sufficient if such invoices were declared to before a consul, as under existing law. (Sections 485, 486, 481, infra.)

3. Compliance with the provision requiring an importer to enter his merchandise in terms of the tariff laws should not deprive him of his remedy to test such classification by litigation. (Section 490, infra.)

4. A board of three general appraisers should have the right to review the decision of a single general appraiser on jurisdictional questions in a reappraisement appeal. (Section 509, infra.)

5. The parties should have the same right of argument in proceedings before the board of three general appraisers in a reappraisement case as in proceedings before a single general appraiser. (Section 509, infra.)

6. Delivery of imported merchandise at a designated place should not be made a condition of the right of abandonment of such merchandise where it is so far destroyed or in such condition as not to be deliverable. (Section 513, infra.)

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7. The adoption of the American-valuation system will make it important that the subpoena power of collectors, appraisers, and boards of general appraisers include the power to cite manufacturers of and dealers in domestic merchandise being or alleged to be similar to imported merchandise. (Section 521, infra.)

8. Decisions of a collector should be reviewable when he acts outside of the law as well as when he proceeds by, or under color, of statutory authority. (Section 527, infra).

9. The requirements of a protest as prescribed in former statutes, and settled by many years of practice and judicial construction, should be preserved without innovation. (Section 527, infra).

10. The importer should not be deprived of all remedy to contest an illegal assessment, because of failure to pay the assessed duties within 30 days after filing a protest. A condition that he shall pay the duty before his protest can be heard has proved sufficient for many years past. (Sections 527, 528, ínfra.)

11. The boards of general appraisers should have power to order analyses of merchandise in Government laboratories. (Section 531, infra.)

12. A single general appraiser should have power to order a rehearing or retrial of a reappraisement case decided by him. (Section 531, infra.)

The page, line, and section numbers of the bill as stated in the ensuing recommendations have reference to the print of H. R. 7456, as referred to the Committee on Finance.

PROPOSED AMENDMENTS.

I. THE SHIPPER OR OWNER OR THE AGENT OF EITHER SHOULD BE PERMITTED TO SIGN CONSULAR INVOICES OF PURCHASED GOODS IN THE COUNTRY OF EXPORTATION, AS WELL AS THE SELLER.

Section 482: On page 255, in line 7, insert after the word “seller" the words "shipper or owner."

As the section now stands, it requires that consular invoices of purchased goods shall be signed by the seller of the merchandise or by the seller's agent. This, if literally adhered to, would cause great inconvenience to large importers who maintain branch houses in foreign countries for the purpose of assembling, inspecting, and shipping goods purchased in various places. Such branch houses have for many years been permitted to consolidate numerous shipments in one consular invoice and to sign such invoice; the present requirement being that the consular invoice shall be signed by the "person owning or shipping" the goods. They have been required in such consolidated invoices to disclose the name of the seller, attach his original bill or invoice, and swear to its accuracy.

Under section 482 as it now stands, however, consolidation of shipments in one invoice would be difficult if not impossible. The assembling purchaser would have to send his consolidated invoice to possibly 10 to 20 sellers for signature, which would result in embarrassing delays, to say nothing of other objectionable features. The alternative of obtaining a separate consular invoice from each seller would be even more objectionable. Indeed, a seller living in another consular district from that from which the goods were finally shipped probably could not legally execute a consular invoice, in view of the requirement of section 485 that the invoice shall be certified by the consul of the district from which the merchandise is to be shipped. The privilege of purchasing merchandise in different consular districts, assembling it for shipment, and including it in a single invoice certified at the shipping point is expressly recognized in section 484, at page 257, but is practically rendered abortive by the requirement in section 482 that the consular invoice be signed by the seller. This requirement is also inconsistent with section 485, page 257, lines 14, 15, and 16, permitting the consular declaration on the invoice to be signed and sworn to "by the seller, manufacturer, or owner, or by his or their agent."

It is not believed that any objectionable practices have arisen from the long-existing privilege accorded purchasers abroad of assembling and shipping merchandise on a consular invoice signed and declared to by the shipper or owner. Section 482, as it now stands, is merely an embarrassing restriction upon the normal practices of trade with no compensating advantage and should be amended as above suggested.

II. THE REQUIREMENT THAT CONSULAR INVOICES BE SWORN TO BEFORE A NOTARY PUBLIC, BEFORE PRODUCTION TO A UNITED STATES CONSUL, WILL CAUSE INCONVENIENCE TO SHIPPERS WITH NO RESULTING BENEFIT. IT SHOULD BE SUFFICIENT IF SUCH INVOICES WERE DECLARED TO BEFORE A CONSul, as under EXISTING LAW. Section 485: On page 257, in lines 12 to 14, beginning after the word "signed" in line 12, strike out the words "and sworn to before an officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of the place where signed and sworn to."