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Show IMPORTERS READY FOR REDUCED RATES By International News Service. WASHINGTON, Oct. 3. In bond and In ships lying outside various United States ports with cargoes ready to take Advantage of tho reduced rates of the Underwood-Simmons tariff law, the treasury department estimates there are goods and merchandise valued at $100,-000,000. $100,-000,000. Three-fourths of this enormous sum will enter through the port of New York, the remainder being scattered among the ports of Boston, PhiladelplUa, Baltimore and more southern points. Prom the moment the law becomes effective, ef-fective, all merchandise will bo subject to assessment under the rates of the new Democratic tariff. As a matter of fact, however, these rates will not be collected. collect-ed. The government always takes the advantage to make sure that Its revenues are properly collected, and no chances of loss under the new bill will bo taken. Not until the collectors throughout tho country aro thoroughly posted with regard re-gard to the new law and the detailed regulations of tho department have been received by collectors In tho remotest portions of the country will importers receive the Immediate and direct benefit of reduced rates. Collectors have been Instructed to continue con-tinue assessing tho duties under existing law, withholding final liquidation until a later period to be fixed by the department- Through this plan the government will protect Itself, and tho Importers' money will be tied up until such time as the department may order rebates to be paid representing the difference between tho old and the new laws. This arrangement will be of advantago to importers, as it will prevent any delay In gotting their goods through the customs cus-toms house and onto the shelves of the retailers and thence Into tho hands of the consumer. Experts of the treasury department were unable to begin the revision re-vision of the treasury regulations until the rates of the now tariff wero officially official-ly known, and these wero not known until the conference report was agreed to While these experts have been busy day and night preparing for the change In the customs laws, It will be another week or ten days before the results have been officially verified and new regulations placed In the hand3 of collectors. Will Take Time. Even then, it is claimed, the new law will bo enforced only in a general manner. man-ner. It may be weeks before the changes in all their details and Intricacies have been worked out and the new customs duties can be assessed from day to day as invoices from abroad arrive with the Imports. Meanwhile, as has been stated, all Importers Im-porters must liquidate their duties on the basis of the Payne-Aldrlch law until the government believes It has its new system sys-tem in perfect working order. When the new tariff bill was under consideration in the senate a-propositlon was advanced to assess all goods shipped ahead of time and held in bond at the rates of the Payne-Aldrich law. This was not agreed to, for the reason that the large Importers in New York and other Atlantic ports notified the committee commit-tee that if tills were done the goods would be removed from bond, shipped back to Europe and reshlpped after tho law 'went Into effect Tho committee learned that tho Importers could do this and save money, so they abandoned the idea of collecting the higher rates of existing ex-isting law on goods now in bond. |