No. 377.
Mr. Comly
to Mr. Evarts.
Legation of
the United States,
Honolulu, November 24, 1879.
(Received December 10.)
No. 85.]Sir: I have the honor of transmitting the
concluding correspondence with the Hawaiian foreign office upon the subject
of tariff on cotton clothing, showing that the Hawaiian Government has
accepted the interpretation of Treasury experts and the honorable Secretary
of the Treasury, and has ordered that duties shall not hereafter be levied
upon cotton clothing, the same being the growth, manufacture, and produce of
the United States.
I am, &c.,
[Inclosure 1 in No. 85.]
Mr. Comly to Mr.
Kapena.
Legation of the United States,
Honolulu, November 11,
1879.
No. 162.]Sir: In a note dated May 2, 1879, I had the
honor to call your excellency’s attention to the question whether the
customs officers of His Majesty had properly construed a certain article
in the reciprocity treaty, in collecting a tariff upon all cotton goods
when manufactured into clothing, the same being the growth, manufacture,
and produce of the United States.
In a reply dated June 9, your excellency having stated the grounds of the
decision, with an Inclosure from the collector-general elaborating his
views and reciting his instructions, you thereupon express a desire to
have the opinion and interpretation of the Treasury experts at
Washington, “His Majesty’s Government wishing to give the reciprocity
treaty the most liberal interpretation.”
In compliance with the desire so expressed, I forwarded copies of all
notes, dispatches, and inclosures of the correspondence to the honorable
William M. Evarts, Secretary of State, under date of June 9, 1879.
I have the honor now to transmit to your excellency a letter from the
Hon. John Sherman, Secretary of the Treasury, with Inclosure, giving it
as the opinion of the Treasury Department, upon unanimous advice of its
experts at the most important ports, that “ready-made clothing of cotton
is entitled to admission free of duty into the Hawaiian Islands, under
the treaty mentioned.”
I need not recite the facts and arguments which have led to this
interpretation, further than to say that they are based mainly upon an
expert interpretation of the terms used in the treaty. I simply desire
to call your excellency’s attention to the fact that a judicial
interpretation of the treaty, according to the rules and maxims of the
courts, would be no less conclusive as to the meaning of the phrase
“cotton and manufactures of cotton.” The collector-general in his
communication, a copy of which was inclosed in your reply of June 9
before mentioned, argues that “although the
[Page 591]
words ‘other than when ready-made clothing’ were
not expressed here, as in regard to wool and manufactures of wool or
textile manufactures, still such was the understanding and intention,”
&c., and his reasoning seems to he that because “other than when
ready-made clothing” is expressed in the two clauses, it must be taken
to be implied as to the other clause, he “can see no reason why cotton
clothing should be admitted free and all others made dutiable.” Now, it
seems to me that the reason (or one reason) why cotton clothing should
be admitted free and the other made dutiable is that “the other” is
expressly excepted from the free list, while cotton clothing is not. The
rule of interpretation has been for ages, expressum
facit cessare tacitum, exactly the reverse of that relied upon
by the collector-general.
Cordially reciprocating your excellency’s aspirations for liberality and
frankness in the mutual relations between the two nations we have the
honor to represent, and renewing the assurances of my high consideration
and respect,
I am, &c.,
[Inclosure 2 in No. 85.]
Mr. Kapena to Mr.
Comly.
Department of Foreign Affairs,
Honolulu, November 19,
1879.
Sir: I now beg to reply to your dispatch of the
11th instant, acknowledged on the 13th, regarding the tariff levied at
our custom-house upon cotton goods when manufactured into clothing, the
same being the growth, manufacture or produce of the United States. Your
excellency alludes to a dispatch from this department which was
accompanied by an Inclosure from the collector-general of this country,
giving his reasons for levying the duty. In that dispatch it was stated
that His Majesty’s Government would be glad to have the opinion and
interpretation of the Treasury experts at Washington on the question,
and you are likewise assured that His Majesty’s Government desire to
give the reciprocity treaty a most liberal interpretation.
Your dispatch of the 11th instant was accompanied by a copy of a dispatch
from the honorable Secretary of the Treasury of the United States to the
honorable Secretary of State, dated the 17th of September; and likewise
a copy of a letter from the appraiser of the custom-house at Boston
dated the 11th of September.
By these dispatches His Majesty’s Government is glad to learn that the
views and reasons expressed by our collector-general have received a
kindly and candid consideration, and inasmuch as, after deliberately
weighing the subject in a spirit of fairness and candor, the honorable
Secretary of the Treasury of the United States has reached the
conclusion that “cotton goods when manufactured into clothing “should
not be subjected to duty in this country under the provision of Article
II of the reciprocity treaty, I hasten to assure your excellency that
His Majesty’s Government accepts the interpretation thus placed on
Article II, and that duties will hereafter not be levied upon “cotton
goods when manufactured into clothing, the same being the growth,
manufacture or produce of the United States.”
Renewing the assurances of my highest respect and consideration,
I have, &c.,
[Inclosure 3 in No. 85.]
Official notice from the
collector-general.
Collector-General’s Office,
November 19, 1879.
[From the official publications.]
By order of his excellency the minister of finance, from nd after this
date all cotton goods, when manufactured into clothing, the same being
the growth, manufacture or produce of the United States, will be
admitted free under the provisions of the reciprocity treaty.
W. F. ALLEN,
Collector-General.
