ESSAY 
 
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 COUNT CHAPTAU 
 

KSSA Y 
 
 IMPOST DUTIES. 
 
 Of all the problems that present themselves to the mind of a 
 statesman, that of a sound tariff is the .most difficult to solve. 
 Such a tariff imposes the duty of reconciling hostile interests— 
 and as that is impossible, whatever arrangement may be made, 
 one class of citizens will suffer, while another is favoured. Thus 
 the legislator has to balance the censure he receives from one 
 party against the approbation of another. 
 
 The agriculturist is desirous that all the fruits of the earth, as 
 well the necessaries of life, as raw materials lor manufactures, 
 should be prohibited or burdened with duties. The manufacturer 
 requires that raw materials he admitted free of duty, and that all 
 manufaettned articles be excluded. The merchant, whose inter¬ 
 est is to exchange every thing, [dont l’intcret est de tout depla¬ 
 cer,] wishes, that whatever is necessary for commerce, be al¬ 
 lowed to be exported and imported, without molestation or 
 impost. The consumer, whose object is to subsist himself on 
 the best terms, requires to have the exportation prohibited of 
 every production of the soil or industry, and that all analogous 
 
 objects from foreign countries he freely admitted. And the go¬ 
 vernment, which regards the proceeds of the duties among its 
 resources, is obliged to support the tariff in order to provide the 
 treasury with the necessary revenues. 
 
 It is in the midst of these clashing interests and views, that 
 the legislator is obliged to proceed. But as it is impossible to 
 conciliate the whole, he must seek other grounds to proceed 
 
•I Chaptal on Impost Duties. 
 
 From what lias been slated, the partizans of unlimited free 
 
 dom of commerce will not fail to conclude, that impost duties 
 ought to be suppressed. In this opinion I am very far from 
 coinciding. In order to refute it. we require only to reflect on 
 the result of this suppression. 
 
 If we had no duties, we should soon behold the ruin of those 
 numerous establishments where iron is manufactured to the 
 amount of forty millions [annually] ; as this manufacture strug¬ 
 gles with difficult}- against those of the north of Europe, not¬ 
 withstanding the enormous duties to which the productions of 
 the latter are subject. We should behold those work-shops 
 closed, of spinners, of weavers, and of cotton-printers, which, 
 created in our day, have not acquired sufficient strength nor 
 capital to struggle with those of foreign nations. We should 
 see disappear those precious manufactures of ironmongery, 
 which have been established under the guarantee of the duties 
 upon and prohibitions against foreign rival productions: and we 
 should reduce to misery those millions of active and industri¬ 
 ous inhabitants, whose existence depends on those new kinds of 
 industry, and at the same time annihilate an enormous amount 
 of capital invested in machinery and buildings, which would 
 cease to be productive by the cessation of the labours of in¬ 
 dustry. 
 
 It will doubtless be replied, that this part of the industrious 
 population will be restored to agriculture. But can there be 
 pointed out a single spot on the surface of France, where labour¬ 
 ers are deficient for agriculture? Do we not behold, every 
 year, many of our provinces, surcharged with population, dis¬ 
 charge the excess into other countries? Moreover, can we al¬ 
 low ourselves to believe, that men born in cities, and brought 
 up in work-shops, are calculated for agricultural labour? 
 
 Agriculture is an employment which, like all others, requires 
 an apprenticeship and practice: and also a degree of strength 
 and other qualifications, which will be sought for in vain, in 
 workmen grown old in manufactories. That part of the popu¬ 
 lation which derives its support from labour, is naturally divided 
 between the fields and the work-shops, in proportion to what 
 
Chaplal on Impost Duties. 
 
 they respectively require. To change I lie order, is to destroy 
 
 the equilibrium, ntul to produce misery :md all its excesses. 
 
 It will he added, that the consumers, who comprise the whole 
 nation, would derive benefit from the unrestrained importation 
 of the productions of industry, which foreigners could furnish 
 at a cheaper rate. But I demand, how shall uic pay foreigners 
 for more than a thousand millions worth [q/' limes, ] of pro¬ 
 ductions of this kind with which our manufactories furnish 
 us at present! With the produce of our soil? The measure 
 of foreign consumption has been long fixed; and does not reach 
 to one hundred millions beyond our wants. It will be said, 
 that the foreign consumption would increase. I cannot coin¬ 
 cide in this opinion. But if it augments, the part reserved for 
 the supply of the nation would rise in price. The native con¬ 
 sumer would therefore lose what he expected to gain ; and the 
 nation would sacrifice the advantages of the manual labour, 
 which are so considerable in the productions for which the raw 
 materials derived from the soil arc employed. Or, should wo 
 pay the excess of our importations over our exportation by our 
 specie? Where are our mines? especially since the revolution 
 in South America has deprived us of fifty millions annually, 
 which we derived from our commerce with Spain? Should we 
 pay with our fine drapery and our Lyons silks, which arc the 
 principal productions of industry that we can export to advan¬ 
 tage? But even were we to double our present exportation of 
 those articles, which is by no means probable, we should not 
 export one hundred and fifty millions. France could not, there¬ 
 fore, pay for one half of what she at present consumes of I lie pro¬ 
 ductions of her manufactures—and she would deprive herself of 
 wealth, the result of the labour of her artisans and manufac¬ 
 turers, to the amount of six or seven hundred millions. 
 
 Let us not, therefore, lose ourselves in tile labyrinth of meta¬ 
 physical abstractions. Let us preserve and study to improve 
 what is already established. 
 
 A sound legislation on impost duties, is the true safeguard 
 '/ agricultural and manufacturing industry. It raises or 
 reduces the tariff, according to circumstances and necessity 
 
o Chajilal on Impost Duties. 
 
 It compensator the disadvantages which our manufacturers might 
 suffer in the comparative price of the workmanship or fuel. It 
 protects the infant arts and manufactures, and shields them 
 from the rival-ship of foreigners, until they hare arrived at 
 a due degree of perfection. It tends to establish the indepen¬ 
 dence of the industry of France: and enriches the nation by 
 an increase of useful labour, which, as I hove repeatedly 
 stated, is the principal source of public wealth. 
 
 This legislation embraces all the interests of a nation. But 
 as it cannot promote them ail in an equal degree, it ought, in a 
 more especial manner, to give a preference to those which re¬ 
 in this species of hierarchy of wants [d’hierarchie des be- 
 
 pital in his enterprises. But this capital is sunk in the purchase 
 
 nufacture prospers. .In unwise tariff destroys it entirely in 
 his hands: as for the most part, it consists only in machinery 
 and buildings. Independent of the loss he incurs, this would 
 be a real loss to the French nation, because it would diminish 
 the productions and labour of the country. The agriculturist 
 and the merchant may be disappointed in their operations; but 
 their capitals remain. They rnay change their destination ; 
 while all is lost to the manufacturer. Like the agriculturist and 
 the merchant, the manufacturer employs labourers; but the 
 workmanship necessary for his operations is more extensive than 
 for that of either of the others. We see in many work-shops, 
 five hundred workmen employed to produce articles to the 
 amount of one million in value: while some operations of com¬ 
 merce produce the same sum by the aid of a few clerks. The 
 merchant adds no value to the merchandise which he transports. 
 But the manufacturer creates almost all the value which the raw 
 materials acquire in his hands. All merit undoubtedly the pro¬ 
 tection of the government—but all have not the same necessity 
 for it—because their interests do not depend in the same degree 
 on the legislation of impost duties. 
 
Chaptal on Impost Duties. v 
 
 To legislate, therefore, correctly on the subject of the tariff, 
 .t is necessary to he well acquainted with the stale of our ma- 
 
 and also with the difference in the prices of workmanship, fuel, 
 and raw materials; and then to regulate the duties according to 
 these data, in order to render the competition at least equal. 
 
 There are persons who regard the tariff only with respect to 
 their own interest, and who deeide as if that interest alone was 
 to be consulted. There are others who advocate the maxim, 
 which is generally adopted, that the importation of raw mate¬ 
 rials ought to be fully allowed without duty. A third class as¬ 
 sert, that duties on foreign productions ought never to exceed 
 fifteen per cent, ad valorem. 
 
 Let us analyse these three opinions. 
 
 I. We have already observed, that the agriculturist, the ma¬ 
 nufacturer, the merchant, and the consumer, have adverse in¬ 
 terests, which the legislation of duties cannot reconcile. In this 
 conflict of demands and of opposing pretensions, what is the 
 duty of the legislator? To calculate the benefit and injury 
 arising to each, and to adopt the system productive of the great¬ 
 est good to the country. 
 
 The interest of the agriculturist would he to have the impor¬ 
 tation of wool, of hemp, and of flax, prohibited. But the pro¬ 
 ductions of our soil of those descriptions do not afford all the 
 qualities desirable for the various species of articles for which 
 they are employed. And moreover, I ask, are there any of 
 those articles unsold on the hands of our farmers? Has their 
 culture diminished or fallen away? Were that the case, there 
 is no doubt that duties ought to be levied on the importation of 
 rival articles for the purpose of reviving this important culture. 
 
 But even in that case, we ought to free from duty those kinds 
 which we do not produce, or which we produce in too small 
 quantities, such as the merino and long fleeces, in order not to 
 extinguish the industry employed on them. 
 
 The manufacturer solicits the free introduction of raw mate¬ 
 rials, and the prohibition of manufactured articles. If his views 
 prevailed, the iron of Sweden, and Russia, and England, alone 
 
s Chap la l on Impost Duties. 
 
 would be used in our work-shops: and France would lose a spe¬ 
 cies of industry which gires support te-100.000 of her people 
 —enhances the value of her forests—and employs an immense 
 mass of machinery which would then cease to be productive. 
 We already possess various establishments for the manufacture 
 of metals, which have been but recently established, and which 
 do not as yet furnish enough for our consumption. To prohi¬ 
 bit, therefore, similar foreign productions, would materially in¬ 
 jure the public. Legislation in this case ought to confine itself 
 to impose moderate duties, to favour this rising industry, and 
 to encourage it by premiums, in order to enable it to support the 
 competition. This is the only means of reconciling the adverse 
 interests. As the principal object of the imposition of duties 
 is the protection of industry, a portion of the revenuesarising 
 from them should be employed for its encouragement. 
 
 There are no general principles on the subject of a tariff. 
 Everything depends on circumstances, on the comparative state 
 of industry, and on the necessities of the consumer. A wise 
 legislator ought to regulate his arrangements on a profound study 
 of all these objects. 
 
 II. It is asserted in general terms, that raw materials ought to 
 be admitted duty free, and this maxim is regarded as the basis 
 of legislation on the tariff. Let us commence bj- a definition of 
 the term. Are we to understand by “ raw material” what 
 has undergone no workmanship whatever? There is no article 
 that falls within this description. Hemp, cotton, flax, metals, 
 have undergone various operations, previous to their exporta¬ 
 tion. And cast-steel, which must be regarded as a raw mate¬ 
 rial, as it becomes the subject of various manufactures, has un¬ 
 dergone many more. Thus, from the wool and leather, which 
 have received the labour of the workman, to the thread for 
 laces, and the cast-steel, all ought to be ranged in the class of 
 raw materials. The only difference that can be made between 
 these substances, depends on the degree of workmanship they 
 have undergone. 
 
 Whatever degree of labour has been employed on a raw ma¬ 
 terial, it preserves that character so long as it requires to under- 
 
Chaptal on Impost Duties. 9 
 
 go some other operation previous to its passing into the hands 
 of the consumer. In wandering from this principle, we know 
 not where to commence, nor where to terminate. I am not ig- 
 norantthat tiie different degrees of labour bestowed on any sub¬ 
 stance ought to be duly weighed; because workmanship is 
 wealth, which we ought to appropriate to ourselves. But when 
 the new labour which is employed on the substance already 
 wrought in a certain degree, imparts an enormous value in com¬ 
 parison of its cost, are there not sufficient reasons for intro¬ 
 ducing it into our work-shops, in preference to other materials 
 less elaborated, and which, nevertheless, are scarcely suscepti¬ 
 ble of any more workmanship? Are not the thread for laces, 
 the cast-steel, which is to be converted into trinkets, although 
 they have already received much labour, more valuable, and do 
 they not require more new labour, than Barbary wool, which 
 has received scarcely any ? 
 
 In departing from this principle, namely, that the legislation 
 of duties can be established only on a perfect knowledge of the 
 comparative state of our industry and that of foreigners, wo 
 cannot fail to go astray. 
 
 Let us suppose for a moment, that the partisans of the free 
 entry of raw materials confine themselves to those which have 
 received but a small portion of labour, and let us apply their 
 principles in order to judge of them by their results. 
 
 Cotton yarn forms the raw material of our numerous fabrics 
 of laces and calicoes. If we admit this material of a single 
 operation, behold the infallible results! One hundred mil¬ 
 lions, at present productive, would be destroyed for the spin¬ 
 ner, the manufacture)', and for France; as this capital con¬ 
 sists in buildings, utensils, and machinery, appropriate to 
 this sole purpose. Two hundred thousand work-people would 
 be deprived of employment. About SO millions of labour would 
 be lost to France; and commerce would be deprived of one of 
 its principal resources, which consists in the transportation of 
 the cottons of Asia and America into France. 
 
 Let it not he supposed that I deceive myself. I well know 
 the comparative state of our manufactures of yarn and those of 
 
10 Chaptal on Impost Duties. 
 
 the two neighbouring nations. On the one side, workmanship 
 is cheaper—on the other. large establishments, supported by 
 great capitals—afford advantages against which we arc un¬ 
 able to contend. To this is to be added, that the cotton-spin¬ 
 ning machines of England have been in operation for sixty 
 years; that the expenses of the first establishment have been 
 amply repaid: that the profits have created new capitals: but 
 that those of France have been recently formed, and that the 
 interest of the first investment ought for a long time to be 
 computed in considering the profits of the manufacture. 
 
 The English manufacturer, reimbursed for his past ex¬ 
 penses, and enjoying the advantages of u large capital, may 
 make great sacrifices to overwhelm rival establishments. The 
 French manufacturer has nothing to oppose to him, unless 
 shielded by the tariff. To enable the industry of one nation to 
 compete with that of another, it is not enough that the produc¬ 
 tions be of the same quality ; it is necessary that the means of 
 execution present on each side the same advantages. 
 
 Coals are certainly a raw material. Let them be admitted 
 dut}- free, and we shall soon see closed those rich coal-pits of 
 the north and the south of France, on which such immense 
 sums have been expended, to penetrate to the veins, to draw 
 off the water, and raise the coal fay steam-engines. The reduced 
 price at which the English can sell their coals in our ports, in 
 consequence of their facilities in extracting them from their 
 mines, and the proximity of those mines to the sea, afford them 
 advantages which we cannot by any means countervail. 
 
 It will be replied, that such of our manufactures as are near 
 the Atlantic will profit by the freedom of the trade in coals, and 
 that they therefore can furnish their productions cheaper. This 
 I freely admit. But is not the working of mines a species of 
 industry? Are not the undertakers of it entitled to some re¬ 
 gard and attention? Ought we to destroy the capitals they have 
 invested in their machinery? All that the legislator ought to 
 do, is to calculate the expense of freight of the coals of the two 
 countries to the place of consumption, and impose such a duty 
 on those of foreigners as would maintain a useful competition. 
 
Chaptal on Impost Duties. 
 
 He ought to annul, for substances of such prime necessity as 
 coals, all the tonnage duties; to dig canals, to facilitate the 
 transportation; to disburden them of all domestic duties; and 
 have them furnished to the work-shops at a reasonable price. 
 Coal mines are not wanting in France. They are even so dis¬ 
 tributed as to supply the wants of each local situation; hut the 
 communications are difficult; the transportation is loo expen¬ 
 sive. Hence the use of them is limited, and the prices of our 
 manufactures are consequently enhanced. 
 
 It is not long since we were tributary to foreigners for the 
 soda, the alum, and the copperas, which form the raw materials 
 of some of our most important arts. Chemistry has hesiowed 
 them on France—and we lnve not only imposed duties on the 
 importation of those articles, to encourage and extend the ma¬ 
 nufacture of them, hut we have freed from duty the salt which 
 is employed in the. production of soda. If we were at present 
 to diminish or annul the duties on the rival articles, and to re¬ 
 vive the duty on salt, we should not only violate the solemn 
 agreement, in virtue of which the manufacturers invested their 
 capital in these undertakings, but, besides betraying the conli- 
 dence they reposed in the acts of the government, we should 
 at once lose some of the most valuable benefits conferred on 
 ns by the industry of our countrymen. 
 
 We have already treated of iron, which is indubitably a raw 
 material in the most rigorous construction of the term; as it is 
 impossible for us to employ it in the form in which it is im¬ 
 ported. We have stated the consequences that a free introduc¬ 
 tion of this metal would produce, and shall not again touch on 
 that point. We shall simply observe, that while fuel is so 
 much dearer in France than in the North and in England, our 
 iron can only maintain a competition with that of foreigners 
 through the means of duties to countervail the difference of 
 price. 
 
 It appears clearly, from the examples I have oiled, that with¬ 
 out materially affecting the national industry and wealth, we 
 cannot admit indiscriminately every species of raw material 
 duty free. 
 
12 Chaptal on Impost Duties. 
 
 III. A principle, not more firmly founded than the preced¬ 
 ing, has obtained some weight from the character of those by 
 whom it has been promulged; they assert that a fabric' which 
 cannot withstand competition, when supported by a duty of 15 
 per cent, laid upon the import, does not merit the protection of 
 the government. 
 
 We may remark, by the way, that any manufacture returns 
 a productive capital, and enriches the nation by a workmanship 
 more or less considerable: and that in this double view, it 
 might be more useful than the receipt of 15 to 20 per cent, 
 which is made on the frontier, on articles of the same nature: 
 but let us examine the question in another point of view. 
 
 All the arts have their infancy, and have reached only by- 
 degrees that state of perfection in which they are at present. 
 These improvements have been the result of genius and of those 
 wants, which are ever different among different nations; whence 
 it follows, that the progress of the arts must vary with the 
 causes which influence their development, and that their pros¬ 
 perity cannot be every where equal. 
 
 In speaking only of modern times, we have seen many kinds 
 
 of industry established and flourish in England, which for a 
 long period of years has made all the other nations tributary for 
 its productions: we have used every effort to appropriate the 
 manufacture to ourselves. Weaving by machinery, hardwares, 
 the manufactures of cottons and light woollens, have all at once 
 become the objects of our ambition; but by importing the ma¬ 
 chinery, by relying on foreign instruction, can it be supposed 
 that we have naturalized those arts, difficult in all their parts? 
 Gan it be supposed that we possess those extensive details, that 
 dexterity, that experience, which are the soul of industry'? 
 We want only time and attentive practice to acquire all these 
 perfections; cassimers cost the maker himself 25 fr. per ell; and 
 the English offered theirs to the consumer at half the price; 
 cambrics and calicoes, badly made, cost us from 7 to S fr. per 
 ell; the English delivered theirs at three. 
 
 * Bv this term we understand those goods which are completely finished, and 
 
Chuptal on Impost Duties. 13 
 
 Should we then /time abandoned these attempts at manu¬ 
 facturing superiority '/ A o: we should persist and carry 
 our own labours to perfection. Such is lhe course we have pur¬ 
 sued, anil such is the skill to which we have arrived, >hat our 
 industry has already excited the jealousy of that nation from 
 which we have derived it. 
 
 Nor in fact will the advantages of industry ever be sudden; 
 its progress, naturally slow, may, it is true, be hastened by- 
 science; but there are difficulties only to be overcome by long 
 experience. 
 
 If during the twelve or fourteen years, that our efforts, our 
 discoveries, our gradual improvements have been going on, 
 the competition of foreign articles had not been prevented by 
 prohibitions; where then, I would ask of the advocates of 
 the. 15 per cent where then ivould be that delightful industry 
 which is now at once the ornament, the glory and wealth of 
 
 1 would say more: at this day, when every species of in¬ 
 dustry is in a flourishing condition, at this day, when we 
 have nothing to desire with regard to the price or quality of 
 
 I he articles, a duty of 15 per cent, which would open the door 
 to foreign competition, would shake to its foundations every 
 establishment in France. Our store-houses would in a few 
 days be filled with imported merchandise; it would be offered 
 at any price, in order lo stifle our industry: our manufac¬ 
 tories would be forced to remain idle, since the proprietors 
 could not make the same sacrifices as the foreigners, and we 
 should behold again the scene that followed the commercial 
 treaty of 1;S9 —although il was founded on the basis of the 
 15 per cent .* 
 
14 Chaplal on Impost Duties, 
 
 It is futile to observe that this would be hut a monetary 
 evil, since the foreign manufacturer would eventually sustain the 
 loss; for is it nothin;; to allow foreigners lo enjoy our consump¬ 
 tion for one or two years? to reduce the market price of an 
 article below its actual cost? to convert our work-shops into 
 deserts? to destroy the honour and the fortune of worthy 
 artisans? and to inspire, for the future, apprehension and 
 distrust ? 
 
 The government which imposes a duty on the importation of 
 foreign articles, can have only two objects in view'—the first, to 
 place the national industry in a situation to contend in point of 
 price with that of foreign nations:—the second, not to allow to 
 a few manufacturers such a monopoly as would lie an injury to 
 the consumer. This last point is gained from the moment that 
 we carry into practice an adequate knowledge of the subject: 
 and besides, it is without consideration that an idea is entertain¬ 
 ed, that after the suppression of corporations, it would he pos¬ 
 sible to establish a monopoly in manufactures: the course is open 
 to all the world, and when any branch of industry prospers, 
 the co mpetitors become immediately so numerous, that the 
 price of the article is speedily fixed at its proper value. Not¬ 
 withstanding the prohibition of foreign cotton goods, those of 
 our own manufacture are delivered at so low a price, that the 
 maker is enabled to carry on his business only by trilling profits 
 accumulated on immense sales. IVhcn potash was first made 
 by the decomposition of sea salt, it was sold at 100 fr. per 
 quinta!; competition reduced it to 9 fr. although it was pro¬ 
 tected by a duty of 5 fr. on all foreign potash. The price 
 will always fie fixed by the competition, and the manufacture 
 regulated by the demand. On these two principles the go¬ 
 vernment may always with safety rely. 
 
 The regulation of imposts should then be comprehended in 
 this single point, the establishment of such duties as shall ena¬ 
 ble the national industry of France fairly to contend with that 
 of other nations. It should operate on the same p-inciple, what¬ 
 ever he the nature of the article on which the duty is imposed. 
 In relying on the futile division of articles into raw materials 
 
Chaptal on Impost Duties. 15 
 
 and manufactured articles , it will (end continually to expose 
 the fate both of the agricultural and manufacturing industry. 
 
 To establish the duties in such a manner as not to injure any 
 of the interests of the community, the statesman should he ac¬ 
 quainted with the situation both of the agriculture and manu¬ 
 factures of his country, and compare it with that of others in 
 similar productions. He should know what may be the differ¬ 
 ence in the comparative cost of the manufacture among the va¬ 
 rious nations who may he called in competition with his own; 
 he should weigh in his wisdom the advantages which may arise 
 from the antiquity of an establishment, the disposition of a large 
 capital, the ease of procuring specie at a low interest, those 
 public or private sacrifices which would afford an outlet for mer¬ 
 chandise; the national spirit which rejects or admits from pre¬ 
 ference the productions of other nations; these considerations 
 and many others should enter into his calculations, lest he in¬ 
 jure, irreparably injure, the industry of his country. 
 
 But the establishment of imposts on the best principles is not 
 alone sufficient; it is still necessary that their execution should 
 be enforced on the frontiers, and their collection rendered easy 
 and regular; but here difficulties of a new kind present them¬ 
 selves. 
 
 The duties must be established on the weight, the measure, or 
 the value of the article imported or exported. Whatever mode 
 therefore we adopt, it is impossible to avoid, in the application 
 of the law, the commission of some errors, and these errors are 
 always injurious to the industry of the people and the revenue. 
 So different, for instance, are the qualities of tissues, that they 
 vary in value from 1 or 2 to 105 fr. per ell: how then can the 
 collectors of the duties distinguish all the shades minutely mark¬ 
 ed on so extensive a scale, with regard either to the measure or 
 to the value? 
 
 Under the impossibility of applying to each articleaduty pro¬ 
 portioned to its value, they are obliged to be divided into class¬ 
 es, and a particular tariff established for each class; but is the 
 difference between these classes so striking that they cannot be 
 confounded? and are they separated by limits so strongly mark- 
 
16 Cliaptal on Impost Duties. 
 
 ed that the shill of the maker may not pass under an interior 
 denomination the goods which are subject to the tariff? Be¬ 
 sides, every class is composed of many different qualities as re¬ 
 gards their value, and by including these under the same rate 
 of duty, two unfortunate results must follow; the first, that of 
 imposing on the consumer, greatly to his detriment, an inferior 
 article as equal to a superior one: the second, of giving greater 
 encouragement to the introduction of fine than coarse tissues. 
 And farther, when the importer makes his declaration of the 
 value of his merchandise, what means are afforded to the offi¬ 
 cer of the government to discover its truth ? would it be by 
 confiscating it at his own risk and peril, provided he gives the 
 
 third of the price added to that of the invoice? but this method 
 
 punity at least from 15 to 20 per cent, in the application of the 
 law. 
 
 The collection established on the measure or the value of the 
 article will not therefore he a sufficient security for the protec¬ 
 tion of industry, and it now only remains for us to examine 
 whether that which is founded on the weight of the articles, is 
 not liable to similar inconvenience. 
 
 In establishing the duty according to the weight of the goods, 
 the finest tissues, which luxury alone can require, must of ne¬ 
 cessity pay little in comparison with those coarser ones which 
 are destined to supply the wants of the largest class of society; 
 while the workmanship is scarcely any thing in the latter, and 
 is done at almost nothing in comparison with the total value of 
 the former; such a system, therefore, is repugnant to the in¬ 
 terests of the larger part of the community, and contrary to all 
 sound principles. 
 
 We should take a middle course between all these difficulties, 
 and I think that by combining the various methods which the 
 value, weight, and measure present, the proper rate of duty 
 might he least erroneously established. 
 
 The.duty on the weight has already been established on the 
 greater number of imported articles, such as colonial produce, 
 iron, metallic preparations, chemical salts. &c. and we need 
 
Chaptal on Impost Duties, 17 
 
 only endeavour to apply to tissues the combined method which 
 I propose. 
 
 Suppose that we wish to establish a duty on tissues—let us 
 take a measure of each of those two stuffs which form the ex¬ 
 tremes of goods manufactured from the same materia), and 
 strictly determine their weight when of the same length and 
 breadth; now we may consider the weight as a mean by which 
 to fix the duty: this done, let us establish a scale which em¬ 
 braces all the qualities, and take care to raise the duties on fine 
 goods, in a manner proportioned to the workmanship; thus 
 supposing the same kind of sLulf to present ten different quali¬ 
 ties, and that the middling is taxed at 1 fr., the finer would pay 
 20 and 25 fr., and the coarser only 5. 
 
 They might then establish the duties on tins basis, and con¬ 
 fine themselves simply to determining the medium weights of 
 the various qualities of the tissues of the same kind, under a 
 comparative length and breadth; they might settle the tariff on 
 this medium, and increase or diminish it, as the qualities might 
 be superior or inferior. Thus, if a species either of cotton or 
 woollen cloth should present five different qualities as regards 
 either the weight or the value, by fixing the medium duty at 
 5 fr. it might be lowered for the coarser cloths, or increased for 
 the finer ones, taking care to reach the workmanship in propor¬ 
 tion to the value and fineness of the goods. 
 
 It would require but little practice to distinguish the different 
 qualities of tissues of the same kind; and the officer, when he 
 had once determined the quality, need only find ils weight in 
 order to ascertain its proper duty. 
 
 I think it should he further observed, that by dividing into 
 classes the different articles manufactured from wool, flax, cot¬ 
 ton, &c. and establishing duties on each class, the tariff is im¬ 
 perfect, since it cannot be applied and varied according to qua¬ 
 lities which the same kind of cloth presents, and therefore that 
 the protection of industry is unequal; the method is farther a 
 bad one, in that it comprehends, under the same duty, goods 
 which, though of the same species, differ greatly in value and 
 in the cost of workmanship. To prove this, it is sufficient to 
 
ChapfnI nn Impost Duties. 
 
 apply it to cloth; in considering which, according to these 
 principles, we may divide it imo three classes; 1. fine cloth; 
 2. fine and light cloth; 3. coarser cloth. Under the first may 
 be ranked, broad cloths, high napped cloths, Dutch ratteens, 
 &e. The second contains cassimeres, royal cloths, silesias, 
 fine ratteens, camlets, flannels, satin serges, prunella, and tur- 
 quois, &c. The third comprehends swanskins, sagathies, hose, 
 lining serge, kalmucks, and coarse cloths. &c. How then is it 
 
 possible lo distinguish and place in the divisions to which they 
 
 properly belong, these different qualities, so numerous, indeed, 
 that their value gradually increases from 5 to 100 fr. ? Admit¬ 
 ting, however, this to be possible, do not the qualities of each 
 class vary to infinity? all those cloths whose value does not ex¬ 
 ceed 30 l'r. per ell, must be included under the coarse stuffs; 
 those which do exceed that price, must be classed among the 
 fine ones: thus kalmucks are rated at the same duty with the 
 finest Elbeuf cloths; and all those above 30 fr. must pay the 
 same as Spanish vigones and Italian silks; this method, bpsides, 
 labours under the great inconvenience of compromising the in¬ 
 terests of the people by taxing at an equal rate those coarse ar¬ 
 ticles which they continually need, and those whose commer¬ 
 cial value is three or four times as great. 
 
 What we have said of cloths, will apply with equal force to 
 cottons, linens, and silks; and I can perceive no other way to 
 establish a just taritf of customs, than by classing them accord¬ 
 ing to the principles 1 have laid down. 
 
 When the government, pressed by necessity, believes itself 
 obliged to impose duties on the importation of a material which 
 nourishes some species of industry, it should return the duty 
 on the exportation of the manufactured article; without this, 
 all competition in a foreign market is impossible. This allow¬ 
 ance should be made without any other forms than those which 
 are necessary to determine the quantity of the material used in 
 the manufacture of the article to be exported, when that mate¬ 
 rial is not the produce of our own soil; in the contrary case, 
 certainty of importation should suffice: but the government 
 should do still more: it should increase the tariff on articles 
 manufactured abroad, to the extent of the duty established on 
 
Chaptal on Impost Duties. 
 
 the raw material, and afford an opportunity for competition in 
 the interior. 
 
 A system of duties, established on good principles, should be 
 firm, and if we may use the expression, immutable. Nothing 
 more easily deranges fortune, or destroys confidence, than fre¬ 
 quent changes on this point; a diminution of duties on an arti¬ 
 cle ruins him who is overstocked with it, and enriches him who 
 is without it; an increase produces the opposite effect on the 
 
 same persons. A changeable system disconcerts the host form¬ 
 ed plans, and overthrows every speculation; an impost, trifling 
 in appearance, laid on the importation of a material, may de¬ 
 stroy the most important manufactures; and government runs 
 the risk of sacrificing a national interest of millions of francs 
 for the receipt of a few thousand. 
 
 When a species of industry is established on a well known 
 system, he who enters upon it engages his fortune and his la¬ 
 bour on the faith that system has afforded him; and this system 
 cannot he changed to his injury but by breach of faith, and the 
 abuse of the right of force. 
 
 When a government grants certain privileges to create or im¬ 
 port a new system of industry, it cannot withdraw them until 
 the necessities of that industry shall no longer need their con¬ 
 tinuance. It has bound itself to the manufacturer by a solemn 
 compact; it has itself fixed, if we may so say, the employment 
 of his fortune,' of his time, of his labour; and by producing his 
 ruin, it must violate all the laws of justice and humanity. 
 
 Whatsoever may be the kind of manufacturing industry esta¬ 
 blished in the interior, the government should support it; from 
 the moment it exists, it is no longer necessary to inquire, if it 
 was proper to introduce it; if other kinds of .labour have not 
 been lost; if the manufacture of wool instead of cotton, for in¬ 
 stance, would not have been better; it is enough that it exists. 
 The government should consider the fortune embarked in these 
 establishments, the habits of labour become peculiar to one part 
 of the population, and that they are no more permitted to sa¬ 
 crifice the fortune of the manufacturer, than to take from the 
 labourer all his means of existence.