Full text of Compromise Tariff of 1833

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TWENTY-SECOND CONGRESS.

SESS. II. CH. 55.

1833.

aforesaid, the sum of six thousand one hundred and ten dollars be appropriated for the purchase of instruments; and the further sum of seven
thousand five hundred dollars for the expenses of taking such observations.
SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That so much of the twenty-seventh
section of the act approved third of March, one thousand eight hundred
and twenty-five, as restricts the franking privilege of members of Congress to the period of sixty days before and after each session, shall be,
and the same hereby is repealed, and it shall be lawful for the said privilege to be exercised by each member of Congress from the period of
sixty days before he takes his seat in Congress until the meeting of the
next Congress, and that said privilege shall be extended to all members
of the present Congress until the next session.

629

Franking privilege extended.
Act of March
3, 1825, ch. 43,
sec. 6.

APPROVED, March 2, 1833.
STATUTE II.

CHAP. LV.--.n Art to modify the act of the fourteenth of July, one thousand March 2, 1833.
eight hundred and thirty-two, and all other acts imposing duties on imports. (a)

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America, in Congress assembled, That from and after the thirtyfirst day of December, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, in
all cases where duties are imposed on foreign imports, by the act of the
fourteenth day of July, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, entitled "An act to alter and amend the several acts imposing duties on
imports," or by any other act, shall exceed twenty per centum on the
value thereof, one tenth part of such excess shall be deducted; from and
after the thirty-first day of December, one thousand eight hundred and
thirty-five, another tenth part thereof shall be deducted; from and after
the thirty-first day of December, one thousand eight hundred and thirtyseven, another tenth part thereof shall be deducted; from and after the
thirty-first day of December, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine,
another tenth part thereof shall be deducted; and from and after the
thirty-first day of December, one thousand eight hundred and forty-one,
one half of the reside [residue] of such excess shall be deducted; and
from and after the thirtieth day of June, one thousand eight hundred
and forty-two, the other half thereof shall be deducted.
SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That so much of the second section of the act of the fourteenth of July aforesaid, as fixes the rate of
duty on all milled and fulled cloth, known by the names of plains, kerseys, or kendal cottons, of which wool is the only material, the value
whereof does not exceed thirty-five cents a square yard, at five per centum
ad vaiorem, shall be, and the same is hereby, repealed. And the said

Act ofJuly 14,
1832, ch. 227.
Act ofMarch 2,
1833, ch. 57.
Act of Aug. 30,
1822, ch. 270.
After Dec. 31,
1833, all duties
exceeding tw enty per cent. to
be reduced by
biennially striking offone-tenth
of the excess,
&c.

Duty on plains,
kerseys, &c.
raised to fifty
per cent.

(a) The act of Congress of March 2, 1S33, ch. 55, commonly called "The compromise act," did not,
prospectively, repeal all duties upon imports after 30th June, 1842. Repealing only such parts of previous acts as were inconsistent with itself, it left in force, after June 1842, the same duties which were
in force on the first of June, 1842. Aldridge and others v. Williams, 3 Howard, 1.
The provisions of the act of 1833, by which duties were to be levied, after June 1, 1842, on the home
valuation, " under such regulations as may be prescribed by law," comprehended all the regulations existing under the law at the time when the duties, according to the home valuation, accrued. The
regulations established by the 7th and 8th sections of the act of 1832, were, after the compromise act
expired, in force, and were sufficient for the collection of duties after June 1, 1842. Ibid.
The 9th section of the act of 1832, makes it the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury, under the
direction of the President, to establish, when necessary, rules and regulations to secure a just, faithful,
and impartial appraisal of merchandise, and just and proper entries of them. It is very clear that any
regulations within the authority thus given, are regulations prescribed by law. Ibid.
In expounding this law, the judgment of the court cannot, in any degree, be influenced by the construction placed upon it by individual members of Congress, in the debate which took place on its passage; nor by the motives or reasons assigned by them for supporting or opposing amendments offered.
The law, as it passed, is the will of a majority of both houses, and the only mode in which this will is
spoken, is in the act itself; and we must gather their intention from the language there used, comparing
it, where any ambiguity exists, with laws upon the same subject; and looking, ifnecessary, to the public
history of the times in which it was passed. Ibid. 24.

3o2

630

Existinglaws
continued until
June 30, 1842.

Duties to be
paid in cash,&c.
Goods to be
valued at ports
ofentry.
Articles free
after Dec. 31,
1833.

Articles free
after June 30,

Duties on cer-

tain classes of

articles after
June 30, 1842.

Conflicting acts
repealed.
Proviso.

TWENTY-SECOND CONGRESS.

SEss. II. C. 55.

1833.

articles shall be subject to the same duty of fifty per centum, as is provided by the said second section for other manufactures of wool; which
duty shall be liable to the same deductions as are prescribed by the first section of this act.
SEC. 3. And be itfurther enacted,That, until thethirtieth day of June,
one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, the duties imposed by existing
laws, as modified by this act, shall remain and continue to be collected.
And from and after the day last aforesaid, all duties upon imports shall
be collected in ready money; and all credits now allowed by law, in the
payment of duties, shall be, and hereby are abolished; and such duties
shall be laid for the purpose of raising such revenue as may be necessary
to an economical administration of the government; and from and alter
the day last aforesaid, the duties required to be paid by law on goods,
wares, and merchandise, shall be assessed upon the value thereof at the
port where the same shall be entered, under such regulations as may be
prescribed by law.
SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That, in addition to the articles now
exempt by the act of the fourteenth of July, one thousand eight hundred
and thirty-two, and the existing laws, from the payment of duties, the
following articles imported from and after the thirty-first day of December, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, and until the thirtieth day
of June, one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, shall also [be] admitted to entry, free from duty, to wit: bleached and unbleached linens,
table-linen, linen napkins, and linen cambrics, and worsted stuff goods,
shawls, and other manufactures of silk and worsted, manufactures of silk,
or of which silk shall be the component material of chief value, coming
from this side of the Cape of Good Hope, except sewing silk.
SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That from and after the said thirtieth day of June, one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, the following
articles shall be admitted to entry, free from duty, to wit :indigo, quicksilver, sulphur, crude saltpetre, grindstones, refined borax, emory, opium,
tin in plates and sheets, gum Arabic, gum Senegal, lac dye, madder,
madder root, nuts and berries used in dyeing, saffron, turmeric, woad or
pastel, aloes, ambergris, Burgundy pitch, cochineal, chamomile flowers, coriander seed, catsup, chalk, cocculus indicus, horn plates for lanterns, ox
horns, other horns and tips, india-rubber, manufactured ivory, juniper
berries; musk, nuts of all kinds, oil of juniper, unmanufactured rattans
and reeds, tortoise shell, tin foil, shellac, vegetables used principally in
dyeing and composing dyes, weld, and all articles employed chiefly for
dyeing, except allum, copperas, bichromate of potash, prussiate of potash,
chromate of potash, and nitrate of lead, aqua fortis, and tartaric acids.
And all imports on which the first section of this act may operate, and all
articles now admitted to entry [free] from duty,or payingaless rate of duty
than twenty per centum ad valorem, before the said thirtieth day of June,
one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, from and after that day may
be admitted to entry subject to such duty, not exceeding twenty per
centum ad valorem, as shall be provided for by law.
SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That so much of the act of the fourteenth day of July, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, or of
any other act, as is inconsistent with this act, shall be, and the same is
hereby, repealed: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be so
construed as to prevent the passage, prior or subsequent to the said thirtieth day of June, one thousand eight hundred and forly-two, of any act
or acts, from time to time, that may be necessary to detect, prevent, or
punish evasions of the duties on imports imposed by law, nor to prevent
the passage of any act, prior to the thirtieth day of June, one thousand
eight hundred and forty-two, in the contingency either of excess or deficiency of revenue, altering the rates of duties on articles which, by the
aforesaid act of fourteenth day of July, one thousand eight hundred and

TWENTY-SECOND CONGRESS.

SEss. II. CH. 56., 1833.

631

thirty-two, are subject to a less rate of duty than twenty per centum ad
valorem, in such manner as not to exceed that rate, and so as to adjust
the revenue to either of the said contingencies.
APPROVED, March 2, 1833.
STATUTE II.
CHAP. LVI.-./n Act making appropriationsfor the Indian Departmentfor the

year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three.
Be it enactedby the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America, in Congress assembled, That the following sums be,
and they are hereby, appropriated, to be paid out of any money in the
treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the Indian department for the
year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, viz:
For the salary of the commissioner of Indian affairs, three thousand
dollars.
For the pay of the superintendent of Indian affairs at St. Louis, and
the several Indian agents, as established by law, twenty-six thousand
dollars.
For the pay of sub-agents, as established by law, seventeen thousand
dollars.
For presents to Indians, as authorized by the act of one thousand eight
hundred and two, fifteen thousand dollars.
For pay of Indian interpreters and translators employed in the several
superintendencies and agencies, twenty thousand dollars.
For the pay of gunsmiths and blacksmiths, and their assistants, employed
within the several superintendencies and agencies, under treaty provisions, and the orders of the War Department, sixteen thousand dollars.
For iron, steel, coal, and other expenses attending the gunsmiths and
blacksmiths' shops, five thousand dollars.
For expenses of transportation and distribution of Indian annuities,
nine thousand five hundred dollars.
For expenses of provisions for Indians at the distribution of annuities,
while on visits of business with the different superintendents and agents,
and when assembled on public business, eleven thousand eight hundred
dollars.
For expense of building houses for Indian agents, blacksmiths' shops,
and for repairs of the same, when required, in the several agencies, two
thousand dollars.
For contingencies of the Indian Department, twenty thousand dollars.
For supplying the deficiency in the appropriation for the compensation of commissioners, and other expenses attending the adjustment of
boundaries under the treaty of Butte des Morts, contained in the act of
twentieth May, one thousand eight hundred and thirty, making appropriations to carry into effect the said treaty, five hundred and fourteen
dollars and sixty-two cents.
SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the following sums, being un-

expended balances of former appropriations, be, and the same are hereby, re-appropriated to the several objects of the original appropriations,
respectively, to be paid out of any money in the treasury not otherwise
appropriated, viz: for the exchange of land with the Indians, and for
their removal west of the Mississippi, by act of twenty-eighth May, one
thousand eight hundred and thirty, two hundred and eighty dollars and
six cents.
For defraying the expenses of an expedition fitted out, consisting of
the militia of Georgia and Florida, for the suppression of aggressions by
the Indians on their frontiers, three thousand eight hundred and thirtynine dollars and eighty-six cents.
For carrying into effect a treaty with the Winnebagoes, by act of

March 2, 1833.

[Obsolete.]
Appropriations
for the Indian
department.

1830, ch. 99.