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Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont fiimis en commengant par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernlAre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernlAre imege de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole ^»- signifie "A SUIVRE", le symboie V signifie "FIN ". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmis A des taux de reduction diff6rents. Lorsqus' le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seui clich6, il est filmA A partir de I'angle sup^rieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n6cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mithode. 1 2 3 1 w^ THE LAW OF THE CASE. A SOFT ANSWER TO TBB ANGRY WORDS OF lESSfiS. OGILVY & CO., BT JAMES JOHNSTON. " What sudden anger's this? How have i .-eaped Itf " He parted frowning from me, as if ruin " Leaped from his eyes." PRINTED By JOHN LOVELL. 1871. ' tlf^^.^^'^ »^ v'-^ THE LAW OF THE CASE. A SOFT ANSWER TU TBI ANGRY WORDS o* MESSES. OGILVY & CO., .'AMES JOHNSTON. " What suddt>n ."infrnr"* this? IIow hare I rcapnd It? " Ho parted frowning from dip, ns 11 rulu " Leaped from hiii eyes." glontreal: PRINTED BY JOHN LOVELL. 1871. WM*: J J ■ i THE LAW OF THE CASE FOR IMPOKTING MERCHAl^TS A Circular, addressed to the merchants of Canada, informs them, that the firm of Messrs. Ogilvy & Co., dry goods im- porters, Montreal, is composed of three memhers, who are " brothers," viz. : John, James and Thomas O-^ilvy. John has his head quarters in Montreal, as a general rule, thouj^h he is occasionally absent. HoNvever, the daily press, nowa- days, chronicles the whereabouts and doings of proininenb men, and the public are informed that he was engaged fis!iing salmon, being particular in giving the number caught, the ■weight of each, and the grand total. Whether the fish wore all caught with the fly, or with the silver hook, is not stated. This Circular informs us, further, that James," one of our partners, remains constantly, we m;iy say, in Europe, at very considerable expense." Thomas, we know, attends to the ofiice department in Montreal, passing the imports through the Custom House ; and the experience of the firm, as import- ing merchants, extonds over twenty years. James, who makes the best usj of hh tim3 in examining the various markets and purcliasing at favourable points, lately *' struck ile, not fluid, but substantial all wool clan tartans, kirtle make, cheap, and, fur the money, (piite a heap, as any man would buy with cash and sense." Their history was tliii. The goo Is were of firstmte niutcrial, made to or.lcr for the United States market, and sent to New Yuik to Messrs. Townsend & King, iniport.'Jrs. On arrival, the Americans had ceased to wear the tartan ; checks were du/rn^ stripes were now up, it was a bad fij.cc there, but money innst be made out of them, and the goud.s were sent back to Britain. We are next informed that John J. Townsend found a buyer in Bradfonl, Messrs. A. & 8. Ilonry & Co., at a price which is not stated, but they were chettp, and m the way of business thfy resold thom at a fair profit^ evirlently showing thr t thd goods hnd taken a start and that tlieir mnrket price was improving. Part of the lot was taken by a Paris buyer for France, the remainder was sold to James Ogilvy in the month of April last, for account of Ogilvy & Co., Montreal. The prices were: cases at lOid. per yard ; ij cases at 13id. j)cr yard ; and cases at iJiid. per yard ; which was a per- fectly legitimate transaction. Tiie market for wool had been nearly stationary for some time back, but all at once wool went up like a rocket. All goods made of wool or worsted, ■whether ])lain, striped or checked, fidlowed the rise, and by the 8th of June, the date the Aa/i>' Erie, the vessel in which the goods were shipped for Ogilvy & Co., left Liverpool, clan tartan, kirtle make, had also much improved in value, but how much Messrs. A. k !S. Henry k Co. do not say. They swear to the April jirice ; but to the lair market value at the time and place of exportation they don't. That is not the question they had been asked to answer. On the 21st July, •when two cases roach the Customs Examining Warehouse, Montreal, the sworn appraiser there gives what he conceives to be the value at the time and place of exportation, and rofpiires a post entry to be made by Ogilvy & Co., to bring up the goods to the ])rico that they liad gained in valuo between the month of April and the date of shipment, 8th June, " and a haUpenny sterling a yard more would have done it," No fine would have been required ; and if the goods had remained in A. & S. Henry & Co.'s ownership till June, and not been worth a halfpenny a yard more at that date, "it would have been a case without a parallel" in the experience of all others, who had to pay a price for sound saleable wool goods. The ai)praiser, on the 21st, had taken his stand according to the law, which governs him and governs the case. On the 'itith, Ogilvy & Co. write to the collector, taking their stand a/jduat (he law of the caitr, but proposing an alternative, or terms. These terms are never proposed by the appraiser to any one unless there is a suspicion and doubt, " and this he did not mean to convey." In a second note, with- out date, Messrs. Ogilvy k Co. say " we confirm our dis- satisfaction with the appraisements," and the acting Collector finding that the opinian of experts on the 81st, or the Collec- tor's letter of the same date, was of no avail, wrote Ogilvy & Co. on tlio 4tli August, " I regret to Imvo now to reiterate tlic refjiiest therein nindc, tliat you would auieiul your entry No. UbO of clan and tartan kirlle, according to the valuation made by the merchants summoned to examine and appraise tho same, and pay the hi) rer cent, additional duty, as pro- vided liy seclii'H 44 of the Customs Act, in cases of valuation to the extent of 20 per cent., as well as the fees of live dollars to e.icli of tho referees." if Ogilvy & Co. wanted to get tho goods to sell them at the comnKiicenient of the disjiute (21st July) they hmiv tho iiho7't cut for that, they could have \ aid tho post entry" ujider protest." Tl eii* own people tell, without reserve, tint they ))aid a post entry on llai k ijron de najtx^ under protest, about the same time as tho dispute arose about the clan tartan kirtles. Had the same covirse been followed in tho latter case the exjicrts would have been saved a most unpleasant duty, and one which is not so yirofitablc as some imagine, for I havo given my opinion when solicited, to the best of my judgment, during the last twenty-six years, and 1 have yet to get my first five dollars for d.oing so. As to the conduct of the experts, complained of by tho Messrs. Ogilvy, I may stato shortly, that about the 27th July, the Collector wrote to Ogilvy <& Co., that he had sum- moned two disinterested merchants, ac(juaintcd with that kind of goods, to attend at the Customs Kxaminiiig Ware- house, on the 81st. at eleven o'clock in tho forenoon, for tho purpose of examining and appraising the same. AJitr/c ; this was on the olst July, ten days al'tcr the appraiser had made a written request to Ogilvy k Co. for a post entry. I attended and was met by Mr. George Young, merchant, and Mr. Thomas Ogilvy. Wc soon got to business ; the iiivoiccs of Messrs. A. & S. Henry & Co. were put into our hands, which were all genuine, oxiCi James Ogilvy's letter to Ogilvy &l Co., also (jenuine. Mr. Thomas Ogilvy next gave us the information, that James had got a great job of the lot — that they were bad colours and bad patterns. Now, the Ogilvy clan may be bad, but all clans are not bad. It was new to mo to bo told that the leading clans were bad ])atterns; tScotclimen. whoso hearts are in the right pdace, don't say that. Her Mnjesty the Queen wears the tartan ; the Princess Louise adores the 6 Arp;ylc ; tlio.'^o who s.iw tlio mon sportin,:; tho tartan with Sir Colin Cam|)l)L'll in Hpiiin, l>L'l,L^iiim, at thy / lina, at tho head and front of the thin rcil lino at IJalachiva, thi'oii;^h tlio mist at early ni(»rn on tho hiM,'j;hts of Inkernian, on tlio sunny plain!! of Imlia, at tho rcliof of Lncknow, said th:'y wire braw ! hran> ! Clan jiattorns arc as stajjlo as \vhc>at ; it was for ua to jiid^e of tho c )lours, Tho j^oods wore on tho ta'do arid in tiio cases beforo us. Wo had A. k &«. Henry & Co.'o invoices and James O^ilvy'.s letters, the only sources whenco Mr. Thomas ().;ilvy ;^(»t his inroriuation ; yet he be_'an to reiterate and talk a;^aiiist time for his own interest, and pos- sihly to prevent Mr. Young and myself from formin;^ an oj)inion. As he could ;2;ivc us no further information than wo ■were already in possession of, from tho documenis and his exTjlanations, 1 politely rciiuested him tj retire, as wo had only two cloths to value and see that the colours were ri;^ht. Our conscientious opinion of the value is on record, and all particulars : one cloth, -1» inches wide, was 1-Id. sterling ; tho iiO-inch liner nuike, 18d. ; the o4-inch, same (piality, 'I'ld. sterling. This linished, uc did no swearing, as wo did not incline, or feel that thcro was ai^y necessity for us, to do so. It was not till then we wei-e shown for the first time a sample of the same make and style of goods — a "JT-iuch clan tartan on a rather heavier cloth, which was purchased by an expe- rienced buyer from the makers for one ol the old res;)CCtaI)lo A 1 wholesale houses in the trade, and which had been entered and paid d)ity for in July, 1>71, at the cost and fair market value of the goods, at the time and [)lace of exporta- tion, that being 1:;':/ sterling per yard. 'J'he buyer has since told 'he writer that the goods iccum to mo that a recent writer's theory has Home show of heiiij; correct. Ho afhnns tliat the Idst Ten 'J'rilies came to Britain, and it is prul)al>h^ tliat some of tliem may Iiavo sottlod in the heart of JScoliand within slight of Ahht-y Crai;^ atid Diinyot, whero the scenery resemhles that of their native hind. ?^ Their — "should bo called u[)on to arbitrate in a case like this. 2%jse and those on!// who are regularly in the habit of buying personally, knowing tho markets and their workings, arc able to put a value on goods such as those in (piostion. ' Now, taking tho nen by their letter in rotation, '* wjiich mark." No. 1. The lowest and only price ho gives is 13d. sterling per yard, — the experts' valuation. No. 'J, as " rated" by O.MJvy & Co. as well as by No. 10, John (iordon, must be inco;n()etent. No. 8 is the man who bought tho LT-inch clan tartans that paid duty at \'6'id. sterling in July. No. 4 who entered and paid duty on the 34 inch goods at 8 22^(1. sterling, — our valuation of 34-incli was 22d. sterling. Ho. 6. !No J rice named, non conuiiittal. No. G. states that the price named is nothing leg than I would expect to pay lor such a lot, — query, how mu'3!i more? No. 7. iSorry tor you John, you are mccmp.etent. No. 8 I'.olds the opinion of the experts that the invoices arc all genuine, but diflcrs from James Ogilvie, who thought the goods " cheap, and quite a heap lor the money." J. 13. must now be biting his linger-points that he missed making his expenses out of the several lots he declined. No. y. This 0) inion of value is no doubt as genuine as the invoice was in the month of Ajiril ; but far below the fair market value of the goods on bth June — the date of ship- ment. No. 10. An incompetent. No. 11 . [Same e\idence as No. 9 gives, — another of the Mr. Timid kind, who missed making hits exprnaes by the one lot. No. 12. Invoice again genuine, but April prices again as No. 9. As to goods, opinions ditier as to the value betwoen one season and another just \b per cen*. The Mr. Timid again misses the prize that would have paid his expenses. James Ogilvy thought them " cheap, and fur the money (juite a heap, as any man would buy with cash and sense." No. 18. An wcoiiq'etet.t, — sorry for you. No. 14. Invoices genuine, — ex].erts' opinion again, — but holding th(i very opposite o} inion from Ogilvy k Co., as to the qualification ot the appraiser. Ogilvy k Co. was one of those firms which signed a requisition to the Minister of Cus- toms, in January last, recommending this appraiser for the situation then expected to be shortly vacant. No. 15. Invoice genuine, — experts' oj/inion again, — but piles on the agony in the most *' cruel " fashion, in a way that neither appraisers nor experts ever attempted. Finally, John Ogilvy and Thomas Ogilvy are, according to No. 10 reason- ing, both incom})eti.'nt. The Council of the Board of Trade, after considering the case with much care, mistook the law Avhich governs the appraiser on page 21, " less O. & Co"s. remarks," and substi- tuted instead a " loim of Dechu-ation of the Owner, Con- signee, or Importer. \\\\.\\ the bill of Entry," given with their opinion of what the law should be, and what tliey wtuid like 9 it to be, also their view of what the Government should do before they inflict the lej^al penalties. Tliis seems to me to be much the same as the Customs department try to carry out in practice here. Their reading of the law seems to be a mistake, if so, thair case fails — breaks down, and another meeting will hav.j to be called. The Secretary, wlio is very distinguished in figures, does not seem able to read law cL'arly, and the Chairman, wlio miglit be expected, as an imj.orter, to know the Customs Act. signs a memorial which contains a very strange perversion of the Statute. •' The Council,"' the memorial says, '* having considered the case with much care, believe that the prices at which Me.-srs. Ogilvy tk, Co. entered the goods were the actual cash and fair market value of thom at the time and place of purchase. The law reads, ''At the time and place of e.rportation,''^ a veiy material dilforetice, and, in fact, die coubi Icration on which the wliole case turns. ' At page 3 of the pamjjhlct, it is said : "a busiuoss experience of more tlian twenty years, as ini} orting merchants in this city, has not furnished a parallel to the case, as set forth in the accom|ianying documents. We were, of course, fully con- vinced that the ])rocedure and pretensions of the Customs officials here were unjustiiiable." The writer of tlie pam])hlefc seems to forget that Mr. John Ogilvy was an expert iiiinself in January, 1870, when an imporcing agent of cotton thread on spools liad trouble with the Collector and Appraiser. The decision of the Customs officials, now on record, was ac(|uiesced in by Mr. John Ogilvy : That the idodiad articles of nn-rcliandise muat pajf the same dutjj, irrt^speetive of who ihef.ir)iii