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and there is a tendency in some towards the removal of these im-
posts. The burdens inflicted on the community for the supposed
advantage of particular trades, are so great, as to hamper them greatly
in competition with free countries where there is a general liberty of
purchase. The existing state of things, however, has often to be con-
sidered in the export of engineering material Sometimes the dues
are levied ad valorem ; in other cases they are calculated at a fixed
rate by measure of weight or quantity, according to the nature of the
material; and the merchant or importer has to be guided not by
what is best suited to the purpose in view, but by the necessity of
entering under a low tarifll Thus, it is possible sometimes, to obtain
an advantage by substituting one kind of material for another, as, for
instance, cast for wrought iron. Where customs dues are imposed
without discrimination according to the kind of material of which the
goods are made, and not graduated advalorem according to the different
qualities, it is to the interest of the purchaser to import material of a
high quality. As an example, if the price of good tool-steel be pd. per
lb., and an inferior quality be only 4d. per lb., and if the duty on
both be 4d. per lb., it is obviously economical to purchase the best
In other cases, the goods imported may, by the omission of certain
workmanship, be brought within the lower tariffs which prevail for raw
material. For instance, in an iron bridge, the bars or plates may be
sent without any holes punched or drilled in them, and so in some
countries be admitted at a much lower tariff than would be imposed
on the finished article. 