122 F. 445 | 2d Cir. | 1903
The duties in controversy were assessed upon certain old cannon imported from Cuba, made of metal of which copper was the component material of chief value. The importations were classified for duty under paragraph 193 of the tariff act of July 24, 1897, 30 Stat. 167, c. 11 [U. S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 1645], which subjects to an ad valorem rate of 45 per centum “articles or wares not specially provided for, composed wholly or in part of iron, steel, lead, copper, nickel, pewter, zinc, gold, silver, platinum, aluminum, or other metal, and whether partially or wholly manufactured.”
The importers claimed them to be exempt from duty under paragraph 533 of the same tariff act (30 Stat. 197 [U. S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 1682]), which places oh the free list “old copper, fit only for manufacture, clippings from new copper, and all composition metal of which copper is a component material of chief value, not specially provided for in this act,” or, in the alternative, under paragraph 505 (30 Stat. 196 [U. S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 1682]), which places on the free list “brass, old brass, clippings from brass or Dutch metal, all the foregoing fit only for manufacture.”
The board of General Appraisers and the Circuit Court decided that the importations were correctly classified for duty under paragraph 193-
The evidence shows that the cannon were sold by the Spanish authorities in Cuba coincidentally with the evacuation of that island. They were useless as artillery, many of them being of antiquated types, and more of them being so deteriorated by age and use as to be unsafe and of no value, except for the metal of which they were made. Some of them were valuable as relics and souvenirs, and were salable as such. They were appraised and classified indiscriminately, no distinction having been made between those having a value as relics and those having only a value as old metal, and the protest of the importers was not addressed to any such distinction. The evidence further shows that the cannon were made of “composition metal,” that term being the commercial designation for all composite metals of copper, tin, lead, and' spelter containing 70 per cent, or more of copper; also that they were not “old brass” within the commercial meaning of that term. It further shows that “composition scrap” is the commercial designation which includes old cannon and various other articles made of composition metal which are dealt in by the old-metal trade.
As the case has been presented, we do not find any error in the record, and the decision of the Circuit Court is affirmed.