Claflin Co. v. United States

3 Ct. Cust. 401, 1912 CCPA LEXIS 157
CourtCourt of Customs and Patent Appeals
DecidedNovember 21, 1912
DocketNo. 950; No. 914
StatusPublished

This text of 3 Ct. Cust. 401 (Claflin Co. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Customs and Patent Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Claflin Co. v. United States, 3 Ct. Cust. 401, 1912 CCPA LEXIS 157 (ccpa 1912).

Opinion

De Vexes, Judge,

delivered tbe opinion of tbe court:

Two appeals by different parties to tbe same record from a decision of tbe Board of General Appraisers. Tbe protestants are appellants, and tbe appeals present tbe same questions of law.

[402]*402The importations were of parasols composed of either cotton, linen, or silk and embroidered or appliquéd with either cotton or silk, imported in part under the tariff act of 1897 and in part under the tariff act of 1909.

Those imported under the act of 1897 were, according to materials and condition, subjected to the proviso to paragraph 339, which reads as follows:

339. * * * Provided, That bo wearing apparel or other article or textile fabric, when embroidered by hand or machinery, shall pay duty at a less late than that imposed in any schedule of this act upon any embroideries of the materials of which such embroidery is composed.

Those imported under the act of 1909 were subjected according to material to one or the other of the provisos to paragraphs 349 or 402 of that act, reading as follows:

349. * * * Provided, That no article composed wholly or in chief value of one or more of the materials or goods specified in this paragraph shall pay a less rate of duty than the highest rate imposed by this section upon any of the materials or goods of which the same is composed: And -provided further, That no article or fabric of any description, composed of flax or other vegetable fiber, or of which these materials or any of them is the component material of chief value, when embroidered by hand or machinery, or having hand or machinery embroidery thereon, shall pay a less rate of duty than that imposed in this section upon any embroideries of the materials of which such embroidery is composed.
402, * * * Provided, That articles composed wholly or in chief value of any of the materials or goods dutiable under this paragraph shall pay not less than the rate o duty imposed upon such materials or goods by this section: * * *.

Parasols were and are specifically provided for in the tariff acts of 1897 (par. 462) and 1909 (par. 478) in substantially the same language, as follows:

462. Umbrellas, parasols, and sunshades covered with material other than paper,
478. Umbrellas, parasols, and sunshades covered with material other than paper or lace, * * *.

The correctness of the assessments if the goods are not dutiable under paragraphs 462 and 478 is not challenged in the briefs or at the oral argument. The sole question presented for decision is the-legal one, whether or not the language of said paragraphs 462 and 478 is sufficiently exclusive as to repel the limiting influence of the provisos quoted.

Appellants, who were .protestants below, in very industrious and able arguments strenuously insist that the affirmative is true. They urge that the provisos inherently indicate they are to be applied solely to the purview of the respective paragraphs of which they are a part; that the quoted provisos are in words of less specificity than paragraphs 462 and 478; and that the language of these paragraphs is, under the case of United States v. Harper (2 Ct. Cust. Appls., 101; [403]*403T. D. 31655), exclusive, and alone prescribes the rate of duty applicable to parasols.

That such provisions as the provisos to paragraph 339 of the act of 1897 are not limited to the purview of the paragraph of which’ they form a part, but are a limitation upon the rate of duty prescribed in every other in pari materia paragraph of the act, is so well settled by so many uniform decisions that such must be regarded as stare decisis. In re Schefer (53 Fed. Rep., 1011); Sternfeld v. United States (T. D. 27773); Carter v. United States (143 Fed. Rep., 256); Morimura v. United States (2 Ct. Cust. Appls., 181; T. D. 31941); Lichtenstein v. United States (154 Fed.. Rep., 736); Jaeckel v. United States (178 Fed. Rep., 260); Kaufmann v. United States (128 Fed. Rep., 468); Lai Ming v. United States (1 Ct. Cust. Appls., 5; T. D. 30770).

The contention of counsel for appellants to the contrary and that the provisos to paragraphs 349 and 402, quoted supra, of the act of 1909 are hot subject to the same construction finds refutation in their express words.

The purview of each paragraph having been concluded, specifically enumerating therein the articles and fabrics there made dutiable, the first proviso to each paragraph opens with language expressly extended to articles and fabrics not the subject matter of the purview. In each said case the proviso is predicated of articles “composed wholly or in chief value of one or more of the materials or goods specified in this paragraph.” Plainly these provisos do not speak with reference'to the subject matter of the purview, but expressly of articles made of the goods and materials enumerated in the purview and otherwise made dutiable in the act. And so the language of the second proviso to paragraph 349, in haec verba, recites that “no article or fabric of any description, composed of flax or other vegetable fiber,” etc., thereby expressly extending its application beyond the purview of the paragraph to all articles within the express limitations of the proviso. There is no room for a presumed latitude of this proviso in the presence of its express limitations.

The conclusion follows that, unless paragraph 462 or 478 is so inclusive in terms as to repel the limiting influence of these provisos, goods falling within the latter for dutiable purposes are subject to the former.

It is contended by appellants that the case of United States v. Harper (2 Ct. Cust. Appls., 101; T. D. 31655) rules these cases in their favor. That case construed paragraph 427 of the tariff act of 1897, as affected by the proviso to paragraph 339, supra. The former paragraph was for “fans of all kinds, except common palm-leaf fans.” The court held that paragraph 427 was exclusive and not subj ect to the proviso in paragraph 339. The decision was rested upon, first, the [404]*404import of the words “ of all kinds,” and, secondly, of the words “ except common palm-leaf fans.” The court deemed the expression “fans cf all kinds” indicative of a congressional purpose to reach out into “all kinds,” classes, and conditions of such merchandise and include them within the paragraph. Certainly a more $pt or comprehensive term for that purpose could not be employed. The court further gave weight to the added exception, “except common palm-leaf fans,” applying the maxim éxpressio unius est exclusio dlterius — the excepting of the one includes all others, which, reenforcing the broad scope of the words “fans of all kinds, ” left no escape in the opinion of the court from the conclusion that the provision was intended to be exclusive in its application.

We fail to see any comparable language in said paragraphs 462 or 478. They are alike save the words “or lace” were added in 1909, constituting paragraph 478. The reading is “* * *, parasols, "* * * covered with material other than paper or lace.”

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Related

Lai Ming v. United States
1 Ct. Cust. 5 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1910)
United States v. Harper
2 Ct. Cust. 101 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1911)
Morimura Bros. v. United States
2 Ct. Cust. 181 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1911)
In re Schefer
53 F. 1011 (Second Circuit, 1893)
In re Crowley
55 F. 283 (Second Circuit, 1893)

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