Fenton v. United States

1 Ct. Cust. 529, 1911 WL 19822, 1911 CCPA LEXIS 96
CourtCourt of Customs and Patent Appeals
DecidedApril 24, 1911
DocketNo. 385
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 1 Ct. Cust. 529 (Fenton 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
Fenton v. United States, 1 Ct. Cust. 529, 1911 WL 19822, 1911 CCPA LEXIS 96 (ccpa 1911).

Opinion

Barber, Judge,

delivered the opinion of the court:

The merchandise involved is so-called cork floats, was imported at the port of Cleveland in 1909, and was assessed for duty by the [530]*530collector at 45 per cent ad valorem under paragraph 165 of the tariff act of August 5, 1909, which reads as follows:

165. Fish hooks, fishing rods and reels, artificial flies, artificial baits, snelled hooks and all other fishing tackle or parts thereof, not specially provided for in this section, except fishing lines, fishing nets and seines, forty-five per centum ad valorem.

The appellant duly filed .his protest, the material parts of which are as follows:

Notice of dissatisfaction is hereby given with, and protest is hereby made against, your ascertainment and liquidation of duties, and your decision assessing duty, on the entries below named. The reasons for objection are as follows:
Cork floats are manufactures of cork, or cork chief value.
Manufactures of cork, wholly or in chief value, are provided for by name in paragraph No. 429 at 30 per cent.
Their use is not necessarily confined to fishing tackle, but were this not true the words “not specially provided for” found in paragraph No. 165 eliminate cork floats therefrom.
Designation of an article by name free or dutiable must prevail over words of gen-' eral description.

Paragraph 429 of the act of 1909 is as follows:

429. Cork bark cut into squares, cubes, or quarters, eight cents per pound; manufactured corks over three-fourths of an inch in diameter, measured at larger end, fifteen cents per pound; three-fourths of an inch and less in diameter, measured at larger end, twenty-five cents per pound; cork, artificial, or cork substitutes, manufactured from cork waste or granulated cork, and not otherwise provided for in this section, six cents per pound; manufactures, wholly or in chief value of cork, or of cork bark, or of artificial cork or cork substitutes, granulated or ground cork, not specially provided for in this section, thirty per centum ad valorem.

The Board of General Appraisers overruled the protest and we quote the pertinent parts of their decision:

The merchandise is invoiced as “manufactures of cork.” The goods are in fact cork articles shaped, and specially adapted for use as floats. They were assessed for duty at the rate of 45 per cent ad valorem under the provisions of paragraph 165, tariff act of 1909, which reads: “ * * * all other fishing tackle or parts thereof, not specially provided for * * It is claimed that the articles are dutiable * * * under paragraph 429 * * * as “ manufactures of cork, not specially provided for. ” The only issue raised is whether the corks here in question are within the provision for “fishing tackle or parts thereof.” It is urged that they must be further manipulated in order to convert them into floats, and as they are not finished cork floats they are not dutiable under the provision above noted. The corks approach nearly their finished condition, afford sufficient evidence as to then- special adaptation for use as floats, and would, then, appear to us to be dutiable as “parts” of fishing tackle.

At the outset'the United States contends that the protest does not claim that the articles are not fishing tackle or parts thereof, but on the contrary recognizes them as cork floats, thereby, it is said, basing the protest upon the ground that the provision “manufactures, wholly or in. chief value of cork,” under paragraph 429, is more specific than that for “fishing tackle or parts thereof” under paragraph 165, and therefore the United States claims that the only [531]*531issue is which paragraph is the more specific. Stated in' another way, this claim is that under his protest the appellant has no right to contend, as he seeks in substance to do here, that the articles involved are not floats and thereby parts of fishing tackle within the meaning of paragraph 165, but that he has conceded them to be floats and is limited to the claim that paragraph 429 more specifically applies thereto than does paragraph 165.

The record does not show that the United States made this claim before the board.

We think this contention can not prevail. The first claim made in the protest is that cork floats are manufactures of cork or cork of chief value. The reference to the articles as "cork floats” is not significant. They may be such and still not be floats or fishing tackle or parts thereof. From the collector’s letter submitting the protest it would seem that he had classified them as cork floats and the importer should have the right to adopt that designation in bis protest, without precluding himself upon the merits. The protest clearly raises the issue that the merchandise is a manufacture of cork or cork of chief value.

Before considering the question involved we turn to the evidence. It appears that the United States called no witnesses and that two were introduced by the appellant. This case seems t© involve protests by other importers and the first witness, Mr. Pflueger, was one of the number. He testified in substance that he was a manufacturer of fishing tackle and metal novelties; that he was a practical fisherman and.a member of several fishing clubs and organizations; that he never saw an article like the official samples used either for fishing tackle or as a part of it; that they were turnings, manufactures of cork; that he did not manufacture the same; that he had been in the business of manufacturing fishing tackle and metal novelties for 30 years and. had had experience covering the same time selling the products; that he had never sold such an article as the official samples in this cáse as fishing tackle; that he had never heard them referred to as such; that there was an article well known as fishing tackle which he designated as a fishing float, samples of which were introduced in evidence as illustrative exhibits and are before us; that he sold these as fishing floats all over the world; that they were used to regulate the depth of the bait from the surface of the water and also to indicate that the bait had been taken by a fish; that such a float comes under the paraphernalia of fishing tackle; that the official samples are not in themselves finished articles; that to make them into fishing floats they must receive the following treatment and manipulations: They must be kiln dried to exclude all moisture so that paint will adhere firmly to the surface; then sticks or quills are inserted and cemented into the holes in the center of the samples; [532]*532then they are put into a lathe and turned to the proper shape and tapered down to meet the stick on each end and finished up to make a graceful shape; then sandpapered; then tumbled in a rolling barrel in which is thrown a substance while they are rolling that is absorbed into the pores and makes a waterproof surface; then permitted to dry; then painted, usually in more than one color; and then after again drying receive a coat of waterproof varnish to make the finished article waterproof.

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Bluebook (online)
1 Ct. Cust. 529, 1911 WL 19822, 1911 CCPA LEXIS 96, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fenton-v-united-states-ccpa-1911.