[Inclosure in No. 283.]
Mr. Uhl to
Baron Marschall.
Embassy of the United States,
Berlin, February 26, 1897.
F. O. 186.]
The undersigned, ambassador of the United States of America, has the
honor to again invite the attention of His Excellency Baron
Marsehall von Bieberstein, imperial secretary of state for foreign
affairs, to the subject of an alleged discrimination adverse to the
interests of citizens of the United States by the Prussian railway
management in the matter of the collection of freight tariffs upon
woods imported from the United States into Germany and transported
over railways under Government control, and to inform his excellency
that he has communicated the substance of the note of His Excellency
Baron von Rotenhan, of the 22d ultimo, in relation thereto, to
certain parties interested and engaged in shipping such American
woods in Germany, and that after conference with these parties, and
after a careful review and examination of the subject, including the
opinions of German experts, the judgments of certain courts before
which the question of such alleged discrimination has been raised
and which have judicially passed upon the same, the undersigned is
unable to agree with the conclusion reached by Baron von Rotenhan,
as set forth in the said note, to wit, that neither the existing
tariff, nor its execution, carries with it a differential treatment
of wood of American origin. On the contrary, the
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undersigned is convinced that the
present interpretation of the tariff by the Prussian railway
management does result in an adverse and unjustifiable
discrimination against woods imported from the United States, to the
pecuniary disadvantage and injury of American citizens.
The asserted right to collect higher tariff in the transportation of
American oak and pine than is collected from the oak and pine grown
in middle Europe seems to rest upon the following hypotheses:
- First. That these American woods belong to a particular
species of a general class or genus, which general class is
common to America and middle Europe, but which particular
species is not cultivated for commercial purposes in middle
Europe, and that there is a refined botanical distinction or
difference between the American oak and pine and those of
middle Europe, detected only in the appearance of the
blossoms, leaves, or needles of the living tree, but not
apparent or discoverable in the log, plank, timber, or
lumber cut from the same.
- Second. That these woods of American origin are of greater
value than those of middle Europe.
As to the “first” above, the undersigned is advised and persuaded
that it can with positiveness be asserted that there is no material
or substantial difference whatever between the American product and
that of middle Europe, and that no expert can distinguish an
American oak or pine plank or board from one cut from a tree which
grew in middle Europe. The undersigned is informed that not long
since Mr. Carl Gartner, who is and has been for several years
extensively engaged in shipping American lumber over Prussian
railways, consigned certain Galician oak from Hamburg to Lennep, and
that the railway management caused a sample to be taken from the car
containing such shipment and placed it in the hands of an expert for
examination, who certified, as such expert, that the sample so
examined was American oak, whereas in truth it was cut from oak
grown in Galicia.
As to the “second” point, the undersigned is assured that the
American oak, pine, and maple are not of a greater value than the
corresponding woods of middle Europe and that they do not sell for a
higher price in the market; that they are devoted to the same use
and have the same appearance; that they are not heavier, and that
both belong to the same family. Some American oak is inferior to
that of middle Europe, some is of equal value, but none is more
valuable. In certain instances, according to the opinions of German
experts, American white oak has been found of equal value to that of
middle Europe, but not of a higher grade, either in its technical
quality or the uses to which it is devoted, while the great part of
American oak has been pronounced of inferior value.
In many contested causes in the German courts, in which testimony has
been received as to these woods, German experts have given it as
their opinion that the American pine and oak are at best of equal
value to the oak and pine of middle Europe, and this conclusion has
been reached from technical examination as to durability, hardness,
and elasticity, from the uses to which the woods are devoted, from
the prices L at which they sell, and from their specific weight. As
to this, according to the authority of Forstmeister Dr. Jentsch,
instructor in the Royal Academy of Forestry at Munden, American oak
has a specific gravity of from 0.747 to 1.01, while that of German
oak varies from 0.87 to 1.28.
The undersigned respectfully submits that it is entirely illogical
and unjustifiable that in the application of the freight tariff’ a
distinction should be made whereby, by reason of a refined and
technical difference,
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apparent only upon examination of the living tree, American oak,
pine, maple, and ash are required to pay a higher rate than the
corresponding product of Russia, Austria, or Servia, because,
forsooth, the leaves, blossoms, or needles of the living American
trees differ slightly in appearance from those of middle Europe.
The undersigned has been informed that the proprietors of a large
barrel factory, under the firm name of the M. B. Bodenheim
Fassfabrik, at Cassel, has recently sued for and recovered the sum
of about 8,000 marks, which represented the excess collected from
him, according to the interpretation of the tariff hereby complained
of, by the railway management upon certain American oak staves,
which it was impossible to distinguish from the staves of middle
Europe, the excess having been exacted upon the ground that the
leaves or blossoms of the living American tree from which the staves
were cut might have differed in appearance from the leaves or
blossoms of the oak trees growing in middle Europe.
It is beyond doubt that, in formulating the tariff schedule in
question, it was the intention of the framers thereof that only such
woods as were used in the manufacture of valuable and expensive
articles—for instance, mahogany, ebony, rosewood, etc.—should be
subject to the imposition of the higher rate, upon the ground that,
as the manufactured product represented a large valuation, it was
but just that the raw material should be submitted to the payment of
a higher rate than woods to be devoted to the manufacture of
inexpensive articles. It will not for a moment be contended that oak
and pine are employed in the manufacture of exceptionally rare or
expensive articles.
The undersigned is informed that formerly these American woods were
not subjected to the payment of the higher tariff rate now imposed,
but that the present interpretation only obtained in recent years 5
and he is unable to comprehend upon what principle the exaction of a
transportation rate upon a shipment of American oak or pine 50 per
cent higher than upon a like shipment of Russian oak or pine of the
same dimensions, the same weight, the same grade or quality, the
same appearance, the same value, and devoted to the same uses, can
be justified.
The undersigned has the honor to transmit herewith, with a request
for their ultimate return, certain documents enumerated below, all
bearing upon the question herein considered, and avails himself,
etc.
