This was an action brought in the circuit court of the United States for the Eastern district of Pennsylvania by the firm of John & James Dobson against the collector of customs, to recover an alleged excess of tariff duties paid under protest.
The controversy was over the character of merchandise imported by the plaintiffs, and claimed by them to be free from duty, but which was appraised by the officers of the government as subject to duty at the rate of 10 cents a pound.
The question involves a construct on of the tariff act of March 3, 1883 (22 Stat. 488). The importers claim that the article imported by them was 'hair,' within the meaning of paragraph 717, p. 519, which is in the following terms: 'Hair, horse or cattle, and hair of all kinds, cleaned or uncleaned, drawn or undrawn, but unmanufactured, not specially enumerated or provided for in this act,' to be free.
The collector classified the importaion as 'goat hair,' under Schedule K, some of the terms of which were as follows:
'All wools, hair of the alpaca, goat, and other like animals, shall be divided, for the purpose of fixing the duties to be charged thereon, into the three following classes:
'Class one, clothing wools.-That is to say, merino, mestiza, metz, or metis wools, or other wools of merino blood. * *
*'Class two, combing wools.-That is to say, Leicester, Cotswold, Lincolnshire, down combing wools, Canada long wools, or other like combing wools of English blood, and usually known by the terms herein used, and also all hair of the alpaca, goat, and other like animals.
'Class three, carpet wools and other similar wools.-Such as Donskoi, native South America, Cordova, Valparaiso, native Smyrna, and including all wools of like character as have been heretofore usually imported into the United States from Turkey, Greece, Egypt, Syria, and elsewhere.'
The schedule further provides that wools of the first class shall pay a duty of 10 cents per pound; wools of the second class, and 'all hair of the alpaca, goat, and other like animals,' 10 cents per pound; wools of the third class, 2 1/2 cents per pound.
A duty was exacted against the importation in question under class 2, at the rate of 10 cents per pound.
The case resulted in a verdict and judgment in favor of the importers.
At the trial there was evidence on both sides as to the true character of the hair. It appears that the goods were invoiced as white cattle hair, but were described in the protest as common goat hair. Samples were exhibited to the jury of various forms of wools under class 2, including a sample of the goods in dispute. The witnesses on behalf of the importers did not all agree, but the most of them said that the goods were goat hair, or common goat hair.
James Dobson, one of the plaintiffs, testified that he had been engaged for more than 20 years in handling and manufacturing wool and hair, and that the goods in question in the present case, as shown by the sample, were common goat hair.
Assuming, then, as we have a right to do, that these goods were common goat hair, the problem is, under what clause of the act of 1883 is common goat hair to be classified?
The answer would be readily made if it is to be found in the terms of the statute: 'Class two, combing wools.-That is to say, * * * all hair of the alpaca, goat, and other like animals;' and, in the taxing clause, 'all hair of the alpaca, goat, and other like animals,' 10 cents per pound.
But it is contended that, in designating what should be included in class 2, congress specified, not wools generally, but combing wools, and that the evidence shows that the article in question was not combing wool, nor was it anything that could be used for combing purposes; and of that view was the learned judge who tried the case below. He refused to charge, as requested, that, if the jury found that the article in dispute was hair of the goat, and under 30 cents per pound, their verdict should be for defendant, but charged that, if the jury were satisfied that the article is what is called common goat hair, they should find for the plaintiffs, because, if it were such, it is not to be classified under the section applied to it by the appraiser; and, again, he charged that, if the jury were not satisfied that the article was such as is known to the trade as common goat hair, they should inquire whether it was known to commerce as combing hair, and, if not such, they should find for the plaintiffs.