CUSTOM-HOUSES 
273 
legitimate fines on our exports to them. It 
may be argued that in the end the cost is finally 
borne by them, but the fact nevertheless re 
mains that there is much work here to be done 
by our government to overcome these condi 
tions for the benefit of all parties involved. It 
is decidedly unfair for a country to collect 
revenues both ways, namely, on its exports to 
us and on our exports to it. 
The importer is the one who bears the brunt 
of these burdens. He is continually paying 
bribes or fines which are of course added to 
the cost of the goods. Failure on his part to 
“come across” means delays, loss of goods, 
higher port charges and incalculable annoy 
ances. One of the great objections to this sys 
tem of robbery aside from its basic principle 
of error is that one shipment does not serve as 
a means for calculating a price on the next 
one. A new custom-house official (and cus 
tom-house officials are changed in these lands 
as often as a chameleon changes color) may 
have come into office between shipments re 
quiring a higher standard of fines and bribes