177. Duties, or Customs.-A tax, called either customs or duties, is levied upon certain imports. The tax on an imported article is added to its price and is thus paid by the consumer. Customs are of two kinds: specific and ad valorem. Specific duties are certain amounts for each article or definite quantity of the same. Ad valorem duties are per cents of the cost. The list of duties levied upon various articles imported is called a tariff. This name is also given to the duties themselves.

178. Computing Duties.-In finding the duties on any import the valuation in foreign money must first be reduced to United States money, if the duty is ad valorem. If the duty is specific, the quantity, if expressed in some unit of measure other than the English unit, must be reduced to the latter. The units other than the English that arise are the metric, which are definitely related to the English units. Hence, such changes can easily be carried out. The ratios of money values vary from time to time according to the rate of exchange. The United States customs officials state from time to time the ratio of value of the dollar to the money units of the various other countries.

179. Tariff Illustrations.-The following are a few items taken from a recent United States tariff:

EXERCISES

In the problems below use the tariff on the opposite page and wherever necessary use the rates of exchange found on page 110.

1. Find the total duty on 350 lb. sugar candy at 13 ¢ per pound and 250 lb. candy at 23 ¢ per pound.

2. What will be the duty on an importation of 3000 doz. Cuban pineapples? Hawaiian pineapples?

3. A manufacturer of woollen goods imported from England 60 yd. at 4 s. per yard, 120 yd. at 51⁄2 s. per yard, and 80 yd. at 4 s. per yard. Find the total cost of the importation and the total duty.

4. What will be the cost in United States money per yard of each grade of cloth mentioned in Ex. 3 after adding the duty?

5. Express by an equation the total cost of d dozen pairs of gloves bought at £P per dozen with a duty of $ U per dozen. What is the cost per dozen pairs? per pair?

6. Find the total cost of 150 doz. pairs of leather gloves costing £5 per dozen if the duty is $3 per dozen pairs. What is the cost per dozen pairs? per pair?

7. What will be the duty on 7 metric tons of rice?

8.

If the rice in Ex. 7 was bought at 205 yen per metric ton, what was its value in United States money?

9. After adding the duty, what would be the price per pound of the rice in Ex. 8?

10. Find the duty and total cost of 86,500 Kg. wool from Argentine bought at 2.13 pesos per kilogram.

11. What will be the duty on an importation of toys valued at 2450 francs? Give derivation of "ad valorem."

XI

TRANSPORTATION

180. Problems of Transportation.-Why is the cost of transportation an important item in our daily expenses? Why was this not so 50 yr. or 100 yr. ago?

A city having several railroads entering it has clay deposits of excellent quality just outside for making bricks. The oil used for baking the bricks must, however, be shipped in. Would it be more economical to ship the clay to a place where oil is found and there make the bricks? Why? A pottery was established in the same city. Both pottery clay and fuel had to be shipped in. The pottery failed. Why?

181. Railroads in the United States.-On July 4, 1828, the first rail of the Baltimore and Ohio road was laid. How long ago was that? Since then the increase in railroad mileage in the United States has been steady. This increase, together with our railroad mileage, that of Europe, and of the world for 1910, is found below:

182. Railroad Investments.-Costs of railroad tracks and equipments vary so greatly that they can only be estimated roughly. Tracks and right of way cost from $30,000 to $220,000 per mile; engines from $20,000 to $40,000; passenger-cars about $ 12,000; sleeping-cars about $ 30,000; freight box-cars about $1500; open coal-cars about $1200.

EXERCISES

1. Make a graph showing the increase in railroad mileage in the United States. From the graph estimate the mileage in 1855; in 1905; in 1925. If the graph shows any special peculiarities, explain them as far as possible.

2. Estimate what per cent of the total railroad mileage of the world the United States had in 1910. Next compute the per cent and compare with your estimate.

3. How many cars were there in some freight and passenger trains that you have seen? Using the above estimates, give a rough idea of the values of these trains.

4. Estimate the value of the track and right of way of the railroad from your city to some other at $ 50,000 per mile.

5. Let some member of the class look up and report on the building of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. Solve some of the quantitative questions the report raises.

6. Consider the Union Pacific railroad similarly.

183. Passenger Fares.-Except where the cost of transportation is very high, as in the mountains, the passenger fare in the United States is 3 ¢ per mile. See railroad schedules for cost of a standard sleeping-car berth. Upper berths cost 80% of lower berths. Berths in tourist sleepers cost 50% of the corresponding berths in standard sleepers.

Use the rates in Art. 183 and the schedules on pages

142, 143 in solving the following exercises:

1. How can train No. 3 on the Union Pacific arrive at North Platte at 1:20 and leave at 12:30? Where else in these schedules is the same change found?

2. What is the fare from San Francisco to Pittsburgh, including $9.50 for tourist sleeper?

3. What is the fare from Omaha to Julesburg? from Youngstown to Baltimore?