A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents. Volume 9, part 1: Benjamin Harrison

by Benjamin Harrison

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas, pursuant to section 3 of the act of Congress approved October 1, 1890, entitled "An act to reduce the revenue and equalize duties on imports, and for other purposes," the Secretary of State of the United States of America communicated to the Government of Spain the action of the Congress of the United States of America, with a view to secure reciprocal trade, in declaring the articles enumerated in said section 3, to wit, sugars, molasses, coffee, and hides, to be exempt from duty upon their importation into the United States of America; and

Whereas the envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of Spain at Washington has communicated to the Secretary of State the fact that, in reciprocity and compensation for the admission into the United States of America free of all duty of the articles enumerated in section 3 of said act, the Government of Spain will by due legal enactment and as a provisional measure admit, from and after September 1, 1891, into all the established ports of entry of the Spanish islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico the articles or merchandise named in the following transitory schedule, on the terms stated therein, provided that the same be the product or manufacture of the United States and proceed directly from the ports of said States:

TRANSITORY SCHEDULE.

Products or manufactures of the United States to be admitted into Cuba and Puerto Rico free of duties:
1. Meats, in brine, salted or smoked, bacon, hams, and meats preserved in cans, in lard or by extraction of air, jerked beef excepted.
2. Lard.
3. Tallow and other animal greases, melted or crude, unmanufactured.
4. Fish and shellfish, live, fresh, dried, in brine, smoked, pickled, oysters and salmon in cans.
5. Oats, barley, rye, and buckwheat, and flour of these cereals.
6. Starch, maizena, and other alimentary products of corn, except corn meal.
7. Cotton seed, oil and meal cake of said seed for cattle.
8. Hay, straw for forage, and bran.
9. Fruits, fresh, dried, and preserved, except raisins.
10. Vegetables and garden products, fresh and dried.
11. Resin of pine, tar, pitch, and turpentine.
12. Woods of all kinds, in trunks or logs, joists, rafters, planks, beams, boards, round or cylindric masts, although cut, planed, and tongued and grooved, including flooring.
13. Woods for cooperage, including staves, headings, and wooden hoops.
14. Wooden boxes, mounted or unmounted, except of cedar.
15. Woods, ordinary, manufactured into doors, frames, windows, and shutters, without paint or varnish, and wooden houses, unmounted, without paint or varnish.
16. Wagons and carts for ordinary roads and agriculture.
17. Sewing machines.
18. Petroleum, raw or unrefined, according to the classification fixed in the existing orders for the importation of this article in said islands.
19. Coal, mineral.
20. Ice.
Products or manufactures of the United States to be admitted into Cuba and Puerto Rico on payment of the duties stated:
21. Corn or maize, 25 cents per 100 kilograms.
22. Corn meal, 25 cents per 100 kilograms.
23. Wheat, from January 1, 1892, 30 cents per 100 kilograms.
24. Wheat flour, from January 1, 1892, $1 per 100 kilograms.
Products or manufactures of the United States to be admitted into Cuba and Puerto Rico at a reduction of duty of 25 per cent:
25. Butter and cheese.
26. Petroleum, refined.
27. Boots and shoes in whole or in part of leather or skins.

And whereas the envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of Spain in Washington has further communicated to the Secretary of State that the Government of Spain will in like manner and as a definitive arrangement admit, from and after July 1, 1892, into all the established ports of, entry of the Spanish islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico the articles or merchandise named in the following schedules A, B, C, and D, on the terms stated therein, provided that the same be the product or manufacture of the United States and proceed directly from the ports of said States:

SCHEDULE A.

Products or manufactures of the United States to be admitted into Cuba and Puerto Rico free of duties:
1. Marble, jasper, and alabaster, natural or artificial, in rough or in pieces, dressed, squared, and prepared for taking shape.
2. Other stones and earthy matters, including cement, employed in building, the arts and industries.
3. Waters, mineral or medicinal.
4. Ice.
5. Coal, mineral.
6. Resin, tar, pitch, turpentine, asphalt, schist, and bitumen.
7. Petroleum, raw or crude, in accordance with the classification fixed in the tariff of said islands.
8. Clay, ordinary, in paving tiles, large and small, bricks, and roof tiles unglazed, for the construction of buildings, ovens, and other similar purposes.
9. Gold and silver coin.
10. Iron, cast, in pigs, and old iron and steel.
11. Iron, cast, in pipes, beams, rafters, and similar articles for the construction of buildings and in ordinary manufactures. (See repertory.)
12. Iron, wrought, and steel, in bars, rails and bars of all kinds, plates, beams, rafters, and other similar articles for construction of buildings.
13. Iron, wrought, and steel, in wire, nails, screws, nuts, and pipes.
14. Iron, wrought, and steel, in ordinary manufactures, and wire cloth unmanufactured. (See repertory.)
15. Cotton, raw, with or without seed.
16. Cotton seed, oil and meal cake of same for cattle.
17. Tallow and all other animal greases, melted or crude, unmanufactured.
18. Books and pamphlets, printed, bound and unbound.
19. Woods of all kinds, in trunks or logs, joists, rafters, planks, beams, boards, and round or cylindric masts, although cut, planed, tongued and grooved, including flooring.
20. Wooden cooperage, including staves, headings, and wooden hoops.
21. Wooden boxes, mounted or unmounted, except of cedar.
22. Woods, ordinary, manufactured into doors, frames, windows, and shutters, without paint or varnish, and wooden houses, unmounted, without paint or varnish.
23. Woods, ordinary, manufactured into all kinds of articles, turned or unturned, painted or varnished, except furniture. (See repertory.)
24. Manures, natural or artificial.
25. Implements, utensils, and tools for agriculture, the arts, and mechanical trades.
26. Machines and apparatus, agricultural, motive, industrial, and scientific, of all classes and materials, and loose pieces for the same, including wagons, carts, and handcarts for ordinary roads and agriculture.
27. Material and articles for public works, such as railroads, tramways, roads, canals for irrigation and navigation, use of waters, ports, light-houses, and civil construction of general utility, when introduced by authorization of the Government or if free admission is obtained in accordance with local laws.
28. Materials of all classes for the construction, repair in whole or in part of vessels, subject to specific regulations to avoid abuse in the importation.
29. Meats, in brine, salted and smoked, including bacon, hams, and meats preserved in cans, in lard or by extraction of air, jerked beef excepted.
30. Lard and butter.
31. Cheese.
32. Fish and shellfish, live, fresh, dried, in brine, salted, smoked, and pickled, oysters and salmon in cans.
33. Oats, barley, rye, and buckwheat, and flour of these cereals.
34. Starch, maizena, and other alimentary products of corn, except corn meal.
35. Fruits, fresh, dried, and preserved, except raisins.
36. Vegetables and garden products, fresh and dried.
37. Hay, straw for forage, and bran.
38. Trees, plants, shrubs, and garden seeds.
39. Tan bark.

SCHEDULE B.