The proper classification of half-pearls has also been a matter of controversy. This question was brought before the Board of General Appraisers in New York on a protest^[412] entered in 1897 against the imposition of a duty of 20 per cent. on several lots of so-called half-pearls imported during that year. This duty was imposed under Section 6 of the Tariff Act, providing for a duty of 20 per cent. on “unenumerated partly manufactured articles.” The petitioner claimed that half-pearls were dutiable at 10 per cent. ad valorem, “either directly or by similitude or component of chief value, under paragraph 436, or as precious stones, under paragraph 435 of the Tariff Act.” After hearing the testimony of a number of competent and reliable experts connected with some of the leading houses dealing in precious stones and pearls, the appraisers decided that the evidence showed that pearls, being the product of animal secretion, could not properly be denominated stones, and that they were not in fact so designated commercially. At the same time, half-pearls could not be looked upon as “pearls in their natural state,” since time and labor had been expended in their production; it was, therefore, evident that paragraph 436 did not apply to them. For this reason the original ruling was reaffirmed.

In 1902 a duty of 60 per cent. was levied on an assorted lot of half-pearls under a new ruling which brought them by similitude under the provisions of paragraph 434 of the Tariff Act, providing a duty of 60 per cent. on “jewelry ... including ... pearls set or strung.” A protest was entered against this ruling also.^[413] In the meanwhile Judge Lacombe had given the opinion to which we have alluded above, and the Board of Appraisers upheld the duty of 60 per cent., basing their decision upon the fact that the material of half-pearls was similar to that of pearls in their natural state or of pearls set or strung, thus satisfying the requirements as to similitude of Section 7 of the Tariff Act. The same section provides that, in case two or more rates of duty shall be applicable to any imported article, it shall pay duty at the highest rate, and therefore the 60–per cent. rate applying to pearls set or strung was imposed, instead of the 10–per cent. rate on pearls in their natural state. In both of these cases an application for a review was made to the United States Circuit Court.^[414]

The only changes from the customs lists as they existed in the tariffs of 1896 are as follows:

In the Parliament of 1727–1732, the duty on pearls and precious stones was abolished in England. We give facsimiles of the title-page and last leaf of the report of this enactment.

GEORGII II. REGIS Magnæ, Britanniæ, Franciæ, & Hiberniæ, SEXTO. At the Parliament Begun and Holden at Westminster, the Twenty third Day of January, Anno Dom. 1727. In the First Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord GEORGE the Second, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. And from thence continued by several Prorogations to the Sixteenth Day of January, 1732, being the Sixth Session of this present Parliament. LONDON, Printed by John Baskett, Printer to the King’s most Excellent Majesty. 1732. 108 Anno Regni Sexto Georgii II. Regis. After 10 April, 1733, Diamonds and all other precious Stones may be imported or exported free from Duty. Diamonds, precious Stones, Jewels, and Pearls of all Sorts, shall pass outwards, without Warrant or Fee, may it therefore please your most Excellent Majesty that it may be enacted, and be enacted by the King’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the Same, That from and after the Tenth Day of April, which shall be in the Year of our Lord One thousand seven hundred and Thirty three, all Diamonds, Pearls, Rubies, Emeralds, and all other precious Stones and Jewels, shall pass inwards without Warrant or Fee, in the Manner as they now pass outwards, and free from the Payment of any Duty granted to his Majesty, his Heirs, or Successors; and it shall and may be lawful for any Person or Persons to import or export the same, in the Ship or Vessel whatsoever; and Law, Custom, or Usage to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding, subject nevertheless to the Proviso herein after contained. Proviso as to the East India Company. Provided always, That nothing herein contained shall extend to annul or make void the Duty granted to his Majesty for the Use of the united Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies, by an act passed in the Ninth and Tenth Years of the Reign of his late Majesty King William the Third, for such Pearls, Diamonds, and other precious Stones or Jewels, as shall be imported into this kingdom from any Place within the Limits of the Charter granted to the said Company, or to take away or alter any Privileges, Profits, or Advantages, granted to or now held or enjoyed by the said Company. FINIS.'

The total value of diamonds and precious stones imported into the United States during the period from 1867 to 1906 inclusive, was as follows:

There are several things that are essential in pearl buying, and one of the most important of these is that the light in which the pearls are selected shall be absolutely pure daylight, with no reflections from the side or from above that can enhance or detract from the color of the pearl. This must be carefully considered, as it is not uncommon—more especially in certain parts of Europe—that jewelers have for their selling-offices rooms sumptuously fitted up with hangings of different colors, and sometimes with ground glass windows, provided with heavy silk hangings, so that artificial light becomes a necessity to make the article sold plainly visible. In absolutely pure daylight, more especially with an unclouded sky—on such days as are probably more frequent in the United States than in some of the European countries—it is possible to see the exact tint or color of the pearls; that is, whether it is really a pure white with a tinge of pink or an orient tending to cream-white, or whether it is more or less tinted with what is considered a crude or red color in a pearl. Besides this, in a pure light it is possible to see whether the pearl is brilliant, and to estimate the exact degree of its brilliancy; whether there are any cracks, scratches, or mars on the surface; and, lastly, whether the form is entirely regular. If one should select two necklaces, one absolutely perfect and the other having slight blemishes as to color or brilliancy, or with breaks, marks, or irregularities, these two necklaces would be scarcely distinguishable from each other in artificial light, or in daylight which had been partly confused with artificial light; although the differences between the two would signify that the former was worth two or three times as much as the latter.

At great receptions, large, and apparently magnificent pearls are frequently seen, which are really of inferior quality, and yet, owing to the absence of pure daylight, they can easily be mistaken for perfect specimens by any one not especially familiar with pearls. Indeed, if the royalties of Europe should wear all the pearls belonging to the crown jewels at the same time, in a palace or hall lighted with candles, gas, or even with some types of electric light, they would frequently seem to have a quality which many of them do not and never did possess. It is, therefore, essential for the buyer to use every precaution in reference to the light in which he examines his purchase. And we may add that it is just as essential that he should know the dealer from whom he buys; for, sometimes, after a few weeks or months, cracks or blemishes develop that were not apparent at first, more especially when the pearls have been “improved” for a prospective purchaser.

A test to ascertain the quality of pearls is quaintly expressed in a work published in 1778, as follows:

How to know good pearls. To discover the hidden Defects and Faults of a Pearl and to know whether she is speckled or broken or has any other imperfections, the best way is to make trial of it by the Reverberation of the Sun-beams; for by this means your eye will penetrate into the very Centre of the Pearl and discover the least defect it has; you will then see whether it be pure, or has any spots or not, and consequently you may the better guess its value.^[415]

If you can cause a ray of sunlight or of electric light to fall on a pearl, the light will penetrate it and show any specks, inclosed blemishes or impurities. This can probably best be done by wrapping about the pearl a dark cloth of velvet or other material and having the ray fall slantingly, whereby the defects are much more clearly shown than if the ray be allowed to fall directly upon the gem.

A pearl necklace valued at $200,000, shown at one of our recent great expositions, was to all appearances a remarkably beautiful collection, and it was only when the intending purchaser took them from their velvet bed and held them in his hands that he realized that there was not a perfect pearl in the entire collection. It must have taken more than a week of study for the clever dealer to arrange them so that the best part, sometimes the only good part of each pearl, should be where the eye would fall upon it. After they had been turned in the hands a few seconds, not one perfect specimen was visible.

The demand for pearls has been so great, and the enhancement of value so rapid, that the greatest ingenuity has been employed in presenting the best part of the gems to view, as well as in many other ways. The result is that when pearls are to be used as borders or as a gallery on a comb or brooch, they are pierced in such a way that only the best side shall be outward, so that the general effect produced is that of a perfect row of pearls; but a careful examination may show that two thirds or three fourths of them are irregular, and bear abrasion marks, indentations, or other imperfections.

Following the analogy of the well-known precious stones—the diamond, the ruby, the sapphire, the emerald and those of less importance—the pearl is equally potent in creating great and permanent values for itself in catering to the human love of adornment; and though these large values may be greatly in excess of the original price that it commanded in the native oriental market, yet the increased valuation gives profitable livelihood to hundreds of thousands of persons. These embrace the dealers who sell the original pearls in lots, those who clean and treat them, others who drill and string them, and others again who handle them in setting jewelry of all kinds, and also the large number of dealers throughout the entire world who sell either the jewelry or the unmounted pearls. Directly connected with the industry in localities where the fisheries are pursued are a sufficient number of persons to populate a city the size of Boston, and to these we may safely add an equal number as herein noted, aggregating about 1,000,000 people whose livelihood is directly dependent upon the production and traffic of the pearl industry, and who for lack of it would be forced to seek some other employment. Brought thus to a concrete form, one may readily grasp the important bearing which the pearl has in a comprehensive estimate of the complexity of the world’s civilization as we know it to-day.