SEC. 584. FALSITY OR LACK OF MANIFEST.-Any master of any vessel and any person in charge of any vehicle bound to the Unit. I States who does not produce the manifest to the officer demanding the same shall be liable to a penalty of $500, and if any merchandise, including sea stores, is found on board of or after unlading from such vessel or vehicle which is not included or described in said manifest or does not agree therewith, the master of such vessel or the person in charge of such vehicle shall be liable to a penalty equal to the value of the merchandise so found or unladen, and any such merchandise belonging or consigned to the master or other officer or to any of the crew of such vessel, or to the owner or person in charge of such vehicle, shall be subject to forfeiture, and if any merchandise described in such manifest is not found on board the vessel or vehicle the master or other person in charge shall be subject to a penalty of $500: Provided, That if the collector shall be satisfied that the manifest was lost or mislaid without intentional fraud, or was defaced by accident, or is incorrect by reason of clerical error or other mistake and that no part of the merchandise not found on board was unshipped or discharged except as specified in the report of the master, said penalties shall not be incurred.

If any of such merchandise so found consists of smoking opium or opium prepared for smoking, the master of such vessel or the person in charge of such vehicle shall be liable to a penalty of $25 for each ounce thereof so found. Such penalty shall constitute a lien upon such vessel which may be enforced by a libel in rem. Clearance of any such vessel may be withheld until such penalty is paid or until a bond, satisfactory to the collector, is given for the payment thereof. The provisions of this paragraph shall not prevent the forfeiture of any such vessel or vehicle under any other provision of law.

SEC. 585. DEPARTURE BEFORE REPORT OR ENTRY.-If any vessel or vehicle from a foreign port or place arrives within the limits of any collection district and departs or attempts to depart, except from stress of weather or other necessity, without making a report or entry under the provisions of this Act, or if any merchandise is unladen therefrom before such report or entry, the master of such vessel shall be liable to a penalty of $5,000, and the person in charge of such vehicle shall be liable to a penalty of $500, and any such vessel or vehicle shall be subject to forfeiture, and any customs or Coast Guard officer may cause such vessel or vehicle to be arrested and brought back to the most convenient port of the United States.

SEC. 586. UNLAWFUL UNLÂDING EXCEPTION.-The master of any vessel from a foreign port or place who allows any merchandise (including sea stores) to be unladen from such vessel at any time after its arrival within four leagues of the coast of the United States and before such vessel has come to the proper place for the discharge of such merchandise, and before he has received a permit to unlade, shall be liable to a penalty equal to twice the value of the merchandise but not less than $1,000, and such vessel and the merchandise shall be subject to seizure and forfeiture: Provided, That whenever any part of the cargo or stores of a vessel has been unladen or transshipped because of accident, stress of weather, or other necessity, the master of such vessel shall, as soon as possible thereafter,

notify the collector of the district within which such unlading or transshipment has occurred, or the collector within the district at which such vessel shall first arrive thereafter, and shall furnish proof that such unlading or transshipment was made necessary by accident, stress of weather, or other unavoidable cause, and if the collector is satisfied that the unlading or transshipment was in fact due to accident, stress of weather, or other necessity the penalties above described shall not be incurred.

SEC. 587. UNLAWFUL TRANSSHIPMENT.-If any merchandise (including sea stores) unladen in violation of the provisions of section 586 of this Act is transshipped to or placed in or received on any other vessel, the master of the vessel on which such merchandise is placed, and any person aiding or assisting therein, shall be liable to a penalty equal to twice the value of the merchandise, but not less than $1,000, and such vessel and such merchandise shall be liable to seizure and forfeiture.

SEC. 588. TRANSPORTATION BETWEEN PORTS.-If any merchandise is laden at any port or place in the United States upon any vessel belonging wholly or in part to a subject of a foreign country, and is taken thence to a foreign port or place to be reladen and reshipped to any other port in the United States, either by the same or by another vessel, foreign or American, with intent to evade the provisions relating to the transportation of merchandise from one port or place of the United States to another port or place of the United States in a vessel belonging wholly or in part to a subject of any foreign power, the merchandise shall, on its arrival at such last-named port or place, be seized and forfeited to the United States, and the vessel shall pay a tonnage duty of 50 cents per net ton.

SEC. 589. UNLAWFUL RELANDING.-If any merchandise entered or withdrawn for exportation without payment of the duties thereon, or with intent to obtain a drawback of the duties paid, or of any other allowances given by law on the exportation thereof, is relanded at any place in the United States without entry therefor having been made, the same shall be considered and treated as having been imported into the United States contrary to law, and all persons concerned therein and such merchandise shall be liable to the same penalties as are prescribed by section 593 of this Act.

SEC. 594. SEIZURE OF VESSELS AND VEHICLES.-Whenever a vessel or vehicle, or the owner or master, conductor, driver, or other person in charge thereof, has become subject to a penalty for violation of the customs-revenue laws of the United States, such vessel or vehicle shall be held for the payment of such penalty and may be seized and proceeded against summarily by libel to recover the same: Provided, That no vessel or vehicle used by any person as a common carrier in the transaction of business as such common carrier shall be so held or subject to seizure or forfeiture under the customs laws, unless it shall appear that the owner or master of such vessel or the conductor, driver, or other person in charge of such vehicle was at the time of the alleged illegal act a consenting party or privy thereto. SEC. 598. FALSE SEALS.-If any unauthorized person affixes or attaches or in any way willfully assists or encourages the affixing or attaching of a customs seal or other fastening to any vessel or vehicle,

or of any seal, fastening, or mark purporting to be a customs seal, fastening, or mark; or if any unauthorized person willfully or maliciously removes, breaks, injures, or defaces any customs seal or other fastening placed upon any vessel, vehicle, warehouse, or package containing merchandise or baggage in bond or in customs custody, or willfully aids, abets, or encourages any other person to remove, break, injure, or deface such seal, fastening, or mark; or if any person maliciously enters any bonded warehouse or any vessel or vehicle laden with or containing bonded merchandise with intent unlawfully to remove or cause to be removed therefrom any merchandise or baggage therein, or unlawfully removes or causes to be removed any merchandise or baggage in such vessel, vehicle, or bonded warehouse or otherwise in customs custody or control, or aids or assists therein; or if any person receives or transports any merchandise or baggage unlawfully removed from any such vessel, vehicle, or warehouse, knowing the same to have been unlawfully removed, he shall be guilty of a felony and liable to the same penalties as are imposed by section 593 of this Act.

SEC. 599. INTERESTED OFFICERS.-No person employed under the authority of the United States, in the collection of duties on imports or tonnage, shall own, either in whole or in part, any vessel, or act as agent, attorney, or consignee for the owner or owners of any vessel, or of any cargo or lading on board the same; nor shall any such person import, or be concerned directly or indirectly in the importation, of any merchandise for sale into the United States. Every person who violates this section shall be liable to a penalty of $500. SEC. 600. GRATUITY.-Any officer or employee of the United States who, except in payment of the duties or exactions fixed by law, solicits, demands, exacts, or receives from any person, directly or indirectly, any gratuity, money, or thing of value, for any service performed under the customs laws, or in consideration of any official act to be performed by him, or of the omission of performance of any such act, in connection with or pertaining to the importation, entry, inspection or examination, or appraisement of merchandise or baggage, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $5,000, or by impris onment for not more than two years, or both, and evidence, satisfactory to the court in which the trial is had, of such soliciting, demanding, exacting, or receiving shall be prima facie evidence that the same was contrary to law. (R. S., 2636.)

SEC. 601. BRIBERY.-Any person who gives, or offers to give, or promises to give, any money or thing of value, directly or indirectly, to any officer or employee of the United States in consideration of or for any act or omission contrary to law in connection with or pertaining to the importation, appraisement, entry, examination, or inspection of merchandise or baggage, or of the liquidation of the entry thereof, or by threats or demands or promises of any character attempts to improperly influence or control any such officer or employee of the United States as to the performance of his official duties, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction thereof shall be punshed by a fine not exceeding $5,000 or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or both, and evidence of such

giving, offering or promising to give, or attempting to influence or control, satisfactory to the court in which such trial is had, shall be prima facie evidence that the same was contrary to law.

SEC. 602. SEIZURE PROCEDURE REPORT.--It shall be the duty of any officer, agent, or other person authorized by law to make seizures of merchandise or baggage subject to seizure for violation of the customs laws, to report every such seizure immediately to the collector for the district in which such violation occurred, and to turn over and deliver to such collector any vessel, vehicle, merchandise, or baggage seized by him, and to report immediately to such collector every violation of the customs laws.

SEC. 603. SAME FACTS TO REPORT.-It shall be the duty of the collector whenever a seizure of merchandise has been made for a violation of the customs laws to report the same to the Solicitor of the Treasury, and promptly also to report any such seizure or violation of the customs laws to the United States attorney for the district in which such violation has occurred, or in which such seizure was made, including in such report a statement of all the facts and circumstances of the case within his knowledge, with the names of the witnesses, and citation of the statute or statutes believed to have been violated, and on which reliance may be had for forfeiture or conviction.

SEC. 604. SAME PROSECUTION.-It shall be the duty of every United States district attorney immediately to inquire into the facts of cases reported to him by collectors and the laws applicable thereto, and, if it appears probable that any fine, penalty, or forfeiture has been incurred by reason of such violation, for the recovery of which the institution of proceedings in the United States district court is necessary, forthwith to cause the proper proceedings to be commenced and prosecuted, without delay, for the recovery of such fine, penalty, or forfeiture in such case provided, unless, upon inquiry and examination, such district attorney decides that such proceedings can not probably be sustained or that the ends of public justice do not require that they should be instituted or prosecuted, in which case he shall report the facts to the Secretary of the Treasury for his direction in the premises. (R. S., 838 as amended by act Feb. 27, 1877, c. 69, sec. 1.)

SEC. 605. SAME CUSTODY.-All vessels, vehicles, merchandise, and baggage seized under the provisions of the customs laws, or laws relating to the navigation, registering, enrolling or licensing, or entry or clearance, of vessels, unless otherwise provided by law, shall be placed and remain in the custody of the collector for the district in which the seizure was made to await disposition according to law.

SEC. 606. SAME-APPRAISEMENT.-The collector shall require the appraiser to determine the domestic value, at the time and place of appraisement, of any vessel, vehicle, merchandise, or baggage seized under the customs laws.

SEC. 607. SAME-VALUE $1,000 OR LESS. If such value of such vessel, vehicle, merchandise, or baggage returned by the appraiser, does not exceed $1,000, the collector shall cause a notice of the seizure of such articles and the intention to forfeit and sell the same to be published for at least three successive weeks in such manner as the Secretary of the Treasury may direct. (R. S., 4379.)

SEC. 608. SAME CLAIMS.-Any person claiming such vessel, vehicle, merchandise, or baggage may at any time within twenty days from the date of the first publication of the notice of seizure file with the collector a claim stating his interest therein. Upon the filing of such claim, and the giving of a bond to the United States in the penal sum of $250, with sureties to be approved by the collector, conditioned that in case of condemnation of the articles so claimed the obligor shall pay all the costs and expenses of the proceedings to obtain such condemnation, the collector shall transmit such claim and bond, with a duplicate list and description of the articles seized, to the United States attorney for the district in which seizure was made, who shall proceed to a condemnation of the merchandise or other property in the manner prescribed by law.

SEC. 609. SAME-SALE. If no such claim is filed or bond given within the twenty days hereinbefore specified, the collector shall declare the vessel, vehicle, merchandise, or baggage forfeited, and shall sell the same at public auction in the same manner as merchandise abandoned to the United States is sold, and shall deposit the proceeds of sale, after deducting the actual expenses of seizure, publication and sale, in the Treasury of the United States.

SEC. 610. SAME-VALUE MORE THAN $1,000.-If the value returned by the appraiser of any vessel, vehicle, merchandise, or baggage so seized is greater than $1,000, the collector shall transmit a report of the case, with the names of available witnesses, to the United States attorney for the district in which the seizure was made for the institution of the proper proceedings for the condemnation of such property.

SEC. 611. SAME-CONDITIONAL SALES.-If the sale of any vessel, vehicle, merchandise, or baggage forfeited under the customs laws in the district in which seizure thereof was made be prohibited by the laws of the State in which such district is located, or if a sale may be made more advantageously in any other district, the Secretary of the Treasury may order such vessel, vehicle, merchandise, or baggage to be transferred for sale in any customs district in which the sale thereof may be permitted. And if the Secretary of the Treasury is satisfied that the proceeds of sale will not be sufficient to pay the costs thereof, he may order a destruction by the customs officers: Provided, That any merchandise forfeited under the customs laws, the sale or use of which is prohibited under any law of the United States or of any State, may be remanufactured, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury, into an article that is not prohibited, the resulting article to be disposed of to the profit of the United States only.

SEC. 612. SUMMARY SALE.-Whenever it appears to the collector that any vessel, vehicle, merchandise, or baggage seized under the customs laws is liable to perish or to waste or to be greatly reduced in value by keeping, or that the expense of keeping the same is disproportionate to the value thereof, and the value of such vessel, vehicle, merchandise, or baggage as determined by the appraiser under section 606 of this Act, does not exceed $1,000, and such vessel, vehicle, merchandise, or baggage has not been delivered under bond, the collector shall, within twenty-four hours after the receipt by him of the appraiser's return proceed forthwith to advertise and sell the