WAREHOUSING AND TRANSIT ACTS.

ACT OF AUGUST 6, 1846.

(U. S. STATUTES AT LARGE, VOL. IX, p. 53.)

CHAP. LXXXIV.-An Act to establish a Warehousing System, and to amend an Act entitled "An Act to provide Revenue from Imports, and to change and modify existing Laws imposing Duties on Imports, and for other Purposes."

SECTION 1. That the twelfth section of the act entitled "An Act to provide revenue from imports, and to change and modify existing laws imposing duties on imports, and for other purposes," approved the thirtieth day of August, one thousand eight hundred and fortytwo, is hereby amended so as hereafter to read as follows: [SEC. 12.] And be it further enacted, That on and after the day this act goes into operation the duties on all imported goods, wares or merchandise shall be paid in cash: Provided, That, in all cases of failure or neglect to pay the duties within the period allowed by law to the importer to make entry thereof, or whenever the owner, importer, or consignee shall make entry for warehousing the same in writing, in such form and supported by such proof as shall be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, the said goods, wares, or merchandise shall be taken possession of by the collector, and deposited in the public stores, or in other stores to be agreed on by the collector or chief revenue officer of the port and the importer, owner, or consignee, the said stores to be secured in the manner provided for by the first section of the act of the twentieth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and eighteen, entitled "An Act providing for the deposit of wine and distilled spirits in public warehouses, and for other purposes,' "there to be kept with due and reasonable care, at the charge and risk of the owner, importer, consignee, or agent, and subject at all times to their order upon payment of the proper duties and expenses, to be ascertained on due entry thereof for warehousing, and to be secured by bond of the owner, importer, or consignee, with surety or sureties, to the satisfaction of the collector, in double the amount of the said duties, and in such form as the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe: Provided, That no merchandise shall be withdrawn from any warehouse in which it may be deposited, in a less quantity than in an entire package, bale, cask, or box, unless in bulk; nor shall merchandise so imported in bulk be delivered, except in the whole quantity of each parcel, or in quantity not less than one ton weight, unless by special authority of the Secretary of the Treasury. And in case the owner, importer, consignee, or agent of any goods on which the duties have not been paid, shall give to the collector satisfactory security that the said goods shall be landed out of the jurisdiction of the United States, in the manner now required by existing laws relating to exportations for the benefit of drawback, the collector and naval officer, if any, on an entry to re-export the same, shall, upon payment of the appropriate expenses, permit the said goods, under the inspection of the proper officers, to be shipped without the payment of any duties thereon. And in case any goods, wares, or merchandise, deposited as aforesaid, shall remain in public store beyond one year, without payment of the duties and charges thereon, then said goods, wares, or merchandise shall be appraised by the appraisers of the United States, if there be any at such port, and if none, then by two merchants to be designated and sworn by the collector for that purpose, and sold by the collector at public auction, on due public notice thereof being first given, in the manner and for the time to be prescribed by a general regulation of the Treasury Department; and at said public sale distinct printed catalogues, descriptive of said goods, with the appraised value affixed thereto, shall be distributed among the persons present at said sale; and a reasonable opportunity shall be given before such sale, to persons desirous of purchasing, to inspect the quality of such goods; and the proceeds of said sale, after deducting the usual rate of storage at the port in question, with all other charges and expenses, including duties, shall be paid over to the owner, importer, consignee, or agent, and proper receipts taken for the same: Provided, That the overplus, if any there be, of the proceeds of such sales, after the payment of storage, charges, expenses, and duties as aforesaid, remaining unclaimed for the space of ten days after such sales, shall be paid by the collector into the treasury of the United States; and the said collector shall transmit to the Treasury Department, with the said overplus, a copy of the inventory, appraisement, and account of sales, specifying the marks, numbers, and

description of the packages sold, their contents and appraised value, the name of the vessel and master in which, and of the port or place whence they were imported, and the time when and the name of the person or persons to whom said goods were consigned in the manifest, and the duties and charges to which the several consignments were respectively subject; and the receipt or certificate of the collector shall exonerate the master or person having charge or command of any ship or vessel in which said goods, wares, or merchandise were imported, from all claim of the owner or owners thereof, who shall, nevertheless, on due proof of their interest, be entitled to receive from the treasury the amount of any overplus paid into the same under the provisions of this act; Provided, That so much of the fifty-sixth section of the gencral collection law of the second of March, seventeen hundred and ninety-nine, and the thirteenth section of the act of the thirtieth of August, eighteen hundred and forty-two, to provide revenue from imports, and to change and modify existing laws imposing duties on imports, and for other purposes, as conflicts with the provisions of this act, shall be, and is hereby repealed, excepting that nothing contained in this act shall be construed to extend the time now prescribed by law for selling unclaimed goods; Provided, also, That all goods of a perishable nature, and all gunpowder, firecrackers, and explosive substances deposited as aforesaid, shall be sold forthwith.

SECTION 2. Any goods when deposited in the public stores in the manner provided for in the foregoing section, may be withdrawn therefrom and transported to any other port of entry, under the restriction provided for in the act of second of March, seventeen hundred and ninety-nine, in respect to the transportation of goods, wares, and merchandise from one collection district to another, to be exported with the benefit of drawback; and the owner of such goods so to be withdrawn for transportation, shall give his bond with sufficient sureties, in double the amount of the duties chargeable on them, for the deposit of such goods in store in the port of entry to which they shall be destined, such bond to be cancelled when the goods shall be re-deposited in store in the collection district to which they shall be transported; Provided, That nothing contained in this section shall be construed to extend the time during which goods may be kept in store, after their original importation and entry, beyond the term of one year.

SECTION 3. If any warehoused goods shall be fraudulently concealed or removed from any public or private warehouse, the same shall be forfeited to the United States; and all persons convicted of fraudulently concealing or removing such goods, or of aiding or abetting such concealment or removal, shall be liable to the same penalties which are now imposed for the fraudulent introduction of goods into the United States; and if any importer or proprieter of any warehoused goods, or any person in his employ, shall by any contrivance fraudulently open the warehouse, or shall gain access to the goods, except in the presence of the proper officer of the customs acting in the execution of his duty, such importer or proprietor shall forfeit and pay for every such offence one thousand dollars. And any person convicted of altering, defacing, or obliterating any mark or marks which have been placed by any officer of the revenue on any package or packages of warehoused goods, shall forfeit and pay for every such offence five hundred dollars.

SECTION 4. The collectors of the several ports of the United States shall make quarterly reports to the Secretary of the Treasury, according to such general instructions as the said Secretary may give, of all goods which remain in the warehouses of their respective ports. specifying the quantity and description of the same; which returns or tables formed thereon. the Secretary of the Treasury shall forthwith cause to be published in the principal papers of the city of Washington.

SECTION 5. That the Secretary of the Treasury be and he is hereby authorized to make, from time to time, such regulations, not inconsistent with the laws of the United States, as may be necessary to give full effect to the provisions of this act, and secure a just accountability under the same. And it shall be the duty of the Secretary to report such regulations to each succeeding session of Congress.

ACT OF AUGUST 30, 1852.

(U. S. STATUTES AT LARGE, VOL. X, p. 37.)

CHAP. XCVI.-An Act authorizing imported Goods, Wares, and Merchandise, entered and bonded for warehousing in pursuance of Law, to be exported by certain Routes to Ports or Places in Mexico.

SECTION 1. Any imported goods in the original packages which shall have been duly entered and bonded, in pursuance of the Warehousing Act, of sixth August, eighteen hundred and forty-six, may be withdrawn from warehouse at any time within two years from the original importation for immediate exportation, without payment of duties, under the provisions of the act aforesaid, to Chihuahua, in Mexico, by the routes designated in the first section of the act of third March, eighteen hundred and forty-five, or by such other routes as may be designated by the Secretary of the Treasury; and likewise, that imported merchandise duly entered and bonded at Point Isabel, in the collection district of

any

Brazos de Santiago, or imported and bonded at any other port of the United States, and transported thence in bond, and duly re-warehoused at Point Isabel in pursuance of the provisions of the warehousing law of August sixth, eighteen hundred and forty-six, may be withdrawn from warehouse at any time within two years from the date of original importation into the United States for immediate exportation, without payment of duties under the provisions of the Warehousing Act aforesaid, to ports and places in Mexico, by land or water, or partly by land and partly by water, or by such routes as may be designated by the Secretary of the Treasury.

SECTION 2. Any imported merchandise duly entered and bonded at any port of the United States may be withdrawn from warehouse at any time within two years from the date of importation, without payment of duties, in pursuance of the provisions of the warehousing law of sixth August, eighteen hundred and forty-six, for immediate exportation for San Fernando, Paso del Norte, and Chihuahua, in Mexico, through the port of La Vaca, in the collection district of Saluria, in the State of Texas, and be transhipped inland, thence to San Antonio in said State, and from the latter place to the destinations in Mexico aforesaid, either by way of Eagle Pass, the Presidio del Norte, and San Elizario, all on the Rio Grande; and the Secretary of the Treasury shall be and is hereby authorized to prescribe such regu lations, not inconsistent with law, as he may deem proper and necessary, respecting the packing, marking, inspection, proof of due delivery at their foreign destinations of the imports authorized by this and the foregoing section of this act, to be exported from warehouse to ports and places in Mexico, and for the due protection in other respects of the public revenue.

SECTION 3. The Secretary of the Treasury shall appoint inspectors of the customs to reside at San Antonio, Eagle Pass, the Presidio del Norte, and San Elizario, or at such other points on the routes as he may designate, not exceeding four in number, who shall each receive an annual salary of two hundred and fifty dollars, and who shall make a report semiannually to the Secretary of the Treasury, of all the trade that passes under inspection stating the number of packages, description of goods, their value, and the names of the exporters.

SECTION 4. No goods, wares, or merchandise exported out of the limits of the United States, according to the provisions of this act, shall be voluntarily landed or brought into the United States; and on being so landed or brought into the United States, they shall be forfeited, and the same proceedings shall be had for their condemnation and the distribution of the proceeds of their sales as in other cases of forfeiture of goods illegally imported; and every person concerned in the voluntary landing or bringing such goods into the United States shall be liable to a penalty of four hundred dollars.

SECTION 5. That all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of the foregoing act, be and the same are hereby repealed.

ACT OF MARCH 28, 1854.

(U. S. STATUTES AT LARGE, VOL. X, p. 270.)

CHAP. XXX.-An Act to extend the Warehousing System by establishing private Bonded Warehouses, and for other Purposes.

(See section 37, Act of 1866, ante, Part I, ¶ 491.)

SECTION 1. From and after the passage of this act, any goods, wares, or merchandise subject to duty, with the exception of perishable articles, also gunpowder, fire-crackers, and other explosive substances, which shall have been duly entered and bonded for warehousing, in conformity with existing laws, may be deposited at the option of the owner, importer, consignee, or agent, at his expense and risk, in any public warehouse owned or leased by the United States, or in the private warehouse of the importer, the same being used exclusive for the storage of warehoused goods of his own importation or to his consignment, or in a private warehouse used by the owner, occupant, or lessee, as a general warehouse for the storage of warehoused goods, such place of storage to be designated on the warehouse entry at the time of entering such merchandise at the custom-house: Provided, That such private warehouse shall be used solely for the purpose of storing warehoused goods, and snall have been previously approved by the Secretary of the Treasury, and have been placed in charge of a proper officer of the customs, who, together with the owner and proprietor of the warehouse, shall have the joint custody of all the merchandise stored in said warehouse, and all the labor on the goods so stored must be performed by the owner or proprietor of the warehouse, under the supervision of the officer of the customs in charge of the same, at the expense of the aforesaid owner or proprietor: And provided, further, That cellars and vaults of stores for the storage of wines and distilled spirits only, and yards for the storage of coal, mahogany, and other woods and lumber, may, at the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury, be constituted bonded warehouses for the storage of such articles, under the same regulations and conditions as required in the storage of other merchandise; the cellars or vauits aforesaid shail be exclusively appropriated to the storage of wines or distilled spirits

and shall have no opening or entrance except the one from the street, on which separate and different locks of the custom-house and the owner or proprietor of the cellars or vaults shall be placed.

SECTION 2. Unclaimed goods, wares, or merchandise required by existing laws to be taken possession of by collectors of the customs, may be stored in any public warehouse owned or leased by the United States, or in any private bonded warehouse authorized by this act, and all charges for storage, labor, and other expenses accruing on any such goods, wares, or merchandise, not to exceed in any case the regular rates for such objects at the port in question, must be paid before delivery of the goods on due entry thereof by the claimant or owner; or if sold as unclaimed goods to realize the import duties, the aforesaid charges shall be paid by the collector out of the proceeds of the sale thereof, before paying such proceeds into the Treasury, as required by existing laws. And any collector of the customs is hereby authorized, under such directions and regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, to sell upon due notice, at public auction, any unclaimed goods, wares, or merchandise deposited in public warehouse, whenever the same may, from depre ciation in value, damage, leakage, or other cause, in the opinion of such collector, be likely to prove insufficient on a sale thereof to pay the duties, storage, and other charges if suffered to remain in public store for the period now allowed by law in the case of unclaimed goods. SECTION 3. Before any of the stores or cellars aforesaid, owned or occupied by private individuals, shall be used as a warehouse for merchandise imported by other merchants or importers, the owner, occupant or lessee thereof shall enter into bond, in such sums and with such sureties as may be approved by the Secretary of the Treasury, exonerating and holding the United States and its officers harmless from or on account of any risk, loss, or expense of any kind, or description, connected with or arising from the deposit or keeping of the merchandise in the warehouse aforesaid; and all imports deposited in any public or private warehouse authorized by this act, shall be at the sole and exclusive risk and expense of the owner or importer.

SECTION 4. All goods, wares, and merchandise which may be hereafter duly entered for warehousing under bond, and likewise all merchandise now remaining in warehouse under bond, may continue in warehouse, without payment of duties thereupon, for a period of three years from the date of original importation, and may be withdrawn for consumption on due entry and payment of the duties and charges, or upon entry for exportation, without the payment of duties, at any time within the period aforesaid; in the latter case, the goods to be subject only to the payment of such storage and charges as may be due thereon: Provided, however, That where the duties shall have been paid upon any goods, wares, or merchandise entered for consumption, said duties shall not be refunded on exportation of any such goods, wares, or merchandise, without the limits of the United States: And provided further, That there shall be no abatement of the duties or allowance made for any injury, damage, deterioration, loss, or leakage sustained by any goods, wares, or merchandise, whilst deposited in any public or private bonded warehouse established or recognized by this act. SECTION 5. Any goods, wares, or merchandise, duly entered for warehousing, may be withdrawn under bond, without payment of the duties, from a bonded warehouse in any collection district of the United States, and be transported to a bonded warehouse in any other collection district within the same, and re-warehoused thereat; and any such goods, wares, or merchandise, may be so transported to their destination wholly by land, or wholly by water, or partly by land and partly by water, over such routes as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe, and may likewise be conveyed over any foreign Territory, the government of which may have, or shall by treaty stipulations grant a free right of way over such territory; and for the purpose of better guarding against frauds upon the revenue on foreign goods transported between the ports of the Atlantic and those of the Pacific overland through any foreign territory, the Secretary of the Treasury be, and is hereby authorized to appoint special sworn agents as inspectors of the customs, to reside in said foreign territory where such goods may be landed or embarked, with power to superintend the landing or shipping of all goods passing coastwise between the ports of the United States on the Pacific and Atlantic, and whose duty it shall be, under such regulations and instruc tions as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe, to guard against the perpetration of any frauds upon the revenue: Provided, That the compensation paid to said inspectors shall not in the aggregate exceed five thousand dollars per annum.

SECTION 6. The Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe the form of the bond to be given for the transportation of goods, wares, and merchandise, from a port in one collection district to a port in another collection district in the United States, as provided in the preceding section; also the time for such delivery; and for a failure to transport and deliver, within the time limited, any such bonded goods, wares, and merchandise, to the collector at the designated port, an additional duty of one hundred per cent. shall be levied and collected, which additional duty shall be secured by such bond, or said goods, wares, and merchandise may be seized and forfeited for such failure, and any steam or other vessel, or vehicle transporting such bonded goods, wares, and merchandise, the master, owner, or conductor of which shall fail to deliver the same to the collector at the designated port, shall be liable to seizure and forfeiture.

SECTION 7. All leases of stores now held by the United States for the purpose of storing

warehoused or unclaimed goods, shall, on the shortest period of termination named in said leases, be cancelled, and no leases shall be entered into by the United States for any stores for the storage of warehoused or unclaimed goods at any port where there may exist any private bonded warehouses, after the first day of July, eighteen hundred and fifty-five: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent the leasing or hiring of such buildings or accommodation as may be required for the use of the United States' appraisers for the due examination and appraisal of imported merchandise at the ports where such officers are provided by law, nor to prohibit the leasing or hiring by collectors of the customs, for short periods, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, of such stores as may be required for custom-house purposes, at any of the smaller revenue ports of the United States: Provided, That no collector or other officer of the customs shall enter into any contract or agreement for the use of any building to be thereafter erected as a public store or warehouse, and no lease of any building to be so used shall be taken for a longer period than three years, nor shall rent be paid, in whole or in part, in any case, in advance. SECTION 8. The Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby authorized, upon production of satisfactory proof to him of the actual injury or destruction in whole or in part of any goods, wares, or merchandise, by accidental fire, or other casualty, while the same rerained in the custody of the officers of the customs in any public or private warehouse under bond, or in the appraiser's stores, undergoing appraisal, in pursuance of law or regulations of the Treasury Department, or while in transportation under bond from the port of entry to any other port in the United States, to abate or refund, as the case may be, out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the amount of impost duties paid or accruing thereupon; and likewise to cancel any warehouse bond or bonds, or enter satisfaction thereon in whole or in part, as the case may be. (See amendment Sec. 13, Tariff Act of 1865, ante, part i, ¶ 478.)

SECTION 9. That the Secretary of the Treasury be and is hereby authorized from time to time to establish such rules and regulations, not inconsistent with the laws of the United States, for the due execution of this act, as he may deem to be expedient and necessary; and all acts and parts of acts conflicting with this are hereby repealed.

ACT OF APRIL 30, 1872.

(U. S. STATUTES AT LARGE, VOL. XVII, p. 58.)

CHAP. CXXIX.-An Act to amend Section Second, Act of August thirtieth, eighteen hundred and fifty-two, in relation to the Transportation and Exportation of Imported Goods, Wares, and Merchandise in Bond through certain Ports in the State of Texas.

That section second of the act of August thirtieth, eighteen hundred and fifty-two, entitled "An act authorizing imported goods, wares, and merchandise, entered and bonded for warehousing in pursuance of law, to be exported by certain routes to ports and places in Mexico," be so amended that imported merchandise, duly entered and bonded at a port of the United States, and withdrawn from warehouse in accordance with existing law, for exportation for San Fernando, Paso del Norte, and Chihuahua, in Mexico, shall pass through Indianola, the port of entry for the district of Saluria, in the State of Texas, under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe, as well as through the port of Lavaca, in said district, as required by said section.

CHAP.

ACT OF MARCH 24, 1874.

(U. S. STATUTES AT LARGE, VOL. XVIII, p. -.)

-An Act to establish Bonded Warehouses for the Storing and Cleansing of
Rice intended for Exportation.

From and after the passage of this Act importers' bonded warehouses, to be used for the storage and cleansing of imported rice intended for exportation to foreign countries, may be established at any port of entry in the United States, under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe.