84 TREASURY CIRCULAR. RELATIVE TO GUANO ISLANDS. TREASURY CIRCULAR, RELATIVE TO THE GUANO ISLANDS APPERTAINING TO THE UNITED STATES. To COLLECTORS OF CUSTOMS: TREASURY DEPARTMENT, February 12, 1869. You will find hereto annexed a corrected list of the Guano Islands, bonded under the Act of August 18, 1856, as appears by the bonds and papers, transmitted from the Department of State, now on file in the office of the First Comptroller of the Treasury. The several islands named and described in said list having been duly bonded, and considered by the President of the United States "as appertaining to the United States," in manner and form prescribed by said Act, and, as a consequence thereof, brought under the laws regulating the coasting trade, your attention is directed to the same with a view to the proper enforcement of these laws regulating intercourse with said islands. By the first proviso of the second section of the above-named Act [11 Stat., p. 119,] it is provided: "That no guano shall be taken from said islands, rock, or key, except for the use of citizens of the United States, or of any person resident therein." [For partial suspension of this prohibition, see second section of the Act of July 28, 1866.] It is further provided by the aforesaid second section, that "The introduction of guano from said islands, rocks, or keys, shall be regulated as the coasting trade between the different parts of the United States, and the same laws shall govern the vessels concerned therein." And, as the laws of the United States forbid foreign vessels from engaging in the coasting trade, and as commercial intercourse with these islands thus form a part of said trade, you are hereby requested to use all due vigilance to prevent the infraction of any law or regulation upon that subject. H. MCCULLOCH, Secretary of the Treasury. GUANO ISLANDS PERTAINING TO THE UNITED STATES AND BONDED UNDER ACT OF AUGUST 18, 1856. 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 general 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, defucing, 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 any imported merchandise duly entered and bonded at Point Isabel, in the collection district of 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 cf 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 pli ced 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 |