interior district, may proceed without report and entry at the first port. A more interior district is one that is further within the indentations of the contiguous and adjacent country. New York is not a more interior port in reference to Barnstable. If the vessel be bound

to a port of delivery only, report and entry in writing must be made at the port of entry of that district, and all duties, port fees and charges be paid before proceeding further."

Officers of the Customs.-Before proceeding further, it is proper to give some account of the various officers who conduct the system of taxation known as customs or external revenue. The head of the revenue system of the United States, whether it be external or internal revenue, is the Secretary of the Treasury. The principal officers in each collection district, are the collector, naval officer and surveyor. The collector is the chief officer, who receives all reports, manifests and other documents exhibited on the entry of any vessel, keeps a record of the manifests, receives the entries of all vessels and of the goods imported in them. Together with the naval officer, he estimates the amount of duties payable on all goods imported, receives all moneys paid for duties, takes all bonds given to secure the payment of them, and grants all permits for unlading and delivery of goods. He employs, with approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, all weighers, gaugers, measurers and inspectors in the district, and provides, at public expense, storehouses for the safe keeping of goods.3

The duties of the naval officer are concurrent with many of those of the collector, and seem designed to afford additional evidence of the transactions at the custom house. He receives copies of manifests and entries, and in conjunction with the collector, estimates duties on the goods imported; he keeps a separate record of such estimates; he countersigns permits and clearances; he examines the collector's abstract of duties and other accounts of receipts, bonds and expenditures, and certifies the same if found correct.1

The surveyor superintends all inspectors, weighers, measurers and gaugers in his district; he visits all vessels which arrive in his port, and makes a report to the collector every morning, of the arrivals during the preceding day, giving full details as to the vessel and cargo, and whether the master has complied with the law as to manifests; he, immediately on arrival, places on board an inspector; he ascertains the proof, quantities, and kinds of distilled spirits imported; he is to examine whether the goods imported in any vessel, and the de

1 U. S. v. Bearse, 4 Mason, 192.

3 R. S. U. S. § 2621.

2 R. S. U. S. § 2772.

R. S. U. S. § 2626.

liveries thereof according to the inspector's returns, correspond with permits for unlading, and if there be any disagreement, he is to report it to the collector or naval officer. He also superintends the lading of all goods for exportation, and tries the weights and measures used in ascertaining the duties on imports. The officers of the revenue cutters are also officers of the customs, who aid in the execution of the revenue laws.2

The duties here enumerated are those appertaining to the officers when all of these officers are at one port. Very often in smaller ports there is but one of these officers, who then performs all of these duties. The inspector is an employee of the collector, and his duties cannot be blended with those of the collector, except by express legislative authority. A collector will not be allowed to employ himself as inspector, perform the duties and receive the pay of both collector and inspector. These are the officers who assess and collect this external revenue, with the exception of the appraisers, whose duties will be treated of hereafter.

Entry and Unlading of the Merchandise.—The owner or consignee of any merchandise, or in case of his absence or sickness, his known agent or factor, is required in fifteen days after the report of the master to the collector of the district for which the merchandise is destined, to make entry in writing of such merchandise, with the collector. This entry is to specify the name of the vessel, the port or place from which the merchandise was imported, the particular marks, numbers, denomination and prime cost, including charges of each parcel or package, or if it be in bulk, the quantity, quality and prime cost, in either case specifying the species of money in which the invoices are made out. The entry is to be signed by the person making it, who is to produce to the collector and naval officer the original invoices or other documents received in lieu thereof, or concerning the same, in the same state in which they were received, together with the bills of lading of the goods. The indorsees of a bill of lading of a homeward bound cargo consigned to order, are the owners in the sense of the statute.5

When the entry is made by an agent, he is required to give bond that the owner will render to the collector a full account of the merchandise imported; when the particulars are unknown, a declaration

1 R. S. U. S. § 2627.

2 R. S. U. S. §§ 2747, 2758, 2760, 2761.

3 Stewart v. United States, 17 How. 124, 129.

4 R. S. U. S. § 2785, 2786.

5 Conrad v. Pacific Ins. Co. 6 Peters, 262; Gray v. Laurence, 3 Blatch. 117. Agent may make entry.

on oath may be substituted for the entry. If the entry is imperfect for any cause, the collector is directed to take the merchandise into his custody, until the quantity, quality, or value is ascertained.1

These regulations as to the report of the master, and the entry of the merchandise are to be complied with before the vessel is unloaded. After the collector and naval officer have made a gross estimate of the duties on the merchandise named in the entry, and these duties are either paid or secured to be paid, the collector grants a permit to unlade, which is countersigned by the naval officer if there be one at. the port. The permit contains a particular description of the merchandise to be landed, the names of the master and the vessel, and the place whence imported. The unlading takes place in open day, between sunrise and sunset, under the supervision of the inspector, who is placed on board at the arrival of the vessel, and remains until the cargo is discharged, unless he obtains permission of the surveyor or other officer to absent himself, when his place is supplied. It is the duty of the inspector to inform the master as to the duties he is to perform. He is to allow no merchandise to be unladen without a permit, and is to keep a record in a book of all the permits granted, and a particular description of the goods unladen pursuant to the permit. In the case of wines and distilled spirits, the permit must be first produced to the inspector and marked with the word "inspected," the time when, and his own name, before it is lawful to unload there, and when unloaded they are to be inspected, gauged, and marked. The regulation as to permits applies as well to goods whose importation is prohibited as others. After the goods are landed on the wharf, they are not to be removed, if they are required to be weighed, gauged, or measured, without the consent of the proper officer. The inspector and the weighers and gaugers are required to make a return to the collector of all the deliveries made from the vessel. These returns are examined by the naval officer, and if they correspond with the manifests and entries in his possession, it is to be indorsed on the returns, or in like manner if there is a difference, the particulars of the difference are to be noted. The collector is to examine the returns in the same manner.

Oath of Importer, and Invoice.-The oath is prescribed for the consignee, the owner and the manufacturer. The form of the oath is varied according as the goods have been purchased by the owner,

R. S. U. S. §

2787, 2788, 2789.

3 R. S. U. S. § 2872, 2875, 2876, 2877. Harford v. United States, 8 Cranch, 109. R. S. U. S. §§ 2889, 2890.

2 R. S. U. S. §§ 2869, 2870.

4 R. S. U. S. §§ 2883, 2884, 2885.

R. S. U. S. § 2882.

or when they have not been purchased, but the manufacturer himself puts his goods in the market. The purchaser makes oath that the invoice contains the actual cost of the merchandise, including charges, while the oath of the owner where the goods are not purchased, is that the invoice contains a faithful and just valuation of the merchandise, at its fair market value, including charges at the time and place when and where procured.1

The invoice is made out in the weights and measures, and appraised in the currency of the place or country of importation. It is made out in triplicate, produced to the consul or commercial agent of the United States nearest the place of shipment, with a declaration indorsed of the actual cost if purchased, or if not purchased, of the actual market value of the merchandise at the time and place where the same was procured or manufactured, and if purchased, that the currency stated in the invoice, is the currency actually paid by the purchaser. The person producing the invoice is to state the port at which it is intended to make entry of the merchandise in the United States. The consul is to indorse upon each invoice, a certificate, stating that the invoice has been produced to him, the date of the production, the name of the person who produced it, and the port at which the merchandise is intended to be entered. One of these invoices with the indorsement is delivered to the person producing the invoice, one is transmitted to the collector of the port to which the goods are destined, and one is filed in his office.3

$154. The Appraisement.-The regulations which we have noticed, are directed principally to securing the reception of the merchandise imported into the custody of the officers who are to estimate or assess the duties. This duty is performed by the collector and naval officer, who are in reality the assessors. When the tax is a specific one, the duty to be performed is very simple, but most of external taxes are imposed on the value of the goods, and it often requires time, labor and skill to ascertain this value. Originally, under the act of 1799, the first comprehensive act on the subject, the duties or taxes were imposed on the value stated in the invoice. Under § 66 of that act, the collector was authorized, when he suspected that any merchandise was not invoiced at a sum equal to that for which it had been usually sold in the place or country from whence it was imported, to take possession of the goods and appoint two appraisers to

1 R. S. U. S. § 2841.

2 R. S. U. S. §§ 2837, 2338.

3 R. S. U. S. §§ 2854, 2855, 2899. The latter section allows delivery before appraisement on the execution of a penal bond. 21 Int. Rev. R. 18, 19; Treasury Circular, No. 1977.

ascertain their value at the time and place of importation. This appraisement was only directed in cases where fraud was suspected, and it was not until 1823 that the appraisement was required in all cases.' Now, for certain designated ports, appraisers are appointed as officers of the customs, and at other ports merchants are selected, and there are also officers known as general appraisers, who under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, visit different ports and assist in the appraisement, with a view to produce uniformity in the collection of the revenue, so that the appraisement which at first was only an incident in the collection of the customs in case of damaged and shipwrecked goods, or cases of suspected fraud, is now a permanent and important portion in the system, and no goods are delivered from the custody of the customs officers without inspection and appraisal, except where a bond is given under § 2809, to deliver in ten days after the packages sent to the store are appraised.

The appraisers are to ascertain, estimate and appraise the true and actual market value and wholesale price of the merchandise at the time of exportation, in the principal markets of the country whence the same has been imported. They must make an actual examination, and an examination of samples taken several weeks before is not sufficient. All the goods, however, are not examined. The collector designates on the invoice one package at least of every invoice, and one package of every ten packages of merchandise, which are taken to the public stores for examination. These packages are opened and examined by the appraisers, and if deemed proper either by the collector or appraisers, a greater number of packages may be examined. The power of the appraisers does not end when their report is returned to the collector. If it is questioned, it may be reconsidered, and the importer required to produce his correspondence. They are to use all reasonable ways and means in their power, is the language of the statute, to ascertain the value of the goods.

8

What value is to be ascertained by the appraisers? This question will be best answered by looking to the various acts on the subject, and noting the changes that have been made from time to time. Prior to 1818, and under that act, the duties were laid on the actual cost of the goods to the importer, and when the collector suspected that the invoice was fraudulent under that act, he directed an ap

1 Gordon's Digest Revenue Laws, p. 94, Appendix; act of 1799, § 66.

2 Greeley v. Thompson, 10 How. 225.

4 R. S. U. S. § 2902.

6 R. S. U. S. § 2901.

R. S. U. S. § 2902.

3 R. S. U. S. ch. I, tit. 34, § 2608, 2609.

Greeley's Adm'r v. Burgess, 18 How. 413.

Bartlett v. Kane, 16 How. 263.