and verifying merchandise and the accounts of collectors, 71 formerly operated in the larger cities only.72 January 1, 1923, comptrollers were given jurisdiction over all districts in the country.73 The state of North Carolina comes within the jurisdiction of the Comptroller at Baltimore, Md., his district comprising collection districts 13 (Kentucky), 14 (Virginia) 15 (North Carolina), 16 (South Carolina), 17 (Georgia), and 18 (Florida).74 A comptroller is responsible directly to the Secretary of the Treasury, his certification of collectors' accounts being transmitted by the Secretary to the General Accounting Office.

A Division of Laboratories was established April 1, 1936, with headquarters in Washington, D. c.75 All field laboratories, which were formerly under the supervision of the collectors, were placed under the technical and administrative supervision of the Chief of this Division.76

April 12, 1936, North Carolina was assigned to the Customs Laboratory at 103 South Gay Street, Baltimore, Md.,77 to which samples of incoming merchandise are sent for analysis.

The Customs Agency Service, a mobile force charged primarily with the detection and prevention of frauds in customs revenue, is under the direct supervision of the Deputy Commissioner in Charge of Investigations and under the general supervision of the Commissioner.78 Two branches of this service operate in the field, as follows:

The Investigative Unit, supervising all investigations pertaining to the customs, functions in the state of North Carolina through the headquarters office in Baltimore, Md., and the suboffice of the Customs Agent in Charge at Norfolk, Va. Baltimore is the headquarters for Customs Agency District No. 5, comprising, in addition to the state of North Carolina, the states of Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.79

The Enforcement Unit functions in the state through a Patrol Unit stationed at Wilmington, responsible to the District Superintendent of the Southeastern Patrol District at Jacksonville, Fla., whose jurisdiction extends also over the customs districts of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Mobile, Ala., and New Orleans, La. The Patrol Unit at Wilmington, under a Sergeant in Charge, cooperates closely with the Customs Agent in Charge of the substation of the Investigative Unit at Norfolk. The Customs Patrol was transferred from the jurisdiction of the several collectors to the Customs Agency Service by order of the Secretary of the Treasury in 1936.80 The duties of the Customs Patrol Service consist in

71. Customs. Regulations 1937, art. 1334.

72. R.S.T. 1923, p. 441.

73. Tariff Act of 1922, sec. 523, Stat. L., XLII, 974.

74. Customs Regulations 1937, art. 9.

75. T.D. 48228

76. R.S.T. 1936, p. 128.

77. T.D. 48480. Customs Regulations 1937, art. 4.

78. Customs Regulations 1937, art. 1393.

79. T.D. 48659. Approved Nov. 21, 1936.

80. The customs border patrols were transferred August 12, 1936, by T.D. 48481, and set up September 1.

patrolling the seacoast and harbors for the purpose of detecting and
preventing smuggling, including the smuggling of contraband, such as
81
narcotics, and other frauds against the revenue.

A court of special jurisdiction to hear protests against decisions of the collectors as to classification of merchandise and collections of duty, and to sit in reappraisement proceedings upon appeal by an importer to the review of an appraiser's findings as to value, is situated in New This Customs Court was organized in 1926, when by the pro

York City. This Customs Cour82 the Board of General Appraisers became the

visions of the Act of May 28,

United States Customs Court, the members thereof being known as chief justice and associate justices of the United States Customs Court. Individual judges of the Customs Court sit on circuits at specified times during the year and in accordance with their calendar at the various ports of entry. The United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals is the court of appeal from the decisions of the Customs Court.83

Cases of the above type originating with the Collector at Wilmington would, in most instances, be heard by a judge of the Customs Court sitting on circuit at Wilmington.

Since August 1934, the Bureau of Customs has worked in close cooperation with the Coast Guard, the Alcohol Tax Unit, the Bureau of Narcotics, and the Secret Service.

Inactive records of ports of entry are frequently sent to Wilmington where by permission from Washington they are periodically destroyed. It would be advisable, however, to consult the records at Wilmington for possible records of other ports.

81. Customs Regulations 1937, art. 1380. 82. Stat. L., XLIV, 669.

83. Customs Regulations 1937, art. 858. 84. R.S.T. 1937, p. 131.