June 10, 1880.

235. Immediate transportation.

When any merchandise, other than explosive articles, June 11, 1880. and articles in bulk not provided for in section five of this act, imported at the ports of

June 10, 1880.
Sec. 2.

Sec. 3.

Sec. 5.

Feb. 23, 1887.
Sec. 5.

shall appear by the invoice or bill of lading and manifest of the importing vessel to be consigned to and destined for either of the ports specified in the seventh section of this act, the collector at the port of arrival shall allow the said merchandise to be shipped immediately after the entry prescribed in section two of this act has been made.

The collector at the port of first arrival shall retain in his office a permanent record of such merchandise so to be forwarded to the port of destination, and such record shall consist of a copy of the invoice and an entry whereon the duties shall be estimated as closely as possible on the merchandise so shipped, but no oaths shall be required on the said entry. Such merchandise shall not be subject to appraisement and liquidation of duties at the port of first arrival, but shall undergo such examination as the Secretary of the Treasury shall deem necessary to verify the invoice; and the same examination and appraisement thereof shall be required and had at the port of destination as would have been required at the port of first arrival if such merchandise had been entered for consumption or warehouse at such port.

Such merchandise shall be delivered to and transported by common carriers, to be designated for this purpose by the Secretary of the Treasury, and to and by none others; and such carriers shall be responsible to the United States as common carriers for the safe delivery of such merchandise to the collector at the port of its destination; and before any such carriers shall be permitted to receive and transport any such merchandise, they shall become bound to the United States in bonds of such form and amount, and with such conditions, not inconsistent with law, and such security as the Secretary of the Treasury shall require.

Merchandise transported under the provisions of this act shall be conveyed in cars, vessels, or vehicles securely fastened with locks or seals, under the exclusive control of the officers of the customs; and merchandise may also be transported under the provisions of this act by express companies on passenger-trains, in safes, "pouches", and

trunks, which shall be of such size, character, and descrip tion and secured in such manner as shall be from time to time prescribed by the Secretary;

And in cases where merchandise shall be imported in boxes or packages too large to be included within the safes, trunks, or "pouches" as prescribed, such merchandise may be transported under the provisions of this act by such express companies, "corded and sealed", in such manner as shall from time to time be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury;

And "passengers" baggage and effects arriving at any of the ports specified in section one of this act, which shall appear by the manifest of the importing vessel, or other satisfactory evidence, to be destined to any of the ports specified in the seventh section, may also be transported by express companies under the provisions of this act to any of the ports specified in the seventh section thereof, in such manner and under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe;

And merchandise such as pig-iron, spiegle-iron, scrapiron, iron-ore, railroad-iron, and similar articles commonly transported upon platform or flat cars may be transported under the provisions of this act upon such platform or flat cars; and the weight of such merchandise so transported shall be ascertained in all cases before shipment, and ordi nary railroad seals may be used for such purposes; and inspectors shall be stationed at proper points along the designated routes, or upon any car, vessel, vehicle, or train, at the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury, and at the expense of the companies, respectively.

Such merchandise shall not be unladen or transshipped between the ports of first arrival and final destination, unless authorized by the regulations of the Secretary of the Treasury in cases which may arise from a difference in the gauge of railroads, or "where the route is bonded for both land and water carriage", or from accidents, or from legal intervention, or when, by reason of the length of the route, the cars, after due inspection by customs officers, shall be considered unsafe or unsuitable to proceed further, or from low water, ice, or other unavoidable obstruction to navigation; and in no case shall there be permitted any breaking of the original packages of such merchandise.

Section five of the Act approved June tenth, eighteen hun- Feb. 2. 1899. dred and eighty, governing the immediate transportation of dutiable goods without appraisement, be, and the same is hereby, so amended as to allow common carriers bonded under the provisions of said Act, in instances where a sufficient quantity of such merchandise is not offered at the port of first arrival to fill an entire car, or compartment thereof, to forward such merchandise in cars not secured by the prescribed customs fastenings if the packages are corded and sealed, under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury; in all other respects the provisions of the Act referred to to remain in full force.

June 10, 1880.

Sec. 7.

Sec. 9.

July 2, 1884.
Sec. 6.

Feb. 23, 1887.

The privilege of immediate transportation shall extend to the ports of :

Atlanta, Ga.

Albany, N. Y.

Buffalo, N. Y.

Boston, Mass.

Burlington, Vt.

Baltimore, Md.
Bath, Me.

Bangor, Me.
Bridgeport, Conn.
Charleston, S. C.
Chicago, Ill.
Cincinnati, Ohio.
Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Cleveland, Ohio.
Columbus, Ohio.
Detroit, Mich.
Denver, Colo.
Duluth, Minn.
Dubuque, Iowa.

Des Moines, Iowa.
Dunkirk, N. Y.
Evansville, Ind.
Enfield, Conn.
Erie, Pa.

Georgetown, D. C.
Galveston, Tex.
Gladstone, Mich.
Grand Haven, Mich.
Grand Rapids, Mich.

Hartford, Conn.
Indianapolis, Ind.
Jacksonville, Fla.
Kansas City, Mo.
Key West, Fla.
Knoxville, Tenn.
Louisville, Ky.
Lincoln, Nebr.
Los Angeles, Cal.
Marquette, Mich.
Middletown, Conn.
Minneapolis, Minn.
Milwaukee, Wis.
Memphis, Tenn.
Mobile, Ala.
Nashville, Tenn.
Newark, N. J.
Newport News, Va.
New York, N. Y.
New Haven, Conn.
Norfolk, Va.
New Orleans, La.
Omaha, Nebr.
Ogdensburg, N. Y.
Providence, R. 1.
Philadelphia, Pa.

Pittsburg, Pa.

Portland, Me.

Portsmouth, N. H.

Port Huron, Mich.
Portland, Oreg

Port Townsend, Wash.
Richmond, Va.
Rochester, N. Y.
Sandusky, Ohio.
Sioux City, Iowa.
San Antonio, Tex.
Springfield, Mass.
Savannah, Ga
Santa Barbara, Cal.
St. Augustine, Fla.
St. Louis, Mo.
St. Joseph, Mo.

St. Paul, Minn.

San Francisco, Cal.

San Diego, Cal.

Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.
Seattle, Wash.
Syracuse, N. Y.
Tampa, Fla.
Tacoma, Wash.
Titusville, Pa.
Toledo, Ohio.
Vanceboro, Me.
Wilmington, Del.
Wilmington, N. C.

Provided, That the privilege of transportation herein conferred shall not extend to any place at which there are not the necessary officers for the appraisement of merchandise and the collection of duties.

No merchandise shall be shipped under the provisions of this act after such merchandise shall have been landed ten days from the importing vessel, and merchandise not entered within such time shall be sent to a bonded warehouse by the collector as unclaimed, and held until regularly entered and appraised.

Merchandise so destined for immediate transportation shall be transferred, under proper supervision, directly from the importing vessel to the car, vessel, or vehicle specified in the entry.

The provisions of the act entitled, " An act to amend the statutes in relation to the immediate transportation of duti able goods, and for other purposes,” approved June tenth eighteen hundred and eighty, be, and the same are hereby, so amended as to allow merchandise liable to specific rates of duty only to be entered for immediate transportation without appraisement to any of the ports mentioned in the seventh section of said act, although the same may not appear by the invoice, bill of lading, or manifest of the importing vessel to be consigned to or destined for either of said ports, when the consignee at the port of first arrival shall make written application therefor to the collector, giving the name of the person at the port or destination to whom he desires the merchandise to be consigned; and

whenever such application and entry shall be made, the original invoice presented by the consignee at the port of first arrival shall be forwarded, with a copy of the transportation entry, to the collector at the port of destination; and a copy of such invoice shall be retained on file at the port of first arrival.

The original invoice so forwarded shall be treated as the only invoice of the merchandise upon which entry shall be made at the port of destination, and the person making such entry shall be held responsible for the statements contained therein in the same manner as if the merchandise had been originally consigned to him: Provided, however, That the privileges herein conferred shall not extend to any merchandise the duties upon which, or any portion thereof, depend upon the value of such merchandise: And provided further, That such privilege shall be granted only in cases where no part of the merchandise shall have been landed prior to entry for immediate transportation as aforesaid.

236. Salvage of merchandise.

All merchandise imported into the United States shall, for the purpose of this title [R. S., 2517-3129] be deemed and held to be the property of the person to whom the merchandise may be consigned; but the holder of any bill of lading consigned to order and endorsed by the consignor shall be deemed the consignee thereof.

And in case of the abandonment of any merchandise to the underwriters, the latter may be recognized as the consignee, and under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe, merchandise saved from a vessel wrecked or abandoned at sea, or on or along the coasts of the United States and promptly brought into a port of the United States by or in possession of the salvors of the same, can, for the purpose of its title, be regarded as the property of such salvors, and the valuation thereof and payment of duties thereon can be made accordingly and with due reference to the condition of said merchandise as thus saved and the necessities of the case:

Provided, however, That such bringing in by salvors shall be in good faith and without intent to evade the just payment of duty:

And provided further, That nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to prejudice in any other respect the rights of property, or of or through abandonment or allowance of the owner or any other person interested in said merchandise.

237. Bond of firm or partnership.

When any bond is required by law to be executed by any firm or partnership for the payment of duties upon goods, wares or merchandise, imported into the United States by such firm or partnership, the execution of such bond by any member of such firm or partnership, in the name of said firm or partnership, shall bind the other members or part

R.S., 3058.
Feb. 23, 1887.

June 20, 1376.

Mar. 3, 1875.

Sec. 2.

Sec. 3.

ners thereof, in like manner and to the same extent, as if such other members or partners had personally executed the same. And any action or suit may be instituted on such bond against all the members or partners of such firm, as if all of the members or partners had executed the same.

238. Refund of customs duties.

No moneys collected as duties on imports, in accordance with any decision, ruling, or direction previously made or given by the Secretary of the Treasury, shall, except as hereinafter provided, be refunded or repaid, unless in accord ance with the judgment of a circuit or district court of the United States giving construction to the law, and from which the Attorney General shall certify that no appeal or writ of error will be taken by the United States; or unless in pursuance of a special appropriation for the particular refund or repayment to be made:

Provided, That whenever the Secretary shall be of opinion that such duties have been assessed and collected under an erroneous view of the facts in the case, he may authorize a re-examination and reliquidation in such case, and make such refund in accordance with existing laws as the facts so ascertained shall, in his opinion, justify; but no such reliquidation shall be allowed unless protest and appeal shall have been made as required by law:

Provided further, That the restrictive provisions of this act shall not apply to such personal and household effects and other articles, not merchandise, as are by law exempt from duty:

And provided also, That this act shall not affect the refund to excess of deposits based on estimated duties nor prevent the correction of errors in liquidation, whether for or against the Government, arising solely upon errors of fact discov ered within one year from the date of payment, and, when in favor of the Government, brought to the notice of the collector within ten days from the date of discovery.

No ruling or decision once made by the Secretary of the Treasury, giving construction to any law imposing customs duties, shall be reversed or modified adversely to the United States, by the same or a succeeding Secretary, except in concurrence with an opinion of the Attorney-General recommending the same, or a judicial decision of a circuit or district court of the United States conflicting with such ruling or decision, and from which the Attorney-General shall certify that no appeal or writ of error will be taken by the United States:

Provided, That the Secretary of the Treasury may in his discretion, decline to acquiesce in the judgment, decision, or ruling of an inferior court upon any question affecting the interests of the United states, when, in his opinion, such interests require a final adjudication of such question by the court of last resort.

The Secretary of the Treasury shall have power to make such regulations, not inconsistent with law, as may be necessary to carry this act into effect.