ascertained that the money owing to the exchequer on the goods has been paid, will authorize their delivery by inditing a note to that effect at the foot of the lists of packages which were used by the warehouse guard for the removel of the goods, and said guard will turn the list over to the fiscal employee encharged with the custody of the goods. The fiscal employee will make out a receipt on the same lists and will accompany the goods until they are put on board the ship or train on which they are to be transported out of the country; but if the reexportation takes place through another custom-house, the removal of the goods to the train which is to convey them will be effected with the formalities prescribed by article 415 in so far as they are applicable.

In this case one of the lists of packages will be made use of by the fiscal employee for the custody of the goods, and when the latter have been put on board the train and the box car or compartment containing them has been secured with fiscal padlocks, the employee will make a note on the list of the number of the box car, the number of the fiscal padlocks, the combination number marked by the latter on closing, also stating whether the packages are bound round and sealed, and the employee will then return the list to the warehouse guard, while immediately reporting the aforesaid data to the customhouse.

ART. 430. The forwarding custom-house will send by mail in a registered package to the custom-house of the point through which the goods are to leave the country, a copy of the petition for reexportation adjusted and annotated, with all necessary data, as well as a copy of the list of packages and the bill of lading which the carrier company may have extended to the first-named custom-house to the consignment of the second.

In case the custom-house, considering it expedient, should send a fiscal employee to have charge of the goods during their transportation to the point of departure, said employee will take with him in a closed packet the aforementioned documents, with the exception of the list of packages, which he will take in an open packet, in order to be able to make use of it, if necessary, during the trip.

ART. 431. Upon the arrival of the goods at the custom-house of departure, if the box cars and fiscal padlocks are found to be in good condition, the marks and serial numbers of the packages will be revised, and if they are found to be all right the packages will be shipped under the supervision of the customhouse guards; but if the train or ship by which they are to be taken out of the country is not ready to be loaded the goods will remain in the sealed box cars until the shipment can take place; only if the packages are bound round and sealed can they be deposited in the custom-house.

The custom-house receiving the goods will notify the forwarding customhouse of the arrival and shipment of the goods; also returning to it the copy of the petition of reexportation with the annotation "Cumplido" and other pertinent data.

ART. 432. If, from the examination made, it shall appear that the packages have been tampered with, the steps laid down by Chapter XIII of these ordinances will be taken, and if the examination reveals differences in the kind or quantity of goods, said goods will be subject to the provisions of article 413, and the carrier company will be liable according to the facts.

ART. 433. When the reexportation of goods sent to a custom-house for that purpose is not effected within thirty days following the expiration of the period of one year, fixed as the minimum duration of the fiscal deposit, and the department of finance has not extended that period, the permit will be annulled and the steps taken in article 397 will be taken.

ART. 434. If the reexportation of goods in fiscal deposit is to take place through a point other than that where they have been warehoused, and the consignee finds it impossible to designate in his application the train or ship by which they are to leave the country, the interested party will be allowed, after the arrival of the goods at the point of departure, there to present his request for permission to ship, with the understanding that, if after the lapse of a fortnight from the arrival of the goods they shall not have been shipped for purposes of reexportation, they will begin to be subject to the storage due provided by article 153, until they are shipped or until the period marked by article 433 shall have run.

ART. 435. When, for the transportation of goods in fiscal deposit, it proves necessary to utilize various lines belonging to different companies, the company to which the goods are delivered will be the one to assume the responsibility provided by law for the entire route. If the transportation of the goods under

these circumstances necessarily requires their transshipment, the carrier company will make a statement to that effect, in order that the packages may be tied up and sealed, if they are susceptible to that process, and that they may be watched during the route by a fiscal employee, who will supervise the transshipment and remove the fiscal padlocks.

REMOVAL OF GOODS IN FISCAL DEPOSIT FROM ONE WAREHOUSE TO ANOTHER.

ART. 436. For the removal of goods from one bonded warehouse to another, the permission of the department of finance will previously be obtained, and when it has been secured the form of procedure will be the same as for the transportation of goods destined for reexportation.

ART. 437. The request to be presented to the cusmom-house for permission to effect the removal will be drawn up in the form indicated by model No. 51 and in quadruplicate. The stamp called for by the stamp law will be attached to the original copy, and on it also will be inscribed notes signed by the representative of the warehouse from which the goods are being taken and by the representative of the warehouse which is to receive them, to the effect that they are agreeable to the removal, as well as a statement on behalf of the carrier company expressing its willingness to take charge of their transportation.

ART. 438. The custom-house will enter on the four copies of the request the assessment of duties and other fiscal charges due on the goods, and, moreover, will write down on them the date of their entry into the first bonded warehouse. One of the copies will be used by the custom-house to fill in the note on the original request as to the departure of the goods, and the three other copies, including the stamped copy, will be forwarded to the custom-house of the place where is situated the bonded warehouse to which the goods are being removed. ART. 439. If, for any reason, the transfer of the goods, after their departure from the general bonded warehouses, is not consummated, and the interested party is unwilling to destine them for consumption, the custom-house will return them to said warehouses, which must admit them anew, unless the representative of the concessionaire company, in expressing himself as agreeable to the removal also expressed his resolve not to receive them again in deposit. When a decision of this nature has been placed on record the custom-house will not permit the removal of the goods unless the interested party or the carrier company guarantee by means of a bond the amount of fiscal charges due on the goods. The bond will become effective if the transfer of the goods to the warehouse where they are to continue in deposit is not effected, and when the charges in question have once been paid the goods will be considered as having been removed for consumption, and will be delivered to the interested party.

ART. 440. Goods that are to be placed on exhibition as samples in general bonded warehouses will be covered by an invoice such as is provided by article 51 of these ordinances, the destination in question being set forth in said invoice. The warehousing petition will be adjusted to the form set forth in article 406, and will be presented apart from the petitions in regard to any other kinds of merchandise.

The inspection, assignment of duties, and classification of samples will be effected by the inspector who may be designated by the custom-house collector, in accordance with the procedure followed in regard to the collections of samples brought with them by commercial travelers. Their transportation to the warehouses in which they are to be exhibited in deposit will be effected with the formalities prescribed for the conveyance of goods in fiscal deposit, and the provisions of these ordinances relative to warehousing will be applicable to them in all operations of which they may be the object, such as removal for consumption, reexportation, and transfer to other warehouses.

ART. 441. As a prerequisite for the removal of samples in fiscal deposit, they will be repacked in the presence of the fiscal warehouse guard.

If it is desired to remove all the samples included in a warehousing request, the warehouse guard will take care that, in repacking them, the packages shall be put up in the same arrangement, as to separation of package from package, as that in which they entered the warehouses, so that their revision may be facilitated.

All samples of goods in fiscal deposit will, on being removed from the warehouses, necessarily undergo revision on the part of the custom-house.

ART. 442. When the department of finance sees fit, it may extend the periods of time fixed for all operations to which goods in fiscal deposit are subject.

CENTRAL AMERICA.

BRITISH HONDURAS.

BELIZE.

(From United States Consul Avery, Belize, British Honduras.)

The only warehouse for goods in bond or transit in this colony is the government warehouse in Belize. It is a frame building with roof and sides of corrugated iron (galvanized), and was erected at a cost of about $5,000. There is no upper story and the surface area is 1,454 square yards. It is under the charge of an official known as the keeper of the King's bonded warehouse, who is subject to the collector of customs, and the service and charges are very satisfactory. The tariff per month, or part thereof, is as follows:

Goods may remain in storage for three years, and then be entered again for two years more, but if unclaimed at the expiration of the first-named period they are forfeited and sold. No distinction is made as to origin of goods, all nationalities being treated alike.

The cost of removal from landing wharf to warehouse is a lien against the goods. This charge in Belize is 10 cents a one-mule cartload.

The warehouse is well provided with light and ventilation, and I have never head complaint of loss caused by neglect or carelessness on the part of the management.

The principal revenue is derived from storage of wines and liquors, this class of imports taking up most of the floor space. Heavy groceries come next in revenue and bulk.

BELIZE, BRITISH HONDURAS, June 15, 1994.

W. L. AVERY, Consul.

COSTA RICA.

SAN JOSÉ.

(From United States Consul Caldwell, San José, Costa Rica.)

There are no bonded warehouses in this consular district. Goods entered at the custom-house at Puntarenas may remain four months. After one month goods subject to duty must pay a storage charge of 0.60 colon ($0.28 United States currency) per 100 kilograms (220.46

pounds) per month. Heavy goods, such as iron, hardware, machinery, etc., if over half a ton, pay storage after one month of 0.20 colon ($0.093 United States currency) per 100 kilograms per month. Explosives, after forty-eight hours, pay 0.10 colon ($0.0465 United States currency) per kilogram per day. Goods not subject to duty pay, after eight days, 0.10 colon per 46 kilograms per day. Goods may be reshipped at any time within four months, a shipping charge of 1.20 colons ($0.558 United States currency) being collected on each 100 kilograms.

The expense of handling these stored goods is not given separately, but is included in the general expense of maintaining the customhouse. During the financial year closed March 31 last there was collected for storage at Puntarenas 677.62 colons ($315.09 United States currency), and for reshipment only 466.59 colons ($216.96 United States currency).

All nationalities are treated alike in regard to the storing and reshipping of goods, and I am not aware of any complaint in regard to the service.

JOHN C. CALDWELL, Consul.

SAN JOSÉ, COSTA RICA, August 15, 1904.

GUATEMALA.

GUATEMALA CITY.

(From United States Vice and Deputy Consul-General Owen, Guatemala City, Guatemala.) There are no warehouses for the storage of merchandise in transit or in bond at any of the ports of this country. Goods may, however, be stored in custom-houses for transshipment. The custom-houses are owned and operated by the Government.

Shipment for reembarkation will always be attended with great difficulty, because suspicion is at once aroused that an effort is being made to avoid payment of customs duties. All merchandise is received and weighed at door of custom-house immediately upon being landed ex ship. Delivery is also made at custom-house door. Permission to reembark must be solicited in writing, giving marks, numbers, contents, and weight in kilos of each package.

The charges are, first month, storage free; thereafter a charge of 2 cents per day for each 100 kilograms (220.46 pounds) or fraction thereof. The basis for all customs charges is Guatemala currency, worth now about 63 cents on the dollar, but 30 per cent is payable in United States gold.

:

The privilege of shipping goods in transit is rarely if ever used. About all goods reembarked have been erroneous shipments or the like. There is no record of shipment in transit from the United States except for reasons mentioned above. All nations receive like treatment. Goods may remain in the custom-house so long as storage charges are regularly paid.

The Port Agency Company takes charge of goods at the ship's side and delivers them to the custom-house. Launches, for the most part large open boats, are used to disembark from ship to pier. Cost of unloading and pierage at Pacific ports is about an equivalent to 20 cents gold per 100 pounds. On the Atlantic coast charges are

lower, being at Livingston equivalent to 15 cents gold per 100 pounds, and at Puerto Barrios, 10 cents gold per 100 pounds. At Puerto Barrios there is a pier.

Goods are under the vigilance of customs officers from alongside of the ship until they are returned thereto. Robbery, however, is frequent. WILLIAM OWEN,

Vice and Deputy Consul-General.

GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA, August 8, 1904.

NICARAGUA.

MANAGUA.

(From United States Vice-Consul Wallace, Managua, Nicaragua.)

The warehouse at this place is not a regular bonded warehouse, but in exceptional cases it renders services as such a warehouse. It is owned by the Government and is about 900 feet long by 36 feet wide. All kinds of goods may be stored there. The charges are 2 centavos (0.86 cent) per 100 kilograms (220.46 pounds) for the first two months; for the third month, 3 centavos (1.29 cents); for the fourth month and for subsequent months, 6 centavos (2.58 cents). The receipts and expenditures are not known. Goods remain in storage for a short time only, being generally removed within two months. Americans use the warehouses to a very small extent. No distinctions are made on account of nationality.

Corinto is well situated, and the facilities for discharge from steamer are good. The warehouse stands on the water's edge, and to it goods are conveyed from ship by lighters at a charge of about $1.20 gold per ton.

ARTHUR O. WALLACE, Vice-Consul.

MANAGUA, NICARAGUA, July 15, 1904.

WEST INDIES.

CUBA.

HABANA.

(From United States Vice and Deputy Consul-General Springer, Habana, Cuba.)

The two principal warehouses of this port are those known as Almacenes de Depósito de San José and Almacenes de Regla. The San José warehouse covers a surface of 16,848 square feet and has a capacity of 28,000 barrels, which can be increased if required. These warehouses are also known as "No. 6." They are insured at a valuation of $400,000, but their estimated value is nearly $3,000,000. The Regla warehouses cover a surface of 20,936 square meters (23,440 square yards). The part used for storage measures about 117 meters (384 feet) long by 27 meters (89 feet) in width. The original cost is not stated.