CHAPTER II.-Government bonded warehouse.

ART. X. A warrant will be issued against the deposit of goods in the Government bonded warehouse.

ART. XI. The warrant referred to in the preceding article may be transferable by indorsement.

ART. XII. In the event of the loss of a warrant a notice must be given to the proper authority. A fresh document will be issued after the last warrant has been declared null and void by the court, upon the application of the owner, according to the procedure of civil law.

ART. XIII. If anyone brings the warrant for which the notice of loss has been given according to the preceding article, the authorities, pending the determination of the legal ownership thereof between the bearer and the former possessor who gave notice of its loss, shall stop delivery of the goods in question.

ART. XIV. No delivery of goods shall take place without the production of the warrant.

ART. XV. In the event of disputes respecting the right of ownership of the goods, the delay of storage of the same for a further period may be granted upon application.

ART. XVI. If the goods should not be cleared within the period of one year or within such extension of it especially granted by the authorities, the latter will give notice by advertisement that such goods are unclaimed, stating their nature, quantity, number, and marks. If from the date of this notice no claim be made within six months, the authorities will proceed to the sale of the goods by public auction. All duties, charges due upon the goods, together with the expenses of the sale and notification of the same, will be paid out of the proceeds, and balance, if any, will be refunded to the party or parties to whom the goods belong.

ART. XVII. In the event of any article placed in the bonded warehouses becoming putrid or otherwise offensive, notice will be given by the authorities to the owner ordering the removal of the same within a certain period. If within the period of such notice the same be not taken away, the authorities will order to destroy the same. In case of urgent necessity, the latter may do so before the expiration of the term stated in the notice. For the goods destroyed no customs duties will be levied.

CHAPTER III.—Private bonded warehouse.

ART. XVIII. The Government may authorize bonded warehouse by private undertaking.

ART. XIX. Specially authorized private bonded warehouses are under the supervision of the authorities.

ART. XX. The proprietors of private bonded warehouses shall have to guarantee the payment of customs duties on the goods stored therein; they are responsible for safe custody of the same, and also for the loss or damages of the goods either through convulsion of the elements or any other causes.

ART. XXI. They shall also deposit with the authorities a sum of money or Government bonds, the amount of which will be determined by the Government, as a guarantee for the payment of customs duties.

ART. XXII. No goods belonging to its proprietor can be stored in a private bonded warehouse.

ART. XXIII. The goods stored in private bonded warehouses are not allowed to remain therein for a longer term than one year. If they should not be cleared within that period the authorities will order to pay customs duties. ART. XXIV. Internal regulations of private bonded warehouses, as well as scale of warehouse charges, must receive previous approval of the authorities. ART. XXV. At any time and place the Government officers may inspect goods in custody of private bonded warehouses, and examine books and documents relating to their transactions. The goods in transit shall also be subject to this rule.

ART. XXVI. The special authorization for keeping a private bonded warehouse shall come to an end in one of the following cases:

1. When a private bonded warehouse will cease to exist.

2. At the death of its proprietor.

3. When the proprietor or company shall be declared bankrupt.

4. At the expiration of the term of the special authorization.

5. When the special authorization will be withdrawn by the Government.

ART. XXVII. When in either of the above cases private bonded warehouses come to an end the authorities will give public notice to the owners of the goods in bond, the latter shall then be required to take delivery of the goods within certain period determined by the authorities, unless and provided that there be a successor who desires to take over the business of the said private bonded warehouse within a month. If the goods should not be cleared within such a time as notified by the authorities, they will be removed by the authorities at the expense of owners either to the Government bonded warehouse or to another private bonded warehouses.

ART. XXVIII. The proprietor of private bonded warehouse for which the license has expired shall still be liable to any consequences until the goods shall be cleared.

ART. XXIX. In the case stated in Article XXVII, owners of goods which have been removed by the authorities to any other bonded warehouse shall be required to observe all the rules and regulations relating thereto.

ART. XXX. The authorization to keep private bonded warehouses (shall be withdrawn by the authorities in one of the following cases:

1. When a private bonded warehouse infringes laws, regulations, and special instructions relating thereto.

2. When there exists doubt as to the solidity of proprietors security of paying customs duties.

3. When he is convicted of a crime.

CHAPTER IV.-Penalties.

ART. XXXI. No bonded goods can be removed from the warehouse without the permission of the authorities; in case of infringement of this article, the goods will be confiscated to the Government. In the event of the goods being already transferred or consumed, the offender shall be liable to a fine equal to the value of the goods.

ART. XXXII. In case of infringement of Article IV of the present law, the offender shall be liable to the same penalty. No goods can be deposited into a bonded warehouse without permission of the authorities; the offender shall be liable to a fine of not less than 3 [$1.49] and not exceeding 30 yen [$14.94]. ART. XXXIII. In case of enforcing the scale of warehousing charges and the regulations relating to safe custody of goods without the previous approval of the authorities, the offender shall be liable to a fine of not less than 5 [$2.49] and not exceeding 50 yen [$24.90].

ART. XXXIV. In case of infringement of Article XXII, the offender shall be liable to the same penalty. Any one who refuses, obstructs, or attempts to avoid the examination of the goods, books, or documents relating to the goods bonded in a private warehouse, by the officers authorized to do so, according to Article XXV, shall be liable to a fine of not less than 2 yen [99.6 cents] and not exceeding 20 yen [$9.96]. If such offense be punishable by the criminal code, the case shall be dealt with accordingly.

NAGASAKI.

(From United States Consul Harris, Nagasaki, Japan.)

There are at the port of Nagasaki bonded and temporary warehouses from which goods may be withdrawn for shipment without the payment of customs duty. The area of the bonded warehouses is 9,030 square feet and the cost of construction $6,653. The area of the temporary warehouses is 20,616 square feet, and their cost $20,941. The warehouses were built and are owned and conducted by the Japanese Government. There are no private bonded warehouses at present in this port.

From a patron's view, the service has been good; in fact, all that can reasonably be desired. As to the services rendered by the administration, I refer to the "Guide Book of Customs Temporary

and Bonded Warehouses, Nagasaki," herewith transmitted." For scale of charges for storage, I refer to pages 14 to 34, inclusive, in the same inclosure.

The receipts from service for the four years last past were as follows:

I am unable to report the cost of operating the warehouses, as such expenses, I am informed, are included in the current expenses of the customs service. The classes of goods chiefly stored in the bonded warehouses are flour, comestibles, spirituous liquors, shirtings, iron nails, rod steel, etc., and in the temporary warehouses rice, Italian millet, nails, rod steel, sheet and plate iron, galvanized iron, spirituous liquors, marine products, etc. I am informed that the average length of time goods remain in bonded warehouses is five months, and in temporary warehouses two months. I am unable to state to what extent Americans make use of the warehouses without a minute inspection of the custom-house records, but it is a fact that they patronize them quite freely.

All nationalities are treated exactly alike. No complaints of discrimination on account of nationality have come to my notice, and I believe there has been none.

Transfer of cargo between ship and landing is by lighter, the shifting of heavy and bulky cargo from lighter to landing is by crane, and goods are conveyed from the landing to the warehouses by coolies, or in carts or jinrikishas pulled by coolies. For cost of landing and shipping I refer to the detailed statements herewith inclosed."

The warehouses under consideration are mostly in the customs yard and a short distance from the landing place. Every precaution possible is taken by the customs officials that cargo be handled carefully and with dispatch. Damages to packing in landing are minutely investigated, and those causing the damage are punished either by reprimand, fine, or discharge. No person is admitted to the customs warehouses or to the yards in which the warehouses are located unless accompanied by a customs official.

CHARLES B. HARRIS, Consul.

NAGASAKI, JAPAN, September 15, 1904

FORMOSA.

(From United States Consul Fisher, Tamsui, Formosa.)

In order that foreign goods arriving at any of the ports in this consular district may be transshipped to a foreign port without the

a On file in the Bureau of Statistics, Department of Commerce and Labor.

payment of import duty, they must be so declared at the time of their arrival. Goods once declared for importation can not be transshipped to a foreign port without the payment of duty, and no rebate is allowed on reexported goods on which duty has been paid.

The customs regulations provide that at ports where there are no customs warehouses, if goods for importation or exportation are not removed within seventy-two hours after their arrival at the customs sheds, the customs authorities may arrange for their storage in private warehouses at the risk and expense of the parties concerned. Under this provision arrangements have been made with Messrs. Samuel Samuel & Co. for such storage in their warehouses at the ports of Tamsui and Kilung. This company has four brick warehouses at the first-named port, in which can be stored about 2,000 tons of cargo at one time. When goods are placed in these warehouses by the customs authorities they take possession of the keys. At these ports the cost of removing goods from ship to warehouses, and vice versa, varies with different classes of goods from 35 cents for ordinary goods to $1.20 United States currency per ton for machinery and heavy pieces. The bar at the mouth of the Tamsui River will not permit vessels of deeper draft than 13 feet to enter the harbor. There are limited pier accommodations at that port. At Kilung a temporary pier has been constructed for the accommodation of vessels of not more than 4,000 gross tons. When these piers are used the cost of removal is reduced to from 10 to 40 cents United States currency per ton.

At the port of Anping, in addition to their sheds, the customs have two storing rooms with a capacity of 675 tons each. As the anchorage at that port is about 2 miles from the shore the cost of removing goods from ship to storing room, and vice versa, is increased to from 66 cents to $1.75 United States currency per ton.

There is one customs storing room at the port of Takao with a capacity of 450 tons. The anchorage is about 1 mile from shore and the cost of removal is from 55 cents to $1.50 United States currency per ton.

At all the ports goods are removed by lighters and cooly labor. The charge per day for storage, whether in the customs rooms or in private warehouses, is computed on the following scale in United States currency: Packed goods, 11 cents per cubic foot; unpacked goods, 13 cents per cubic foot or 133 pounds; explosives, 23 cents per cubic foot or 133 pounds; precious goods, 0.001 ad valorem.

All nations are treated exactly alike in the storage of goods by the customs authorities. Americans do not make use of these storage facilities to any great extent.

TAMSUI, FORMOSA, August 22, 1904.

JAVA.

FRED D. FISHER, Consul.

(From United States Consul Rairden, Batavia, Java.)

The Government warehouses at Tandjong Priok (Batavia new harbor) are from 400 to 600 feet long and about 60 feet broad. These warehouses extend the entire length of the quay-about 3,000 feet.

The warehouses face the quay, and at the back are the Government railway lines. Both at the front and at the back are uninclosed sheds, roofed with zinc, to protect the goods which are being removed from the warehouses. These warehouses are built entirely of zinc, with steel framework, and are on high cement foundations. As they are Government buildings, I am unable to ascertain their original cost. They are owned and conducted entirely by the Netherlands Indian Government.

The service is complete and satisfactory to the patrons. The warehouses are in charge of European storekeepers, who render every assistance to owners of goods. They are open from 7 in the morning until 5 in the afternoon, during which time goods can be removed

or stored.

Scale of charges per cubic meter (35.314 cubic feet) for storage is as follows for goods in transit or in bond:

For hazardous goods, 2 cents per day; for petroleum (the importers of petroleum have their own petroleum warehouses and seldom make use of the Government stores), 1 cents per day; for gambier. hides, indigo, coffee, sugar, tobacco, and tea, 15 cents per day; for all other goods, 1 cents per day. Days of storing and removing goods both count as full days.

As the stores belong to the Government, I am unable to give the receipts and expenditures on account of the service, but I am informed that the receipts are but little more than the expenditures.

General merchandise and produce are stored, the latter being stored from coastwise steamers awaiting shipment. As there is only one American import firm here, the Standard Oil Company, and as its goods are stored in its own petroleum stores, it may be said that Americans do not make use of the Government stores at all. There is no distinction made as to nationality, and all receive fair treatment alike.

When goods are landed, the owners may leave them in the Government stores for eight days, after which time duty must be paid and goods removed by owners, or the goods must be placed in bonded stores. When owners of goods can not be found, and the eight days have expired, the unclaimed goods are placed in the bonded stores, and after one year has expired without the goods being claimed they are advertised one month in the Government Gazette and then sold at public auction, the proceeds of the sale going toward paying store rent. Owners of bonded goods may keep their goods in the Government stores for an indefinite period, provided there is sufficient room and the store rent is paid regularly.

There is every facility for removing goods from boats to the warehouses, and vice versa. Cooly labor, costing 20 cents per day, is employed for loading and unloading steamers, which lie some 50 feet in front of the warehouses, and for loading and unloading the railway trucks which are drawn up at the back of the warehouses. Steam cranes, belonging to the Government (harbor department) are also used for loading and unloading vessels at the quay, at a cost of $14 per day (7 a. m. till 5 p. m.).

The Government warehouses are in charge of the customs officials, and in addition to the European storekeeper there are also one or more custom-house officers on duty every day to report the amount. of goods taken into or removed from the warehouses. This report