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[CIRCULAR NO. 49-NEW SERIES.]

To Collectors and other Officers of the Customs.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, June 12th, 1847.

In consequence of inquiries coming up from some of the Collection districts on the subject of the additional or penal duty of twenty per centum imposed in certain cases under the provisions of the 8th section of the Tariff act of 30th of July, 1846, it is deemed expedient to issue general instructions for the government of the respective officers of the Customs in all cases of the kind occurring at their ports.

When this penal duty is incurred on any goods entered at the port of importation, it must be paid before delivery of the goods for consumption, or withdrawal from warehouse for transportation to another warehousing port, or before permission is given for lading the goods on board the vessel from warehouse for exportation to a foreign port. This penal duty is not a subject of drawback, and cannot be returned as debenture.

Parties whose goods have been subjected to the penal duty under the section of the act of 30th July, 1846, before referred to, can only obtain relief in the mode pointed out in the Remitting act of 3d March, 1797, and in the event of the Department being satisfied that the circumstances of the case justify its interposition. Such interposition however, will not be exercised in any case where the party has failed to avail of the privilege given him by the 8th section of the act of 30th July, 1846, to raise at the time of entry the invoice value of the goods to the true market rate abroad, including all costs and charges, so as to guard against the imposition of the additional duty referred to. Nor will relief be afforded where the importer has not expressed dissatisfaction with the appraisement made by the United States appraisers, and so notified the Collector in writing, at the time, and obtained the benefit of a re-appraisement by merchants in pursuance of the 17th section of the act of 30th August, 1842.

R. J. WALKER, Secretary of the Treasury.

[CIRCULAR NO. 50-NEW SERIES.]

To Registers and Receivers of the public money.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, June 17th, 1847.

This Department deems it a measure of just precaution to enjoin on Receivers of public money, and Registers of the several Land offices, the indispensable necessity of a faithful and prompt compliance, on their part, with existing instructions, providing for the security of the public money and insuring to this Department, at brief intervals, prompt and accurate information of its amount and condition at the several points of receipt and deposite.

The instructions heretofore issued to Receivers, forbidding any other than public money to be placed in the chest, vault, or safe, designed for the safe-keeping of the public money in the offices of the Receivers, must be rigidly complied with. It cannot be permitted that other funds should be either mingled with those belonging to the United States, in the office safe, or placed within the same safe, however distinctly they may be kept from the public money therein deposited.

The instructions heretofore issued to the Registers of the several Land offices, prescribing monthly examinations of the public money and books in the offices of Receivers, are deemed indispensable, and will be rigidly enforced by this Department. At the end of each month, without fail or delay, Registers will actually count the public money in the possession of the Receivers, and examine the condition of the books and papers in their offices, and report the results on the back of the Receiver's monthly return. This examination, it must be borne in mind, must be made at the close of each month, as well as at the close of each quarter, and must be actual and thorough, not summary or merely formal; and the reports of results must be full and explicit, stating the amount and description of public money in possession of the Receiver, the means employed for its safety, the condition of the books and papers, and any suggestion of improvement in those several particulars, or in the general business of the office.

Receivers will be careful to afford to Registers every proper facility for making the monthly examinations in question, and present them their monthly returns on which to indorse their reports.

Any omission, on the part of the officers before referred to, to comply strictly with the above instructions, and not satisfactorily explained, will be made the ground of a report to the President for the removal of the delinquent. R. J. WALKER, Secretary of the Treasury.

[CIRCULAR NO. 51-new series.]

To Collectors of the Customs charged with disbursements on account of the United States Revenue Marine and Revenue

Boats.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, July, 1847.

SIR: I have to request that you will cause to be filled up, and transmitted to this Department without delay, the enclosed blank forms, exhibiting, under the proper classification, the disbursements made by you on account of the Revenue Vessels and Boats, during the year ending on the 30th of June last.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

Collector of the Customs.

R. J. WALKER, Secretary of the Treasury.

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N. B. When disbursements have been made for more than one vessel, the Collector will please to fill up, under the appropriate heads, the expenditure for each, separately.

[CIRCULAR- -NO. 52-NEW SERIES.]
To Collectors of the Customs.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, July 1st, 1847.

The Collectors, with some few exceptions, having failed to render to the Department, in compliance with the requirements of the fourth section of the Warehousing act of 6th August, 1846, quarterly reports "of all goods which remain in the warehouses of their respective ports, specifying the quantity and description of the same," I have again to call their attention to this matter, with a particular request that such quarterly reports may be transmitted as speedily as possible, according to form J, attached to my circular instructions of the 14th of August, 1846, in order that the Department may have the tables prepared from these returns, and published as required by R. J. WALKER, Secretary of the Treasury.

the act.

[CIRCULAR NO. 53-NEW SERIES.]

To Collectors, Appraisers, and other Officers of the Customs.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, July 6th, 1847.

By the 23d and 24th sections of the act of Congress of the 30th of August, 1842, it is provided as follows: "SECTION 23. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury, from time to time, to establish such rules and regulations, not inconsistent with the laws of the United States, to secure a just, faithful, and impartial appraisal of all goods, wares, and merchandise, as aforesaid, imported into the United States, and just and proper entries of such actual market value or wholesale price thereof, and of the square yards, parcels, or other quantities, as the case may require, and of such actual market value or wholesale price of every

of them.

"SEC. 24. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of all Collectors, and other officers of the Customs, to execute and carry into effect all instructions of the Secretary of the Treasury relative to the execution of the Revenue laws; and, in case any difficulty shall arise as to the true construction or meaning of any part of such Revenue laws, the decision of the Secretary of the Treasury shall be conclusive and binding upon all such Collectors and other officers of the Customs."

This Department, in pursuance of the authority vested in it by the provisions of law above quoted, will proceed to establish certain rules and regulations in regard to appraisements. This course is rendered necessary, by recent attempts upon the part of merchant appraisers, in a few of the ports of the United States, to establish for themselves certain regulations in regard to appraisements, wholly inconsistent with law and instructions of this Department, given in pursuance of the authority vested in it by Congress. The regulations of the Department are made by Congress final and conclusive, as well upon all classes of appraisers, whether acting as such under an appointment from the President, from the Secretary of the Treasury, or from the Collector of the port. Were it otherwise, and merchant appraisers should not conform to the regulations of the Department, the rates of duties would vary in every port in the Union, and that clause of the Constitution requiring that "all duties shall be uniform throughout the United States," would become a dead letter. The law would be construed in one way by merchant appraisers in one port, and differently in others; and, if there was no authority to control their construc tions of the law, which would be binding on all the ports, it would be impossible to carry into effect this clause of

the Constitution. To prevent this difficulty, the provisions of the law before quoted were enacted, and the decision of the Secretary of the Treasury, "as to the true construction or meaning of any part of the Revenue laws," was made "conclusive and binding." This construction of the Department must be binding upon all who perform any duties under these laws, from whatever source their appointment or authority may be derived; and from such decision there can be no appeal, except to the judicial powers provided by the Constitution. The Department, notwithstanding the broad language and comprehensive authority conferred upon it by Congress, feels bound to adopt the construction of the Revenue laws pronounced in solemn adjudications by the Supreme Court of the United States. In some of the ports, merchant appraisers, appointed under authority of law by the Collector, and performing official duties as officers, in each particular case thus appointed, in conformity to the provisions of the law, have thought proper, very recently, in certain ports, to claim the right, in discharging the duties assigned to them by law, to construe the law for themselves, and in opposition to the regulations established by this Department under the direct authority of Congress, and regulations made binding and conclusive in every part of the Union. The law is differently interpreted by these merchant appraisers in various ports, and a different rate of duty must prevail in different sections of the Union, unless such appraisers will conform, in the discharge of their official duties, to the construction of the Revenue laws given by this Department.

In some of the ports, these appraisers estimate the value of the goods as at the date of the purchase, however remote or distant; and in other ports they take the value at the date of shipment to the United States. The last is the true construction of the law, long since declared by this Department, and adopted generally throughout the Union. The proviso of the 16th section of the act of the 30th of August, 1842, is clear and emphatic upon this subject, and prescribes the date, in reference to which the value is to be estimated, as "the period of exportation to the United States ;" and all words preceding in that section, under the settled rule of interpreting statutes, must be made to conform to the succeeding language of the proviso. This would be the rule, even if there was an absolute conflict between the words of the proviso and of any preceding part of the section; for the language of the proviso, being the last expressed will of the legislature, must prevail. But, in truth, there is no such conflict; and the words at the time when purchased," in the first part of the 16th section, when taken in connexion with the context and the proviso, evidently mean the purchase for shipment, and at the date of the shipment, and establish that date as the criterion of value in all cases. Were it otherwise, the law would prescribe two kinds of market valuesthe one in the first part of the 16th section, being the date of the purchase, and the other in the proviso, being the date of shipment. The most enormous frauds, also, would be the consequence of such construction. Simulated, fictitious, and ante-dated purchases, to suit the period of lowest price, would prevail extensively, to the great injury of the fair trader and of the Revenue. In truth, under such system, the whole importing business would soon be thrown into the hands of the dishonest and fraudulent, who would be willing to produce ante-dated or fictitious foreign sales; and that most useful and meritorious citizen, the honest and fair trader, would be thrown entirely out of the market. It is known at present-at the commencement of this proposed system-that even where the purchases are not deemed by the parties fraudulent, the person designing to import into the United States goes to some prior purchaser who has purchased, not for importation into the United States, at some prior date when the goods were much lower in value, and imports the goods in the name of the first purchaser, consenting to give a certain profit or price on the delivery here; and thus deprives the Revenue of the difference in value, and obtains a most unjust advantage over the fair trader, who will resort to no such artifices. It is the duty of this Department to declare that such a practice is a fraud upon the Revenue, and subjects the goods to seizure and confiscation, and the parties committing the fraud to all the penalties prescribed by law; and the utmost vigilance is enjoined upon Collectors, Appraisers, and all other officers of the Customs, in taking all proper measures to detect and punish all who are engaged in such fraudulent practices. With a view to prevent such frauds upon the Revenue, and to insure that uniformity in appraisements designed by Congress and required by the Constitution, Collectors, in appointing Appraisers hereafter, will adopt the following form:

CUSTOM-HOUSE, COLLECTOR'S OFFICE,

184-. GENTLEMEN: You are hereby appointed to appraise a lot of, imported by -, per ——————, from the said importer having requested a new appraisement thereof, in accordance with the provisions of the 16th and 17th sections of the act of 30th August, 1842, and in conformity with the instructions of the Secretary of the Treasury giving the construction thereof, in pursuance of the authority vested in him by the 23d and 24th sections of said act, by act of 30th July, 1846, and 2d section of act of August 10th, 1846. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Merchants.

To

The Collectors will also administer to such appraisers an oath, in the following form:

Collector.

184-.

from

CUSTOM-HOUSE, COLLECTOR'S OFFICE, We, the undersigned, appointed by the Collector of to appraise a lot of -, imported by , per the said importer having requested a new appraisement thereof, in accordance with the provisions of the 16th and 17th sections of the act of the 30th of August, 1842, do hereby solemnly swear (or affirm) diligently and faithfully to examine and inspect said lot of --, and truly to report, to the best of our knowledge and belief, the true value thereof, in accordance with the provisions of the laws of Congress, as construed by the Secretary of the Treasury, in the several instructions issued by him, in pursuance of the authority vested in the said Secretary of the Treasury by the 23d and 24th sections of said act of 30th of August, 1842, by the act of 30th July, 1846, and 2d section of act of 10th August, 1846.

Collectors of the Customs will also administer an oath of a similar character to appraisers and assistant appraisers, and to all others performing the same duty, under any of the acts of Congress, including the clerks who act as examiners in the appraiser's office, varying the form only so far as to refer to the mode of appointment in the affidavit.

In all cases hereafter, no report of any appraisement will be received by any Collector, until said oath is first administered; and the report shall state that the appraisement is made in conformity with said affidavit, and that the value is given, as required by law, as of the date "at the period of the exportation of said goods, wares, and merchandise to the United States;" but, if this be less than the invoice value, then to report that value, under section 8, act of 30th July, 1846.

In all cases where merchant appraisers are called in, and there should be a variance between their report, or that of either of them, and that of the regular Appraisers, the Collector, at the expiration of each month, will report all such cases to the Department, together with all the appraisements made, and opinions of the Appraisers and merchant appraisers, and his own decision in each case, so as to enable the Department, in the exercise of the supervisory authority delegated to it by the 23d and 24th sections of the act of the 30th of August, 1842, by act of 30th July, 1846, and the 2d section of the act of 10th August, 1846, to insure correct appraisements, to prevent frauds and undervaluations, and to secure uniformity in appraisals throughout the Union.

R. J. WALKER, Secretary of the Treasury.

[CIRCULAR-NO. 54-NEW SERIES.]

To Collectors and other Officers of the Customs.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, July 20th, 1847. The practice of marking, at the time of entry, various descriptions of imported merchandise, in pursuance of former regulations, deemed necessary when prescribed, being found to devolve a heavy expense upon the accruing revenue from Customs, without, it is believed, adding to its security; and moreover, not perceiving, under existing provisions of law, any necessity for marking many articles heretofore subjected to that process, it is deemed expedient to direct a discontinuance of the practice in future, with the exception of the following mentioned articles, to wit: Foreign distilled spirits and wines, and also coffee and tea, when liable to duty, under the existing Tariff act. R. J. WALKER, Secretary of the Treasury.

[CIRCULAR NO. 55-NEW SERIES.]
To Officers of the Customs.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, September 1st, 1847.

SIR With the view to guard the Revenue from any injurious effect consequent on the erroneous classification of "lastings, manufactures of mohair cloth, silk twist, or other manufacture of cloth," the entry of which may be claimed at a duty of 5 per cent. ad valorem, under the provisions of schedule H of the Tariff act of 1846, it is deemed expedient by this Department to direct, and you are accordingly instructed, that in order to be entitled to entry at said duty of five per cent., the exclusive suitableness of the articles for the special uses designated in said schedule must be shown by their being imported in strips, pieces, or patterns, of the size and shape "suitable for the manufacture of shoes, boots, bootees, or buttons, exclusively," as the case may be, according to the special provisions of the act.

It is further directed that hereafter the Collectors of ports where such entries at 5 per cent. ad valorem are admitted, furnish to this Department a monthly statement, setting forth all the particulars of the importations. Respectfully, R. J. WALKER, Secretary of the Treasury.

[CIRCULAR NO. 56-NEW SERIES.]
To Collectors of the Customs.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, September 22d, 1847.

The Department having decided that the provisions of the act "To regulate the carriage of passengers in merchant vessels," approved the 22d of February, 1847, do not apply to vessels employed by the Government as transports for troops and munitions of war between the ports of the United States and those of Mexico, you are enjoined to conform to this decision. R. J. WALKER, Secretary of the Treasury.

[CIRCULAR NO. 57-NEW SERIES.]

U. S. Revenue Marine.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, October, 1847. Collectors of the Customs, in whose districts Revenue vessels are located, will cause the usual advertisements, inviting proposals for the customary supply of rations and ship chandlery, &c., to be published from the 15th day of November to the 15th day of December, in each year, and transmit the bids to this Department for its decision. Annexed is a table showing the component parts of the present Naval ration, to which the ration of the Revenue Marine must in future conform. The commutation of three cents per diem, in lieu of the spirit portion of the ration, is still allowed.

-, Secretary of the Treasury.

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Revenue Marine.-Circular to Officers commanding the Revenue vessels, and to Collectors charged with disbursements on account of said vessels.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, October 8th, 1847.

It appears that the expenditures on account of the Revenue Marine, for the last fiscal year, greatly exceeded the sum which, in my opinion, ought to be disbursed for the service. No censure, however, can be attached to any one on this account. These large expenditures have grown chiefly out of the construction and employment of

steam vessels.

No contract for the building of any steam vessel has been made by me. These contracts were all entered into by my predecessors in office. From the information placed before my predecessors, at the time these contracts were made by them, the construction of these vessels for the Revenue Marine was no doubt deemed by them highly useful and beneficial. Entertaining, however, a contrary opinion, almost immediately after entering upon the duties of this Department, I suspended the further execution of all contracts for the construction of these steam vessels not already completed.

Upon appeal, however, by the parties concerned, from my decision, for the opinion of the Attorney General of the United States, it was decided by that officer that these contracts were obligatory in law upon the Government, and after a careful investigation, concurring as I did in that opinion, and unwilling to violate the faith of the Government, plighted to individuals, under competent authority, by my predecessors, I was reluctantly constrained to revoke the suspension of the contracts, and permit the construction of these vessels to proceed. These contracts being brought, however, now almost entirely to a close, and the faith of the Government being no longer implicated thereafter in a continuance of such expenditures, I have resolved to bring them to a close.

To accomplish this most desirable object, and save thereby annually to the Government a very large expenditure, amounting to several hundred thousand dollars, it is determined to dispense with all future expenditures, (except payments now due,) on account of steam vessels for the Revenue Marine. Such of these vessels as are not fit for sea service will be converted into light ships, in which capacity they will be exceedingly useful, the machinery being first taken out, and sold for the benefit of the Government, on previous advertisement, to the highest bidder, for cash, at public auction. The remainder of these vessels can be rendered highly serviceable in the Navy, or on the Coast Survey; but are not at all adapted to the Revenue Marine. This being accomplished, it is determined to reduce the whole expenditure for the Revenue Marine, after the first day of November next, to an annual sum not exceeding in the whole one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars. With a view to this reduction, the number of petty officers, cooks, stewards, seamen, and boys, allowed to the different sailing vessels now in commission after the beforementioned date, will be found in the annexed table marked A, and no other expenditure must be created except on account of the payment of officers, and of contracts for ship chandlery and rations, which shall have been previously sanctioned by the Department.

No other payments, not specially authorized, will be made on any account-instructions to this effect having been this day issued by this Department to the First Auditor and First Comptroller of the Treasury.

The object of this regulation is to save useless and extravagant expenditures, to consult a judicious economy, expedient at all times, but especially during war, and to bring these disbursements, like payments out of the Treasury, under the guards and checks established by law for such payments by the prior examination of the proper accounting officers of the Treasury and the supervision of this Department. The cordial aid and co-operation of the Collectors of the Customs, as well as of all officers of the Revenue Marine, in carrying these measures into execution, is expected by this Department.

R. J. WALKER, Secretary of the Treasury.

Vinegar.

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