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R. S., 3100.

R. S., 3101.

R. S., 3102.

conductor, or other importer shall be subject to a penalty of four times the value of the merchandise so imported. 254. Customs inspection.

All merchandise, and all baggage and effects of passengers, and all other articles imported into the United States from any contiguous foreign country, except as hereafter provided, as well as the vessels, cars, and other vehicles and envelopes in which the same shall be imported, shall be unladen in the presence of, and be inspected by, an inspector or other officer of the customs, at the first port of entry or custom-house in the United States where the same shall arrive; and to enable the proper officer thoroughly to discharge this duty, he may require the owner or his agent, or other person, having charge or possession of any trunk, traveling-bag, or sack, valise, or other envelope, or of any closed vessel, car, or other vehicle, to open the same, or to deliver to him the proper key.

If any owner, agent, or other person shall refuse or neglect to comply with his demands, allowed by the preceding section, the officer shall retain such trunk, traveling bag, or sack, valise, or whatsoever it may be, and open the same, and, as soon thereafter as may be practicable, examine the contents; and if any article subject to the payment of duty shall be found therein, the whole contents, together with the envelope, shall be forfeited to the United States, and disposed of as the law provides in other similar cases. If any such dutiable merchandise or article shall be found in any such vessel, car, or other vehicle, the owner, agent, or other person in charge of which shall have refused to open the same or deliver the key as herein provided, the same, together with the vessel, car, or other vehicle, shall be forfeited to the United States, and shall be held by such officer, to be disposed of as the law provides in other similar cases of forfeiture.

255. Customs seals on frontier.

To avoid the inspection at the first port of arrival, the owner, agent, master, or conductor of any such vessel, car, or other vehicle, or owner, agent, or other person having charge of any such merchandise, baggage, effects, or other articles, may apply to any officer of the United States duly authorized to act in the premises, to seal or close the same, under and according to the regulations hereinafter authorized, previous to their importation into the United States; which officer shall seal or close the same accordingly; whereupon the same may proceed to their port of destination without further inspection. Every such vessel, car, or other vehicle, shall proceed, without unnecessary delay, to the port of its destination, as named in the manifest of its cargo, freight, or contents, and be there inspected. Nothing contained in this section shall be

construed to exempt such vessel, car, or vehicle, or its contents, from such examination as may be necessary and proper to prevent frauds upon the revenue and violations of this Title [R. S., 2517-3129].

The Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and R. S., 3103. required to make such regulations, and from time to time so to change the same as to him shall seem necessary and proper, for sealing such vessels, cars, and other vehicles, when practicable, and for sealing, marking, and identifying such merchandise, baggage, effects, trunks, traveling-bags, or sacks, valises, and other envelopes and articles; and also in regard to invoices, manifests, and other pertinent papers, and their authentication.

If the owner, master, or person in charge of any vessel, R. S., 3104. car, or other vehicle so sealed, shall not proceed to the port or place of destination thereof named in the manifest of its cargo, freight, or contents, and deliver such vessel, car, or vehicle to the proper officer of the customs, or shall dispose of the same by sale or otherwise, or shall unload the same, or any part thereof, at any other than such port, or place, or shall sell or dispose of the contents of such vessel, car, or other vehicle, or any part thereof, before such delivery, he shall be deemed guilty of felony, and on conviction thereof, before any court of competent jurisdiction, pay a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or shall be imprisoned for a term not exceeding five years, or both, at the discretion of the court; and such vessel, car, or other vehicle, with its contents, shall be forfeited to the United States, and may be seized wherever found within the United States, and disposed of and sold as in other cases of forfeiture. Nothing in this section, however, shall be construed to prevent sales of cargo, in whole or in part, prior to arrival, to be delivered as per manifest, and after due inspection.

If any unauthorized person or persons shall willfully R. S., 3105. break, cut, pick, open, or remove any wire, seal, lead, lock, or other fastening or mark attached to any vessel, car, or other vehicle, crate, box, bag, bale, basket, barrel, bundle, cask, trunk, package, or parcel, or anything whatsoever, under and by virtue of this Title [R. S., 2517-3129] and regulations authorized by it, or any other law, or shall affix or attach, or any way willfully aid, assist, or encourage the affixing or attaching, by wire or otherwise, to any vessel, car, or other vehicle, or to any crate, box, bales, barrel, bag, basket, bundle, cask, package, parcel, article, or thing of any kind, any seal, lead, metal, or anything purporting to be a seal authorized by law, such person or persons shall be deemed guilty of felony, and shall be imprisoned for a term not exceeding five years, or shall pay a fine of not exceeding one thousand dollars, or both, at the discretion of the court.

R. S., 3106.

R. S., 3109.

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Each vessel, car, or other vehicle, crate, box, bag, basket, barrel, bundle, cask, trunk, package, parcel, or other thing, with the cargo, or contents thereof, from which the wire, seal, lead, lock, or other fastening or mark shall have been broken, cut, picked, opened, or removed by any such unauthorized person or persons, or to which such seal, or other thing purporting to be a seal, has been wrongfully attached, shall be forfeited.

256. Transfer of cargo.

The master of any foreign vessel, laden or in ballast, ariving, whether by sea or otherwise, in the waters of the United States from any foreign territory adjacent to the northern, northeastern, or northwestern frontiers of the United States, shall report at the office of any collector or deputy collector of the customs, which shall be nearest to the point at which such vessel may enter such waters; and such vessel shall not transfer her cargo or passengers to another vessel or proceed farther inland, either to unlade or take in cargo, without a special permit from such collector or deputy collector, issued under and in accordance with such general or special regulations as Feb. 14, 1903. the Secretary of the Treasury may, in his discretion, from Feb. 17, 1898. time to time prescribe. This section shall also apply to trade with or through Alaska. For any violation of this section such vessel shall be seized and forfeited. [Repealed by Art. 1, treaty of Jan. 11, 1909, with Great Britain.]

Sec. 10.

Sec. 4.

R. S., 3111.

R. S., 3112.

257. Sea stores.

If any vessel enrolled or licensed to engage in the foreign and coasting trade on the northern, northeastern, and northwestern frontiers of the United States shall touch at any port in the adjacent British provinces, and the master of such vessel shall purchase any merchandise for the use of the vessel, the master of the vessel shall report the same, with cost and quantity thereof, to the collector or other officer of the customs at the first port in the United States at which he shall next arrive, designating them as "sea-stores;" and in the oath to be taken by such master of such vessel, on making such report, he shall declare that the articles so specified or designated "sea-stores" are truly intended for the use exclusively of the vessel, and are not intended for sale, transfer, or private use. If any other or greater quantity of dutiable articles shall be found on board such vessel than are specified in such report or entry of such articles, or any part thereof shall be landed without a permit from a collector or other officer of the customs, such articles together with the vessel, her apparel, tackle, and furniture, shall be forfeited.

If, upon examination and inspection by the collector or other officer of the customs, such articles are not deemed excessive in quantity for the use of the vessel, until an

American port may be reached by such vessel, where such sea-stores can be obtained, such articles shall be declared free of duty; but if it shall be found that the quantity or quantities of such articles, or any part thereof so reported are excessive, it shall be lawful for the collector or other officer of the customs to estimate the amount of duty on such excess, which shall be forthwith paid by the master of the vessel, on penalty of paying a sum of not less than one hundred dollars, nor more than four times the value of such excess, or such master shall be punishable by imprisonment for not less than three months, and not more than two years.

258. Saloon stores.

Articles purchased for the use of or for sale on board R. S., 3113. any such vessel, as saloon stores or supplies, shall be deemed merchandise, and shall be liable, when purchased at a foreign port, to entry and the payment of the duties found to be due thereon, at the first port of arrival of such vessel in the United States; and for a failure on the part of the saloon-keeper or person purchasing or owning such articles to report, make entries, and pay duties, as hereinbefore required, such articles, together with the fixtures and other merchandise, found in such saloon or on or about such vessel belonging to and owned by such saloon-keeper or other person interested in such saloon, shall be seized and forfeited, and such saloon-keeper or other person so purchasing and owning shall be liable to a penalty of not less than one hundred dollars and not more than five hundred, and shall be punishable by imprisonment for not less than three months, and not more than two years.

259. Duties on repairs.

The equipments, or any part thereof, including boats, R. S., 8114. purchased for, or the expenses of repairs made in a foreign country upon a vessel enrolled and licensed under the laws of the United States to engage in the foreign and coasting trade on the northern, northeastern, and northwestern frontiers of the United States, or a vessel intended to be employed in such trade, shall, on the first arrival of such vessel in any port of the United States, be liable to entry and the payment of an ad-valorem duty of fifty per centum on the cost thereof in such foreign country; and if the owner or master of such vessel shall willfully and knowingly neglect or fail to report, make entry, and pay duties as herein required, such vessel, with her tackle, apparel, and furniture, shall be seized and forfeited.

No license, or enrollment and license, nor renewal of R. s., 4330. either, shall hereafter be issued to any vessel until the collector to whom application is made for the same is satisfied, from the oath of the owner or master that all

143562°-19-17

R. S., 3115.

R. S., 3116.

R. S., 3117.

equipments and repairs, made in a foreign port within the year immediately preceding such application, have been duly accounted for, and the duties accruing thereon duly paid; and if such owner or master shall refuse to take such oath, or take it falsely, the vessel shall be seized and forfeited.

If the owner or master of such vessel shall, however, furnish good and sufficient evidence that such vessel, while in the regular course of her voyage, was compelled, by stress of weather or other casualty, to put into such foreign port and purchase such equipments, or make such repairs, to secure the safety of the vessel to enable her to reach her port of destination, then it shall be competent for the Secretary of the Treasury to remit or refund such duties, and such vessel shall not be liable to forfeiture, and no license or enrollment and license, or renewal of either, shall hereafter be issued to any such vessel until the collector to whom application is made for the same shall be satisfied, from the oath of the owner or master, that all such equipments and repairs made within the year immediately preceding such application have been duly accounted for under the provisions of this and the preceding sections, and the duties accruing thereon duly paid; and if such owner or master shall refuse to take such oath, or take it falsely, the vessel shall be seized and forfeited.

260. Entry from one district to another.

The master of every vessel enrolled or licensed to engage in the foreign and coasting trade on the northern, northeastern, and northwestern frontiers of the United States, except canal-boats employed in navigating the canals within the United States, shall, before the departure of his vessel from a port in one collection-district to a port in another collection-district, present to the collector at the port of departure duplicate manifests of his cargo, or, if he have no cargo, duplicate manifests setting forth that fact; such manifests shall be subscribed and sworn to by the master before the collector, who shall indorse thereon his certificate of clearance, retaining one for the files of his office; the other he shall deliver for the use of the master.

If any vessel so enrolled or licensed shall touch at any intermediate port of the United States, and there discharge cargo taken on board at an American port, or at such intermediate ports shall take on board cargo destined for an American port, the master of such vessel shall not be required to report such lading or unlading at such intermediate ports, but shall enter the same on his manifest obtained at the original port of departure, which he shall deliver to the collector of the port at which the unlading of the cargo is completed, within twenty

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