accompanied or unaccompanied by the buckles, are liable, under Decision 4496, to the duty imposed on hoop-iron. H. F. FRENCH, Assistant Secretary. COLLECTORS AND OTHER OFFICERS OF CUSTOMS. (4551.) Common carriers-Approval of the bonds of the Boston and Providence Railroad Company. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, May 27, 1880. SIR: You are hereby notified that the Department has this day approved the bonds of the Boston and Providence Railroad Company as common carriers of dutiable appraised and unappraised merchandise in bond, said bonds bearing date of the 14th instant, and being in lieu of those approved, respectively, March 29, 1870, and May 7, 1872. Under their new bonds, the Boston and Providence Railroad Company is authorized to transport appraised and unappraised goods in bond from the port of Boston, Mass., to the port of Providence, R. I., in suitable cars owned or controlled by said company and running over the line of the Boston and Providence Railroad. In every instance where other cars than those owned by said company are used, such cars shall be distinctly marked "Boston and Providence Railroad Company." One copy of each of the bonds hereby approved is inclosed, to be placed upon the files of your office. You will indorse the fact and date of the rebonding of the company upon the bonds approved, respectively, March 29, 1870, and May 7, 1872, now in your possession, and retain the same without cancellation. Very respectfully, By order: COLLECTOR OF CUSTOMS, Boston, Mass. H. F. FRENCH, (4552.) Tampa, Fla., established as a port of delivery. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, May 28, 1880. SIR: You are informed that, under paragraph seventh of section 2562, Revised Statutes, the President has designated Tampa as a port of delivery in the customs district of Key West, Fla. In view of this fact and the needs of the public service, the deputy collector or other customs officer stationed at Tampa is authorized, by virtue of section 2633, Revised Statutes, to enter and clear vessels other than those arriving from a foreign port, to collect duties, and to issue marine documents for the coasting trade and fisheries. If the said officer has not an official stamp, you will please make requisition therefor at your earliest convenience. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, May 31, 1880. The following letter from the Solicitor of the Treasury is published in these Decisions for the information and guidance of all concerned. H. F. FRENCH, Assistant Secretary. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Office of the Solicitor of the Treasury, SIR: I have the honor to return herewith the papers referred to this office, relating to the fees due the United States for the inspection of the steamers Phebe," "Maud M. Fish," and "Grace Darling." 66 After these vessels were inspected, and before the fees fixed by law were paid, they changed owners. The Department has demanded payment from the present owners, who reply denying their liability. I am requested to report the means to be employed to collect the inspection-fees. The law contemplates that the master or owner shall make a written application for the annual inspection of his vessel. Section 4458, Revised Statutes, makes it the duty of the collector, or other chief officer of the customs, to demand and receive the fees allowed by law for the inspection and examinations made during the year. This demand is to be made on the owner of the vessel, and unless complied with the officers of the customs are forbidden to issue any license to the steamer. If the officer issues the inspection certificate without first receiving the fees, such failure to pay creates an obligation in favor of the United States, which can be enforced by suit against the owner who procured the license. It is clear, however, that such a claim cannot be enforced against the vessel except as contemplated in section 4498, Revised Statutes. That section forbids the issue of any document or paper for a vessel propelled by steam until the officers of the customs have satisfactory evidence that all the provisions of the inspection-laws have been complied with. Payment of the inspection-fee is one of the requirements; and I recommend that payment in the cases above referred to be enforced under section 4498. There is no hardship in requiring the present owner to pay the inspection-fees (although incurred by a former owner) as a condition precedent to the further grant of any document or paper which the law requires the vessels in question to have. The records of the customhouse show, in all cases of this nature, whether or not there are any charges against a vessel. The rule of caveat emptor, therefore, clearly applies, and is binding on the purchasers, while the laches of the officers of the customs in not collecting the fees before issuance of inspection papers cannot operate to the prejudice of the Government. Very respectfully, K. RAYNER, Solicitor of the Treasury. Hon. JOHN SHERMAN, Secretary of the Treasury. TO COLLECTORS OF CUSTOMS. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Washington, D. C., July 1, 1880. The following decisions of the Department for the month of June, 1880, upon the construction to be given to acts of Congress relating to the tariff, navigation, and other subjects, are published herewith for the information and guidance of officers of the customs and others concerned. JOHN SHERMAN, Secretary. (4554.) Vessels-Steam-tug owned by International Bridge Company. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, June 1, 1880. SIR: Your report of the 28th ultimo is received, in further explanation of the questions submitted in your letter of the 15th ultimo. The International Bridge Company is a joint company constituted of companies incorporated under the statutes of the State of New York and Canada. The International Bridge, which crosses the Niagara River from Buffalo to Fort Erie, is the property of the company. The construction of the bridge was authorized by act of Congress approved June 30, 1870 (Stats. at Large, vol. 16, chap. 176, p. 173). It appears that the International Bridge Company employs steamtugs, built in the United States, to aid vessels and rafts in passing through the draws of the bridge; and the first inquiry in your letter of the 15th ultimo was whether these tugs are liable to enrollment and license. It is stated in your last communication that the service performed by these tugs is rendered without pay, and that otherwise they are not engaged in trade. In view of the fact that they are employed in your harbor, they are exempt from enrollment under section 4385, Revised Statutes; and they are also exempt on the ground of the manner in which they are employed. 'Your second inquiry was whether, in case enrollment of these tugs should be necessary, they can be enrolled in the name of the company. The International Bridge Company, being recognized as such by the laws of the State of New York, may take out documents in the name of its president or secretary (see section 4313, Revised Statutes) for its tugs built in the United States. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, June 1, 1880. SIR: The Department is in receipt of your letter of the 28th ultimo, in regard to a refund of excess of duties upon imported tin-plate, under the recent decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, in cases where the drawback paid on tin cans manufactured out of such tin-plate was at the rate of 15 per cent. ad valorem, with reduction of 10 per cent., under section 3019 of the Revised Statutes. The right of importers to a refund of the duties which the courts have adjudged were exacted in excess cannot be confounded with the rights of exporters to whom drawback claims were paid. The importer who has duly protested and appealed, and instituted suit for the recovery of the excess of duty exacted, would be entitled to a judgment for the proper amount, without regard to the fact that excessive drawback had been paid to other parties who exported the same tin in the form of cans. You will, therefore, proceed upon that basis in the preparation of certified statements for refund of excess of duties claimed, except in cases where the importer who paid the duties and the exporter who received the drawback are one and the same person or firm, in which case no refund will be made on the quantity of tin exported on which drawback was paid. Very respectfully, H. F. FRENCH, Assistant Secretary. COLLECTOR OF CUSTOMS, New York. |