satisfactory security that the said goods shall be landed out of the jurisdiction of the United States, in the manner now required by existing laws relating to exportations for the benefit of drawback, the collector and naval officer, if any, on an entry to re-export the same, shall, upon payment of the appropriate expenses, permit the said goods, under the inspection of the proper officers, to be shipped without the payment of any duties thereon. And in case any goods wares, or merchandise, deposited as aforesaid, shall remain in public store beyond one year, without payment of the duties and charges thereon, then said goods, wares or merchandise shall be appraised by the appraisers of the United States, if there be any at such port, and if none, then by two merchants to be designated and sworn by the collector for that purpose, and sold by the collector at public auction, on due public notice thereof being first given, in the manner and for the time to be prescribed by a general regulation of the Treasury Department; and at said public sale distinct printed catalogues, descriptive of said goods, with the appraised value affixed thereto, shall be distributed among the persons present at said sale; and a reasonable opportunity shall be given before such sale, to persons desirous of purchasing, to inspect the quality of such goods; and the proceeds of said sale, after deducting the usual rate of storage at the port in question, with all other charges and expenses, including duties, shall be paid over to the owner, importer, consignee, or agent, and proper receipts taken for the same; Provided, That the overplus, if any there be, of the proceeds of such sales, after the payment of storage, charges, expenses, and duties as aforesaid, remaining unclaimed for the space of ten days after such sales, shall be paid by the collector into the treasury of the United States; and the said collector shall transmit to the Treasury Department, with the said overplus, a copy of the inventory, appraisement, and account of sales, specifying the marks, numbers, and description of the packages sold, their contents and appraised value, the name of the vessel and master in which and of the port or place whence they were imported, and the time when and the name of the person or persons to whom said goods were consigned in the manifest, and the duties and charges to which the several consignments were respectively subject; and the receipt or certificate of the collector shall exonerate the master or person having charge or command of any ship or vessel in which said goods, wares or merchandise were imported, from all claim of the owner or owners thereof, who shall, nevertheless, on due proof of their interest, be entitled to receive from the treasury the amount of any overplus paid into the same under the provisions of this act; Provided, That so much of the fifty-sixth section of the general collection law of the second of March, seventeen hundred and ninety-nine, and the thirteenth section of the act of the thirtieth of August, eighteen hundred and forty-two, to provide revenue from imports, and to change and modify existing laws imposing duties on imports, and for other purposes, as conflicts with the provisions of this act, shall be, and is hereby repealed, excepting that nothing contained in this act shall be construed to extend the time now prescribed by law for selling unclaimed goods; Provided, also, That all goods of a perishable nature, and all gunpowder, fire-crackers, and explosive substances, deposited as aforesaid, shall be sold forthwith.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That any goods, when deposited in the public stores in the manner provided for in the foregoing section, may be withdrawn therefrom and transported to any other port of entry, under the restriction provided for in the act of second of March, seventeen hundred and ninetynine, in respect to the transportation of goods, wares and merchandise from one collection district to another, to be exported with the benefit of drawback; and the owner of such goods so to be withdrawn for transportation, shall give his bond with sufficient sureties, in double the amount of the duties chargeable on them, for the deposite of such goods in store in the port of entry to which they shall be destined, such bond to be cancelled when the goods shall be re-deposited in store in collection district to which they shall be transported; Provided, That nothing contained in this section shall be construed to extend the time during which goods may be kept in store, after their original importation and entry, beyond the term of one year.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That if any warehoused goods shall be fraudulently concealed or removed from any public or private warehouse, the same shall be forfeited to the United States; and all persons convicted of fraudulently concealing or removing such goods, or of aiding or abetting such concealment or removal, shall be liable to the same penalties which are now imposed for the fraudulent introduction of goods into the United States; and if any importer or proprietor of any warehoused goods, or any person in his employ, shall by any contrivance fraudulently open the warehouse, or shall gain access to the goods, except in the presence of the proper officer of the customs acting in the execution of his duty, such importer or proprietor shall forfeit and pay for every such offence one thousand dollars. And any person convicted of altering, defacing, or obliterating any mark or marks which have been placed by any officer of the revenue on any package or packages of warehoused goods, shall forfeit and pay for every such offence five hundred dollars.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the collectors of the several ports of the United States shall make quarterly reports to the Secretary of the Treasury, according to such general instructions as the said Secretary may give, of all goods which remain in the warehouses of their respective ports specifying the quantity and description of the same; which returns or tables formed thereon, the Secretary of the Treasury shall forthwith cause to be published in the principal papers of the city of Washington.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Treasury be and he is hereby authorized to make, from time to time, such regulations, not inconsistent with the laws of the United States, as may be necessary to give full effect to the provisions of this act, and secure a just accountability under the same. And it shall be the duty of the Secretary to report such regulations to each succeeding searier Ĉeafless

AN ACT

To extend the warehousing system by establishing private bonded warehouses, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the passage of this act, any goods, wares or merchandise subject to duty, with the exception of perishable articles, also gunpowder, fire-crackers, and other explosive substances, which shall have been duly entered and bonded for warehousing, in conformity with existing laws, may be deposited at the option of the owner, importer, consignee, or agent, at his expense and risk, in any public warehouse owned or leased by the United States, or in the private warehouse of the importer, the same being used exclusively for the storage of warehoused goods of his own importation or to his consignment, or in a private warehouse used by the owner, occupant, or lessee, as a general warehouse for the storage of warehoused goods, such place of storage to be designated on the warehouse entry at the time of entering such merchandise at the custom-house: Provided, That such private warehouse shall be used solely for the purpose of storing warehoused goods, and shall have been previously approved by the Secretary of the Treasury, and have been placed in charge of a proper officer of the customs, who, together with the owner and proprietor of the warehouse, shall have the joint custody of all the merchandise stored in said warehouse, and all the labor on the goods so stored must be performed by the owner or proprietor of the warehouse, under the supervision of the officer of the customs in charge of the same, at the expense of the aforesaid owner or proprietor: And provided, further, That cellars and vaults of stores for the storage of wines and distilled spirits only, and yards for the storage of coal, mahogany, and other woods and lumber, may, at the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury, be constituted bonded warehouses for the storage of such articles, under the same regulations and conditions as required in the storage of other merchandise; the cellars or vaults aforesaid shall be exclusively appropriated to the storage of wines or distilled spirits, and shall have no opening or entrance except the one from the street, on which separate and different locks of the custom house and the owner or proprietor of the cellars or vaults shall be placed.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That unclaimed goods, wares or merchandise required by existing laws to be taken possession of by collectors of the customs, may be stored in any public warehouse owned or leased by the United States, or in any private bonded warehouse authorized by this act, and all charges for storage, labor, and other expenses accruing on any such goods, wares, or merchandise, not to exceed in any case the regular rates for such objects at the port in question, must be paid before delivery of the goods on due

entry thereof by the claimant or owner; or if sold as unclaimed goods to realize the import duties, the aforesaid charges shall be paid by the collector out of the proceeds of the sale thereof, before paying such proceeds into the Treasury, as required by existing laws. And any collector of the customs is hereby authorized, under such directions and regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, to sell upon due notice, at public auction, any unclaimed goods, wares or merchandise deposited in public warehouse, whenever the same may, from depreciation in value, damage, leakage, or other cause, in the opinion of such collector, be likely to prove insufficient on a sale thereof to pay the duties, storage, and other charges if suffered to remain in public store for the period now allowed by law in the case of unclaimed goods. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That before any of the stores or cellars aforesaid, owned or occupied by private individuals, shall be used as a warehouse for merchandise imported by other merchants or importers, the owner, occupant or lessee thereof shall enter into bond, in such sums and with such sureties as may be approved by the Secretary of the Treasury, exonerating and holding the United States and its officers harmless from or on account of any risk, loss or expense of any kind or description, connected with or arising from the deposit or keeping of the merchandise in the warehouse aforesaid; and all imports deposited in any public or private warehouse authorized by this act, shall be at the sole and exclusive risk and expense of the owner or importer.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That all goods, wares and merchandise which may be hereafter duly entered for warehousing under bond, and likewise all merchandise now remaining in warehouse under bond, may continue in warehouse, without payment of duties thereupon, for a period of three years from the date of original importation, and may be withdrawn for consumption on due entry and payment of the duties and charges, or upon entry for exportation, without the payment of duties, at any time within the period aforesaid in the latter case, the goods to be subject only to the payment of such storage and charges as may be due thereon: Provided, however, That where the duties shall have been paid upon any goods, wares or merchandise entered for consumption, said duties shall not be refunded on exportation of any such goods, wares, or merchandise, without the limits of the United States: And provided, further, That there shall be no abatement of the duties or allowance made for any injury, damage, deterioration, loss, or leakage sustained by any goods, wares, or merchandise, whilst deposited in any public or private bonded warehouse established or recognized by this act.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That any goods, wares, or merchandise, duly entered for warehousing, may be withdrawn under bond, without payment of the duties, from a bonded warehouse in any collection district of the United States, and be transported to a bonded warehouse in any other collection district within the same, and re-warehoused thereat; and any such goods, wares, or merchandise, may be so transported to their destination wholly by land, or wholly by water, or partly by land and partly by water, over such routes as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe, and may likewise be conveyed over any foreign territory, the government of which may have, or

shall by treaty stipulations grant, a free right of way over such territory; and for the purpose of better guarding against frauds upon the revenue on foreign goods transported between the ports of the Atlantic and those of the Pacific overland through any foreign territory, the Secretary of the Treasury be, and is hereby authorized to appoint special sworn agents as inspectors of the customs, to reside in said foreign territory where such goods may be landed or embarked, with power to superintend the landing or shipping of all goods passing coastwise between the ports of the United States on the Pacific and Atlantic, and whose duty it shall be, under such regulations and instructions as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe, to guard against the perpetration of any frauds upon the revenue: Provided, That the compensation paid to said inspector shall not in the aggregate exceed five thousand dollars per annum.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe the form of the bond to be given for the transportation of goods, wares, and merchandise, from a port in one collection district to a port in another collection district in the United States, as provided in the preceding section; also the time for such delivery; and for a failure to transport and deliver, within the time limited, any such bonded goods, wares, and merchandise, to the collector at the designated port, an additional duty of one hundred per cent. shall be levied and collected, which additional duty shall be secured by such bond, or said goods, wares, and merchandise may be seized and forfeited for such failure, and any steam or other vessel, or vehicle, transporting such bonded goods, wares, and merchandise, the master, owner, or conductor of which shall fail to deliver the same to the collector at the designated port, shall be liable to seizure and forfeiture.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That all leases of stores now held by the United States for the purpose of storing warehoused or unclaimed goods, shall on the shortest period of termination named in said leases, be cancelled, and no leases shall be entered into by the United States for any stores for the storage of warehoused or unclaimed goods at any port where there may exist any private bonded warehouses, after the first day of July, eighteen hundred and fifty-five: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent the leasing or hiring of such buildings or accommodation as may be required for the use of the United States' appraisers for the due examination and appraisal of imported merchandise at the ports where such officers are provided by law, nor to prohibit the leasing or hiring by collectors of the customs, for short periods, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, of such stores as may be required for custom-house purposes, at any of the smaller revenue ports of the United States: Provided, That no collector or other officer of the customs shall enter into any contract or agreement for the use of any building to be thereafter erected as a public store or warehouse, and no lease of any building to be so used shall be taken for a longer period than three years, nor shall rent be paid, in whole or in part, in any case, in advance.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby authorized, upon production of satisfactory proof to him of the actual injury or destruction in whole or in part of any goods, wares, or mer