Page images
PDF
EPUB

backs, so allowed, shall be retained for the use of the United States by the collectors paying such drawbacks, respectively.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That all goods, wares, and merchandise, actually on shipboard and bound to the United States, and all goods, wares, and merchandise, on deposit in warehouses or public stores at the date of the passage of this act, shall be subject to pay such duties as provided by law before and at the time of the passage of this act: Provided, That all goods deposited in public store or bonded warehouse after this act takes effect and goes into operation, if designed for consumption in the United States, must be withdrawn therefrom, or the duties thereon paid in three months after the same are deposited, and goods designed for exportation and consumption in foreign countries may be withdrawn by the owner at any time before the expiration of three years after the same are deposited, such goods, if not withdrawn in three years, to be regarded as abandoned to the Government, and sold under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe, and the proceeds paid into the Treasury: Provided, That merchandise upon which the owner may have neglected to pay duties within three months from the time of its deposit may be withdrawn and entered for consumption at any time within two years of the time of its deposit, upon the payment of the legal duties, with an addition of twenty-five per centum thereto : Provided, also, That merchandise upon which duties have been paid, if exported to a foreign country, within three years shall be entitled to return duties, proper evidence of such merchandise having been landed abroad to be furnished to the collector by the importer, one per centum of said duties to be retained by the Government.

[ocr errors]

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the act entitled "An Act to provide for the payment of outstanding Treasury Notes, to authorize a loan, to regulate and fix the duties on imports, and for other purposes," approved March two, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, be and the same is hereby amended, as follows: That is to say, First, in section six, article first, after the words "in cordials and," strike out "liquors," and insert "liqueurs ;” Second, in the same section, after the word "represent,” insert, Provided, also, That no lower rate or amount of duty shall be levied, collected, and paid on brandy, spirits, and all other spirituous beverages, than that now fixed by law for the description of first proof, but shall be increased in proportion for any greater strength than the strength of first proof;" Third, in section seventh, clause fifth, the words, "on screws, washed or plated, and all other screws, of iron or any other metal," shall be stricken out, and the words "on screws, of any other metal than iron,” shall be inserted; Fourth, section twelve, article first, after the words "eighteen cents," where the first occur, insert," or less;" Fifth, section thirteen, article second, after the word "manufacturer," insert “ except hosiery;" Sixth, in the same section, article third, strike out "wool" wherever it occurs, and insert in each place "worsted;" Seventh, in section fourteen, article first, after the words "ten per centum," insert "ad valorem ;" Eighth, in section fifteen, before the word "yarns" insert

com

"hemp ;" in the same section, after the word "sheetings," insert" of flax or hemp ;" and strike out "jute goods," and in lieu thereof insert "jute yarns;" Ninth, in section twenty-two, strike out the words "unwrought clay, three dollars per ton;" Tenth, in section nineteen, strike out positions of glass or paste, not set; intended for use by jewellers ;” Eleventh, in section twenty-two, strike out "compositions of glass or paste, when set ;" Twelfth, in section twenty-three, article sheathing metal, strike out "yard," and insert "foot."

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That all acts and parts of acts repugnant to the provisions of this act be and the same are hereby repealed: Provided, That the existing laws shall extend to, and be in force for, the collection of the duties imposed by this act, for the prosecution and punishment of all offences, and for the recovery, collection, distribution, and remission of all fines, penalties, and forfeitures, as fully and effectually as if every regulation, penalty, forfeiture, provision, clause, matter, and thing to that effect in the existing laws contained, had been inserted in and reenacted by this act.

Approved August 5th, 1861.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT,

March 13, 1861.

The following act of Congress and joint resolution, approved March 2, 1861, the provisions of which relating to duties on imports go into effect on the 1st proximo, are published for the information and government of the officers of the customs at the several ports and others concerned.

SALMON P. CHASE,
Secretary of the Treasury.

[PUBLIC-No. 22.]

AN ACT to provide for the payment of outstanding Treasury Notes, to authorize a Loan, to regulate and fix the Duties on Imports, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States be, and hereby is authorized, at any time within twelve months from the passage of this act, to borrow, on the credit of the United States, a sum not exceeding ten millions of dollars, or so much thereof as, in his opinion, the exigencies of the public service may require, to be applied to the payment of appropriations made by law, and the balance of treasury notes now outstanding, and no other purposes, in addition to the money received, or which may be received, into the treasury from other sources: Provided, That no stipulation or contract shall be made to prevent the United States from reimbursing any sum borrowed under the authority of this act at any time after the expiration of ten years from the first day of July next, by the United States giving three months' notice, to be published in some newspaper published at the seat of government, of their readiness to do so; and no contract shall be made to prevent the redemption of the same at any time after the expiration of twenty years from the said first day of July next, without notice.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That stock shall be issued for the amount so borrowed, bearing interest not exceeding six per centum per annum; and the Secretary of the Treasury be, and is hereby authorized, with the consent of the President, to cause certificates of stock to be prepared, which shall be signed by the Register and sealed with the seal of the Treasury Department, for the amount so borrowed, in favor of the parties lending the same, or their assigns, which certificates may be transferred on the books of the treasury, under such regulations as may be established by the Secretary of the Treasury: Provided, That no certificate shall be issued for a less sum than one thousand dollars: And provided, also, That whenever required, the Secretary of the Treasury may cause coupons of semi

annual interest payable thereon to be attached to certificates issued under this act; and any certificate with such coupons of interest attached may be assigned and transferred by delivery of the same, instead of being transferred on the books of the treasury.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That, before awarding any of said loan, the Secretary of the Treasury shall, as the exigencies of the public service require, cause to be inserted in two of the public newspapers of the city of Washington, and in one or more public newspapers in other cities of the United States, public notice that sealed proposals for so much of said loan as is required will be received until a certain day, to be specified in such notice, not less than thirty days from its first insertion in a Washington newspaper; and such notice shall state the amount of the loan, at what periods the money shall be paid, if by instalments, and at what places. Such sealed proposals shall be opened, on the day appointed in the notice, in the presence of such persons as may choose to attend, and the proposals decided on by the Secretary of the Treasury, who shall accept the most favorable offered by responsible bidders for said stock. And the said Secretary shall report to Congress, at the commencement of the next session, the amount of money borrowed under this act, and of whom and on what terms it shall have been obtained, with an abstract or brief statement of all the proposals submitted for the same, distinguishing between those accepted and those rejected, with a detailed statement of the expense of making such loans: Provided, That no stock shall be disposed of at less than its par value: And provided, further, That no part of the loan hereby authorized shall be applied to the service of the present fiscal year.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That in case the proposals made for said loan, or for so much thereof as the exigencies of the public service shall require, shall not be satisfactory, the President of the United States shall be, and hereby is authorized, to decline to accept such offer if for less than the par value of the bonds constituting the said stock, and in lieu thereof, and to the extent and amount of the loan authorized to be made by this act, to issue treasury notes for sums not less than fifty dollars, bearing interest at the rate of six per centum per annum, payable semi-annually, on the first days of January and July in each year, at proper places of payment to be prescribed by the Secretary, with the approval of the President; and under the like circumstances and conditions, the President of the United States is hereby authorized to substitute treasury notes of equal amount for the whole or any part of any of the loans for which he is now by law authorized to contract and issue bonds. And the treasury notes so issued under the authority herein given shall be received in payment for all debts due to the United States when offered, and in like manner shall be given in payment for any sum due from the United States, when payment in that mode is requested by the person to whom payment is to be made, or for their par value in coin. And the faith of the United States is hereby pledged for the due payment of the interest and the redemption of the principal of the stock or treasury notes which may be

issued under the authority of this act; and the sum of twenty thousand dollars is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, to pay the expenses of preparing the certificates of stock or treasury notes herein authorized, to be done in the usual mode and under the restrictions as to employment and payment of officers contained in the laws authorizing former loans and issues of treasury notes; and it shall be at the option of holders of the treasury notes hereby authorized by this act, to exchange the same for the stock herein anthorized, at par, or for bonds, in lieu of which said treasury notes were issued: Provided, That no certificate shall be exchanged for treasury notes, or bonds, in sums less than five hundred dollars: And provided, further, That the authority to issue the said treasury notes, or give the same in payment for debts due from the United States, shall be limited to the thirtieth day of June, eighteen hundred and sixty-two; and that the same may be redeemable at the pleasure of the United States at any time within two years after the passage of this act; and that said notes shall cease to bear interest after they shall have been called in by the Secretary of the Treasury under the provisions of this act.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That from and after the first day of April, Anno Domini eighteen hundred and sixty-one, in lieu of the duties heretofore imposed by law on the articles hereinafter mentioned, and on such as may now be exempt from duty, there shall be levied, collected, and paid, on the goods, wares, and merchandise herein enumerated and provided for, imported from foreign countries, the following duties and rates of duties, that is to say:

First. On raw sugar, commonly called Muscovada or brown sugar, not advanced beyond the raw state by claying or other process; and on syrup of sugar, or of sugar cane, and concentrated molasses, or concentrated melado, and on white and clayed sugars, when advanced beyond the raw state by claying, or other process, and not refined, three-fourths of one cent per pound; on refined sugars, whether loaf, lump, crushed, or pulverized, two cents per pound; on sugars, after being refined, when they are tinctured, colored, or in any way adulterated, and on sugar candy, four cents per pound: Provided, That all syrups of sugar, or of sugar cane, concentrated molasses or melado, entered under the name of molasses, or any other name than syrup of sugar or of sugar cane, concentrated molasses, or concentrated melado, shall be liable to forfeiture to the United States; on molasses, two cents per gallon; on confectionery of all kinds, not otherwise provided for, thirty per centum ad valorem.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That from and after the day and year aforesaid there shall be levied, collected, and paid, on the importation of the articles hereinafter mentioned, the following duties, that is to say:

First. On brandy, for first proof, one dollar per gallon; on other spirits manufactured or distilled from grain, for first-proof, forty cents per gallon; on spirits from other materials, for first-proof, forty cents per gallon; on cordials and liquors of all kinds, fifty cents per gallon; on arrack, absynthe,

2

« PreviousContinue »