ures. A pecuniary interest in fines and penalties has a tendency to bias the judgment of the officer, and incline. him toward undue exactions for his own benefit. The committee therefore recommends, to all the countries represented, the adoption of laws (where these do not already exist) providing for the deposit in the Government treasury of all the moneys received by customs officers, and the substitution of a system of rewards for specially meritorious service. (Rec. 17.) D.-Additional suggestions. 29. The committee has been convinced of the advantages to be derived from a periodical compilation, publication, and distribution of official statistics of the navigation and foreign commerce of the countries represented in the Conference. These statistics are often the indispensable bases for legislative enactments affecting international interests. (Rec. 18.) 30. In addition to the adoption of common statistical forms, the committee recommends the establishment of an international bureau for the systematic collection and distribution of useful information relating to the exterior navigation and commerce of the conferring powers, and to the changes in their customs laws and regulations. The expense of maintaining such a bureau would be inconsiderable and its benefits inestimable. As one example of the practicability and economy of such a bureau, the bureau of universal postal union, conducted by the Government of Switzerland, may be cited. A more cognate instance is to be found in the plan for an international union for the publication of customs tariffs, etc., formulated by the conference held at Brussels in May, 1888, in which most of the commercial nations of the globe were represented, and it is urged that a union be effected between the Republics represented in this Conference, which would insure a prompt and accurate publication at the common expense, for the common benefit, of important commercial information. To accomplish this purpose the proposed international bureau might with advantage be maintained under the supervision of one of the represented countries and charged with the translation into English, Spanish, and Portuguese, and the publication and distribution of all the American tariffs, and such modifications of the same as may occur in due course. The countries comprised in this Conference should each engage to send to the bureau without delay copies of (1) Their respective customs laws, including tariffs (2) Explanations of the effect of modifications which (5) All available statistics relating to external com- The annual expense of maintenance would properly be assessed in due proportion to the amount of the foreign commerce of the countries interested. A common form adapted to the uniform exhibition of the desired facts will, if desired by the Conference, be prepared and submitted hereafter. (Rec. 18.) MEASURES RECOMMENDED. In accordance with the conclusion thus carefully set forth, your committee asks the Conference to recommend to all the countries here represented the adoption of the following measures: 1. That forms be adopted for outward manifests of vessels, which shall be lodged at the custom-house by masters of vessels at the time of clearance, and for supplementary manifests of steamers belonging to established lines to be made by the resident agents thereof, and lodged by them in the custom-house within twenty-four hours after the sailing of the vessels, which manifests shall be used only for the determination of the cargo, etc., and shall not re quire consular certification. That every such manifest shall show the name of the vessel and of her master, the ports of departure and destination, a description of her cargo by marks, numbers, and supposed contents of packages, with names of consignees and consignors, but no statement of values. On the exportation of merchandise each individual shipper shall make and lodge at the custom-house for statistical purposes a special manifest stating quantities, character, and values of the goods exported by him; and for a failure so to do, he shall be subjected to a penalty. The master of any vessel may, within forty-eight hours after the entrance at the custom-house and before any of the cargo shall have been landed, change her destination and proceed on his voyage. On entering a foreign port the master of every vessel belonging to one of the represented countries shall lodge with the customs authorities an inward manifest, containing all the facts shown by the outward manifest, including a list of the passengers and crew and an account of surplus ship stores remaining on board. This manifest must be verified by the master's personal declaration at the custom-house. It shall not be accepted in lieu of an invoice and no consular certification shall be required. Forms for outward, inward, and shipper's manifests are herewith submitted. With a view that each Government shall have official record of its export trade by rail with adjoining countries, any persons delivering to a railway or other transportation company commodities for export to an adjoining country shall also deliver a manifest thereof, showing the kind, quantity, and value of such commodities; and this manifest shall be delivered to the customs officer of the exporting country nearest to the borders thereof. 2. For the entry of imported merchandise, invoices shall be made out in the language and currency of either the country of import or of export, or in any currency actually paid for the merchandise. They must declare the contents and value of each package and state the quantities and the values of the goods in figures and not in words, and the amounts so expressed, with any additions which the importer may make in his entry, shall be accepted at the custom-house as the basis for preliminary estimates of duty. Wherever consular certification of manifests has heretofore been required the certification of invoices shall be accepted in lieu of the same. The consul's fee for legalization and certification shall be fixed at the uniform rate of $2.50 for each invoice, but no fee shall be required for duplicates of an original invoice, nor for any invoice the value of which does not exceed $100; provided that such invoice shall not have been subdivided for the purpose of reducing its total value. If, by the reason of delay in the mails or other satisfactory cause, a certified invoice can not be produced, entry shall be allowed on a statement in the form of an invoice, and when the amount exceeds $100 the execution of a bond shall be required for the subsequent production of an invoice duly certified. In case any of the packages covered by an invoice shall, by reason of short shipment, fail to arrive, entry may subsequently be made of the missing packages by means of a properly verified extract or copy of the original invoice. (Par. 11.) 3. That all imported merchandise shall be entered at the port of arrival on a prescribed form, which shall be a declaration or petition signed by the importer and giving the ship's name, port of departure and date of arrival, the particulars of the packages, including the weight or quantity and the supposed dutiable or free class of contents; also their values expressed in the currency of the invoice and reduced to the currency of the country of importation. The entry must agree in all essentials with the invoice and the bill of lading. That in all proceedings relating to the importation and entry of merchandise the declaration of the importer over his signature shall be received in lieu of his oath, and that any false declaration so signed shall subject him to such penalties as may be provided by the respective countries. (Par. 12.) 4. That every reasonable facility shall be afforded for the unobstructed transit of merchandise through one country to an adjacent country, especially where transporta tion can be directly affected by railway or water routes and where bonds can be furnished for the delivery of such merchandise, intact, within the jurisdiction of the adjoining country. That in no case shall the contents of such packages be made subject to duty or to examination by customs officers while in transit, or to any onerous requirements and exactions, but they shall be held amenable to such supervision only as shall be incidental to proper safeguards against their unlawful introduction into the markets of the country through which they may be transported. (Par. 13.) 5. That technical defects in the form of any document which has been duly authenticated before the consul of any one of the countries shall not, in that country, be deemed sufficient cause for the imposition of fines or penalties, and that all other manifest clerical errors may be corrected, after entry at the custom-house, without prejudice to the consignee or the owner. (Par. 9.) 6. That every facility shall be granted in the various ports of entry for the entrance and clearance of vessels and the discharge and lading of cargoes; and, on all days when other official business may be suspended, that the custom-house shall be open during some part of each day, for the prompt entrance and clearance of vessels. (Par. 14.) 7. That the scale of duties shall be so arranged as to avoid the necessity of additional fees and charges, and that every country in which they continue to be exacted shall establish and publish a list of all fees and charges which are statutory in its ports, and that such exactions shall be respectively adjusted, so far as it is practicable, to cover the actual cost of the service rendered therefor. (Par. 15.) 8. That in all cases of dispute as to the legal rate or amount of duty, the importer shall be allowed to deposit under protest the maximum duty demanded by the customs authorities and to take possession of his goods; the entry in such cases to be liquidated as promptly as practicable after the final decision is reached, and the excess of duty (if any) refunded to the importer. (Par. 16.) 9. That in the principal ports of the countries here rep |