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CHAPTER IV.

CLEARANCE, ON FOREIGN VOYAGE BY SEA.

Shippers' Manifests.

24. Before a clearance can be granted for any vessel bound to a foreign port, the owners, shippers, or consignors of the cargo of such vessel, must deliver to the collector manifests of the cargo shipped by them respectively, specifying the kinds and quantities of the articles shipped respectively, and the value of the total quantity of each kind of articles, and the foreign port in which it is truly intended to be landed, and must verify the shippers' manifests, respectively, by oath, subscribed, that it contains a full, just, and true account of all articles laden on board such vessel, by the owner, shipper, or consignor, respectively, and that the values of such articles are truly stated, according to their actual cost, or the values which they truly bear at the port and time of exportation. (Rev. Stat., § 337, fifth paragraph, § 4,200.)

Masters Manifests.

25. The master, or other person, having the command of any vessel bound to a foreign port, must deliver to the collector of the district from which such vessel is about to depart, a manifest, subscribed by himself, of all the cargo on board the vessel, and the value thereof, and shall swear that the same contains, according to the best of his knowledge and belief, a full, just, and true account of all the goods, wares, and merchandise actually laden on board the vessel, and of the value thereof; that, if any other goods, wares, or merchandise shall be laden on board the vessel previous to her sailing from the port, he will immediately report the same to the collector; that he verily believes that the duties on all the foreign merchandise therein specified have been paid or secured, according to law, and that no part thereof is intended to be relanded within the United States; and that if, by distress or other unavoidable accident, it shall become necessary to reland the same, he will forthwith make a just and true report thereof to the collector of the customs of the district wherein such distress or accident may happen; and must state the foreign port in which such cargo is truly intended to be landed. For failure thereof, the master is liable to a penalty of five hundred dollars. (Rev. Stat., §§ 4,197, 4,198, 4,200.)

The master must further swear that he has not received on

board, has not under his care or control, and will not receive or convey, any letter or packet originating in the United States which has not been regularly received from the post-office at the port of departure, and which does not relate to the cargo of the vessel, except such as are inclosed in a duly directed and properly sealed envelope, stamped with postage-stamps sufficient to cover the postage that would be chargeable thereon if the same were sent by mail, and with the date of the letter, or of the receipt or transmission thereof, written or stamped upon the envelope. (Rev. Stat., §§ 3,987, 3,993.)

Evidence of Tonnage of Foreign Vessels.

26. If the vessel be under a foreign flag, the master must produce, from the surveyor to the collector, a certificate of the tonnage, and the same is attached to the master's manifest, and goes upon file with it.

State and Municipal Charges.

27. The legal fees which have accrued on a vessel must be paid at the offices where such fees are respectively payable, and receipts therefor must be produced to the collector, before he can grant a clearance for a vessel to a foreign port. (Rev. Stat., § 4,206.)

These fees are usually paid at the time of the entrance of the vessel, and to the collector as the agent for the other officials.

Adjustment of Inward Foreign Voyage.

28. If the vessel came last from a foreign port, all questions relating to her inward voyage, such as fees, tonnage duty, charges, and discrepancies between the manifest and the return, must be adjusted before the vessel is permitted to make clearance. (Rev. Stat., § 2,889.)

Effects of Deceased Seamen, United States Vessels.

29. No officer of customs can lawfully clear any "foreigngoing" vessel of the United States, if any seaman or apprentice died on the homeward voyage, without the production of a certificate from the United States Shipping Commissioner that the master has delivered to such commissioner the effects remaining unsold, and paid to him the money received on sale of effects, and balance of wages, of such deceased seaman or apprentice. (Rev. Stat., § 4,539.)

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United States Vessels must Receive Department Mails.

30. The master of any vessel of the United States, bound from a port therein to any foreign port, must receive on board before clearance, and securely convey, all such mails as the Post-Office Department shall offer; and must promptly deliver the same, on arriving at the port of destination, to the proper officer, for which he shall receive two cents for each letter so delivered. (Rev. Stat., $$ 3,976, 4,203.)

United States Vessels must Receive Bullion, Notes, Bonds, etc.

31. The master of any vessel of the United States, bound from any port therein to any foreign port, must, before clearance, receive on board all such bullion, coin, United States notes and bonds, and other securities, as the Government of the United States, or any department thereof, shall offer, and must securely convey and promptly deliver the same to the proper authorities or consignees, on arriving at the port of destination, for such reasonable compensation as may be allowed to other carriers in the ordinary transactions of business. (Rev. Stat., § 4,204.)

Certificate under State Inspection Laws.

32. No vessel having on board merchandise liable to inspection under the laws of any State can be lawfully cleared by any officer of customs acting in that State, until a certificate shall have been produced to him, if the law of that State require it, that such merchandise has been duly inspected. (Rev. Stat., § 4,202.)

Shipping Articles of United States Vessels.

33. In order to have for convenient reference at the port of shipment, and at foreign ports, evidence of the contract between the master and the mariners, it is required of the master of any vessel of the United States, bound on any foreign voyage, to produce to the collector and lodge with him the shipping articles signed by the seamen, and to obtain from him a certified copy thereof, written in a uniform hand, without erasures or interlineations. (Rev. Stat., § 4,575, second paragraph.)

34. The master of every vessel of the United States bound to any foreign port, or from a port on the Atlantic to a port on the Pacific, or the converse, must have the shipping articles executed before a United States shipping commissioner, if there be one at the port of departure; except vessels engaged in trade between the

United States and the British North American possessions, or the West India Islands, or the republic of Mexico, or between Atlantic and Pacific ports, if of less than seventy-five tons burden. (Rev. Stat., §§ 4,511, 4,512, chapter cclx, June 9, 1874.)

Crew Lists.

35. In order to protect mariners from being left abroad unlawfully, the master of every vessel of the United States, bound on a foreign voyage or engaged in the whale fishery, must deliver to the collector a list containing the names, places of birth and residence, and the description of the persons who compose the ship's company, verified by the oath of the master, that the list contains the names of his crew, together with the places of their birth and residence, so far as he can ascertain them. (Rev. Stat., § 4,573.) This is commonly known as the List of Persons, to distinguish it from the certified copy, which is known as the Crew List.

36. The collector who clears the vessel must examine the list of persons for approval; and no person may be admitted or employed on board the vessel unless his name shall have been entered in the list of persons approved by the collector. The collector must record the list in a book kept for that purpose, which must be open for the inspection of all persons; and a certified copy thereof must be admitted in evidence in any court in which any question may arise under Title liii, relative to Merchant Seamen. After approval of the list of persons, the collector must deliver to the master a certified copy thereof. (Rev. Stat., §§ 4,574, 4,573.) This certified copy must be a fair copy, without erasure or interlineation, and in one uniform handwriting (§ 4,575). It is verified by the oath of the master before the collector, and is known as the Crew List.

Crew Bonds.

37. The master must enter into bond, with sufficient surety, in the sum of four hundred dollars, to exhibit the crew list to the first boarding officer, at the first port of arrival after his return to the United States, and the boarding officer must examine the men with the list, and make report to the collector. If the port of arrival be different from the port at which the crew list was issued, the collector of the port first named must notify the other of the report of the boarding officer. Certificate under the hand and seal of the United States Consul, Vice-Consul, or Commercial Agent, of discharge with his official consent, is sufficient to account for mariners discharged; and as to such as died, absconded, or were

impressed into other service, "satisfactory proof" must be exhibited to the collector. (Rev. Stat., § 4,576.) The oath of the master is taken as presumptive proof.

Clearance for a Foreign Port.

38. The collector must thereupon grant a clearance for the vessel and her cargo, but need not specify the particulars of her cargo unless required so to do by the master. The penalty for a failure to obtain the clearance is five hundred dollars. (Rev. Stat., SS 4,197, 4,201.) If there be a naval officer at the port he must countersign the clearance (§ 2,626). The clearance has in print upon the back thereof a schedule of consular fees (§ 4,207).

Permit to Proceed for Additional Cargo.

39. If the vessel desire to take additional cargo at some other domestic port, she may either have a clearance for the foreign port via the domestic one, or she may have a permit to proceed to the domestic port to finish lading, such permit being different from the ordinary permit to proceed to a domestic port in the domestic trade. (Decision 3,815, December 10, 1878.) In either case the master should have a certified copy of his manifest from the first domestic port to exhibit at the second.

Bills of Health.

40. A bill of health is issued, on demand, if the port of departure be in a normal condition of healthfulness.

Delivery of United States Registers.

41. The master of a vessel of the United States is then entitled to have delivered to him his "certificate of registry," popularly called register; and may proceed to sea. (Rev. Stat., $2,790.) He should, however, observe whatever formalities are required of him by the laws of the country to which his vessel is bound.

Registers of Foreign Vessels.

42. If the vessel be under a foreign flag, and her register be on deposit with the consul of the nation to which she belongs, the clearance must be produced to the consul before he can lawfully redeliver to the master his register and other papers.

§ 4,211.)

Amendment to the Master's Manifest.

(Rev. Stat.,

43. The master may amend his manifest, under his oath, at any time before the vessel shall have finally left the port; and he is by

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