the port, or other officers usually charged with and accustomed to ascertain the condition of vessels arriving in distress, or, if there be no such officers, by the certificate of two reputable merchants to be named for that purpose by the collector, that there is a necessity for unlading the vessel, the collector and naval officer must grant a permit for that purpose and appoint an inspector to oversee such unlading, who must keep an account of the same to be compared with the manifest made by the master of the vessel.

In case the cargo thus unladen does not agree with the manifest thereof, the master is liable to the penalties prescribed in other like cases, unless the difference is satisfactorily accounted for.

All merchandise so unladen must be stored under the direction of the collector.

The collector, together with the naval officer, must, on the request of the master or of the owner, allow entry to be made, on payment of the duties of such part of the cargo as is of a perishable nature, or as may be necessary to defray the expenses attending such vessel and her cargo.

The cargo, or so much as may remain, after disposition of a part as above stated, must be reladen on board the vessel under the supervision of the inspector who superintended the unlading, or, of some other proper person, and the vessel must be cleared for her port of destination.

The vessel is free from any charge except for the storing and safe-keeping of the cargo, and the fees for the services of the officers of the customs, chargeable in other cases. (Rev. Stat., §§ 2,8912,894.) This seems to exempt from tonnage duty only of the Federal charges. (Decisions 1,788 of 1874, 3,164 of 1877, and Treasury letters February 3, 1879, and December 29, 1880.)

Vessels Obstructed by Ice.

148. When a vessel is prevented by ice from getting to the port or place proper for the unlading of her cargo, the vessel may be allowed to make entrance, and the collector and naval officer may allow entry of the cargo to be made, and may grant permits for unlading at any place within the district most convenient and proper. The vessel is otherwise subject to the same regulations and penalties as in other cases. (Rev. Stat., § 2,896.)

Vessels with Permits to Touch and Trade.

149. The master of any vessel licensed for the fisheries, having a permit to touch and trade at any foreign port, must deliver like

manifests and make like entrance within the same time, and under the same penalty, as are by law provided for vessels of the United States arriving from a foreign port, and like entries must be made of the merchandise. (Rev. Stat., § 4,364.)

The vessel having a license for the fisheries would, while employed in the fisheries, be exempt from the payment of tonnage duty ($ 4,220.) But the possession of a permit to touch and trade at a foreign port suggests a question of liability to the duty. On this subject the Treasury has said that such a vessel having touched at a foreign port, if she shall have been actually employed in catching fish, is not subject to tonnage duty on her arrival at a port of the United States. The question of employment is to be determined, in the first instance, by the collector of the port of arrival. (Decision 3,467, February 2, 1878.)

The question also arises whether the possession of the permit to touch and trade at any foreign port makes the vessel liable to the marine hospital tax. It seems not. For the question of liability turns upon the nature of the marine document, namely, the license for the fisheries, and not upon that of the employment. (Decisions 4,530, May 15, 1880; 4,761, February 3, 1881.)

Vessels Coastwise via Foreign Port.

150. The master of any vessel under United States register, employed between ports of the same, and touching at any foreign port, must, on her arrival at any port of the United States from any foreign port, conform to the laws providing for the delivery of manifests of cargo and passengers, and all other laws regulating the report and entrance of vessels from foreign ports, and be subject to all the penalties therein prescribed. (Rev. Stat., § 3,126.)

BOOK III.

GENERAL INFORMATION.

CHAPTER IX.

Collection Districts Defined.

151. The waters and shores of the United States are divided into collection districts, of which the boundaries are given in the Revised Statutes, in §§ 2,517 to 2,604.

Ports of Entry.

152. Each collection district has one port of entry. (See the sections named in paragraph 151.)

It is not lawful to make entrance of any vessel from any foreign port elsewhere than at a port of entry. (Rev. Stat., § 2,770.)

Vessels of the United States, bound for a port of delivery, must make entrance, and pay duties, at the port of entry before proceeding to the port of delivery. (§§ 2,770, 2,771, 2,772.)

Foreign vessels can unlade at ports of entry only. ($ 2,771.)

Ports of Delivery.

153. Every port of entry is also a port of delivery. (Rev. Stat., §2,770.) Some of the districts have additional ports of delivery. (See §§ 2,517 to 2,604, Rev. Stat.) Chattanooga, in the State of Tennessee, was created a port of delivery by act of February 28, 1881. Atlanta, in the State of Georgia, was also created a port of delivery by another act of the same date. Indianapolis, in the State of Indiana, was created a port of delivery by act of March 3, 1881.

Unlading at ports of delivery is reserved for vessels of the United States. (§§ 2,770, 2,771, 2,772.)

Great Coasting Districts.

154. The Atlantic sea-coast of the United States is divided into three great districts; the first includes all the collection districts between the easterly limits of the United States and the southerly limits of Georgia; the second all the collection districts between the river Perdido and the Rio Grande; and the third all the collection districts between the southerly limits of Georgia and the river Perdido. (Rev. Stat., § 4,348.)

Alaska.

155. "The coasting trade between the territory ceded to the United States by the Emperor of Russia and any other portion of the United States shall be regulated in accordance with the provisions of law applicable to such trade between any two great districts." (Rev. Stat., § 4,358.)

Rhode Island and Long Island.

156. Rhode Island and Long Island are put upon the same footing, as to coasting vessels, as they would have been if Long Island had been part of a State adjoining the State of Rhode Island. (Rev. Stat., § 4,357.)

War Vessels and Public Packets.

157. Vessels of the United States Government, and vessels of war of other nations, and public packets, employed by any foreign power for the conveyance of dispatches, need not make entrance nor clearance. This exemption seems to rest upon international law; but such foreign vessels are exempted by statute from the necessity of making entrance on their arrival from a foreign port. (Rev. Stat., § 2,791.)

Vessels Laden with Live-oak Timber.

158. Collectors of the districts within the States of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, before allowing a clearance to any vessel laden in whole or in part with live-oak timber, must ascertain satisfactorily that such timber was cut from private lands, or, if from public lands, by consent of the Department of the Navy. (Rev. Stat., §§ 2,463, 4,205.)

Measurement of Foreign Vessels.

159. A foreign vessel while in port must have her tonnage ascertained and stated by the surveyor. The master is entitled, on

demand, to a formal certificate, to be exhibited at domestic ports as evidence of tonnage. If the registered tonnage be according to the Moorsom system, which has also been adopted by the United States, it is accepted, after adding thereto whatever should be included under our law, but has been omitted under the foreign measurement. If the statement of tonnage in the register be not according to the Moorsom system, the vessel is actually measured, but under § 4,153, not under § 4,154, the latter being deemed superseded by the former, which is from a later statute.

160. The Secretary of the Treasury has authority to issue a commission to sail for pleasure in any designated yacht belonging to any regularly-organized and incorporated yacht club, for the identification of the yacht and her owners, as a token of credit to any United States official, and to the authorities of any foreign power, for the privileges enjoyed under it. (Rev. Stat., § 4,217.) The commission is not designed as a substitute for the yacht license, but is an additional document, which must be conclusive upon all United States officials, and may be so to the authorities of any foreign country. The commission is issued only to a yacht going abroad, and it must be surrendered on her return from a foreign cruise. (Rev. Stat., § 4,217; Decision 849 of 1871.)

Nitro-Glycerine on Passenger Vessels.

161. It is not lawful, upon or in any vessel or other vehicle used or employed in transporting passengers by land or water, to transport, carry or convey, ship, deliver on board, or cause to be delivered on board, the substance or article known as nitro-glycerine, or glynoin oil, nitroleum or blasting oil, or nitrated oil, or powder mixed with any such oil, or fiber saturated with any such article or substance, between a place in any foreign country and a place within the limits of any State, Territory, or district of the United States, or between a place in one State, Territory, or district of the United States, and a place in any other State, Territory, or district thereof. (Rev. Stat., § 4,278.)

Packing Nitro-Glycerine on other Vessels.

162. It is not lawful, by any vessel or other vehicle of any description, upon land or water, to ship, send, or forward any quantity of the substances named in the preceding paragraph, nor to transport, convey, or carry the same between a place in a foreign coun