Sec. 15. Sec. 17. Sec. 18. Sec. 19. It shall be the duty of any officer or person employed in the customs-revenue service of the United States, upon detection of any violation of the customs laws, forthwith to make complaint thereof to the collector of the district, whose duty it shall be promptly to report the same to the district attorney of the district in which such frauds shall be committed. Immediately upon the receipt of such complaint, if, in his judgment, it can be sustained, it shall be the duty of such district attorney to cause investigation into the facts to be made before a United States commissioner having jurisdiction thereof, and to initiate proper proceedings to recover the fines and penalties in the premises, and to prosecute the same with the utmost diligence to final judgment. Whenever, for an alleged violation of the customs-revenue laws, any person who shall be charged with having incurred any fine, penalty, forfeiture, or disability other than imprisonment, or shall be interested in any vessel or merchandise seized or subject to seizure, when the appraised value of such vessel or merchandise is not less than one thousand dollars, shall present his petition to the judge of the district in which the alleged violation occurred, or in which the property is situated, setting forth, truly and particularly, the facts and circumstances of the case, and praying for relief, such judge shall, if the case, in his judgment, requires, proceed to inquire, in a summary manner into the circumstances of the case, at such reasonable time as may be fixed by him for that purpose, of which the district attorney and the collector shall be notified by the petitioner, in order that they may attend and show cause why the petition should be refused. The summary investigation hereby provided for may be held before the judge to whom the petition is presented, or if he shall so direct, before any United States commissioner for such district, and the facts appearing thereon shall be stated and annexed to the petition, and, together with a certified copy of the evidence, transmitted to the Secretary of the Treasury, who shall thereupon have power to mitigate or remit such fine, penalty, or forfeiture, or remove such disability, or any part thereof, if, in his opinion, the same shall have been incurred without willful negligence or any intention of fraud in the person or persons incurring the same, and to direct the prosecution, if any shall have been instituted for the recovery thereof, to cease and be discontinued upon such terms or conditions as he may deem reasonable and just. It shall not be lawful for any officer or officers of the United States to compromise or abate any claim of the United States arising under the customs laws, for any fine, penalty, or forfeiture incurred by a violation thereof; and any officer or person who shall so compromise or abate any such claim, or attempt to make such compromise or abatement, or in any manner relieve or attempt to relieve from such fine, penalty, or forfeiture, shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, on conviction thereof, shall suffer imprisonment not exceeding ten years, and be fined not exceeding ten thousand dollars. Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect any Jan. 22, 1875. authority, power, or right which might theretofore have been lawfully exercised by any court, judge, or district attorney of the United States to obtain the testimony of an accomplice in any crime against, or fraud upon the customs-revenue laws, on any trial or proceeding for a fine, penalty, or forfeiture under said laws, by a discontinuance or dismissal, or by an engagement to discontinue or dismiss any proceedings against such accomplice. Sec. 19. Provided, however, That the Secretary of the Treasury June 22, 1874. shall have power to remit any fines, penalties, or forfeitures, or to compromise the same, in accordance with existing law. Whenever any application shall be made to the Secre- Sec. 20. tary of the Treasury for the mitigation or remission of any fine, penalty, or forfeiture, or the refund of any duties, in case the amount involved is not less than one thousand dollars, the applicant shall notify the district attorney and the collector of customs of the district in which the duties, fine, penalty, or forfeiture accrued; and it shall be the duty of such collector and district attorney to furnish to the Secretary of the Treasury all practicable information necessary to enable him to protect the interests of the United States. 188. Oaths of masters and owners. Nothing contained in this Title [R. S., 2517-3094] shall R. S., 3094. be construed to exempt the masters or owners of vessels from making and subscribing any oaths required by any laws of the United States not immediately relating to the collection of the duties on the importation of merchandise into the United States. PART XV.-ENTRY OF MERCHANDISE. R. S., 2766. R. S., 2767. R. S., 2768. R. S., 2769. 189. Definitions. 211. Clearance at special ports. 212. Entry of merchandise for different port of destination. 213. Comparison of cargo and manifest. 214. Preliminary entry and unlading. 215. Illegal unlading. 216. Special permit to unlade by night. 217. Unlading by day. 218. Supervision of unlading. 219. Limit of time for unlading. 220. Unlading of wine and spirits. 222. Returns of unlading of cargo. 225. Unlawful removal of bonded mer- 226. Transportation in bond. 227. Transportation to special ports. 228. Immediate delivery. 229. Immediate transportation. 230. Salvage of merchandise. 231. Fraudulent importation of mer chandise. 232. Bribery and solicitation of bribes. 233. Express packages. 234. Liens for freight or general average. The word "merchandise," as used in this Title [R. S., 2517-3129], may include goods, wares, and chattels of every description capable of being imported. The word "port," as used in this Title [R. S., 2517– 3129], may include any place from which merchandise can be shipped for importation, or at which merchandise can be imported. The word "master," as used in this Title [R. S., 2517– 3129], may include any person having the chief charge or command of the employment and navigation of a vessel. In cases where the forms of official documents, as prescribed by this Title [R. S., 2517-3129], shall be substantially complied with and observed, according to the true intent thereof, no penalty or forfeiture shall be incurred by a deviation therefrom. 190. Ports of entry. It shall not be lawful to make entry of any vessel which R. S., 2770. shall arrive within the United States, from any foreign port, or of the cargo on board such vessel, elsewhere than at one of the ports of entry designated in chapter one [R. S., 2517-2612] of this Title [R. S., 2517-3129]; nor to unlade the cargo, or any part thereof, elsewhere than at one of the ports of delivery therein designated, except that every port of entry shall be also a port of delivery. This section shall not prevent the master or commander of any vessel from making entry with the collector of any district in which such vessel may be owned, or from which she may have sailed on the voyage from which she shall then have returned. [For list of ports of entry and delivery see paragraph 454, page 471.] Vessels which are not vessels of the United States shall R. S., 2771. be admitted to unlade only at ports of entry established by law; and no such vessel shall be admitted to make entry in any other district than in the one in which she shall be admitted to unlade. 191. Vessels bound to port of delivery. The master of every vessel bound to a port of delivery R. S., 2772. only, in any district, shall first come to at the port of entry of such district, with his vessel, and there make report and entry in writing, and pay all duties required by law, port fees and charges, before such vessel shall proceed to her port of delivery. Any master of a vessel who shall proceed to a port of delivery contrary to such directions shall be liable to a penalty of five hundred dollars, to be recovered with costs of suit. 192. Report and declaration of master. Within twenty-four hours after the arrival of any ves- R. S., 2774. sel, from any foreign port, at any port of the United States established by law, at which an officer of the customs resides, or within any harbor, inlet, or creek thereof, if the hours of business at the office of the chief officer of the customs at such port will permit, or as soon thereafter as such hours will permit, the master shall repair to such office, and make report to the chief officer, of the arrival of the vessel; and he shall, within forty-eight hours after such arrival, make a further report in writing, to the collector of the district, which report shall be in the form, and shall contain all the particulars required to be inserted in, and verified like, a manifest. Every master who shall neglect or omit to make either of such reports and declarations, or to verify any such declaration as required, or shall not fully comply with the true intent and meaning of this section, shall, for each offense, be liable to a penalty of one thousand dollars. R. S., 2775. R. S., 2773. Mar. 2, 1895. The master of any vessel having on board distilled spirits, or wines, shall, within forty-eight hours after his arrival, whether the same be at the first port of arrival of such vessel or not, in addition to the requirements of the preceding section, report in writing to the surveyor or officer acting as inspector of the revenue of the port at which he has arrived, the foreign port from which he last sailed, the name of his vessel, his own name, the tonnage and denomination of such vessel, and to what nation belonging, together with the quantity and kinds of spirits and wines, on board of the vessel, particularizing the number of casks, vessels, cases, or other packages containing the same, with their marks and numbers, as also the quantity and kinds of spirits and wines, on board such vessel as sea-stores, and in default thereof he shall be liable to a penalty of five hundred dollars and any spirits omitted to be reported shall be forfeited. If any vessel, having arrived within the limits of any collection-district, from any foreign port, departs, or attempts to depart from the same, unless to proceed on her way to some more interior district to which she may be bound, before report or entry shall have been made by the master with the collector of some district, the master shall be liable to a penalty of four hundred dollars; and any collector, naval officer, surveyor, or commander of any revenue-cutter may cause such vessel to be arrested and brought back to the most convenient port of the United States. If, however, it is made to appear by the oath of the master, and of the person next in command, or by other sufficient proof to the satisfaction of the collector of the district within which such vessel shall afterward come, or to the satisfaction of the court in which the prosecution for such penalty may be had, that the departure or attempt to depart was occasioned by stress of weather, pursuit or duress of enemies, or other necessity, the penalty imposed by this section shall not be incurred. 193. Special inward manifest for Treasury Department. Each master of a vessel arriving in the United States from a foreign port except vessels carrying traffic in bond on transfer ferries shall, immediately upon landing and before entering his vessel at the custom-house, mail to the Auditor for the Treasury Department, Washington, a true copy of the manifest of his vessel, and shall on entering his vessel make affidavit that he has mailed such copy and that the same is true and correct; and he shall also mail to the said Auditor a true copy of the corrected manifest filed on any post entry of his vessel. Any master who neglects or refuses to mail to the Auditor the required copy of the original or corrected manifest shall be subject to the same fines and penalties fixed by law for his failure to deliver the manifest of his vessel to the col |