Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

R. S., 2867.

R. S., 2868.

R. S., 2871.

215. Illegal unlading.

If after the arrival of any vessel laden with merchandise and bound to the United States, within the limits of any collection-district, or within four leagues of the coast, any part of the cargo of such vessel shall be unladen, for any purpose whatever, before such vessel has come to the proper place for the discharge of her cargo, or some part thereof, and has been there duly authorized by the proper officer of the customs to unlade the same, the master of such vessel and the mate, or other person next in command, shall respectively be liable to a penalty of one thousand dollars for each such offense, and the merchandise so unladen shall be forfeited, except in case of some unavoidable accident, necessity, or distress of weather. In case of such unavoidable accident, necessity, or distress, the master of such vessel shall give notice to, and, together with two or more of the officers or mariners on board such vessel, of whom the mate or other person next in command shall be one, shall make proof upon oath before the collector, or other chief officer of the customs of the district, within the limits of which such accident, necessity, or distress happened, or before the collector, or other chief officer of the collection-district, within the limits of which such vessel shall first afterward arrive, if the accident, necessity, or distress happened not within the limits of any district, but within four leagues of the coast of the United States. The collector, or other chief officer, is hereby authorized and required to administer such oath.

If any merchandise, so unladen from on board any such vessel, shall be put or received into any other vessel, except in the case of such accident, necessity, or distress, to be so notified and proved, the master of any such vessel into which the merchandise shall be so put and received, and every other person aiding and assisting therein, shall be liable to a penalty of treble the value of the merchandise, and the vessel in which they shall be so put shall be forfeited.

216. Special permit to unlade by night.

Upon arrival at any port in the United States of a June 30, 1906. steamship or other conveyance from a foreign port or place, or upon the arrival of a steamship or other conveyance from another port in the United States belonging to a line designated by the Secretary of the Treasury as a common carrier of bonded merchandise, the collector of customs, with the concurrence of the naval officer, where there is one, upon or after the issuing of a general order, shall grant, upon proper application therefor, a special license to lade or unlade the cargo of said vessel or other conveyance at night-that is to say, between sunset and sunrise; but before any such special license is granted the master, agents, or consignees of the vessel or other con

veyance shall execute and deliver to the collector a good and sufficient bond, to be approved by him, conditioned to indemnify and save the collector harmless from any and all losses and liabilities which may occur or be occasioned by reason of the granting of such special license. And any liability of the master or owner of any such steamship or other conveyance to the owner or consignee of any merchandise landed from her or other conveyance shall not be affected by the granting of such special license or of any general order, but such liability shall continue until the merchandise is properly removed from the dock whereon the same may be landed. The collector, under such general regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe, shall fix a uniform and reasonable rate of compensation for like service, to be paid by the master, owner, or consignee whenever such special license is granted, and shall collect and distribute the same among the inspectors assigned to superintend the lading or unlading of the cargo.

217. Unlading by day.

Except as authorized by the preceding section, no mer- R. S., 2872. chandise brought in any vessel from any foreign port shall be unladen or delivered from such vessel within the United States but in open day-that is to say, between the rising and the setting of the sun-except by special license from the collector of the port, and naval officer of the same, where there is one, for that purpose, nor at any time without a permit from the collector, and naval officer, if any, for such unlading or delivery.

When the license to unload between the setting and rising of the sun is granted to a sailing vessel under this section, a fixed, uniform, and reasonable compensation may be allowed to the inspector or inspectors for service between the setting and rising of the sun, under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe, to be received by the collector from the master, owner, or consignee of the vessel, and to be paid by him to the inspector or inspectors.

June 26, 1884.

Sec. 25.

If any merchandise shall be unladen or delivered from R. S., 2873. any vessel contrary to the preceding section, the master of such vessel, and every other person who shall knowingly be concerned, or aiding therein, or in removing, storing, or otherwise securing such merchandise, shall each be liable to a penalty of four hundred dollars for each offense, and shall be disabled from holding any office of trust or profit under the United States, for a term not exceeding seven years; and the collector of the district shall advertise the name of such person in a newspaper printed in the State in which he resides, within twenty days after each respective conviction.

All merchandise, so unladen or delivered contrary to R. S., 2874. the provisions of section twenty-eight hundred and sev

R. S., 2875.

R. S., 2876.

R. S., 2877.

enty-two, shall become forfeited, and may be seized by any of the officers of the customs; and where the value thereof, according to the highest market price of the same, at the port or district where landed, shall amount to four hundred dollars, the vessel, tackle, apparel, and furniture shall be subject to like forfeiture and seizure.

218. Supervision of unlading.

The collector of any district at which any vessel arrives, immediately on her first coming within such district, or the surveyor of any port where such vessel is, may put and keep on board such vessel, while remaining within such district, or in going from one district to another, one or more inspectors to examine the cargo or contents of such vessel, and to superintend the delivery thereof, or of so much thereof as shall be delivered within the United States, and to perform such other duties according to law, as they shall be directed by the collector, or surveyor, to perform for the better securing the collection of the duties. Only collectors shall have power, however, to put inspectors on board vessels to go from one district to another.

The inspector shall make known to the master of such vessel the duties he is to perform; and shall suffer no merchandise to be unladen, or otherwise removed from such vessel, without a permit in writing from the collector of the port, and naval officer thereof, if any. The inspector shall enter in a book, to be by him kept according to such a form as shall be prescribed or approved by the collector, the name of the person in whose behalf such permits are granted, together with the particulars therein. specified, and the marks, numbers, kinds, and description of the respective packages which shall be unladen pursuant thereto, and shall keep a like account in the book of all merchandise which, not having been entered within the time limited by this Title [R. S., 2517-3129], or for some other cause, has been sent to the store or warehouse provided for the reception of such merchandise; such book shall be delivered to the surveyor in the month of January in every year for his inspection, and immediately after such inspection be transmitted by the surveyor, with such observations as he may think necessary thereon, to the collector, to be deposited in his office.

The inspector shall attend to the delivery of the cargo under his care, at all times when the unlading or delivery of merchandise is lawful, particularly from the rising to the setting of the sun on each day, Sundays and the fourth day of July in each year excepted; for which purpose he shall constantly attend and remain on board the vessel, the deliveries from which he is to superintend, or at any other station where his inspection is necessary. The inspector shall not quit such station or place without the leave of the surveyor of the port first obtained, who shall

appoint another inspector, if he deems it necessary, to supply the place of such inspector during his absence; and any inspector who shall neglect or in any manner act contrary to the duties hereby enjoined, shall for the first offense be liable to a penalty of the sum of fifty dollars, and for the second offense shall be displaced, and be incapable of holding any station of trust or profit under the revenue laws of the United States, for a term not exceeding seven years.

No inspector shall perform any other duties or service R. S., 2878. on board any vessel, the superintendence of which is committed to him, for any person whatever, other than what is required by this Title [R. S., 2517-3129], under the penalty of being disabled from acting any longer as an inspector of the customs; the wages or compensation of such inspector as may proceed from one district to another, shall be defrayed by the master of the vessel committed to his care; every inspector or other officer of the revenue, while performing any duty on board any vessel, not in a port of the United States, discharging her cargo, shall be entitled to receive from the master of such vessel such provisions and accommodations as are usually supplied to passengers, or as the state and condition of such vessel will admit, on receiving therefor fifty cents a day; and any master of any vessel who shall refuse such provisions and reasonable accommodations shall be liable to a penalty of one hundred dollars.

If, by reason of the delivery of the cargo in several dis- R. S., 2879. tricts, more than the term allowed by law shall in the whole be spent therein, the wages or compensation of the inspector who may be employed on board of any vessel, in respect to which such term may be so exceeded, shall, for every day of such excess, be paid by the master or owner; and the inspector shall, previously to the clearance of the vessel, render an exact account to the collector of all such compensation as has been paid, or is due and payable by the master or owner.

The inspector who may be put on board of any vessel R. S., 3070 shall secure, after sunset in each evening, or previous to his quitting the vessel, the hatches and other communications with the hold of such vessel, or any other part thereof he may judge necessary, with locks or other proper fastenings, which locks or other fastenings shall not be opened, broken, or removed until the morning following, or after the rising of the sun, and in the presence of the inspector by whom the same were affixed, except by special license from the collector of the port, and the naval officer, if any, first obtained. If the locks or other fastenings, or any of them, are broken or removed contrary to this section, or if any merchandise or packages are clandestinely landed, notice thereof shall be immediately given by the inspector to the collector and naval

R. S., 2880.
May 9, 1896.

R. S., 2881.

Sec. 2.

officer, if any, of the port where the vessel may be; and the master of such vessel shall, for each or every such offense, be liable to a penalty of five hundred dollars.

219. Limit of time for unlading.

Whenever any merchandise shall be imported into any port of the United States from any foreign port, in any vessel, at the expiration of ten working days if the vessel is less than five hundred tons register, and within fifteen working days if it is of five hundred tons register and less than one thousand, and within twenty working days if it is of one thousand tons register and less than fifteen hundred, and within twenty-five working days if it is of fifteen hundred tons register and upward, not including legal holidays and days when the condition of the weather prevents the unlading of the vessel with safety to its cargo, after the time within which the report of the master of any vessel is required to be made to the collector of the district, if there is found any merchandise other than has been reported for some other district or some foreign port, the collector shall take possession thereof; but with the consent of the owner or consignee of any merchandise, or with the consent of the owner or master of the vessel in which the same may be imported, the merchandise may be taken possession of by the collector after one day's notice to the collector of the district. All merchandise so taken shall be delivered pursuant to the order of the collector of the district, for which a certificate or receipt shall be granted.

The limitation of time for unlading, prescribed by the June 3, 1892. preceding section, shall not extend to vessels laden exclusively with coal, salt, sugar, hides, dyewoods, wool, or jute butts, consigned to one consignee, arriving at a port for orders; but if the master of any such vessel requires a longer time to discharge her cargo, the wages or compensation of the inspector, for every day's attendance exceeding the number of days allowed by law, shall be paid by the master or owner; and thereupon the collector is hereby authorized and required to allow such longer time, not exceeding fifteen days.

R. S., 2969.

R. S., 2883.

All merchandise of which the collector shall take possession under the provisions relating to the time for the discharge of a vessel's cargo shall be kept with due and reasonable care at the charge and risk of the owner.

220. Unlading of wines and spirits.

Every permit for the unlading of spirits, wines, or any part thereof, shall, previous to such landing or unlading thereof, be produced to the officer of inspection, who shall record or register in proper books the contents thereof, and shall indorse thereupon the word "Inspected," the time when, and his own name; after which he shall return the permit to the person by whom it was produced,

« AnteriorContinuar »