Statement of the Case.

That defendant pretends that he is entitled "so to refuse to permit your orators to take possession of said teas and to dispose of the same, on the ground that samples of said teas, of

cause shall be forthwith filled by the Secretary of the Treasury by appointment, such appointee to hold for the unexpired term; that said board shall appoint a presiding officer, who shall be the medium of all communications to or from such board; that each member of said board shall receive as compensation the sum of fifty dollars per annum, which, together with all necessary expenses while engaged upon the duty herein provided, shall be paid out of the appropriation for "expenses of collecting the revenue from customs."

SEC. 3. That the Secretary of the Treasury, upon the recommendation of the said board, shall fix and establish uniform standards of purity, quality and fitness for consumption of all kinds of teas imported into the United States, and shall procure and deposit in the custom houses of the ports of New York, Chicago, San Francisco and such other ports as he may determine, duplicate samples of such standards; that said Secretary shall procure a sufficient number of other duplicate samples of such standards to supply the importers and dealers in tea at all ports during the same at cost. All teas, or merchandise described as tea, of inferior purity, quality and fitness for consumption to such standards shall be deemed within the prohibition of the first section hereof.

SEC. 4. That on making entry at the custom house of all teas, or merchandise described as tea, imported into the United States, the importer or consignee shall give a bond to the collector of the port that such merchandise shall not be removed from the warehouse until released by the collector, after it shall have been duly examined with reference to its purity, quality and fitness for consumption; that for the purpose of such examination samples of each line in every invoice of tea shall be submitted by the importer or consignee to the examiner, together with the sworn statement of such importer or consignee that such samples represent the true quality of each and every part of the invoice and accord with the specifications therein contained; or in the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury, such samples shall be obtained by the examiner and compared by him with the standards established by this act; and in cases where said tea, or merchandise described as tea, is entered at ports where there is no qualified examiner as provided in section seven, the consignee or importer shall in the manner aforesaid furnish under oath a sample of each line of tea to the collector or other revenue officer to whom is committed the collection of duties, and said officer shall also draw or cause to be drawn samples of each line in every invoice and shall forward the same to a duly qualified examiner as provided in section seven: Provided, however, That the bond above required shall also be conditioned for the payment of all custom-house charges which may attach to such merchandise prior to its being released or destroyed (as the case may be) under the provisions of this act.

Statement of the Case.

each of said several invoices hereinafter set forth, have been taken by examiners appointed under the alleged authority of the said act of Congress, and compared with certain other samples of other teas selected by the Secretary of the Treas

SEC. 5. That if, after an examination as provided in section four, the tea is found by the examiner to be equal in purity, quality and fitness for consumption to the standards hereinbefore provided, and no reëxamination shall be demanded by the collector as provided in section six, a permit shall at once be granted to the importer or consignee declaring the tea free from the control of the customs authorities; but if on examination such tea, or merchandise described as tea, is found, in the opinion of the examiner, to be inferior in purity, quality and fitness for consumption to the said standards the importer or consignee shall be immediately notified, and the tea, or merchandise described as tea, shall not be released by the custom house, unless on a reëxamination called for by the importer or consignee the finding of the examiner shall be found to be erroneous: Provided, That should a portion of the invoice be passed by the examiner, a permit shall be granted for that portion and the remainder held for further examination, as provided in section six.

SEC. 6. That in case the collector, importer or consignee shall protest against the finding of the examiner, the matter in dispute shall be referred for decision to a board of three United States general appraisers, to be designated by the Secretary of the Treasury, and if such board shall, after due examination, find the tea in question to be equal in purity, quality and fitness for consumption to the proper standards, a permit shall be issued by the collector for its release and delivery to the importer; but if upon such final reëxamination by such board the tea shall be found to be inferior in purity, quality and fitness for consumption to the said standards, the importer or consignee shall give a bond, with security satisfactory to the colleetor, to export said tea, or merchandise described as tea, out of the limits of the United States within a period of six months after such final reëxamination; and if the same shall not have been exported within the time specified, the collector, at the expiration of that time, shall cause the same to be destroyed.

SEC. 7. That the examination herein provided for shall be-made by a duly qualified examiner at a port where standard samples are established, and where the merchandise is entered at ports where there is no qualified examiner, the examination shall be made at that one of said ports which is nearest the port of entry, and that for this purpose samples of the merchandise, obtained in the manner prescribed by section four of this act, shall be forwarded to the proper port by the collector or chief officer at the port of entry; that in all cases of examination or reëxamination of teas, or merchandise described as tea, by examiners or boards of United States general appraisers under the provisions of this act, the purity, quality and fitness for consumption of the same shall be tested according to the usages and cus

Statement of the Case.

ury of the United States, and set up as standard samples of teas under the alleged authority of the said act of Congress, and that the samples so taken from the said teas hereinafter set forth, were inferior in some or all of the respects designated in said act of Congress, either as to purity, quality or fitness for consumption, to the standards so prescribed by said Secretary of the Treasury of the United States."

That defendant claims the right to retain the teas for six months, and then cause them to be destroyed, and demands that complainants shall give security satisfactory to him that toms of the tea trade, including the testing of an infusion of the same in boiling water, and, if necessary, chemical analysis.

SEC. 8. That in cases of reëxamination of teas, or merchandise described as teas, by a board of United States general appraisers in pursuance of the provisions hereof, samples of the tea, or merchandise described as tea, in dispute, for transmission to such board for its decision, shall be put up and sealed by the examiner in the presence of the importer or consignee if he so desires, and transmitted to such board, together with a copy of the finding of the examiner, setting forth the cause of condemnation and the claim or ground of the protest of the importer relating to the same, such samples, and the papers therewith, to be distinguished by such mark that the same may be identified; that the decision of such board shall be in writing, signed by them, and transmitted, together with the record and samples, within three days after the rendition thereof, to the collector, who shall forthwith furnish the examiner and the importer or consignee with a copy of said decision or finding. The board of United States general appraisers herein provided for shall be authorized to obtain the advice, when necessary, of persons skilled in the examination of teas, who shall each receive for his services in any particular case a compensation not exceeding five dollars.

SEC. 9. That no imported teas which have been rejected by a customs examiner or by a board of United States general appraisers, and exported under the provisions of this act, shall be reimported into the United States under the penalty of forfeiture for a violation of this prohibition.

SEC. 10. That the Secretary of the Treasury shall have the power to enforce the provisions of this act by appropriate regulations.

SEC. 11. That teas actually on shipboard for shipment to the United States at the time of the passage of this act shall not be subject to the prohibition hereof, but the provisions of the act entitled "An act to prevent the importation of adulterated and spurious teas," approved March second, eighteen hundred and eighty-three, shall be applicable thereto.

SEC. 12. That the act entitled “An act to prevent the importation of adulterated and spurious teas," approved March second, eighteen hundred and eighty-three, is hereby repealed, such repeal to take effect on the date on which this act goes into effect. 29 Stat. 604, c. 358.

Statement of the Case.

if said teas shall be released to them, they will forthwith export said teas out of the limits of the United States, and will submit the invoices and various papers relating to said teas to be marked by defendant as teas "condemned under the laws of the United States."

The bill then specifically enumerated the entries of the teas, the warehouses in which they were, and their value respectively, and charged that said act of Congress was in all respects null and void and of no effect, because contrary to the provisions of the Constitution of the United States, in that the act "purports to delegate to the Secretary of the Treasury power and authority to legislate as to the quality, purity and fitness for consumption of the teas imported by your orators, and to authorize the defendant to seize, hold and destroy said teas, and deprive your orators of their property in the same without due process of law, and that in this suit the matter in dispute, to wit, the value of the said teas, and the right to import teas, exclusive of interest and costs, exceeds the sum or value of two thousand dollars, and the suit arises under the Constitution and laws of the United States."

It was further alleged that by reason of the matters set forth and the insistence of defendant that he is entitled to hold possession and control of the goods under authority of the act of Congress," for the reason that the said 'examiners, after examination made pursuant to said statute, have declared the said teas to be inferior in the respects set forth in the said act of Congress, or some of them, to the standards fixed and selected by the Secretary of the Treasury, your orators will suffer irreparable damage; that the insistence of the defendant of his right to stamp the invoices and papers relating to the importation of said teas as condemned under the laws of the United States, renders the said teas worthless for export, and entry or sale in the markets of other countries, and that the said claim of the defendant that the said teas cannot be lawfully taken from the said warehouses, renders the said teas unsalable and worthless in the market, for the reason that dealers will not purchase or handle the said goods under the cloud or threat of illegality regarding the same

Statement of the Case.

created by such insistence and claim on the part of the defendant."

The bill continued: "Your orators further show that your orators purpose and intend to import from time to time other invoices of teas into the United States, and that the said defendant threatens and intends to seize and hold such teas, and take possession and control of the same, and refuse your orators possession of the same, in the same manner and under the same claim of authority of said act of Congress, as the said defendant has heretofore made and set up with regard to the teas herein before set forth, and that your orators' right to import and deal in teas is thereby destroyed and taken away."

is

That complainants "do not set up or allege as ground for denying the right of the defendant so to hold and deal with said teas, as herein before set forth, any defect, omission or irregularity in the proceedings by the examiners and appraisers with regard to said teas, but solely on the ground that the act of Congress herein before referred to unconstitutional and void, and confers no authority upon the defendant, and creates no right in the defendant to refuse to permit your orators to take possession of the said teas and introduce them into, and sell them in, the United States." And further, that complainants had complied in all respects with the requirements of law as to the entry of the teas in the custom house at the port of New York; that there was no further act required by law of complainants to entitle them to take possession and dispose of the same; and that complainants" are without any adequate remedy at law."

The bill prayed for injunction restraining defendant "from continuing to hold possession of the said teas, as herein before set forth, and from refusing to permit your orators to take possession of the same and withdraw the same from the said warehouses, and from marking or stamping the invoices and papers relating to the importation thereof with the words, 'condemned under the laws of the United States,' or any words to that effect, and from destroying the said teas, and from exercising any alleged right, possession or authority