(10288.) Log-books. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Bureau of Navigation, Washington, D. C., October 18, 1890. SIR: It is found to be the practice at some ports for the United States shipping commissioner to retain the official log-book of a vessel of which the crew is paid in his office, at the end of her foreign voyage, while at other ports the book is delivered to the master. The practice first mentioned seems, in view of all the circumstances, to be correct. The shipping commissioner should carefully preserve the books in his office and see that they are delivered to his successor. Action will be taken accordingly. These instructions refer only to the log-book furnished to vessels for foreign voyages, and not to books furnished and used by masters of coasting vessels. Respectfully yours, WILLIAM W. BATES, Commissioner. Approved : WILLIAM WINDOM, Secretary. UNITED STATES SHIPPING COMMISSIONER, San Francisco, Cal. (10289.) Free entry books, etc., for societies. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, October 18, 1890. SIR: The Department is in receipt of a letter from Mr. Wm. Linn, dated Philadelphia, the 10th instant, in relation to the regulations provided for in paragraph 515 of the act of October 1, 1890, which paragraph reads as follows, viz: "Books, maps, lithographic prints, and charts specially imported, not more than two copies in any one invoice, in good faith, for the use of any society incorporated or established for educational, philosophical, literary, or religious purposes, or for the encouragement of the fine arts, or for the use or by order of any college, academy, school, or seminary of learning in the United States, subject to such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe." As said provision of law is substantially the same as the similar provision in the act of March 3, 1883, except that the words "subject to such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe" have been added, the regulations under the preceding act which were embodied in Department's circular of November 24, 1883 (Synopsis 8041), and June 8, 1889 (Synopsis 9424), and in articles 406 to 408, inclusive, of the General Regulations of 1884, as modified by various decis ions published in the Synopsis, are applicable to said provision of law, and are hereby continued in force. You will be governed accordingly. (5771 f.) O. L. SPAULDING, COLLECTOR OF CUSTOMS, Philadelphia, Pa. (10290.) Tobacco-Weight of, on withdrawals under first proviso to section 50, act of October 1, 1890. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, October 18, 1890. SIR: The Department is in receipt of your letter of the 14th instant, concerning applications which have been made to your office by importers who had tobacco in bonded warehouse prior to the passage of the act of October 1, 1890, for permission to withdraw the same at the weights as ascertained at the time of withdrawal from warehouse, such applications being based upon the second proviso of section 50 of said act, which prescribes that "when duties are based upon the weight of such merchandise at the time of its withdrawal." After a careful consideration of the matter, the Department is of opinion that such applications can not be granted, inasmuch as under the first proviso of said section special privilege is conferred upon merchandise which, like tobacco, is subject to increased duties under the new tariff act, of allowing it to be withdrawn for consumption at any time prior to February 1 next upon the payment of duty at the lower rates prescribed under the old tariff acts. Merchandise subject to increased duty under the new tariff act is thus entitled to withdrawal at the old rates, which are lower than the new rates, and consequently it must be held that the withdrawal entries for consumption of such merchandise made prior to February 1, 1891, must cover the same quantity of merchandise as to weights as if the entries had been made prior to the date when the act of October 1, 1890, took effect; in other words, the Department must decide that when the importer shall elect to withdraw his merchandise under the first proviso, a re-weighing at the time of withdrawal can not be allowed, for the reason that the goods so withdrawn by virtue thereof must be treated as wholly and exclusively subject to the provisions of the law in force prior to the passage of said act. Circular.-Free entry of various articles of domestic manufacture. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, October 20, 1890. To Collectors and other Officers of the Customs: 1. The provisions of paragraph 649, act of March 3, 1883, in relation to casks, barrels, carboys, bags, and other vessels of American manufacture, including shooks when returned as barrels or boxes, are reproduced in the same terms in paragraph 493 of the act of October 1, 1890, with the following addition, viz, "also quicksilver flasks or bottles, of either domestic or foreign manufacture, which shall have been actually exported from the United States." Articles 381, 382, 383, and 384 of the General Regulations of 1884, as amended by the Department's circular No. 85 of September 29, 1890, will therefore be continued in full force and effect. 2. The provision in said paragraph 649 for "articles the growth, produce, and manufacture of the United States, when returned in the same condition as exported," has also been modified so as to read as follows, viz: "Articles the growth, produce, and manufacture of the United States, when returned after having been exported, without having been advanced in value or improved in condition by any process of manufacture or other means," which modification does not appear to require any additional regulation as to the proofs required to secure the free entry of such articles, and the provisions of articles 373, 374, 375, 376, 377, and 378, as from time to time amended, are therefore also continued. 3. The provisions of section 2500, Revised Statutes, reproduced in the act of March 3, 1883, in regard to the assessment of a duty equal to the tax imposed by the internal-revenue laws on articles of domestic growth, produce, or manufacture, upon which no internal-revenue tax has been assessed or paid, are also modified by section 22, act of October 1, 1890, so as to require that articles manufactured in bonded warehouse and exported pursuant to law shall be subject on importation to the same rate of duty as if originally imported. Article 379, General Regulations of 1884, is continued, except as to such manufactured articles-that is, those exported from bonded manufacturing warehouse, upon which articles a duty shall be assessed at the same rate as if they were of foreign manufacture. 4. The following proviso is also contained in paragraph 493 of the act of October 1, 1890, viz: "That when manufactured tobacco which has been exported without payment of internal-revenue tax shall be re-imported, it shall be retained in the custody of the collector of customs until internal-revenue stamps in payment of the legal duties shall be placed thereon." The importer of such domestic manufactured tobacco will be advised by the collector of customs of the legal duties due on his importation, and furnished with a requisition on the collector of internal revenue for the district in which the custom-house is situated, which requisition will be substantially in the following form, viz: OFFICE OF THE COLLECTOR OF CUSTOMS, 18-. SIR: This is to certify that the following-described articles, viz, are now in my custody, and you are, therefore, requested to sell and deliver to Mr. the owner or consignee thereof, the proper kind and quantity of stamps to stamp the same as required by law. (Signed.) The stamps will be affixed to the packages and canceled in the usual manner, and the liquidation of the entry should indicate the manner in which the duties were paid. WILLIAM WINDOM, Secretary. (10292.) Circular.-Numbering of documents for yachts. To Collectors of Customs and others: TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Bureau of Navigation, Washington, D. C., October 22, 1890. Yacht licenses will hereafter have two series of numbers (Circular 75, June 1, 1885), as follows: Series (e). For licenses issued to enrolled yachts. Series (f). For licenses issued to yachts not enrolled. In future each series should begin on July 1, with No. 1. If but one series of numbers has been used at any port, the licenses issued to yachts after the receipt of these instructions will be numbered as if there were two series. Thus, if licenses have issued to six enrolled yachts and to three yachts not enrolled, the next license issuing to an enrolled yacht should be numbered 7," and that issuing to a yacht not enrolled should be numbered "4." WILLIAM W. BATES, Commissioner. Approved : WILLIAM WINDOM, Secretary. (10293.) Circular.-Consular invoices of merchandise less than one hundred dollars in value. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, October 22, 1890. To Collectors and other Officers of the Customs: The Department of State by its circular instructions of August 9, 1890, to United States consular officers concerning the forms of declarations and certificates prescribed by the act of June 10, 1890, when construing that portion of section 4 of the act which prescribes that "except in case of personal effects accompanying the passenger, no importation of any merchandise exceeding $100 in dutiable value shall be admitted to entry without the production of a duly certified invoice," takes the ground that "when the shipment is less than $100 in value the requirement of a certified invoice is a matter of discretion with the collector at the port of entry," and directs consular officers "not to authenticate such invoices except upon the special request of shippers." |