ACT OF 1909.

SEC. 28. SUBSEC. 29, That a United States Court of Customs Appeals is hereby created, and said court shall consist of a presiding judge and four associate judges appointed by the President. by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, each of whom shall receive a salary of $10,000 per annum. It shall be a court of record, with jurisdiction as hereinafter established and limited.

Said court shall prescribe the form and style of its seal and the form of its writs and other process and procedure and exercise such powers conferred by law as may be conformable and necessary to the exercise of its jurisdiction. It shall have the services of a marshal, with the same duties and powers, under the. regulations of the court, as are now provided for the marshal of the Supreme Court of the United States, so far as

the same may be applicable. Said

services within the District of Columbia shall be performed by a marshal at a salary of $3,000 per annum, to be appointed by and hold office during the pleasure of said court said services outside the District of Columbia to be performed by the United States marshals in and for the districts where sessions of said court may be held, and to this end said marshals shall be the marshals of said Court of Customs Appeals. The court shall appoint a clerk, whose office shall be in the city of Washington, District of Columbia, and who shall perform and exercise the same duties and powers in regard to all matters within the jurisdiction of said court as are now exercised and performed by the clerk of the Supreme Court of the United States, so far as the same may be applicable. The

salary of the clerk shall be $4,000 per annum, which sum shall be in full payment for all service rendered by such clerk, and all fees of any kind whatever, and all costs shall be by him turned into the United States Treasury. Said clerk shall not be appointed by the court or any judge thereof as a commissioner, master, receiver, or referee. The costs and fees in the said court shall be fixed and established by said court in a table of fees to be adopted and approved by the Supreme Court of the United States within four months after the organization of said court: Provided, That the costs and fees so fixed shall not, with respect to any item, exceed the costs and fees charged in the Supreme Court of the United States; and the same shall be expended, accounted for, and paid over to the Treasury of the United States. The court shall have power to establish all rules and regulations for the conduct of the business of the court and as may be needful for the uniformity of decisions within its jurisdiction as conferred by law.

The said Court of Customs Appeals shall always be open for the transaction of business, and sessions thereof may, in the discretion of the court, be held by the said court, in the several judicial circuits, and at such places as said court may from time to time designate.

The presiding judge of said court shall be so designated in order of appointment and in the commission issued him by the President, and the associate judges shall have precedence according to the date of their commissions. Any three of the members of said court shall constitute a quorum, and the concurrence of three

ACT OF 1909-Continued.

members of said court shall be neces sary to any decision thereof.

The said court shall organize and open for the transaction of business in the city of Washington, District of Columbia, within ninety days after the judges, or a majority of them, shall have qualified.

After the organization of sald court no appeal shall be taken or allowed from any Board of United States General Appraisers to any other court, and no appellate jurisdiction shall thereafter be exercised or allowed by any other courts in cases decided by said Board of United States General Appraisers; but all appeals allowed by law from such Board of General Appraisers shall be subject to review only in the Court of Customs Appeals hereby established, according to the provisions of this Act: Provided, That nothing in this Act shall be deemed to deprive the Supreme Court of the United States of jurisdiction to hear and determine all customs cases which have heretofore been certified to said court from the United States circuit courts of appeals on applications for writs of certiorari or otherwise, nor to review by writ of certiorari any customs case heretofore decided or now pending and hereafter decided by any circuit court of appeals, provided application for said writ be made within six months after the passage of this Act: And provided further, That all customs cases heretofore decided by a circuit or district court of the United States or a court of a Territory of the United States and which have not been removed from said courts by appeal or writ of error, and all such cases heretofore submitted for decision in said courts and remaining undecided may be reviewed on appeal at the instance of either party by the United States Court of Customs Appeals, provided such appeal be taken within one year from the date of the entry of the order, judgment or decree sought to be reviewed.

The Court of Customs Appeals established by this Act shall exercise exclusive appellate jurisdiction to reView by appeal, as provided by this Act. final decisions by a Board of General Appraisers in all cases as to the construction of the law and the facts respecting the classification of merchandise and the rate of duty imposed thereon under such classificaticn, and the fees and charges connected therewith, and all appealable

ACT OF 1909-Continued.

questions as to the jurisdiction of said board, and all appealable questions as to the laws and regulations governing the collection of the customs revenues; and the judgment or decrees of said Court of Customs Appeals shall be final in all such cases.

Any judge who, in pursuance of the provisions of this Act, shall attend a session of the Court of Customs Appeals held at any place other than the city of Washington, District of Columbia, shall be paid, upon his written and itemized certificate, by the marshal of the district in which the court shall be held, his actual and necessary expenses incurred for travel and attendance, and the actual and necessary expenses of one stenographic clerk who may accompany him, and such payments shall be allowed the marshal in the statement of his accounts with the United States.

The marshal of said court for the District of Columbia and the marshals of the several districts in which said Court of Customs Appeals may be held shall, under the direction of the Attorney General of the United States and with his approval, provide such rooms in the public buildings of the United States as may be necessary for said court: Provided, however, That in case proper rooms can not be provided in such buildings, then the said marshals, with the approval of the Attorney General of the United States, may, from time to time, lease such rooms as may be necessary for said court. The bailiffs and messengers of said court shall be allowed the same compensation for their respective services as are allowed for similar services in the existing circuit courts; and in no case shall said marshals secure other rooms than those regularly occupied by existing circuit courts of appeals, circuit courts, or district courts, or other public officers, except where such can not, by reason of actual occupancy or use, be occupied or used by said Court of Customs Appeals.

If the importer, owner, consignee, or agent of any imported merchandise, or the collector or Secretary of the Treasury, shall be dissatisfied with the decision of the Board of General Appraisers as to the construction of the law and the facts respecting the classification of such merchandise and the rate of duty imposed thereon under such classification, or with any other appealable decision of said board, they, or either of them, may,

ACT OF 1909-Continued.

within sixty days next after the entry of such decree or judgment, and not afterwards, apply to the Court of Customs Appeals for a review of the questions of law and fact involved in such decision: Provided, That in Alaska and in the insular and other outside possessions of the United States ninety days shall be allowed for making such application to the Court of Customs Appeals. Such application shall be made by filing in the office of the clerk of said court a concise statement of errors of law and fact complained of, and a copy of such statement shall be served on the collector, or on the importer, owner, consignee, or agent, as the case may be. Thereupon the court shall immediately order the Board of General Appraisers to transmit to said court the record and evidence taken by them, together with the certified statement of the facts involved in the case and their decision thereon; and all the evidence taken by and before said board shall be competent evidence before said Court of Customs Appeals. The decision of said Court of Customs Appeals shall be final, and such cause shall be remanded to said Board of General Appraisers for further proceedings to be taken in pursuance of such determination.

Immediately upon the organization of the Court of Customs Appeals all cases within the jurisdiction of that court pending and not submitted for decision in any of the United States circuit courts of appeals, United States circuit, territorial or district courts, shall, with the record and samples therein, be certified by said courts to said Court of Customs Appeals for further proceedings in accordance herewith: Provided, That where orders for the taking of further testimony before a referee have been made in any of such cases, the taking of such testimony shall be completed before such certification.

That in case of a vacancy or the temporary inability or disqualification for any reason of one or two judges of said Court of Customs Appeals, the President of the United States may, upon the request of the presiding judge of said court, designate any qualified United States circuit or dis

ACT OF 1909—Continued.

trict judge or judges to act in his or their place, and such United States judge or judges shall be duly qualified to so act.

Said Court of Customs Appeals shall have power to review any decision or matter within its jurisdiction and may affirm, modify, or reverse the same and remand the case with such orders as may seem to it proper in the premises, which shall be executed accordingly.

Immediately upon receipt of any record transmitted to said court for determination the clerk thereof shall place the same upon the calendar for hearing and submission; and such calendar shall be called and all cases thereupon submitted, except for good cause shown, at least once every sixty days.

In addition to the clerk of said court the court may appoint an assistant clerk at a salary of $2,500 per annum, five stenographic clerks at a salary of $2,400 per annum each, and one stenographic reporter at a salary of $2.500 per annum, and a messenger at a salary of $900 per annum, all payable in equal monthly installments, and all of whom, including the clerk, shall hold office during the pleasure of and perform such duties. as are assigned them by the court. Said reporter shall prepare and transmit to the Secretary of the Treasury once a week in time for publication in the Treasury Decisions copies of all decisions rendered to that date by said court, and prepare and transmit, under the direction of said court, at least once a year, reports of said decisions rendered to that date, constituting a volume, which shall be printed by the Treasury Department in such numbers and distributed or sold in such manner as the Secretary of the Treasury shall direct. The marshal of said court for the District of Columbia is hereby authorized to purchase, under the direction of the presiding judge, such books, periodicals, and stationery as may be necessary for the use of said court, and such expenditures shall be allowed and paid by the Secretary of the Treasury upon claim duly made and approved by said presiding judge.