cannot be procured in any foreign port, or in any place within the limits of the East India Company's charter, for the navigation of any British ship, or if such proportion be destroyed during the voyage by any unavoidable circumstance, and the master of such ship make proof of the truth of such facts to the satisfaction of the Collector and Controller of the Customs at any British port, or of any person authorized in any other part of the world to inquire into the navigation of such ship, the same shall be deemed to be duly navigated: Provided also, that every British ship (except such as are required to be wholly navigated by British seamen) which shall be navigated by one British seaman for every twenty tons of burthen of such ship, shall be deemed to be duly navigated, although the number of other seamen shall exceed one-fourth of the whole crew.

VIII. And be it enacted, That no person shall be deemed to be a British seaman, or to be duly qualified to be master of a British vessel, except persons of one of the following classes; (that is to say,) natural born subjects of Her Majesty; persons naturalized by, or under any act of Parliament, or by or under any act or ordinance of the Legislature or proper legislative authority of one of the British Possessions, or made denizens by letters of denization; persons who have become British subjects by virtue of the conquest or cession of some newly acquired country, and who have taken the oath of allegiance to Her Majesty, or the oath of fidelity required by the treaty or capitulation by which such newly acquired country came into Her Majesty's possession; Asiatic sailors or lascars, being natives of any of the territories, countries, islands, or places within the limits of the charter of the East India Company, and under the government of Her Majesty or of the said Company; and persons who have served on board any of Her Majesty's ships of war, in time of war, for the space of three years. IX. And be it enacted, That if Her Majesty shall at any time by Her Royal Proclamation declare that the proportion of British seamen necessary to the due navigation of British ships shall be less than the proportion required by this act, every British ship navigated with the proportion of British seamen required by such procla mation shall be deemed to be duly navigated, so long as such proclamation shall remain in force.

X. And be it enacted, That in case it shall be made to appear to Her Majesty that British vessels are subject in any foreign country to any prohibitions or restrictions as to the voyages in which they may engage, or as to the articles which they may import into, or export from, such country, it shall be lawful for Her Majesty, (if she think fit,) by order in Council, to impose such prohibitions or restrictions upon the ships of such foreign country, either as to the voyages in which they may engage, or as to the articles which they may import into, or export from, any part of the United Kingdom, or of any British Possession in any part of the world, as Her Majesty may think fit, so as to place the ships of such country on as nearly as possible the same footing in British ports as that on which British ships are placed in the ports of such country.

XI. And be it enacted, That in case it shall be made to appear to Her Majesty that British ships are either directly or indirectly subject in any foreign country to any duties or charges of any sort or kind whatsoever, from which the national vessels of such country are exempt, or that any duties are imposed upon articles imported or exported in British ships which are not equally imposed upon the like articles imported or exported in national vessels, or that any preference whatever is shown either directly or indirectly to national vessels over British vessels, or to articles imported or exported in national vessels, over the like articles imported or exported in British vessels, or that British trade and navigation is not placed by such country upon as advantageous a footing as the trade and navigation of the most favored nation, then, and in any such case, it shall be lawful for Her Majesty, (if she think fit,) by order in Council, to impose such duty or duties of tonnage upon the ships of such nation entering into, or departing from, the ports of the United Kingdom, or of any British Possession in any part of the world, or such duty or duties on all goods, or any specified classes of goods, imported or exported in the ships of such nation, as may appear to Her Majesty justly to countervail the disadvantages to which British trade or navigation is so subjected, as aforesaid.

XII. And be it enacted, That in every such order Her Majesty may, if she so think fit, specify what ships are to be considered as ships of the country or countries to which such order applies, and all ships answering the description contained in such order shall be considered to be ships of such country or countries for the purpose of such order.

XIII. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for Her Majesty from time to time to revoke any order or orders in Council made under the authority of this act.

XIV. And be it enacted, That every such order in Council, as aforesaid, shall, within fourteen days after the issuing thereof, be twice published in the London Gazette, and that a copy thereof shall be laid before both houses of Parliament within six weeks after the issuing the same, if Parliament be then sitting, and if not, then within six weeks after the commencement of the then next session of Parliament.

XV. And be it enacted, That if any goods be imported, exported, or carried coastwise contrary to this act, all such goods shall be forfeited, and the master of the ship in which the same are so imported, exported, or carried coastwise shall forfeit the sum of one hundred pounds, except where any other penalty is hereby specially imposed. XVI. And be it enacted, That all penalties and forfeitures incurred under this act shall be sued for, prosecuted, recovered, and diposed of, or shall be mitigated or restored, in like manner, and by the same authority as any penalty or forfeiture can be sued for, prosecuted, recovered, and disposed of, or may be mitigated or restored, under an act passed in the said session of Parliament holden in the eighth and ninth years of Her present Majesty, entitled An act for the prevention of smuggling; and that the costs of all proceedings under this act shall be defrayed out of the consolidated duties of customs.

XVII And be it enacted, That all natural born subjects of Her Majesty, and all persons made denizens by letters of denization, and all persons naturalized by or under any act of Parliament, or by or under any act or ordinance of the Legislature or proper legislative authority of any of the British Possessions in Asia, Africa, or America, and all persons authorized by, or under any such act or ordinance to hold shares in British shipping, shall, on taking the oath of allegiance to Her Majesty, Her heirs and successors, be deemed to be duly qualified to be owners or part owners of British regis tered vessels, any thing in the said recited act for the registering of British shipping to the contrary in anywise, notwithstanding.

XVII. And be it enacted, That the following form of certificate shall be substituted for the form of certificate prescribed by the said act for the registering of British shipping.

"This is to certify, That [here insert the names, occupations and residence of the subscribing owners,] having made and subscribed the declaration required by law, and having declared that [he or they] together with [names, occupations and residence of non-subscribing owners] is [or are] sole owner [or owners] in the proportions specified on the back hereof of the ship or vessel called the [ship's name] of [place to which the vessel belongs,] which is of the burthen of [number of tons,] and whereof [master's name] is master, and that the said ship or vessel was [when and where built, or condemned as a prize, referring to builder's certificate, judges certificate, or certificate of last registry, then delivered up to be cancelled, or, (if the vessel was foreign built, and the time and place of building not known,) was foreign, and that he or they did not know the time or place of building,] and [name and employment of surveying officer] having certified to us that the said ship or vessel has [number] decks, and [number] masts, that her length from the inner part of the main stem to the forepart of the sternpost aloft, is [ feet tenths,] her breadth in midships is [ feet tenths, her depth in hold at mid ships is [ feet tenths,] that she is [how rigged] rigged with a [standing or running] bowsprit, is [description of stern] sterned, [Carvel or Clincher] built, has [whether any or not] gallery, and [kind of head, if any,] head, that the framework and planking, [or plating] is [state whether of wood or iron] and that she is [state whether a sailing vessel or a steamer, and if a steamer, state whether propelled by paddle wheel or screw propellers;] and the said subscribing owners having consented and agreed to the above description, and having caused sufficient security to be given as required by law, the said ship or vessel called the [name] has been duly registered at the port of [name of port.] Certified under our hands at the custom-house in the said port of [name of port,] this [date] day of [name of month] in the year [words at length.]

(Signed)
(Signed)

Collector.
Controller."

And on the back of such certificate of registry there shall be an account of the parts or shares held by each of the owners mentioned and described in such certificate, in the form and manner following:

XIX. And be it enacted, That the following declaration shall be substituted for the declaration by the said act directed to be made by the owner or owners of any vessel previous to the registry thereof :

"I, A. B., of [place of residence and occupation] do truly declare, That the ship or vessel [name] of [port or place] whereof [master's name] is at present master, being [kind of build, burthen, etc., as described in the certificate of the surveying officer,] was [when and where built, or, if prize or forfeited, capture and condemnation as such, or, (if the vessel be foreign built, and the owner does not know when and where she was built,) that the said vessel is foreign built, and that I do not know the time and place of her building,] and that I, the said A. B., [and the other owners names and occupations, if any, and where they respectively reside,] am [or are] sole owner [or owners] of the said vessel, and that no other person or persons whatever hath or have any right, title, interest, share or property therein or thereto; and that I, the said A. B., [and the said other owners, if any,] am [or are] truly and bona fide a subject [or subjects] of Great Britain, and that I, the said A. B., have not [nor have any of the other owners, to the best of my knowledge and belief,] taken the oath of allegiance to any foreign State whatever [except under the terms of some capitulation, describing the particulars thereof,] or that since my taking [or his or their taking] the oath of allegiance to [naming the foreign States respectively to which he or any of the said owners shall have taken the same] I have [or he or they hath or have] become a denizen [or denizens, or naturalized subject or subjects, as the case may be,] of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, by Her Majesty's letters patent [or by an act of Parliament, or by or under or by virtue of an act or ordinance of the Legislature of or have been authorized by an act or ordinance of the Legislature of to hold shares in British shipping within the said Colony, and since the passing of such act or ordinance I have [or he or they hath or have] taken the oath of allegiance to Her Majesty, Queen Victoria [naming the times when such letters of denization have been granted respectively, or the year or years in which such act or acts of naturalization, or such colonial acts or ordinances have passed respectively,] and that no foreigner, directly or indirectly, hath any share or part interest in the said ship

or vessel."

Provided always, that if it shall become necessary to register any ship or vessel belonging to any corporate body in the United Kingdom, the following declaration, in lieu of the declaration hereinbefore directed, shall be made and subscribed by the Secretary or other proper officer of such corporate body; (that is to say,)

"I, A. B., Secretary or officer of [name of company or corporation,] do truly declare, That the ship or vessel [name] of [port,] whereof [master's name] is at present master, being [kind of build, burthen, &c., as described in the certificate of the surveying officer] was [when and where built, or, if prize or forfeited, capture and condemnation as such,] or [if the vessel be foreign built, and that such Secretary or officer does not know when and where built] that the said vessel is foreign built, and that I do not know the time and place of the building, and that the same doth wholly and truly belong to [name the company or corporation."]

XX. And be it enacted, That notwithstanding that by the said recited act for the registering of British vessels, it is enacted, that in case any ship, not being duly registered, shall exercise any of the privileges of a British vessel, the same shall be forfeited, nevertheless all boats or vessels under fifteen tons burthen, wholly owned and navigated by British subjects, although not registered as British ships, shall be admitted to be British vessels in all navigation in the rivers and upon the coasts of the United Kingdom, or of the British Possessions abroad, and not proceeding over sea, except within the limits of the respective colonial governments within which the managing owners of such vessels respectively reside; and that all boats or vessels wholly owned and navigated by British subjects, not exceeding the burthen of thirty tons, and not having a whole or fixed deck, and being employed solely in fishing on the banks and shores of Newfoundland, and of the parts adjacent, or on the banks and shores of

the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, or New Brunswick, adjacent to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, or on the north of Cape Caneo, or of the islands within the same, or in trading coastwise within the said limits, shall be admitted to be British boats or vessels, although not registered, so long as such boats or vessels shall be solely so employed.

XXI. And be it enacted, That this act shall come into operation on the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and fifty.

XXII. And be it enacted, That this act may be amended or repealed by any act to be passed in the present session of Parliament.

OF THE LICENSING OF YACHTS.

We published, in the Merchants' Magazine for September, 1848, (vol. xix., p. 331,) the act of Congress, authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to license yachts, referred to in the following circular, explanatory of that act, an official copy of which we have received from the Treasury Department.

CIRCULAR INSTRUCTIONS TO COLLECTORS AND OTHER OFFICERS OF THE CUSTOMS. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, October 4th, 1849. Subjoined is a copy of the act of Congress approved 7th August, 1848, entitled " An act to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to license Yachts, and for other purposes."

By this act this Department is authorized, on certain conditions, to cause yachts, used and employed exclusively as pleasure vessels, and designed as models of naval architecture, to be licensed on terms which will authorize them to proceed from port to port within the United States, without entering or clearing at the custom-house. No license of this description can be granted to a yacht of less than twenty tons burthen, and before license is granted, the vessel must have been duly and regularly enrolled under existing laws.

Before issuing a license to any yacht duly enrolled as an American vessel, the owner or owners must execute a bond, agreeably to the subjoined form, with one or more sureties, to the satisfaction of the collector or other proper officer of the customs, in a penalty in each case in proportion to the tonnage of the yacht, as prescribed by the 4th section of the Enrolling and Licensing act of the 18th February, 1793. On due execution of said bond, a license may be issued agreeably to the annexed form.

As required by the 3d section of the act, the Secretary of the Navy has prescribed the signal to be used by yachts, as follows, namely: “The American ensign, substituting in the field a white foul anchor, surrounded by thirteen white stars in a circle, in lieu of a star for each State." It will become the duty of the officers of the customs to see that this provision of the law is complied with, and also that each yacht shall have her name, and the port to which she belongs, painted on her stern, as required by existing laws.

It will be perceived that this law authorizes yachts duly licensed for that purpose "to proceed from port to port of the United States, without entering or clearing at the custom-house," but expressly provides that such vessels "shall not be allowed to transport merchandise, or carry passengers for pay."

The proper officers of the customs will consequently not require entry or clearance at the custom-house of yachts proceeding from port to port within the United States, but masters or other persons in command or charge of said vessels must exhibit their enrollments and licenses on demand of any collector, surveyor, or inspector of the customs, and submit to such examination as said officers, or either of them, shall see fit to make of the vessel, with a view to the enforcement of the requirements of law, and the due protection of the public revenue.

Licenses granted under this act will continue in force for the period of one year from the date of issue, on the expiration of which the privileges under them will cease, until duly renewed.

The second section of the act provides that vessels licensed under its provisions shall be subject to the laws of the United States, in all respects, excepting as provided in the first section of the same act, and shall be liable to seizure and forfeiture for any violation of its provisions. The especial attention, therefore, of the officers of the customs, is called to the provisions of the act of 18th February, 1793, with a view to a due execution of such of its provisions as do not conflict with the terms of the act of 7th August, 1848.

Duplicates of the enrolments issued under this law to yachts must be duly transmitted to the Register of the Treasury, as in other cases.

W. M. MEREDITH, Secretary of the Treasury.

OF THE COASTING TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES.

CIRCULAR INSTRUCTIONS TO COLLECTORS AND OTHER OFFICERS OF THE CUSTOMS.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, September 17th, 1849.

In consequence of a difference of practice prevailing in the several collection districts under the law regulating the coasting trade, the Department deems it expedient to call the attention of the customs to the subject.

The law regulating the coasting trade was enacted on the 18th February, 1793, and its essential provisions have not been modified by subsequent legislation. Within the period of upwards of half a century, elapsed since the passage of the law, great and important changes have taken place in the character of the coastwise and interior commerce of the country, and in respect to the facilities of transportation by the use of steam-power, without any corresponding changes in the law to meet the altered condition of the trade. The provisions of the law of 1793 have thus, by reason of the causes referred to, become difficult of application in several respects; and hence practices have grown up, involving departures from the strict letter of the law. The Department, feeling desirous to encourage this important branch of the commerce of the country, placed, by the events before mentioned, under embarrassing restrictions, directs that every privilege and facility, consistent with law, and not detrimental to the interests of the public revenue, be extended by Collectors and other officers of the customs; and whenever said officers shall find it their duty to enforce any fines, penalties, or forfeitures that may attach under the coasting act, in cases where they shall be satisfied that the same were incurred in consequence of the inability of the parties to comply, for the reasons before stated, with the strict letter of the law, and not from any wilful intent to evade or violate its provisions, said officers will, before proceeding to enforce the penalties, and subjecting the parties to costs, afford them the opportunity of making application to the Department for remission, should they be disposed to avail themselves of that privilege.

W. M. MEREDITH, Secretary of the Treasury.

OF SPIRITS IN BOND IN ENGLAND.

A party at one of the principal ports having racked for ship's stores a hogshead of brandy into several smaller casks, on which a deficiency in strength appeared to arise in the process, the duty thereon was required by the officers of the revenue, on account of one of the racked casks being taken for home use, and the party urged a request to the authorities that they were entitled to have the duty on the deficiency refunded to them, as they were aware of no customs regulation in existence requiring duty to be paid on deficiencies arising from racking spirits in bond for ships' stores; and, by a recent order, they were permitted to take for home consumption such balance cask of foreign spirits racked for ships' stores as they should require on payment of the duty thereon. In the operation of racking the cask in question, a deficiency arose in strength, and had the five racked packages been exported, the loss, which was not excessive, would have been allowed without payment of duty, but as one of the packages was cleared for home use, the duty has been charged on the whole of the deficiency which arose in the operation of racking. It appears that it is usual, at the port of London, when casks of spirits are racked or divided into smaller casks for home use, to charge the duty on the loss on the quantity arising from the operation at once; but if only a portion of them is taken for home use, the loss is apportioned to the new packages, and the duty charged on the loss so apportioned as each package is cleared, and remitted on those which are exported, or are not taken for home use, and it was, therefore, considered that in this case the loss should only be charged on the portion taken for home use.

OF NEWSPAPER POSTAGE TO CALIFORNIA.

S. R. Hobbie, First Assistant Post-master General, under date of Post-Office Department, September 13th, 1849, writes in answer to an inquiry made by the Post-master of Philadelphia," that prepayment of postage is not required upon newspapers to California, if sent from the office of publication."