Act Mar. 4, 1915.

R. S., 2791, 4214, 4215, 4220.

between Atlantic and Pacific ports, in any place below the rank of master; but such alien shall not act as officer after the return of the vessel to her home port. In all such cases the collector will report the facts to the Secretary of Commerce for instructions before imposing the duty.

This article does not apply to vessels of the United States registered under the act of August 18, 1914, on which alien officers are permitted under the Executive order of September 4, 1914, until the time fixed by that order shall have expired.

Art. 119. Exemptions from tonnage duty.-Vessels of war and vessels employed by any foreign nation as public packets for the conveyance of letters and dispatches, and vessels of the United States in the coastwise trade or exclusively engaged in the whale or other fisheries, and T. Ds. 18292, pleasure yachts belonging to a foreign yacht club, as provided for in section 4216 of the Revised Statutes and the act of February 5, 1897, and documented yachts of the United States, and vessels in distress entered at a port other than that of destination, and vessels not engaged in trade, are exempt from the payment of tonnage duty.

20150, 22547, 23181.

T. Ds. 10379, 11949.

R. S., 4221.

Vessels from foreign ports entering or touching solely for the purpose of taking on bunker coal sufficient only to enable the vessel to complete voyage, and vessels chartered by any foreign Government for the transportation of fuel oil, if the terms of the charter provide for the payment of port charges and tonnage tax by the foreign government, are exempt from the payment of tonnage duty.

Vessels arriving from the Canal Zone and the naval station at Guantanamo, Cuba, are exempt from tonnage duty.

The fact that a vessel touches at an intermediate port at which it neither performs such acts as under our laws would require entry and clearance, nor takes on board or discharges passengers or cargo, and which touching is merely an incident in the voyage, will not deprive such vessel of the rights derived from sailing from a 2-cent port, such being its port of departure. In the absence of better evidence the affidavit of the master may be accepted to show the facts.

In cases of vessels making regular daily trips between any port of the United States and any port in the Do

minion of Canada, wholly upon interior waters not navigable to the ocean, no tonnage or clearance fees shall be charged against such vessel by the officers of the United States, except upon the first clearing of such vessel in each year.

Any passenger vessel engaged triweekly or oftener in trade between ports of the United States and foreign ports shall be exempt from entrance and clearance fees and tonnage taxes while such service triweekly or oftener is maintained.

Vessels entering otherwise than by sea from a foreign port at which tonnage or lighthouse dues or other equivalent tax or taxes are not imposed on vessels of the United States shall be exempt from the tonnage duty of 2 cents per ton.

Act May 28, 1908, sec. 1.

Act Mar. 8,

1910.

LANDING OF CARGO.

R. S., 2770.
Act June 26,

1884, sec. 29.

T. Ds. 9982,

Art. 120. Discharge of cargo. It is unlawful for any vessel to unlade its cargo or any part thereof elsewhere than at a port of entry or place designated by the Secre- 15577, 15781. tary of the Treasury as a customs station to which it is destined, but the collector may permit such portions of the cargo as may be in bulk to be unladen at the expense of parties in interest, and under the supervision of customs officers, at other places within the district, if so authorized by the Treasury Department.

When permission is granted to unlade a vessel at a specially designated place within a collection district, only such expenses may be charged as would not have been incurred if the merchandise had been unladen in the ordinary way.

Act Feb. 13, 1911, sec. 4.

T. D. 31271.

Art. 121. Discharge before arrival at destination.-If, R. S., 2867. after the arrival of any vessel, bound to the United States from a foreign port, within the limits of any collection district of the United States, or within 4 leagues of the coast thereof, any part of the cargo of such vessel shall be unladen before its arrival at the port of destination and without authority from the proper officers of the customs, the master of such vessel and the person next in command will respectively be liable in the sum of $1,000 for each offense; and the merchandise so unladen, except in the case of accident, necessity, or stress of weather, will be subject to forfeiture. When such unlading occurs from these unavoidable causes, and the

master, with two or more of the officers and mariners of T. D. 6603. the vessel, of whom the mate or other person next in command shall be one, shall make oath of the facts before the collector of the district within which the casualty occurred, or before the collector of the first district at which such vessel shall afterwards arrive, if the casualty occurred within 4 leagues of the coast and without the limits of any collection district, the penalty will not be incurred.

R. S., 2868.

R. S., 2891.

R. S., 2892, 2893.

Art. 122. Transfer to another vessel.-If any merchandise unladen from any vessel shall be transferred into any other vessel, except in the case of accident, necessity or distress, to be proved in the manner prescribed in the preceding article, the master of the vessel into which the merchandise shall be so transferred, and every other person aiding and assisting therein will be subject to a penalty of treble the value of the merchandise, and the vessel into which the merchandise shall be transferred will be subject to forfeiture.

Art. 123. Vessels in distress.-If a vessel from a foreign port is compelled by stress of weather or other necessity to put into any other port than that of her destination, the master, together with the person next in command, within 24 hours after arrival, may make protest in the usual form, upon oath before a duly authorized person, setting forth the causes or circumstances of such necessity. This protest, if not made before the collector, must be produced to him and the naval officer and a copy thereof lodged with them.

The master of such vessel must make entry within 48 hours after arrival, if he does not depart in the meantime, and if it appear to the collector by the certificate of the officials, if any, charged with the duty of ascertaining the condition of vessels arriving in distress, or by affidavit of the master, or if there be no such officers, by the certificate of two reputable merchants, to be named by the collector, that it is necessary to unlade the vessel, the collector and naval officer will grant a permit and detail an inspector to supervise the unlading; and the merchandise so unladen will be stored under custody of the collector.

At the request of the master of the vessel, or of the owner thereof, the collector and the naval officer will grant permission to enter and pay the duties on, and

dispose of, such part of the cargo as may be of perishable nature, or as may be necessary to defray the expenses of attending the vessel. And if the delivery of the cargo does not agree with the master's report, and the difference be not satisfactorily explained, the master will become subject to the penalties provided in the case of ordinary importations.

The cargo, or the residue thereof, may be reladen on board the vessel, under the inspection of an officer, and the vessel may proceed with the same to her destination, subject only to the charge for storing and safe-keeping of the merchandise and the fees for entrance and clearance.

Art. 124. Cargo of vessel prevented from reaching destination. When a vessel is prevented by ice, shallow water, or other obstructions, or by reason of marine casualty, from reaching her port of destination, the collector of the district in which such vessel may arrive may permit entry of the vessel and its cargo, and permit the unlading of the cargo in such place in his district as he may deem proper, to be forwarded to its port of destination, or duty paid at such place of discharge. Such cargoes may be forwarded to destination in the same manner as merchandise is forwarded under entry for immediate transportation, or for transportation and exportation, as the case may be. However, all regulations, restrictions, and provisions shall apply in such cases as if the unlading and delivery took place at the port of destination.

R. S., 2894.

R. S., 2896.

1894, sec. 2.

Art. 125. Permit for unlading.-Entry having been made, Act June 5, of the merchandise on board, and any duties thereon having been estimated and paid, or secured to be paid, the collector jointly with the naval officer, if any, shall grant a permit (Customs Form 3363, 3371, or 3713) to deliver such merchandise, and then, and not before, it shall be lawful to deliver the same.

Unless specially authorized in accordance with the R. S., 2872. act of February 13, 1911 (art. 127), no merchandise brought in any vessel from any foreign port shall be unladen or delivered from such vessel within the United States except in open day.

R. S., 2880.

Act May 9,

Art. 126. Time for discharge of cargo-General order.— When merchandise remains on board a vessel after the 1896. expiration of the legal time for discharging the same the collector shall take possession thereof.

3130°-15-1

R. S., 2966.

The legal time allowed is as follows:

Vessels of less than 500 tons, 10 working days after entry.

Vessels of 500 tons and less than 1,000 tons, 15 working days after entry.

Vessels of 1,000 tons and less than 1,500 tons, 20 working days after entry.

Vessels of 1,500 tons and upward, 25 working days after entry.

The working days of a vessel are to be computed by excluding the date of entry, legal holidays, and stormy days, when discharge is impracticable with safety to

cargo.

All merchandise found on board at the expiration of these periods, not reported for transshipment to some other district or some foreign port or place must be taken possession of by the collector.

When it shall appear by the bill of lading that the cargo is deliverable immediately after the entry of a vessel, the collector may at once take possession of such merchandise and deposit the same in a general-order warehouse, but at the written request of the owner, agent, or master of the vessel, and at the risk and liability of the owner of the vessel, the collector may issue a lay order to suspend the operation of the general order and to allow the cargo landed, but not permitted, to remain upon the pier or wharf, properly protected, for a period of 48 hours after entry of the vessel. This period may be extended in cases of necessity upon application of such owner, T. D. 19390. agent, or master. A bond of indemnity may be required by the collector. At the expiration of the said period the inspector will send the unpermitted merchandise to the designated warehouse and have the same weighed and gauged, if required.

If it does not appear by the bill of lading that the cargo is deliverable immediately, the owner, agent, or master of a vessel may, with the consent of the owners or consignees of the cargo, request and authorize the collector in writing to take immediate possession of the cargo.

The owner, agent, or master of a vessel, independently of the owners or consignees of the cargo, may also request and authorize the collector to take possession of the cargo, but in such case one day's notice, in writing, of intention so to authorize is required, and one working