1874, § 7.

tation of facts in relation either to his own claim or to that of any other person on the part of a customs officer, of whatever rank, will be regarded as sufficient cause for removal. Nor can any officer of the United States, under any pretense whatever, directly or indirectly, receive, accept, or contract for any portion of any award or compensation made, or to be made, to any person furnishing information, upon pain of prosecution.

Act June 22 ART. 1540. Collectors are strictly enjoined to give their careful attention to this subject, with the view of preventing any combination or misstatement by which the informer's or seizing officer's compensation may be assigned in any case to a person by whom it has not been legitimately earned.

R. S., 3081.

ART. 1541. When an informer or other person entitled to compensation can not be reached, the certificate of the collector will, in an uncontested case, be accepted as sufficient. Persons whose applications have, for any reason, failed to be transmitted by the collector in his report, may apply directly to the Secretary of the Treasury, where their claims will be duly considered. Where there has been any decree or order of court designating the informer, a copy should be forwarded to the Secretary of the Treasury.

ART. 1542. The proceeds of fines, penalties, and forfeitures accruing under laws clearly not relating to the customs, and paid into the collector's hands, are to be deposited, unless a different disposition is provided by the law itself.

In making such disposition, collectors will be careful to follow precisely the mode of distribution prescribed by the act, remembering that no person can receive any moiety unless there is a statutory provision in the law itself giving such a share.

If in any case the collector have doubts as to whether the law under which money in his hands has been received is a law relating to the customs or as to the mode of disposition, supposing it not to be such, he should apply to the Secretary of the Treasury for instructions, stating the particulars distinctly and in full.

ART. 1543. In cases where release of seized goods on payment of appraised value is recommended, an application therefor and waiver should be forwarded to the Secretary with the letter of recommendation.

ART. 1544. All penalties incurred shall be rigorously Act June 22, 1874, § 19. enforced by collectors and are not to be condoned by them, the power of remission under the law pertaining solely to the Secretary of the Treasury. In all cases collectors will inform the parties upon whom penalties are imposed of their right to apply to the Secretary of the Treasury for relief, protest and appeal being required only when the party incurring a penalty contends that it is imposed without authority of law; and they will make such special reports by letter in particular cases as may seem to be necessary.

19 Stat., 60. Act Aug. 28, 1894, sec. 70.

T. D. 12400.

T. D. 15608.

CHAPTER XXII.

CUSTOMS BONDS.

1. EXECUTION OF BONDS.

ART. 1545. All bonds shall be in form prescribed by statute or by the Secretary of the Treasury. The names of the obligors, both principals and sureties, must be inserted in full, with a general description of their place of residence and their occupation, as "We, John Doe, of the city of New York, merchant, as principal, and Richard Roe, of the city of Brooklyn, manufacturer, as surety."

When there are several principals constituting a firm the full name of each member of the firm shall be inserted, omitting the other particulars, and adding, in lieu thereof, the description, as "Composing the firm of

of the city New York, merchants."

ART. 1546. When any bond is required to be executed by any firm or partnership the execution of such bond by an attorney or by any member of such firm or copartnership in the name of said firm or partnership shall bind the firm and the members or partners thereof in like manner and to the same extent as if such other members or partners had personally executed the same, and any action or suit may be instituted on such bond against all the members or partners of such firm, as if all of the members or partners had executed the same.

ART. 1547. If a corporation is a party, its legal designation must be inserted in the body of the bond, which must be signed by an officer or attorney of the corporation duly authorized for the purpose, of which authority proper evidence must be filed in the custom-house. This evidence must consist of a copy of the charter and by-laws of the corporation, or extracts of so much as is relied upon to confer authority for the corporation to become a party to such bonds, and a copy of the vote of the directors, trustees, or managers under which the person executing the particular bond assumes to act, both to be certified by the clerk or secretary of the corporation and verified by its seal. If the bond be executed by an attorney of the corporation, his power, under the corporate seal, must be filed, with the copy of the charter and by-laws, as above required, and like evidence of the authority of the officer by whom such power was executed. No such bond can

be signed by an atterney of the person thus authorized to act for the corporation, unless specially provided for in the authority under which he acts. If the bond be executed by an officer of the corporation, the corporate seal must be appended. If the corporation have no seal, that fact must be certified.

ART. 1548. In signing bonds to secure the payment of duties, whether as principal or surety, the signer will append as part of his signature his precise address; that of a firm will be in its place of business; that of an individual his place of residence, giving the street and number in each case.

ART. 1549. A bond shall not express a penalty of less than $100, except when the law provides that a less amount may be taken. Fractional parts of a dollar shall be omitted in computing the penal sum, which shall always be expressed, as nearly as may be, in round numbers. The penalty of the bond, and all numbers, dates, and demands specified therein, must be written in words at length. Abbreviations and figures are forbidden except such as may be necessary in copying description, marks, or numbers of packages. Blank spaces must be filled in a legible hand, and lines must be drawn across all not filled.

The seals on all bonds required under these regulations shall be impressed on wax, wafer, or other adhesive substance, or directly on the paper to which such seal is necessary. Bonds may, however, be sealed in accordance with the local law of the State in which executed.

ART. 1550. When the amount of duties secured by any transportation or exportation bond exceeds the sum of $10,000, at least two sureties will be required, each of whom shall justify in the amount of the penal sum stated in the bond, but the liability may be divided among a greater number of persons, as sureties, provided they justify in the aggregate to an amount double such penal sum. The justification, in all cases not otherwise hereinbefore provided for, will be in the following form, viz:

FORM NO. 207.

We,

at

Justification of sureties.

residing at

and

residing

the sureties named in the foregoing bond, being severally duly sworn (or affirmed), do severally depose and say, and each for himself says, that he is worth the sum of dollars in his own

right over and above all just debts, dues, and demands, and exclusive of property exempt from execution.

19339.

ART. 1551. A surety upon a custom-house bond given to secure duties under $10,000 in amount shall not be accepted without justification as aforesaid, unless the collector has personal knowledge of the sufficiency of T.D. 11266,11718, such surety. Trust and security companies may be taken as sureties upon any bonds, and if such as provided for in the act of August 13, 1894, and they have complied with its requirements, they may be accepted as sole sureties. Persons employed by importers in the transaction of custom-house business as clerks are deemed ineligible either as principals or sureties upon the bonds of their employers. No person should be accepted as surety who is at the time responsible upon unexpired bonds to the full extent of his assets.

T. D. 19339.

T. D. 17549.

ART. 1552. Individual sureties on customs bonds are not compelled to file sworn lists of their assets and liabilities, but the justification of such sureties is required on Form 204, in accordance with the provisions of article 1550. In the case of a corporate surety or surety company operating under the act of August 13, 1894, the written authority of the Attorney-General of the United States for said corporation or company to transact business thereunder is evidence of the fact that a sworn statement of its assets and liabilities has been lodged with the Attorney-General in accordance with section 3 of said act.

ART. 1553. In the case of individual sureties collectors of customs are expected to exercise a wise discretion in order to satisfy themselves of the solvency of the sureties. The justification of such sureties on Form 207 and a verbal statement or description of certain real or personal property of the necessary value may be required before such sureties shall be finally accepted.

ART. 1554. No corporation has the power to authorize an officer thereof, either by a vote of the board of directors or otherwise, to bind it as a surety, unless the corporation is specially chartered for that purpose and has complied with the provisions of the act of August 13, 1894.

Unless prohibited by the constitution or the by-laws, the principal officers of a corporation, such as the president or vice-president, are authorized to sign the corporate name to a bond as principal.

ART. 1555. No limit is prescribed with reference to the amount in which a natural person may justify, so long as it is satisfactorily shown that such person is worth in his own right, over and above all debts, dues, and demands, and exclusive of property exempt from execution, an