amount fully equal to, or greater than, that in which he justifies.

ART. 1556. A person may qualify as surety for a busi- T. D. 17913. ness partner, when such persons are acting with respect to their separate property and in their respective individual capacities, but not when the act relates to partnership matters or their status as members of the copartnership. The same person or corporation can not be both principal and surety on the same bond.

ART. 1557. The principals in all bonds must be residents of the United States, and the sureties both residents and citizens of the United States.

ART. 1558. In the case of goods in transit for Canada it is expressly provided that the entry at the port of arrival may be made and the bond given by the consignee of the goods or his agent. If the agent be a resident, he may be the principal in such bond. Forwarders of goods in transit may be regarded as principals when they appear, by satisfactory evidence, to be duly authorized to act for the owner, provided the sureties are responsible and such as the regulations prescribe.

ART. 1559. The holders of an indorsed bill of lading may be regarded as the consignees in the United States of goods intended for transportation and export. Such consignees, and not the consignees in a foreign country, are the parties to be dealt with as principals under the alternative presented by the statute, and hence may be the principals in the bond given on the warehouse entry.

ART. 1560. Sureties shall not be accepted on a bond who are in default upon any previous custom-house bond which remains uncanceled after maturity, unless an extension shall have been granted thereon by the Secretary of the Treasury.

ART. 1561. The law relating to fees of district attorneys R.S., 826. practically operates as an extension of all customs bonds for the period of twenty days from maturity, without application to the Secretary of the Treasury. Sureties on such bonds are not, therefore, by the mere fact of nonproduction of certificate required for cancellation within twenty days from maturity disqualified from becoming sureties on other bonds.

ART. 1562. Bonds shall not be detached from the bond book for any purpose whatever without special authority from the Secretary of the Treasury, nor shall any blank forms be detached from any bond book in actual use without like permission. In case more than one blank form

T. D. 10817.

R. S., 3047.

T. D. 11169.

shall necessarily be used for the same bond in consequence of mistake, amendment, or otherwise, such form shall not for that reason be detached, but the words "not used" shall be written across the face thereof and signed by the deputy collector in charge of the division in which such bond is taken, and the number of such unused form will count as part of the regular series of numbers in the bond book. Each class of bonds must be numbered in regular series.

§ 2. EXTENSION AND CANCELLATION OF BONDS.

ART. 1563. Applications for extension of custom-house bonds will not be granted unless it appears that the obligors have used due diligence in their efforts to fulfill the conditions of the same.

ART. 1564. When, by reason of inability to produce statutory proofs of landing abroad, application to the Secretary of the Treasury for relief becomes necessary, the same forms will be observed substantially in application for cancellation as in those for extension, except that the application may be made by any one obligor upon a bond with or without the concurrence of the others.

ART. 1565. Such applications may be fortified by the transmission of collateral evidence in support thereof, but it must in all cases affirmatively appear that the applicants have used due diligence in the endeavor to obtain the proofs required by law; that they are unable to present any other or better evidence than that submitted with the application; that there has been no willful negligence or fraudulent intent in the premises, and that the facts stated are true to the best of their knowledge, information, and belief.

ART. 1566. Such collateral evidence, if required, may embrace foreign customs certificates, showing entry of the goods at the foreign port of destination, original bills of lading, and original or verified copies of letters from consignees advising the shippers of the arrival or sale of goods. When any letters or documents submitted are in a foreign language they must be accompanied by sworn translations, and when the letters fail to sufficiently identify the goods the original account sales must be produced. A certificate of payment of loss given by an insurance company must have the seal of such company affixed thereto when submitted with an application for the cancellation of export bonds.

Collateral evidence will not, in any case, suffice for can

cellation, unless it shall clearly appear that it is impracti cable to comply with the regular forms.

ART. 1567. In reporting such applications, collectors will state any facts within their knowledge bearing upon the case, and will report whether in their judgment the application should be granted. They also will give the number and date of each bond, the time for which it was taken, and penalty, with a view to its accurate identification.

The collector will also report whether any obligor upon such bond is indebted to the United States, at the time of the application, for any ascertained balance of duties on liquidation of previous entries, and also whether the sureties continue responsible and sufficient. If this be omitted, the application will not be considered.

ART. 1568. All papers submitted with such applications must be referred to therein by marks or numbers, and reports of collectors transmitting them will be indorsed with the name of the applicant, adding the word "principal," or "surety," the classification of the bond, and its number.

ART. 1569. Cancellation, without authority from the Secretary of the Treasury, is not permissible on an informal certificate upon any bond the penal sum of which exceeds $200; but when, in reference to bonds for the production of consular certificates on invoices or of bonds for the production of landing certificates in the case of goods exported, or of any bonds, where the penalty does not exceed $200, the collector shall be satisfied that the conditions have been substantially complied with, and that the obligors have been prevented by circumstances beyond their control from producing the evidences required by the bond, he may cancel the bond upon such proofs as are obtainable, provided the principals on the bond are not indebted to the United States for duties or penalties, and that the legal duty, if any, has been paid upon the merchandise covered by the bonds.

ART. 1570. The fact of loss at sea may be collaterally shown by the underwriter's certificate of the payment of insurance, under the official seal of the company and signed by the principal officer thereof. In the case of a missing vessel the presumption of loss will not be deemed to apply, notwithstanding the underwriters may have paid insurance, until a period of at least six months shall have elapsed from the date of departure, but on positive proof of loss immediate cancellation will be ordered. A stay of prosecution will be granted on matured export bonds on presumptive evidence that the vessel is lost.

. D. 8820.

T. D. 11453.

T. D. 68.6.

ART. 1571. Certificates offered in cancellation of bonds will be considered defective and insufficient, and held for advisement accordingly

1. When there is any variance between the description of the goods covered by the bond and that contained in the certificate, whether as to the character of the goods or their marks or numbers.

2. When there is any deficiency in quantity or in the number of packages.

3. When there is any apparent discrepancy in names of vessels, shippers, or consignees, or in the date of shipment in the case of export bonds, or in these or other particulars in the case of transportation bonds.

4. When there is any other omission of, or departure from, the forms required by law and existing regulations.

5. When a certificate is lengthened out for the insertion of the description of the goods, by joining together portions of two separate blank certificates, or when any oath or consular certificate required by law is upon a different sheet from that signed by the consignee.

6. When there is any reasonable ground within the knowledge of the collector or of his deputy, charged with the examination of such certificate, to suspect the existence of fraud or of a fraudulent intent in the premises, notwithstanding such certificate may be apparently in all respects correct.

§ 3. COLLECTION OF BONDS.

ART. 1572. Collectors will report for immediate prosecution all bonds taken in the regular course of custom-house business, and remaining uncanceled twenty days from the original date of maturity, provided no extension has been granted thereon, and no application for extension or cancellation be pending. Such report will be made by furrishing the district attorney with a certified copy of the bond, the original being retained at the custom-house, subject to the requisition of such attorney, for inspection or for use upon the trial, if necessary.

ART. 1573. When bonds have been once extended they will, if uncanceled, be reported for prosecution immediately upon the expiration of such extension, unless application be pending for further extension or for cancellation. Applications for relief on bonds which have been reported for prosecution will be referred by the collector to the district attorney having such prosecutions in charge.

ART. 1574. Where suit has been commenced on a cus

tom-house bond, relief being sought on equitable grounds, due care will be taken, on the final disposition of the case, to exempt defendants from the payment of any costs unnecessarily or improperly incurred. And where the enforcement of bonds has been delayed through neglect or mistake at the custom-house, a reasonable opportunity will be afforded obligors to discharge such bonds without suit.

ART. 1575. General instructions for the discontinuance, without application to the Secretary of the Treasury, of suits pending on custom-house bonds, or for the cancellation of such bonds, are not warranted by the statutes under which relief in such cases is to be granted. Each case must be disposed of upon its merits, and the application, with all reports necessary from subordinate officers, or from district attorneys, must be passed upon by the Secretary before final action is taken.

ART. 1576. For the more convenient dispatch of business, it is directed that reports from collectors transmitting applications to the Secretary of the Treasury for relief upon custom-house bonds shall not embrace applications from different parties, but any such report may embrace different cases presented by the same parties.

ART. 1577. The penal sum expressed in bonds taken to secure the delivery of merchandise transported in bond is held to be payable in coin in all cases where, by the condition of the bond, the obligation may be discharged by the payment of duties on the merchandise covered by such bond.

ART. 1578. The cancellation of a custom-house bond occurring by mistake, or obtained by actual or presumptive fraud, collusion, or deceit, is no obstacle to its prosecution. Any such bond will, on discovery, be forthwith put in suit, notwithstanding it may have been formally canceled.