Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

No newspaper notice of seizure or sale shall be inserted oftener than three times, unless the collector or other officer authorizing the advertisement is convinced that greater publicity would be to the interest of the Government; and no bill for any advertisement published a greater number of times than herein specified will be approved for payment that is not accompanied by a satisfactory statement from the officer authorizing the advertisement, showing the necessity for such extended publication.

Section 2976, Revised Statutes, provides for the sale, "upon due notice at public auction," of any unclaimed merchandise in public warehouse which is becoming so depreciated in value as to be likely, if suffered to remain, to prove insufficient to pay the duties and charges thereupon. The determination of this necessity is left wholly with the chief officer of the port, and sales of this description need not be advertised in any newspaper, but notice of sale may be posted in a public place for a reasonable time previous to such sale.

All newspaper bills for advertising must be rendered upon Cat. Form No. 686, and submitted by collectors to the Secretary of the Treasury for examination and approval before payment is made.

Before forwarding any bill for advertising, the collector will see that it is properly made out and receipted in duplicate, and that it is accompanied by his letter of author ization and a copy of each issue of the paper in which the advertisement appeared.

§ 3. PREPARATION OF OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS.

ART. 1821. Customs officers must be careful to see that the written parts of official documents are fair, legible, and durable; that all dates are given, and all spaces.in blank forms filled or scored; that there are no signs of erasure in such material parts as the names of persons, vessels, or places, or the quantities or descriptions of goods; that such unimportant alterations as are allowable by way of correction are effected in such manner, as to leave the errors still perceptible; that in all written documents permanent ink be used of the kinds authorized or furnished by the Department, and that all alterations and computations are verified by the initials of the proper officials.

§ 4. ACCOUNTS OF RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS.

ART. 1822. All duties, fees, and other moneys pertaining to the customs will be entered in books prescribed and furnished for such purpose, at the time of receipt, and in such manner as to show the particulars as to date and source of receipt, and for what purpose or service the same is received or collected; and it will be the duty of the cashier to write the fact and date of payment of all duties received by him on the face of each entry, and to verify the statement by his initials or signature. Entries upon which duties are paid or deposited will be promptly recorded, and the result compared daily with the cashier's account of duties received by him on such entries. A daily record of disbursements will be kept by collectors of customs, and a statement of balances of all accounts required to be rendered by collectors will be made up at the close of business each day in the book prescribed for that purpose. At all outside ports and offices in charge of deputy collectors a daily record will be kept in a book, in the form prescribed, known as a "Register of moneys received from all sources," of all duties, fees, and other customs moneys, with such particulars as to show the daily transactions of the office.

§ 5. STATIONERY SUPPLIES.

ART. 1823. No ink, typewriter ribbon, carbon paper, or other article of stationery shall be used officially by any officer, clerk, or employee of any branch of the Treasury service, except such as are furnished or authorized by the Department, and the names of officials shall in no case be printed on official paper or envelopes.

Officers will in no case accept for official purposes bonds, vouchers, or other documents on which money is to be paid, or other important action taken, if prepared and signed with inks which are liable to fade. What are known as the aniline colors-blue, purple, violet, red, etc. are usually fugitive and destructible, and should not be accepted.

Invoices, entries, and other papers connected with the entry of merchandise for import or export, produced by the hektograph or other similar method, will be received if made out in a distinct, legible manner, on one side only of durable paper, with ink not liable to fade.

Copying ink should not be used on book records, as it

Cir. 114., 1899.

is liable to transfer and besmear the paper, especially in damp and sultry weather.

§ 6. OFFICIAL COMMUNICATIONS.

ART. 1824. Each official communication should relate to one subject only, or, if it be necessary to embrace several subjects in one communication, each topic should be treated in a separate paragraph.

The following instructions should be closely adhered to: 1. The standard letter sheet shall be as nearly as possible 8 by 104 inches in size. The standard legal cap or foolscap sheet shall be as nearly as possible 8 by 12 inches in size.

2. The standard authority for the spelling of the names of post-offices in the United States shall be the United States Official Postal Guide; of all other geographic names, the Decisions of the United States Board on Geographic Names, and Lippincott's Gazetteer, in the order named; of all other words, Webster's Dictionary.

3. Every communication received, calling for information, shall be answered, unless the sender of it has been otherwise formally notified of its receipt and disposal. 4. Every communication prepared shall be paged and shall be formulated in the following manner:

The Department or office where written.

The place where written.

The date when written.

The name of the person or title of the officer addressed.
The title, if any, of the person addressed.

The residence of the person or officer addressed.
Sir (or madam):

The subject-matter.

Respectfully,

The signature of the writer.
His official title, if any.

5. No blank sheet shall be attached to or filed with any letter, report, or paper.

6. There shall be placed on every communication, in the upper left-hand corner, the initials of the principal clerk in charge of the subject-matter to which the commucation pertains, and on the lower right-hand corner, below the title of the official signing the communication, the initials of the principal officer of the division, bureau, or office in which such communication is written, and they shall be referred to in the answer to it.

7. All papers shall be so folded, from the bottom to the top of the page, as to conform as nearly as possible to the standard size, which is 3 in width by 8 inches in length.

8. The first brief or indorsement upon any communication shall commence 1 inch from the top, writing from the free edge of the fold, and shall be formulated as follows: The Department or office where the communication was written.

The place where the communication was written.
The date when the communication was written.

The name of the writer.

The title of the writer.

A brief of the subject-matter, showing all the separate parts and the names of the persons and firms referred to. (See form on back of these instructions.)

9. All official matter addressed and forwarded to the Department of the Treasury, or any of its offices, bureaus, or divisions, must be briefed in accordance with the above formula before transmittal.

10. Indorsements shall be placed in regular sequence or chronological order.

11. The receiving date stamp or mark of any office, bureau, or division shall be placed immediately following the last indorsement, reference, or stamp, and must not be superimposed upon it.

12. A reference shall follow the matter immediately preceding it; but if it be necessary to carry it to the next fold, the word "over" must be placed at the bottom of the full fold.

13. No paper shall be attached in any way for additional indorsement or reference until the whole back of the letter sheet is covered, and then, if necessary, a sheet 3 by 8 inches, with a flap for attachment, may be fastened in such manner as not to cover a previous indorsement, reference, or date.

14. In forwarding reports, accounts, certificates of deposit, or papers of like character, no letter of transmittal shall be sent unless it contains additional information or explanation.

15. Official communications will be addressed after the following style:

The President.

The Honorable the Secretary of the Treasury.

The Auditor for the Treasury Department.

The Comptroller of the Treasury.

The Comptroller of the Currency.

The Solicitor of the Treasury.

The Treasurer of the United States.

The Register of the Treasury.

The Commissioner of Internal Revenue.

The Chairman of the Light-House Board.

The General Superintendent of the Life-Saving Service. The Commissioner of Navigation, Treasury Department. The Supervising Surgeon-General Marine-Hospital Service.

The Supervising Inspector-General Steamboat-Inspection Service.

The Supervising Architect, Treasury Department.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives.

The President of the Senate.

The Chairman Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives.

The Chairman Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate.

The Commissioner of the General Land Office.

The Commissioner of Pensions.

The Custodian, Court-House and Post-Office, Phildelphia, Pa.

The Collector of Customs, Baltimore, Md.

The Assistant Treasurer, U. S., New York, N. Y.
The Postmaster, Washington, D. C.

Officers forwarding letters, reports, or other papers to superior authority should indorse their remarks directly on the papers, in preference to writing a separate communication.

Official correspondence relating to the duties of collectors, to appointments, and to all matters concerning the authority of the Treasury Department must be addressed to the Secretary of the Treasury, forwarded direct by mail, and not through other channels or to the care of other persons. Making public such correspondence is forbidden.

§ 7. TELEGRAPHING.

ART. 1825. The telegraph will be used only upon important public business, and in cases of urgent necessity, where the ordinary mail facilities fail to furnish sufficient dispatch. When telegrams are sent upon business that would ordinarily be transacted through the mails, the facts as to their necessity must be satisfactorily shown or they will be disallowed in the settlement of accounts.

All telegrams sent by officers in their own personal interest, or in the interest or behalf of any employé, or by

« AnteriorContinuar »