ments, packages, vessels, brands, and labels, for the preparation, putting up, and export of the said manufactured articles: and every article so used shall be exempt from the payment of stamp and excise duty by such manufacturer. Articles and materials so to be used may be transferred from any bonded warehouse in which the same may be, under such regulation as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe, into any bonded warehouse in which such manufacture may be conducted, and may be used in such manufacture, and when so used shall be exempt from stamp and excise duty; and the receipt of the officer in charge as aforesaid shall be received as a voucher for the manufacture of such articles. Any materials imported into the United States may, under such rules as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe, and under the direction of the proper officer, be removed in original packages from on shipboard, or from the bonded warehouse in which the same may be, into the bonded warehouse in which such manufacture may be carried on, for the purpose of being used in such manufacture, without payment of duties thereon, and may there be used in such manufacture. No article so removed, nor any article manufactured in said bonded warehouse, shall be taken therefrom except for exportation, under the direction of the proper officer having charge thereof as aforesaid, whose certificate, describing the articles by their mark or otherwise, the quantity, the date of importation, and name of vessel, with such additional particulars as may from time to time be required, shall be received by the collector of customs in cancellation of the bond or return of the amount of foreign import duties. All labor performed and services rendered under these regulations shall be under the supervision of an officer of the customs, and at the expense of the manufacturer.

SEC. 11. All persons are prohibited from importing into the United States from any foreign country any obscene book, pamphlet, paper, writing, advertisement, circular, print, picture, drawing, or other representation, figure, or image on or of paper or other material, or any cast, instrument, or other article of an immoral nature, or any drug or medicine, or any article whatever, for the prevention of conception, or for causing unlawful abortion. No such articles, whether imported separately or contained in packages with other goods entitled to entry, shall be admitted to entry; and all such articles shall be proceeded against, seized, and forfeited by due course of law. All such prohibited articles and the package in which they are contained in the course of importation shall be detained by the officer of customs, and proceedings taken against the same as prescribed in the following section, unless it appears to the satisfaction of the collector of customs that the obscene articles contained in the package were inclosed therein without the knowledge or consent of the importer, owner, agent, or consignee: Provided, That the drugs hereinbefore mentioned, when imported in bulk and not put up for any of the purposes herein before specified, are excepted from the operation of this section.

SEC. 12. That whoever, being an officer, agent, or employé of the government of the United States, shall knowingly aid or abet any person engaged in any violation of any of the provisions of law prohibiting importing, advertising, dealing in, exhibiting or sending or receiving by mail obscene or indecent publications or representations, or means for preventing conception or procuring abortion, or other articles of indecent or immoral use or tendency, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall for every offense be punishable by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars, or by imprisonment at hard labor for not more than ten years, or both.

SEC. 13. That any judge of any district or circuit court of the United States, within the proper district, before whom complaint in writing of any violation of the two preceding sections is made, to the satisfaction of such judge, and founded on knowledge or belief, and if upon belief, setting forth

the grounds of such belief, and supported by oath or affirmation of the complainant may issue, conformably to the Constitution, a warrant directed to the marshal or any deputy marshal, in the proper district, directing him to search for, seize, and take possession of any such article or thing mentioned in the two preceding sections, and to make due and immediate return thereof to the end that the same may be condemned and destroyed by proceedings, which shall be conducted in the same manner as other proceedings in the case of municipal seizure, and with the same right of appeal or writ of error. SEC. 14. That machinery for repair may be imported into the United States without payment of duty, under bond, to be given in double the appraised value thereof, to be withdrawn and exported after said machinery shall have been repaired; and the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and directed to prescribe such rules and regulations as may be necessary to protect the revenue against fraud, and secure the identity and character of all such importations when again withdrawn and exported, restricting and limiting the export and withdrawal to the same port of entry where imported, and also limiting all bonds to a period of time of not more than six months from the date of the importation.

SEC. 15. That the produce of the forests of the State of Maine upon the Saint John River and its tributaries, owned by American citizens, and sawed or hewed in the Province of New Brunswick by American citizens, the same being unmanufactured in whole or in part, which is now admitted into the ports of the United States free of duty, shall continue to be so admitted under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury shall, from time to time prescribe.

SEC. 16. That the produce of the forests of the State of Maine upon the Saint Croix river and its tributaries owned by American citizens, and sawed in the Province of New Brunswick by American citizens, the same being unmanufactured in whole or in part, shall be admitted into the ports of the United States free of duty, under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury shall, from time to time, prescribe.

SEC. 17. That a discriminating duty of ten per centum ad valorem, in addition to the duties imposed by law, shall be levied, collected, and paid on all goods, wares, or merchandise which shall be imported in vessels not of the United States; but this discriminating duty shall not apply to goods, wares, and merchandise which shall be imported in vessels not of the United States, entitled, by treaty or any act of Congress, to be entered in the ports of the United States on payment of the same duties as shall then be paid on goods, wares, and merchandise imported in vessels of the United States.

SEC. 18. That no goods, wares, or merchandise, unless in cases provided for by treaty, shall be imported into the United States from any foreign port or place, except in vessels of the United States, or in such foreign vessels as truly and wholly belong to the citizens or subjects of that country of which the goods are the growth, production, or manufacture, or from which such goods, wares, or merchandise can only be, or most usually are, first shipped for transportation. All goods, wares, or merchandise imported contrary to this section, and the vessel wherein the same shall be imported, together with her cargo, tackle, apparel, and furniture, shall be forfeited to the United States; and such goods, wares, or merchandise, ship, or vessel, and cargo shall be liable to be seized, prosecuted, and condemned, in like manner, and under the same regulations, restrictions, and provisions as have been heretofore established for the recovery, collection, distribution, and remission of forfeitures to the United States by the several revenue laws.

SEC. 19. That the preceding section shall not apply to vessels or goods, wares, or merchandise imported in vessels of a foreign nation which does not maintain a similar regulation against vessels of the United States.

SEC. 20. That the importation of neat cattle and the hides of neat cattle

from any foreign country into the United States is prohibited: Provided, That the operation of this section shall be suspended as to any foreign country or countries, or any parts of such country or countries, whenever the Secretary of the Treasury shall officially determine, and give public notice thereof that such importation will not tend to the introduction or spread of contagious or infectious diseases among the cattle of the United States; and the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and empowered, and it shall be his duty, to make all necessary orders and regulations to carry this section into effect, or to suspend the same as therein provided, and to send copies thereof to the proper officers in the United States, and to such officers or agents of the United States in foreign countries as he shall judge neces

sary.

SEC. 21. That any person convicted of a willful violation of any of the provisions of the preceding section shall be fined not exceeding five hundred dollars, or imprisoned not exceeding one year, or both, in the discretion of the Court.

SEC. 22. That upon the reimportation of articles once exported of the growth, product, or manufacture of the United States, upon which no internal tax has been assessed or paid, or upon which such tax has been paid and refunded by allowance or drawback, there shall be levied, collected, and paid a duty equal to the tax imposed by the internal-revenue laws upon such articles, except articles manufactured in bonded warehouses and exported pursuant to law, which shall be subject to the same rate of duty as if originally imported.

SEC. 23. That whenever any vessel laden with merchandise in whole or in part subject to duty has been sunk in any river, harbor, bay, or waters subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, and within its limits, for the period of two years, and is abandoned by the owner thereof, any person who may raise such vessel shall be permitted to bring any merchandise recovered therefrom into the port nearest to the place where such vessel was so raised, free from the payment of any duty thereupon, and without being obliged to enter the same at the custom-house; but under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe.

SEC. 24. That the works of manufactures engaged in smelting or refining metals in the United States may be designated as bonded warehouses under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe: Provided, That such manufacturers shall first give satisfactory bonds to the Secretary of the Treasury. Metals in any crude form requiring smelting or refining to make them readily available in the arts, imported into the United States to be smelted or refined and intended to be exported in a refined but unmanufactured state, shall, under such rules as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe and under the direction of the proper officer, be removed in original packages or in bulk from the vessel or other vehicle on which it has been imported, or from the bonded warehouse in which the same may be into the bonded warehouse in which such smelting and refining may be carried on, for the purpose of being smelted and refined without payment of duties thereon, and may there be smelted and refined, together with other metals of home or foreign production: Provided, That each day a quantity of refined metal equal to the amount of imported metal refined that day shall be set aside, and such metal so set aside shall not be taken from said works except for exportation, under the direction of the proper officer having charge thereof as aforesaid, whose certificate, describing the articles by their marks or otherwise, the quantity, the date of importation, and the name of vessel or other vehicle by which it was imported, with such additional particulars as may from time to time be required, shall be received by the collector of customs as sufficient evidence of the exportation of the metal, or it may be removed, under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may pre

scribe, to any other bonded warehouse, or upon entry for and payment of duties, for domestic consumption. All labor performed and services rendered under these regulations shall be under the supervision of an officer of the customs, to be appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury, and at the expense of the manufacturer.

SEC. 25. That where imported materials on which duties have been paid, are used in the manufacture of articles manufactured or produced in the United States, there shall be allowed on the exportation of such articles a drawback equal in amount to the duties paid on the materials used, less one per centum of such duties: Provided, That when the articles exported are made in part from domestic materials, the imported materials, or the parts of the articles made from such materials shall so appear in the completed articles that the quantity or measure thereof may be ascertained: And provided further, That the drawback on any article allowed under existing law shall be continued at the rate herein provided. That the imported materials used in the manufacture or production of articles entitled to drawback of customs duties when exported shall in all cases where drawback of duties paid on such materials is claimed, be identified, the quantity of such materials used and the amount of duties paid thereon shall be ascertained, the facts of the manufacture or production of such articles in the United States and their exportation therefrom shall be determined, and the drawback due thereon shall be paid to the manufacturer, producer, or exporter, to the agent of either or to the person to whom such manufacturer, producer, exporter or agent shall in writing order such drawback paid under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe.

ADOPTED BY THE INTERNATIONAL AMERICAN CONFERENCE AND SUBMITTED TO CONGRESS BY PRESIDENT HARRISON, JUNE 19, 1890.

To the President:

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington, June 4, 1890.

I beg leave to submit herewith the report upon "Customs Union "adopted by the International American Conference.

The act of Congress, approved May 24, 1888, authorizing the President to invite delegates to this conference, named as one of the topics to be considered, "Measures toward the formation of an American Customs Union, under which the trade of the American nations shall, so far as possible and profitable, be promoted."

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The committee of the conference to which this topic was referred interpreted the term Customs Union to mean an association or agreement among the several American nations for a free interchange of domestic products, a common and uniform system of tariff laws, and an equitable division of the customs dues collected under them.

Such a proposition was at once pronounced impracticable. Its adoption would require a complete revision of the tariff laws of all the eighteen nations, and most, if not all, of our sister republics are largely, if not entirely, dependent upon the collection of customs dues for the revenue to sustain their governments. But the conference declared that partial reciprocity between the American republics was not only practicable, but "must necessarily increase the trade and the development of the material resources of the countries adopting that system, and it would in all probability bring about as favorable results as those obtained by free trade among the different States of this Union."

The conference recommended, therefore, that the several governments represented negotiate reciprocity treaties "upon such a basis as would be acceptable in each case, taking into consideration the special situations, conditions, and interests of each country, and with a view to promote their common welfare."

The delegates from Chili and the Argentine Republic did not concur in these recommendations, for the reason that the attitude of our Congress at that time was not such as to encourage them to expect favorable responses from the United States in return for concessions which their government might offer. They had come here with an expectation that our government and people desired to make whatever concessions were necessary and possible to increase the trade between the United States and the two countries named. The President of the Argentine Republic, in communicating to his Congress the appointment of delegates to the International Conference, said:

"The Argentine Republic feels the liveliest interest in the subject, and hopes that its commercial relations with the United States may find some practical solution of the question of the interchange of products between the two countries, considering that this is the most efficacious way of strengthening the ties which bind this country with that grand republic whose institutions serve us as a model."

It was therefore unfortunate that the Argentine delegates, shortly after their arrival in Washington, in search of reciprocal trade, should have read