Gambar halaman
PDF
ePub

of fifty cents per ton on the tonnage of the vessel is chargeable upon vessels which are not documented as vessels of the United States, and yet are owned wholly by citizens of the United States (§ 4,219).

110. In addition to the charge stated in paragraph 106, a duty of two dollars per ton on the tonnage of the vessel is chargeable on foreign vessels from any port at which vessels of the United States are not ordinarily permitted to enter or trade (§ 4,219). This must be exacted on each voyage (§ 4,223).

Certificate of Payment of Tonnage Duty.

111. As the payments under paragraphs 106–109 are severally available to exempt from further payment for a twelvemonth from the time of payment, a certificate of payment under the hands and seals of the collector and naval officer must be issued to the master, to be by him produced on subsequent entrances of his vessel. A duplicate certificate can not properly be issued without special permission of the Department. (Decision 3,938, March 25, 1879.)

The exaction must be of the whole amount for the whole year; and no refund can be made on the ground of the laying up or loss of the vessel. Nor can an additional sum be exacted if the tonnage of the vessel be increased within the succeeding twelvemonth. (Same Decision.)

If the certificate of payment be lost, application must be made to the Treasury Department, which keeps a record of the payments; and no information obtained from other sources can be accepted as evidence of payment. (Decision 4,226, October 2, 1879.)

Light Money.

112. An additional duty, denominated "light money," of fifty cents per ton on the tonnage of the vessel is chargeable on entrance, exempting from further payment for a twelvemonth under that head, on all vessels not of the United States making entrance at any port of the United States (Rev. Stat., §§ 4,225, 4,223), unless the vessel be in foreign ownership, and exempt by treaty (§ 4,227, Decision 3,938).

113. But if the vessel have no document as a vessel of the United States, and yet be owned by citizens of the United States, and carry a sea-letter or other regular document issued from a custom-house of the United States, proving the vessel to be the property of citizens of the United States, the vessel is not subject to the payment of light money, provided that, if the entrance be at the port at which the owner or any of the part owners reside, and such owner or part

owner make oath that the "sea letter or other regular document" possessed by such vessel contains the name or names of all the persons who are then the owners of the vessel; or, if any part of such vessel has been sold or transferred since the date of such sea letter or other document, that such is the case, and that no foreign subject or citizen has, to the best of his knowledge and belief, any share by way of trust, confidence, or otherwise, in such vessel; or, if the owner does not reside at such port, nor any part owner, and the master make oath to the like effect. (Rev. Stat., § 4,226.)

114. As this payment, also, is available to exempt for a twelvemonth, the master should obtain a certificate thereof under the hands and seals of the collector and naval officer.

Penalty for Death of a Passenger.

115. The master, owner, or consignee of any vessel on board of which shall have occurred the death, by natural disease, of any passenger above the age of eight years, "other than cabin passengers," must pay to the collector ten dollars for each of such passengers within twenty-four hours after the time within which the report and list of passengers is required to be delivered to the collector. (Rev. Stat., § 4,268.)

The practice is to collect this penalty at the time of entrance.

Marine Hospital Tax from United States Vessels.

116. From the master or owner of any vessel of the United States arriving from a foreign port there must be collected, before the vessel is admitted to make entrance, the sum of forty cents per month for each seaman who has been employed on such vessel since she was last entered at any port of the United States, which sum the master or owner may retain or collect from the wages of such seaman. (Rev. Stat., § 4,585.)

The master is required to make a detailed statement under oath of the account of the moneys due under the section cited.

State and Municipal Charges.

117. The legal fees which have accrued on a vessel must be paid at the offices where such fees are respectively payable, and receipts therefor must be produced to the collector before he can grant a clearance. (Rev. Stat., § 4,206.)

These fees are usually paid at the time of the entrance of the vessel, and to the collector as the agent for the other officials.

Master's Oath on Entrance of United States Vessel. 118. The form of such oath is as follows: I,

do

solemnly, sincerely, and truly swear (or affirm) that the report and manifest subscribed with my name, and now delivered by me to the collector of the district of, contains, to the best of my knowledge and belief, a just and true account of all the goods, wares, and merchandise, including packages of every kind and nature whatsoever, which were on board the at the time of her sailing from the port of [here insert the name of the port whence the vessel last sailed], or which have been taken on board at any time since, and that the packages of the said goods are as particularly described as in the bills of lading, signed for the same by me, or with my knowledge.

That I am at present, and have been during the voyage [or, since, master of the said vessel.

That no package whatsoever, nor any goods, wares, or merchandise, have been unladen, landed, taken out, or in any manner whatever removed from on board the said vessel since her departure from the said port, except such as are now particularly specified and declared in the abstract or account herewith, and that the clearance and other papers, now delivered by me to the collector, are all that I now have, or have had, that any way relate to the cargo of the said vessel.

[2.] I do further swear (or affirm) that the several articles specified in the said manifest, as the sea stores for the cabin and vessel, are truly such, and were bona fide put on board the said vessel for the use of the officers, crew, and passengers thereof, and have none of them been brought, and are not intended, by way of merchandise, or for sale, or for any other purpose than above mentioned, and are intended to remain on board for the consumption of the said officers and crew.

[3.] I do further swear (or affirm) that if I shall hereafter discover, or know, of any other or greater quantity of goods, wares, or merchandise of any nature or kind whatsoever than are contained in the report and manifest subscribed and now delivered by me, I will immediately and without delay make due report thereof to the said collector; and I do likewise swear (or affirm) that all matters whatsoever in the said report and manifest expressed are, to the best of my knowledge and belief, just and true.

[4] I do further solemnly swear (or affirm) that I have, to the best of my knowledge and belief, delivered, at the post-office at

[the one at or nearest the port], every letter, and every bag,

packet, or parcel of letters, which were on board the said vessel during her last voyage, or which were in my possession or under my power or control.

[5.] I do further swear (or affirm) that all the mails placed on board the said vessel at or before her last clearance from a port of the United States to a foreign port have been in good faith delivered at such foreign port, in accordance with the requirements of law.

[6.] I do further swear (or affirm) that the register of the said vessel, herewith presented, contains the names of all persons who are now owners thereof, except [here state changes, if any, that have occurred in the ownership], and that no foreign subject or citizen hath, to the best of my knowledge and belief, any share, by the way of trust, confidence, or otherwise, in the said vessel.

[If the vessel is owned by an incorporated company in the United States, the foregoing clause should read]:

I do further swear (or affirm) that the register of the said vessel exhibits the true and actual ownership of said vessel.

[7.] I do further swear (or affirm) that no part of the crew of the said vessel has been impressed or detained in the course of the last voyage by any foreign power.

[8.] I do further swear (or affirm) that the said vessel sailed from the port of

on the day of 18-.

[9.] I do further swear (or affirm) that no officer of the customs has applied for an inspection of the manifest of the cargo on board the said vessel, and that no certificate or indorsement has been delivered to me on any manifest of such vessel. [This clause should be omitted if the manifest has been indorsed by an officer of the revenue.]

(Chapter xxii, March 2, 1799, § 30; chapter i, December 31, 1792, § 17; chapter xcix, March 3, 1825; Rev. Stat., §§ 2,774, 2,795, 3,988, 3,976, 4,173, 4,590, 2,812.)

If the vessel be owned by individuals, and one of them reside at the port of entry, he must make the sworn statement here incorporated as the 6th clause. (Rev. Stat., § 4,173.)

Master's Oath on Entrance of a Foreign Vessel.

119. The master of a vessel of any foreign nation, on making entrance, must take an oath like the above, except that he should in all cases omit clauses 5, 6, and 7, and should omit clause 9 also, whenever his manifest has been certified. (Chapter cci, July 18, 1866, § 25; Rev. Stat., §§ 2,806-2,814.)

Permits on Entrance.

120. At the time of entrance of a vessel it is usual to give, on demand, a permit to land chronometer for rating, old sails for repairing, and water casks for filling; also a permit to land grain bags for repairing; also a permit for landing any other thing for the purpose of repairing, all such things to remain under the control of the inspector, whose duty it is to see them on board again.

Also a permit to take in coal or cargo, while unlading, if it can be done with safety to the revenue.

Also, in the case of steamers, a permit to lade coal or cargo after sunset.

Permit to Land Ballast.

121. Upon the oath of the master or owner of the vessel, describing the ballast and declaring that it is of no mercantile value, a permit is granted directing the inspector to allow the ballast to be landed unless it be of mercantile value, in which case, or, if he be in doubt, he must return the permit with his indorsement accordingly, and the ballast must then be appraised. (Decision 374, April 6, 1869; Decision 3,415, November 14, 1877.)

Notice in "One-Day Book."

122. As the master may have occasion to resort to a “general order" to clear his vessel of unpermitted merchandise, it is usual to enter the name of the vessel at once in the "One-Day Book," thereby giving notice of intention to ask for a general order to the collector that is, to the public through the collector. (Rev. Stat., $ 2,880.)

One whole working day must intervene between that on which the notice is given and that on which the general order is granted. (Treasury letter, April 3, 1861); that is, one whole day on which the custom-house is open for the entry of merchandise.

In this book the fact of the granting of general order is also entered. For that reason, such steamers as obtain general order immediately on the entrance of the vessel are also entered in this book.

Forfeited Wages, etc., United States Vessels.

123. All clothes, effects, and wages of seamen upon merchant vessels of the United States, forfeited for desertion, except so much as has been applied in payment of the expenses occasioned by the desertion, must be delivered or paid to the United States Shipping

« SebelumnyaLanjutkan »