1. the tariff, or scale of duties, laid by the laws of congress, on goods brought from foreign countries, requires to be paid when they are first introduced; or we might say, before they are introduced. all these goods are stopped as they approach the boundary line, or on the boundary line, and carefully examined; and they can go no farther until the duties imposed by congress are received. when they have “passed the custom house” they may be as freely sold as goods produced at home. no government officer has any right to interfere with them. they have paid the duty and have the freedom of the land. if they, by any chance or effort, get in by any other way, they are treated as stolen goods, and may be seized and confiscated. however much they may have cost their owners, however highly they may prize them, however unquestioned was their ownership before they passed the limits of the country, if they are introduced by any other than the custom house door, all right and title to them by the former owners ceases, and they become the property of the government.
2. so carefully is this point guarded that not only are government officers provided for the sole purpose of watching against this illegal introduction of goods, but a premium is offered to unofficial persons to secure their aid. any one who can point out (and prove the fact) goods of any kind, liable to duty, that have not passed the custom house, and paid that duty, is entitled to half the value of the goods; the other half belonging to the government. smuggling, as bringing goods[273] into the country without paying the duty is called, is held to be robbery of the government, and ranks as a serious offense; and it really is so, as long as the government produces its income, or part of it, in this way. the law makes it part proprietor in the property until its claim is settled. besides, to take from the government is to take from the people; since they must make up, in some other way, for what is subtracted in this.
3. to secure this payment of duty, then, a large number of officers of different grades are appointed, not only to examine the goods, determine the amount required to be paid, receive the money and keep all the accounts connected with it, but to take care that all the goods, of whatever kind, that are not permitted an entrance free of duty, shall duly pass examination, and be “entered,” as it is called, at the custom house.
4. the head of these officers is the
commissioner of customs.
he superintends the customs bureau in the treasury department. he is nominated, and, with the consent of the senate, appointed by the president. all the accounts of officers employed in the collection of duties on imports pass through his bureau for examination and adjustment; he prepares the forms of all papers used in this department of the revenue; directs the form of keeping the accounts; brings suits when necessary for the recovery of money due from officers of the department; and makes a report of any neglect of duty to congress. a complete summary, therefore, of the past and present condition of the customs department may be found, at any time, in his office. with so perfect a system of supervision it does not matter how extensive the organization may be. no confusion is possible. there are more than 30,000 persons employed under this officer; and they are scattered through the whole country where there are ports of entry or delivery, as well as keeping guard along the whole coast line and frontier of the united states; yet they are under as complete discipline and[274] surveillance as the army or navy. this bureau was organized in 1849; its business having previously been under the oversight of the first comptroller of the treasury. it has general supervision of the conduct and accounts of all customs officials. the highest in rank below this are
the collectors.
5. wherever there is a port of entry a collector is appointed to superintend the collection of duties, receive the money, and transmit it to the united states treasury. he is the principal officer of the collection district connected with this port, which often embraces several ports of delivery, and is required to see that all is properly conducted in his district. he receives his appointment directly from the president and senate, and is removable at the pleasure of the president.
6. as, in ordinary times, the most of the revenue required for the support of the government is derived from customs, this is a responsible office. great care is required to secure the services of competent and faithful men, and the bonds they are required to give are large. he nominates the subordinate officers connected with his custom-house, and the secretary of the treasury appoints them, if he sees no objection.
7. the collectors take care that all the goods, on which congress has imposed a duty, pay the amount due. to this end he often requires one or more deputies. the entire commerce of the part of the country falling in his district, with other countries, passes under his examination. he receives all reports, manifests, and documents required to be exhibited by all vessels, domestic and foreign, on their entry into his port, and all accounts of all the goods they have on board. on these he must estimate the duties, receive the moneys, or bonds securing their payment, and grant all permits for landing the goods. he transmits, quarterly, all the moneys collected in his department, with an accurate account of all the transactions of his office during the quarter, to the secretary of the treasury. these accounts pass to the customs bureau, and the money to the treasurer of the united states.
[275]
8. his duties, as described in the previous section, make him acquainted with all the imports of the country, in his district or port. he is also required to examine the manifests of all the vessels, and the accounts of their cargoes, that leave his port for a foreign country. this secures a knowledge of all the exports of the country. it is his duty to give clearances, or permits, to all vessels leaving for foreign ports. it is unlawful for any vessel to depart without this document. a ship’s clearance can be properly given only when her manifest, or detailed account of the quantity, kind, and value of her cargo is ascertained to be correct.
9. we give the form of a ship’s manifest, and also of a clearance.
a ship’s manifest.
“report and manifest of the cargo laden on board of the ____, whereof ____ is master, which cargo was taken on board at the port or ports of ____, burthen ____ tons, built at ____, in the state of ____, and owned by ____, merchants at ____, and bound for ____.”
this, together with a particular description of the marks and numbers of every bale, box, case, barrel, bundle or parcel on board of the vessel, is the manifest. it must be given to the collector of whatever port the vessel arrives at; and the master of her must swear that it is in all respects a true and accurate account of all the cargo on board, to the best of his knowledge and belief.
10. the collector of the port can then compute the duties to be paid upon each article, and when these are paid, or secured to be paid, he gives permits to land the cargo, and deliver the goods to their respective owners. then come in the duties of weighers, gaugers, measurers and inspectors of the customs, after permits are obtained to land the goods. if they are such as require to be weighed, gauged, or measured, these officers are sent to do it; and the inspector must allow nothing to leave the ship until he has examined the marks and numbers, to see if they correspond with the permit and the manifest. if he[276] suspects that there is an attempt to defraud the government by false names and marks, he is authorized to open the package, box, case, cask, or whatever contains the goods, and to examine them. in this way smuggling is prevented, and the revenues arising from duties on imported goods secured.
a ship’s clearance.
this document is couched in the following terms:
“district of ____, port of ____, ss.
“these are to certify, to all whom it may concern, that a. b., master or commander of the ship (brig, barque, schooner) burthen ____ tons or thereabouts, mounted with ____ guns, navigated with ____ men, ____. ____ built, and bound for ____, having on board ____, hath here entered and cleared his said vessel according to law.
“given under our hands and seals, at the custom-house of ____, this ____ day of ____, one thousand ____, and in the ____ year of the independence of the united states of america.”
this is signed by the collector and by the naval officer of the port, when the commander is prepared to depart with his vessel to his destination.
11. the compensation of collectors is not all given in the form of a salary, but in part the fees for services rendered, and part of the forfeitures of smuggled goods. in the larger ports it is enormous, but in the smaller ones is often insignificant. it is a common mode of doing business of this kind, and is supposed to stimulate the activity and secure the faithfulness of the officer in preventing frauds on the government. the working of this plan is sometimes complained of as inspiring an over-officiousness embarrassing to trade and unnecessarily annoying to importers; and as producing too great an inequality in incomes. it is difficult to make a system quite perfect. whether this admits of improvement remains to be seen.
surveyors
12. are next in rank and authority to the collectors. they[277] are appointed in the same manner and receive their compensation in the same way. the surveyor’s duty is to superintend the inspectors, weighers, measurers, and gaugers in his port; to visit all vessels arriving in it; make a detailed report of them to the collector; and examine all goods entered for the benefit of drawback.
the naval officer
13. of a port, is another of the superintendents, appointed to oversee the collection of the revenue. his appointment depends on the president and senate, and his compensation on the amount of business done in his port, in the same manner as the collector and surveyor. his duties are, to some extent, parallel to those of the collector; or he may be called a local examiner and auditor of the collector’s work and accounts, for the sake of accuracy and correctness. he receives copies of all manifests and entries, and computes the duties on all goods, keeping a separate record of them. he must countersign permits, clearances, certificates, debentures, and other documents issued by the collector. he examines the collector’s accounts, bonds, and expenditures, and certifies to them, if correct.
a great number of deputies and employees are required to carry out the details of the collection of duties, since the entire amount of imports into the country are required to be carefully examined.
revenue cutters
14. are employed to guard against smuggling. they are vessels of small size, some steamers, and others sailing vessels, properly manned and armed, of high powers of speed; and are stationed as a coast guard near the ports, and lines of ocean travel, to prevent the landing of imported goods before they have paid the duty. their officers are appointed by the president and senate.
they look after all the ships going into any port, or any that may approach the coast; board them when within four leagues (or 12 miles) of the coast; examine the manifest of the cargo and every part of the vessel; put proper fastenings on the[278] hatches, to prevent unlawful communication with the hold until the custom’s officers have discharged their duty; and place a watch on board to remain until the vessel is delivered into the charge of the proper revenue officer.
15. they are revenue officers, and under the control of the secretary of the treasury, and the collectors at the ports near which they are stationed. in case the president judges it best, they may be called on, at his direction, to co?perate with the navy, and, in case they are disabled in the discharge of their duty at such times, are entitled to be treated in the same manner as officers and sailors in the navy.
16. these vessels carry a pennant and ensign with such marks on them as the president may designate. if any vessel liable to seizure refuses to bring to at the direction of the commander of the cutter, he is authorized to fire into it after having shown his pennant and ensign, and compel it to submit to be boarded and examined. much depends on the vigilance of these revenue cutters, as the sums paid on goods imported amount to a great many millions of dollars, and want of due precaution would cause the income of the government to be defrauded of large sums.
the commanders of revenue cutters report all matters relating to their duties weekly to the collector of the port.
