214 



CONGRESS. (REVENUE REFORM.) 



by the proper officers of the customs, as well in cases 

 of merchandise entered in bond as for consumption, 

 give notice in writing to the collector if dissatisfied 

 with the aforesaid decision, setting forth therein, dis- 

 tinctly and specifically, and in respect to each entry, 

 the reasons of his objection thereto, and shall also, 

 within thirty days after the date of such ascertain- 

 ment and liquidation, appeal therefrom to the Secre- 

 tary of the Treasury, who, on receiving such appeal, 

 shall forthwith call upon the collector for a report 

 thereon ; and the collector shall thereupon, if he adheres 

 to his decision, set forth, specifically and in detail, to 

 the Secretary, the reasons therefor ; and the decision 

 of the Secretary on such appeal shall be final and con- 

 clusive, and such merchandise, or costs and charges, 

 shall be liable to duty accordingly, unless suit shall 

 be brought, within ninety days after the decision of 

 the Secretary of the Treasury on such appeal, for 

 any duties which shall have been paid belore the 

 date of such decision on such merchandise, or costs 

 any charges, or within ninety days after the pay- 

 ment of duties paid after the decision of the Secreta- 

 ry. No suit shall be begun or maintained for the re- 

 covery of any duties alleged to have been erroneously 

 or illegally exacted, until the decision of the Secreta- 

 ry of the Treasury shall have been first had on such 

 appeal, unless the decision of the Secretary shall be 

 delayed more than ninety days from the date of such 

 appeal. And when a suit shall be brought by the 

 United States to recover the additional duties found 

 due on any ascertainment and liquidation thereof, and 

 not paid, the defendant or defendants shall not be 

 permitted to set up any plea or matter in defense ex- 

 cepting such as shall have been set forth in a protest 

 and appeal made as herein prescribed." 



SEC. 16. That the section of the Revised Statutes 

 numbered 3,012 shall be, and hereby is amended by 

 adding at the end of said section the Following words": 



" And there shall be attached to the said bill of par- 

 ticulars, when served as aforesaid, a copy of each and 

 every such protest or notice of dissatisfaction, and of 

 every appeal relied upon by the plaintiff or plaintiffs 

 in said suit ; and the said b'ill of particulars shall de- 

 clare the date of liquidation ; and a bill of particulars, 

 having been served as aforesaid, shall not thereafter 

 be amended by the plaintiff, or by the court on the 

 plaintiff's motion, so as to increase the total sum 

 claimed therein as having been exacted in excess." 



SEC. 17. That no suit which by this act, or by any 

 law of the United States is permitted to be Begun 

 against a collector of customs to recover money al- 

 leged to have been illegally exacted by him on im- 

 ported merchandise, shall hereafter be begun or main- 

 tained in any court of any State of the United States, 

 but each and every such suit shall be begun in the 

 circuit court of the United States for the district 

 in which such alleged illegal action shall have been 

 made. 



SEC. 18. That section 3,012i of the Revised Statutes 

 shall be, and hereby is, amended so as to read as fol- 

 lows : 



" Whenever it shall be shown to the satisfaction of 

 the Secretary of the Treasury (first) that, in any case 

 of unascertained or estimated duties, more money has 

 been paid to or deposited with a collector of customs 

 than the law required to be paid or deposited ; and 

 also (second) whenever the Secretary of the Treasury 

 shall have decided, on an appeal to him as herein pro- 

 vided, that more money has oeen paid to or deposited 

 with a collector of customs than the law required ; and 

 also (third) whenever any judgment shall have been 

 recovered and entered, in any court of the United 

 States, against a collector of customs, for duties ille- 

 gally exacted by him on imported merchandise, and 

 a certificate of probable cause shall have been entered 

 in said suit, in compliance with the provisions and 

 requirements of section 989 of the Revised Statutes, 

 from which judgment the Attorney- General shall cer- 

 tify, in conformity with the act of March 3, 1875 (Chap- 

 ter (JXXXVI), that no appeal or writ of error will be 



taken by the United States, and from which judgment 

 the Secretary of the Treasury shall also be satisfied that 

 no such appeal or writ of error ought to be taken ; and 

 also (fourth) whenever any suit or suits have been be- 

 gun against a collector of customs to recover money 

 exacted by him and paid under protest, and an ap- 

 peal, as required by law, and a bill of particulars has 

 been served therein on the defendant or his attorney, 

 as required by law, and when bv the legal effect of 

 any judgment of a court of the United States, satis- 

 factory to the Attorney-General and the Secretary of 

 the Treasury as aforesaid, the said exaction of such 

 duties shall have been declared illegal, and protests, 

 appeals, and bills of particulars have been made ac- 

 cording to the law in force at the time of importation, 

 and the proper officers of the customs shall, under the 

 instructions of the Secretary of the Treasury, have re- 

 liquidated the entries covered, by said suit or suits, 

 and bill or bills of particulars, according to the prin- 

 ciples and rules of law prescribed by said judgment, 

 and the district attorney appearing of record for the 

 defendant shall certify that such suits have been dis- 

 continued, the Secretary of the Treasury shall, in each 

 and all of the before-mentioned cases, always except- 

 ing judgments or 'judgment cases' in suits commonly 

 known as ' charges and commission ' suits, which last 

 named shall only be paid in pursuance of a specific 

 appropriation therefor, draw nis warrant upon the 

 Treasurer in favor of the person or persons entitled to 

 the overpayment, or the sum expressed in said judg- 

 ment, or the sum thus found due on reliquidation of 

 the entries in discontinued suits, including costs paya- 

 ble by law, directing the Treasurer to refund and pay 

 the same out of any money in the Treasury not oth- 

 erwise appropriated. The necessary moneys there- 

 for are hereby appropriated, and this appropriation 

 shall be deemed a permanent indefinite appropria- 

 tion." 



SEC. 19. That section 2,927 of the Revised Statutes 

 is hereby amended by the addition of the following 

 words thereto : 



"No allowances for damages to goods, wares, and 

 merchandise imported into the United States shall 

 hereafter be made in the estimation and liquidation 

 of duties thereon ; but the importer thereof may aban- 

 don to the Government all or any portion of goods, 

 wares, and merchandise included in any invoice, and 

 be relieved from the payment of the duties on the 

 portion so abandoned : Provided, That the portion so 

 abandoned shall amount to 10 per cent, or over of the 

 total value of the invoice." 



SEC. 20. That any person who shall give or offer to 

 give or promise to give, excepting for such duties or 

 Fees as have been levied or required according to the 

 forms of law, any money or thing of value, directly or 

 indirectly, to any officer or servant of the customs or 

 of the United States, in connection with or pertaining 

 to the importation, or appraisement, or entry, or ex- 

 amination, or inspection of goods, wares, or merchan- 

 dise, including herein any baggage, or of the liquida- 

 tion of the entry thereof, shaQ, on conviction thereof, 

 be fined not less than 8100 nor more than $5,000, or 

 be imprisoned at hard labor not more than two years, 

 or both, at the discretion of the court ; and evidence 

 of such giving or offering or promising to give satis- 

 factory to the court in which such trial is had, shall 

 be regarded asprima facie evidence that such giving 

 or offering or promising was contrary to law, and shall 

 put upon the accused trie burden of proving that such 

 act was innocent and not done with an unlawful in- 

 tention. 



SEC. 21. That any officer or servant of the customs 

 or of the United States who shall, excepting for lawful 

 duties or fees, demand, exact, or receive from any per- 

 sonj directly or indirectly, any money or thing of val- 

 ue in connection with or pertaining to the importa- 

 tion, appraisement, entry, examination, or inspection 

 of goods, wares, or merchandise, including herein any 

 baggage or liquidation of the entry thereof, shall, on 

 conviction thereof, be fined not less than $100 nor 



