CONGRESS. (THE WAR REVENUE LAW.) 



175 



inadvertence, or urgent necessity, and without any 

 willful design to defraud the United Slates of the 

 stamp, or to evade or delay the payment thereof, 

 then and in such case, if such instrument, or, if the 

 original be lost, a copy thereof, duly certified by 

 the officer having charge of any records in which 

 such original is required to be recorded, or other- 

 wise duly proven to the satisfaction of the collector, 

 shall, within twelve calendar months after the mak- 

 ing or issuing thereof, be brought to the said col- 

 let-tor of internal revenue to be stamped, and the 

 stamp tax chargeable thereon shall be paid, it shall 

 be lawful for the said collector to remit the penalty 

 aforesaid and to cause such instrument to be duly 

 stamped. And when the original instrument, or a 

 certified or duly proven copy thereof, as aforesaid, 

 duly stamped so as to entitle the same to be re- 

 corded, shall be presented to the clerk, register, 

 recorder, or other officer having charge of the 

 original record, it shall be lawful for such officer, 

 upon the payment of the fee legally chargeable for 

 the recording thereof, to make a new record thereof, 

 or to note upon the original record the fact that the 

 error or omission in the stamping of said original 

 instrument has been corrected pursuant to law ; 

 and the original instrument or such certified copy, 

 or the record thereof, may be used in all courts and 

 places in the same manner and with like effect as if 

 the instrument had been originally stamped : And 

 provided further, That in all cases where the party 

 has not affixed the stamp required by law upon any 

 such instrument issued, registered, sold, or trans- 

 ferred at a time when and at a place where no col- 

 lection district was established, it shall be lawful for 

 him or them, or any party having an interest therein, 

 to affix the proper stamp thereto, or, if the original 

 be lost, to a copy thereof. But no right acquired in 

 good faith before the stamping of such instrument, 

 or copy thereof, as herein provided, if such record 

 be required by law, shall in any manner be affected 

 by such stamping as aforesaid.' 



"SEC. 14. That hereafter no instrument, paper, 

 or document required by law to be stamped, which 

 has been signed or issued without being duly 

 stamped, or with a deficient stamp, nor any copy 

 thereof, shall be recorded or admitted, or used as 

 evidence in any court until a legal stamp or stamps, 

 denoting the amount of tax, shall have been affixed 

 thereto, as prescribed by law : Provided, That any 

 bond, debenture, certificate of stock, or certificate 

 of indebtedness issued in any foreign country shall 

 pay the same tax as is required by law on similar 

 instruments when issued, sold, or transferred in the 

 United States : and the party to whom the same is 

 issued, or by whom it is sold or transferred, shall, 

 before selling or transferring the same, affix thereon 

 the stamp or stamps indicating the tax required. 



" SEC. 15. That it shall not be lawful to record 

 or register any instrument, paper, or document 

 required by law to be stamped unless a stamp or 

 stamps of the proper amount shall have been affixed 

 and canceled in the manner prescribed by law ; and 

 the record, registry, or transfer of any such instru- 

 ments upon which the proper stamp or stamps 

 aforesaid shall not have been affixed and canceled 

 as aforesaid shall not be used in evidence. 



" SEC. 16. That no instrument, paper, or docu- 

 ment required by law to be stamped shall be deemed 

 or held invalid and of no effect for the want of a 

 particular kind or description of stamp designated 

 for and denoting the tax charged on any such in- 

 strument, paper, or document, provided a legal 

 documentary stamp or stamps denoting a tax of 

 equal amount shall have been duly affixed and used 

 thereon. 



"SEC. 17. That all bonds, debentures, or certificates 

 of indebtedness issued by the officers of the United 



States Government, or by the officers of any State, 

 county, town, municipal corporation, or other cor- 



E oration exercising the taxing power, shall be, and 

 ereby are, exempt from the stamp taxes required 

 by this act: Provided, That it is the intent hereby 

 to exempt from the stamp taxes imposed by thfs 

 act such State, county, town, or other municipal 

 corporations in the exercise only of functions strict- 

 ly belonging to them in their ordinary govern- 

 mental, taxing, or municipal capacity: Provided 

 further, That stock and bonds issued by co-operative 

 building and loan associations whose capital stock 

 does not exceed ten thousand dollars, and building 

 and loan associations or companies that make loans 

 only to their shareholders, shall be exempt from 

 the tax herein provided. 



"SEC. 18. That on and after the first day of July, 

 eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, no telegraph 

 company or its agent or employee shall transmit to 

 any person any dispatch or message without an 

 adhesive stamp, denoting the tax imposed by this 

 act, being affixed to a copy thereof, or having the 

 same stamped thereupon, and in default thereof 

 shall incur a penalty of ten dollars : Provided, That 

 only one stamp shall be required on each dispatch 

 or message, whether sent through one or more com- 

 panies : Provided, That the messages or dispatches 

 of the officers and employees of any telegraph or 

 telephone company concerning the affairs and serv- 

 ice of the company, and like messages or dispatches 

 of the officials and employees of railroad companies 

 sent over the wires on their respective railroads, 

 shall be exempt from this requirement : Provided 

 further, That messages of officers and employees of 

 the Government on official business shall be e'xempt 

 from the taxes herein imposed upon telegraphic 

 and telephonic messages. 



" SEC. 19. That all the provisions of this act re- 

 lating to dies, stamps, adhesive stamps, and stamp 

 taxes shall extend to and include (except where 

 manifestly inapplicable) all articles or objects enu- 

 merated in Schedule B, subject to stamp taxes, and 

 apply to the provisions in relation thereto. 



" SEC. 20. That on and after the first day of July, 

 eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, any person, firm, 

 company, or corporation that shall make, prepare, 

 and sell, or remove for consumption or sale, drugs, 

 medicines, preparations, compositions, articles, or 

 things, including perfumery and cosmetics, upon 

 which a tax is imposed by this act, as provided for 

 in Schedule B, without affixing thereto an adhesive 

 stamp or label denoting the tax before mentioned 

 shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon 

 conviction thereof shall pay a fine of not more than 

 five hundred dollars, or be imprisoned not more 

 than six months, or both, at the discretion of the 

 court : Provided, That no stamp tax shall be im- 

 posed upon any uncompounded medicinal drug or 

 chemical, nor upon any medicine sold to or for the 

 use of any person which may be mixed or com- 

 pounded for said person according to the written 

 recipe or prescription of any practicing physician 

 or surgeon, or which may be put up or compounded 

 for said person by a druggist or pharmacist selling 

 at retail only. The stamp taxes provided for in 

 Schedule B of this act shall apply to all medicinal 

 articles compounded by any formula, published or 

 unpublished, which are put up in style or manner 

 similar to that of patent, trade-mark, or proprietary 

 medicine in general, or which are advertised on the 

 package or otherwise as remedies or specifics for 

 any ailment, or as having any special claim to 

 merit, or to any peculiar advantage in mode of 

 preparation, quality, use, or effect. 



" SEC. 21. That any manufacturer or maker of 

 any of the articles for sale mentioned in Schedule 

 B, after the same shall have been so made, and the 



