duties within the period allowed by law to the importer to make entry thereof, or whenever the owner, importer, or consignee shall make entry for warehousing the same, in writing, in such form and supported by such proof as shall be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, the merchandise shall be taken possession of by the collector, and deposited in the public stores, or in other stores to be agreed on by the collector or chief revenue officer of the port, and the importer, owner, or consignee, such stores to be secured under the joint locks of the inspector and importer, there to be kept, with due and reasonable care, at the charge and risk of the owner, importer, consignee, or agent, and subject at all times to their order, upon payment of the proper duties and expenses, to be ascertained on due entry thereof for warehousing, and to be secured by a bond of the owner, importer. or consignee, with surety to the satisfaction of the collector, in double the amount of the duties, and in such form as the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe. (See §2970 R. S., and Act June 20, 1876, post.

Where goods are kept by the collector in charge and custody of customs officer until exported, the expense incurred is to be paid by the owner, importer, or consignee (G. A. 2603).

Storage of unclaimed merchandise-sales.

SEC. 2965. Unclaimed merchandise required by existing laws to be taken possession of by collectors of the customs may be stored in any public warehouse owned or leased by the United States, or in any private bonded warehouse authorized by this Title, and all charges for storage, labor, and other expenses accruing on any such merchandise, not to exceed in any case the regular rates for such objects at the port in question, must be paid before delivery of the goods on due entry thereof by the claimant or owner; or if sold as unclaimed goods, to realize the import duties, the charges shall be paid by the collector out of the proceeds of the sale thereof before paying such proceeds into the Treasury as required by existing laws. (See notes to $82973, 2974, post.)

Importations for immediate delivery may be warehoused. SEC. 2966. Amended by Act June 26, 1884, §24, to read as follows: When merchandise shall be imported into any port of the United States from any foreign country in vessels, and it shall appear by the bills of lading that the merchandise so imported is to be delivered immediately after the entry of the vessel, the collector of such port may take possession of such merchandise and deposit the same in bonded warehouse; and when it does not appear

by the bills of lading, that the merchandise so imported is to be immediately delivered, the collector of the customs may take possession of the same, and deposit it in bonded warehouse, at the request of the owner, master, or consignee of the vessel, on three days' notice to such collector after the entry of the vessel.

Merchandise for Jeffersonville and Albany.

SEC. 2967. Merchandise imported into the port of Louisville, and destined for Jeffersonville, may be landed and warehoused at Jeffersonville, under the custody and control of the surveyor of the port of Louisville.

SEC. 2968. The Secretary of the Treasury may extend the privileges of the provisions relating to warehouses, and the regulations of the Treasury Department relating thereto, to the port of Albany.

Custody of merchandise not unladen in time.

SEC. 2969. All merchandise of which the collector shall take possession under the provisions relating to the time for the discharge of a vessel's cargo shall be kept with due and reasonable care at the charge and risk of the owner. Time limited for merchandise to remain in Bonded Ware

house.

SEC. 2970. Any merchandise deposited in bond in any public or private bonded warehouse may be withdrawn for consumption within one year from the date of original importation on payment of the duties and charges to which it may be subject by law at the time of such withdrawal; and after the expiration of one year from the date of original importation, and until the expiration of three years from such date, any merchandise in bond may be withdrawn for consumption on payment of the duties assessed on the original entry and charges, and an additional duty of ten per centum of the amount of such duties and charges.

"It was the intention of Congress to repeal this section (2970) and abolish the additional duties therein provided for (T. D. 13289, adopting opinion In re Schmid, Circuit Court, 54 Fed. Rep., 145; G. A. 2827).'

Withdrawal for exportation or transshipment-Sale of abandoned goods after custody of three years.

SEC. 2971. All merchandise which may be deposited in public store or bonded warehouse may be withdrawn by the owner for exportation to foreign countries; or may be transshipped to any port of the Pacific or western coast of the United States at any time before the expiration of three years from the date of original importation; such goods on

arrival at a Pacific or western port to be subject to the same rules and regulations as if originally imported there. Any goods remaining in public store or bonded warehouse beyond three years shall be regarded as abandoned to the Government, and sold under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe, and the proceeds paid into the Treasury. In computing this period of three years, if such exportation or transshipment of any merchandise shall, either for the whole or any part of the term of three years, have been prevented by reason of any order of the President, the time during which such exportation or transshipment of such merchandise shall have been so prevented shall be excluded from the computation. Merchandise withdrawn for exportation shall be subject only to the payment of such storage and charges as may be due thereon. (See §§2970, 2977, 2979, 3015, 3017, 3036, 3052, 3127.)

1. The provisions of this section apply to goods where the duties have been paid or have not been paid (T. D. 6170, 12494, 12753), but duty paid goods may be exempted from summary sale, by surrender of the withdrawal permits to the storekeeper (T. D. 12862).

2. Exportation cannot be made after the three years' limit (T. D. 6170) unless delay is occasioned by unavoidable circumstances (T. D. 1990, 2040).

3. Merchandise reimported after a previous importation and exportation, may be re-entered for warehousing for a new three years' term as an original importation, except where the transaction is shown to be a mere colorable one, so that there is no real exportation and importation of the goods at all (T. D. 14995, citing opinion Attorney-General, modifying T. D. 12410; see also T. D. 14795, 15372; G. A. 2823), and the goods may be entered at the rate in force at time of entry (T. D. 2246); and reimported whiskey is subject when withdrawn to a duty equal to the internal-revenue tax under section 19, Act August 28, 1894 (T. D. 15372).

4. Supplies for American vessels cannot be withdrawn after three years without payment of duties (T. D. 8822).

5. The words, date of original importation, refer to the exterior port of first arrival of the merchandise, and not to the interior port of destination (Seeberger vs. Schweyer, 153 U. S., 609).

6. A sale of goods made before the expiration of the three years limit is illegal, and bars recovery on the warehouse bond (T. D. 4696).

7. Goods are considered as abandoned to the Government, after expiration of the three years' limit, as well where the duties thereon have been paid as where they have not been paid. Parties interested should be notified of the date of expiration of the limit, and after such date, and before the goods are listed for sale, duties, charges, etc., may be paid, and the goods taken away. This applies likewise to unclaimed goods not entered at the customhouse (T. D. 6070, 6199, 6170, with opinion of the Attorney-General).

Distribution of proceeds of sale.

SEC. 2972. The Secretary of the Treasury, in case of any sale of any merchandise remaining in public store or bonded warehouse beyoud three years, may pay to the

owner, consignee, or agent of such merchandise, the proceeds thereof, after deducting duties, charges, and expenses, in conformity with the provision relating to the sale of merchandise remaining in a warehouse for more than one year. (See notes to §2973, R. S., et seq.)

Merchandise under "General Order" unclaimed beyond one year to be sold and distribution of proceeds.

SEC. 2973. If any merchandise shall remain in public store beyond one year, without payment of the duties and charges thereon, except as hereinbefore provided, then such merchandiee shall be appraised by the appraisers, if there be any at such port, and if none, then by two merchants to be designated and sworn by the collector for that purpose, and sold by the collector at public auction, on due public notice thereof being first given, in the manner and for the time to be prescribed by a general regulation of the Treasury Department. At such public sale, distinct printed catalogues descriptive of such merchandise, with the appraised value affixed thereto, shall be distributed among the persons present at such sale. A reasonable opportunity shall be given before such sale, to persons desirous of purchasing, to inspect the quality of such merchandise. The proceeds of such sales, after deducting the usual rate of storage at the port in question, with all other charges and expenses, including duties, shall be paid over to the owner, importer, consignee, or agent, and proper receipts taken for the same. (See §§2971, 2975, 2976.)

1. Exportation of "General order" goods-restrictions. Unless it shall appear by satisfactory evidence that merchandise remaining in general order without examination or appraisement, was, when shipped at the foreign port, destined for immediate exportation from the United States, no exportation thereof will be per mitted except under entry for warehouse and exportation in bond and appraisement made as provided in such cases (T. D. 15504). After the one year limit the goods cannot be admitted to warehouse privileges for subsequent exportation. The fact that the goods were originally shipped in transit through the United States forms no exception to this rule (T. D. 7676, 12076, 14201, 14900, 15527).

2. Withdrawals for consumption may be permitted at any time after the expiration of the one year limit, before action for sale has been taken, upon payment of the duties (T. D. 4787, 8542, 12076).

3. Proceeds of sales of goods in private bonded warehouses. Storage charges on goods in private bonded warehouses is not a lien on the goods, but the warehouse keeper must look to the owner, not to the property. Duties and expenses take priority over storage charges (T. D. 7027, 14262). But in the case of sales of seized or unclaimed goods in private warehouses, the storage charges are paid next after the expenses of sale, and has priority over duties (T. D. 13269, 13451, 14262; see also T. D. 6617, 8402, 10044), and where such goods are transferred from the private warehouse to a salesroom, the storage in the private warehouse has priority over expense and storage in salesroom (T. D. 15488). 4. Payment of balances to attorneys under ordinary custom

house power is not permitted, but may be paid to attorney holding specific authority from the importer (T. D. 14279) or to attorneys of record in suits against the United States, but in such cases the checks are drawn to the order of the principals (T. D. 14959).

5. Liens for freight on unclaimed goods is to be paid out of proceeds of sales of such goods after the payment of duties (T. D. 6580, 14487. See section 2981 R. S.)

6. Purchasers of sales of unclaimed goods, take the articles at their own risk, without guarantee of quality or quantity (T. D. 2770, 9720).

7. Goods entered for consumption upon which only a portion of the duties have been paid, may be sold under this section (T. D. 4787).

8. Involuntary consignees of goods cannot be held liable for duties and charges (T. D. 7796).

9. When the merchandise sold was subject to internal revenue tax, the costs of the stamps therefor should be deducted from the proceeds of the sale (T. D. 8372).

10. See also note 7 to section 2971.

Overplus of sales-disposal of.

SEC. 2974. The overplus, if any there be, of the proceeds of such sales, after the payment of storage, charges, expenses, and duties, remaining unclaimed for the space of ten days after such sales, shall be paid by the collector into the Treasury of the United States; and the collector shall transmit to the Treasury Department, with the overplus, a copy of the inventory, appraisement, and account of sales, specifying the marks, numbers. and descriptions of the packages sold, their contents, and appraised value, the name of the vessel and master in which, and of the port whence, it was imported, and the time when, and the name of the person to whom such merchandise was consigned in the manifest, and the duties and charges to which the several consignments were respectively subject; and the receipt or certificate of the collector shall exonerate the master of any vessel in which such merchandise was imported, from all claim of the owner thereof, who shall, nevertheless, on due proof of his interest, be entitled to receive from the Treasury the amount of any overplus paid into the same under the provisions of this Title.

Any pretended attachments or garnishee proceedings, instituted by third parties, should not be regarded by the collector in the pursuance of his duty to pay any overplus into the Treasury of the United States (T. D. 8813, 8949).

Sale of Perishable and Explosive Articles.

SEC. 2975. All merchandise of a perishable nature, and all gunpowder and explosive substances, except firecrackers, deposited in any public or private bonded warehouse, shall be sold forthwith. (See Proviso, $20, Act June 10, 1890, post, and §2962, R. S)

1. Perishable articles (such as vegetables), when unclaimed,