seen under the head of "British Registry," page 27), in conformity with which British ships are now mostly documented, would doubtless be well received in this country. Under the English "companies act," although its scope embraces ship-building and other commercial enterprises, when applied to the holding of ship property it may be regarded as a liberal inducement for foreigners to own shipping under the English flag. Under the companies act of 1862 a company may be formed to build or purchase a ship or steamer. The property is divided into shares of £5, £10, or £100, and if seven shares are held by British subjects and the company has an office in some British port where the taxes can be collected, the statute is complied with, and the remaining shares may be held by foreign owners. No shareholder is held for more than the value of the shares which he holds. DRAWBACKS ON COAL. By the tariff act of March 3, 1883, Schedule N, it was provided that a drawback of 75 cents per ton shall be allowed on all bituminous coal imported into the United States which is afterwards used for fuel on board of vessels propelled by steam which are engaged in the coasting trade of the United States, or in the trade with foreign countries, to be allowed and paid under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe. In construing this act the Treasury Department has held that foreign vessels, as well as vessels of the United States, were entitled to its benefits, and foreign vessels clearing in the foreign trade have therefore been permitted by the customs officers to obtain the drawback. I am not aware of any necessity for granting the privilege to foreign vessels generally. The provision should be amended by the insertion after the word "vessels" of the words "of the United States," so that the clause will exclude foreign vessels, and read as follows: Coal, bituminous and shale, 75 cents per ton of 28 bushels, 80 pounds to the bushel. A drawback of 75 cents per ton shall be allowed on all bituminous coal imported into the United States which is afterwards used for fuel on board of vessels of the United States, propelled by steam, which are engaged in the coasting trade of the United States, or in the trade with foreign countries, to be allowed and paid under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe. The provision will then be similar in its effect to the provisions of the act of June 26, 1884, relating to the withdrawal of supplies generally. THE TONNAGE TAX. Section 14 of the act of June 26, 1884, changes the mode of assessing tonnage tax in ports of the United States. It reads as follows: That in lieu of the tax on tonnage of thirty cents per ton per annum heretofore imposed by law, a duty of three cents per ton, not to exceed in the aggregate fifteen cents per ton in any one year, is hereby imposed at each entry on all vessels which shall be entered in any port of the United States from any foreign port or place in North America, Central America, the West India Islands, the Bahama Islands, the Bermuda Islands or the Sandwich Islands, or Newfoundland; and a duty of six cents per ton, not to exceed thirty cents per ton per annum, is hereby imposed at each entry upon all vessels which shall be entered in the United States from any other foreign ports: Provided, That the President of the United States shall suspend the collection of so much of the duty herein imposed, on vessels entered from any port in the Dominion of Canada, Newfoundland, the Bahama Islands, the Bermuda Islands, the West India Islands, Mexico, and Central America down to and including Aspinwall and Panama, as may be in excess of the tonnage and light house dues, or other equivalent tax or taxes, imposed on American vessels by the Government of the foreign country in which such port is situated and shall upon the passage of this act, and from time to time thereafter as often as it may become necessary by reason of changes in the laws of the foreign countries above mentioned, indicate by proclamation the ports to which such suspension shall apply, and the rate or rates of tonnage duty if any to be collected under such suspension: And provided further, That all vessels which shall have paid the tonnage tax imposed by section forty-two hundred and nineteen of the Revised Statutes for the current year, shall not be liable to the tax herein levied until the expiration of the certificate of last payment of the said tax. And sections forty-two hundred and twenty three and forty-two hundred and twenty-four and so much of section forty-two hundred and nineteen of the Revised Statutes as conflicts with this section, are hereby repealed. Under this section several questions have arisen since the Bureau of Navigation was called upon to administer it. It was in the first place a matter of some doubt under the wording of the above statute whether the phrase "Government of the country" referred to the special government of such country as distinguished from that of the empire or other ultimate sovereignty of which it may be a member. The point was submitted to the Attorney-General by the Secretary of the Treasury, and by letter dated September 2, 1884, the Department of Justice replied, expressing the opinion that "the question in each case is as to the tonnage and light-house dues exacted by the Government at the particular port from which the vessel arrives, irrespective of those exacted at other ports of the country." A clear understanding of the section was also wanting in the case of some parties interested in relation to the application of tonnage dues to vessels entering ports of the United States. The Solicitor of the Treasury rendered an opinion upon the question which practically settled the matter and which has since been confirmed by the Attorney-General. The section referred to substituted for the tonnage tax of 30 cents per ton, payable annually, a tonnage tax payable on each arrival of the vessel of 6 cents per ton, from certain places, and of 3 cents per ton from certain other ports or places, and authorized the President to suspend the collection of so much of the latter duties on vessels from certain ports as should be found to be in excess of the corresponding tonnage dues levied on United States vessels by the governments in which such specified ports were situated. Tonnage dues had been levied from the time when the act took effect on vessels entering from all the ports up to the dates of proclamations indicating certain ports whence vessels could enter free of tonnage duty or at reduced rates. To the question as to whether such duties could be refunded, the Solicitor of the Treasury gave an opinion that they could not; that from the wording of the act the duty must be collected until it is known to the officers of the Government that vessels from certain ports are exempt under the act. These officers can only be informed on this point by proclamation of the President, based on evidence satisfactory to him. Such evidence takes of necessity, in many instances, some time to produce; but if it shall be found that no tonnage tax or equivalent tax or taxes were imposed on our vessels between the date when the shipping act went into effect (July 1, 1884) and the date under the proclamation suspending the collection of tonnage tax in ports of the United States on vessels from certain foreign ports, it is a question whether the tonnage tax collected in the intermediate period might not be refunded by the action of Congress, as a matter of justice due to vessels which have paid the tax. Vessels engaged in trade with ports situated in North and Central America, the West India Islands, the Bahama and Bermuda Islands, Newfoundland, and the Sandwich Islands, are now required to pay by the act referred to, in lieu of the tax formerly levied of 30 cents per ton per annum, a duty of 3 cents per ton, not to exceed 15 cents per ton in the aggregate in any one year, on entries from those places. The total tonnage tax collected at all the ports of entry in the United States during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1885, amounted to $390,875.15, and the whole number of vessels which paid the tax was 12,078, they being of the nationalities mentioned below. Collections at all rates of tonnage tax, and nationality of vessels paying the same, during the fiscal years ending June 30, 1884 and 1885, respectively. [The deposits on account of tonnage were $400,342.46, being in part of collections for previous year.] Tonnage tax receipts at all rates during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1884, under the old law, and during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1885, under the new law, divided in respect to the different ports where collected. The tonnage tax, assessed at the rate of 3 cents per ton, amounted to $324,175, and was paid by 4,934 vessels, of the following countries, and the tonnage tax assessed at the rate of 6 cents per ton, aggregating $64,381, was paid by 6,981 vessels, of the nationalities shown by the following tables: Amount of tonnage tax paid by vessels of different flags at the rates of 3 cents and 6 cents per ton, respectively, for year ending June 30, 1885 (not including tax paid at other rates). Prior to the adoption of the law of June 26, 1884, which was designed to remove burdens on American merchant shipping and to encourage our foreign carrying trade, all American vessels employed in foreign trade, and foreign vessels entering ports of the United States, had to pay a tax of 30 cents per ton once a year. The amount of tonnage tax paid this year as compared with last year shows the amount of the relief afforded American ship owners by the operation of this section to have been $212,788.21 during the first year of the law. But the amount of relief enjoyed by foreign vessels was much greater, aggregating $692,109.14. The number of vessels and their tonnage entering our ports the past year, as compared with previous years, may be taken to express the increase or decrease in the volume of trade as affected by any change in the laws. A comparison of these amounts with the receipts of the preceding year from the same source under the 30 cents per ton rate will give the following results: Tonnage tax collected during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1884. Difference Number of vessels paying tax in the fiscal year ending June 30, 1884 .. Difference.... $1,295, 772 50 390,875 15 904, 897 35 7,280 12, 078 This seems to show that the act referred to is answering the double purpose of its enactment, viz: that of reducing the tax borne by American ship-owners, and at the same time conferring a benefit on the shipping interest of the country by removing an impediment to the carrying trade. The tonnage tax levied by some nations that do not levy direct lightdues, and the maritime or anchorage dues and sanitary or hospital taxes of other countries, may be regarded as different terms for the same thing, being taxes levied on shipping by different nations in order to reim |