and March 31, 1900,1 respectively, and respectively promulgated by the War Department under the dates of December 17, 1898, and March 31, 1900.

ART. 3. As far as possible there shall be appointed by the military governor of Cuba, with the approval of the Secretary of War, officers of the Army who shall act as collectors of customs of the subports.

collector at the port of Habana for decision, and there shall be no appeal from such decision except in cases where the collector may find it expedient to ask for special instructions of the War Department on the points involved.

Necessary and authorized expenses for the administration of said tariff and regulations shall be paid from the collections thereunder.

Accurate accounts of collections and expenditures shall be kept and rendered to the Secretary of War.

WILLIAM MCKINLEY.

The above order and the following tariff of duties and taxes prescribed thereunder will be proclaimed and enforced, as therein provided, and all regulations and orders heretofore issued inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed. G. D. MEIKLEJOHN,

Acting Secretary of War.

1 WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, D. C., March 31, 1900.

The following order of the President is published for the information and guidance of all concerned:

EXECUTIVE MANSION, March 31, 1900.

By virtue of the authority vested in me as Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States of America, I do hereby order and direct that the following tariff and duties shall be levied and collected in all ports and places in the island of Cuba and all islands in the West Indies west of the seventy-fourth degree west longitude, evacuated by Spain, on and after June 15, 1900, and shall remain in force one year from the date of promulgation without change.

All questions arising in the administration of the customs regulations shall be referred to the collector at the port of Habana for decision, and there shall be no appeal from such decision except in cases where the collector may find it expedient to ask for special instructions of the War Department on the points involved.

Importers who are dissatisfied with the valuation or classification of merchandise as fixed by the collector of the port shall pay the duties imposed, but may file at the time of payment a written protest and appeal, stating briefly the value or classification which it is claimed should have been established.

Said protest and appeal shall forthwith be transmitted by the collector, through the chief of customs service, to the military governor of the island, who will review and either affirm, reverse, or modify the action complained of.

Necessary and authorized expenses for the administration of said tariff and regulations shall be paid from the collections thereunder.

Accurate accounts of collections and expenditures shall be kept and rendered to the Secretary of War.

WILLIAM MCKINLEY.

The above order and the following tariff of duties prescribed thereunder will be proclaimed and enforced, as therein provided, and all regulations and orders heretofore issued inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.

ELIHU ROOT,

Secretary of War.

If at any time in any subport the services of an officer of the Army are not available as collector, a civil official may be appointed temporarily as acting collector.

ART. 4. Custom-houses shall be established or suppressed by the military governor of Cuba.

ART. 5. The port of Habana has been duly designated as the principal customs port of Cuba, and the following ports have been declared subports, viz: Matánzas, Cárdenas, Cienfuegos, Sagua la Grande (Isabela de Sagua), Caibarien, Santiago de Cuba, Manzanillo, Nuevitas, Guantánamo, Gibara, Baracoa, Trinidad, Santa Cruz del Sur, Tunas de Zaza, and Batabanó, in the Island of Cuba, and the duly appointed collectors of these ports, or other person appointed as acting collector, shall have general jurisdiction over the collection of the customs revenue in the respective ports. Collectors or acting collectors at the subports shall render such reports and accounts as may be required from time to time by superior authority. All official correspondence directed to or proceeding from the collectors of subports shall be transmitted through the office of the collector at the principal customs port.

CHAPTER II.

DUTIES AND POWERS OF CUSTOMS OFFICIALS.

GENERAL PROVISIONS.

ART. 6. The general duties and powers of customs officials are such as relate to the documenting of vessels of the island of Cuba in proof of nationality and ownership; the exclusion of foreign vessels from the coastwise trade, except those authorized by law; maintenance of the laws and treaties concerning commercial intercourse; the securing of the lawful revenue from importations of foreign merchandise; the suppression and prevention of smuggling and other frauds on the customs revenue, and the collection and deposit of duties, fees, and penalties accruing under the customs and navigation laws; the disbursement of public moneys; the use and preservation of public property; the enforcement of the immigration laws, and the compilation of returns of the commerce, navigation, and immigration of the island of Cuba.

ART. 7. General powers of search, seizure, and arrest under the revenue laws are hereby conferred upon the officers of the customs, including inspectors, occasional inspectors, officers of revenue cutters, authorized agents of the customs service, and other persons specially appointed for the purpose in writing by a collector of customs. In the exercise of these powers they are authorized to board vessels, to

hail and stop the same, and to use force, if necessary, to compel compliance, and to search all such vessels and all persons, trunks, and packages found on board. These general powers are not confined to the districts to which the officers may be attached, but may be exercised in other districts.

ART. 8. Customs officers must warn and advise all persons with whom they deal, in order to prevent such persons from committing innocently, or through ignorance, offenses against the revenue laws and regulations.

ART. 9. Customs officers are authorized to board vessels bound for the island of Cuba, whether in port or within four leagues of the coast; to demand manifests or make search and examine any or all parts of the vessel; to seal and take account of any packages found separated from the residue of the cargo; but in the case of foreign vessels protected by treaty, notice of an intended search must be given to the proper foreign consul.

ART. 10. They are authorized to stop, search, and examine any vehicle, beast, or person on which or whom they suspect there is merchandise unlawfully introduced into the island of Cuba. If such goods are found, they shall seize the vehicle, beast, or packages, and arrest the person or persons, and report the facts to the collector.

They are authorized to enter upon or pass through the lands, inclosures, or buildings other than dwelling houses, of any person, at all times, either day or night.

ART. 11. When officers of the customs shall have cause to suspect a concealment of merchandise in any particular dwelling house or store, they will, upon application to the municipal judge or to a judge of first instance, or, in their absence, to the mayor of the city or town or district, be entitled to a warrant to enter such house, store, or other place to search for smuggled goods.

ART. 12. Customs officers are empowered to seize all letters or packages, packets or parcels containing letters which are being carried contrary to law on board any vessel or on any post route, and convey them to the nearest post-office, or detain them subject to the orders of the postal authorities.

ART. 13. Principal customs officers are required to keep true, correct, and permanent records and accounts of their official transactions, to submit the same to the inspection of authorized officers at all times, and to turn over all records and official papers to their successors, or to other authorized officers.

ART. 14. Customs officers receiving or having in possession public money or property are required to render such accounts and retuns thereof, and in such form as may be required by the Secretary of War or by the military governor.

CHAPTER III.

COLLECTORS OF CUSTOMS.

ART. 15. At the head of each custom-house shall be a chief officer called the collector of customs, whose duties and powers are as follows:

First. To carefully comply with and to require all his subordinates to comply with whatever is prescribed in these regulations, in the customs laws, and in general or special orders from superior authority relating to the customs.

Second. To decide all questions raised in the dispatch of merchandise and in the transaction of daily business in the custom-house. The collectors of subports shall refer all questions in regard to which they are themselves in doubt to the collector of the chief port for his decision.

Third. Collectors of customs shall prescribe the interior regulations for their respective custom-houses, which shall be in accord with these general regulations and shall be approved by the collector of customs for Cuba.

Fourth: They shall see that all duties, taxes, and imposts connected with the customs revenue are collected within the prescribed times; that the cashiers and employés intrusted with the receipt of customs dues make their deposits punctually and correctly in the public treasury, and that the register of collections is proven correct by compariison, within the prescribed times, with the books of the cashier and of the bookkeeper, and certifying or directing the certification of the balances after due examination.

Fifth. They shall forward all reports required of them by superior authority, and shall transmit to higher authority all proper documents submitted to them for that purpose, with an endorsement of their views thereon.

Sixth. Subject to approval by higher authority, they shall appoint the employés of the respective customs-house, with power to discharge for the good of the service.

Seventh. Collectors of customs in Cuba are hereby directed to perform the duties formerly belonging to United States consuls or consular officers in such territory, so far as concerns seamen, vessels, clearances, etc.

Official fees or dues collected by United States consuls under similar circumstances shall be collected by such collectors of customs, and all moneys collected under the provisions of this order shall be deposited and accounted for as prescribed for customs collections.

In order to comply with the provisions of section 2844, United States Revised Statutes, the certification of invoices of goods shipped to the United States from Cuba shall be executed by a consul of a friendly nation or by two resident merchants of good reputation.

ART. 16. Collectors of customs shall see that the moneys collected by them are safeguarded while in their possession.

ART. 17. In the determination of the classification of merchandise and of rates and amounts of duty on 'all imported merchandise, the decision of the collector of customs at the chief port of Habana shall be final and conclusive, except in cases where he may find it expedient to ask for special instructions from the War Department on the points involved, and except in cases of decisions on classifications or valuations adverse to the importer, when an appeal may be taken as provided in Chapter XXV of these regulations.

ART. 18. The collector is the chief officer of his customs district. Every vessel on arrival from a foreign port becomes subject to his authority until her cargo has been discharged on permits issued by

He holds possession of all imported merchandise upon which duties have not been paid or secured to be paid, disposing of the same according to law. Merchandise must be entered in his office and duties paid to him only, or the official authorized by him to receive them.

ART. 19. Collectors are not personally liable for the losses occasioned by their official acts, nor for the laches of their subordinates.

ART. 20. At every custom-house whose organization requires it there shall be a special deputy collector, in whom the powers and duties vested by law in collectors are also by law as fully vested. In the event of the death, disability, or absence of a collector, the special deputy is authorized and required to perform the duties of collector. ART. 21. Each collector, with the approval of the Chief of the Customs Service, may appoint such deputy collectors as may be necessary, and they shall be authorized to sign such documents in connection with their departments as may be designated to them by the collector.

THE SURVEYOR.

ART. 22. The surveyor is the out-door executive officer of the port, and supervises the force of inspectors, weighers, measurers, gaugers, and laborers. He takes charge of all vessels arriving from foreign ports, and reports their name and character to the collector. He supervises the discharge of their cargoes and the lading of merchandise exported or transported in bond. He has charge of the admeasurement of vessels for registry and for the adjustment of the tonnage tax. In the admeasurement of vessels he shall be guided by the rules prescribed in the United States Customs Regulations.

ART. 23. At ports having a collector and a surveyor the surveyor is required, under the direction of the collector

1. To superintend and direct all inspectors, weighers, and measurers within his port.

2. To report once in every week to the collector the name or names