from a foreign country, which are addressed to persons residing within the delivery of the post-office at the port of entry at which they are first received, and the postmaster at the said office at which they are received has reason to believe they contain articles liable to customs duties, he shall immediately notify the customs officer of the district in which his office is located, or the customs officer designated for the purpose of examining the mails arriving from foreign countries, of the receipt of such letters or packages, and their several addresses, and if any letter or package of this character be addressed to a person residing within the delivery of his office the postmaster shall also, at the time of its arrival, notify the addressee thereof that such letter or package has been received and is believed to contain articles liable to customs duties, and that he must appear at the post-office at the time designated in said notice and receive and open said letter or package in the presence of an officer of the customs.

ART. 142. Letters, all registered mail and sealed packages, or packages the wrappers of which can not be removed without destroying them, which are supposed to contain articles liable to customs duties, and which are addressed to persons residing outside of the delivery of the post-office at the port of entry where they were first received from abroad, shall be forwarded to their respective destinations and marked "Supposed liable to customs duties," and upon their receipt at the offices of destination the postmasters thereof shall notify the nearest customs officer and the parties addressed in the same manner and to the same effect as provided for in the preceding article. If a reply is not received from the customs officer within twenty days from the date of said notice, the package may be delivered to the addressee without regard to the stamp "Supposed liable to customs duties." But if the customs officer should request the postmaster to allow the package to be opened in his presence by the addressee, the postmaster shall comply with said request and immediately report the nature and probable value of the contents to the customs officer (retaining the package in his possession), whereupon the customs officer shall inform the postmaster of the amount of the customs charges due upon said package, which amount the postmaster shall collect upon the final delivery of the package and transmit, under official registration, to the customs officer. If, however, the customs officer shall deem it inexpedient to determine, upon the postmaster's report, the customs charges upon any such package, it may be sent, at his request and under official registration, to the postmaster at the place at which the customs officer is located, in whose custody it may be examined and the duty thereon computed by the customs officer, after which it shall be returned to the postmaster at the office of destination for delivery to the addressee upon payment of the duty thus assessed.

Nothing herein shall authorize custom officers to seize any letter or sealed package while in the custody of the postmaster, nor until after

its delivery to the addressee. And no letter or sealed package shall be detained at the office of delivery longer than may be necessary for the appearance of a customs officer and of the addressee.

ART. 143. Unsealed packages received in the mails from foreign countries (except registered articles which are to be treated as if sealed), which contain articles liable to customs duties, shall be delivered by the postmaster at the office of receipt to the officer of the customs for the collection of the duties chargeable thereon, with notice of such delivery to the person addressed.

ART. 144. Postmasters are expected to extend to customs officers, specially designated for that duty, such facilities as may be necessary to enable them to examine mail matter arriving in the mails from foreign countries, in order to protect the customs revenue.

ART. 145. Printed matter imported through the mails is liable to duty, except periodicals in pamphlet form and newspapers; the expression "printed matter" being defined by the statute as including the production upon paper by any process except that of handwriting, of any words, letters, characters, figures, or images, or of any combination thereof, not having the character of an actual personal correspondence.

ART. 146. All lottery tickets and printed matter relating to lotteries found by an officer of customs designated to inspect supposed dutiable matter shall be returned by said officer to the postmaster for disposition in accordance with the orders of the military governor.

CHAPTER XI.

EXPORTATIONS.

ART. 147. Captains desiring to qualify their vessels for the exportation of merchandise shall present to the collector of customs an application therefor in due form.

The exporter shall present to the collector of customs a policy in duplicate, containing the following items:

1. Name, tonnage, nationality, and captain of the exporting vessel. 2. Port or ports of destination.

3. Name of shipper or shippers.

4. Number of packages, class, marks, numbers, and gross weight. 5. The class of merchandise in detail, specifying whether it is domestic or foreign.

6. Person or persons to whom consigned.

ART. 148. Upon receiving the policies the collector shall place upon the original policy an order permitting the lading of the merchandise to be exported, after proper examination by the inspector designated for that purpose.

The inspector designated shall make the examination, entering the 23076-01- -4

result on the original policies, signing the same, and returning them to the collector.

ART. 149. The collectors of customs shall make a preliminary examination of all the manifests of merchandise to be exported, and when these are found to be incorrect or incomplete, either in the description of the articles or through omission of the corresponding amounts or values, or through any other error which should appear on the manifest, they shall demand their correction before permitting their exportation. In the case of lines of steamers which sail under special regulations, in order to avoid delays and to facilitate generally their operations, the collectors of customs shall take care that the manifests of the cargo received by such vessels are deposited in the customhouse within four days after the clearance of the vessel.

ART. 150. The countries specified must be, as far as possible, those for which the exported goods are destined, and not those for which the exporting vessels are cleared from their respective ports, if the last country of destination should be different from that for which the vessel has been cleared. Exporters shall be required to state in their policies the country of final destination.

ART. 151. Collectors of customs may authorize the lading of products of the island of Cuba from any point or estate where they may be situated.

When this authorization is granted, the exportation will be completed by the captain and shippers presenting all the documents required by the preceding articles.

The supervision of the lading may be made by a customs employé or inspector expressly detailed for the purpose by the collector of customs, all expenses incurred being charged to the account of the shipper.

When the lading is completed, the collector of customs may require the vessel to put into the port where the custom-house is located in order to verify the lading in the form which he may deem best.

ART. 152. When a steamer sailing on a fixed schedule is to remain but a few hours in port the operations of exportation will be permitted to be prepared before its arrival, loading the cargo from lighters, in which it shall have been previously placed, and working at night and on holidays, if it should be necessary, at the expense of the vessel and with the authorization of the collector; but in no case will any merchandise be permitted to remain on the wharves at night, except by special permit.

ART. 153. When a captain has completed the lading of his vessel and desires to sail, he shall notify the collector of customs to this effect, presenting a manifest in duplicate of the entire cargo, and signing the corresponding oath. The collector shall certify the duplicate manifest, one copy of which shall remain in the custom-house, the original being delivered to the captain of the vessel.

The captain will then receive a certificate to the effect that he has been completely cleared by the custom-house.

CHAPTER XII.

TRANSITS AND TRANSSHIPMENTS.

ART. 154. The word transit shall be understood to mean the passing of foreign merchandise touching at ports of the island (but without being discharged) without the payment of duties.

The transit of merchandise touching in ports of Cuba, but without entering into its territory, will be permitted under the following conditions:

1. The captain shall state in his manifest the packages carried in transit in the same form specified for those which he brings for immediate unlading.

2. The point to which the merchandise is consigned shall not be the same from which it was shipped nor any of those at which the vessel has previously touched in the same voyage.

These vessels shall be kept under the supervision of customs inspectors during their stay in port.

ART. 155. If any vessel arrives in port carrying merchandise in transit for ports in Cuba, and the captain makes application to lade merchandise for foreign ports, carrying a manifest, the collector of customs shall note in the manifest the general class of such domestic merchandise, and the number of the policy corresponding to their shipment, in order that their origin may be verified in the other ports in which the vessel enters.

ART. 156. The transshipment of merchandise, i. e., the transfer of the same from one vessel to another of the same line, will be permitted, provided such merchandise has been manifested by the captain as in transit for foreign ports, subject to the following rules:

1. The consignee shall make application for permission to make such transshipment, directed to the collector of customs, in writing, within twenty-four hours after the admission of the manifest. In this application he shall state the name of the vessel bringing such merchandise, the paragraphs of the manifest in which the same appears, and the name of the vessel which is to receive it.

The application shall be in duplicate and in regular form, and shall be noted in a special record, with the following headings:

(a) Number of the petition, placed at the head of the same.

(b) Date of the petition.

(c) Number of the manifest.

(d) Name of vessel bringing the merchandise.

(e) Name of the vessel receiving the same.

(f) Name of the shipper.

(g) Point of destination.

2. The collector of customs will issue the permit, if expedient, directing the surveyor of the port to superintend the transfer of the merchandise and to have the packages verified under the supervision

of the customs inspectors.

The number of the permit shall be noted

in the margin of the corresponding paragraph of the manifest.

3. The packages shall be checked off with the papers of the vessel and the bills of lading, in order to verify their agreement with the manifest and with the application for transshipment.

4. The transfer itself shall be made, either from vessel to vessel, placing them side by side, or by the use of lighters, which shall, whenever deemed necessary, be accompanied by customs inspectors.

5. When the transfer has been completed the surveyor shall certify to the same on the application for the transfer, upon which the captain of the receiving vessel shall also certify to their receipt. The original of this application shall be filed in the custom-house, and the copy authorized by the collector of customs shall be delivered to the captain of the receiving vessel.

If the transfer is made to vessels which are to touch at ports of the island and then proceed to foreign ports with the transshipped merchandise, the fact that such merchandise is in transit for foreign ports must be stated in the general manifest.

CHAPTER XIII.

ABANDONMENT OF MERCHANDISE.

ART. 157. By abandonment of merchandise is meant the renunciation by the consignee of his property.

In the case of abandoned goods no part of the proceeds of sale shall be returned to the owner of the merchandise.

The abandonment is expressed when it is made by the interested party in writing, directed to the collector of customs.

The abandonment is implied when it so appears from the actions of the interested party which leave no room for doubt, such as in the following cases:

1. When on the presentation of the manifest by the captain the identity of the party designated by him as consignee can not be ascertained, or he has died without having left anyone to take his place, or renounces the designation, and neither the consul of the nation of the shipper or the merchant named will admit the consignment.

2. When the periods allowed by these regulations for storage or for entry for bonded warehouse have expired, and the notices required by the regulations have been given to the consignee and the latter fails to appear.

3. When, after the consignee has made his entry and the same has been accepted by the collector, he or his properly authorized representative fails to appear within ninety days to claim the goods and pay the corresponding duties thereon.

4. When passengers bringing concealed merchandise do not pay the