be the duty of the said board, under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, to cause an abstract to be made and published of such decisions of the appraisers as they or he may deem important, to be published either in full, or if full publication shall not be requested by the Secretary or by the board, then by an abstract containing a general description of the merchandise in question, a statement of the facts upon which the decision is based, and of the value and rate of duty fixed in each case, with reference, whenever practicable, by number or other designation, to samples deposited in the place of samples at New York, and such abstracts shall be issued from time to time, at least once in each week, for the information of customs officers and the public."

Rules of Practice

SEC. 2. Suitable rules of practice have been established by the Board of United States General Appraisers. (T. D. 37772, September 24, 1918.) Subject to these rules practicing Attorneys-at-Law and Customs Brokers versed in Customs procedure may be admitted to practice before the Board of United States General Appraisers as the representatives of the importer, subject to the conditions imposed by Paragraph N of Section III of the Tariff Act of October 3, 1913, that:

"No agreement for a contingent fee in respect to recovery or refund under protest shall be lawful. Compliance with this provision shall be a condition precedent to the validity of the protest and to any refund thereunder, and a violation of this provision shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding $500, or imprisonment for not more than one year, or both."

Assistant Attorney-General in Charge of Customs

SEC. 3. To safeguard the interest of the Government, it is provided by Subsection 30 of Section 28 of the Tariff Act of August 5, 1909:

"That there shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, an Assistant AttorneyGeneral, who shall exercise the functions of his office under the supervision and control of the Attorney-General of the United

States, and who shall be paid a salary of ten thousand dollars per annum; and there shall also be appointed by the AttorneyGeneral of the United States a Deputy Assistant Attorney-General, who shall be paid a salary of seven thousand five hundred dollars per annum, and four attorneys, who shall be paid salaries of five thousand dollars per annum each. Said attorneys shall act under the immediate direction of said Assistant AttorneyGeneral, or, in case of his absence or a vacancy in his office, under the direction of said Deputy Assistant Attorney-General, and said Assistant Attorney-General, Deputy Assistant AttorneyGeneral, and attorneys shall have charge of the interests of the Government in all matters of reappraisement and classification of imported goods and of all litigation incident thereto, and shall represent the Government in all the courts and before all tribunals wherein the interests of the Government require such representation.

"But the Attorney-General may, whenever in his opinion the public interest requires it, employ and retain, in the name of the United States, such special attorneys and counselors at law in the conduct of customs cases as he may think necessary to assist said Assistant Attorney-General in the discharge of any of the duties incumbent upon him and his said subordinates, and shall stipulate with such attorneys and counsel the amount of compensation and shall have supervision of their conduct and proceedings."

Hearings Before Board of United States General Appraisers

SEC. 4. The Board of United States General Appraisers is located at 641 Washington Street, New York, where customs hearings are held and decisions rendered. To accommodate business arising outside of New York City, provision is also made for hearings both in reappraisement and classification cases at stated intervals during the year at the ports of Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Portland, Oregon, St. Louis, St. Paul, San Francisco and Seattle, and at such other ports as in the judgment of the president of the board occasion may require. (T. D. 36855, Exhibit IX, Appendix.)

CHAPTER X

APPEAL TO THE COURTS

United States Court of Customs Appeals

SEC. 1. If the importer, owner, consignee or agent of any imported merchandise, or the Collector or Secretary of the Treasury, shall be dissatisfied with the decision of the Board of United States General Appraisers as to the construction of the law and the facts respecting the classification of such merchandise and the rate of duty imposed thereon under such classification, or with any other appealable decision of said board, they, or either of them, may, within sixty days next after the entry of such decree or judgment, and not afterwards, apply to the United States Court of Customs Appeals for a review of the questions of law and fact involved in such decision.

It is accordingly provided by Subsection 29 of Section 28 of the Tariff Act of August 5, 1909:

"That a United States Court of Customs Appeals is hereby created, and said court shall consist of a presiding judge and four associate judges appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, each of whom shall receive a salary of ten thousand dollars per annum. It shall be a court of record with jurisdiction as hereinafter established and limited.

"Said court shall prescribe the form and style of its seal and the form of its writs and other process and procedure and exercise such powers conferred by law as may be conformable and necessary to the exercise of its jurisdiction. It shall have the services of a marshal, with the same duties and powers, under the regulations of the court, as are now provided for the marshal of the Supreme Court of the United States, so far as the same may be applicable. Said services within the District of Columbia shall be performed by a marshal at a salary of three thousand

dollars per annum, to be appointed by and hold office during the pleasure of said court; said services outside the District of Columbia to be performed by the United States marshals in and for the districts where sessions of said court may be held, and to this end said marshals shall be the marshals of said Court of Customs Appeals. The court shall appoint a clerk, whose office shall be in the city of Washington, District of Columbia, and who shall perform and exercise the same duties and powers in regard to all matters within the jurisdiction of said court as are now exercised and performed by the clerk of the Supreme Court of the United States, so far as the same may be applicable. The salary of the clerk shall be four thousand dollars per annum, which sum shall be in full payment for all service rendered by such clerk, and all fees of any kind whatever, and all costs shall be by him turned into the United States Treasury. Said clerk shall not be appointed by the court or any judge thereof as a commissioner, master, receiver, or referee. The costs and fees in the said court shall be fixed and established by said court in a table of fees to be adopted and approved by the Supreme Court of the United States within four months after the organization of said court: Provided, That the costs and fees so fixed shall not, with respect to any item, exceed the costs and fees charged in the Supreme Court of the United States; and the same shall be expended, accounted for, and paid over to the Treasury of the United States. The court shall have power to establish all rules and regulations for the conduct of the business of the court and as may be needful for the uniformity of decisions within its jurisdiction as conferred by law.

"The said Court of Customs Appeals shall always be open for the transaction of business, and sessions thereof may, in the discretion of the court, be held by the said court, in the several judicial circuits, and at such places as said court may from time to time designate.

"The presiding judge of said court shall be so designated in order of appointment and in the commission issued him by the President, and the associated judges shall have precedence according to the date of their commissions. Any three of the members of said court shall constitute a quorum, and the concurrence of three members of said court shall be necessary to any decision thereof.

"The said court shall organize and open for the transaction of business in the city of Washington, District of Columbia, within ninety days after the judges, or a majority of them, shall have qualified.

"After the organization of said court no appeal shall be taken or allowed from any board of United States general appraisers to any other court, and no appellate jurisdiction shall thereafter be exercised or allowed by any other courts in cases decided by said board of United States General Appraisers; but all appeals

allowed by law from such Board of General Appraisers shall be subject to review only in the Court of Customs Appeals hereby established according to the provisions of this Act: Provided, That nothing in this Act shall be deemed to deprive the Supreme Court of the United States of jurisdiction to hear and determine all customs cases which have heretofore been certified to said court from the United States circuit courts of appeals on applications for writs of certiorari or otherwise, nor to review by writ of certiorari any customs cases heretofore decided or now pending and hereafter decided by any circuit court of appeals, provided application for said writ be made within six months after passage of this Act: And provided further, That all customs cases heretofore decided by a circuit or district court of the United States or a court of a Territory of the United States and which have not been removed from said courts by appeal or writ of error, and all such cases heretofore submitted for decision in said courts and remaining undecided may be reviewed on appeal at the instance of either party by the United States Court of Customs Appeals, provided such appeal be taken within one year from the date of the entry of the order, judgment or decree sought to be reviewed.

"The Court of Customs Appeals established by this Act shall exercise exclusive appellate jurisdiction to review by appeal, as provided by this Act, final decisions by a board of general appraisers in all cases as to the construction of the law and the facts respecting the classification of merchandise and the rate of duty imposed thereon under such classification, and the fees and charges connected therewith, and all appealable questions as to the jurisdiction of said board, and all appealable questions as to the laws and regulations governing the collection of the customs revenues; and the judgment or decrees of said Court of Customs Appeals shall be final in all such cases.

"Any judge who, in pursuance of the provisions of this Act, shall attend a session of the Court of Customs Appeals held at any place other than the city of Washington, District of Columbia, shall be paid, upon his written and itemized certificate, by the marshal of the district in which the court shall be held, his actual and necessary expenses incurred for travel and attendance, and the actual and necessary expenses of one stenographic clerk who may accompany him, and such payments shall be allowed the marshal in the statement of his accounts with the United States.

"The marshal of said court for the District of Columbia and the marshals of the several districts in which said Court of Customs Appeals may be held shall, under the direction of the Attorney-General of the United States and with his approval, provide such rooms in the public buildings of the United States as may be necessary for said court: Provided, however, That in case proper room can not be provided in such buildings, then the