from the vice-consul at Colon, dated December 31, 1890, from which it appears that Bocas del Toro has been made by the Colombian Government an open port, in the same category as Panama and Colon. Respectfully yours, COLLECTOR OF CUSTOMS, New York. O. L. SPAULDING, Assistant Secretary. (10626.) Bolting cloths for milling purposes-Free entry of. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, January 22, 1891. SIR: Your letter of the 21st ultimo was duly received, in which you submit a letter from M. S. Blish, president of the Blish Milling Company, of Seymour, Ind., in regard to the provision in paragraph 510 of the free list, exempting "bolting cloths, especially for milling purposes, but not suitable for the manufacture of wearing apparel," from payment of duty, and expressing the opinion that the peculiar wording of the said provision of law would deprive the millers of the United States of the benefits intended to be conferred thereby. In reply, I have to state, that from a decision recently made by the Board of General Appraisers at New York, it appears that certain silk gauze which resembles bolting cloth, but is unsuitable for milling purposes, is claimed by the importers to be entitled to free entry under said provision, while in fact it is chiefly used in the manufacture of ruchings and other trimmings, and is not the bolting cloth of commerce. The assessment of duty thereon was recently affirmed by the Board of General Appraisers, and in said decision they state the practice which prevails at New York in the classification of bolting cloths as follows: At the port of New York, importers who desire to evince careful obedience to the law and to avoid delay and contention enter these goods with a stamp upon each fold of the cloth, stating that it is imported exclusively for milling purposes; that such a stamp produces a blemish which makes the material unsuitable for the manufacture of wearing apparel and in no wise injures it for its legitimate use; that where there had not been an opportunity to stamp the impression upon the separate folds the appraising officers have required proof under oath that the cloth was imported especially for milling purposes and was to pass into consumption solely for that use, and that where importers have declined to furnish such proof and have paid the duty on the goods as a manufacture of silk, such action was taken as proof of the propriety of the method adopted. It is presumed that under this practice importers will find no diffiealty in procuring free entry of bolting cloths imported especially for milling purposes. Respectfully yours, O. L. SPAULDING, Assistant Secretary. Hon. JASON B. BROWN, U. S. House of Representatives. (10627.) Drawback on toilet soaps made in part of caustic soda. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, January 22, 1891. SIR: On the exportation of toilet soaps manufactured by Fels & Co., of Philadelphia, Pa., in part from imported caustic soda, a drawback will be allowed equal in amount to the duty paid on the soda used in the manufacture, less the legal deduction of 1 per centum. The quantity of the imported caustic soda so used shall be determined by allowing 12 pounds thereof for every 100 pounds of the net weight of the exported article. The above proportion will be verified from time to time by an analysis of samples to be taken and submitted to the appraiser by the officer superintending the shipment. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, January 22, 1891. Section 9 of the "Passenger Act," approved August 2, 1882 (22 Stat., 186), and the opinion of the Attorney-General thereon, dated December 29, 1890, are published for the information and guidance of customs and immigration officers, and others concerned. There is also appended section 5 of the "act supplementary to the acts in relation to immigration," approved March 3, 1875 (18 Stat., 477), which is still in force. (See Synopsis 10375.) A. B. NETTLETON, SECTION 9 OF THE "PASSENGER ACT." SEC. 9. That it shall not be lawful for the master of any such steamship or other vessel, not in distress, after the arrival of the vessel within any collection district of the United States, to allow any person or persons, except a pilot, officer of the customs, or health officer, agents of the vessel, and consuls, to come on board of the vessel, or to leave the vessel, until the vessel has been taken in charge by an officer of the customs, nor, after charge so taken, without leave of such officer, until all the passengers, with their baggage, have been duly landed from the vessel; and on the arrival of any such steamship or other vessel within any collection district of the United States, the master thereof shall deliver to the officer of customs who first comes on board the vessel and makes demand therefor a correct list, signed by the master, of all the passengers taken on board the vessel at any foreign port or place, specifying separately the names of the cabin passengers, their age, sex, calling, and the country of which they are citizens, and the number of pieces of baggage belonging to each passenger, and also the name, age, sex, calling, and native country of each emigrant passenger, or passengers other than cabin passengers, and their intended destination or location, and the number of pieces of baggage belonging to each passenger, and also the location of the compartment or space occupied by each of such passengers during the voyage; and if any of such passengers died on the voyage, the said list shall specify the name, age, and cause of death of each deceased passenger; and a duplicate of the aforesaid list of passengers, verified by the oath of the master, shall, with the manifest of the cargo, be delivered by the master to the collector of customs on the entry of the vessel. For a violation of either of the provisions of this section, or for permitting or neglecting to prevent a violation thereof, the master of the vessel shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars. OPINION OF THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, SIR: By letter of the 14th of October, 1890, you requested the opinion of the Attorney-General as to the power of the officers of the customs to require the master of a ship, arriving at the port of New York from a foreign country, to detain all passengers upon such ship until they shall have been examined by the customs officers for the purpose of determining what amount of head-money, under the Immigration Act of 1882 (22 Stat. L., 214), should be collected from the master. You first ask whether such power is conferred by section 9 of the Passenger Act (22 Stat. L., 186), which provides that "It shall not be lawful for the master of any such steamship or other vessel, not in distress, after the arrival of the vessel within any collection district of the United States, to allow any person or persons, except a pilot, officer of the customs, or health officer, agents of the vessel, and consuls, to come on board of the vessel, or to leave the vessel, until the vessel has been taken in charge by an officer of the customs, nor after charge so taken without leave of such officer, until all the passengers, with their baggage, have been duly landed from the vessel." By the same section the master is required to furnish a list of all the passengers on board, with their citizenship. The calculation of headmoney under the Immigration Act is, in practice, based on this list. Head-money cases, 112 U. S., 580-581.) 22 66 I am of the opinion that section 9 is an express requirement that the master of any vessel therein referred to shall detain on board every passenger until permission is given to the master by the customs officers to allow him to land. It has been contended that the words "any person or persons" can not refer to passengers, on the ground that by substituting for person or persons passengers" the result is that 30 passenger can leave the ship until all the passengers, with their baggage, have been duly landed-a result evidently absurd. When, however, proper effect is given to the words "without the leave of the customs officers" the absurdity is removed, for the clear meaning then is that the leave of the customs officer shall be necessary to the lawful landing of any one, whether passenger or not, until by such leave all the passengers have been landed. It was thereby intended to put the ship, with all its passengers and all the persons on board, under the control of the customs officers, by requiring the master to detain every one on board until such examination is had as is necessary to determine whether the customs and immigration laws had been complied with, and this is notified to the master by the customs officers. By section 11 of the Passenger Act it is made the duty of the collector to direct an inspector or other officer of the customs to compare the number of steerage passengers found on board with the list of such passengers furnished by the master, and to make a report of the same to the surveyor. It would be impossible to make such a comparison unless, after the arrival of the vessel, the steerage passengers could be held on board until they had been personally examined or inspected. It is true that this affects only steerage passengers and passengers other than cabin passengers. Section 9 is not so limited, however. The expression there is "any person or persons," and the time fixed for a free passage from the vessel to the shore and back again, without leave of the customs officers, is after "all the passengers," that is, both immigrant and cabin passengers, have been landed with their baggage. It should be said that the Passenger Act of 1882 refers to such steamships and sailing vessels as carry steerage passengers, and that the application of section 9 would seem to be limited, therefore, to such ships, and would not extend to those carrying cabin passengers only. But, whatever the application of section 9 of the Passenger Act, the terms of the Immigration Act of 1882 necessarily confer a power on the collector, under proper regulations of the Secretary of the Treasury, to require the master to detain all his passengers until they can be examined. The duty imposed by the Immigration Act on the collector of customs to collect a tax upon all citizens of foreign countries landing at a port in this country, from the master of the ship or the shipowner, implies the power in such collector to take the means necessary to determine what persons on board an incoming vessel are subject to the tax. It would obviously be impossible to determine the amount of tax due without subjecting all the passengers to an examination as to their citizenship, unless it is to be held that the list furnished by the master is conclusive upon the officers of the Government as to the number of foreign citizens on board the ship. The act contains no such provision, and, in the absence of it, the conclusiveness of the list is not to be presumed. By section 3 of the act, the Secretary of the Trea ury is given power to make all necessary regulations for carrying o its provisions. He may, therefore, make a regulation that no passer ger shall be landed by a master of a ship until an examination of a the passengers may be had. The Immigration Act makes no distinction between cabin and othe than cabin passengers. The tax is to be imposed upon all citizens foreign countries in any vessel landing at any port of the United Stat from a foreign port. It is manifest that such passengers do not alway travel in the steerage. Any regulation looking to a personal examin tion of the passengers for the purpose of determining whether the are citizens of a foreign country ought therefore properly to includ those in the cabin as well as those in the steerage. Some argument seems to have been made by the collector and su veyor of the port of New York against the views here taken, on t ground that this construction of the Passenger and Immigration Ac will result in an abridgment of the liberty of the citizen. The libert of the citizen will be no more abridged by such a regulation than is h right of property by detention of it for customs examination. Whi the passenger is on the ship he is subject to the authority of the maste who may restrain him if he refuses to submit to the necessary discipli of the ship. (Kay's Law Relating to Shipmasters and Seamen, vol. I pages 815-818.) It needs no argument to show that regulations f landing passengers are a part of the necessary discipline of the ship and that a detention for purposes of quarantine or tax charge is clear within the power of the master if it is required of him by law or lawi regulation. The power of Congress to prescribe the conditions und which a foreigner may enter this country is plenary, because it has th power of absolutely excluding them. (Chinese exclusion cases, 130 U S., 581.) The existence of such a power implies the ancillary powe of detaining all persons, whether they are citizens of the United Stat or not, a reasonable length of time until their citizenship may be estal lished. The papers inclosed with your letter are herewith inclosed, as r quested. Very respectfully, Approved: W. H. H. MILLER, Attorney-General. The SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY. WM. H. TAFT, Solicitor-General, SECTION 5, RELATING TO CONVICTS, ETC. SEC. 5. That it shall be unlawful for aliens of the following classes immigrate into the United States, namely, persons who are undergoin a sentence for conviction in their own country of felonious crimes oth than political or growing out of or the result of such political offense or whose sentence has been remitted on condition of their emigratio and women "imported for the purpose of prostitution." Every vess arriving in the United States may be inspected under the directi |