AN ACT to amend existing Customs and Internal Revenue Laws, and for other Purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the date of the passage of this act, in lieu of the duties heretofore imposed on the importation of goods, wares and merchandise hereinafter specified, the following rates of duty shall be exacted, namely: On spun silk, for filling, in skeins or cops, thirty-five per centum ad valorem ; on silk in the gum, not more advanced than singles, tram and thrown or organzine, thirty-five per centum ad valorem; on floss-silks, thirtyfive per centum ad valorem ; on sewing-silk, in the gum or purified, forty per centum ad valorem; on lastings, mohair cloth, silk twist, or other manufactures of cloth, woven or made in patterns of such size, shape or form; or cut in such manner as to be fit for buttons exclusively, ten per centum ad valorem ; on all goods, wares and merchandise not otherwise herein provided for, made of silk or of which silk is the component material of chief value, irrespective of the classification thereof for duty by or under previous laws, or of their commercial designation, sixty per centum ad valorem: Provided, That this act shall not apply to goods, wares or merchandise which have, as a component material thereof, twenty-five per centum or over in value in cotton, flax, wool or worsted.

SEC. 2. That from and after the passage of this act, in lieu of the duties now imposed by law on the merchandise hereinafter enumerated, imported from foreign countries, there shall be levied, collected and paid the following duties, that is to say:

On all still wines imported in casks, forty cents per gallon.

On all still wines imported in bottles, one dollar and sixty cents per case of one dozen bottles, containing each not more than one quart and more than one pint or twenty-four bottles containing each not more than one; and any excess beyond those quantities found in such bottles shall be subject to a duty of five cents per pint, or fractional part thereof, but no separate or additional duty shall be collected on the bottles: Provided, That any wines imported containing more than twenty-four per centum of alcohol shall be forfeited to the United States: Provided also, That there shall be an allowance of five per centum, and no more, on all effervescing wines, liquors, cordials and distilled spirits, in bottles, to be deducted from the invoice quantity in lieu of breakage.

SEC. 3. That all imported wines of the character provided for in the preceding section which may remain in public store or bonded warehouse on the day this act shall take effect shall be subject to no other duty upon the withdrawal thereof or consumption than if the same were imported after that day: Provided, That any such wines remaining on shipboard within the limits of any port of entry in the United States on the day aforesaid, duties unpaid, shall, for the purposes of this section, be considered as constructively in public store or bonded warehouse.

SEO. 4. That on and after the date of the passage of this act, in lieu of the duties imposed by law on the articles in this section enumerated, there shall be levied, collected and paid on the goods, wares and merchandise in this section enumerated and provided for, imported from foreign countries, the following du ties and rates of duties, that is to say:

On hops, eight cents per pound.

On chromate and bichromate of potassa, four cents per pound.

On macaroni and vermicelli and on all similar preparations, two cents per pound.

On nitro-benzole or oil of mirbane, ten cents per pound.

On tin in plates or sheets and on terne and tagger's tin, one and one-tenth cents per pound.

On anchovies and sardines, packed in oil or otherwise, in tin boxes, fifteen cents per whole box, measuring not more than five inches long, four inches wide and three and one-half inches deep; seven and one-half cents for each half-box, measuring not more than five inches long, four inches wide and one and fiveeighth inches deep; and four cents for each quarter-box, measuring not more than four inches and three-quarters long, three and one-half inches wide and one and one-half inches deep; when imported in any other form, sixty per centum ad valorem: Provided, That cans or packages made of tin or other material containing fish of any kind admitted free of duty under any existing law or treaty, not exceeding one quart in contents, shall be subject to a duty of one cent and a half on each can or package; and when exceeding one quart, shall be subject to an additional duty of one cent and a half for each additional quart or fractional part thereof.

SEC. 5. That yellow sheathing-metal and yellow-metal bolts, of which the component part of chief value is copper, shall be deemed manufactures of copper, and shall pay the duty now prescribed by law for manufactures of copper, and shall be entitled to the drawback allowed by law to copper and compositionmetal whenever the same shall be used in the construction or equipment or re

pair of vessels built in the United States for the purpose of being employed in the foreign trade, including the trade between the Atlantic and Pacific ports of the United States.

SEC. 6. That section four of the act entitled "An Act to reduce duties on imports and to reduce internal taxes, and for other purposes," approved June sixth, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, be, and the same is hereby amended by striking out the thirtieth paragraph of said section in relation to the duty on Moisic iron; and from and after the passing of this act, the duty on Moisic iron, of whatever condition, grade, or stage of manufacture, shall be the same as on all other species of iron of like condition, grade or stage of manufacture.

SEC. 7. That the duty on jute-butts shall be six dollars per ton: Provided, That all machinery not now manufactured in the United States adapted exclusively to manufactures from the fibre of the ramie, jute or flax, may be admitted into the United States free of duty for two years from the first of July, eighteen hundred and seventy-five: And Provided further, That bags, other than of American manufacture, in which grain shall have been actually exported from the United States, may be returned empty to the United States free of duty, under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury.

SEC. 8. That on and after the date of the passage of this act, the importation of the articles enumerated and described in this section shall be exempt from duty, that is to say:

Alizarine.
Quicksilver.

Ship planking and handle-bolts.

Spurs and stilts used in the manufacture of earthen, stone, or crockery ware. Seed of the sugar-beet.

SEC. 9. That barrels and grain-bags, the manufacture of the United States, when exported filled with American products or exported empty and returned filled with foreign products, may be returned to the United States free of duty, under such rules and regulations as shall be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury; and the provisions of this section shall apply to and include shooks, when returned as barrels or boxes as aforesaid.

SEC. 10. That where bullets and gunpowder manufactured in the United States and put up in envelopes or shells in the form of cartridges, such envelope or shell being made wholly or in part of domestic materials, are exported, there shall be allowed on the bullets or gunpowder, on the materials of which duties have been paid, a drawback equal in amount to the duty paid on such materials,

and no more, to be ascertained under such regulations as shall be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury: Provided, That ten per centum on the amount of all drawbacks so allowed shall be retained for the use of the United States by the collectors paying such drawback respectively.

SEC. 11. That the oaths now required to be taken by subordinate officers of the customs may be taken before the collectors of the customs in the district in which they are appointed, or before any officer authorized to administer oaths generally; and the oaths shall be taken in duplicate, one copy to be transmitted to the Commissioner of Customs, and the other to be filed with the collector of customs for the district in which the officer appointed acts. And in default of taking such oath, or transmitting a certificate thereof or filing the same with the collector, the party failing shall forfeit and pay the sum of two hundred dollars, to be recovered with costs of suit in any court of competent jurisdiction, to the use of the United States.

AN ACT to further protect the Sinking Fund and provide for the exigencies of the Government.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SEC. 3. That on all molasses, concentrated molasses, tank-bottoms, syrup of sugar cane juice, melada, and on sugars according to the Dutch standard in color, imported from foreign countries, there shall be levied, collected and paid, in addition to the duties now imposed in Schedule G, section two thousand five hundred and four of the Revised Statutes, an amount equal to twenty-five per centum of said duties as levied upon the several articles and grades therein designated: Provided, That concentrated melada, or concrete, shall hereafter be classed as sugar dutiable according to color by the Dutch standard: and melada shall be known and defined as an article made in the process of sugar-making being the cane-juice boiled down to the sugar point and containing all the sugar and molasses resulting from the boiling-process and without any process of purging or clarification, and any and all products of the sugar-cane imported in bags, mats, baskets or any other than tight packages shall be considered sugar and dutiable as such. And provided further, That of the drawback on refined sugars exported

allowed by section three thousand and nineteen of the Revised Statutes of the United States, only one per centum of the amount so allowed shall be retained by the United States.

SEC. 4. That so much of section two thousand five hundred and three of the Revised Statutes as provides that only ninety per centum of the several duties and rates of duty imposed on certain articles therein enumerated by section two thousand five hundred and four shall be levied, collected, and paid be, and the same is hereby, repealed; and the several duties and rates of duty prescribed in said section two thousand five hundred and four shall be and remain as by that section levied, without abatement of ten per centum as provided in section two thousand five hundred and three.

SEC. 5. That the increase of duties provided by this act shall not apply to any goods, wares, or merchandise actually on shipboard and bound to the United States, on or before the tenth day of February, eighteen hundred and seventyfive, nor on any such goods, wares, or, merchandise on deposit in warehouse or public stores at the date of the passage of this act.

SEC. 6. That nothing contained in the act entitled "An act to amend existing customs and internal revenue laws, and for other purposes," approved February eighth, eighteen hundred and seventy-five, shall be construed to impose any duty on bolting-cloths theretofore admitted free of duty.

SCHEDULE OF DUTIES UNDER THE ACTS OF FEBRUARY 8 AND

MARCH 4, 1875.

Alizarine (2056). Free.

American barrels and grain-bags exported filled and returned empty, or exported empty and returned filled, including shooks, returned as barrels or boxes, under regulations, &c., (2061). Free.

Anchovies and sardines, if in tin boxes, as follows, to wit: (2051; see also "Cans," &c.,
below.)

Whole boxes, of not over 5 inches long, 4 wide, and 3 deep, 15 cts.
Half-boxes, of not over 5 inches long, 4 wide, and 1ğ deep, 7 cts.
Quarter-boxes, of not over 42 inches long, 3 wide, and 1 deep, 4 cts.
other form (2051).

The same, in any

Artificial flowers, silk ch. val., (see "Silk.")

Bags, grain, (see (6 American" and "Foreign.")

66

Barrels, (see American.")

Boxes and shooks, (see "American.")

fancy, silk ch. val., (see "Silk.")

Per ct

60