PEARLS STRUNG ON THREAD, ETC.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, December 11, 1858. SIR-I have examined your report, under date of the 5th ultimo, on the appeal of Jacques Schieb, Esq., from your assessment of duty at the rate of 24 per cent on an importation of pearls. It is presumed, from the statements in the papers submitted to me, that the pearls were strung on thread, and that you levied the duty under the classification in schedule C of the tariff act of 1857, of "beads of amber, composition, or wax, and all other beads;" the importer contending that they are not beads within the meaning of the law, but pearls "not set," being designed to be set or otherwise manufactured in the United States, and that duties should be assessed at 4 per cent under the classification in schedule H of "cameos and mosaics, diamonds, gems, pearls, rubies, and other precious stones not set." It was decided by this Department under the tariff act of 1846, that "pearls strung on thread," and so imported, for the convenience of transportation, and to be set in this country, are liable to duty as pearls not set; but if imported so strung, and to be used as beads for necklaces without further manufacture, they would be charged with the duty as beads; the collector to be satisfied in each case of the purpose intended, and to regulate the classification accordingly. This principle is alike applicable under the tariff of 1857; and if you should be satisfied that the pearls, though strung on thread, have been imported to be set in the United States, you will exact the duty of 4 per cent under the classification before referred to in schedule H; but if you should not be satisfied of that fact, the decision made by you will be enforced. I am, very respectfully,

HOWELL COBB, Secretary of the Treasury.

AUGUSTUS SCHELL, Esq., Collector, &c., New York.

"DYED COBURG ROBES A QUILLE."

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, December 15, 1858. SIR-I acknowledge the receipt of your report on the appeal of George D. Parrish, Esq., from your decision assessing a duty of 24 per cent on certain merchandise described as "three-quarters dyed Coburg robes a quille," the importer claiming to enter it at a duty of 19 per cent, under the classification in schedule D of the tariff of 1857, of "manufactures of worsted, or of which worsted shall be a component material, not otherwise provided for." It is understood that the articles in question are composed of two fabrics-one of worsted, and the other of a narrow strip of cotton velvet loosely attached to the former by a thread. They are imported in pieces of a proper size for ladies' dresses, and intended, it is alleged, to be used for that purpose. The Department is of the opinion that the two fabrics thus loosely attached ought not, with a view to the assessment of duty, to be regarded as a single article, but that each of the component fabrics should bear its proper duty, according to its classification in the tariff. In this view, the cotton velvet being dyed, and composed wholly of cotton, will be charged with a duty of 24 per cent, under the classification in schedule C of the tariff of 1857, of "all manufactures composed wholly of cotton, which are bleached, printed, painted, or dyed," and the worsted with a duty of 19 per cent, under the classification in schedule D of "manufactures of worsted, or of which worsted shall be a component material. not otherwise provided for." You will perceive that, in the view taken by the Department, the provisions of the 20th section of the tariff act of 1842, to which you refer, does not apply to this case. I am, very respectfully,

AUGUSTUS SCHELL, Esq., Collector, New York.

HOWELL COBB, Secretary of the Treasury.

REIMPORTATIONS.

Dutiable merchandise imported into the United States, and afterwards exported, although it may have paid duty on the first importation, is liable to duty on every subsequent importation into the United States.

"BEET ROOT."

(6

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, December 15, 1858. SIR :—The Department has had under consideration your decision assessing a duty of 15 per cent on an article described by the appellant, J. Winchester, Esq., as the refuse or waste of the beet root as it comes from the sugar manufactories of Europe, after all the saccharine matter has been extracted. This refuse or waste, it is alleged, is employed in connection with other materials for the manufacture of paper, and this is the only known use for which it has any value or to which it is known ever to have been applied. It appears from your report that the article in question was returned by the drug examiner and the appraisers as "beet root, schedule E," and that the duty of 15 per cent imposed in that schedule was exacted; but it does not appear under what particular classification in that schedule the article was supposed to be embraced. It is presumed, however, that it was regarded as a "vegetable." The importer claims that it should be treated as a "root" and be exempt from duty under the classification in schedule I of" trees, shrubs, bulbs, plants, and roots, not otherwise provided for," or regarded as a non enumerated article and assimilated under the 20th section of the tariff act of 1842, by the use to which it is applied, to "rags of whatever material except wool," both being used in the manufacture of paper. The appellant himself suggests in his "protest and appeal" sufficient reasons why this" refuse or waste" cannot be regarded as either a vegetable" under schedule E, or as a "root" under schedule I. By reason of the process it has undergone in the manufacture of sugar, it is no longer a "vegetable" or "root" within the meaning of those terms as used in those schedules. The Department has decided (and still adheres to that decision,) that the provision in schedule I, admitting free of duty" trees, shrubs, bulbs, plants, and roots, not otherwise provided for," has reference to articles imported for planting, and propagation of plants, which excludes of course from that classification the mere refuse or waste of beet root from the sugar manufactories. Nor can this "refuse or waste," if unenumerated, be carried into the free schedule, as suggested by the appellant, under the 20th section of the act of 1842, by reason of its application to the same use as "rags," specified in that schedule. All articles entitled to entry free of duty are described or specified in schedule I. All articles not named in that or any other schedule of the tariff of 1857 are made, by the 1st section of that act, liable to duty of 15 per cent, unless they can be assimilated, under the provisions of the 20th section of the act of 1842, to some enumerated articles liable to duty, in material, texture, or use, when they will be subjected to the same rate of duty to which the enumerated articles are liable which they most resemble in any of those respects. The 20th section of the act of 1842 merely determines the rate at which duties shall be levied on unenumerated articles, which are all dutiable by the law, and does not authorize the transfer of an article from the unenumerated to the free list. The article in question, in the opinion of this Department, is unenumerated, and chargeable with a duty of 15 per cent, under the 1st section of the tariff of 1857, there being no dutiable article in any of the schedules of the tariff to which it can be assimilated under the 20th section of the act of 1842 that would impose a different rate. Your decision exacting a duty of 15 per cent on the article in question is affirmed. I am, very respectfully,

AUGUSTUS SCHELL, Esq., Collector, New York.

HOWELL COBB, Secretary of the Treasury.

GRAIN BAGS.

It has been decided by the Department, under date of the 21st October last, that " bags of American manufacture exported from the United States filled with grain and afterwards imported empty, or exported empty and afterwards imported filled with grain, will, as heretofore, be admitted to entry free of duty, upon the production of the proof of such origin required by the law and the regulations of the Department.

COTTON DUCK.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, December 15, 1858. SIR-The Department has had under consideration an appeal from your decision subjecting to duty at the rate of 19 per cent, under the classification of "manufactures composed wholly of cotton, not otherwise provided for," in schedule D of the tariff of 1857, an article described as " American duck," which is alleged to have been shipped from San Francisco to Victoria, V. I., and imported thence into your port by A. Crawford, Esq. The importer contends that the article in question, if dutiable, is entitled to entry at the rate of duty of 15 per cent, under schedule E of said tariff, as "sail duck;" no such article, however, as "sail duck" is specified in any schedule of the tariff of 1857. The proof of origin required by the law not being produced in this case, the merchandise must be treated as a foreign product and liable to duty. It being manufactured wholly of unbleached cotton, and not being specially named, nor embraced in any general classification in any other schedule of the tariff, it is liable to duty at the rate of 19 per cent under the classification in schedule D of "manufactures composed wholly of cotton, not otherwise provided for." Your decision, therefore, is hereby affirmed. I am, very respectfully,

HOWELL COBB, Secretary of the Treasury.

BENJAMIN F. WASHINGTON, Esq., Collector, &c., San Francisco, California.

CONVENTION BETWEEN The United STATES AND PERU.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA-A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas a convention between the United States and the Republic of Peru, with regard to the interpretation to be given to the twelfth article of the treaty of the 26th July, 1851, was signed at Lima on the 4th of July, 1857, which convention is, word for word, [the English only being here given,] as follows:-

Certain doubts having arisen with regard to the interpretation to be given to article twelfth of the treaty of the 26th of July, 1851, as to the goods, other than oil and the produce of their fishery, that the whale ships of the United States may land and sell, or barter, duty free, for the purpose of obtaining provisions and refitting, a concession which, in articles eighty-one and one hundred and ten of the General Commercial Regulations, is not so extensive; and it being convenient, for the advantage of the citizens of the United States employed in the whale fishery, and of citizens of Peru who furnish provisions, to fix, clearly and definitely, the proper meaning of the concessions stipulated in the above mentioned article twelfth of the treaty of the 26th July, 1851, so that while those reciprocal benefits are secured, all and every controversy in the matter may be avoided; the Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Peru, John Randolph Clay, in virtue of his full powers, and his Excellency Doctor Don Manuel Ortiz de Zevallos, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Peru, fully authorized to act in the premises by the Excellent Council of Ministers charged with the government of the republic, after having held repeated conferences, and come to a mutual understanding upon the true spirit and extent of the exemption from duties conceded to said whaleships in the sale and barter of their stores and merchandise, by article twelfth of the treaty of 1851, which provides:

ART. 12. The whale ships of the United States shall have access to the port of Tumbez, as well as to the port of entry of Peru, and may sail from one port to another for the purposes of refreshment and refitting; and they shall be permitted to sell, or barter their supplies or goods. including oil, to the amount of two hundred dollars, ad valorem, for each vessel, without paying tonnage or harbor dues, or any duties or imports upon the article so sold or bartered. They shall be also permitted, with like exemption from tonnage and harbor dues, further, to sell or barter their supplies or goods, including oil, to the additional amount of

one thousand dollars, ad valorem, for each vessel, upon paying for the said additional articles, the same duties as are payable upon like supplies or goods and oil when imported in the vessels and by the citizens or subjects of the "most favored nations."

Have agreed and declared :

ART. 1. That the permission to the whale ships of the United to barter or sell their supplies and goods to the value of two hundred dollars, ad valorem, without being obliged to pay port or tonnage dues, or other imposts, should not be understood to comprehend every kind of merchandise without limitation, but those only that whale ships are usually provided with for their long voyages.

ART. 2. That in the said exemption from duties of every kind are included the following articles, in addition to the produce of their fishery, viz. :-White unbleached domestics; white bleached domestics; wide cotton cloths; blue drill; twilled cottons; shirting stripes; ticking; cotton shirtings; prints; sailor's clothing of all kinds; soap; slush; boots, shoes, and brogans; axes, hatches; biscuit of every kind; flour; lard; butter; rum; beef; pork; spermaceti and composition candles; canvas; rope; tobacco.

ART. 3. It is also agreed upon and understood between the contracting parties, that the whale ships of the United States may land and sell or barter, free of all duties or imposts whatsoever, the supplies and merchandise specified in the preceding article, to the amount of five hundred dollars, ad valorem, in conformity with article eighty-one of the General Commercial Regulations; but for every additional quantity from five hundred dollars to one thousand dollars, ad valorem, the exemption shall only extend to port and tonnage dues.

ART. 4. The stipulations in this convention shall have the same force and effect as if inserted, word for word, in the treaty concluded in Lima on the 26th of July, 1851, and of which they shall be deemed and considered as explanatory. For which purpose the present Convention shall be approved and ratified by the President of the United States of America, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and by the Executive power of the Republic of Peru, with the authorization of the national Peruvian Legislature; and the ratification shall be exchanged in Washington in as short a time as possible. In faith whereof, the above-named Plenipotentiaries have signed, in quadruplicate, this Convention, explanatory of the treaty of the 26th of July, 1851, and have hereunto affixed their seals.

Done at Lima, the fourth day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.

J. RANDOLPH CLAY.
[SEAL]
MANUEL ORTIZ DE ZEVALLOS. [SEAL.]

And whereas the said Convention has been duly ratified on both parts, and the respective ratifications of the same were exchanged in this city on the 13th instant by Lewis Cass, Secretary of State of the United States, and Senor Juan Y. de Osma, Minister Resident of the Republic of Peru, in the United States, on the part of their respective governments:

Now, therefore, be it known that I, James Buchanan, President of the United States of America, have caused the said Convention to be made public, to the end that the same and every clause and article thereof may be observed and fulfilled with good faith by the United States and the citizens thereof.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done in the city of Washington this fourteenth day of October, in the [SEAL.] year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, and of the independence of the United States of America the eighty-third.

By the President:

LEWIS CASS, Secretary of State.

JAMES BUCHANAN,

NAUTICAL INTELLIGENCE.

LIGHTS AND FOG SIGNALS,

TO BE CARRIED AND USED BY SEA-GOING VESSELS OF THE NETHERLANDS, to preVENT COLLISION.

The following Decree respecting lights and fog signals to be carried and used by all sea-going vessels of the Netherlands, to prevent collision, has been communicated by the Department of State, and is published for the information of mariners. By order of the Lighthouse Board,

WASHINGTON, September 20, 1858.

THORNTON A. JENKINS, Secretary.

[TRANSLATION.]

(Official Journal No. 54.)-Decree of the 28th June, 1858, containing regula tions in regard to the lights which vessels at sea are to carry during the night, and the signals which they are to make in foggy weather, in order to prevent collisions; to take the place of the Royal Decree of the 29th January, 1850, (Official Journal No. 3,) and that of the 17th March, 1853, (Official Journal No. 14.)

WILLIAM III., by the grace of God, King of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange, Nassau, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, &c., &c., &c.-On the recommendation of our Minister of Marine, of the 21st of May last, No. 71; of our Minister of the Interior, of the 3d of June, (let. d, 6th division;) of our Minister of Foreign Affairs, of the 4th June, No. 3, and of our Minister of Finance, of the 19th of June, No. 98, (import and export duties,) in favor of modifying the regulations in force concerning the lights which are to be carried during the night by sea going vessels, both steamships and sailing vessels, and their signals in foggy weather, in order to prevent collisions;

The Council of State having been heard, (Opinion of the 25th of June last, No. 3,) we have decreed and do decree as follows:

On and after the 1st day of October, 1858, the Royal Decree of the 29th January, 1850. (Official Journal No. 3,) and the Royal Decree of the 17th March, 1853, (Official Journal No. 14,) are abrogated and annulled, and from and after that period the following regulations are adopted in their stead :

STEAM VESSELS.

All sea-going steam vessels, when underway under steam, shall carry, from sunset to sunrise, the following lights :

1st. At the foremast-head a bright white light; on the starboard side a green light; on the port side a red light.

2d. The signal lantern, at the foremast-head, is to be of sufficient intensity to be seen on a dark night, but with a clear atmosphere, at a distance of at least one-and-a-quarter German mile, (five nautical miles.) and exhibit an unbroken and uninterrupted light over an are of 20 points of the compass, and it is to be placed in such a manner as to be seen ten points of the compass on each side of the vessel-that is to say, from ahead to two points abaft the beam on both sides. 3d. The green light on the starboard side, and the red light on the larboard (port) side of the vessel, are to be arranged in such a manner as to be visible in a dark night and clear atmosphere, at a distance of at least half a German mile, (two nautical miles,) and are to show an uniform and uninterrupted light over an arc of ten points of the horizon, (112° 30′;) and they are to be so placed as to throw the light from ahead of the vessel to two points abaft the beam on the side on which each signal lantern shall be placed.

4th. The side lights are to be fitted with inside screens, extending at least three