March 30, 1900. 31 Stat. L., 54. Public Printer. amount of bond. CHAP. 118.-An Act Making appropriations to supply additional urgent deficiencies in the appropriations for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred, and for prior years, and for other purposes. Be it enacted, &c., * * (1) Hereafter there shall be advanced to Advances to the Public Printer from time to time, as the public service may require R. S., § 3759, it, and under such rules as the Secretary of the Treasury may pre1895, Jan. 12, ch. scribe, a sum of money not exceeding at any time the penalty of his 23, § 17 (2 Supp. official bond, to enable him to pay for work and material. [March 30, R. S., 342). April 12, 1900. 1900.] NOTE. (1) This act is an amendment of 1894, May 29, ch. 85 (2 Supp. R. S., 189), reenacted by 1895, January 12, ch. 23, § 28 (2 Supp. R. S., 344), which allowed advances to the amount of four-fifths of the penalty of the bond. These acts are themselves a substitute for R. S., § 3816, which allowed two-thirds only. The bond of the Government Printer is, by 1895, January 12, ch. 23, § 17 (2 Supp. R. S., 343), $100,000. CHAP. 120. An Act Concerning the boarding of vessels. (1) Be it enacted, &c., That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and directed to prescribe from time to time and enforce regulations governing the boarding of vessels arriving at the seaports of the United States, before such vessels have been properly inspected and placed in security, and for that purpose to employ any of the officers of that Department. SEC. 2. That each person violating such regulations shall be subject to a penalty of not more than one hundred dollars or imprisonment not to exceed six months, or both, in the discretion of the court. SEC. 3. That this Act shall be construed as supplementary to section nine of chapter three hundred and seventy-four of the Statutes of eighteen hundred and eighty-two, and section forty-six hundred and six of the Revised Statutes. SEC. 4. That this Act shall take effect thirty days after its passage. [March 31, 1900.] NOTE. (1) R. S., § 4606, makes anyone boarding a vessel before her actual arrival and without permission of the master liable to a fine of not more than $200 and by imprisonment not more than six months. By 1882, August 2, ch. 374, § 9 (1 Supp. R. S., 367), the master is forbidden to permit anyone to board or leave his vessel, except certain designated officials, until the vessel has been taken charge of by an officer of customs, and afterwards without leave of such officer, until the passengers have been duly landed, under a penalty of a fine not to exceed $1,000. CHAP. 185.—An Act To create the northwestern division of the northern district of Georgia for judicial purposes and to fix the time and place for holding court therein. (1) 31 Stat. L., 73. Georgia. Be it enacted, &c., That the counties of Dade, Walker, Catoosa, Northwestern Whitfield, Murray, Chattooga, Gordon, Floyd, Bartow, Polk, Pauldern judicial dis- ing, Haralson, and Carroll, in the State of Georgia, shall constitute the northwestern division of the northern judicial district of Georgia, division of north trict. R. S., §§ 535, 572, 658. NOTE.-(1) See 1882, April 25, ch. 87 (1 Supp. R. S., 336) establishing district courts and offices for the northern and southern districts of Georgia, and note (1) thereto for a review of the laws affecting the courts and judicial districts of that State. By 1901, February 28, ch. 621, post, p. 1492, the eastern division of the northern judicial district was created. By 1894, August 27, ch. 341 (2 Supp. R. S., 265), the terms of court fixed for Columbus supersede those provided by 1891, March 3, ch. 566 (1 Supp. R. S., 954). Term of court at and a term of the circuit and district courts for said district shall be held in said division hereby created at the city of Rome on the third Rome. Monday of May and the third Monday of November of each year: Provided, however, That suitable rooms and accommodations are furnished for the holding of said courts free of expense to the Gov- tions. ernment of the United States. -accommoda SEC. 2. That all civil suits which shall hereafter be brought against Suits against dea defendant or defendants who reside in said northwestern division of fendants in differsaid district shall be brought in said northwestern division; but if ent divisions, etc. there are two or more defendants residing in different divisions of said district, such suit may be brought in either division of said district in which any defendant or defendants reside, and all mesne and final process subject to the provisions of this Act issued in either of the divisions of the northern district of Georgia may be served and executed in either or all of the divisions. SEC. 3. That all crimes and offenses against the laws of the United States committed within the counties comprising the northwestern division of said district shall be prosecuted, tried, and determined at the terms of the circuit and district courts herein provided for: Provided, however, That all prosecutions begun and pending at the taking effect of this Act shall be proceeded with and finally determined as if this Act were not passed. Trial of crimes. -pending cases. Deputy clerks at Rome. SEC. 4. That the clerks of the circuit and district courts for said northern district shall each appoint a deputy, who shall reside and maintain an office at the city of Rome, each of whom, in the absence of the clerks, shall exercise all the powers and perform all the duties of his principal within the division for which he shall be appointed: Provided, That the appointment of such deputies shall be approved by the court for which they shall be respectively appointed, and they appointment, etc. may be removed by such court at pleasure. SEC. 5. That all the grand jurors and all jurors for the trial of civil and criminal causes in the division hereby created shall be selected from citizens residing in the division created by this Act. SEC. 6. That this Act shall take effect from and after the thirtieth day of June, anno Domini nineteen hundred, and all Acts and parts of Acts so far as inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed. [April 12, 1900.] approval of Jurors. Effect. CHAP. 186.-An Act To attach the county of Foard, in the State of Texas, to the Fort Worth division of the northern district of Texas, and providing that all process issued against defendants residing in said county shall be returned to Fort Worth. (1) Be it enacted, &c., That the county of Foard, in the State of Texas, be, and the same is hereby, assigned to the Fort Worth division of the northern judicial district of the State of Texas, and that all process issued against defendants residing in the said county of Foard shall be returned to Fort Worth. [April 12, 1900.] NOTE.-(1) For a review of the acts relating to the courts and judicial districts of Texas, see note to 1899, March 2, ch. 369 (2 Supp. R. S., 966). See 1900, February 10, ch. 16, ante, p. 1166, fixing the terms of court for the northern district of Texas; and 1900, May 26, ch. 590, post, p. 1178, attaching Concho County to the northern judicial district. April 12, 1900. 31 Stat. L., 74. Texas. R. S., §§ 548, 572, 658. Foard County attached to Fort Worth division. -process. April 12, 1900. 31 Stat L., 75. Immediate CHAP. 188.—An Act To amend an Act approved June tenth, eighteen hundred and eighty, governing the immediate transportation of dutiable merchandise without appraisement. Be it enacted, &c., That the privileges of the Act approved June transportation tenth, eighteen hundred and eighty, governing the immediate transprivileges. 1880, June 10, portation of dutiable merchandise without appraisement, be, and the ch. 190 (1 Supp. same are hereby, extended to the ports of (1) Laredo, Eagle Pass, and R. S., 294). El Paso, Texas, and (2) Nogales, Arizona. [April 12, 1900.] -extended to Laredo, Eagle Pass, and El Paso, Tex., and Nogales, Ariz. NOTES.-(1) R. S., §§ 2578, 2579, makes provision for the collection districts of Texas and the customs officers therefor, and § 2580 for certain additional inspectors. By 1880, June 10, ch. 190, § 1 (1 Supp. R. S., 293), merchandise imported at the port of Galveston may be transported in bond to certain inland ports; by § 7 of the same act the privileges of immediate transportation are granted to Galveston, Houston, Brownsville, Corpus Christi, and Indianola. By 1889, March 2, ch. 368 (1 Supp. R. S., 676), the first clause of R. S., § 2579, relating to the customs officers in the Galveston collection district, is amended. By 1890, April 19, ch. 101 (Supp. R. S., 715), the privileges of immediate transportation are extended to San Antonio. By 1890, September 25, ch. 917 (1 Supp. R. S., 805), the second paragraph of R. S., § 2578, is amended by making Eagle Pass a port of entry in lieu of Indianola, the same act making the same substitution of city in R. S., § 3004. By 1892, April 15, ch. 47 (2 Supp. R. S., 9), the first paragraph of R. S., § 2578, is amended by making Velasco a subport of entry. By 1892, June 3, ch. 85 (2 Supp. R. S., 23), the third paragraph of R. S., § 2578, is amended by making Laredo a subport of entry. By 1893, February 8, ch. 69 (2 Supp. R. S., 77), Rockport is made a subport of entry. By 1898, June 28, ch. 494 (2 Supp. R. S., 811), Sabine Pass is made a subport of entry and delivery. (2) By 1890, April 29, ch. 171 (1 Supp. R. S., 720), the Territory of Arizona is made a customs district. April 12, 1900. 31 Stat. L., 77. Porto Rico and adjacent islands. ment. CHAP. 191.—An Act Temporarily to provide revenues and a civil government for Porto Be it enacted, &c., That the provisions of this Act shall apply to the island of Porto Rico and to the adjacent islands and waters of the Civil govern islands lying east of the seventy-fourth meridian of longitude west of Greenwich, which were ceded to the United States by the Government of Spain by treaty entered into on the tenth day of December, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight; and the name Porto Rico, as used in this Act, shall be held to include not only the island of that name, but all the adjacent islands as aforesaid. Tariff on foreign imports. -on coffee. Spanish scientific works, etc., admitted free. SEC. 2. That on and after the passage of this Act the same tariffs, customs, and duties shall be levied, collected, and paid upon all articles imported into Porto Rico from ports other than those of the United States which are required by law to be collected upon articles imported into the United States from foreign countries: Provided, That on all coffee in the bean or ground imported into Porto Rico there shall be levied and collected a duty of five cents per pound, any law or part of law to the contrary notwithstanding: And provided further, That all Spanish scientific, literary, and artistic works, not subversive of public order in Porto Rico, shall be admitted free of duty into Porto Rico for a period of ten years, NOTES.-(1) Porto Rico was ceded to the United States by Spain under the treaty signed at Paris December 10, 1898. By 1900, May 1, Res. No. 23 (31 Stat. L., 715), provision was made for the administration of civil affairs in Porto Rico pending the appointment and qualification of the civil officers provided for in the act in the text. By 1900, June 6, ch. 797, post, p. 1443, provision was made for the designation of depositories for public moneys in Porto Rico. By 1900, May 31, ch. 600, post, p. 1184, provision is made for the entry of steamships in the coasting trade between Porto Rico and the United States. The constitutionality of the act in the text was sustained by the Supreme Court of the United States, May 27, 1901 (182 U. S., 244). reckoning from the eleventh day of April, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, as provided in said treaty of peace between the United States and Spain: And provided further, That all books and pamphlets printed in the English books English language shall be admitted into Porto Rico free of duty when from the United imported from the United States. States. and the United SEC. 3. That on and after the passage of this Act all merchandise Tariff as becoming into the United States from Porto Rico and coming into Porto tween Porto Rico Rico from the United States shall be entered at the several ports of States. entry upon payment of fifteen per centum of the duties which are required to be levied, collected, and paid upon like articles of merchandise imported from foreign countries; and in addition thereto upon on Porto Rican articles of merchandise of Porto Rican manufacture coming into the manufactures. United States and withdrawn for consumption or sale upon payment of a tax equal to the internal-revenue tax imposed in the United States upon the like articles of merchandise of domestic manufacture; such -pa ya ble in tax to be paid by internal-revenue stamp or stamps to be purchased stamps. and provided by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue and to be procured from the collector of internal revenue at or most convenient to the port of entry of said merchandise in the United States, and to be affixed under such regulations as the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, shall prescribe; and on all articles of merchandise of United States manufacture coming into Porto Rico in addition to the duty above provided upon manufactures. payment of a tax equal in rate and amount to the internal-revenue tax imposed in Porto Rico upon the like articles of Porto Rican manufacture: -United States Admissions free adopted. Provided, That on and after the date when this Act shall take effect, all merchandise and articles, except coffee, not dutiable under the tariff of duty. laws of the United States, and all merchandise and articles entered in Porto Rico free of duty under orders heretofore made by the Secretary of War, shall be admitted into the several ports thereof, when imported from the United States, free of duty, all laws or parts of laws to the contrary notwithstanding; and whenever the legislative Duties to cease assembly of Porto Rico shall have enacted and put into operation a when local syssystem of local taxation to meet the necessities of the government of tem of taxation Porto Rico, by this Act established, and shall by resolution duly passed so notify the President, he shall make proclamation thereof, and thereupon all tariff duties on merchandise and articles going into Porto Rico from the United States or coming into the United States from Porto Rico shall cease, and from and after such date all such merchandise and articles shall be entered at the several ports of entry free of duty; and in no event shall any duties be collected after the first day of March, March 1, 1902. nineteen hundred and two, on merchandise and articles going into Porto Rico from the United States or coming into the United States from Porto Rico. -to cease after duties. SEC. 4. That the duties and taxes collected in Porto Rico in pursu- Disposition of ance of this Act, less the cost of collecting the same, and the gross amount of all collections of duties and taxes in the United States upon articles of merchandise coming from Porto Rico, shall not be covered into the general fund of the Treasury, but shall be held as a separate fund, and shall be placed at the disposal of the President to be used for the government and benefit of Porto Rico until the government of Porto Rico herein provided for shall have been organized, when all moneys theretofore collected under the provisions hereof, then unexpended, shall be transferred to the local treasury of Porto Rico, and the Secretary of the Treasury shall designate the several ports and ports of entry to be designated. subports of entry in Porto Rico and shall make such rules and regula- regulations for tions and appoint such agents as may be necessary to collect the duties collecting duties, and taxes authorized to be levied, collected, and paid in Porto Rico by etc. Ports and sub etc. Pay of agents, the provisions of this Act, and he shall fix the compensation and provide for the payment thereof of all such officers, agents, and assistants as he may find it necessary to employ to carry out the provisions hereof: Proclamation of Provided, however, That as soon as a civil government for Porto Rico civil government. shall have been organized in accordance with the provisions of this Act and notice thereof shall have been given to the President he shall Duties to be paid make proclamation thereof, and thereafter all collections of duties and into treasury of taxes in Porto Rico under the provisions of this Act shall be paid into Porto Rico. the treasury of Porto Rico, to be expended as required by law for the government and benefit thereof instead of being paid into the Treasury of the United States. Duties on imSEC. 5. That on and after the day when this Act shall go into effect ports, etc., on pas- all goods, wares, and merchandise previously imported from Porto sage of act. Rico, for which no entry has been made, and all goods, wares, and merchandise previously entered without payment of duty and under bond for warehousing, transportation, or any other purpose, for which no permit of delivery to the importer or his agent has been issued, shall be subjected to the duties imposed by this Act, and to no other duty, upon the entry or the withdrawal thereof: -based weight. on Provided, That when duties are based upon the weight of merchandise deposited in any public or private bonded warehouse said duties shall be levied and collected upon the weight of such merchandise at the time of its entry. etc. Capital. Spanish subjects GENERAL PROVISIONS. SEC. 6. That the capital of Porto Rico shall be at the city of San Juan and the seat of government shall be maintained there. SEC. 7. That all inhabitants continuing to reside therein who were deemed citizens, Spanish subjects on the eleventh day of April, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, and then resided in Porto Rico, and their children born subsequent thereto, shall be deemed and held to be citizens of Porto Rico, and as such entitled to the protection of the United States, except such as shall have elected to preserve their allegiance to the Crown of Spain on or before the eleventh day of April, nineteen hundred, in accordance with the provisions of the treaty of peace between the United States and Spain entered into on the eleventh day -to constitute of April, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine; and they, together with body politic, etc. such citizens of the United States as may reside in Porto Rico, shall constitute a body politic under the name of The People of Porto Rico, with governmental powers as hereinafter conferred, and with power to sue and be sued as such. SEC. 8. That the laws and ordinances of Porto Rico now in force shall continue in full force and effect, except as altered, amended, or modified hereinafter, or as altered or modified by military orders and decrees in force when this Act shall take effect, and so far as the same are not inconsistent or in conflict with the statutory laws of the United States not locally inapplicable, or the provisions hereof, until altered, amended, or repealed by the legislative authority hereinafter provided for Porto Rico or by Act of Congress of the United States: Provided, That so much of the law which was in force at the time of cession, April eleventh, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, forbidding the marriage of priests, ministers, or followers of any faith because of vows they may have taken, being paragraph four, article eighty-three, chapter three, civil code, and which was continued by the order of the secretary of justice of Porto Rico, dated March seventeenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, and promulgated by MajorGeneral Guy V. Henry, United States Volunteers, is hereby repealed |