Inspection of inward manifests by boarding officer.
Every master of any vessel laden with merchandise, and bound to any port in the United States shall, on his arrival within four leagues of the coast thereof, or within any of the bays, harbors, ports, rivers, creeks, or inlets, thereof, upon demand, produce the manifests in writing, which such master is required to have on board his vessel, to such officer of the customs as first comes on board his vessel, for inspection, and shall deliver to such officer true copies thereof, which copies shall be provided and subscribed by the master, and the officer to whom the original manifests have been produced shall certify upon the back thereof that the same were produced, and the day and year on which the same were so produced, and that such copies were to him delivered and by him examined with the original manifest; and shall likewise certify upon the back of such copies the day and year on which the same were delivered, and shall forthwith transmit such copies to the respective collectors of the several districts, to which the goods by such manifests appear respectively to be consigned. (R. S., 2811.)
The master of any such vessel shall in like manner produce to the officer of the customs who first comes on board such vessel, upon her arrival within the limits of any collection-district in which the cargo, or any part thereof, is intended to be discharged or landed, for his inspection, such manifest; and shall also deliver to him true copies thereof, such copies also to be provided and subscribed by the master, the production of which manifests and the delivery of which copies shall also be certified by the officer of the customs, upon the back of the original manifests, with the particular day and year when such manifests were produced to such officer, and when he so received the copies thereof; and such officer is required forthwith to transmit the copies of the manifest to the collector of the district; and the master shall afterward deliver the original manifests so certified to the collector. When any manifest shall be produced, upon which there shall be no certificate from any officer of the customs as before mentioned, the master producing the same shall be required to make oath that no officer has applied for, and that no indorsement has taken place on, any manifest of the cargo of such vessel. (R. S., 2812.)
The master of any such vessel shall not be required to make delivery of more than one copy of each manifest to the officer who shall first come on board of such vessel, within four leagues of the coast of the United States, and one other copy to such officer as shall first come on board within the limits of any collection-district, for which the cargo of such vessel, or some part thereof, is destined, nor to make delivery of any such copy to any other officer; but it shall be sufficient, in respect to any such other officer, to exhibit, to him the original manifest and the certificates thereupon. (R. S., 2813.)
If the master of any vessel laden with merchandise, and bound to any port in the United States, fails upon his arrival within four leagues of the coast thereof, or within the limits of any collection-district, where the cargo of such vessel, or any part thereof, is intended to be discharged, to produce such manifests, as are heretofore required, in writing, to the proper officer upon demand therefor, or to deliver such copies thereof, according to the directions of the preceding, sections or if he fails to give an account of the true destination of the vessel, which he is hereby required to do, upon request of such officer, or gives a false account of such destination, in order to evade the production of the manifests, the master shall for every such neglect, refusal, or offense, be liable to a penalty of not more than five hundred dollars. If any officer first coming on board, in each case, shall neglect or refuse to certify on the back of such manifests the production thereof, and the delivery of such copies respectively as are directed to be delivered to such officer, such officer shall be liable to a penalty of five hundred dollars. (R. S., 2814.)
The officers who may apply to the master of any such vessel, respecting any of the provisions in the preceding sections, and who shall not receive full satisfaction therein, are hereby required to make a return in writing of the name of the vessel and master so offending, in any or all of the particulars required, as soon as possible, to the collector of the district to which such vessel shall be considered to be bound. (R. S., 2815.)
Collectors and surveyors, respectively, may, whenever they judge it to be necessary for the security of the revenue, put an inspector of the customs on board any vessel, to accompany the same until her arrival at the first port of entry or delivery, in the district to which such vessel may be destined. If the master of any vessel shall neglect or omit to deposit a manifest as herein prescribed, or shall refuse to receive an inspector of the customs on board, as the case requires, he shall forfeit and pay five hundred dollars, to be recovered with cost of suit, one-half for the use of the officer with whom such manifest ought to have been deposited, and the other half to the use of the collector of the district to which such vessel may be bound. If, however, the manifest shall, in either of the above cases, have been previously delivered to any officer of the customs, pursuant to the provisions hereinafter made in that behalf, the depositing of a manifest shall not be necessary. (R. S., 2834; Mar. 3, 1897; sec. 15.)