Salvage of merchandise.
All merchandise imported into the United States shall, for the purpose of this title [R. S., 2517-3129] be deemed and held to be the property of the person to whom the merchandise may be consigned; but the holder of any bill of lading consigned to order and endorsed by the consignor shall be deemed the consignee thereof.
And in case of the abandonment of any merchandise to the underwriters, the latter may be recognized as the consignee, and under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe, merchandise saved from a vessel wrecked or abandoned at sea, or on or along the coasts of the United States and promptly brought into a port of the United States by or in possession of the salvors of the same, can, for the purpose of its title, be regarded as the property of such salvors, and the valuation thereof and payment of duties thereon can be made accordingly and with due reference to the condition of said merchandise as thus saved and the necessities of the case:
Provided, however, That such bringing in by salvors shall be in good faith and without intent to evade the just payment of duty:
And provided further, That nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to prejudice in any other respect the rights of property, or of or through abandonment or allowance of the owner or any other person interested in said merchandise. (R. S., 3058; Feb. 23, 1887.)