forth therein, distinctly and specifically, the grounds of his objection thereto, and shall, within thirty days after the date of such ascertainment and liquidation, appeal therefrom to the Secretary of the Treasury, whose decision on such appeal shall be final and conclusive; and such vessel, goods, wares, or merchandise, or costs and charges, shall be liable to duty accordingly, any act of Congress to the contrary notwithstanding, unless suit shall be brought within ninety days after the decision of the Secretary of the Treasury on such appeal for any duties which shall have been paid before the date of such decision on such vessel, or on such goods, wares, merchandise, or costs or charges, or within ninety days after the payment of duties paid after the decision of the Secretary. And no suit shall be maintained in any court for the recovery of any duties alleged to have been erroneously or illegally exacted, until the decision of the Secretary of the Treasury shall have been first had on such appeal, unless said decision of the Secretary shall be delayed more than ninety days from the date of such appeal in the case of an entry at any port East of the Rocky Mountains, or more than five months in case of an entry West of those mountains.

Sec. 15. And be it further enacted, That the decision of the respective collectors of customs, as to all fees, charges, and exactions of whatever character, other than those mentioned in the next preceeding section, claimed by them, or by any of the officers under them, in the performance of their official duty, shall be final and conclusive against all persons interested in such fees, charges, or exactious, unless the like notice that an appeal will be taken from such decision to the Secretary of the Treasury shall be given within ten days from the making of such decision, and unless such appeal shall actually be taken within thirty days from the making of such decision; and the decision of the Secretary of the Treasury shall be final and conclusive upon the matter so appealed, unless suit shall be brought for the recovery of such fees, charges or exactions, within the period, as provided for in the next preceding section, in regard to duties. And no suit shail be maintained in any court, for the recovery of any such fees, costs, and charges alleged to have been erroneously or illegally exacted, until the decision of the Secretary of the Treasury shall have been first had on such appeal, unless such decision of the Secretary shall be delayed more than ninety days from the date of such appeal, in case of an entry at any port east of the Rocky Mountains, or more than five months in case of an entry west of those mountains.

Sec. 16. And be it further enacted, That whenever it shall be shown, to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Treasury, that in any case of unascertained duties, or duties or other moneys paid under protest and appeal, as hereinbefore provided, more money has been paid to the collector, or person acting as such, than the law requires should have been paid, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to draw his warrant upon the Treasurer, in favor of the person or persous entitled to the over payment, directing the said Treasurer to refund the same out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.

Sec. 17. And be it further enacted, That a discriminating duty of ten per centum ad valorem, in addition to the duties imposed by law, shall be levied, collected and paid, on all goods, wares and merchandise which, on and after the day this act shail take effect, shall be imported in ships or vessels not of the United States: Provided, That this discriminating duty shall not apply to goods, wares and merchandise which shall be imported, on and after the day this act takes effect, in ships or vessels not of the United States, entitled by treaty, or any act or acts of Congress, to be entered in the ports of the United States, on payment of the same duties as shall then be paid on goods, wares, and merchandise imported in stips or vessels of the United States.

SEC. 18. And be it further enacted, That on and after the day and year this act shali take effect, there shall be levied, collected and paid, on all goods, wares, and merchandise, of the growth or produce of countries east of the Cape of Good Hope, (except silk, raw, or unmanufactured, or not more advanced in manufacture than singles, tram, thrown organzine and raw cotton,) when imported from places west of the Cape of Good Hope a duty of ten per centum ad valorem, in addition to the duties imposed on any such articles, when imported directly from

the place or places of their growth or production: Provided, That section three of the act approved August five, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, entitled "An act to provide increased revenue from imports, to pay interest on the public debt, and for other purposes," and section fourteen of the act approved July fourteen, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, entitled "An act increasing, temporarily, the rates of duties on imports, and for other purposes," be, and the same are hereby repealed.

SEC. 19. And be it further enacted, That all goods, wares; and merchandise which may be in the public stores or bonded warehouses on the day and year this act shall take effect, shall be subjected to no other duty upon the entry thereof, for consumption, than if the same were imported respectively after that day, and so much of the act of August sixth, eighteen hundred and forty-six, or any other act, as requires the sale of fire-crackers, or prohibits their deposit in bonded warehouse, is hereby repealed.

SEC. 20. And be it further enacted, That the joint resolution " to increase, temporarily, the duties on imports," approved April twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, shall not be deemed to have taken effect until after the thirtieth day of April, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and shall be and remain in force until and including the thirtieth day of June, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and any duties which shall have been exacted and received, contrary to the provisions of this section, shall be refunded by the Secretary of the Treasury.

SEC. 21. And be it further enacted. That during the period of one year from the passage of this act, there may be imported into the United States, free of duty, any machinery designed for and adapted to the manufacture of woven fabrics from the fibre of flax or hemp, including all the preliminary processes requisit therefor, and that steam agricultural machinery and implements, may be imported free from duty, for one year from the passage of this act.

SEC 22. And be it further enacted, That all acts and parts of acts repugnant to the provisions of this act be, and the same are hereby repealed: Provided, That the existing laws shall extend to and be in force for the collection of the duties imposed by this act, for the prosecution and punishment of all offences, and for the recovery, collection, distribution, and the remission of all fines, penalties, and forfeitures, as fully and effectually as if every regulation, penalty, forfeiture, provision, cause matter, and thing to that effect, in the existing law contained, had been inserted in, and re-enacted by this act: And provided, further, That the duties upon all goods, wares and merchandise imported from foreign countries, not provided for in this act, shall be and remain as they were, according to existing laws prior to the twenty-ninth of April, eighteen hundred and sixty-four.

Sec. 23. And be it further enacted, That on and after the day and year this act shall take effect, it shall be lawful for the owner, consignee, or agent, of any goods, wares, or merchandise which shall have been actually purchased, or procured otherwise than by purchase, at the time when he shall produce his original invoice or invoices to the collector, and make and verify his written entry of his goods, wares and merchandise as provided by section thirty-six of the act of March two, seventeen hundred and ninety-nine, entitled "An act to regulate the collection of duties on imports and tonnage," and not afterward, to make such addition in the entry to the cost or value given in the invoice as, in his opinion, may raise the same to the true market value of such goods, wares and merchandise in the principal markets of the country whence they shall have been imported, and to add thereto all costs and charges which, under existing laws, would form part of the true value at the port where the same may be entered, upon which the duties should be assessed. And it shall be the duty of the collector, within whose district the same may be imported or entered, to cause the dutiable value of such goods, wares and merchandise to be appraised, estimated and ascertained, in accordance with the provisions of existing laws. And if the appraised value thereof shall exceed, by ten per centum, or more, the value so declared on the entry, then, in addition to the duties imposed by law on the same, there shall be levied, collected and paid, a duty of twenty per centum ad valorem on such ap

praised value: Provided, That the duty shall not be assessed upon an amount less than the invoice or entered value, any law of Congress to the contrary notwithstanding And provided, further, That on and after the day and year aforesaid, the eighth section of the act entitled "An act reducing the duty on imports, and for other purposes," approved July thirty, eighteen hundred and forty-six, and the act amendatory thereof, approved March three, eighteen hundred and fiftyseven, be, and the same are hereby repealed.

Sec. 24. And be it further enacted, That in determining the valuation of goods, imported into the United States from foreign countries, except as herein before provided, upon which duties imposed by any existing laws are to be assessed, the actual value of such goods on shipboard, at the last place of shipment to the United States, shall be deemed the dutiable value. And such value shall be ascertained by adding to the value of such goods at the place of growth, production or manufacture, the cost of transportation, shipment and transhipment, with all the expenses included, from the place of growth, production, or manufacture, whether by land or water, to the vessel in which shipment is made to the United States, the value of the sack, box, or covering of any kind, in which such goods are contained, commission at the usual rate, in no case less than two and one half per centum brokerage, and all export duties, together with all costs and charges paid or incurred for placing said goods on shipboard, and all other proper charges specified by law.

Sec. 25. And be it further enacted, That so much of section twenty-three of the act entitled" An act to provide for the payment of outstanding treasury notes, to authorize a loan, to regulate and fix the duties on imports, and for other purposes, s, approved March two, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, as exempts from duty all philosophical apparatus and instruments imported for the use of any society incorporated for philosophical, literary, or religious purposes, or for the encouragement of the fine arts, or for the use, or by the order of any college, academy, school, or seminary of learning in the United States, is hereby repealed. And the same shall be subject to a duty of fifteen per centum ad valorem.

SEC. 26. And be it further enacted, That when any cask, barrel, carboy, or other vessel of American manufacture, exported or sent out of the country, filled with the products of the United States, shall be returned to the United States empty, the same shall be admitted free of duty, under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by Secretary of Treasury.

SEC. 27. And be it further enacted, That on and after January, first, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, the invoices of all goods, wares and merchandise, imported into the United States, shall be made out in the weights or measures of the country or place from which the importations shall be made, and shall contain a true statement of the actual weights or measures of such goods, wares and merchandise, without any respect to the weights or measures of the United States.

SEC. 28. And be it further enacted, That in all cases where officers of the cus toms, or other salaried officers of the United States, shall be, or shall have been, appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury, to carry into effect the licenses, rules, and regulations, provided for by the fifth section of the act of the thirteenth of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, entitled "An act further to provide for the collection of duties on imports, and for other purposes," such officer of the United States shall be entitled to receive one thousand dollars per annum for his services, under the act aforesaid, in addition to his salary or compensation under any other law: Provided, That the aggregate compensation of any such officer shall not exceed the sum of five thousand dollars in any one year.

SEC. 29. And be it further enacted, That any baggage, or personal effects, arriving in the United States, in transit to any foreign country, may be delivered by the parties having it in charge to the collector of customs, to be by him retained, without the payment or exaction of any import duty, and to be delivered to such parties on their departure for their foreign destination, under such rules, regulations, and fees as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe. Approved, June 30, 1864.

NATIONAL BANK LAW.

(OFFICIAL COPY.)

[PUBLIC-No. 85.]

AN ACT to provide a national currency, secured by a pledge of United States bonds, and to provide for the circulation and redemption thereof.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That there shall be established in the Treasury Department a separate bureau, which shall be charged with the execution of this and all other laws that may be passed by Congress respecting the issue and regulation of a national currency, secured by United States bonds. The chief offi cer of the said bureau shall be denominated the Comptroller of the Currency, and shall be under the general direction of the Secretary of the Treasury. He shall be appointed by the President, on the recommendation of the Secretary of the Treasury, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and shall hold his office for the term of five years, unless sooner removed by the President, upon reasons to be communicated by him to the Senate; he shall receive an annual salary of five thousand dollars; he shall have a competent deputy, appointed by the Secretary, whose salary shall be two thousand five hundred dollars, and who shall possess the power and perform the duties attached by law to the office of Comptroller during a vacancy in such office, and during his absence or inability; he shall employ, from time to time, the necessary clerks to discharge such duties as he shall direct, which clerks shall be appointed and classified by the Secretary of the Treasury, in the manner now provided by law. Within fifteen days from

the time of notice of his appointment the Comptroller shall take and subscribe the oath of office prescribed by the Constitution and laws of the United States; and he shall give to the United States a bond in the penalty of one hundred thousand dollars, with not less than two respons ible sureties, to be approved by the Secretary of the Treasury, conditioned for the faithful discharge of the duties of his office. The Deputy Comptroller so appointed shall also take the oath of office prescribed by the Constitution and laws of the United States, and shall give a like bond in the penalty of fifty thousand dollars. The Comptrolier and Deputy Comptroller shall not, either directly or indirectly, be interested in any association issuing national currency under the provisions of this act.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Comptroller of the Currency, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, shall devise a seal, with suitable inscriptions, for his office, a description of which, with a certificate of approval by the Secretary of the Treasury, shall be filed in the office of the Secretary of State, with an impression thereof, which shall thereupon become the seal of office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the same may be renewed when necessary. Every certificate, assignment, and conveyance, executed by the Comptroller, in pursuance of any authority conferred on him by law, and sealed with his seal of office, shall be received in evidence in all places and courts whatsoever; 4.

VOL. LI.-NO. I.

and all copies of papers in the office of the Comptroller, certified by him, and authenticated by the said seal, shall, in all cases, be evidence equally and in like manner as the original. An impression of such seal directly on the paper shall be as valid as if made on wax or wafer.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That there shall be assigned to the Comp. troller of the Currency, by the Secretary of the Treasury, suitable rooms in the Treasury building for conducting the business of the Currency Bureau, in which shall be safe and secure fire-proof vaults, in which it shall be the duty of the Comptroller to deposit and safely keep all the plates not necessarily in the possession of engravers or printers, and other valuable things belonging to his department; and the Comptroller shall, from time to time, furnish the necessary furniture, stationary, fuel, lights, and other proper conveniences for the transaction of said business.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the term "United States bonds," as used in this act, shall be construed to mean all registered bonds now issued, or that may hereafter be issued, on the faith of the United States, by the Secretary of the Treasury in pursuance of law.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That associations for carrying on the business of banking may be formed by any number of persons, not less, in any case, than five, who shall enter into articles of association, which shall specify in general terms the object for which the association is formed, and may contain any other provisions, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, which the association may see fit to adopt for the regulation of the business of the association and the conduct of its affairs, which said articles shall be signed by the persons uniting to form the association, and a copy of them forwarded to the Comptroller of the Currency, to be filed and preserved in his office.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the persons uniting to form such an association shall, under their hands, make an organization certificate, which shall specify

First. The name assumed by such association, which name shall be subject to the approval of the Comptroller.

Second, The place where its operations of discount and deposit are to be carried on, designating the State, Territory, or District, and also the particular county and city, town or village.

Third. The amount of its capital stock, and the number of shares into which the same shall be divided.

Fourth. The names and places of residence of the shareholders, and the number of shares held by each of them.

Fifth. A declaration that said certificate is made to enable such persons to avail themselves of the advantages of this act.

The said certificate shall be acknowledged before a judge of some court of record or a notary public, and such certificate, with the acknowledgment thereof, authenticated by the seal of such court or notary, shall be transmitted to the Comptroller of the Currency, who shall record and carefully preserve the same in his office. Copies of such certificate, duly certified by the Comptroller, and authenticated by his seal of office, shall be legal and sufficient evidence in all courts and places within the United States, or the jurisdiction of the Govern