Mr. Seward to Mr. Pike.
To the Diplomatic and Consular officers of the United States:
The necessity of devising new modes of protecting the interests of the revenue of the United States, and of carrying such methods into execution, makes it desirable that the Treasury Department should be informed of the means adopted by the several nations of Europe for the protection of their respective revenues and the collection of duties in the passage of goods [Page 879] across the national frontiers, and in the transhipment in their ports for export to a foreign land.
I have therefore to request, at the instance of the Secretary of the Treasury, that you will furnish the department with such information upon this subject as you can obtain in respect to the country of your official residence; also, with the forms which are used, and the rules and regulations in force, the fees charged, and other expenses incurred in the foreign revenue service.