No. 851.
Mr. Romero to Mr. Bayard.
Washington , January 26, 1888. (Received January 27.)
Mr. Secretary: I have had the honor to receive your note of the 23d instant, in reply to mine of the 7th, in which I asked for the return of the sum of $849, or $1 per ton, which had been collected from the Mexican steamer Monserrat by the collector of customs at San Diego, California.
Your note contains the substance of a communication addressed to [Page 1264] you on the 14th instant by the Secretary of the Treasury, wherein it is stated that the amount in question was collected in pursuance of sections 4219 and 4225 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, cited in my aforesaid note, and not because the vessel had failed to present the proper papers on her arrival, for which reason that officer thinks that there is not sufficient ground for exempting the Monserrat from the payment of that duty, or for refunding the same.
The International Company of Mexico, which is the owner of the steamer Monserrat, paid the money under protest, thinking that the lack of entrance papers was the only ground for the imposition of that duty, and that said duty was collected provisionally pending the furnishing of evidence by the company that the Monserrat was a Mexican vessel, by means of a document having the same force as the register.
It now appears, however, that the duty was collected simply because the vessel did not belong in the United States. If such was the reason for the collection of that duty, it seems as if it ought to be collected on all Mexican vessels and those of other nations, provided that rights acquired by law or by treaties with the United States are not thereby violated.
As regards Mexican vessels, I think it proper to state that, in my opinion, section 14 of the shipping act of June 26, 1884, was violated by the collection of the duty of $1 per ton. Section 14 of that act limits the tonnage duty on all vessels entering any port of the United States from a foreign port to a maximum of 6 cents per ton at each entry, and to another annual maximum of 30 cents per ton.
The collection of $1 per ton from the Monserrat at San Diego appears to be in contravention of the provisions of section 14 of the act of June 26, 1884, if such collection was made solely because that vessel did not belong in the United States; and the power of the Secretary of the Treasury to return the amount of that duty appears to be clearly established by section 26 of the same act, inasmuch as it was a charge that was improperly imposed, and by section 3012½ of the Revised Statutes of the United States, inasmuch as the duty was paid under protest.
It is to be hoped that Mexican vessels entering United States ports may not be compelled to pay the excessive charge of $1 per ton which is expressly prohibited, in the case of foreign vessels, by the act of June 26, 1884, and I trust that when the Treasury Department reconsiders this case it will be found that the duty in question was collected in contravention of a law of the United States.
Be pleased to accept, etc.