Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 10.djvu/370

 358 FEDRBAL REPOETEK. �thereof been paid; and that ihere is du. to the plaiutiffs from the defendant, by reaaon of the premises, the sum of $7,707.50, debt and penalty, and interest thereon from the day af;er the entry of each vessel at the port of New York, for the tax and penalty imposed by law, respeetively, for which sum, with interest, the plaintiffs demand judgment, with costs. The defendant bas put in, in this court, a demurrer to the complaint, which states, as a ground of demurrer, that it does not state facts sulficient to constitute a cause of action. The parties, by their attorneys, have stipulated, in writing, that this action "is brought and prosecuted under and pursuant to an act of the legislature of the state of New York passed May 31, 1881, and known as chapter 432 of the Laws of 1881 ;" and that the demurrer is based upon the claim that the said act "is repugnant to varions provisions of the constitution of the United States, (parfcicoilarly arti- cle 1, § 8, and subdivision 2 of § 10,) and also, to the Revised Stat- utes of the United States, and also to the provisions of the treaties now existing between the United States and France, and other coun- tries." The stipulation states that its intent is "to remove any ques- tion as to the right of the defendant to present and argue all such questions with the same force and effect as if the demurrer assigned various causes, separately setting up each and every objection that may be based upon the constitution of the United States or of the state of New York, or upon any existing treaties with foreign powers, or upon any alleged want of power on the part of the state to enact such a statute as that now sought to be enforced, or of the plaintiffs to bring and maintain this action." �The act of May 31, 1881, (Laws of New York, 1881, c. 432, p. 590,) is as follows : �" Section 1. There shall be levied and oollected a duty of one dollar for each and every alien passenger who shall coma by vessel from a foreign port to the port of Kew York for whom a tax lias not heretofore been paid, the same to be paid to the Chamberlain of the city of New York by the master, owner, agent, or consignee of every such vessel within 24 hours after the entry thereof into the port of New York. �" Sec. 2. It shall be the duty of the master or acting master of every such vessel, within 24 hours after its arrivai at the port of New York, to report, under oath, to the mayor of the city of New York, the names, ages, sex, place of birth, and citizenship of each and every passenger on such vessel, and, in default of such report, every passenger shall be presuraed to be an alien arriv- ing at the port of New Yoi'k for the first time. And in default of every such payment to the Chamberlain of the city of New York there shall be levied and collected of the master, owner, agent, or consignee of every such vessel a pen- alty of 25 cents for each and every alien passenger. ��� �