Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 13.djvu/301



not exceed the amount of five per centum ad valorem, shall be, and hereby are, exempt from duty.

. And be it further enacted, That every person, firm, or corporation, who shall have made any contract prior to the passage of this act, and without other provision therein for the payment of duties imposed by law enacted subsequent thereto, upon articles to be delivered under such contract, is hereby authorized and empowered to add to the price thereof so much money as will be equivalent to the duty so subsequently imposed on said articles, and not previously paid by the vendee, and shall be entitled by virtue hereof to he paid, and to sue for and recover, the same accordingly: Provided, That where the United States is the purchaser under such prior contract, the certificate of the proper officer of the department by which the contract was made, showing, according to regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, the articles so purchased by the United States, and liable to such subsequent duty, shall be taken and received, so far as the same is applicable, in discharge of such subsequent duties on articles so contracted to be delivered to the United States and actually delivered according to such contract:—

. And be it further enacted, That there shall be levied, collected, and paid, on all sales of real estate, goods, wares, merchandise, articles, or things at auction, including all sales of stocks, bonds, and other securities, a duty of one fourth of one per centum on the gross amount of such sales; and every auctioneer or other person making such sales, as aforesaid, shall, at the end of each and every month, or within ten days thereafter, make a list or return to the assistant assessor of the district of the gross amount of such sales, made as aforesaid, with the amount of duty which has accrued, or should accrue thereon, which list shall have annexed thereto a declaration under oath or affirmation, in form and manner as may be prescribed by the commissioner of internal revenue, that the same is true and correct, and shall, at the same time, as aforesaid, pay to the collector or deputy collector the amount of duty or tax thereupon, as aforesaid, and in default thereof shall be subject to and pay a penalty of five hundred dollars. In all cases of delinquency in making said list or payment the assessment and collection shall be made in the manner prescribed in the general provisions of this act: Provided, That no duty shall be levied under the provisions of this section upon any sales by judicial or executive officers making auction sales by virtue of a judgment or decree of any court, nor to public sales made by guardians, executors, or administrators.

. And be it further enacted, That all brokers, and bankers doing business as brokers, shall be subject to pay the following duties and rates of duty upon the sales of merchandise, produce, gold and silver bullion, foreign exchange, uncurrent money, promissory notes, stocks, bonds, or other securities as hereinafter mentioned, and shall be subject to all the provisions, where not inapplicable thereto, for the returns, assessment, collection of the duties, and liens and penalties as are prescribed for the persons, firms, companies, or corporations, owning or possessing, or having the management of railroads, steamboats, and ferry-boats, that is to say: Upon all sales of merchandise, produce, or other goods, one eighth of one per centum; upon all sales and contracts for sales of stocks and bonds, one twentieth of one per centum on the par value thereof; and of gold and silver bullion and coin, foreign exchange, promissory notes, or other securities, one twentieth of one per centum on the amount of such sales, and of all contracts for such sales: Provided, That any person, firm, or