Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 13.djvu/323



to the owner thereof; but no allowance shall be made in any case until the stamps so spoiled or rendered useless shall have been returned to the commissioner of internal revenue, or until satisfactory proof has been made showing the reason why said stamps cannot be so returned: Provided, That the commissioner of internal revenue may, from time to time, furnish, supply, and deliver to any manufacturer of friction or other matches, cigar-lights, or wax tapers, a suitable quantity of adhesive or other stamps, such as may be prescribed for use in such cases, without prepayment therefor, on a credit not exceeding sixty days, requiring, in advance, such security as he may judge necessary to secure payment therefor to the treasurer of the United States, within the time prescribed for such payment. And upon all bonds or other securities taken by said commissioner, under the provisions of this act, suits may be maintained by said treasurer in the circuit or district court of the United States, in the several districts where any of the persons giving said bonds or other securities reside, or may be found, in any appropriate form of action.

. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for any person to present to the collector of the district, subject to the rules and regulations of the commissioner of internal revenue, any instrument not previously issued or used, and require his opinion whether or not the same is chargeable with any stamp duty; and if the said collector shall be of opinion that such instrument is chargeable with any stamp duty, he shall, upon the payment therefor, affix and cancel the proper stamp; and if of the opinion that such instrument is not chargeable with any stamp duty, or is chargeable only with the duty by him designated, he is hereby required to impress thereon a particular stamp, to be provided for that purpose, with such words or device thereon as he shall judge proper, which shall denote that such instrument is not chargeable with any stamp duty, or is chargeable only with the duty denoted by the stamp affixed; and every such instrument, upon which the said stamp shall be impressed, shall be deemed to be not chargeable, or to be chargeable only with the duty denoted by the stamp so affixed, and shall be received in evidence in all courts of law or equity, notwithstanding any objections made to the same by reason of it being unstamped, or of it being insufficiently stamped.

. And be it further enacted, That no deed, instrument, document, writing, or paper, required by law to be stamped, which has been heretofore signed or issued without being duly stamped, or with a deficient stamp, nor any copy thereof, shall be recorded, or admitted, or used as evidence in any court until a legal stamp or stamps, denoting the amount of duty, shall have been affixed thereto, and the date when the same is so used or affixed, with his initials, shall have been placed thereon by the person using or affixing the same; and the person desiring to use or record any such deed, instrument, document, writing, or paper as evidence, his agent or attorney, is authorized in the presence of the court, register, or recorder, respectively, to affix the stamp or stamps thereon required: Provided, That no instrument, document, or paper made, signed, or issued, prior to the passage of this act, without being duly stamped, or having thereon an adhesive stamp or stamps, to denote the duty imposed thereon, shall, for that cause, if the stamp or stamps required shall be subsequently affixed, be deemed invalid and of no effect: Provided, further, That any power of attorney, conveyance, or document of any kind, made, or purporting to be made, in any foreign country to be used in the United States, shall pay the same duty as is required by law on similar instruments or documents when made or issued in the United States; and the party to whom the same is issued, or by whom it is to be used, shall, before using the same, affix thereon the stamp or stamps indicating the duty required.

. And be it further enacted, That all the provisions of this act relating to dies, stamps, adhesive stamps, and stamp duties shall extend to and include (except where manifestly impracticable) all the articles or