Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 14.djvu/128

 CHAP. CLXXXIV. — An Act to reduce Internal Taxation and to amend an Act entitled "An Act to provide Internal Revenue to support the Government, to pay Interest on the Public Debt, and for other Purposes," approved June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and Acts amendatory thereof.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That on and after the first day of August, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, in lieu of the taxes on unmanufactured cotton, as provided in "An act to provide internal revenue to support the government, to pay interest on the public debt, and for other purposes," approved June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, as amended by the act of March third, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, there shall be paid by the producer, owner, or holder, upon all cotton produced within the United States, and upon which no tax has been levied, paid, or collected, a tax of three cents per pound, as hereinafter provided; and the weight of such cotton shall be ascertained by deducting four per centum for tare from the gross weight of each bale or package; and such tax shall be and remain a lien thereon, in the possession of any person whomsoever from the time when this law takes effect, or such cotton is produced as aforesaid, until the same shall have been paid; and no drawback shall, in any case, be allowed on raw or unmanufactured cotton of any tax paid thereon when exported in the raw or unmanufactured condition. But no tax shall be imposed upon any cotton imported from other countries, and on which an import duty shall have been paid.

. And be it further enacted, That the aforesaid tax upon cotton shall be levied by the assessor on the producer, owner, or holder thereof. And said tax shall be paid to the collector of internal revenue within and for the collection district in which said cotton shall have been produced, and before the same shall have been removed therefrom, except where otherwise provided in this act; and every collector to whom any tax upon cotton shall be paid shall mark the bales or other packages upon which the tax shall have been paid, in such manner as may clearly indicate the payment thereof, and shall give to the owner or other person having charge of such cotton a permit For the removal of the same, stating therein the amount and payment of the tax, the time and place of payment, and the weight and marks upon the bales and packages, so that the same may be fully identified; and it shall be the duty of every such collector to keep clear and sufficient records of all such cotton inspected or marked, and of all marks and identifications thereof, and of all permits for the removal of the same, and of all his transactions relating thereto, and he shall make full returns thereof, monthly, to the commissioner of internal revenue.

. And be it further enacted, That the commissioner of internal revenue is hereby authorized to designate one or more places in each collection district where an assessor or an assistant assessor and a collector or deputy collector shall be located, and where cotton may be brought for the purpose of being weighed and appropriately marked: Provided, That it shall be the duty of the assessor or assistant assessor and the collector or deputy collector to assess and cause to be properly marked the cotton, wherever it may be, in said district, provided their necessary travelling expenses to and from said designated place, for that purpose, be paid by the owners thereof.

. And be it further enacted, That all cotton having been weighed and marked as herein provided, and for which permits shall have been duly obtained of the assessor, may be removed from the district in which it has been produced to any one other district, without prepayment of the tax due thereon, upon the execution of such transportation bonds or other security, and in accordance with such regulations as shall be prescribed by the commissioner of internal revenue, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury. The said cotton so removed shall be