Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 5.djvu/321



of the duties so paid or secured to be paid, upon the several parcels and packages of goods so destroyed, pursuant to the provisions of this act.

. And be it further enacted, That the said commissioners shall meet at such time and place in the city of New York, as shall be appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury by a notice for that purpose, to be published in at least five of the public newspapers printed in the said city, for the period of at least ten days before the time appointed for the said meeting; and, when so convened, shall proceed to take testimony in relation to the goods so destroyed, and the amount of duties paid, or secured to be paid, to the United States thereupon, and to the persons entitled to receive or have remitted to them the amount of such duties; and shall continue the examination and investigation as constantly as their other official duties will permit, until all the claims presented to them for the remission or refunding of duties provided for by this act, which may be presented to them, shall be examined to their satisfaction; but no claim shall be received which shall not be presented within four months and after the time appointed by the Secretary for the first meeting of the commissioners; and each of the said commissioners shall be, and is hereby, authorized to administer the necessary oaths to all persons who are to give testimony in the premises; and all the testimony presented to or taken before the said commission, shall be committed to writing, and signed by the respective witnesses giving the same; and any wilful false swearing before the said commission, or in any affidavit or deposition taken before any one of the said commissioners, shall subject the person guilty of the offence, upon conviction before any court of competent jurisdiction, to the punishment prescribed by the laws of the United States for wilful perjury.

. And be it further enacted, That, as soon as the said commissioners shall have finally closed the taking of testimony in relation to any one or more claims, they shall cause to be made a full and perfect statement of the goods, wares, and merchandises proved in said claim or claims, to their satisfaction, to have been destroyed at the conflagration aforesaid, in the unbroken and original packages in which the same were imported, designating in such statement the number of packages, the rate and amount of duty upon each, and the name of the person or persons entitled to receive or have remitted to him or them the duties paid, or secured to be paid, upon each package, and the fact whether such duty has been paid or remains unpaid and secured in the ordinary manner, and shall ascertain and report whether any and what part of the merchandise so destroyed was insured or sold, what proportion of the insurance has been paid, or is secured to be paid in consequence of its destruction by the conflagration aforesaid, and shall deduct form the certificate to be granted under the provisions of this act, the amount paid on such insurance and the amount of duties paid on the goods sold. And the said commissioners shall cause three fair copies of such statement to be made and certified by themselves to be the true and correct results of their investigations, one of which copies they shall file with the collector of the customs for the port of New York, another with the naval officer of the said port, and the third together with the testimony taken before the said commission they shall transmit to the Secretary of the Treasury, to be by him kept on file in his Department.

. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury, with as little delay as practicable, to examine the testimony taken before the said commission, from time to time, as the same shall be returned to him, to compare the same with the said statement and adjudications of the said commissioners, and to signify to them his approval or disapproval of their determination as to each claim; and as soon as the determination of the Secretary shall be