ARTICLE XV—OF IMPORT DUTIES.

 

§516.  There shall be levied, collected and paid upon all goods, wares, merchandise and produce, imported into this kingdom, a duty of five per cent. Ad valorem, excepting wines and spirituous liquors, and excepting sugars, molasses, and syrups of sugar, and coffee, the produce of any country, with which this Government has no existing treaty, which shall be subject to the following rates of duty, viz.:

  

Distilled spirits, wines of all descriptions, ale, porter, beer, cider, and all other fermented liquors, cordials and liqueurs, exceeding fifty-five per cent. Of alcohol, ten dollars per gallon:

  

Brandy, rum, gin, whiskey, arrack, and all other distilled spirits not exceeding fifty-five per cent. Of alcohol, five dollars per gallon:

  

Wines, cordials, and liqueurs of all descriptions other than claret, containing more than eighteen and not more than twenty-seven per cent. Of alcohol, one dollar per gallon:

  

Claret wines, ale, porter, beer, cider, and all other fermented liquor, cordials and liqueurs, not exceeding eighteen per cent. Of alcohol, five per cent. Ad valorem.

  

All sugars, the produce of any foreign country with which this Government has no existing treaty, two cents per pound:

  

Molasses and syrups of sugar, the produce of any country with which this Government has no existing treaty, ten cents per gallon:

  

Coffee, the produce of any country with which this Government has no existing treaty, three cents per pound:

  

Provided, however, that no import duty whatever shall be levied upon any naval stores or supplies belonging to any foreign government when imported and used as such; nor upon such stores and supplies as may be imported by the diplomatic representative of any foreign government, for his own private use and consumption, in accordance with the provisions of Section 467; nor upon goods allowed to be imported by whale ships, in accordance with the provisions of Section 569; nor upon any oil, bone or other products of the sea, being the catch of a duly registered Hawaiian vessel:

  

And provided also, that the Minister of Finance may, upon special application, allow any of the following articles to be imported free of duty, viz.: Seeds, roots and plants imported to be sown or planted in this Kingdom; plows and hoes, and other implements of husbandry imported by any agriculturist, or body of agriculturists for their own use; steam engines, sugar mills, coffee mills and other machinery for the promotion and facilitating of agriculture, imported by any agriculturist or body of agriculturists for their own use; horses, mares, bulls, cows, sheep, swine, and other domestic animals, birds and bees imported for the purpose of improving or extending the breeds of these animals within this Kingdom.

 

§517.  Whenever the duties specified in this section can be substituted for those provided for in the last preceding section, without a violation of any existing treaty between this Government and any foreign Government then in lieu of such duties, there shall be levied, collected and paid on goods, wares and merchandise imported from foreign countries the following rates of duty:

 

1.  On alcohol and other spirits of the strength of alcohol, ten dollars per gallon; on brandy, gin, rum, whiskey, and all other spirits or strong waters, of whatever name or description, below the strength of alcohol, three dollars per gallon; also on all liqueurs, cordials, bitters, brandied fruits, perfumery, and other articles of merchandise sweetened or mixed, containing alcohol, or spirits of the strength of thirty per cent., or upwards, three dollars per gallon.

 

2.  A duty of one dollar and fifty cents per gallon port, sherry, Madeira and other wines of whatever name or description, above eighteen per cent. Of alcoholic strength; also on all cordials, bitters and other articles of merchandise of any name or description, containing, or preserved in alcohol, or spirits above that rate of strength and below thirty per cent.

 

3.  A duty of five per cent. Ad valorem on all wines in casks and cases, known in commerce as wines “de Cargaison.”

 

4.  A duty of ten per cent. Ad valorem on cider, beer, ale, porter, and other fermented beverages, below eighteen per cent. Of alcoholic strength.

 

5.  A duty of fifteen per cent. Ad valorem, upon all wines of a higher quality than wines of “cargaison” below eighteen per cent. Of alcoholic strength; also on tobacco, opium and all the manufactures thereof.

 

6.  Upon all other goods, wares and merchandise imported into the Hawaiian Islands, a duty of ten per cent. Ad valorem: provided, however, that no impost duty shall be levied on goods or other articles imported for the use of the Government, or of the King and Queen, naval stores and supplies belonging to a foreign government, when imported and used as such; goods imported for the private use and consumption of foreign diplomatic representatives; goods allowed by foreign treaties to be introduced free by whale-ships; professional books, implements and tools of trade in actual use of persons from abroad, and not intended for sale; old household effects in use abroad by those bringing them, and not for sale; wearing apparel, not merchandise, in use of persons arriving at Hawaiian ports; personal household effects, not merchandise of subjects of the Hawaiian Kingdom dying abroad; oil, bone, fish or other products of the sea being he catch of duly registered Hawaiian vessels, and goods, wares and merchandise exported to a foreign country, and brought back in the same condition as when exported, upon which no drawback has been allowed: provided, also that the Minister of Finance may allow the following articles to be imported free of duty on application for that purpose:  Trees, shrubs, bulbs, roots, plants and seeds when not intended for sale as merchandise; gold and silver coins; philosophical, chemical, and other apparatus for the use of schools and colleges; curiosities, paintings and statuary not for sale; specimens of botany, mineralogy, geology and other natural sciences, for the use of schools and colleges; all books, maps and charts procured abroad under the direction of the Board of Education, for the use of schools; models of inventions, if not fitted for use; machinery of all kinds, if intended for specific use; steam engines, sugar, coffee and rice mills, plows, hoes and other implements of husbandry, imported by, or for any agriculturist, or body of agriculturists, for his or their especial use; bees, birds and fowls, horses, mares, asses, bulls, cows, calves, sheep, swine, and other animals intended for improving the breeds of such animals: and provided, further, that the Minister of Finance may, in his discretion, allow alcohol to be withdrawn from the custom house for medicinal, mechanical or scientific purposes, on the payment of a duty of fifty per cent. Ad valorem—the party or parties applying for and withdrawing the same, giving satisfactory security that it shall be used only for such purposes.

  

That part six of Section 517 of the Civil Code, be and the same is hereby amended, by striking out the words “machinery of all kinds,” and inserting in their stead the words “flour mills and machinery for the manufacture of cloths.”

  

From and after the publication of this Act, plate iron of one-eighth of an inch in thickness and upwards, and pig iron, shall be admitted duty free when imported into this Kingdom.  

 

TO LEVY A SPECIFIC TAX ON RICE, BY AMENDING SECTION 516 OF THE CIVIL CODE.

 

Section 1.  The first paragraph of Section 516 of the Civil Code be, and the same is hereby amended, by inserting he word “rice” after the word “coffee,” in the fourth line, so that the paragraph will read as follows:

  

“There shall be levied; collected and paid, upon all goods, merchandise and produce, imported into this Kingdom, a duty of five per cent. Ad valorem, excepting wines and spirituous liquors, and excepting sugar, molasses and syrups of sugar, and coffee, and rice, the produce of any country, with which this Government has no existing treaty, which shall be subject to the following rates of duty,” viz:

 

Section 2.  Be it further enacted, that the said 516th Section is further amended, by supplying, after the eighth paragraph, a new paragraph to read as follows:  “Rice, the produce of any country with which this Government has no existing treaty, if the same be in the husk, one cent per pound, and if the same be cleaned, one cent and a half per pound.”

 

Section 3.  This Act shall take effect six months after its passage.

 

Approved this 30th day of December, A. D. 1864.

 

TO AMEND PARAGRAPH SIXTH OF SECTION 517 OF THE CIVIL CODE.

 

Section 1.  The sixth paragraph of Section 517 of the Civil Code be, and the same is hereby amended, by striking out the words “curiosities, paintings, and statuary not for sale,” in the 22d line, and the words “machinery of all kinds, if intended for specific use; steam engines, sugar, coffee, and rice mills, plows, hoes, and other implements of husbandry, imported by, or for any agriculturist, or body of agriculturists, for his or their especial use,” in the 26th, 27th, 28th and 29th lines of the English version.

 

Section 2.  This Act shall be in force from and after six months after the date of its passage.

 

Approved this 30th day of December, A. D. 1864.

 

TO ADMIT COAL FREE OF DUTY

 

That from and after the publication of this Act, Coal, when imported into this Kingdom, shall be free of duty.

 

Approved this 31st day of December, A. D. 1864.

 

TO PERMIT PUBLICATIONS IN HAWAIIAN TO BE IMPORTED FREE OF DUTY.

 

WHEREAS, by paragraph 6, Section 517 of the civil Code, certain articles are permitted to be imported duty free;

 

AND WHEREAS, publications abroad in the Hawaiian language ought to be added to the Free List, because of the benefits which may be derived therefrom to the Hawaiian people, Therefore,

 

BE IT ENACTED, That all books, pamphlets, and other publications in the Hawaiian language, published abroad and imported into this Kingdom, shall be admitted free of duty.

 

TO ADMIT SHEATHING COPPER, AND ALL DESCRIPTION OF SHEATHING METAL FREE OF DUTY.

 

That sheathing copper, and all description of sheathing metal, used in covering the bottoms of vessels, is hereby declared to be admitted free of duty.

 

TO AUTHORIZE THE COLLECTOR-GENERAL OF CUSTOMS TO PERMIT THE WITHDRAWAL OF ALCOHOL IN CERTAIN CASES.

 

The Collector-General of Customs, in his discretion, may alow Alcohol to be withdrawn from the Custom House for medicinal, mechanical, or scientific purposes, on the payment of a duty of fifty percent. ad valorem—the party or parties applying for and withdrawing the same, giving satisfactory security that it shall be used only for such purposes.

 

Approved this 30th day of April, 1868.

 

TO ADMIT CERTAIN MATERIALS USED IN TANNING, FREE OF DUTY.

 

Section 1.  That from and after the passage of this Act, oakbark, catechu, and other substances containing “tannin,” and used in the process of tanning, when imported into this Kingdom, shall be free of duty.

 

Approved this 22d day of June, A. D., 1868.

 

TO IMPOSE SPECIFIC DUTIES UPON RICE, PADDY AND RAW SUGARS IMPORTED INTO THIS KINGDOM

 

Section 1.  There shall be levied, collected and paid, a duty of two and a half cents per pound upon all rice imported into this Kingdom, and if the same be in the husk or what is commonly known as paddy, a duty of one and a half cents per pound; and a duty of two and a half cents per pound upon all raw sugars imported into this Kingdom.

  

Section 2.  All laws and parts of laws inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed.

 

Approved on the 14th day of August, A. D. 1880.

 

TO ADMIT FERTILIZERS FREE IF DUTY.

 

Section 1.  From and after the publication of this Act, fertilizers of every description, whether natural or manufactured, applicable to the soil, shall be admitted duty free when imported into this Kingdom.

 

Approved this 5th day of August, A. D. 1882.

 

TO CARRY INTO EFFECT A CONVENTION BETWEEN HIS MAJESTY THE KING AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, SIGNED AT WASHIGTON ON THE 30TH DAY OF JANUARY, 1875.

 

WHEREAS, His Majesty the King did, on the 30th day of January, 1875, enter into a Convention with the United States of America, at the City of Washington, which said Convention was ratified by His Majesty at Honolulu on the 17th day of April, 1875, and ratifications were exchanged at the City of Washington on the 3rd day of June of the same year.

 

AND WHEREAS, The said Convention provides in its fifth article, that it, the said Convention, shall go into effect as soon as it has been approved and proclaimed by His Majesty the King of the Hawaiian Islands, and shall have been ratified and duly proclaimed on the part of the Government of the United States, but not until a law  to carry it into operation shall have been passed by the Congress of the United States.  Now therefore, 

 

Be it Enacted by the King and the Legislative Assembly of the Hawaiian Islands, in the Legislature of the Kingdom assembled:

 

That whensoever His Majesty shall have received satisfactory evidence that the Congress of the United States has passed laws to give full effect to the provisions of said Convention, and shall proclaim that he has received such evidence, from and after the date of such proclamation the following articles being the growth, manufacture or produce of the United States of America, to-wit:

  

Agricultural implements, animals; beef, bacon, pork, ham, and all fresh, smoked, or preserved meats; boots and shoes; grain, flour, meal and bran, bread and breadstuffs of all kinds; bricks, lime and cement; butter, cheese, lard, tallow; bullion; coal; cordage, naval stores, including tar, pitch, resin, turpentine raw and rectified; copper and composition sheathing, nails and bolts; cotton and manufactures of cotton, bleached and unbleached, and whether or not colored, stained, painted, or printed; eggs; fish and oysters, and all other creatures living in the water, and the products thereof; fruits, nuts, and vegetables, green, dried or undried, preserved or unpreserved; hardware; hides, furs, skins and pelts, dressed or undressed; hoop iron and rivets, nails, spikes and bolts, tacks, brads or sprigs; ice; iron and steel, and manufactures thereof; leather; lumber and timber of all kinds, round, hewed, sawed and unmanufactured, in whole or in part; doors, sashes and blinds; machinery of all kinds, engines and parts thereof; oats and hay; paper, stationery and books, and all manufactures of paper and wood; petroleum and all oils for lubricating or illuminating purposes; plants, shrubs, trees and seeds; rice; sugar, refined or unrefined; salt; soap; shooks, staves and headings; wool and manufactures of wool, other than ready-made clothing; wagons and carts for the purposes of agriculture or of drayage; wood, and manufactures of wood, or of wood and metal, except furniture either upholstered or carved, and carriages; textile manufactures, made of a combination of wool, cotton, silk, or linen, or of any two or more of them other than when ready-made clothing; harness, and all manufactures of leather; starch; and tobacco, whether in leaf or manufactured, shall be introduced into this country free of duty so long as the said Convention shall remain in force.

 

Approved this 18th day of July, A. D. 1876.

 

TO AMEND AN ACT ENTITLED “AN ACT TO INCREASE THE IMPORT DUTIES UPON CERTAIN GOODS,” APPROVGED THE 27TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 1876.

 

Be it Enacted by the King and the Legislative Assembly of the Hawaiian Islands, in the Legislature of the Kingdom assembled:

 

Section 1.  That Section 1 of an Act to increase the import duties of certain goods, approved the 27th day of September, A. D. 1876, be and the same is hereby amended to read as follows:

 

 “Section 1.  There shall be levied, collected, and paid upon the following goods imported into this Kingdom duties ad valorem as follows, to wit:

  

“Silks, satins, and silk velvet, and all articles of which silk shall form the principal material, ten percent.;

  

“Clothing ready made, and wearing apparel of every description, made up in whole or in part, ten per cent.;

  

“Carriages of all descriptions, ten percent.;

  

“Hats and caps of all kinds, ten per cent.’;

  

“Linens, and all manufactures of which flax, grass cloth or a smioiar material shall form the principal part, ten percent.;

  

“Crockery and glassware of every description, ten per cent.;

  

“Drugs and medicines, patent and other, ten percent.;

  

“Furniture of all kinds, if upholstered or carved, manufactured in whole or in part, ten per cent.;

  

“Millinery goods, beads, braids, bonnets, buttons, corsets, collars, sleeves and cuffs, edgings, flowers (artificial), feathers (fancy), fringes for clothing, and for upholstery, ten percent.;

  

“Gloves and mitts not otherwise provided for, ten per cent.;

  

“Gimps for clothing, ten per cent.;

  

“Hoop-skirts, ten per cent.;

  

“Hooks and eyes, ten per cent.”

  

“Insertions, laces, and lace goods of all descriptions, ten per cent.;

   

“Ribbons not otherwise provided for, ten per cent.;

  

“Silver plate, plated ware or gilt ware, ten per cent.;

  

“Britannia ware and fancy metal ware, ten per cent.;

  

“Tea, ten per cent.;

  

“Matches of all kinds, ten per cent.;

  

“Cigarettes and all descriptions of paper cigars, twenty-five per cent.;

  

“Jewelry, and all descriptions of metal, glass or stone beads, ten per cent.;

  

“Paintings, pictures, engravings, statuary, bronzes, ornamental work of metal, stone, marble, plaster of Paris or alabaster, and all imiatons thereof, ten per cent.;

  

“Perfumery (other than that which pays a spirit duty), powders, hair, tooth, nail and other tilet brushes, ten percent.;

  

“Soaps, ten per cent.;

  

“Pipes (smoking), pipe stems, bowls and fixtures, cigar-holders, twenty-five per cent.;

  

“Candies, ten per cent.;

  

“Candles, ten per cent.;

  

“Peanut oil, twenty-five per cent.;

  

“Toys, ten per cent.;

  

“Fire-arms, ten per cent.;

  

“Ammunition, ten percent.;

  

“Fire-works and fire-crackers, twenty-five per cent.;

  

“Watches and clocks, in whole or in part, ten per cent.;

  

“Playing cards, ten per cent.”

 

Section 2.  That Section 2 of the said Act be and the same is hereby amended to read as follows:

 

“Section 2.  There shall be levied, collected, and paid upon the following goods imported into this Kingdom specific duties as follows, to wit:

  

“On kid and all other leather and skin gloves, three dollars per dozen pairs;

  

“On cigars and cheroots, ten dollars per thousand;

  

“On China tobacco, fifty cents per pound;

  

“On camphor trunks, in nests of four, two dollars per nest; and in nests of two, one dollar per nest;

  

“On China matting, one dollar per roll;

  

“On port, sherry, Madeira and other wines of like nature above eighteen per cent. Of alcoholic strength; also on all cordials, bitters and other articles of any name or description containing alcohol, or preserved in alcohol or spirits above that rate of strength and below thirty per cent, unless otherwise provided for, two dollars per gallon;

 

“On champagne, sparkling Moselle, and sparkling hock, three dollars per dozen reputed quarts, and one dollar and fifty cents per dozen reputed pints;

 

“On claret, Rhine wine, and other light wines under eighteen per cent. of alcoholic strength, not otherwise provided for, forty cents per dozen reputed quarts, twenty cents per dozen reputed pints, and fifteen cents per gallon if in bulk;

 

“On ale, porter, cider, and all fermented drinks not otherwise provided for, forty cents per dozen reputed quarts, twenty cents per dozen reputed pints, and fifteen cents per gallon if in bulk.”

 

Section 3.  The provisions of this Act shall extend and apply to all goods in bond at the time it shall come into operation.

 

Approved this 1^st day of August, A.D. 1878.

 

§518.  The duties upon all goods, wares and merchandise, imported into this Kingdom, shall be paid in cash: provided, that any collector, with the concurrence of the Minister of Finance, shall have power to grant a reasonable credit for the payment of such duties, not exceeding ninety days, upon receiving a good and sufficient bond with one or more sureties, to be approved by said minister, in a penal sum not less than twice the amount of said duties, conditioned for the payment of such duties, with interest, at the rate of twelve per cent. per annum, within the time for which credit may have been given, as aforesaid; said bond may be in the following form:

 

Know all men by these presents, that we ____________ principal, and ____________, surety, residing at ________, in the Island of __________, Hawaiian Islands, are held and firmly bound unto _____________, Collector of Customs at the port of ___________, and to his successors and assigns, for the use of the Royal Exchequer, in the penal sum of ____ dollars.  For the punctual payment of which we jointly and severally bind ourselves, our heirs, executors and administrators.

Sealed with our seals, and dated this ____ day of _____, 18____

The condition of this obligation is, that whereas the above bounden ____________, principal (has imported into the Island of ________, per __________, of which __________ is master, an invoice of goods valued at ___ dollars, which have been duly entered at the port of _________) upon which imported goods there is due the lawful impost of ___ dollars for duties.  Now if the above bounden ____________, principal, shall punctually pay the waid duties a the Custom House in __________, on or before the expiration of ___ days, from this date, with interest, at twelve per cent. Per annum, and shall not make default, then ths obligation to be void:  otherwise to remain in full force and virtue against us.

Given at _________, under our hands and seals the day and year above written.

________L. S.  

________L. S.

 

Provided, however, that nothing contained in this section shall be construed to prevent goods, wares and merchandise of every description from being bonded under the direction and control of the collectors of customs, under such rules and regulations as may, from time to time, be prescribed by the Minister of Finance.

 

§519.  Duties on goods, shall be paid, or secured to be paid, before a permit shall be granted for landing or transhipping them.

 

§520.  Every bond entered into for the payment of duties, by a member of a firm, in the name of such firm, shall bind the other member or members of such firm equally with the party who shall have executed such bond.

 

§521.  No clerk, or hired person in the employment of another, shall become surety to any bond to which his employer is a party.

 

§522.  When any bond for the payment of duties shall not be satisfied on the day it may become due, the collector shall forthwith cause a prosecution to be commenced for the recovery of the money due thereon; which prosecution may be heard and determined by the Supreme Court, or any Circuit Court; or by any Justice of the Supreme Court at Chambers, subject to an appeal to the full court in banco.

 

§523.  In the case of unclaimed goods, the collector shall procure an inventory and appraisement thereof to be made, and verified on oath, or affirmation, by two or more respectable persons, and shall afterwards cause such goods to be advertised and sold at public auction, and after retaining the duties, storage and other charges and expenses, including interest on the duties from date of entry, shall pay the overplus, if any there be, into the Hawaiian treasury, there to remain for the use of the owner, who shall, upon due proof of his property, be entitled to receive the same.  The collector shall transmit to the Minister of Finance, with the said overplus, a copy of the inventory, appraisement, and account of sales, specifying the marks, numbers and description of the packages sold, their contents, the name of the vessel, and master, in which, and of the place whence, they were imported, and the time when, and the name of the person or persons, to whom said goods were consigned in the manifest.

  

The receipt or certificate of the collector shall exonerate the master or persons having charge, or command of any vessel, in which said goods were imported, from all claims of the owner thereof.  When such unclaimed goods are of a perishable nature, they shall be sold forthwith.

 

§524.  All moneys paid for unascertained duties, or for duties paid under protest against the rate, or amount of duties charged, shall be kept and disposed of as other moneys paid for duties, and shall not be held by the collector to await the ascertainment of duties, or the result of any litigation in relation to the rate or amount of duty legally chargeable and collectable in any case where money is so paid; but whenever it shall be shown to the satisfaction of the Minister of Finance, that in any such case, more money has been paid to the collector than the law requires, he shall refund the same out of any moneys in the treasury, not otherwise appropriated.

 

§525.  In relation to the collection of duties, and in all other matters relative to the execution of the revenue laws, the collectors, and other officers of the customs, shall obey the written instructions of the Minister of Finance; and in case any difficulty shall arise as to the true construction, or meaning of any part of such revenue laws, the written decision of the Minister of Finance shall be conclusive and binding upon such collectors, and other officers of the customs.

 

 

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