wards: Provided, That the Secretary of the Treasury shall, in his annual report to Congress, give a detailed statement of the various sums of money refunded under the provisions of this Act or of any other Act of Congress relating to the revenue, together with copies of the rulings under which repayments were made." 1

§ 77. Jurisdiction of the Court of Customs Appeals. The Court of Customs Appeals was created by the Payne Tariff Law of August 5, 1909.1 It was continued by the Judicial Code which provides for the same as follows:

"§ 188. There shall be a United States Court of Customs Appeals, which shall consist of a presiding judge and four associate judges, each of whom shall be appointed by the Presicent, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and shall receive a salary of eight thousand five hundred dollars a year. The presiding judge shall be so designated in the order of appointment and in the commission issued to him by the President; and the associate judges shall have precedence according to the date of their commissions. Any three members of said court shall constitute a quorum, and the concurrence of three members shall be necessary to any decision thereof. In case of a vacancy or of the temporary inability or disqualification, for any reason, of one or two of the judges of said Court, the President may, upon the request of the presiding judge of said court, designate any qualified United States circuit or district judge or judges to act in his or their place; and such circuit or district judges shall be duly qualified to so

act.

"§ 189. The said court of Customs Appeals shall always be Open for the transaction of business, and sessions thereof may, In the discretion of the court, be held in the several judicial circuits, and at such places as said court may from time to time designate.'

§ 194. The said Court of Customs Appeals shall be a court of record, with jurisdiction as in this chapter established and limited. It shall prescribe the form and style of its seal, and

$76. 136 St. at L. 11, 38 St. at L. 186-188, Comp. St. §§ 55945597.

§ 77. 136 St. at L. 11, 105.

2 Act of Feb. 25, 1919.

the form of its writs and other process and procedure, and exercise such powers conferred by law as may be conformable and necessary to the exercise of its jurisdiction. It shall have power to establish all rules and regulations for the conduct of the business of the court, and as may be needful for the uniformity of decisions within its jurisdiction as conferred by law. It shall have power to review any decision or matter within its jurisdiction, and may affirm, modify, or reverse the same and remand the case with such orders as may seem to it proper in the premises, which shall be executed accordingly.

§ 195. The Court of Customs Appeals established by this chapter shall exercise exclusive appellate jurisdiction to review by appeal, as herein provided, final decisions by a Board of General Appraisers in all cases as to the construction of the law and the facts respecting the classification of merchandise and the rate of duty imposed thereon under such classification, and the fees and charges connected therewith, and all appealable questions as to the jurisdiction of said board, and all appealable questions as to the laws and regulations governing the collection of the customs revenues; and the judgments and decrees of said Court of Customs Appeals shall be final in all such cases. Provided, however, That in any case in which the judgment or decree of the Court of Customs Appeals is made final by the provisions of this title, it shall be competent for the Supreme Court, upon the petition of either party, filed within sixty days next after the issue by the Court of Customs Appeals of its mandate upon decision, in any case in which there is drawn in question the construction of the Constitution of the United States, or any part thereof, or of any treaty made pursuant thereto, or in any other case when the Attorney General of the United States shall before the decision of the Court of Customs Appeals is rendered, file with the court a certificate to the effect that the case is of such importance as to render expedient its review by the Supreme Court, to require, by certiorari or otherwise, such case to be certified to the Supreme Court for its review and determination, with the same power and authority in the case as if it had been carried by appeal or writ of error to the Supreme Court: And provided further, That this Act shall not apply to any case involving only the construction of section one, or any portion thereof, of an Act

entitled An Act to provide revenue, equalize duties, and encourage the industries of the United States, and for other purposes,' approved August fifth, nineteen hundred and nine, nor to any case involving the construction of section two of an Act entitled 'An Act to promote reciprocal trade relations with the Dominion of Canada, and for other purposes,' approved July twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred and eleven."

§ 196. After the organization of said court, no appeal shall be taken or allowed from any Board of United States General Appraisers to any other court, and no appellate jurisdiction shall thereafter be exercised or allowed by any other courts in cases decided by said Board of United States General Appraisers; but all appeals allowed by law from such Board of General Appraisers shall be subject to review only in the Court of Customs Appeals hereby established, according to the provisions of this chapter: Provided, That nothing in this chapter shall be deemed to deprive the Supreme Court of the United States of jurisdiction to hear and determine all customs cases which have heretofore been certified to said court from the United States circuit courts of appeals on applications for writs of certiorari or otherwise, nor to review by writ of certiorari any customs case heretofore decided or now pending and hereafter decided by any circuit court of appeals, provided application for said writ be made within six months after August fifth, nineteen hundred and nine; Provided further, That all customs cases decided by a circuit or district court of the United States or a court of a Territory of the United States prior to said. clate above mentioned, and which have not been removed from said courts by appeal or writ of error, and all such cases thereLofore submitted for decision in said courts and remaining undecided may be reviewed on appeal at the instance of either Party by the United States Court of Customs Appeals, provided such appeal be taken within one year from the date of the entry of the order, judgment, or decrees sought to be reViewed." 4

"S 198. If the importer, owner, consignee, or agent of any imported merchandise, or the collector or Secretary of the Treas

336 St. at L. 91, 105, 38 St. at 436 St. at L. 1087.

L. 703, Comp. St. § 1186.

ury, shall be dissatisfied with the decision of the Board of General Appraisers as to the construction of the law and the facts respecting the classification of such merchandise, and the rate of duty imposed thereon under such classification, or with any other appealable decision of said board, they, or either of them, may, within sixty days next after the entry of such decree or judgment, and not afterwards, apply to the Court of Customs Appeals for a review of the questions of law and fact involved in such decision: Provided, That in Alaska and in the insular and other outside possessions of the United States ninety days shall be allowed for making such application to the Court of Customs Appeals. Such application shall be made by filing in the office of the clerk of said court a concise statement of errors of law and fact complained of; and a copy of such statement shall be served on the collector, or on the importer, owner, consignee, or agent, as the case may be. Thereupon the court shall immediately order the Board of General Appraisers to transmit to said court the record and evidence taken by them, together with the certified statement of the facts involved in the case and their decision thereon; and all the evidence taken by and before said board shall be competent evidence before said Court of Customs Appeals. The decision of said Court of Customs Appeals shall be final, and such cause shall be remanded to said Board of General Appraisers for further proceedings to be taken in pursuance of such determination.

"§ 199. Immediately upon receipt of any record transmitted to said court for determination the clerk thereof shall place the same upon the calendar for hearing and submission, and such calendar shall be called and all cases thereupon submitted, except for good cause shown, at least once every sixty days: Provided, That such calendar need not be called during the months of July and August of any Year."' 4a

Prior to the creation of this court, the questions of law and fact involved in the decisions of the Board of General Appraisers were reviewed by the Circuit Court of the United States within the district in which the matter arose.5 No appeal would lie from the

4a 36 St. at L., 91, 105, 1146. 5 26 St. at L., eh. 407, § 15, p. 131; 35 St. at L. 403. See Louis

ville Pub. W. Co. v. Collector, 49 Fed. 561.

decision of the Board of General Appraisers ascertaining and fixing the dutiable value of goods when the board had acted regularly and without fraud or other misunderstanding. The return of the board was compared to a master's report.? Where, on review by a Circuit Court of a decision of the Board of General Appraisers, the record returned by the Board was defective by reason of the loss of the evidence on which the Board's findings were based, it was held that, no other evidence being presented, it must be conclusively presumed that the findings by the Board were proper and justifiable. The Board may make a different finding from the local appraiser without taking additional evidence. In a case where the only fact certified by the appraisers was that "silk is the component material of chief value," it was held that the return should be sent back for a further statement. Judge Lacombe then said: "Had the board also certified that the articles were correctly described in the invoice or entry, or in the appraisers' return, there might be sufficient; but, as it is, there is nothing to show what the articles really are. In a case where the return stated that "all the facts involved in said case, so far as ascertained by the board, are fully stated in [a certain opinion] and decision annexed thereto; and in such opinion it was stated, that inasmuch as some of the questions raised by protest were "understood to be now pending in the United States courts, [they] do not deem it advisable to enter into the merits of the same, but affirmed the [collector's] assessment of dues;" a further return was ordered. A single day's delay after the period of thirty days allowed for filing the application compelled the dismissal of the appeal although the parties have gone to trial. in the Circuit Court upon the merits.12 The provision in the former Act, that upon an appeal to the Circuit Court the board should return "the record and the evidence taken before them,"

6 Passavant v. U. S., 148 U. S. 214, 37 L. ed. 426.

7 Re Van Blankensteyn, C. C. A., 56 Fed. 474.

8 Schoellkopf, Hartford & Maelagan v. U. S., 147 Fed. 855.

9 U. S. v. Strauss Bros. & Co., 128 Fed. 473.

10 Re Dieckerhoff, 45 Fed. 235.

11 Re Blumlein, 45 Fed. 236; Re Downing, 45 Fed. 412.

12 Carriere & Son v. U. S., 163 Fed. 1009.