An Act to Amend Sections 135 and 141 of the Philippine Customs Administrative Act

January 9, 1903

ACT NO. 591

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FIVE AND ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-ONE OF THE PHILIPPINE CUSTOMS ADMINISTRATIVE ACT

SECTION 1. Section one hundred and thirty-five of the Philippine Customs Administrative Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 135. All vessels of the class designated in section one hundred and seventeen of this Act shall, prior to engaging in the coastwise trade, and annually thereafter, take out a license therefor, entitling them to engage in the general coastwise trade of the Archipelago. This license shall be issued by the collectors of customs at the ports of entry, and for each license issued a fee of one dollar for each ton of registered tonnage of the vessel shall be charged. All vessels having this form of license shall be required to pay the fees prescribed by chapter twenty-two of this Act."

SECTION 2. All vessels operating under second-class licenses heretofore issued shall be permitted to continue under the same, with the usual exemption from fees, until their expiration, but no renewals thereof shall be granted.

SECTION 3. Section one hundred and forty-one of the Philippine Customs Administrative Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 141. Owners of small boats of a capacity of less than fifteen gross tons who wish to engage in local trade may, upon application to the nearest collector of customs or subdistrict inspector of customs, and on taking the oath of allegiance to the United States, be granted a license for one year, authorizing the vessel holding it to engage in coast traffic, they paying for the license one dollar per ton for each ton of the vessel's gross tonnage: Provided, That in the case of boats measuring one ton or less, gross, no documents or license shall be required, nor shall any fee be charged them either for admeasurement or for license tax.

"Before delivering the license, the officer issuing the same will cause the vessel for which it is issued to be conspicuously marked, on some fixed part of the vessel, by burning or painting, with the name of the boat, name of the port at which licensed, and the number of the license."

SECTION 4. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedited in accordance with section two of "An Act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws," passed September twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect on its passage.

ENACTED, January 9, 1903.