164

WAREHOUSES  IN  FOREIGN  COUNTRIES.

the  warehouse,  the  fees  for  which  storage  are  much  lower  and  lhe
facilities  for  handling  goods  much  better  than  at  the  warehouse  of
the  custom-house  proper.  A  list  of  articles  permitted  to  be  stored
and  the  charges  for  their  storage  is  appended  herewith.®  Nothing
can  be  removed  from  the  bonded  section  except  in  the  presence  of  the
inspector  designated  to  assess  duties  and  supervise  the  removal  of
merchandise.
The  two  warehouses  in  which  the  State  allows  merchandise  in
transit  in  bond  to  be  stored  are  very  old  buildings,  situated  on  the
water  front  and  having  piers  extending  out  sufficiently  to  allow
lighters  and  small  craft  to  go  alongside.  According  to  the  State
regulations  a  warehouse  to  be  bonded  must  make  a  petition  to  and
be  recognized  as  such  by  the  State  treasury.  There  is  further
required  the  entry  in  a  book  of  the  number,  weight,  and  marks  of  all
merchandise  entering  and  departing  from  the  warehouse.  This  book
has  been  paged  and  initialed  by  an  official  appointed  for  such  service.
The  State  levies  a  tax  on  all  exports,  and  in  order  that  merchandise ­
  originating  in  other  States  and  coming  here  in  transit  for  shipment ­
  shall  be  tree  from  this  tax  it  is  necessary  that  documents  from
the  point  of  origin  showing  quantity,  weight,  and  marks  be  presented ­
  ;  that  the  merchandise  be  stored  in  one  of  these  two  warehouses ­
  until  ready  for  shipment,  and  that  an  inspector  of  the  State
custom-house  verify  the  merchandise  at  the  warehouse  at  the  time
of  embarkation.
About  the  only  articles  that  come  to  Bahia  in  bond  for  export  are
rubber,  hides,  and  skins.  These  are  simply  stored  until  ready  for
shipment,  as  any  manipulation  whereby  quality  is  improved  would
subject  the  merchandise  to  the  State  tax  collected  on  “  products  of
other  States  benefited  while  in  Bahia.”
There  is  no  separate  portion  in  these  warehouses  for  merchandise
in  transit,  which  in  reality  is  not  bonded  and  does  not  need  to  be,  as
it  can  not  leave  here  until  it  has  either  paid  duty  or  passed  State
inspection,  though  I  understand  that  the  law  is  to  be  amended  so  as
to  require  separate  compartments  and  guards  for  such  merchandise.
It  is  impossible  to  ascertain  the  cost  of  the  Federal  warehouse,
which  is  the  newest;  the  others  are  very  old,  have  been  added  to  or
altered  from  time  to  time,  and  most  of  them  would  need  to  be  almost
rebuilt  to  be  put  in  first-class  condition.  It  is  impossible  also  to  form
any  idea  of  the  receipts  and  expenditures,  as  the  warehouses  are  operated ­
  by  private  concerns  which  would  refuse  to  divulge  their  business.
All  nationalities  are  treated  alike  in  these  warehouses,  and  in  the
State  warehouses  the  American  firms,  who  are  the  largest  exporters
of  transit  merchandise  (hides,  skins,  and  rubber),  fare  like  the  rest.
II.  W.  Fukniss,  Consul.
Bahia,  Brazil,  August  26,  1904.

SANTOS.
(From  United  States  Consul  Johnson,  Santos,  Tira~il.)
There  are  no  warehouses  for  storage  of  merchandise  in  transit  or
in  bond  at  this  port.  All  goods  imported  at  Santos  pass  from  the

«  On  file  in  the  Bureau  of  Statistics.  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor.