56

WAREHOUSES  IN  FOREIGN  COUNTRIES.

sequently  the  rates  of  storage  are  lower  than  those  charged  in  the
modern  storing  houses  of  the  company.
Almost  all  lines  of  business,  particularly  in  foreign  products  of
all  classes,  in  order  to  facilitate  transit  trade  without  customs  interference, ­
  are  represented  in  the  free  harbor.  Coffee  is  the  chief  article ­
  stored  in  these  warehouses.  The  inventory  at  the  end  of  last
year  showed  a  stock  of  almost  1,500,000  bags  in  the  stores  of  the  company. ­
  Other  articles  stored  in  these  warehouses  are  meats,  lard,  oil,
fruits,  grains  and  seeds,  foodstuffs,  lumber,  sugar,  metal  and  metal
goods,  wines  and  liquors,  etc.
Americans  make  considerable  use  of  these  warehouses.  As  the
rates  of  storage  are  considerably  lower  than  those  for  storage  in
American  bonded  warehouses,  and  as  there  is  no  interference  on  the
part  of  the  custom-house  authorities  and  almost  no  formalities  connected ­
  with  the  entry  of  merchandise  and  the  storing  of  the  same,
large  quantities  of  American  whisky,  for  instance,  are  permanently
stored  in  the  free  harbor,  such  whisky  being  kept  in  store  here  until
properly  seasoned,  when  it  is  reshipped  to  the  United  States.  Furthermore, ­
  all  the  large  American  firms  represented  in  this  city,  such
as  the  largo  packing  companies,  the  more  important  harvesting  and
sewing  machine  companies,  hardware  manufactories,  etc.,  constantly
store  goods  in  local  bonded  warehouses.  All  nationalities  are  treated
exactly  alike  by  the  administrators  of  the  warehouses.
Almost  all  warehouses,  both  those  located  in  the  free  harbor  and
those  in  the  city,  within  the  customs  union,  are  situated  along  the
waterways  in  the  city  and  harbors,  and  goods  may  be  removed  from
boat  directly  to  warehouse  and  vice  versa.  The  charges  therefor
vary  between  25  and  75  cents  per  ton,  according  to  the  quantities
transported.
As  T  have  said  above,  the  customs  officials  do  not  exercise  any  supervision ­
  over  the  warehouses  within  the  free  harbor,  which  is  treated
exactly  like  a  foreign  country.
WAREHOUSES  IN  THE  CITY.
Besides  the  several  warehouses  in  the  free  harbor,  there  are  also  ß
number  of  bonded  stores  and  warehouses  in  the  city  proper.  When
Hamburg  was  annexed  to  the  customs  union  in  1888  there  were  hundreds ­
  of  merchants  and  wholesale  dealers  who  chiefly  dealt  in  and
exported  to  foreign  countries  foreign-made  goods,  and  who  owned  of
had  long-running  contracts  for  warehouses  in  the  city  within  the  ne#
customs  boundary.  To  avoid  prejudicing  their  interests,  or  otherwise ­
  compromising  them,  these  people  were  permitted  to  continue  to
store  in  their  private  warehouses  dutiable  goods  upon  which  the  duty
had  not  yet  been  collected,  under  the  following  conditions:
Goods  upon  which  the  customs  authorities  have  a  claim  can  bo
stored  in  private  warehouses,  with  or  without  joint  locking  by  the  customs ­
  authorities  and  the  owner.  These  private  warehouses  aro
classed  as:  (a)  Transit  warehouses,  where  the  identity  of  each  separate ­
  package  is  kept  track  of,  and  some  of  the  goods  stored  are  intended
for  consumption  within  the  customs  district,  and  at  the  same  tim e
some  are  intended,  partly  or  wholly,  for  consumption  in  foreign
countries,  (b)  Division  warehouses,  when  the  identity  of  each  separate ­
  package  is  not  kept  track  of,  and  no  distinction  is  made  betweei'