The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1900-05-29
MEETING A BIG LINER
NOT EASY TO BOARD AN INCOMING
VESSEL IN NEW YORK BAY.

make application daily In season for
passes to board incoming ocean steam
ers from revenue cutters and that not
more than 9 per cent of the requests
are granted, 1t may be understood how
valuable the treasury department con-
siders these privileges. The occurrence
is rare, but is nevertheless legal for the
master of the ship for which pass
calls to refuse to permit the holder to
board his ship. All revenue cutter
passes are issued by the collector OF
the port and must be countersigned by
the surveyor. The revenue of every
country on dutiable personal effects
depends for it's volume on the ability
of the customs authorities to have
them duly listed and taxed on arrival.
In the event of a promiscuous granting
of cutter passes it would be possible
for a certain dishonest element that Is
to be found under every sun to meet in
coming friends down the bay and Sur
reptitiously bring ashore at the pier
valuables purchased abroad.
The treasury department trusts few,
a fact that has increased Uncle Sans
revenue a great deal, as the majority of
the boarding officers know. Recently
the holder Of pass boarded a White
Star liner and was approached by a
passenger to whom he was a perfect
stranger. The latter said:
81 understand you are connected
with so and So l have a small pack
age here that | would like to take
ashore. There is nothing dutiable in it,
but you understand how the govern
ment piles it on. l will meet you at
the head of the gangway when l get
my luggage released, and l will take
the package from you"
Not only did this pass holder not take
the package, but the first thing he did
upon landing was to point out the pas
senger to a member of the surveyors
staff, who very promptly demanded
and received the package. 1t contained
jewelry of all descriptions. That an
unauthorized person may not get on
board an incoming craft in advance of
the customs officials the following is
dJLdCuC0 " CfClJ pass eAIN 40 AooNNN@
for the revenue cutter:
"This permission is understood to be
subject to the assent of the master of
the steamship and of the health officer
as guardian of the public health, and
boarding is strictly forbidden until aft
er the customs officers are in charge,
according to the following extract from
the passenger act, 1882:
Section g. That it shall not be law
full for the master of any (such) steam
ship or other vessel not in distress aft
er the arrival of the vessel within any
collection district of the United States
to allow any person or persons except a
pilot, officer of the customs or health
officer, agents Of the vessel and consuls
to come on board of the vessel or to
leave the vessel until the vessel has
been taken in charge by an officer of
the customs nor after charge so taken
without leave of such officer until all
the passengers, with their baggage,
have been duly landed from the YES
sell"
When the revenue cutter pass system
was originally introduced, nobody in
the government employ seems to know.
In the old days it was the custom to
meet relatives and friends back from
an ocean trip on the pier heads. The
revenue cutter pass is a simple piece of
paper in itself, but is the study of
many years and countless number of
practical officials. The manner in which
it is obtained, the demands made upon
its holder, the restrictions as to its use
and it's composition in every way are
the result of innumerable revisions of
passes that have preceded it during the
last 20 years, and it now omits nothing
that will protect Uncle Sam, as it really
should do.
A few years ago it was possible for
all sorts of idlers to gain admission to
a pier while the passengers of ship
from foreign parts were landing. This
had been the practice for some years,
and the steamship gateman had the
sole and exclusive right of deciding
who should enter. 1t was supposed
and frequently discovered in individual
cases that dutiable goods were secretly
passed to these friends who came down
to welcome the homecomer.
AS consequence the inability to get
q revenue cutter pass did not make
much material difference, the dock af
fording full scope for any desired work
in a dishonest way. To protect the
purposes of the cutter passes and to
place a further barrier around illegal
practices the treasury department re-
Gently made new rule that admission
to pier during the docking of an in
coming steamer could be obtained by
card only. This admission ticket, like
the revenue cutter passes, is not trans
ferable and must bear the name of the
holder, the signature of the steamship
company and the Endorsement of the
collector of the port. The perfection
of the cutter pass system as to transfer
may be appreciated when it is stated
that the beneficiary of the pass must
affix his name to the pass on receiving
1t at the custom house and again when
he boards the cutter at the Battery.
This eliminates all chance of the pass
being transferred. Transfers have
been Illegally made, but the. holder, be-
ing unable to furnish the same sigma
ture as that supplied at the custom
house, was compelled to leave the cut
ter, and the pass was taken up.-New
York Mail and Express.