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its destination, as named in the manifest of its cargo, freight, or
contents, and be there inspected. This privilege, however, is subject
to such examination at the point of entry to the United States as may
be necessary to prevent fraud. It is important to be noticed that the
merchandise to which this section refers is described in section 3100 as
merchandise, etc., "imported into the United States from any contiguous
foreign country."

A practice has grown up, and a traffic of considerable dimensions
under it, of allowing merchandise from China and Japan, purchased and
imported from those countries by our own citizens and landed at ports
in the Dominion of Canada, to be there loaded into cars, which, being
sealed by an officer of the United States or some one supposed to
represent him, are forwarded through the territory of Canada, across
the entire continent, and allowed to cross our frontier without other
inspection than an examination of the seals. The real fact is that the
American consul can not and does not either compare the manifest with
the contents of the cars or attach the seals. The agents of the
transportation companies are furnished by the consul with the seals and
place them upon the cars. The practice of sealing such merchandise,
notwithstanding it has been allowed by the Treasury for some years,
I think is unauthorized. Such merchandise is not imported from a
"contiguous country," but from China and Japan.

It has never become subject to the Canadian revenue laws as an
importation from Japan to Canada, but by force of the treaty or by the
courtesy of that government has been treated as subject to the revenue
laws of the United States from the time of landing at the Canadian port.
Our Treasury seal has been placed upon it; Canada only gives it passage.
It is no more an importation from Canada than is a train load of wheat
that starts from Detroit and is transported through Canada to another
port of the United States. Section 3102 was enacted in 1864, two years
before sections 3005 and 3006, and could not have had reference to the
later methods of importing merchandise through one country to the other.

The practice to which I have referred not only equalizes the advantages
of Canadian seaports with our own in the importation of goods for our
domestic consumption, but makes the Canadian ports favored ports of
entry. The detentions under this system at the Canadian ports are less
than when the merch