Congressional decree No. 60, February 26, 1902: Printing paper, imported direct by printing concerns or by newspaper editors, shall be exempt from fiscal duty of every description.

Congressional decree No. 74, March 1, 1902: Importation through the ports of the Republic of galvanized-iron plates and pipes, and also rain-water tanks of iron or wood, shall be exempt from fiscal and municipal duties of every description during a period of five years. Articles imported by virtue of this decree shall not be subject to warehouse rent during one month from date of landing.

Congressional decree No. 75, March 1, 1902: Amends section 60 of the tariff act as follows: On every half kilo of alcohol introduced there shall be paid a duty of 2 pesos. Proprietors of pharmacies may introduce 30 gallons of alcohol annually for the exclusive use in their shops under duty as medicine. The alcohol introduced shall be

chemically pure.

Congressional decree No. 25, May 29, 1903: Amends sections 1598, 1599, and 1600 of the tariff act, to read: Candles, stearin, 5 centavos per half kilo; candles, wax, 10 centavos per half kilo; candles, tallow, 3 centavos per half kilo.

Congressional decree No. 35, June 5, 1903: Amends decree No. 25, May 29, 1903, to read: Candles, stearin, 10 centavos per half kilo instead of 5 centavos.

On every package or bale of merchandise unloaded at a port of entry in Honduras there must be paid certain fixed port charges in addition to the customs duties and the commission merchants' fees who act as custom-house brokers.

To receive, deliver, or ship each package up to 150 pounds

-per ton.

4.00

_do....

5.00

.50

To register and forward merchandise, according to class, per pack

age

To register and forward machinery.

The tonnage registered at the various ports of entry of the Republic during 1901–2 was:

During the same year 987 steamers, 10 brigantines, 747 schooners, 805 sloops, 3 yachts, 13 small boats, 212 canoes, and 2 fishing vessels arrived at the ports named. The total registered tonnage was 876,322, and of this the steamer registry reached a total of 820,275 tons.

CUSTOMS DUTIES.

The customs duties are payable in the currency of the nation, i. e., silver pesos. All duties are specific, and the total weight of the parcel or “lot” is taken into consideration and included in arriving at the weight.

TARIFF NOTES.

1o. All merchandise shall be assessed on the gross weight, and the rates established are for each half kilo. Construction wood is excepted, the rate thereon being for each 1,000 feet.

2o. Merchandise which is registered shall pay the exact duty in Honduranean currency according to the tariff, without any charge for depot storage in the ports of the State, when the registry is presented within one month, counted from the date of the arrival of the vessel containing the merchandise in question in the port; but after the lapse of this time there shall be paid, but only in the large ports, a storage fee of 1 centavo per month for each half kilo of gross weight of the merchandise. For the purposes of this account a month shall be deemed as concluded when begun.

3o. Before the registry no part of any merchandise may be cleared of its wrapping.

4o. Merchandise will be rated according to the material which composes the greater part of it.

5o. Merchandise not rated in the tariff shall be rated according to that class of merchandise which it most closely resembles.

6o. All wines having an alcoholic strength of more than 16° Carthier shall be rated as liquors or alcohol, according to the quality thereof. Liquors which exceed 25° Carthier shall be rated as alcohol. 7o. All laws not conflicting herewith shall be deemed to be in effect.

LAW OF STAMPED PAPER AND REVENUE STAMPS.

ARTICLE 1. Stamped paper shall be sold at the rate of 10 centavos per folio.

ART. 2. Stamped paper shall be issued only every four years, having imprinted on every folio the coat of arms of Honduras and the years for which issued, as "1901-1904," together with the value thereof, 10 centavos.

ART. 4. Stamped paper shall be used in all transactions such as petitions, judicial acts, and contracts whose value does not exceed 30 pesos.

ART. 5. Where the value exceeds that of the paper, revenue stamps must be affixed to the proper amount.

ART, 7. In every judicial act whose value shall exceed 30 pesos, or if it be indefinite, in the legal documents of notaries public, certificates of public officials, the revenue stamps to be affixed to the stamped paper shall amount to the value of 50 centavos.

ART. 8. Contracts, invoices, receipts, bills of exchange, and all documents representing a value of from 10 to 30 pesos shall be written on stamped paper; and if the valuation exceeds 30 pesos, stamps representing the following valuations shall be affixed in addition:

After 5,000 pesos a stamp of 5 centavos shall be affixed for each 100 pesos or fraction thereof.

ART. 9. The same regulation as contained in the preceding article shall apply to the first sheet of a document executed by a notary public and 50 centavos on each succeeding sheet where the value exceeds 30 pesos.

ART. 10. On documents of unknown value stamps to the value of more than 5 pesos shall be affixed on the first folio and stamps of 50 centavos each on each succeeding page thereof.

ART. 12. Mercantile books, as well as the books of companies, shall have a 5-centavo revenue stamp affixed to each page used thereof. ART. 13. On commissions and diplomas, free land and forest con

cessions, mining concessions, and patents granted by the Executive Authority shall be affixed a stamp of the value of 10 pesos on the first sheet and a stamp of 50 centavos on each succeeding sheet.

ART. 15. There shall be excepted from the necessity of the use of stamped paper the following: Sections 1 to 6, inclusive, public documents; 7, private documents not exceeding in value 10 pesos.

ART. 17. Revenue stamps on stamped paper shall be duly canceled by writing thereon the day, month, and year when canceled so that a part of the writing shall overlap on each side of the stamp. The person affixing the date on the stamp shall also sign his name thereto. ART. 19. Notaries public before whom or by whom documents are executed shall thus cancel the revenue stamps.

ART. 23. Instruments or petitions not drawn and stamped as herein provided shall be regarded as of no effect.

ART. 24. Instruments or books not duly written on stamped paper or having affixed the proper revenue stamps shall be disregarded in all actions of law, and in order to be admitted the delinquent must pay a fine aggregating an amount ten times that of the stamp value that should have been affixed.

ART. 27. Directors of companies and brokers who do not have the proper stamps affixed to their books of entry shall incur a fine equal to ten times the value of the tax the first time and double the value for each succeeding delinquency.

LICENSE LAW.

Each municipality fixes upon its own scale of licenses and what kinds of establishments shall pay a license fee. For the city of Tegucigalpa the following monthly fees have been decreed:

Insurance companies may be organized under the laws providing for the organization of general mercantile companies. After their formation or establishment they are regulated and supervised by the Law of Insurance

CHAPTER X.

FINANCIAL ORGANIZATION, REVENUE, BUDGETS, INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL DEBTS.

FINANCE.

The revenues of the State are derived from the customs dues, octrois, monopoly profits on the sale of aguardiente (sugar-cane rum); gunpowder, from concession taxes, stamped paper and revenue stamps, the railroad, and the Honduras Lottery, formerly the Louisiana State Lottery.

The revenue and expenditure of the National Government since 1895 is given below:

The budget for 1902-3, as fixed by the National Congress, amounted to $1,051,620 in gold, made up as follows: