SIR-I have examined the papers in the case presented in your report under date of the 13th ultimo, and the sample submitted, on the appeal of JAMES M. BEEBE & Co. from your decision assessing a duty of 24 per cent on an article imported by them and described as "unbleached cotton shirts, merino finish," the importers claiming entry at a duty of 15 per cent. The article, it seems, is composed wholly of cotton, and by raising a nap and some further application or process, a fine wooly surface and a close imitation of merino are produced. The only question in contest between yourself and the importers, is one of fact -whether the fabric is bleached or unbleached. If the former, the collector's decision was correct, and the article is dutiable at 24 per cent under the classification in schedule C of all manufactures composed wholly of cotton, which are bleached, printed, painted, or dyed." The merchandise in question having been pronounced after a careful examination by official experts at several of our principal ports as "bleached," the Department assumes the article to be of that character, and is of the opinion that the duty was properly assessed by you at the rate of 24 per cent under the classification in schedule C, to which you have referred it. I am, very respectfully, HOWELL COBB, Secretary of the Treasury. JAMES S. WHITNEY, Esq., Collector, &c., Boston, Mass. WOOLEN HATS. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, September 1, 1860. SIR-I acknowledge the receipt of your report on the appeal of Mr. ALFRED PLUNKET from your decision assessing duty at the rate of 24 per cent under schedule C of the tariff of 1857, on certain "woolen hats" imported by him, as "manufactures of wool not otherwise provided for." The appellant claims entry of the articles in question at the rate of 15 per cent under the classification in schedule E of "hats of wool." The merchandise in this case is manufactured, substantially, of woolen cloth. The term hats of wool" in the tariffs of 1846 and 1857 has been understood to apply only to hats, the bodies of which are composed of wool that has undergone no process of manufacture except felting or fulling, and such seems to have been the commercial designation at the date of the passage of the tariff act of 1846. In the manufacture of the article under consideration, the wool undergoes two preliminary processes at least :-first, it is converted into yarn, and then into cloth, and in this latter form used in the manufacture of the hats. The Department perceives no reason for abandoning the practice heretofore pursued, and is of the opinion that the duty of 24 per cent is properly assessed, either under the classification in schedule C of "hats and bonnets for men, women, and children, composed of straw, satin straw, chip, grass, palmleaf, willow, or any other vegetable substance, or of hair, whalebone, or other material not otherwise provided for," or under the classifications in the same schedule of "articles worn by men, women, or children, of whatever material composed, made up, or made wholly or in part by hand," or "manufactures of wool or of which wool shall be the component material of chief value, not otherwise provided for." Your decision assessing a duty of 24 per cent is affirmed. I am, very respectfully, HOWELL COBB, Secretary of the Treasury. AUGUSTUS SCHELL, Esq., Collector, &c., New York. LANDSCAPE PLATES. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, August 20, 1860. SIR-The Department approves of the assessment stated in your report of the 30th June last, of a duty of 24 per cent on certain articles described as landscape plates," imported by Mr. JOHN B. BEHRMANN, who has appealed from your decision to this Department. The merchandise in question is described as glass upon which a picture of a landscape is painted, and, as such, it is clearly embraced in schedule C, to which you have referred it, either under the classification of "paintings on glass" or that of "glass, colored, stained, or painted," and liable to the duty of 24 per cent which you have exacted on the entry. I am, very respectfully, HOWELL COBB, Secretary of the Treasury. AUGUSTUS SCHELL, Esq., Collector, &c., New York. NEW TARIFF OF RATES BETWEEN CHICAGO AND SOUTHERN CITIES. The following tariff between Chicago and Southern cities has already gone into effect: The tariff is to continue in force until changed, and is subject to rules and regulations of local tarif of Illinois Central Railroad. POSTAL DEPARTMENT. POST-OFFICE OF THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. REPORT OF THE POSTMASTER GENERAL. POST-OFFICE, HONOLULU, } April 10th, 1860. SIR-I have the honor to submit to your Highness the following report of the Post-office Department : During the past two years the business of the office has very much increased, but as the labor is now thoroughly systematized, it is performed with more regularity, dispatch, and ease than formerly. The provisions of sections 409 and 410 of Civil Code, relating to dead letters and the procuring an official stamp, have been complied with. The laws regulating postage have become very generally understood throughout the islands, and though a considerable number of unpaid letters have accumulated in this office during the past seven months, a large portion of them have been written by foreigners. In order to insure the attention of postmasters to the selling of stamps, and to secure a proper attention to mails, I found it necessary to allow some remu neration, and have therefore granted them the privilege of mailing their own letters free. There are now twenty-seven postmasters connected with the department. All our mail bags have been furnished with locks, and we have endeavored to secure not only safety, but promptness and dispatch, in the transmission of mails on all our mail routes. Within the past quarter I have concluded arrangements with D. C. WATERMAN, Esq., removing our mail agency from MORGAN, STONE & Co., of San Francisco, to the firm of D. C. WATERMAN & Co. of this place, by which change the settlement of our quarterly accounts with the United States government is rendered much more convenient, and a saving is made in expense to the office. A small increase in the appropriation for mail carriers on the island of Hawaii is necessary, in order to render the service equal to the demands of the people. By comparing the accompanying table, showing the number of letters received and forwarded through this office during the past three months, with the report of the office for 1858, it appears that the charge of two cents per half ounce on letters has not had the effect to check correspondence between the islands, and it will be noticed that the receipts from inter-island postage covers two-thirds the expense of mail carriage. My predecessor having furnished you with an account of the business of the office for the nine months previous to January 1st, 1859, my report of the finances of the office is confined to the fifteen months succeeding that date. As a record of the letters passing through this office had not been kept previous to January 1st of the present year, I am unable to make a correct statement of the number; but during the past three months ending March 31st, 1860, a record has been kept, the result of which is as follows: March 31, 1860.... 9,859 90 Amount received from inter-island postage from Aug. 1, 1859 to March 31, 1860. 665 75 Amount paid U. S. government postage collected and mail Amount drawn from Hawaiian Treasury from Jan. 1, 1859, to March 31, 1860..... Amount paid mail carriers from Jan. 1, '59, to March 31, '60 Amount paid salary of postmaster general from Jan. 1, 1859, to March 31, 1860.... 5,605 51 $17,399 13 1,448 25 2,916 67 4,953 23 4,404 66 3,676 32 $17,399 13 I have the honor to be, Sir, Your most obedient servant, H. R. H. Prince L. KAMEHAMEHA, Minister of the Interior, &c., &c., &c. A. K. CLARK. THE BRITISH POST-OFFICE. The following table shows the number of letters delivered in the United Kingdon during the last year, with the rate of increase, and the proportion of letters to population : Increase Proportion of letters 446,000,000 47,000,000 7 7 52,000,000 545,000,000 ENGLISH POST-OFFICE PACKET SERVICE, 1858-59. CLASSIFIED ABSTRACT OF PARLIAMENTARY VOTES AS FAR AS RELATES TO THE AMERICAN BRANCH OF THE SERVICE. JOURNAL OF INSURANCE. ALABAMA INSURANCE LAW. AN ACT TO REGULATE THE AGENCIES OF INSURANCE COMPANIES NOT INCORPORATED BY THE STATE OF ALABAMA. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Alabama in General Assembly convened, That it shall not be lawful for any agent or agents of any fire, river, or marine insurance company, incorporated by any other State than the State of Alabama, directly or indirectly to take any risks or transact any business of insurance in this State without first procuring a certificate of authority from the Controller of this State; and before obtaining such certificate such agent or agents shall furnish the said Controller a statement under oath of the president or secretary of the company for which be or they may act, which statement shall show-1st, the name and locality of the company; 2d, the amount of the capital stock; 3d, the amount of its capital stock paid in; 4th, the act of incorporation of the company; which statement shall be filed in the office of the Controller, with a written instrument under the seal of the company authorizing such agent to acknowledge service of process for and in behalf of such company, consenting that service of process upon such agent shall be taken and held as if service upon the company, according to the laws of this State, or any other State, waiving all claims of error by reason of such service. And no insurance company or agent of any insurance company incorporated by any other State shall transact any business of insurance unless such company is possessed of at least one hundred thousand dollars of actual capital invested in stock of at least par value, or in bond or mortgage of real estate worth double the amount for which the same is mortgaged; and upon the aforesaid statement and written instrument being deposited with the Controller, and furnishing satis:actory evidence as aforesaid, it shall be the duty of the Controller to issue a certificate thereof with the authority to transact business of insurance to the agent or agents applying for the same. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall be unlawful for any agent or agents of any fire, river, or marine insurance company incorporated by any foreign government other than a State of this Union, to transact any business of insurance in this State without first procuring a certificate of authority from the Controller of this State, such agent or agents having first filed in the office of said Controller a statement setting forth the charter or act of incorporation of the company for which he or they may act, and the matters required by the first section of this act, and the written authority and consent therein mentioned for the acknowledgment by such agent or agents of service of process to be binding on such company, and the said agent or agents shall also deposit with the Controller the stock or certificate thereof of one or more of the States of the United States, the same to be satisfactory to the Controller, to the amount of one hundred thousand dollars, which shall be held by him and his succesors in office exclusively as security for the payment of any losses for which the company may become liable in the course of its business, the dividends or interest on said stock as they may become due to be received by the agent or agents of the company, and depositing said stock or certificate, and the said agent or agents of such company filing the statement and depositing the stock or certificate aforesaid shall be entitled to a certificate of authority in like manner as is provided for in the first section of this act. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the agent or agents in either and both of the foregoing sections mentioned, before taking any risk or transacting any business of insurance in this State, to file in the office |