Stratton v. Oceanic Steamship Co.

Citations

• 140 F. 829
• 72 C.C.A. 241
• 1905 U.S. App. LEXIS 3962

Syllabus

<p>Aliens — Statute Imposing Head Tax — Validity op Department Regulations.</p> <p>Act March 3, 1903, c. 1012, § 1, 32 Stat. 1213 [U. S. Comp. St. Supp. 1905, p. 274], which imposes a head tax on alien passengers entering the United States, to be paid by the master or owner of the vessel, provides that such tax “shall not be levied upon aliens in transit through the United States.” It also (section 22) authorizes the commissioner general of immigration, under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, to establish “such rules and regulations, * =:‘ * not inconsistent with law, as he shall deem best calculated for carrying out the provisions of this act and for protecting the United States and aliens migrating thereto from fraud and loss.” Held, that a regulation requiring thé master or owner of a vessel bringing an alien to a port of the United States, for the professed purpose of proceeding directly therefrom to foreign territory, to deposit the amount of the head tax with the collector before such alien shall be premitted to land, the same to be refunded on proof satisfactory to the immigration officer in charge of said port that such alien has passed by direct and continuous journey through and out of the United States, was not an amendment or addition to the statute, but was a reasonable and lawful regulation for the purpose of protecting the United States from fraud and loss, and within the power conferred on the commissioner.</p> <p>Gilbert, Circuit Judge, dissenting.</p>