Haas

The appellant sued to recover certain entrance and clearance fees paid under protest by it to the Collector of Customs for the District of Washington. The charges were made upon vessels navigating between the port of Seattle and ports on the eastern shore of Vancouver Island, or the mainland of British Columbia south of Powell River. The Collector took the position that 19 U.S.C.A. § 58 controls. This statute has been modified by the statute of 1870, c. 185, § 7, 16 Stat. 178 , reducing certain fees, and the statute of 1897, c. 389, § 9, 29 Stat. 689 , 46 U.S.C.A. § 330 , entirely repealing these fees, for vessels operating in the northwestern frontiers of the United States, “otherwise than by sea”. Appellant contends that its operations here involved were within the scope *193 of these modifications. The District Court held to the contrary and gave judgment for the defendant.

The Treasury Department has consistently ruled since 1897 that the waters of the northwestern frontier, known as Georgia Straits, Straits of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound, are “sea” within the meaning of the statute which exempts vessels from paying entrance or clearance fees in case they navigate directly…