TONNAGE. The capacity of a ship or ves gel.
This term is most usually applied to the capac ity of a vessel in tons as determined by the legal mode of measurement ; in England reckoned ac cording to the number of tons burden a ship will carry, but here to her internal cubic capacity ; and, as a general rule, in the United States the official tonnage of a vessel is considerably below the actual capacity of the vessel to carry freight. Roberts 'v. Opdyke, 40 N. Y. 259.
The duties paid on the tonnage of a ship or vessel. For the rule for determining tonnage in the Unit ed States, see R. S. § 4150 et seq. ; 3 U. S. Comp. St. 2812, and amendments in Suppt. (1911) 1190. A foreign built vessel purchased by a citizen of the United States and brought into the waters there of was held not taxable under the tariff laws of the United States; The Conqueror, 166 U. S. 110, 17 Sup. Ct. 510, 41 L. Ed. 937. The tariff act of Abgust 5, 1909, imposed an annual tonnage tax of 27 per gross ton on foreign-built yachts and pleasure boats, owned or chartered for more than six months by citizens of the United States, which could be com muted by paying a duty of 35 per cent. ad valorem. It was held that this tax was an excise, not on the actual use, but on the privilege of using, and was collectible if it yacht had been out of commission during the entire preceding year. But it must be shown that a foreign-built yacht had been used, to some extent at least, in the United States, especial ly where the owner, although a citizen of the Unit ed States, was domiciled in a foreign country. The tax is imposed on the owners of yachts, etc., or on charterers for a period of more than six months ; U. S. v. Billings, 190 Fed. 359 (an opinion covering five cases). Four of these cases were before the supreme court and the judgments were affirmed, ex cept that it was held that there was no liability where the yacht (which was laid up at Brooklyn) had not been used at all during the preceding year ; Billings v. U. S., 232 U. S. 261, 34 Sup. Ct. 421, 58 L.
Ed. --; U. S. v. Billings, 232 U. S. 289, 34 Sup. Ct. 48, 58 L. Ed. --; Pierce v. U. S., 232 U. S. 290, 34 Sup. Ct. 427, 58 L. Ed. --; U. S. v. Goelet, 232 U. S. 293, 34 Sup. Ct. 431, 58 L. Ed. -. The act was re pealed by the tariff act of Oct. 3, 1913. In U. S. v. Blair, 190 Fed. 372, it was held that a yacht which had burned and sunk, and been expensively repair ed, remained "foreign-bulit." The constitution provides, art. 1, S. 10, n. 2, that no state shall, without the consent of congress, lay any duty on tonnage ; State Tonnage Tax Cases, 12 Wall. (U. S.) 204, 20 L. Ed. 370; Inman S. S. Co. v. Tinker, 94 U. S. 238, 24 L. Ed. 118. But a municipal corporation situated on a navigable river can, con sistently with the constitution of the United States, charge and collect from the owner of licensed steamboats, which moor at a wharf constructed by it, wharfage proportioned to their tonnage ; Keokuk N. L. P. Co. v. Keokuk, 95 U. S. 80, 24 L. Ed. 377; Keokuk v. Packet Co., 45 Ia. 196. See COMMERCE. The duty of tonnage prohibited by the constitu tion is a charge upon a vessel according to its ton nage as the instrument of commerce, for the privi lege of entering or leaving a port or navigating public waters ; Huse v. Glover, 119 U. S. 543, 7 Sup. Ct. 313, 30 L. Ed. 487.
By. act of March 24, 1908, to carry out the Inter national Convention of December 21, 1904, hospital ships in time of war are exempted from all dues and taxes under United States laws, and from all pilotage charges in waters of the United States.