Scheuch , Esq., Consul of the United States, Barcelona to Consul Scheuch, July 17, 1877

Mr. Adee to Consul Scheuch.

Sir: In view of your No. 108, in relation to Mr. Cifré’s importation of Bibles, I have consulted with tie proper official of the ministry of fomento as to the necessary formalities for the introduction of books into Spain when printed abroad in Spanish. The usual course, as I am informed, is as follows: The publishers or printers of the work to be introduced prepare a certificate, setting forth their own right to publish the book and giving a full description of it. This certificate is countersigned by the competent officer (who in the present case would probably be the United States district attorney for the southern district of New York), to prove that the publication does not infringe the copyright laws of the country where it is printed. His signature is, in turn, legalized by the Spanish consul of the place. The document, when so completed, is called the “certificate of origin.”

The person making the importation next addresses a petition, on stamped paper, to the director-general of public instruction in Madrid, reciting ownership of the books and soliciting permission to introduce them. This petition is accompanied by a detailed note or memorandum of the books, describing them fully, and also by the “certificate of origin,” as explained above. On the petition being granted, publication of the fact is made in the Gaceta, and, on the lapse of fifteen days thereafter, the books may be entered in the usual way on payment of duties as merchandise.

The requisites above described are explained in the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth notes of the last edition of the Spanish customs-tariff. There being no special copyright treaty between the United States and Spain, the form prescribed in the treaty with France need not be literally followed, but it is necessary that the “certificate of origin” should express the essential facts and be duly certified.

It is possible that an invoice with full description of each book mentioned therein, properly legalized by the Spanish consul-general in New York, would, under the circumstances, be accepted as a sufficient basis for Mr. Cifré’s petition, but the document now sent does not conform with Spanish law. It is merely a letter of advice, wholly unauthenticated, and is, besides, insufficient in its statements and descriptions.

That the books in question are Bibles and parts of Bibles is not a factor in the problem. The formalities would be the same were they arithmetics or novels; and, in either case, whether religious or not, the administrator of customs has clearly no discretionary power to suspend the regulations in their special behalf without the direct sanction of his government. Request for such sanction, so far as this legation is concerned, ought, in my judgment, not to be made, except in virtue of specific instructions to that effect from the Department of State. I have not, consequently, thought proper to address the Spanish Government on the subject in the absence of such instructions, preferring to report the matter to Washington for the information of the Secretary of State, and for such action as he may see fit to order.

The letter from the American Bible Society to Mr. Cifré is herewith returned.

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,