Page:Ruffhead - The Statutes at Large - vol 9.djvu/106

56 and in such Manner as his Majesty, his Heirs and Successors, shall think fit to order and direct, by any Order or Orders of Council, or by any Proclamation or Proclamations to be made or issued from time to time, for that Purpose; and such Moiety, or other Part of the said Seizure or Seizures, shall be fo paid and divided to and amongst all the Officers and Seamen of such Ship or Vessel of War accordingly.

'And whereas the Laws already made to prevent the clandestine importing and landing of Foreign Brandy, Rum, Strong Waters or other Spirits, Tea, Tobacco, Tobacco Stalks and Snuff, in small Vessels, which hover upon the Coasts of this Kingdom, have been found inufficient for that Purpose;' Be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That from and after the first Day of June one thousand seven hundred and and sixty-three, if any Foreign Brandy, Arrack, Rum, Strong Waters or Spirits of any Kind whatsoever, shall be imported or brought into Great Britain, or into any Port, Harbour, Haven or Creek thereof, in any Ship, Vessel or Boat, of the Burthen of fifty Tons, or under (except only for the Use of the Seamen then belonging to and on Board such Ship, Vessel or Boat, not exceeding two Gallons for every such Seaman) every such Ship, Vessel or Boat, with all her Tackle, Furniture and Apparel, and also all such Brandy, Arrack, Rum, Strong Waters or Spirits, or the Value thereof, shall be forfeited and lost; and where any brandy, Arrack, Rum, Strong Waters or other Spirits, or any Tea, Tobacco, Tobacco Stals or Stems stript from the Leaf, or Snuff, is or are liable to Forfeiture, by virtue of an Act made in the ninth Year of the Reign of his late Majesty King George the, intituled, An Act for indemnifying Perons who have been guilty of Offences agabinst the Laws made for securing the Revenue of Customs and Excise, and for enforcing those Laws for the future; and by another Act made in the twenty-fourth Year of the Reign of his said late Majesty King the Second, intituled, An Act for the more effectual securing the Duties upon Tobacco; or either of them, for being found on Board any such Ship or Vessel at Anchor, or hovering within the Limits of any of the Ports of this Kingdom, or within two Leagues of the Shore, as is particularly expressed in those Acts: It is hereby further enacted, That in every such Case the Ship or Vessel on Board of which such Goods shall be so found, with all her Tackle, Furniture and Apparel, shall also be forfeited and lost, provided such Ship or Vessel doth not exceed the Burthen of fifty Tons.

And it is hereby further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That every Ship or Vessel forfeited by this Act, shall be seized and prosecuted, and after Condemnation be burnt, destroyed, or used in his Majesty's Service by the Officers of the Customs or Excise, and the Tackle, Furniture and Apparel, dispofed of and divided, and the Tonnage, ascertained in the same Manner as is directed by the Laws now in Force, with respect to Vessels of forty Tons or under forfeited for importing Foreign Brandy or other Spirits.

And it is also further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That no Writ of Delivery shall be granted out of" the Court of Exchequer, for any Ship, Vessel or Boat, that is liable to be burnt, destroyed, or used in his Majesty's Service by virtue of this Act, or any other Act relating to the Customs or Excise, unless the Officer seizing the same shall delay proceeding to the Trial and Condemnation thereof for the Space of three Terms; and in that Case, not without good Security being given in double the appraised Value of such Ship, Vessel or Boat, to return the same upon Condemnation, in order to be burnt, destroyed, or used in his Majesty's Service according to Law.

'And whereas by an Act passed in the eighth Year of the Reign of her late Majesty Queen Anne, for granting to her Majesty new Duties of Excise, and upon feveral imported Commodities; and by another Act passed in the fifteenth and sixteenth Years of the Reign of his late Majesty King George the Second, for further regulating the Plantation Trade, and several other Purposes; It is amongst other Things enacted, That every Person, upon Entry of any Claim in the Court where any prohibited or uncustomed Goods, or any Ship, Vessel or Boat, shall be prosecuted, shall be obliged to give Security, in the Penalty of thirty Pounds, to answer and pay the Costs occasioned by such Claim; and in Default of giving such Security within the Time limited by the Course of that Court for entering such Claim, such Goods, Ships, Vessels or Boats shall be recovered: And whereas many Persons have, from the Smallness of the Penalty, been induced to enter groundless Claims in fictitious Names, with a View to put the Officers of the Revenue to vexatious Trouble and Delay, as well as to deter them from prosecuting Seizures legally made, by putting them to an extraordinary Expence, often Times more than the Value of the Goods seized which tends very much to the Prejudice of the publick Revenue, and to the Discouragement of the Officers thereof in the Execution of their Duty:' To remedy therefore this Inconvenience for the future, Be it enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That from and after the first Day of May one thousand seven hundred and sixty-three, every Person, upon Entry of any Claim in the Court where any Goods, Ships, Vessels or Boats, shall be prosecuted, shall be obliged to give Security, in the Penalty of sixty Pounds, to answer and pay the Costs occasioned by such. Claim; and in Default of giving such Security within the Time limited by the Course of that Court for entering Claims, such Goods, Ships, Vessels or Boats, shall be adjudged to be forfeited, and shall be condemned; any thing in the before recited Acts, or any other Acts of Parliament, to the contrary notwithstanding.