Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 1.djvu/411

 giving the information thereof; the other half to the use of the United States.

. And be it further enacted, That in order to the registry of any ship or vessel, an oath or affirmation shall be taken and subscribed by the owner, or by one of the owners thereof, before the officer authorized to make such registry, who is hereby empowered to administer the same, declaring, according to the best of the knowledge and belief of the person so swearing or affirming, the name of such ship or vessel, her burthen, the place where she was built, if built within the United States, and the year in which she was built; and if built within the United States, before the said sixteenth day of May, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine, that she was then owned wholly, or in part, by a citizen or citizens of the United States; and if not built within the said states, that she was, on the said sixteenth day of May, and ever since, hath continued to be, the entire property of a citizen or citizens of the United States; or that she was, at some time posterior to the time when this act shall take effect, (specifying the said time) captured in war by a citizen or citizens of the said states, and lawfully condemned as prize (producing a copy of the sentence of condemnation, authenticated in the usual forms) or that she has been adjudged to be forfeited for a breach of the laws of the United States, (producing a like copy of the sentence whereby she shall have been so adjudged) and declaring his or her name and place of abode, and if he or she be the sole owner of the said ship or vessel that such is the case; or if there be another owner or other owners, that there is or are such other owner or owners, specifying his, her, or their name or names, and place or places of abode, and that he, she, or they, as the case may be, so swearing or affirming, is or are citizens of the United States; and where an owner resides in a foreign country, in the capacity of a consul of the United States, or as an agent for, and a partner in, a house or co-partnership, consisting of citizens of the United States, and actually carrying on trade within the United States, that such is the case, and that there is no subject or citizen of any foreign prince or state, directly, or indirectly, by way of trust, confidence, or otherwise, interested in such ship or vessel, or in the profits, or issues thereof; and that the master, or commander thereof is a citizen, naming the said master, or commander, and stating the means whereby, or manner in which, he is so a citizen. And in case, any of the matters of fact, in the said oath or affirmation alleged, which shall be within the knowledge of the party, so swearing, or affirming, shall not be true, there shall be a forfeiture of the ship or vessel, together with her tackle, furniture and apparel, in respect to which, the same shall have been made, or of the value thereof, to be recovered, with costs of suit, of the person, by whom such oath or affirmation shall have been made: Provided always, That if the master, or person having the charge or command of such ship or vessel, shall be within the district aforesaid, when application shall be made for registering the same, he shall, himself, make oath, or affirmation, instead of the said owner, touching his being a citizen, and the means whereby, or manner in which, he is so a citizen; in which case, if what the said master or person having the said charge or command, shall so swear or affirm, shall not be true, the forfeiture aforesaid shall not be incurred, but he shall himself, forfeit and pay, by reason thereof, the sum of one thousand dollars: And provided further, That in the case of a ship, or vessel, built within the United States, prior to the sixteenth day of May aforesaid, which was not then owned by a citizen or citizens of the United States, but which, by virtue of a transfer to such citizen or citizens, shall have been registered, pursuant to the act before mentioned, the oath or affirmation, hereby required, shall and may be varied,