Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 1.djvu/412

 to the truth of the case, as often as it shall be requisite to grant a new register for such ship or vessel.

. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of every owner, resident within the United States, of any ship or vessel, to which a certificate of registry may be granted, (in case there be more than one such owner) to transmit to the collector, who may have granted the same, a like oath or affirmation with that herein before directed to be taken and subscribed by the owner, on whose application, such certificate shall have been granted, and within ninety days after the same may have been so granted; which oath or affirmation may, at the option of the party, be taken and subscribed either before the said collector, or before the collector of some other district, or a judge of the supreme, or a district court of the United States, or of a superior court of original jurisdiction of some one of the states. And if such oath or affirmation shall not be taken, subscribed and transmitted, as is herein required, the certificate of registry, granted to such ship or vessel, shall be forfeit and void.

. And be it further enacted, That before any ship or vessel shall be registered, she shall be measured by a surveyor, if there be one, or by the person he shall appoint, at the port or place where the said ship or vessel may be, and if there be none, by such person as the collector of the district, within which she may be, shall appoint, according to the rule prescribed by the forty-third section of the act, intituled “An act to provide more effectually, for the collection of the duties imposed by law on goods, wares and merchandise, imported into the United States, and on the tonnage of ships or vessels.” And the officer, or person, by whom such admeasurement shall be made, shall, for the information of, and as a voucher to the officer by whom the registry is to be made, grant a certificate, specifying the built of such ship or vessel, her number of decks and masts, her length, breadth, depth, the number of tons she measures, and such other particulars as are usually descriptive of the identity of a ship or vessel; and that her name, and the place to which she belongs, are painted on her stern, in manner required by the third section of this act: which certificate shall be countersigned by an owner, or by the master of such ship or vessel, or by some other person who shall attend her admeasurement, on behalf of her owner or owners, in testimony of the truth of the particulars therein contained; without which, the said certificate shall not be valid. But in all cases, where a ship or vessel has before been registered, as a ship or vessel of the United States, it shall not be necessary to measure her anew, for the purpose of obtaining another register; except such ship or vessel shall have undergone some alteration, as to her burthen, subsequent to the time of her former registry.

. And be it further enacted, That, previous to the registry of any ship or vessel, the husband or acting and managing owner, together with the master thereof, and one or more sureties, to the satisfaction of the collector of the district, whose duty it is to make such registry, shall become bound to the United States, if such ship or vessel shall be of burthen not exceeding fifty tons, in the sum of four hundred dollars; if of burthen above fifty tons, and not exceeding one hundred, in the sum of eight hundred dollars; if of burthen above one hundred tons, and not exceeding two hundred, in the sum of twelve hundred dollars; if of burthen above two hundred tons, and not exceeding three hundred, in the sum of sixteen hundred dollars; and if of burthen exceeding three hundred tons, in the sum of two thousand dollars; with condition, in each case, that the certificate of such registry, shall be solely used for the ship, or vessel, for which it is granted, and shall not be sold, lent, or otherwise disposed of, to any person or persons whomsoever; and that, in case such ship or vessel shall be lost, or taken by an enemy, burnt, or