Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 1.djvu/702

 that such allowance shall not be less than one eighth, or exceeding one half of the full value of such recapture, without any deduction. And such salvage shall be distributed to and among the owners, officers and crews of the private armed vessel or vessels entitled thereto, according to any agreement which shall be between them; or in case of no agreement, then by the decree of the court who shall determine upon such salvage.

. And be it further enacted, That before breaking bulk of any vessel which shall be captured, as aforesaid, or other disposal or conversion thereof, or of any articles which shall be found on board the same, such capture shall be brought into some port of the United States, and shall be libelled and proceeded against before the district court of the same district; and if after a due course of proceedings, such capture shall be decreed as forfeited in the district court, or in the circuit court of the same district, in the case of any appeal duly allowed, the same shall be delivered to the owners and captors concerned therein, or shall be publicly sold by the marshal of the same court, as shall be finally decreed and ordered by the court. And the same court, who shall have final jurisdiction of any libel or complaint of any capture, as aforesaid, shall and may decree restitution, in whole or in part, when the capture and restraint shall have been made without just cause, as aforesaid; and if made without probable cause, or otherwise unreasonably, may order and decree damages and costs to the party injured, and for which the owners, officers and crews of the private armed vessel or vessels by which such unjust capture shall have been made, and also such vessel or vessels shall be answerable and liable.

. And be it further enacted, That all French persons and others, who shall be found acting on board any French armed vessel, which shall be captured, or on board of any vessel of the United States, which shall be recaptured, as aforesaid, shall be reported to the collector of the port in which they shall first arrive, and shall be delivered to the custody of the marshal, or of some civil or military officer of the United States, or of any state in or near such port; who shall take charge for their safe keeping and support, at the expense of the United States.

, July 9, 1798.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all credits on the books of the treasury of the United States, for transactions during the late war, which, according to the course of the treasury, have hitherto been discharged by issuing certificates of registered debt, shall be forever barred and precluded from settlement or allowance, unless claimed by the proper creditors, or their legal representatives on or before the first day of March, in the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-nine. And the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby required to cause this act to be published in one or more of the public papers of each state.

, July 9, 1798.

. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That for the