Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 3.djvu/129



shall put, place, or load on board any ship, vessel, boat, or water craft, or into any cart, wagon, sled, or other carriage or vehicle, or in any other manner attempt to convey any specie, goods, wares, merchandise, produce, provisions, naval or military stores, or any kind of live stock, with be intent to export, transport, or convey the same without the United States or the territories thereof, to any foreign place, kingdom, or country, or with intent to convey the same on board any foreign ship or vessel within or without the limits of the United States, or with the intent in any other manner to evade the provisions of this act, all such specie, goods, wares, merchandise, produce, provisions, naval or military stores, live stock, and also the ship, vessel, boat, water craft, cart, wagon, sled, or other carriage or vehicle, on board, or on or in which the same may be so put, placed, or loaded as aforesaid, and also all horses, mules, and oxen, used or employed in conveying the same, shall be forfeited, and the person or persons so putting, placing, or loading the same as aforesaid, and also the aiders and abettors therein, shall, upon conviction, be adjudged guilty of a high misdemeanor, and fined a sum, by the court before which the conviction is had, equal to four times the value of such specie, goods, wares, merchandise, produce, provisions, naval or military stores, or live stock: Provided however, That this section shall not be construed to extend to any person or persons not being the owner or owners of such specie, goods, wares, merchandise, produce, provisions, naval or military stores, who shall first inform and make complaint to the collector of the district who shall first of any such offence committed within the same district; and any informer or informers, not being the owner or owners aforesaid, upon conviction of the offenders, shall be entitled to one-half of the fine aforesaid, when the same shall be received by the United States, and shall be entitled to a certificate for that purpose from the court before whom the conviction shall be had.

. And be it further enacted, That the owner or owners, consignee or factor of any ship, vessel, or boat, which may, at the time when notice of this act shall be received at the several custom houses respectively, be laden in whole or in part, shall, on notice given by the collector, of their cargoes either discharge such cargo or give bond with two or more sufficient sureties, in double the value of such vessel and cargo, not to proceed on the intended voyage or trip, until permitted to do so, agreeably to the provisions of this act; and if the cargo shall not be discharged within ten days, or the bond given as aforesaid, the ship, vessel, or boat and cargo shall be wholly forfeited. And the several collectors are authorized in the meanwhile, and until the cargoes shall have been discharged, or the bond given as aforesaid, to take possession of such vessels, and to take such other measures as may be necessary to prevent their departure.

. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States may authorize the collectors of the customs (when in his opinion it can be done without danger of the embargo being violated, and under such limitations as he may deem expedient) to grant permission to vessels or boats, whose employment has uniformly been confined to the navigation of bays, sounds, rivers, or lakes, within the jurisdiction of the United States, or the territories thereof, to take on board at any time such articles of domestic or foreign growth as may be designated in such permission, bond with one or more sufficient sureties being previously given to the United States by the owner, owners, consignee, or factors of such vessel or boat, and by the master thereof, in an amount equal to three hundred dollars for each ton of the said vessel or boat, that such vessel or boat shall not, during the time limited in the condition of the bond, depart from any district of the United States without having previously obtained a clearance, nor until the master or commander shall have delivered to the collector or surveyor of the port of departure, a manifest of the whole cargo on board, that the said vessel or boat shall not during the time