# United States Statutes at Large/Volume 2/10th Congress/1st Session/Chapter 66

Chap. LXVI.—An Act in addition to the act intituled “An act laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbors of the United States,” and the several acts supplementary thereto, and for other purposes.
Act of Dec. 22, 1807, ch. 5. Act of Jan. 9, 1808, ch. 8. Act of March 12, 1808, ch. 33. Act of Jan. 9, 1809, ch. 5. Act of March 1, 1809, ch. 24. Additional regulations for coasting vessels.Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That during continuance of the act laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbors of the United States, no vessel of any description whatever, and wherever bound, whose employment is confined to the navigation of bays, sounds, rivers and lakes, within the jurisdiction of the United States, (packets, ferry-boats, and vessels exempted from the obligation of giving any bond whatever, only excepted,) shall be allowed to 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, including articles of domestic growth or manufacture, as well as foreign merchandise. And it shall also be the duty of the owners, agents or master of every such vessel, to produce within two months thereafter, to the collector of the district from which the vessel departed, a certificate of the landing of the whole of such cargo, in a port of the United States, within the bay, sound, rivers or lakes, to which the navigation of such vessel is confined, signed by the collector or surveyor of the port where the cargo shall have been landed.
Clearances to be given to no vessels but on the regulations prescribed being complied with.Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That during the continuance of the act laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbors of the United States, and of the several acts supplementary thereto, no ship or vessel of any description whatever, other than those described in the next preceding section, and wherever bound, shall receive a clearance, unless the lading shall be made hereafter under the inspection of the proper revenue officers, subject to the same restrictions, regulations, penalties, and forfeitures, as are provided by law for the inspection of the goods, wares, and merchandise, imported into the United States, upon which duties are imposed, any law to the contrary notwithstanding: ​Vessels laden in whole or in part not to be affected.Provided, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to affect vessels laden in whole or in part on the receipt of this act by the respective collectors.
Forfeitures and penalties.Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That if any vessel described in the first section, shall depart from any district of the United States, without a clearance, or before the manifest of the cargo shall have been delivered to the collector or surveyor, in the manner therein prohibited, or if a certificate of the landing of the cargo shall not be produced within the time and in the manner therein provided, such vessel and cargo shall be forfeited, and the owner or owners, consignee, agent, factors, freighters, master, or skipper of such vessel, shall respectively forfeit and pay a sum not exceeding five thousand dollars, nor less than one thousand dollars: Provided always,Proviso. that nothing herein contained shall be construed to bar or prevent the recovery of the penalty on the bond given for such vessel.
Vessels going down the Mississippi to stop at Fort Adams, and those going up, at Iberville, to report their cargoes, &c.Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That during the continuance of the act laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbors of the United States, and of the several acts supplementary thereto, it shall be the duty of the master or person having charge or command of any vessel, flat, or boat intended to enter that part of the river Mississippi, which lies between the southern boundary of the Mississippi territory and the river Iberville, if going down the said river, to stop at Fort Adams, and if going up the river to stop at Iberville, and at each place, as the case may be, to deliver to an inspector of the revenue, to be stationed there for that purpose, a manifest of the whole cargo on board, and also to produce to the same officer, within two months thereafter, if going down the river, and within six months thereafter if going up the river, a certificate of the landing of the same in some part of the district of Mississippi, and within the jurisdiction of the United States, which certificate shall be signed by the collector or one of the surveyors of the district of Mississippi; of if the cargo shall be landed more than thirty miles from the place of residence of any such officer, by a state or territorial judge, having jurisdiction at the place of such landing.
Penalty.Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That if any vessel, flat, or boat, shall enter that part of the river Mississippi as prescribed in the next preceding section, without stopping and delivering a manifest in the manner therein provided, or if a certificate of the landing of the cargo shall not be produced within the time, and in the manner therein provided, such vessel, flat, or boat and cargo shall be forfeited, and the owner or owners, consignee, agent, factors, freighters, master, or skipper of such vessel, flat, or boat, shall respectively forfeit and pay a sum not exceeding five thousand dollars, nor less than one thousand dollars.
Clearances not to be allowed to vessels of the U. States but by special permission of the President, to ports of U. States adjacent to territories of foreign states. Penalties, forfeitures.Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That no ship or vessel having any cargo whatever on board, shall, during the continuance of the act laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbors of the United States, be allowed to depart from any port of the United States, for any other port or district of the United States, adjacent to the territories, colonies, or provinces of a foreign nation; nor shall any clearance be furnished to any ship or vessel, bound as aforesaid, without special permission of the President of the United States. And if any ship or vessel shall, contrary to the provisions of this act, proceed to any port or district adjacent to the territories, colonies, or provinces of a foreign nation, such ship or vessel, with her cargo, shall be wholly forfeited; and if the same shall not be seized, the owner, owners, agents, factors, and freighters of such ship or vessel shall, for every such offence, forfeit and pay double the value of such ship and cargo; and the master and commander of such ship or vessel, as well as all other persons, who shall knowingly be concerned in such prohibited voyage, shall each respectively forfeit and pay not exceeding three thousand dollars, nor less than five hundred dollars for every such offence, whether the vessel be seized or not.
​Public armed vessels, and gun boats authorized to stop vessels suspected of violating embargo laws.Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That the commanders of the public armed vessels and gun boats of the United States shall, as well as the commanders or masters of the revenue cutters, and revenue boats, be authorized, and they are hereby authorized to stop and examine any vessel, flat, or boat, belonging to any citizen of the United States, either on the high seas, or within the jurisdiction of the United States, or any foreign vessel within the jurisdiction of the United States, which there may be reason to suspect to be engaged in any traffic or commerce, or in the transportation of merchandise, of either domestic or foreign growth or manufacture, contrary to the provisions of this act, or of the act laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbors of the United States, or of any of the acts supplementary thereto, and if upon examination, it shall appear that such vessel, flat or boat is thus engaged, it shall be duty of the commander to seize every such vessel, flat, or boat, and to send the same to the nearest port of the United States for trial.
Comptroller of treasury may remit certain duties, &c. &c.Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That the comptroller of the treasury be, and he hereby is authorized to remit the duties accruing on the importation of goods of domestic produce, or which being of foreign produce, had been exported without receiving a drawback, which may have been, or may be re-imported in vessels owned by citizens of the United States, and which having sailed subsequent to the first day of October last, and prior to the twenty-second day of December last, may be or have been stopped on the high seas by foreign armed vessels, and by reason thereof have returned, or may hereafter return into the United States. And the said comptroller is likewise authorized to direct the exportation bonds given for foreign merchandise, exported with privilege of drawback, in such vessel and re-imported in the same, in the manner aforesaid to be cancelled, the duties on such re-importation being previously paid, and on such other conditions and restrictions as may be necessary for the security of the revenue.
Foreign vessels not allowed to carry on the coasting trade in the U. States during the continuance of the embargo.Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That during the continuance of the act laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbors of the United States, no foreign ship or vessel shall go from one port in the United States to another, and should any foreign ship or vessel, contrary to this section, go from one port of the United States to another, the vessel with her cargo shall be wholly forfeited, and the owner, or owners, agent, factors, freighters, and master of such ship or vessel, shall forfeit and pay a sum not exceeding three thousand dollars, nor less than one thousand dollars.
Fees for clearances of vessels, &c. &c.Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That no vessel, flat, or boat, comprehended in this act shall be obliged to pay more than twenty cents for each clearance.
Collectors authorized to detain vessels ostensibly bound to other ports of the U. States under suspicious circumstances.Sec. 11. And be it further enacted, That the collectors of the customs be, and they are hereby respectively authorized to detain any vessel ostensibly bound with a cargo to some other port of the United States, whenever in their opinions the intention is to violate or evade any of the provisions of the acts laying an embargo, until the decision of the President of the United States be had thereupon.
Collectors in ports adjacent to foreign territories may take into their custody provisions, &c. &c. accumulated in large quantities in their districts, &c. &c.Sec. 12. And be it further enacted, That if any unusual deposits of provisions, lumber, or other articles of domestic growth or manufacture shall have been, or shall be made in any of the ports of the United States, adjacent to the territories, colonies, or provinces of a foreign nation, the collector of the district shall be, and he hereby is authorized to take the same in his custody, and not to permit such articles to be removed until bond with sufficient sureties shall have been given for the landing or delivery of the same in some port or place of the United States.
Sec. 13. And be it further enacted, That any ship or vessel owned ​Vessels laden at the passage of the embargo act allowed to go with their cargoes to other ports of the U. S.by a citizen of the United States, loaded, or in part loaded with the produce of the United States before the act laying an embargo was passed, and by said act detained in any port of the United States, may be permitted to proceed to any other port of the United States, and there to remain with such cargo on board, subject to such other restrictions and bonds as are prescribed in the act laying an embargo, and the several supplementary acts thereto.
Forfeitures and penalties—how mitigated or remitted. 1797, ch. 13. 1800, ch. 33, sec. 6. 1799, ch. 22.Sec. 14. And be it further enacted, That all penalties and forfeitures, incurred by force of this act, may be mitigated and remitted in the manner prescribed by the act, intituled “An act to provide for mitigating and remitting the forfeitures, penalties, and disabilities accruing in certain cases therein mentioned;” and all penalties and forfeitures which may be recovered in pursuance of this act, in consequence of any seizure made by the commander of any public armed vessel of the United States, shall be distributed according to the rules prescribed by the act, intituled “An act for the government of the navy of the United States,” and all other penalties and forfeitures arising under this act, shall be distributed in the manner prescribed by the act, intituled “An act to regulate the collection of duties on imports and tonnage.”
Trade with the Indians from Canada permitted through the territories of the U. States.Sec. 15. And be it further enacted, That nothing in the act laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbors of the United States, or in the several acts supplementary thereto, or in the act to prohibit the importation of certain goods, wares, and merchandise, shall be construed to prevent the exportation by land, or inland navigation, from the territories of the United States into those of Great Britain, of furs and peltries, the property of subjects of Great Britain, and by them purchased from the Indians, or to prevent the importation by land, or inland navigation, from the territories of Great Britain into those of the United States, of merchandise, the property of British subjects, and by them imported solely for the use of the Indians aforesaid.
Approved, April 25, 1808.