# United States Statutes at Large/Volume 1/1st Congress/2nd Session/Chapter 1

Chapter I.—An Act for giving effect to the several acts therein mentioned, in respect to the state of North Carolina, and for other purposes.
The provisions of the acts of 1789, ch. 2, and of the act of 1789, laying duties on imports and tonnage declared in force as to the state of N. Carolina after thirty days from the passing of this act. Act of July 4, 1789, ch. 2. Act of July 20, 1789, ch. 3. Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the several and respective duties specified and laid, in and by the act, intituled “An act for laying a duty on goods, wares and merchandises imported into the United States;” and in and by the act, intituled “An act imposing duties on tonnage,” shall be paid and collected upon all goods, wares and merchandises, which, after the expiration of thirty days from the passing of this act, shall be imported into the state of North Carolina, from any foreign port or place, and upon the tonnage of all ships from the and vessels, which, after the said day, shall be entered within the said state of North Carolina, subject to the exceptions, qualifications, allowances and abatements in the said acts contained or expressed; which acts shall be deemed to have the like force and operation within the said state of North Carolina, as elsewhere within the United States.
And for due collection five districts established; their limits.Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That for the due collection of the said duties, there shall be in the said state of North Carolina five districts; one to be called the district of Wilmington, and to comprehend all the waters, shores, bays, harbours, creeks and inlets, from Little River inlet, inclusive, to New River inlet, inclusive. Another to be called the district of Newbern, and to comprehend all the waters, shores, bays, harbours, creeks and inlets, from New River inlet, exclusive, to Occacock inlet, inclusive, together with Pamticoe Sound, (except that part of it into which the Pamticoe, or Tarr and Machapunga rivers empty themselves, and which lies between the Royal Shoal extended to Machapunga Bluff; and the shoal which projects from the mouth of Pamticoe River towards the Royal Shoal.) Another to be called the district of Washington, and to comprehend all that part of Pamticoe Sound excepted out of the district of Newbern, and the waters, shores, bays, harbours, creeks and inlets adjacent to, and communicating with the same. Another to be called the district of Edenton, and to comprehend all the waters, bays, harbours, creeks and inlets from the channel between Pampticoe Sound and Albemarle Sound, inclusive. The other to be called the district of Cambden, and to comprehend North River, Pasquotank and Little Rivers, and all the waters, shores, bays, harbours, creeks and inlets, from the junction of Currituck and Albermarle Sounds, to the northern extremity of Back Bay. Ports of entry and delivery.That in the district of Wilmington, the town of Wilmington shall be a port of entry and delivery, and Swansborough a port of delivery only; and there shall be a collector, naval officer and surveyor to reside at the said town of ​Wilmington, and a surveyor to reside at Swansborough. That in the district of Newbern, the town of Newbern shall be a port of entry and delivery, and the town of Beaufort a port of delivery only; and there shall be a collector to reside at Newbern, and a surveyor to reside at Beaufort. That in the district of Washington, the town of Washington shall be the sole port of entry and delivery, and there shall be a collector to reside at the same. That in the district of Edenton, the town of Edenton shall be a port of entry and delivery; and Hartford, Murpheysborough, Plymouth, Winsor, Skewarkey, Winton, and Bennet’s Creek, ports of delivery; and there shall be a collector at the town of Edenton, and a surveyor at Hartford, another surveyor at Murpheysborough, one surveyor at each of the ports of Plymouth, Winsor, Skewarkey, Winton, and Bennet’s Creek. That all ships or vessels intending to proceed to Hartford, Plymouth, Winsor, Skewarkey, Winton, Bennet’s Creek, or Murpheysborough, shall first come to and enter at the port of Edenton. That in the district of Cambden, Plankbridge on Sawyer’s Creek, shall be the port of entry and delivery, and there shall be a collector at Plankbridge on Sawyer's Creek, and a surveyor at each of the ports of Nixonton, Indiantown, Currituck Inlet, and Pasquotank River bridge, ports of delivery; and there shall be a collector at Plankbridge on Sawyer’s Creek, and a surveyor at each of the ports of Nixonton, Indiantown, Curritock Inlet Pasquotank River bridge, and Newbiggin Creek: Extent of the authority of the officers of each district.and that the authority of the officers of each district shall extend over all the waters, shores, bays, harbours, creeks and inlets comprehended within each district.
Sole ports of entry for ships or vessels not registered or licensed, or ships &c. beyond the Cape of Good Hope.Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the ports of Wilmington, Newbern, Washington, and Edenton, shall be the sole ports of entry within the said state of North Carolina, for ships or vessels not registered or licensed within the United States, according to law, and for all ships or vessels whatsoever, which shall arrive from the Cape of Good Hope, or any place beyond the same.
Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That all the regulations, provisions, exceptions, allowances, compensations, directions, authorities, penalties, forfeitures, and other matters whatsoever, contained or expressed in the act, intituledRegulations, provisions, &c. for due collection. Act of July 31, 1789, ch. 5. “An act to regulate the collection of the duties imposed by law on the tonnage of ships or vessels, and on goods, wares and merchandises imported into the United States,” and not locally inapplicable, shall have the like force and effect within the said state of North Carolina, for the collection of the said duties, as elsewhere within the United States, and as if the same were repeated and re-enacted in this present act.
Operation of parts of former laws declared to cease. Act of Sept. 16, 1789, ch. 15.Sec. 5. Provided always, and be it declared, That the thirty-ninth section of the said act, and the third section of an act intituled, “An act to suspend part of an act, intituled An Act to regulate the Collection of the Duties imposed by law on the tonnage of ships or vessels, and on goods, wares and merchandises imported into the United States, and for other purposes,” did, by virtue of the adoption of the Constitution of the United States, by the said state of North Carolina, cease to operate in respect to the same.
Act for regulating the coasting trade, declared in force as to N. Carolina after thirty days from the passing this act. Act of Sept. 16, 1789, ch. 11. Part of another act revived as to R. Island and N. Carolina until the 1st of April. Act of Sept. 16, 1789, ch. 15.Sec. 6. And be it further enacted and declared, That the act intituled “An act for registering and clearing vessels, regulating the coasting trade, and for other purposes,” shall, after the expiration of thirty days from the passing of this act, have the like force and operation within the said state of North Carolina, as elsewhere within the United States, and as if the several clauses thereof were repeated and re-enacted in this present act.
Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That the second section of the act, intituled “An act to suspend part of an act, intituled An Act to regulate the Collection of the Duties imposed by law on the tonnage of ships or vessels, and on goods, wares and merchandises imported into the United States, ​ and for other purposes,” passed the sixteenth day of September last, shall with respect to the inhabitants and citizens of the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, be revived, and also that the fourth section of the said act shall be revived, and both continue in force until the first day of April next, and no longer.
Approved, February 8, 1789.