17 ACT of December 31, 1792. 2 Bioren, 313. An act concerning the registering and recording of ships or vessels. 1. SEC. I. Ships or vessels which shall have been registered by virtue of the act, entitled "An act for registering and clearing vessels, regulating the coasting trade, and for other purposes,' [Obsolete,] and those which, after the last day of March next, shall be registered pursuant to this act, and no other, (except such as shall be duly qualified, according to law, for carrying on the coasting trade and fisheries, or one of them,) shall be denominated and deemed ships or vessels of the United States, entitled to the benefits and privileges appertaining to such ships or vessels: Provided, That they shall not continue to enjoy the same longer than they shall continue to be wholly owned, and to be commanded by, a citizen or citizens of the said states. 2. SEC. 11. Ships or vessels built within the United States, whether before, or after, the fourth of July, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-six, and belonging wholly to a citizen or citizens thereof, or not built within the said states, but, on the sixteenth day of May, in the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine, belonging, and thenceforth continuing to belong, to a citizen or citizens thereof, and ships or vessels which may hereafter be captured in war, by such citizen or citizens, and lawfully condemned as prize, or which have been, or may be, adjudged to be forfeited for a breach of the laws of the United States, being wholly owned by a citizen or citizens thereof, and no other, may be registered as hereinafter directed: Provided, That no such ship or vessel shall be entitled to be so registered, or, if registered, to the benefits thereof, if owned in whole, or in part, by any citizen of the United States, who usually resides in a foreign country, during the continuance of such residence, unless such citizen be in the capacity of a consul of the United States, or an agent for, and a partner in, some house of trade or copartnership, consisting of citizens of the said states, actually carrying on trade within the (ACT of December 31st, 1792.) said states: And provided further, That no ship or vessel, built within the United States, prior to the said sixteenth day of May, which was not then owned wholly, or in part, by a citizen or citizens of the United States, shall be capable of being registered, by virtue of any transfer to a citizen or citizens, which may hereafter be made, unless by way of prize or forfeiture: Provided, nevertheless, That this shall not be construed to prevent the registering anew of any ship or vessel which was before registered, pursuant to the act before mentioned. 3. SEC. 111. Every ship or vessel, hereafter to be registered, (except as is hereinafter provided,) shall be registered by the collector of the district in which shall be comprehended the port to which such ship or vessel shall belong at the time of her registry, which port shall be deemed to be that, at or nearest to which the owner, if there be but one, or, if more than one, the husband, or acting and managing owner of such ship or vessel, usually resides. And the name of the said ship or vessel, and of the port to which she shall so belong, shall be painted on her stern, on a black ground, in white letters, of not less than three inches in length. And if any ship or vessel of the United States shall be found without having her name, and the name of the port to which she belongs, painted in manner aforesaid, the owner or owners shall forfeit fifty dollars; one half to the person giving the information thereof, the other half to the use of the United States. 4. SEC. IV. In order to the registry of any ship or vessel, an oath or affirmation shall be taken and subscribed by the owner, or by one of the owners, thereof, before the officer authorised to make such registry, who is hereby empowered to administer the same, declaring, according to the best of the knowledge and belief of the person so swearing or affirming, the name of such ship or vessel, her burthen, the place where she was built, if built within the United States, and the year in which she was built; and if built within the United States before the said sixteenth day of May, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine, that she was then owned wholly, or in part, by a citizen or citizens of the United States; and, if not built within the said states, that she was, on the said sixteenth day of May, and ever since hath continued to be, the entire property of a citizen or citizens of the United States; or that she was, at some time posterior to the time when this act shall take effect, (specifying the said time,) captured in war by a citizen or citizens of the said states, and lawfully condemned as prize, (producing a copy of the sentence of condemnation, authenticated in the usual forms,) or that she has been adjudged to be forfeited for a breach of the laws of the United States, (producing a like copy of the sentence whereby she shall have been so adjudged,) and declaring his or her name, and place of abode, and, if he or she be the sole owner of the said ship or vessel, that such is the case; or, if there be another owner or other owners, that there is or are such other owner or owners, specifying his, her, (ACT of December 31st, 1792.) or their, name or names, and place or places of abode, and that he, she, or they, as the case may be, so swearing or affirming, is or are citizens of the United States; and where an owner resides in a foreign country, in the capacity of a consul of the United States, or as an agent for, and a partner in, a house or copartnership consisting of citizens of the United States, and actually car, rying on trade within the United States, that such is the case, and that there is no subject or citizen of any foreign prince or state, directly or indirectly, by way of trust, confidence, or otherwise, interested in such ship or vessel, or in the profits or issues thereof; and that the master, or commander thereof, is a citizen, naming the said master or commander, and stating the means whereby, or manner in which, he is so a citizen. And in case any of the matters of fact in the said oath or affirmation alleged, which shall be within the knowledge of the party so swearing or affirming, shall not be true, there shall be a forfeiture of the ship or vessel, together with her tackle, furniture, and apparel, in respect to which the same shall have been made, or of the value thereof, to be recovered, with costs of suit, of the person by whom such oath or affirmation shall have been made: Provided always, That if the master, or person having the charge or command of such ship or vessel, shall be within the district aforesaid when application shall be made for registering the same, he shall, himself, make oath or affirmation, instead of the said owner, touching his being a citi zen, and the means whereby, or manner in which, he is so a citizen; in which case, if what the said master, or person having the said charge or command, shall so swear or affirm shall not be true, the forfeiture aforesaid shall not be incurred, but he shall, himself, forfeit and pay, by reason thereof, the sum of one thousand dollars: And provided further, That in the case of a ship or vessel, built within the United States prior to the sixteenth day of May aforesaid, which was not then owned by a citizen or citizens of the United States, but which, by virtue of a transfer to such citizen or citizens, shall have been registered, pursuant to the act before mentioned, the oath or affirmation, hereby required, shall and may be varied according to the truth of the case, as often as it shall be requisite to grant a new register for such ship or vessel. SEC. v. 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 hereinbefore 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 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 (ACT of December 31st, 1792.) 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. 5. SEC. vi. 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, entitled "An act to provide more effectually for the collection of the du ties 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. 6. SEC. VII. 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 broken up, or shall be otherwise prevented from returning to the (ACT of December 31st, 1792.) port to which she may belong, the said certificate, if preserved, shall be delivered up, within eight days after the arrival of the master, or person having the charge or command of such ship or vessel within any district of the United States, to the collector of such district; and that, if any foreigner, or any person or persons for the use and benefit of such foreigner, shall purchase, or otherwise become entitled to, the whole, or any part or share of, or interest in, such ship or vessel, the same being within a district of the United States, the said certificate shall, in such case, within seven days after such purchase, change, or transfer of property, be delivered up to the collector of the said district; and that if any such purchase, change, or transfer of property, shall happen when such ship or vessel shall be at any foreign port or place, or at sea, then the said master, or person having the charge or command thereof, shall, within eight days after his arrival within any district of the United States, deliver up the said certificate to the collector of such district; and every such certificate, so delivered up, shall be forthwith transmitted to the register of the treasury, to be cancelled, who, if the same shall have been delivered up to a collector other than of the district in which it was granted, shall cause notice of such delivery to be given to the collector of the said district. 7. SEC. VIII. In order to the registry of any ship or vessel which, after the last day of March next, shall be built within the United States, it shall be necessary to produce a certificate, under the hand of the principal or master carpenter, by whom, or under whose direction, the said ship or vessel shall have been built, testifying that she was built by him, or under his direction, and specifying the place where, the time when, and the person or persons for whom, and describing her built, number of decks and masts, length, breadth, depth, tonnage, and such other circumstances as are usually descriptive of the identity of a ship or vessel; which certificate shall be sufficient to authorise the removal of a new vessel from the district where she may be built, to another district in the same, or an adjoining state, where the owner or owners actually reside, provided it be with ballast only. 8. SEC. ix. The several matters hereinbefore required, having been complied with, in order to the registering of any ship or vessel, the collector of the district comprehending the port to which she shall belong, shall make, and keep, in some proper book, a record or registry thereof, and shall grant an abstract or certificate of such record or registry, as nearly as may be, in the form following: [Infra, 27.] "In pursuance of an act of the congress of the United States of America, entitled An act concerning the registering and recording of ships or vessels,' [inserting here the name, occupation, and place of abode, of the person by whom the oath or affirmation aforesaid shall have been made] having taken or subscribed the oath (or affirmation) required by the said act, and having |