ulations necessary for initiating those claims before the Navy Department for adjudication, were still continued, to the great inconvenience of the claimants of those ministerial officers in the Department charged with this duty under the direction of the Secretary. Nor was there ever a form of a declaration or other regulations prescribed for the admission of privateer invalids on the pension roll by the Secretary of the Navy, although they never had the benefit of the State authorities to prepare and report their matured claims to the Secretary of Congress, the Board of War, or to the Secretary of War, with other revolutionary invalids; or, if they ever enjoyed that benefit, it was under the general class of "invalids of the navy," which is not at all feasible, as there was no legal provision for including them under that class, and the acts of 1812 and 1813, above cited, bear all the internal evidence of original acts on the subject.

Again: When, upon the lapse of one year after, these duties were transferred from the Navy Department to the War Department, by the 2d and 4th sections of the act of the

* This act, concerning letters of marque, prizes, and prize goods, is here inserted entire, for the purpose of giving a more perfect conception of the uses, purposes, and regulations of private armed ships, as an auxiliary to the naval armament of the United States, so essential to supply the deficiencies of the navy upon emergencies, whilst it also serves the better to elucidate that branch of the pension system necessarily growing out of its operations, and paid by deducting TWO PER CENTUM as a privateer pension fund out of the nary pension fund accruing from the sale of prizes, &c. The act, in addition thereto, of the 27th January, 1813, is omitted, but may be referred to in the Statutes at Large.

With the same views as here expressed, the act "for the protection of the commerce of the United States against the Algerine cruizers" is also subjoined in full-being virtually a supplement to the system of privateering, which is so essential, on emergencies, as an auxiliary to our naval establishment.

CHAP. 430. An act concerning letters of marque, prizes, and prize goods.

APPROVED, JUNE 26, 1812.

SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States shall be, and he is hereby, authorized and empowered to revoke and annul, at pleasure, all letters of marque and reprisal which he shall or may at any time grant, pursuant to an act entitled, "An act declaring war between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the dependencies thereof, and the United States of America and their territories.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That all persons applying for letters of marque and reprisal, pursuant to the act aforesaid, shall state in writing the name, and a suitable description of the tonnage and force of the vessel, and the name and place of residence of each owner concerned therein, and the intended number of the crew; which statement shall be signed by the person or persons making such application, and filed with the Secretary of State, or shall be delivered to any other officer or person who shall be employed to deliver out such commissions, to be by him transmitted to the Secretary of State.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That before any commission of letters of marque and reprisal shall be issued as aforesaid, the owner or owners of the ship or vessel for which the same shall be requested, and the commander thereof, for the time being, shall give bond to the United States, with at least two responsible sureties, not interested in such vessel, in the penal sum of five thousand dollars; or if such vessel be provided with more than one hundred and fifty men, then in the penal sum of ten thousand dollars; with condition that the owners, officers, and crew, who shall be employed on board such commissioned vessel, shall and will observe the treaties and laws of the United States, and the instructions which shall be given them according to law for the regulation of their conduct; and will satisfy all damages and injuries which shall be done or committed contrary to the tenor thereof by such vessel, during her commission, and to deliver up the same when revoked by the President of the United States.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That all captures and prizes of vessels and property shall be forfeited, and shall accrue to the owners, officers, and crews of the vessels by whom such captures and prizes shall be made; and, on due condemnation had, shall be distributed according to any written agreement which shall be made between them; and if there be no such agreement, then one moiety to the owners, and the other moiety to

4th March, 1840, but to be executed under the joint direction of the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy, it seems to have occurred, for the first time, to the then Commissioner of Pensions, to consult the Secretary of the Navy (alone,) in a communication of the 19th April, 1841, on the subject of the administration of the navy pension laws, in relation to a specific case of a claim for pension by a person who had been employed in the naval service, rated as a "boy;" and also in another communication of the

the officers and crew, to be distributed between the officers and crew as nearly as may be, according to the rules prescribed for the distribution of prize money by the act entitled, "An act for the better government of the navy of the United States," passed the twenty-third day of April, one thousand eight hundred.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That all vessels, goods, and effects, the property of any citizen of the United States, or of persons resident within or under the protection of the United States, or of persons permanently resident within and under the protection of any foreign prince, government, or State in amity with the United States, which shall have been captured by the enemy, and which shall be recaptured by vessels commissioned as aforesaid, shall be restored to the lawful owners, upon payment by them, respectively, of a just and reasonable salvage, to be determined by the mutual agreement of the parties concerned, or by the decree of any court having competent jurisdiction, according to the natare of each case, agreeably to the provisions established by law. And such salvage shall be distributed among the owners, officers, and crews of the vessels commissioned as aforesaid, and making such recaptures, according to any written agreement which shall be between them; and in case of no such agreement, then in the same manner, and upon the same principles, heretofore provided in case of capture.

SEC. 6. 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 captured vessel, goods, or effects shall be brought into some port of the United States, or into some port of a nation in amity with the United States, and shall be proceeded against, before a competent tribunal, and, after condemnation and forfeiture thereof, shall belong to the owners and captors thereof, to be distributed as aforesaid. And in the case of all captured vessels, goods, and effects, which shall be brought within the jurisdiction of the United States, the district courts of the United States shall have exclusive original cognizance thereof, as in civil causes of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; and the said courts, or the courts, being courts of the United States, into which such cases shall be removed, and in which they shall be finally decided, shall and may decree restitution, in whole or in part, when the capture shall have been made without just cause. 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 and commanders of the vessels making such captures, and also the vessels, shall be liable.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That all prisoners found on board any captured vessels, or on board any recaptured vessels, shall be reported to the collector of the port, in the United States, in which they shall first arrive, and shall be delivered into the custody of the marshal of the district, or some civil or military officer of the United States, or of any State in or near such port, who shall take charge of their safekeeping and support, at the expense of the United States.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States shall be, and he is hereby, authorized to establish and order suitable instructions for the better governing and directing the conduct of the vessels so commissioned, their officers and crews, copies of which shall be delivered, by the collectors of the customs, to the commanders, when they shall give bond as aforesaid.

SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That a bounty shall be paid by the United States of twenty dollars for each person on board any armed ship or vessel belonging to the enemy, at the commencement of the engagement, which shall be burnt, sunk, or destroyed by any vessel commissioned as aforesaid, which shall be of equal or inferior force, the same to be divided as in other cases of prize money.

SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That the commanding officer of every vessel having a commission, or letters of marque and reprisal, during the present hostilities between the United States and Great Britain, shall keep a regular journal, containing a true and exact account of his daily transactions and proceedings with such vessel and the crew thereof; and the ports and places he shall put into or cast anchor in, the time of his stay there, and the cause thereof; the prizes he shall take; the nature and probable value of such prizes; the times and places when and where taken; and how and in

19th August, of the same year 1841, raising the question whether an invalid of the navy may receive a pension whilst in the service, it manifestly had not occurred to him, in either case, that any official form of declaration was necessary in order to bring the claim of an invalid before the office for adjudication. Nor yet did it occur to him on another occasion, more than twelve months thereafter, when, on the 22d November, 1842, he presented to the Secretary of the Navy two forms for his approval, one for "a surgeon's certificate in an invalid case," and the other for "a certificate of a commanding officer

what manner he shall dispose of the same; the ships or vessels he shall fall in with; the times and places when and where he shall meet with them, and his observations and remarks thereon; also of whatever else shall occur to him or any of his officers or mariners, or be discovered and found out by examination or conference with any mariners or passengers of or in any other ships and vessels, or by any other ways or means whatsoever, touching or concerning the fleets, vessels, and forces of the enemy, their posts and places of station and destination, strength, numbers, intents, and designs. And such commanding officer shall, immediately on his arrival in any port of the United States, or the Territories thereof, from or during the continuance of any voyage or cruise, produce his commission for such vessel, and deliver up such journal, so kept as aforesaid, signed with his proper name and handwriting, to the collector or other chief officer of the customs, at or nearest to such port; the truth of which journal shall be verified by the oath of the commanding officers for the time being; and such collector, or other chief officer of the customs, shall, immediately on the arrival of such vessel, order the proper officer of the customs to go on board and take an account of the officers and men, the number and nature of the guns, and whatever else shall occur to him, on examination, material to be known; and no such vessel shall be permitted to sail out of port again, after such arrival, until such journal shall have been delivered up, and a certificate obtained, under the hand of such collector or other chief officer of the customs, that she is manned and armed according to her commission; and upon delivery of such certificate, any former certificate of a like nature, which shall have been obtained by the commander of such vessel, shall be delivered up.

SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That captains and commanders of vessels having letters of marque, in case of falling in with any of the vessels of war or revenue of the United States, shall produce to the commanding officers of such vessels their journals, commissions, and certificates as aforesaid; and the commanding officers of such ships of war or revenue shall make, respectively, a memorandum in such journal of the day on which it was so produced to him, and shall subscribe his name to it; and in case such vessel, having letters of marque as aforesaid, shall put into any foreign port where there is an American consul, or other public agent of the United States, the commander shall produce his journal, commission, and certificate aforesaid, to such consul or agent, who may go on board and number the officers and crew, and examine the guns, and if the same shall not correspond with the commission and certificate respectively, such consul or agent shall forthwith communicate the same to the Secretary of the Navy. SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That the commanders of vessels having letters of marque and reprisal as aforesaid, neglecting to keep a journal, as aforesaid, or wilfully making fraudulent entries therein, or obliterating any material transactions therein, where the interest of the United States is in any manner concerned, or refusing to produce such journal, commission, or certificate, pursuant to the preceding section of this act, then, and in such cases, the commissions or letters of marque and reprisal of such vessels shall be liable to be revoked; and such commanders, respectively, shall forfeit, for every such offence, the sum of one thousand dollars; one moiety thereof to the use of the United States, and the other to the informer.

SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That the owners or commanders of vessels having letters of marque and reprisal as aforesaid, who shall violate any of the acts of Congress for the collection of the revenue of the United States, and for the prevention of smuggling, shall forfeit the commission, or letters of marque and reprisal, and they, and the vessels owned or commanded by them, shall be liable to all the penalties and forfeitures attaching to merchant vessels in like cases.

SEC. 14. And be it further enacted, That so much of any act or acts as prohibits the importation of goods, wares, and merchandize, of the growth, produce, and manufacture of the dominions, colonies, and dependencies of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, or of goods, wares, and merchandize imported from the dominions, colonies, and dependencies of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, be, and the same is hereby, repealed, so far as the same may prohibit the importation or irtroduction into the United States, and their territories, of such goods, wares, and mer

in an invalid case." Now it happens that these very forms, or their equivalents, had always constituted the requisite basis for a declaration on which invalid claims should be founded. But whether the facts those certificates represent were brought before the State authorities by a regular "declaration" of the invalid, or not, whilst they were authorized and required to prepare these claims, the lists of them having been made up and transmitted to the federal government by legal authority, obviated the necessity of going behind them to ascertain the forms upon which they were adjudicated. But, from the time that these channels of presenting these claims to the Department and to Congress fully made up, had actually ceased, with all the forms of their original presentation and adjudication by those authorities, thereby devolving those original duties on the Departments at Washington, it became necessary to prescribe those forms and regulations which, in all analogous cases, are deemed indispensable to introduce and sustain their pretensions to adjudication. To fill up these chasms, so far as they relate to the declarations for military, naval, and privateer invalids, the proper forms will be found in the SUPPLEMENT at the end of this volume, for the convenience of the parties concerned.

It should not be hastily judged that these strictures are hypercritical; for there has chandize as may be captured from the enemy and made good and lawful prize of war, either by vessels having letters of marque and reprisal, or by the vessels of war and revenue of the United States. And all such goods, wares, and merchandize, when imported or brought into the United States, or their territories, shall pay the same duties, to be secured and collected in the same manner, and under the same regulations, as the like goods, wares, and merchandize, if imported in vessels of the United States from any foreign port or place, in the ordinary course of trade, are now, or may at the time be, liable to pay.

Sec. 15. And be it further enacted, That all offences committed by any officer or seaman on board any such vessel having letters of marque and reprisal, during the present hostilities against Great Britain, shall be tried aud punished in such manner as the like offences are or may be tried and punished when committed by any person belonging to the public ships of war of the United States: Provided, always, That all offenders who shall be accused of such crimes as are cognizable by a court martial, shall be confined on board the vessel in which such offence is alleged to have been committed, until her arrival at some port in the United States, or their territories; or until she shall meet with one or more of the public armed vessels of the United States abroad, the officers whereof shall be sufficient to make a court martial for the trial of the accused; and upon application made by the commander of such vessel, on board of which the offence is alleged to have been committed, to the Secretary of the Navy, or to the commander or senior officer of the ship or ships of war of the United States abroad as aforesaid, the Secretary of the Navy, or such commander or officer is hereby authorized to order a court martial of the officers of the Navy of the United States, for the trial of the accused, who shall be tried by the said court.

SEC. 16. And be it further enacted, That an act entitled "An act laying an embargo on all the ships and vessels in the ports and harbors of the United States, for a limited time," passed the fourth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and twelve; and an act entitled "An act to prohibit the exportation of specie, goods. wares, and merchandize, for a limited time." passed April fourteenth, one thousand eight hundred and twelve, so far as they relate to ships and vessels having commissions or letters of marque and reprisals, or sailing under the same, be, and they hereby are, respectively, repealed. SEC. 17. And be it further enacted, That two per centum on the nett amount (after deducting all charges and expenditures) of the prize money arising from captured vessels and cargoes, and on the nett amount of the salvage of vessels and cargoes recaptured by the private armed vessels of the United States, shall be secured and paid over to the collector, or other chief officer of the customs, at the port or place in the United States at which such captured or recaptured vessels may arrive; or to the consul, or other public agent of the United States, residing at the port or place, not within the United States, at which such captured or recaptured vessels may arrive. And the moneys arising therefrom shall he held, and hereby is pledged by the government of the United States, as a fund for the support and maintenance of the widows and orphans of such persons as may be slain, and for the support and maintenance of such persons as may be wounded and disabled, on board of the private armed vessels of the United States, in any engagement with the enemy, to be assigned and distributed in such manner as shall hereafter by law be provided.

been abundant experience in the Pension Office of the embarrassments that are entailed upon all parties, for want of these guides, and the more particularly so since the frequency of changes of the ministerial officers or clerks engaged in the discharge of those duties has left the new incumbents greatly at a loss for the first steps to be taken with the applications (frequently by personal presentation and verbal statements, without certificate, or other document of any sort) by invalids, military, naval, marine, and privateer. Moreover, it would appear to us a work but half done, when the laws have authorized claims upon the government, if those who are charged with the administration of those laws omit to inform those so entitled, and promulgate the proper forms and regulations for realizing those claims. This neglect, heretofore so prevalent in the Pension Office, is the chief cause that has given rise to the hundreds, nay thousands of agents, otherwise unnecessary, to prosecute these claims, whereby the rightful claimants, on an average, sacrifice from twenty-five to fifty per cent. of their just dues, to fill the pockets of those who might be better employed in adding to the common stock of national prosperity, instead of consuming that which is already in store, because we do not make the equitable disposition of it, without their superfluous offices.-[See the instructions and regulations of Secretaries Cass, Poinsett, Ewing, and Stewart, Appendix III, p. 689.

CHAP. 771. An act for the protection of the commerce of the United States against the Algerine cruisers.

APPROVED, MARCH 3, 1815.

Whereas the Dey of Algiers, on the coast of Barbary, has commenced a predatory warfare against the United States

SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That it shall be lawful fully to equip, officer, man, and employ such of the armed vessels of the United States as may be judged requisite by the President of the United States for protecting effectually the commerce and seamen thereof on the Atlantic ocean, the Mediterranean, and adjoining seas.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the President of the United States to instruct the commanders of the respective public vessels aforesaid,to subdue, seize, and make prize of all vessels, goods, and effects of or belonging to the Dey of Algiers, or to his subjects, and to bring or send the same into port, to be proceeded against and distributed according to law; and also to cause to be done all such other acts of precaution or hostility as the state of war will justify, and may, in his opinion, require.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That on the application of the owners of private armed vessels of the United States, the President of the United States may grant them special commissions, in the form which he shall direct, under the seal of the United States; and such private armed vessels, when so commissioned, shall have the like authority for subduing, seizing, taking, and bringing into port any Algerine vessel, goods, or effects as the before mentioned public armed vessels may by law have; and shall therein be subject to the instructions which may be given by the President of the United States for the regulation of their conduct; and their commissions shall be revocable at his pleasure: Provided, That before any commission shall be granted as aforesaid, the owner or owners of the vessels for which the same may be requested, and the commander thereof for the time being shall give bond to the United States, with at least two responsible sureties, not interested in such vessel, in the penal sum of seven thousand dollars, or, if such vessel be provided with more than one hundred and fifty men, in the penal sum of fourteen thousand dollars, with condition for observing the treaties and laws of the United States, and the instructions which may be given as aforesaid, and also for satisfying all damages and injuries which shall be done contrary to the tenor thereof, by such commissioned vessel, and for delivering up the commission when revoked by the President of the United States.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That any Algerine vessel, goods, or effects which may be so captured and brought into port by any private armed vessel of the United States, duly commissioned as aforesaid, may be adjudged good prize, and thereupon shall accrue to the owners, and officers, and men of the capturing vessel, and shall be distributed according to the agreement which shall have been made between them, or, in failure of such agreement, according to the discretion of the court having cognizance of the capture.