Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 8.djvu/938

924 FEDEEAIi EEPOBTER. domestic vessel, of the port of Baltimore. Two different claitrianta appeared, asserting ownership of the vessel, and several petitioners liave appeared claiming to have liens for repairs to the vessel under the state lien law. The schooner is one of the olass of vessels used for dredging oys- ters in the Chesapeake bay, and on November 10, 1880, the seamen shipped on her as oystermen and sailors for the pnrpose of taking oysters in the Chesapeake bay — some of them by the month and some by the trip. On the fourteenth of November the master and crew and the schooner were taken into custody by the state oyster police, and carried into Annapolis, charged with dredging for oysters with- out a license, in violation of the state law. The master and crew were trieH before a justice of the peace, found guilty, and fined. At the expiration of 20 days, the fine and costs not having been paid, the vessel, which had been held in custody from the time of seizure, was adjudged forfeited, and the justice ordered that the sheriff of the county should sell her, after having given 20 days' notice. In pursuance of the decree of the justice the sheriff sold the ves- sel at public auction, after notice, on December 27th, when she was purchased by the claimant Saunders, to whom she was delivered, and in whose possession she was found by the marshal when taken under the process issued from this court at the instance of the libellants. She is also claimed by Mrs. Alice Thorington, wife of the master in command of her when she started on her dredging trip. Mrs. Thor- ington held the title to the vessel at that time, and she has filed a petitory libel. The authorit}' for the proceedings under which the schooner was seized by the oyster police, forfeited, aud sold, is the act of the assem- bly of Maryland of 1880, c. 198, known as the "Oyster Law," and by these libels and petitions in this court it is sought to question the constitutional validity of that law. The Maryland oyster law of 1880, ■by section 2, provides that no boat shall be used in dredging oysters in the waters of the state of Maryland without first having been licensed, for which a certain rate per ton is to be paid to the state. Section 16 provides that the number of the license shall be displayed on the starboard side of the mainsail, and on the port side of the jib, in black iigures 22 inches long. Section 9 makes it the duty of any sheriff, constable, or ofScer of the state fishing force to arrest any person or persons, and seize any vessel, found violating the provisions of the act, and to bring the offenders before a judge or justice of the