Prizes to be brought in for adjudication.
Into ports of the U. States or a friendly nation.
District courts of the United States to have original jurisdiction of prizes brought into the United States.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, and 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.
Regulations concerning prisoners found on board prize vessels.Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That all prisoners found on board any captured vessels, or on board any recaptured vessel, 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 safe keeping and support, at the expense of the United States.
President to prescribe instructions for privateers.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 collector of the customs, to the commanders when they shall give bond as aforesaid.
Bounty for destroying enemy vessels.
Act of August 2, 1813, ch. 55.
Act of March 19, 1814, ch. 27.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 an 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.
ineffectual attempts having been made to set her on fire. She was found deserted and abandoned, by an American vessel, bound on a European voyage, and by the mate and part of the crew brought into Boston. A claim was made to her by the British consul for the original owners, and by the French consul for the captors. Salvage, amounting to one third of the gross proceeds of the sales of the ship and cargo, were decreed to the owners, masters and crew of the American ship; and the residue of the proceeds were ordered to be paid to the French republic, or those concerned in the capture. M’Donough v. Danery, and the Ship Mary Ford, 3 Dall. 188; 1 Cond. Rep. 94.
One half of the whole value of an American vessel and cargo, recaptured by a vessel of war of the United States, after she had been captured by a French privateer, on the 31st of March, 1799, was allowed as salvage. Bas, Plaintiff in Error v. Tingy, 4 Dall. 37; 1 Cond. Rep. 94.An American vessel was captured by the enemy, and after condemnation and sale to a subject of the enemy, was recaptured by an American privateer. Held, that the original owner was not entitled to restitution on payment of salvage, under the salvage act of the 3d of March, 1800, chap, 14, and the prize act of 26th June, 1812, chap. 107. The Star, 3 Wheat. 78; 4 Cond. Rep. 198.In order to entitle to salvage, as upon a recapture or rescue, the property must have been in the possession, either actual or constructive, of the enemy. The Ann Green, 1 Gallis. C. C. R. 274, 289.Salvage allowed upon a recapture of a ransomed ship, the ransom bill declaring that the sum agreed upon therein should be payable only upon the arrival of the vessel at her port of destination, which she never reached. The Harriet, Bee’s D. C. R. 128.In case of a recapture by a public vessel of war, the salvage can be ascertained only by a sale of the property, unless both parties consent to an appraisement. The Dolphin, Bee’s D. C. R. 152.Salvage is not due for rescuing the vessel of a neutral out of the hands of a belligerent, who has taken possession for a supposed violation of a treaty or of the law of nations. The Antelope, Bee’s D. C. R. 233.
