Mar. 2, 1895. Apr. 28, 1904. J. R. Apr. 28, 1904. annum; and the bonds herein authorized shall be exempt 417. Great Lakes-Atlantic Canal. The President of the United States is authorized to appoint, immediately after the passage of this Act, three persons, who shall have power to meet and confer with any similar committee which may be appointed by the Government of Great Britain or of the Dominion of Canada, and who shall make inquiry and report whether it is feasible to build such canals as shall enable vessels engaged in ocean commerce to pass to and fro between the Great Lakes and Insert, page 407. 418b. Employment of vessels of the United States for public purposes. Vessels of the United States, or belonging to the United States, and no others, shall be employed in the transportation by sea of coal, provisions, fodder, or supplies of any description, purchased pursuant to law, for the use of the Army or Navy unless the President shall find that the rates of freight charges by said vessels are excessive and unreasonable, in which case contracts shall be made under the law as it now exists: Provided, That no greater charges be made by such vessels for transportation of articles for the use of the said Army and Navy than are made by such vessels for transportation of like goods for private parties or companies. 418c. Exemption of private property at sea. It is the sense of the Congress of the United States that it is desirable, in the interest of uniformity of action by the maritime states of the world in time of war, that the President endeavor to bring about an understanding among the principal maritime powers with a view of incorporating into the permanent law of civilized nations the principle of the exemption of all private property at sea, not contraband of war, from capture or destruction by belligerents. suitable levels; and also upon the effect upon the shores of these waters and the structures thereon, and upon the interests of navigation, by reason of the diversion of these waters from or change in their natural flow; and, further, to report upon the necessary measures to regulate such diversion, and to make such recommendations for improvements and regulations as shall best subserve the interests of navigation in said waters. The said commissioners shall report upon the advisability of locating a dam at the outlet of Lake Erie, with a view to determining whether such dam will benefit navigation, and if such structure is deemed advisable, shall make recommendations to their respective Governments looking to an agreement or treaty which shall provide for the construction of the same, and they shall make an estimate of the probable cost thereof. The President, in selecting the three members of said Commission who shall represent the United States, is authorized to appoint one officer of the Corps of Engineers of the United States Army, one civil engineer well versed in the hydraulics of the Great Lakes, and one lawyer of experience in questions of international and riparian law, and said Commission shall be authorized to employ such persons as it may deem needful in the performance of the duties hereby imposed; and for the purpose of paying the expenses and salaries of said Commission the Secretary of War is authorized to expend from the amounts heretofore appropriated for the Saint Marys River at the Falls, the sum of twenty thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary to pay that portion of the expenses of said Commission chargeable to the United States. PART XLIV.-LEGAL PROCEDURE. 419. Seizure. R. S., 734. R. S., 923. R. S., 939 419. Seizure. | 420. Summary trial. Proceedings on seizures, for forfeiture under any law of the United States, made on the high seas may be prosecuted in any district into which the property so seized is brought and proceedings instituted. Proceedings on such seizures made within any district shall be prosecuted in the district where the seizure is made, except in cases where it is otherwise provided. When any vessel, goods, wares, or merchandise are seized by an officer of the customs, and prosecuted for forfeiture by virtue of any law respecting the revenue, or the registering or recording, or the enrolling and licensing of vessels, the court shall cause fourteen days' notice to be given of such seizure and libel, by causing the substance of such libel, with the order of the court thereon, setting forth the time and place appointed for trial, to be inserted in some newspaper published near the place of seizure, and by posting up the same in the most public manner for the space of fourteen days, at or near the place of trial; and proclamation shall be made in such manner as the court shall direct. And if no person appears and claims such vessel, goods, wares, or merchandise, and gives bond to defend the prosecution thereof and to respond the cost in case he shall not support his claim, the court shall proceed to hear and determine the cause according to law. All vessels, goods, wares, or merchandise which shall be condemned by virtue of any law respecting the revenue from imports or tonnage, or the registering and recording, or the enrolling or licensing of vessels, and for which bonds shall not have been given by the claimant, shall be sold by the marshal or other proper officer of the court in which condemnation shall be had, to the highest bidder, at public auction, by order of such court, and at such place as the court may appoint, giving at least fifteen days' notice (except in cases of perishable merchandise) in one or more of the public newspapers of the place where such sale shall be; or if no paper is published in such place, in one or more of the papers published in the nearest place thereto; for which advertising, a sum not exceeding five dollars shall be paid. And the amount of such sales, deducting all proper charges, shall be paid within ten days after such sale by the person selling the same to the clerk or other proper officer of the court directing such sale, to be by him, after deducting the charges allowed by the court, paid to the collector of the district in which such seizure or forfeiture has taken place, as herein before directed. In any cause of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, or R. S., 910. other case of seizure, depending in any court of the United States, any judge of the said court, in vacation, shall have the same authority to order any vessel, or cargo, or other property to be delivered to the claimants, upon bail or bond, or to be sold when necessary, as the said court has in term time, and to appoint appraisers, and exercise every other incidental power necessary to the complete execution of the authority herein granted; and the recognizance of bail or bond, under such order, may be executed before the clerk upon the party's producing the certificate of the collector of the district, of the sufficiency of the security offered; and the same proceedings shall be had in the case of said order of delivery or of sale, as are had in like cases when ordered in term time: Provided, That upon every such application, either for an order of delivery or of sale, the collector and the attorney of the district shall have reasonable notice in cases of the United States, and the party or counsel in all other cases. When, in any prosecution commenced on account of the R. S., 970. seizure of any vessel, goods, wares, or merchandise, made by any collector or other officer, under any act of Congress authorizing such seizure, judgment is rendered for the claimant, but it appears to the court that there was rea sonable cause of seizure, the court shall cause a proper certificate thereof to be entered, and the claimant shall not, in such case, be entitled to costs, nor shall the person who made the seizure, nor the prosecutor, be liable to suit or judgment on account of such suit or prosecution: Provided, That the vessel, goods, wares, or merchandise be, after judgment, forthwith returned to such claimant or his agent. If, in any suit against an officer or other person execut- R. S., 971. ing or aiding or assisting in the seizure of goods, under any act providing for or regulating the collection of duties on imports or tonnage, the plaintiff is nonsuited, or judgment passed against him, the defendant shall recover double costs. When proceedings are had before a court of the United R. S., 978. States or of the Territories, on several libels, against any vessel and cargo, which might legally be joined in one libel, there shall not be allowed thereon more costs than on one libel, unless special cause for libeling the vessel and cargo separately is satisfactorily shown on motion in open court. And in proceedings on several libels or informations against any cargo, or parts of cargo, or merchandise seized as forfeited for the same cause, there shall not R. S., 979. R. S., 4300. R. S., 4301. R. S., 4302. R. S., 4303. be allowed more costs than would be lawful on one libel or information, whatever may be the number of owners or consignees therein concerned. But allowance may be made on one libel or information for the costs incidental to several claims. When judgment is rendered in favor of the claimant of any vessel or other property seized on behalf of the United States, and libeled or informed against as forfeited under any law thereof, he shall be entitled to possession of the same when his own costs are paid. 420. Summary trial. Whenever a complaint shall be made against any master, officer, or seaman of any vessel belonging, in whole or in part, to any citizen of the United States, of the commission of any offense, not capital or otherwise infamous, against any law of the United States made for the protec tion of persons or property engaged in commerce or navigation, it shall be the duty of the district attorney to investigate the same, and the general nature thereof, and if, in his opinion, the case is such as should be summarily tried, he shall report the same to the district judge, and the judge shall forthwith, or as soon as the ordinary business of the court will permit, proceed to try the cause, and for that purpose may, if necessary, hold a special session of the court, either in term time or vacation. At the summary trial of offenses against the laws for the protection of persons or property engaged in commerce or navigation, it shall not be necessary that the accused shall have been previously indicted, but a statement of complaint, verified by oath in writing, shall be presented to the Court, setting out the offense in such manner as clearly to apprise the accused of the character of the offense complained of, and to enable him to answer the complaint. The complaint or statement shall be read to the accused, who may plead to or answer the same, or make a counter-statement. The trial shall thereupon be proceeded with in a summary manner, and the case shall be decided by the court, unless, at the time for pleading or answering, the accused shall demand a jury, in which case the trial shall be upon the complaint and plea of not guilty. It shall be lawful for the court to allow the district attorney to amend his statement of complaint at any stage of the proceedings, before verdict, if, in the opinion of the court, such amendment will work no injustice to the accused; and if it appears to the court that the accused in unprepared to meet the charge as amended, and that an adjournment of the cause will promote the ends of justice, such adjourn ment shall be made, until a further day, to be fixed by the court. At the trial in summary cases, if by jury, the United States and the accused shall each be entitled to three peremptory challenges. Challenges for cause, in such cases, shall be tried by the court without the aid of triers. |