ing one hundred thousand dollars, or of any particular state, to an amount exceeding fifty thousand dollars, or of any foreign prince or state, unless previously authorized by a law of the United States. How and for make loans. what objects to And bills, &c. XII. The stock of the said corporation shall be assignable and transferable, according to such rules as shall be instituted in that behalf, by shall the laws and ordinances of the same. XIII. The bills obligatory and of credit, under the seal of the said corporation, which shall be made to any person or persons, shall be assignable by indorsement thereupon, under the hand or hands of such person or persons, and of his, her, or their assignee or assignees, and so as absolutely to transfer and vest the property thereof in each and every assignee or assignees successively, and to enable such assignee or assignees to bring and maintain an action thereupon in his, her, or their own name or names. And bills or notes, which may be issued by order of the said corporation, signed by the president, and countersigned by the principal cashier or treasurer thereof, promising the payment of money to any person or persons, his, her, or their order, or to bearer, though not under the seal of the said corporation, shall be binding and obligatory upon the same, in the like manner, and with the like force and effect, as upon any private person or persons, if issued by him or them, in his, her, or their private or natural capacity or capacities; and shall be assignable and negotiable, in like manner, as if they were so issued by such private person or persons-that is to say, those which shall be payable to any person or persons, his, her, or their order, shall be assignable by indorsement, in like manner, and with the like effect, as foreign bills of exchange now are; and those which are payable to bearer, shall be negotiable and assignable by delivery only. be assignable and bills to be obligatory. Dividends of XIV. Half yearly dividends shall be made of so much of the profits of the bank, as shall appear to the directors advisable; and once in profits made. every three years, the directors shall lay before the stockholders, at a general meeting, for their information, an exact and particular statement of the debts, which shall have remained unpaid after the expiration of the original credit, for a period of treble the term of that credit; and of the surplus of profit, if any, after deducting losses and dividends. If there shall be a failure in the payment of any part of any sum, subscribed by any person, co-partnership, or body politic, the party failing shall lose the benefit of any dividend, which may have accrued, prior to the time for making such payment, and during the delay of the same. XV. It shall be lawful for the directors aforesaid, to establish offices wheresoever they shall think fit, within the United States, for the purposes of discount and deposit only, and upon the same terms, and in the same manner, as shall be practised at the bank; and to commit the management of the said offices, and the making of the said discounts, to such persons, under such agreements, and subject to such regulations as they shall deem proper; not being contrary to law, or to the constitution of the bank. XVI. The officer at the head of the treasury department of the United States, shall be furnished, from time to time, as often as he may require, not exceeding once a week, with statements of the amount of the capital stock of the said corporation, and of the debts due to the same; of the monies deposited therein; of the notes in circulation, and of the cash in hand; and shall have a right to inspect such general accounts in the books of the bank, as shall relate to the said statements. Provided, That this shall not be construed to imply a right of inspecting the account of any private individual or individuals with the bank. SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That if the said corporation, or any person or persons for or to the use of the same, shall deal or trade in buying or selling any goods, wares, merchandise, or commodities whatsoever, contrary to the provisions of this act, all and every person Offices may be established within United States, for discount and deposit only, &c. Officer at the head of the treasury, to be furnished with statements. Not of private nature. Penalty for buying or selling goods, &c. now money may be advanced or lent. Bills or notes and persons, by whom any order or direction for so dealing or trading shall have been given, and all and every person and persons who shall have been concerned as parties or agents therein, shall forfeit and lose treble the value of the goods, wares, merchandises, and commodities, in which such dealing and trade shall have been; one half thereof to the use of the informer, and the other half thereof to the use of the United States, to be recovered with costs of suit. SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That if the said corporation shall advance or lend any sum, for the use or on account of the government of the United States, to an amount exceeding one hundred thousand dollars; or of any particular state to an amount exceeding fifty thousand dollars; or of any foreign prince or state, (unless previously authorized thereto by a law of the United States,) all and every person and persons, by and with whose order, agreement, consent, approbation, or connivance, such unlawful advance or loan shall have been made, upon conviction thereof, shall forfeit and pay, for every such offence, treble the value or amount of the sum or sums which shall have been so unlawfully advanced or lent; one fifth thereof to the use of the informer, and the residue thereof to the use of the United States; to be disposed of by law and not otherwise. SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That the bills or notes of the made receivable said corporation, originally made payable, or which shall have become by U. States. payable on demand, in gold and silver coin, shall be receivable in all payments to the United States. 1812, ch. 43. Subscriptions made by United States, how to be paid, &c. SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the President of the United States, at any time or times, within eighteen months after the first day of April next, to cause a subscription to be made to the stock of the said corporation, as part of the aforesaid capital stock of ten millions of dollars, on behalf of the United States, to an amount not exceeding two millions of dollars; to be paid out of the monies which shall be borrowed by virtue of either of the acts, the one 1790, ch. 34. entitled "An act making provision for the debt of the United States;" 1790, ch. 47. and the other entitled "An act making provision for the reduction of the public debt;" borrowing of the bank an equal sum, to be applied to the purposes, for which the said monies shall have been procured; reimbursable in ten years, by equal annual instalments; or at any time sooner, or in any greater proportions, that the government may think fit. SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That no other bank shall be to be establish- established by any future law of the United States, during the continuance of the corporation hereby created; for which the faith of the United States is hereby pledged. ed. No other bank APPROVED, February 25, 1791. STATUTE III. March 2, 1791. CHAP. XI.—An Act supplementary to the act intituled "An act to incorporate the subscribers to the Bank of the United States." Subscriptions to bank stock prolonged. 1791, ch. 10. Time of first payment. Not more than SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the subscriptions to the stock of the bank of the United States, as provided by the act, intituled "An act to incorporate the subscribers to the bank of the United States," shall not be opened until the first Monday in July next. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That so much of the first payment as by the said act is directed to be in the six per cent. certificates of the United States, may be deferred until the first Monday in January next. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That no person, corporation, or thirty shares to body politic, except in behalf of the United States, shall, for the space of three months after the said first Monday in July next, subscribe in be subscribed at any one day, for more than thirty shares. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That every subscriber shall, at the time of subscribing, pay into the hands of the persons who shall be appointed to receive the same, the specie proportion required by the said act to be then paid. And if any such subscriber shall fail to make any of the future payments, he shall forfeit the sum so by him first paid, for the use of the corporation. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That such part of the public debt, including the assumed debt, as is funded at an interest of three per cent. may be paid to the bank, in like manner with the debt funded at six per cent. computing the value of the former at one half the value of the latter, and reserving to the subscribers who shall have paid three per cent. stock, the privilege of redeeming the same with six per cent. stock, at the above rate of computation, at any time before the first day of January, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three; unless the three per cent. stock shall have been previously disposed of by the directors. APPROVED, March 2, 1791. one time. Specie proportion, when to be paid, and failure in future payments to forfeit sum first paid. In what man ner public debt funded at 3 per cent. may be paid to the bank. STATUTE III. CHAP. XII.—An Act giving effect to the laws of the United States within the state of Vermont. March 2, 1791. ex Laws of the tended to Vermont. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That from U. States and after the third day of March next, all the laws of the United States, which are not locally inapplicable, ought to have, and shall have, the same force and effect within the state of Vermont, as elsewhere within the United States. And to the end that the act, intituled "An act to establish the judicial courts of the United States," may be duly administered within the said state of Vermont, SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That the said state shall be one district, to be denominated Vermont District; and there shall be a district court therein, to consist of one judge, who shall reside within the said district, and be called a district judge, and shall hold annually four sessions; the first to commence on the first Monday in May next, and the three other sessions progressively on the like Monday of every third calendar month afterwards. The said district court shall be held alternately at the towns of Rutland and Windsor, beginning at the first. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the said district shall be, and the same hereby is annexed to the eastern circuit. And there shall be held annually in the said district one circuit court; the first session shall commence on the seventeenth day of June next, and the subsequent sessions on the like day of June afterwards, except when any of the said days shall happen on a Sunday, and then the session shall commence on the day following; and the said sessions of the said circuit courts shall be held at the town of Bennington. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That there shall be allowed to the judge of the said district court the yearly compensation of eight hundred dollars, to commence from the time of his appointment, and to be paid quarter yearly at the treasury of the United States. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That all the regulations, provisions, directions, authorities, penalties, and other matters whatsoever, (except as herein afterwards is expressly provided) contained and expressed in and by the act, intituled "An act providing for the enumeration of the inhabitants of the United States," shall have the same force and effect within the said state of Vermont, as if the same were, in relation thereto, repeated and re-enacted in and by this present act. 1789, ch. 20. Vermont to be a district and have a district court and judge. Number and time of sessions, Repealed 1802, ch. 31. and where held. 1799, ch. 21. Annexed to the eastern circuit, and have a circuit court; 1796, ch. 34. where held. Compensation to the judge. An enumeration of the in habitants to be made. 1790, ch. 2. Enumeration of inhabitants, when to commence. Compensation to the marshal therefor. Duties on ar within said state lected. 1790, ch. 35. SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the enumeration of the inhabitants of the said state shall commence on the first Monday of April next, and shall close within five calendar months thereafter. SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the marshal of the district of Vermont shall receive in full compensation for all the duties and services confided to, and enjoined upon him in and by this act in taking the enumeration aforesaid, two hundred dollars. And that the act intituled "An act to provide more effectually for ticles imported the collection of the duties imposed by law on goods, wares and merhow to be col-chandise imported into the United States, and on the tonnage of ships and vessels," may be carried into effect in the said state of Vermont: SEC. 8. Be it further enacted, That for the due collection of the said duties, there shall be in the said state of Vermont one district; and a collector shall be appointed, to reside at Allburgh on Lake Champlain, which shall be the only port of entry or delivery within the said district, of any goods, wares or merchandise, not the growth or manufacture of the United States. Port of entry and delivery. 1790, ch. 35, sec. 70. Provided nevertheless, That the exception contained in the sixty-ninth section of the act last above mentioned, relative to the district of Louisville, shall be and is hereby extended to the said port of Allburgh. APPROVED, March 2, 1791. STATUTE III. March 2, 1791. CHAP. XIII.—An Act to explain and amend an act intituled “An act making further provision for the payment of the debts of the United States." Duty laid on SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representabar lead extend- tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the ed to manufac tures of lead. duty of one cent per pound, laid by the act "making further provision 1790, ch. 39. for the payment of the debts of the United States," on barr and other lead, Duty laid on chintzes, &c. extended to manufactures of coloured linen or cotton. 1790, ch. 39. shall be deemed and taken to extend to all manufactures wholly of lead, or in which lead is the chief article, which shall hereafter be brought into the United States, from any foreign port or place. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the duty of seven and a half per cent. ad valorem, laid by the act aforesaid on chintzes and coloured calicoes, shall be deemed and taken to extend to all printed, stained, and coloured goods, or manufactures of cotton, or of linen, or of both, which hereafter shall be brought into the United States from any foreign port or place. Provided always, That nothing in this act shall in any wise affect the true construction or meaning of the act aforesaid in relation to any of the above described articles brought into the United States before the passing of this act. APPROVED, March 2, 1791. STATUTE III. March 2, 1791. Time for the meeting of the next Congress. CHAP. XIV.-An Act fixing the time for the next annual meeting of Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That after the third day of March next, the first annual meeting of Congress shall be on the fourth Monday of October next. APPROVED, March 2, 1791. STATUTE III. CHAP. XV.-An Act repealing, after the last day of June next, the duties hereto March 3, 1791. fore laid upon Distilled Spirits imported from abroad, and laying others in their stead; and also upon Spirits distilled within the United States, and for appropriating the same. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That after the last day of June next, the duties laid upon distilled spirits by the act, intituled "An act making further provision for the payment of the debts of the United States," shall cease; and that upon all distilled spirits which shall be imported into the United States after that day, from any foreign port or place, there shall be paid for their use the duties following; that is to say-For every gallon of those spirits more than ten per cent. below proof, according to Dicas's hydrometer, twenty cents. For every gallon of those spirits under five, and not more than ten per cent. below proof, according to the same hydrometer, twenty-one cents. For every gallon of those spirits of proof, and not more than five per cent. below proof, according to the same hydrometer, twenty-two cents. For every gallon of those spirits above proof, but not exceeding twenty per cent. according to the same hydrometer, twenty-five cents. For every gallon of those spirits more than twenty, and not more than forty per cent. above proof, according to the same hydrometer, thirty cents. For every gallon of those spirits more than forty per cent. above proof, according to the same hydrometer, forty cents. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said duties shall be collected in the same manner, by the same persons, under the same regulations, and subject to the same forfeitures and other penalties, as those heretofore laid; the act concerning which shall be deemed to be in full force for the collection of the duties herein before imposed, except as to the alterations contained in this act. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the said duties, when the amount thereof shall not exceed fifty dollars, shall be immediately paid; but when the said amount shall exceed fifty, and shall not amount to more than five hundred dollars, may, at the option of the proprietor, importer or consignee, be either immediately paid, or secured by bond, with condition for the payment thereof in four months; and if the amount of the said duties shall exceed five hundred dollars, the same may be immediately paid or secured by bond, with condition for the payment thereof in six months; which bond, in either case, at the like option of the proprietor, importer or consignee, shall either include one or more sureties to the satisfaction of the collector, or person acting as such, or shall be accompanied with a deposit in the custody of the said collector, or person acting as such, of so much of the said spirits as shall in his judgment be a sufficient security for the amount of the duties for which the said bond shall have been given, and the charges of the safe keeping and sale of the spirits so deposited: which deposit shall and may be accepted in lieu of the said surety or sureties, and shall be kept by the said collector, or person acting as such, with due and reasonable care at the expense and risk of the party or parties on whose account the same shall have been made; and if at the expiration of the time mentioned in the bond for the payment of the duties thereby intended to be secured, the same shall not be paid, then the said deposited spirits shall be sold at public sale, and the proceeds thereof, after deducting the charges of keeping and sale, shall be applied to the payment of the whole sum of the duties for which such deposit shall have been made, rendering the overplus of the said proceeds, and the residue of the said spirits, if any there be, to the person or persons by whom such deposit shall have been made, or to his, her or their representatives. SEC. 4. In order to a due collection of the duties imposed by this act, Duties to be paid on spirits imported; 1792, ch. 27. 1790, ch. 39. how to be collected; Act of August 10, 1790, ch. 39. and the pay ment thereof how to be se cured. Payment of duties on spirits imported, how to be secured. |