Chapter CCXXV. in addition to the several Acts concerning Commercial intercourse between loyal and insurrectionary States, and to provide for the Collection of captured and abandoned Property, and the Prevention of Frauds in States declared in insurrection
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Chap. CCXXV.— An Act in addition to the several Acts concerning Commercial intercourse between loyal and insurrectionary States, and to provide for the Collection of captured and abandoned Property, and the Prevention of Frauds in States declared in insurrection.July 2, 1864. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* ThatSales of abandoned, &c., property may be made where.1863, ch. 120.Vol. xii. p. 820. sales of captured and abandoned property under the act approved March twelve, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, may be made at such places, in states declared in insurrection, as may be designated by the Secretary of the Treasury, as well as at other places now authorized by said aet.
Sec. 2. *And be it further enacted,* That,Abandoned lands, houses, and tenements, may be teased. in addition to the captured and abandoned property to be received, collected, and disposed of, as provided in said aet, the said agents shall take charge of and lease, for pe-376THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS. Sess. I. Ch. 225. 1864.riods not exceeding twelve months, the abandoned lands, houses, and tenements within the districts therein named, and shall also provide, in such leases or otherwise, for the employment and general welfare of all persons within the lines of national military occupation within said insurrec-tionary states formerly held as slaves, who are or shall become free.
Property,When property is to be deemed, abandoned. real or personal, shall be regarded as abandoned when the lawful owner thereof shall be voluntarily absent therefrom, and engaged, either in arms or otherwise, in aiding or encouraging the rebellion. Sec. 3. *And be it further enacted,* ThatMoneys from leases and sides to be paid into the treasury. all moneys arising from the leasing of abandoned lands, houses, and tenements, or from sales of captured and abandoned property collected and sold in pursuance of said act, or of this act, or from fees collected under the rules and regulations made by the Secretary of the Treasury, and approved by the President, dated respectively the twenty-eighth day of August, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, the thirty-first day of March, and the eleventh day of September, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, or under any amendments or modifications thereof, which have been or shall be made by the Secretary of the Treasury, and approved by the President, for conducting the commercial intercourse which has been or shall be licensed and permitted by the President, with and in states declared in insurrection, shall, after satisfying therefrom all proper and necessary expenses, to be approved by the Secretary of the Treasury, be paid into the treasury of the United States; and all accounts of moneys received or expended in connection therewith shall be audited by the proper accounting officers of the treasury.Act of 1863, ch. 120, § 1, extended.Vol. xii. p 820.1861. ch. 3, Vol. xii. p. 255.1862, ch. 195.
Vol. xii. p. 589.Act of 1863, ch. 12, § 6, amended.Vol. xii. p. 821.Property, when to be deemed abandoned. That the first section of the “Act to provide for the collection of abandoned property and for the prevention of fraud in insurrectionary districts in the United States,” approved March twelve, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, is hereby extended so as to include the descriptions of property mentioned in An act entitled “An act further to provide for the collection of duties on imports, and for other purposes,” approved July thirteen, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, and an act entitled “An act to suppress insurrection, to punish treason and rebellion, to seize and confiscate the property of rebels, and for other purposes,” approved July seventeen, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, respectively; and that the sales provided for in said act first mentioned may be made at such places as may be designated by the Secretary of the Treasury.
And section six of said first-mentioned act is hereby amended so as to include every description of property mentioned in the acts of July thirteen, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, and July seventeen, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, aforesaid; and that all property, real or personal, described in the acts to which this is in addition, shall be regarded as abandoned when the lawful owner thereof shall be voluntarily absent therefrom, and engaged, either in arms or otherwise, in aiding or encouraging the rebellion.
Sec. 4. *And be it further enacted,* ThatProhibitions of act of 1861, ch. 3, to apply to what.Vol. xii. p. 256. the prohibitions and provisions of the act approved July thirteen, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, and of the acts amendatory or supplementary thereto, shall apply to all commercial intercourse by and between persons residing or being within districts within the present or future lines of national military occupation in the states or parts of states declared in insurrection, whether with each other or with persons residing or being within districts declared in insurrection and not within those lines;What persons subject to prohibitions. and that all persons within the United States, not native or naturalized citizens thereof, shall be subject to the same prohibitions, in all commercial intercourse with inhabitants of states or parts of states declared in insurrection, as citizens of loyal states are subject to under the said act or acts.
Sec. 5. *And be it further enacted,* ThatWhen parts of loyal states to be subject to prohibitions. whenever any part of a loyal state shall be under the control of insurgents, or shall be in dangerous proximity to places under their control, all commercial intercourse therein and therewith shall be subject to the same prohibitions and conditions as377 are created by the said acts, as to such intercourse between loyal and insurrectionary states, for such time and to such extent as shall from time to time become necessary to protect the public interests, and be directed by the Secretary of the Treasury, with the approval of the President.
Sec. 6. *And be it further enacted,* ThatMode of distribution of fines, forfeitures, &c.Repeal of part of 1862, ch. 81. §5.Vol. xii. p. 404.1863, ch. 20, §4.Vol. xii. p. 820. so much of the fifth section of the act approved May twenty, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and the fourth section of the act approved March twelve, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, as directs the manner of distributing fines, penalties, and forfeitures, is hereby repealed, and that, in lieu of the distribution thereby directed to be made to informers, collectors, and other officers of the customs, the court decreeing condemnation may award such compensation to customs-officers, informers, or other persons, for any service connected therewith, as will tend to promote vigilance in protecting the public interest a, and as shall be just and equitable, in no case; however, to exceed the aggregate amount heretofore directed by the said fifth section.
Sec. 7. *And be it further enacted,* ThatProperty taken on inland waters not to be deemed maritime prize;to be delivered to proper officers.1863, ch. 120.Vol. xii. p, 820. no property seized or taken upon any of the inland waters of the United States by the naval forces thereof, shall be regarded as maritime prize; but all property so seized or taken shall be promptly delivered to the proper officers of the courts, or as provided in this act and in the said act approved March twelve, eighteen hundred and sixty-three.
Sec. 8. *And be it further enacted,* ThatAgents to purchase, for the United States, any products of states in insurrection. it shall be lawful for the Secretary of the Treasury, with the approval of the President, to authorize agents to purchase for the United States any products of states declared in insurrection, at such places therein as shall be designated by him, at such prices as shall be agreed on with the seller, not exceeding the market value thereof at the place of delivery, nor exceeding three fourths of the market-value thereof in the city of New York at the latest quotations known to the agent purchasing: *Provided,* ThatPurchase-money to come from what fund.Disposition of property purchased. no part of the purchase-money for any products so purchased shall be paid, or agreed to be paid, out of any other fund than that arising from property sold as captured or abandoned, or purchased and sold under the provisions of this act.
All property so purchased shall be forwarded for sale at such place or places as shall be designated by the Secretary of the Treasury, and the moneys arising therefrom, after payment of the purchase-money and the other expenses connected therewith, shall be paid into the treasury of the United States; and the accounts of all moneys so received and paid shall be rendered to, and audited by, the proper accounting officers of the treasury. Sec. 9. *And be it further enacted,* ThatAuthority to license commercial relations with states in insurrection repealed, except, &c.1861, ch. 3, § 5.Vol. xii. p. 257. so much of section five of the act of thirteenth of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, aforesaid, as authorizes the President, in his discretion, to license or permit commercial relations in any state or section the inhabitants of which are declared in a state of insurrection, is hereby repealed, except so far as may be necessary to authorize supplying the necessities of loyal persons residing in insurrectionary states, within the lines of actual occupation by the military forces of the United States, as indicated by published order of the commanding general of the department or district so occupied; and, also, except so far as may be necessary to authorize persons residing within such lines to bring or send to market in the loyal states any products which they shall have produced with their own labor or the labor of freedmen, or others employed and paid by them, pursuant to rules relating thereto, which may be established under proper authority.
And no goods, wares, or merchandise shall be taken into a state declared in insurrection, or transported therein, except to and from such places and to such monthly amounts as shall have been previously agreed upon in writing by the commanding general of the department in which such places are situated and an officer designated by the Secretary of the Treasury for that purpose. Sec. 10. *And be it further enacted,* That all officers and privates of378THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS. Sess.
I. Ch. 225, 226. 1864. the regularOfficers and men in land and naval service prohibited from dealing in captured, &c. property. and volunteer forces of the United States, and all officers, sailors, and marines in the naval service, are hereby prohibited from buying or selling, trading, or in any way dealing in the kind or description of property mentioned in this act, and the act to which this is in addition, whereby to receive or expect any profit, benefit, or advantage to liimself, or any other person, directly or indirectly connected with him; and it shall be the duty of such officer, private, sailor, or marine, when such property shall come into his possession or custody, or within his control, to givePenalty for so doing, &c. notice thereof to some agent, appointed by virtue of this act, and to turn the same over to such agent without delay: any officer of the United States, civil, military, or naval, or any sutler, soldier, marine, or other person, who shall violate any provision of this act, or who shall take, or cause to be taken, into a state declared to be in insurrection, or to any other point to be thence taken into such state, or who shall transport or sell, or otherwise dispose of therein, any goods, wares, or merchandise whatsoever, except in pursuance of license and authority of the President, as provided in said fifth section of the aet of1861, ch. 3, § 5.Vol. xii. p. 257.
July thirteen, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, aforesaid, and any officer or other person aforesaid who shall make any false statement or representation upon which license and authority shall be granted for such transportation, sale, or other disposition, and any officer or other person aforesaid who shall, under any license or authority obtained, wilfully and knowingly transport, sell, or otherwise dispose of, any other goods, wares, or merchandise than such as are in good faith so licensed and authorized, or shall wilfully and knowingly transport, sell, or dispose of the same, or any portion thereof, in violation of the terms of such license or authority, or of any rule or regulation prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury concerning the same, or shall be guilty of any act of embezzlement, of wilful misappropriation of public or private money or property, of keeping false accounts, or of wilfully making any false returns, or of any other act amounting to a felony, shall be liable to indictment as for a misdemeanor, and fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, and to punishment in the penitentiary not exceeding three years, before any court, civil or military, competent to try the same.
And it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury,Investigations to prevent frauds and abuses.Attendance of witnesses. from time to time, to institute such investigations as may be necessary to detect and prevent frauds and abuses in the trade and other transactions contemplated by this act, or by the acts to which this is supplementary. And the agents making such investigations shall have power to compel the attendance of witnesses, and to make examinations on oath. Sec. 11. *And be it further enacted,* ThatRules and regulations in this matter. the Secretary of the treasury, with the approval of the President, shall make such rulds and regulations as are necessary to secure the proper and economical execution of the provisions of this aet, and shall defray all expenses of such execution from the, proceeds of fees imposed by said rules and regulations, of sales of captured and abandoned property, and of sales hereinbefore authorized.
Approved, July 2, 1864.