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(ACT of June 6th, 1798.)

proceedings, in execution of the foregoing provisions, shall be laid annually before congress.

ACT of March 4th, 1820. Pamphlet edit. 12.

33. The act, entitled "An act for establishing trading houses with the Indian tribes," passed on the second day of March, one thousand eight hundred and eleven, and which was by subsequent acts, continued in force until the first day of March, one thousand eight hundred and twenty, is hereby further continued in force, until the third day of March, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-one, and no longer.

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ACT of June 6th, 1798. 3 Bioren, 54.

An act providing for the relief of persons imprisoned for debts due to the United States.

1. SEC. 1. Any person imprisoned upon execution issuing from any court of the United States, for a debt due to the United States, which he shall be unable to pay, may, at any time after commitment, make application, in writing to the secretary of the treasury, stating the circumstances of his case, and his inability to discharge the debt; and it shall, thereupon, be lawful for the said secretary to make, or require to be made, an examination and inquiry into the circumstances of the debtor, either by the oath or affirmation of the debtor, (which the said secretary, or any other person by him specially appointed, are hereby authorized to administer,) or otherwise, as the said secretary shall deem necessa ry and expedient, to ascertain the truth; and upon proof being made to his satisfaction, that such debtor is unable to pay the debt for which he is imprisoned, and that he hath not concealed, or made any conveyance of his estate, in trust, for himself, or with an intent to defraud the United States, or deprive them of their legal priority, the said secretary is hereby authorized to receive from such debtor, any deed, assignment, or conveyance, of the real or personal estate of such debtor, if any he hath, or any collateral security, to the use of the United States; and upon a compliance, by the debtor, with such terms and conditions as the said

(ACT of January 6th, 1800.)

secretary may judge reasonable and proper, under all the circumstances of the case, it shall be lawful for the said secretary to issue his order, under his hand, to the keeper of the prison, directing him to discharge such debtor from his imprisonment under such execution, and he shall be accordingly discharged, and shall not be liable to be imprisoned again for the said debt; but the judgment shall remain good and sufficient in law, and may be satisfied out of any estate which may then, or at any time afterwards, belong to the debtor.

2. SEC. II. If any person shall falsely take an oath or affirmation under this act, he shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and be subject to the pains and penalties provided in the third section of an act, entitled "An act for the relief of persons imprisoned for debt."

3. SEC. 111. The benefit of this act shall not be extended to any person imprisoned for any fine, forfeiture, or penalty, incurred by a breach of any law of the United States, or for moneys had and received by any officer, agent, or other person, for their use.

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ACT of January 6th, 1800. 3 Bioren, 301.

An act for the relief of persons imprisoned for debt.

4. SEC. 1. Persons imprisoned on process issuing from any court of the United States, as well at the suit of the United States, as at the suit of any person or persons in civil actions, shall be entitled to like privileges of the yards or limits of the respective gaols, as persons confined, in like cases, on process from the courts of the respective states, are entitled to, and under the like regula

tions and restrictions.

5. SEC. II. Any person imprisoned on process of execution issuing from any court of the United States, in civil actions, except at the suit of the United States, may have the oath or affirmation, hereinafter expressed, administered to him, by the judge of the district court of the United States, within whose jurisdiction the debtor may be confined; and in case there shall be no district judge residing within twenty miles of the gaol wherein such debtor may be confined, such oath or affirmation may be administered by any two persons who may be commissioned for that purpose by the district judge: The creditor, his agent, or attorney, if either live within one hundred miles of the place of imprisonment, or within the district in which the judgment was rendered, having had at least thirty days' previous notice, by a citation serv ed on him, issued by the district judge, to appear at the time and place therein mentioned, if he see fit, to show cause why the said oath or affirmation should not be so administered: At which time and place, if no sufficient cause, in the opinion of the judge, (or the commissioners appointed as aforesaid,) be shown, or doth, from examination, appear to the contrary, he or they may, at the

(ACT of January 6th, 1800.)

request of the debtor, proceed to administer to him the following oath or affirmation, as the case may be, viz: "You solemnly (swear or affirm) that you have no estate, real or personal, in possession, reversion, or remainder, to the amount or value of thirty dollars, other than necessary wearing apparel; and that you have not, directly or indirectly, given, sold, leased, or otherwise conveyed to, or intrusted, any person or persons, with all, or any part, of the estate, real or personal, whereof you have been the lawful owner or possessor, with any intent to secure the same, or to receive, or expect, any profit or advantage therefrom, or to defraud your creditors, or have caused, or suffered to be done, any thing else whatsoever, whereby any of your creditors may be defrauded." Which oath or affirmation being administered, the judge or commissioners shall certify the same, under his or their hands, to the prison keeper, and the debtor shall be discharged from his imprisonment on such judgment, and shall not be liable to be imprisoned again for the said debt, but the judgment shall remain good and sufficient in law, and may be satisfied out of any estate which may then, or at any time afterwards, belong to the debtor. And the judge or commissioners, in addition to the certificate by them made and delivered to the prison keeper, shall make return of their doings to the district court, with the commission, in cases where a commission hath been issued, to be kept upon the files and record of the same court. And the said judge, or commissioners, may send for books and papers, and have the same authority as a court of record, to compel the appearance of witnesses, and administer to them, as well as to the debtor, the oaths or affirmations necessary for the inquiry into, and discovery of, the true state of the debtor's property, transactions, and affairs.

6. SEC. 111. When the examination and proceedings aforesaid, in the opinion of the said judge or commissioners, cannot be had with safety or convenience, in the prison wherein the debtor is confined, it shall be lawful for him or them, by warrant, under his or their hand and seals, to order the marshal or prison keeper to remove the debtor to such other place, convenient and near to the prison, as he or they may see fit; and to remand the debtor to the same prison, if, upon examination or cause shown by the creditor, it shall appear that the debtor ought not to be admitted to take the above recited oath or affirmation, or that he is holden for any other cause.

7. SEC. IV. If any person shall falsely take any oath or affirmation, authorized by this act, such person shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and, upon conviction thereof, shall suffer the pains and penalties in that case provided. And in case any false oath or af firmation be so taken by the debtor, the court, upon the motion of the creditor, shall recommit the debtor to the prison from whence he was liberated, there to be detained for the said debt, in the same manner as if such oath or affirmation had not been taken.

(ACT of September 24th, 1789.)

8. SEC. v. Any person imprisoned upon process issuing from any court of the United States, except at the suit of the United States, in any civil action, against whom judgment has been, or shall be, recovered, shall be entitled to the privileges and relief provided by this act, after the expiration of thirty days from the time such judgment has been, or shall be, recovered, though the creditor should not, within that time, sue out his execution, and charge the debtor therewith.

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[ACT of September 23d, 1789. 2 Bioren, 55, relates exclusively to salaries, see the article SALARIES, 2.]

ACT of September 24th, 1789. 2 Bioren, 56.

An act to establish the Judicial Courts of the United States.

1. SEC. 1. The supreme court of the United States shall consist of a chief justice and five associate justices, any four of whom shall be a quorum, and shall hold annually at the seat of government two sessions, the one commencing the first Monday of February, and the other the first Monday of August. And the associate justices shall have precedence according to the date of their commissions, or when the commissions, of two or more of them bear date on the same day, according to their respective ages. [Altered as to those parts of the Sec. in italics, infra, 64, 91.]

(ACT of September 24th, 1789.)

2. SEC. 11. The United States shall be, and they hereby are divided into thirteen districts, to be limited and called as follows, to wit, one to consist of that part of the state of Massachusetts which lies easterly of the state of New Hampshire, and to be called Maine district; one to consist of the state of New Hampshire, and to be called New Hampshire district; one to consist of the remaining part of the state of Massachusetts, and to be called Massachusetts district; one to consist of the state of Connecticut, and to be called Connecticut district; one to consist of the state of New York, and to be called New York district; one to consist of the state of New Jersey, and to be called New Jersey district; one to consist of the state of Pennsylvania, and to be called Pennsylvania district; one to consist of the state of Delaware, and to be called Delaware district; one to consist of the state of Maryland, and to be called Maryland district; one to consist of the state of Virginia, except that part called the district of Kentucky, and to be called Virginia district; one to consist of the remaining part of the state of Virginia, and to be called Kentucky district; one to consist of the state of South Carolina, and to be called South Carolina district; and one to consist of the state of Georgia, and to be called Georgia district. [Infra, 42, &c.]

3. SEC. III. There shall be a court called a district court, in each of the aforementioned districts, to consist of one judge, who shall reside in the district for which he is appointed, and shall be called a district judge, and shall hold annually four sessions, the first of which to commence as follows, to wit, in the districts of New York and of New Jersey on the first, in the district of Pennsylvania on the second, in the district of Connecticut on the third, and in the district of Delaware on the fourth, Tuesdays of November next; in the districts of Massachusetts, of Maine, and of Maryland, on the first, in the district of Georgia on the second, and in the districts of New Hampshire, of Virginia, and of Kentucky, on the third, Tuesdays of December next; and the other three sessions, progressively, in the respective districts, on the like Tuesdays of every third calendar month afterwards; and in the district of South Carolina, on the third Monday in March and September, the first Monday in July, and the second Monday in December, of each and every year, commencing December next; and the district judge shall have power to hold special courts at his discretion. The stated district courts shall be held at the places following, to wit: in the district of Maine, at Portland and Pownalsborough alternately, beginning at the first; in the district of New Hampshire, at Exeter and Portsmouth alternately, beginning at the first; in the district of Massachusetts, at Boston and Salem alternately beginning at the first; in the district of Connecticut, alternately at Hartford and New Haven, beginning at the first; in the district of New York, at New York; in the district of New Jersey, alternately at New Brunswick and Burlington, be-,

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