TWENTY-FIFTH CONGRESS. Sess.II. Ch.31. 1S38.

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Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the several officers men-tioned in the foregoing section shall be, and they are hereby respectivelyauthorized and required to seize any vessel or vehicle, and all arms ormunitions of war, about to pass the frontier of the United States forany place within any foreign State or colony, conterminous with theUnited States , where the character of the vessel or vehicle, and thequantity of arms and munitions, or other circumstances shall furnishprobable cause to believe that the said vessel or vehicle, arms, or muni-tions of war are intended to be employed by the owner or owners there-of, or any other person or persons, with his or their privity, in carryingon any military expedition or operations within the territory or dominionsof any foreign prince or State, or any colony, district, or people conter-minous with the United States, and with whom the United States are atpeace, and detain the same until the decision of the President be hadfor the restoration of the same, or until such property shall be dis-charged by the judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction : Provi-ded, That nothing in this act contained shall be construed to extendto, or interfere with any trade in arms or munitions of war, conductedin vessels by sea, with any foreign port or place whatsoever, or withany other trade which might have been lawfully carried on before thepassage of this act, under the law of nations and the provisions of theact hereby amended.

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of theofficer making any seizure under this act, to make application, with duediligence, to the district judge of the district court of the United States within which such seizure may be made, for a warrant to justify thedetention of the property so seized; which warrant shall be grantedonly on oath or affirmation, showing that there is probable cause tobelieve that the property so seized is intended to be used in a mannercontrary to the provisions of this act; and if said judge shall refuse toissue such warrant, or application therefor shall not be made by the offi-cer making such seizure within a reasonable time, not exceeding tendays thereafter, the said property shall forthwith be restored to theowner. But if the said judge shall be satisfied that the seizure wasjustified under the provisions of this act, and issue his warrant accord-ingly, then the same shall be detained by the officer so seizing said pro-perty, until the President shall order it to be restored to the owner orclaimant, or until it shall be discharged in due course of law, on thepetition of the claimant, as hereinafter provided.

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the owner or claimant ofany property seized under this act, may file his petition in the circuitor district court of the United States , in the district where such seizurewas made, setting forth the facts in the case; and thereupon*such courtshall proceed, with all convenient despatch, after causing due notice tobe given to the district attorney and officer making such seizure, todecide upon the said case, and order restoration of the property, unlessit shall appear that the seizure was authorized by this act: and thecircuit and district courts shall have jurisdiction, and are hereby vestedwith full power and authority, to try and determine all cases which mayarise under this act; and all issues in fact arising under it, shall bedecided by a jury, in the manner now provided by law.

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That whenever the officer makingany seizure under this act shall have applied for and obtained a warrantfor the detention of the property, or the claimant shall have filed apetition for its restoration, and failed to obtain it, and the property soseized shall have been in the custody of the officer for the term of threecalendar months from the date of such seizure, it shall and may belawful for the claimant or owner to file with the officer a bond to theamount of double the value of the property so seized and detained,

Said officersrequired to seizeany vessel, &c.about to pass thefrontier of theU. S. for anyplace within aforeign state,&c. contermin-ous with the U.S. where thereis probablecause to believethat said vessel,&c. are intend-ed to be em-ployed in carry-ing on a militaryexpedition, &c.

Proviso.

Officers mak-ing seizures un-der this act shallapply to the dis-trict judge for awarrant to justi-fy the detentionof the propertyseized ; whichwarrant shall begranted on oath,&.C.

The owner ofproperty seizedmay file his pe-tition in the cir-cuit or dist.court U. S. inthe dist. wherethe seizure wasmade.

The circuitand dist. courtsinvested withpower to try allcases arisingunder this act,&c.

Whenever theofficer shallhave obtained awarrant for thedetention of pro-perty seized, orthe claimantshall not haveobtained its re-storation by pe-