"Non-Intercourse Act
...
An ACT to interdict the commercial intercourse between the United States and Great Britain and France, and their dependencies; and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the passing of this act, the entrance of the harbors and waters of the United States and of the territories thereof, be, and the same is hereby interdicted to all public ships and vessels belonging to Great Britain or France, excepting vessels only which may be forced in by distress, or which are charged with despatches [sic] or business from the government to which they belong, and also packets having no cargo nor merchandise on board. And if any public ship or vessel as aforesaid, not being included in the exception above mentioned, shall enter any harbor or waters within the jurisdiction of the United States, or of the territories thereof, it shall be lawful for the President of the United States, or such other person as he shall have empowered for that purpose, to employ such part of the land and naval forces, or of the militia of the United States, or the territories thereof as he shall deem necessary, to compel such ship or vessel to depart.
SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall not be lawful for any citizen or citizens of the United States or the territories thereof, nor for any person or persons residing or being in the same, to have any intercourse with, or to afford any aid or supplies to any public ship or vessel as aforesaid, which shall, contrary to the provisions of this act, have entered any harbor or waters within the jurisdiction of the United States or the territories thereof; and if any person shall, contrary to the provisions of this act, have any intercourse with such ship or vessel, or shall afford any aid to such ship or vessel, either in repairing the said vessel or in furnishing her, her officers and crew with supplies of any kind or in any manner whatever, or if any pilot or other person shall assist in navigating or piloting such ship or vessel, unless it be for the purpose of carrying her beyond the limits and jurisdiction of the United States, every person so offending, shall forfeit and pay a sum not less than one hundred dollars, nor exceeding ten thousand dollars; and shall also be imprisoned for a term not less than one month, nor more than one year.
SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That from and after the twentieth day of May next, the entrance of the harbors and waters of the United States and the territories thereof be, and the same is hereby interdicted to all ships or vessels sailing under the flag of Great Britain or France, or owned in whole or in part by any citizen or subject of either; vessels hired, chartered or employed by the government of either country, for the sole purpose of carrying letters or despatches [sic], and also vessels forced in by distress or by the dangers of the sea, only excepted. And if any ship or vessel sailing under the flag of Great Britain or France, or owned in whole or in part by any citizen or subject of either, and not excepted as aforesaid, shall after the said twentieth day of May next, arrive either with or without a cargo, within the limits of the United States or of the territories thereof, such ship or vessel, together with the cargo, if any, which may be found on board, shall be forfeited, and may be seized and condemned in any court of the United States or the territories thereof, having competent jurisdiction, and all and every act and acts heretofore passed, which shall be within the purview of this act, shall be, and the same are hereby repealed.
SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That from and after the twentieth day of May next, it shall not be lawful to import into the United States or the territories thereof, any goods, wares or merchandise whatever, from any port or place situated in Great Britain or Ireland, or in any of the colonies or dependencies of Great Britain, nor from any port or place situated in France, or in any of her colonies or dependencies, nor from any port or place in the actual possession of either Great Britain or France. Nor shall it be lawful to import into the United States, or the territories thereof, from any foreign port or place whatever, any goods, wares or merchandise whatever, being of the growth, produce or manufacture of France, or of any of her colonies or dependencies, or being of the growth, produce or manufacture of Great Britain or Ireland, or of any of the colonies or dependencies of Great Britain, or being of the growth, produce or manufacture of any place or country in the actual possession of either France or Great Britain : Provided, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to affect the cargoes of ships or vessels wholly owned by a citizen or citizens of the United States, which had cleared for any port beyond the Cape of Good Hope, prior to the twenty-second day of December, one thousand eight hundred and seven, or which had departed for such port by permission of the President, under the acts supplementary to the act laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbors of the United States.
[Sec. 5 provides for the forfeiture of articles imported contrary to the provisions of the act.]
SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That if any article or articles, the importation of which is prohibited by this act, shall, after the twentieth of May, be put on board of any ship or vessel, boat, raft or carriage, with intention to import the same into the United States, or the territories thereof, contrary to the true intent and meaning of this act, and with the knowledge of the owner or master of such ship or vessel, boat, raft or carriage, such ship or vessel, boat, raft or carriage shall be forfeited, and the owner and master thereof shall moreover each forfeit and pay treble the value of such articles.
[Sections 7-10 prescribe administrative regulations.]
SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is authorized, in case either France or Great Britain shall so revoke or modify her edicts, as that they shall cease to violate the neutral commerce of the United States, to declare the same by proclamation ; after which the trade of the United States, suspended by this act, and by the act laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbors of the United States, and the several acts supplementary thereto, may be renewed with the nation so doing: Provided, that all penalties and forfeitures which shall have been previously incurred, by virtue of this or of any other act, the operation of which shall so cease and determine, shall be recovered and distributed, in like manner as if the same had continued in full force and virtue : and vessels bound thereafter to any foreign port or place, with which commercial intercourse shall by virtue of this section be again permitted, shall give bond to the United States, with approved security, in double the value of the vessel and cargo, that they shall not proceed to any foreign port, nor trade with any country other than those with which commercial intercourse shall have been or may be permitted by this act.
SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That so much of the act laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbors of the United States, and of the several acts supplementary thereto, as forbids the departure of vessels owned by citizens of the United States, and the exportation of domestic and foreign merchandise to any foreign port or place, be and the same is hereby repealed, after the fifteenth day of March, one thousand eight hundred and nine, except so far as they relate to Great Britain or France, or their colonies or dependencies, or places in the actual possession of either.
SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That during the continuance of so much of the act laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbors of the United States, and of the several acts supplementary thereto, as is not repealed by this act, no ship or vessel bound to a foreign port, with which commercial intercourse shall, by virtue of this act, be again permitted, shall be allowed to depart for such port, unless the owner or owners, consignee or factor of such ship or vessel shall, with the master, have given bond with one or more sureties to the United States, in a sum double the value of the vessel and cargo, if the vessel is wholly owned by a citizen or citizens of the United States; and in a sum four times the value, if the vessel is owned in part or in whole by any foreigner or foreigners, that the vessel shall not leave the port without a clearance, nor shall, when leaving the port, proceed to any port or place in Great Britain or France, or in the colonies or dependencies of either, or in the actual possession of either, nor be directly or indirectly engaged during the voyage in any trade with such port, nor shall put any article on board of any other vessel; nor unless every other requisite and provision of the second section of the act, intituled [sic] " An act to enforce and make more effectual an act, intituled [sic] An act laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbors of the United States, and the several acts supplementary thereto," shall have been complied with. And the party or parties to the above mentioned bond shall, within a reasonable time after the date of the same, to be expressed in the said bond, produce to the collector of the district, from which the vessel shall have been cleared, a certificate of the landing of the same, in the same manner as is provided by law for the landing of goods exported with the privilege of drawback; on failure whereof, the bond shall be put in suit; and in every such suit judgment shall be given against the defendant or defendants, unless proof shall be produced of such relanding [sic], or of loss at sea.
SEC. 14. And be it further enacted, That so much of the act laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbors of the United States, and of the several acts supplementary thereto, as compels vessels owned by citizens of the United States, bound to another port of the said States, or vessels licensed for the coasting trade, or boats, either not masted [sic] or not decked, to give bond, and to load under the inspection of a revenue officer, or renders them liable to detention, merely on account of the nature of their cargo, (such provisions excepted as relate to collection districts adjacent to the territories, colonies or provinces of a foreign nation, or to vessels belonging or bound to such districts) be, and the same is hereby repealed, from and after the fifteenth day of March, one thousand eight hundred and nine.
SEC. 15. And be it further enacted, That during the continuance of so much of the act laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbors of the United States, and of the several acts supplementary thereto, as is not repealed by this act, o vessel owned by citizens of the United States, bound to another port of the said States or licensed for the coasting trade, shall be allowed to depart from any port of the United States, or shall receive a clearance, nor shall it be lawful to put on board any such vessel any specie or goods, wares, or merchandise, unless a permit shall have been previously obtained from the proper collector, or from a revenue officer, authorized by the collector to grant such permits; nor unless the owner, consignee, agent, or factor shall, with the master, give bond with one or more sureties, to the United States, in a sum double the value of the vessel and cargo, that the vessel shall not proceed to any foreign port or place, and that the cargo shall be relanded [sic] in some port of the United States : Provided, that it shall be lawful and sufficient in the case of any such vessel, whose employment has been uniformly confined to rivers, bays and sounds within the jurisdiction of the United States, to give bond in an amount equal to one hundred and fifty dollars, for each ton of said vessel, with condition that such vessel shall not, during the time limited in the condition of the bond, proceed to any foreign port or place, or put any article on board of any other vessel, or be employed in any foreign trade.
[Sec. 16 prescribes penalties.]
[Sec. 17 repeals act of April 18, 1806, and supplementary act, after May 20.]
[Sec. 18 provides for the recovery and mitigation of penalties and forfeitures.]
SEC. 19. And be it further enacted, That this act shall continue and be in force until the end of the next session of Congress, and no longer; and that the act laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and harbors of the United States, and the several acts supplementary thereto, shall be, and the same are hereby repealed from and after the end of the next session of Congress."
(MacDonald, William. No. 27)
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