XXXII. And it is hereby further enacted, That if any person or persons shall counterfeit, rase, alter, or falsify, any affidavit, certificate, sufferance, cocket, or clearance, required or directed by this act, or shall knowingly or willingly make use of any affidavit, certificate, sufferance, cocket, or clearance, so counterfeited, rased, altered, or falsified, such person or persons shall, for every such offence, forfeit the sum of five hundred pounds; and such affidavit, certificate, sufferance, cocket, or clearance shall be invalid and of no effect.
XXXIII. And whereas by an act of parliament made in the ninth year of the reign of his late majesty King George the Second, intituled, An act for indemnifying persons who have been guilty of offences against the laws made for securing the revenue of customs and excise, and for enforcing those laws for the future, and by other acts of parliament since made, which are now in force; in order to prevent the clandestine landing of goods in this kingdom from vessels which hover upon the coasts thereof, several goods and vessels, in those laws particularly mentioned and described, are declared to be forfeited, if such vessels are found at anchor, or hovering within two leagues of the shore of this kingdom, without being compelled thereto by necessity or distress of weather; which laws have been found very beneficial to the publick revenue: and whereas, if some provision of that sort was extended to his Majesty’s American dominions, it, may be a means of preventing an illicit trade therewith, and tend to enforce an act made in the twelfth year of the reign of King Charles the Second, intituled, An act for the encouraging and increasing of shipping and navigation, and another act made in the seventh and eighth years of the reign of King William the Third, intituled, An act for preventing frauds, and regulating abuses in the plantation trade, so far as those laws do prohibit any goods or commodities to be imported into or exported out of any British colony or plantation in America, in any foreign ship or vessel; to which end therefore, be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the twenty ninth day of September, one thousand seven hundred and sixty four, if any foreign ship or vessel whatsoever shall be found at anchor, or hovering within two leagues of the shore of any land, island, plantation, colony, territory, or place, which shall or may be in the possession or under the dominion of his majesty, his heirs or successors, in America, and shall not depart from the coast, and proceed upon her voyage to some foreign port or place, within forty eight hours after the master or other person taking the charge of such ship or vessel shall be required so to do by any officer of his Majesty’s customs, unless in case of unavoidable necessity and distress of weather, such ship or vessel, with all the goods therein laden, shall be forfeited and lost, whether bulk shall have been broken or not; and shall and may be seized and prosecuted by any officer of his Majesty’s customs, in such manner and form as herein after is expressed.
XXXIV. Provided always, That nothing herein contained shall extend, or be construed to extend, to any ship or vessel belonging to the subjects of the French king, which shall be found fishing, and not carrying on any illicit trade, on that part of the island of Newfoundland, which stretches from the place called Cape Bonavista to the northern part of the said island, and from thence running down to the western side, reaches as far as the place called Point Riche.
XXXV. And, in order to prevent any illicit trade or commerce between his Majesty’s subjects in America, and the subjects of the crown of France in the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, it is hereby further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the twenty ninth day of September, one thousand seven hundred and sixty four, if any British ship or vessel shall be found landing into, or coming out from, either of those islands, or hovering or at anchor within two leagues of the coasts thereof, or shall be discovered to have taken any goods or merchandizes on board at either of them, or to have been there for that purpose; such ship or vessel, and all the goods so taken on board there, shall be forfeited and lost, and shall and may be seized and prosecuted by any officer of his Majesty’s customs; and the master or other person having the charge of such ship or vessel, and every person concerned in taking any such goods on board, shall forfeit treble the value thereof.
XXXVI. And, to prevent the concealing any goods in false packages, or private places, on board any ship or vessel arriving at any of the British colonies or plantations in America, with intent to their being clandestinely landed there, be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the twenty ninth day of September, one thousand seven hundred and sixty four, all goods which shall be found concealed in any place whatsoever on board any such ship or vessel, at any time after the master thereof shall have made his report to the collector or other proper officer of the customs, and which shall not be comprized or mentioned in the said report, shall be forfeited and lost, and shall and may be seized and prosecuted, by any officer of the customs; and the master or other person having the charge or command of such ship or vessel (in case it can be made appear, that he was any wise consenting or privy to such fraud or concealment) shall forfeit treble the value of the goods so found.
XXXVII. And it is hereby further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the said twenty ninth day of September, one thousand seven hundred and sixty four, if any goods or merchandizes whatsoever, liable to the payment of duties in any British colony or plantation in America by this or any other act of parliament, shall be loaden on board any ship or vessel outward bound, or shall be unshipped or landed from any ship or vessel inward bound, before the respective duties due thereon are paid, agreeable to law; or if any prohibited goods whatsoever shall be imported into, or exported out of, any of the said colonies or plantations, contrary to the true intent and meaning of this or any other act of parliament; every person who shall be assisting or otherwise concerned, either in the loading outwards, or in the unshipping or landing inwards, such goods or to whose hands the same shall knowingly come after the loading or unshipping thereof, shall, for each and every offence, forfeit treble the value of such goods, to be estimated and computed according to the best price that each respective commodity bears at the place where such offence was committed; and all the boats, horses, cattle, and other carriages whatsoever, made use of in the loading, landing, removing, carriage, or conveyance, of any of the aforesaid goods, shall also be forfeited and lost, and shall and may be seized and prosecuted, by any officer of his Majesty’s customs, as herein after mentioned.
XXXVIII. And it is hereby further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the said twenty ninth day of September, one thousand seven hundred and sixty four, if any officer of his Majesty’s customs shall, directly or indirectly, take or receive any bribe, recompence, or reward, in any kind whatsoever; or connive at any false entry, or make any collusive seizure or agreement; or do any other act or deed whatsoever by which his Majesty, his heirs or successors, shall or may be defrauded in his or their duties, or whereby any goods prohibited shall be suffered to pass either inwards or outwards, or whereby the forfeitures and penalties inflicted by this or any other act of parliament relating to his Majesty’s customs in America may be evaded; every such officer therein offending shall, for each and every offence, forfeit the sum of five hundred pounds, and be rendered incapable of serving his Majesty in any office or employment civil or military: and if any person or persons whatsoever shall give, offer, or promise to give any bribe, recompence, or reward, to any officer of the customs, to do, conceal, or connive at, any act, whereby any of the provisions made by this or any other act of parliament relating to his Majesty’s customs in America may be evaded or broken, every such person or persons shall, for each and every such offence whether the same offer, proposal, or promise, be accepted or performed, or not) forfeit the sum of fifty pounds.
XXXIX. And whereas by an act of parliament made in the seventh and eighth years of the reign of King William the Third, intituled, An act for preventing frauds, and regulating abuses in the plantation trade, all governors or commanders in chief of any of his Majesty’s colonies or plantations, are required to take a solemn oath, to do their utmost that all the clauses, matters, and things, contained in that act, and several other acts of parliament therein referred to, relating to the said colonies and plantations be punctually and bona fide observed, according to the true intent and meaning thereof: and whereas divers other good laws have been since made, for the better regulating and securing the plantation trade: be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all the present governors or commanders in chief of any British colony or plantation shall, before the twenty ninth day of September, one thousand seven hundred and sixty four, and all who hereafter shall be made governors or commanders in chief of the said colonies or plantations, or any of them, before their entrance into their government, shall take a solemn oath, to do their utmost that all the clauses, matters, and things, contained in any act of parliament heretofore made, and now in force, relating to the said colonies and plantations, and that all and every the clauses contained in this present act, be punctually and bona fide observed, according to the true intent and meaning thereof, so far as appertains unto the said governors or commanders in chief respectively, under the like penalties, forfeitures, and disabilities, either for neglecting to take the said oath, or for wittingly neglecting to do their duty accordingly, as are mentioned and expressed in the said recited act made in the seventh and eighth year of the reign of King William the Third; and the said oath, hereby required to be taken, shall he administered by such person or persons as have or have been, or shall be, appointed to administer the oath required to be taken by the said act made in the seventh and eighth year of the reign of King William the Third.
XL. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all penalties and forfeitures herein before mentioned, which shall be incurred in Great Britain, shall and may be prosecuted, sued for, and recovered, in any of his Majesty’s courts of record at Westminster, or in the court of Exchequer in Scotland, respectively; and (all necessary charges for the recovery thereof being first deducted) shall be divided and applied, one moiety to and for the use of his Majesty, his heirs and successors, and the other moiety to the seizor or prosecutor.
XLI. And it is hereby further enacted and declared, That from and after the twenty ninth day of September, one thousand seven hundred and sixty four, all sums of money granted and imposed by this act, and by an act made in the twenty fifth year of the reign of King Charles the Second, intituled, An act for the encouragement of the Greenland and Eastland trades, and for the better securing the plantation trade, as rates or duties; and also all sums of money imposed as penalties or forfeitures, by this or any other act of parliament relating to the customs, which shall be paid, incurred. or recovered, in any of the British colonies or plantations in America; shall be deemed, and are hereby declared to be sterling money of Great Britain, and shall be collected, recovered, and paid, to the amount of the value which such nominal sums bear in Great Britain; and that such monies shall and may be received and taken according to the proportion and value of five shillings and six pence the ounce in silver; and that all the forfeitures and penalties inflicted by this or any other act or acts of parliament relating to the trade and revenues of the said British colonies or plantations in America, which shall be incurred there, shall and may be prosecuted, sued for, and recovered in any court of record, or in any court of admiralty, in the said colonies or plantations where such offence shall be committed, or in any court of vice admiralty which may or shall be appointed over all America (which court of admiralty or vice admiralty are hereby respectively authorized and required to proceed, hear, and determine the same) at the election of the informer or prosecutor.
XLII. And it is hereby further enacted, That all penalties and forfeitures so recovered there, under this or any former act of parliament, shall be divided, paid, and applied, as follows; that is to say, after deducting the charges of prosecution from the gross produce thereof, one third part of the net produce shall be paid into the hands of the collector of his Majesty’s customs at the port or place where such penalties or forfeitures shall be recovered, for the use of his Majesty, his heirs and successors; one third part to the governor or commander in chief of the said colony or plantation; and the other third part to the person who shall seize, inform, and sue for the same; excepting such seizures as shall be made at sea by the commanders or officers of his Majesty’s ships or vessels of war duly authorized to make seizures; one moiety of which seizures, and of the penalties and forfeitures recovered thereon, first deducting the charges of prosecution from the gross produce thereof, shall be paid as aforesaid to the collector of his Majesty’s customs, to and for the use of his Majesty, his heirs and successors, and the other moiety to him or them who shall seize, inform, and sue for the same; any law, custom, or usage, to the contrary notwithstanding; subject nevertheless to such distribution of the produce of the seizures so made at sea, as well with regard to the moiety herein before granted to his Majesty, his heirs and successors, as with regard to the other moiety given to the seizor or prosecutor, as his Majesty, his heirs and successors, shall think fit to order and direct by any order or orders of council, or by any proclamation or proclamations, to be made for that purpose.
XLIII. Provided always, and it is hereby further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if the produce of any seizure made in America, shall not be sufficient to answer the expences of condemnation and sale; or if, upon the trial of any seizure of any ship or goods, a verdict or sentence shall be given for the claimant, in either of those cases, the charges attending the seizing and prosecuting such ship or goods shall and may, with the consent and approbation of any four of the commissioners of his Majesty’s customs, be paid out of any branch of the revenue of customs arising in any of the British colonies or plantations in America; any thing in this or any other act of parliament to the contrary notwithstanding.
XLIV. And it is hereby further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the said twenty ninth day of September, one thousand seven hundred and sixty four, no person shall be admitted to enter a claim to any ship or goods seized in pursuance of this or any other act of parliament, and prosecuted in any of the British colonies or plantations in America, until sufficient security be first given, by persons of known ability, in the court where such seizure is prosecuted, in the penalty of sixty pounds, to answer the costs and charges of prosecution; and, in default of giving such security, such ship or goods shall be adjudged to be forfeited, and shall be condemned.
XLV. And it is hereby further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the twenty ninth day of September, one thousand seven hundred and sixty four, if any ship or goods shall be seized for any cause of forfeiture, and any dispute shall arise whether the customs and duties for such goods have been paid, or the same have been lawfully imported or exported, or concerning the growth, product, or manufacture, of such goods, or the place from whence such goods were brought, then, and in such cases, the proof thereof shall lie upon the owner or claimer of such ship or goods, and not upon the officer who shall seize or stop the same; any law, custom, or usage, to the contrary notwithstanding.
XLVI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the twenty ninth day of September, one thousand seven hundred and sixty four, in case any information shall be commenced and brought to trial in America, on account of any seizure of any ship or goods as forfeited by this or any other act of parliament relating to his Majesty’s customs, wherein a verdict or sentence shall be given for the claimer thereof; and it shall appear to the judge or court before whom the same shall be tried, and that there was a probable cause of seizure, the judge or court before whom the same shall be tried shall certify on the record or other proceedings, that there was a probable cause for the prosecutors seizing the said ship or goods; and, in such case, the defendant shall not be intitled to any costs of suit whatsoever; nor shall the persons who seized the said ship or goods, be liable to any action, or other suit or prosecution, on account of such seizure: and in case any action, or other suit or prosecution, shall be commenced and brought to trial against any person or persons whatsoever, on account of the seizing any such ship or goods, where no information shall be commenced or brought to trial to condemn the same, and a verdict or sentence shall be given upon such action or prosecution against the defendant or defendants, if the court or judge before whom such action or prosecution, shall certify in like manner as aforesaid that there was a probable cause for such seizure, then the plaintiff, besides his ship or goods so seized, or the value thereof, shall not be intitled to above two pence damages, nor any costs of suit; nor shall the defendant in such prosecution be fined above one shilling.
XLVII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any action or suit shall be commenced, either in Great Britain or America, against any person or persons for any thing done in pursuance of this or any other act of parliament relating to his Majesty’s customs, the defendant or defendants in such action or suit may plead the general issue, and give the said acts, and the special matter, in evidence at any trial to be had thereupon, and that the same was done in pursuance and by the authority of such act; and if it shall appear so to have been done, the jury shall find for the defendant or defendants; and if the plaintiff shall be non-suited or discontinue his action after the defendant or defendants shall have appeared, or if judgment shall be given upon verdict or demurrer against the plaintiff, the defendant or defendants shall recover treble costs, and have the like remedy for the same as defendants have in other cases by law.