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 [House Bill, No. 14.] 
 
 HOUSE, September 29, 1862.— Read the first ami second times, 
 made the Special Order for Wednesday, 1st October, and ordered to be 
 printed. 
 
 [By M)-. Ci..\pr.] 
 
 A_ BILL 
 
 To be entitled " An Act, to provide for tlie Rojiioval or De- 
 struction of Property in certain cases, and to perpetuate 
 the Testimony as to the value of Propeity Destroyed or 
 Injured, during thepending war." 
 
 1 • Section 1 . Tke Co7io;resf< of fJir Confederate States of 
 
 2 America do enact, That wiienever a Commanding Officei- 
 o of the Confederate Army shall have rea.son to beheve 
 
 4 that there is, or may be, within the limits of his military 
 
 5 jurisdiction, cotton, tobacco, or other produce or proper- 
 G ty belonging to a citizen or citizens of the Confederate 
 
 7 States, which would be useful to the enemy, or aid him 
 
 8 in the prosecution of the war, by the convereioii of the 
 
 9 same into money, or otherwise, and which is in danoer 
 10 of falling into the hands of the enemy ; or when it shall 
 
11 appear to said Commanding Oflicer that property of the 
 
 12 description aforesaid, is about being brought within the 
 
 13 said Hmits, it shall be his duty, forthwith, to give notice, 
 
 14 by publication, in one or more newspapers, within such 
 
 15 limits, or in some other public manner, requiring the 
 
 16 owner, or owners of such property, as shall be designat- 
 
 17 ed in said notice, to remove the same without delay, if 
 
 18 its removal be practicable, to some place beyond the 
 
 19 probable reach of the enemy. 
 
 1 Sec. 2. If any person shall, after notice given as afore- 
 
 2 said, knowingly import, or introduce w^ithin the limits 
 
 3 thereby prohibited, property of the kind mentioned in 
 
 4 said notice, or having such property within such limits 
 
 6 which is susceptible of removal, shall willfully fail or re- 
 G fuse to remove the same, as soon thereafter as may be, 
 
 7 such person or persons, shall be deemed guilty of an of- 
 
 8 fence against the Confederate States, and upon cohvic- 
 ■ 9 tion thereof, before any Court of the Confederate States 
 
 10 having jurisdiction, shall be fined in a sum not less than 
 
 11 dollars, or be imprisoned for a period of not 
 
 12 less than , or may, at the discretion of the 
 
 13 Court, be subjected to both fine and imprisonment ; nnd 
 
3 ^'^'^ 
 
 1 4 ill addition to the penalties aforesaid, the right and title 4-3 
 
 15 to the property aforesaid, shall be deemed forfeited, and 
 
 16 the Commanding Officer aforesaid, shall cause the same 
 
 17 to be destroyed, or, if deemed of sufficient value, may 
 
 18 order its removal to some place of safety, at the expense 
 
 19 of the Government of the Confederate States ; and it 
 
 20 sh.all be the duty of the Marshals of the Confederate 
 
 21 States, or receivers of the sequestration fund, withm the 
 
 # 
 
 22 judicial district, where such property may be, or to which 
 
 23 it may be removed, to take charge of, and preserve the 
 
 24 same, and upon the trial and conviction of the offender, 
 
 25 as herein above provided, or liis failure to appear, after 
 
 26 notice served, or publication made, according to the 
 •27 practice of the Court, having jurisdiction, such Court - 
 
 28 shall order said property to be sold, and the proceeds 
 
 29 thereof, after deducting the expenses incident to the 
 
 30 removal, preservation and sale of the same, shall be ac- 
 
 31 counted for by the receiver of the district, in like man- 
 " 32 ner as he is required to account for other monies coming 
 
 33 to his hands. 
 
 1 Sec. 3. If upon the trial of any cause, as provided in 
 
 2 the preceding section of this Act, the defendant shall be 
 
4 
 
 3 r.cquittcfl upon the merits, ii])oii proof being made to the 
 
 4 satisfaction of the Court, that said defendant is a loyal 
 
 5 citizen of the Confederate States, the Court shall order 
 "6 the property belonging to said defendant, which may be 
 
 7 witiiin its control, to be delivered to him, by the receiv- 
 
 8 er having it in charge, upon the payment of all costs and 
 
 9 expenses incurred in the removal and custody of the 
 10 same. 
 
 1 Sec. 4. In all cases where tlie property of a citizen of 
 
 2 the Confederate States shall be destroyed by the militai-y 
 
 3 authorities to prevent the same from Mling into the 
 
 4 hands of the enemy, except where the inuninence of tiie 
 
 5 danger shall not, in the opinion of said military authori- 
 
 6 ties, admit of the delay, it shall be the duty cf the ofHcer 
 
 7 by whose order such property is destroyed, to give writ* 
 
 8 ten notice, if practicable, to the person having the con- 
 
 9 trol of the same, of its intended destruction ; and if 
 10 there be no such person upon whom service of such no- 
 il tice can be conveniently executed, or if the i)erson noti- 
 12 fied, fail to attend, and take proof of the value of said 
 1 .3 property, in the manner hereinafter provided, then the 
 14 military officer aforesaid, before proceeding to destroy 
 
• 
 
 5 
 
 15' the same, shall cause it to be examined and valued by 
 
 16 two or more competent and disinterested persons, under 
 
 IT oath — which oath the said officer may, himself adminis- 
 
 18 ter — and the said valuers shall report to said officer, in 
 
 19 writing, as to the description and value of said property, 
 
 20 to which report the said officer shall ;ippend his certifi- 
 
 21 cate as to the competence and credibility of the valuers, 
 
 22 to })e forwarded to the office of the Sccretaiy of State, 
 
 23 as hereinafter directed. 
 
 1 Sec. ^. The owner or ])erson having the control of pro- 
 
 2 perty falling within the purview of this Act, may de- 
 
 3 stroy the same to prevent its falling into the hands of the 
 
 4 enemy, and shall have the same right to compensation 
 
 5 therefor as if such destruction were by order of the mili- 
 
 6 tary authorities, but such owner or the person having the 
 
 7 control of said propert3^ shall, before the destruction of the 
 
 8 same, unless the danger be too imminent to admit of the 
 
 9 delay, make affidavit before some Judge or Commissioner 
 
 10 of a Confederate Court, or before a Notary Public, Jus- 
 
 11 tice of the Peace, or some officer authorized by the law 
 
 12 of his State to administer oaths, of his inability to re- 
 1 o move the same, stating the cause of such inability, and 
 
14 setting forth ji description of t^ucli i)roperty. and of its 
 
 15 supposed value, and the Judge or other officer, before 
 IG whom such affidavit^is made, shall forthwith summon two 
 
 17 or more disinterested persons to inspect and assess the 
 
 18 value of such propert}', who shall return, under oath, to 
 
 19 such Judge or other officer, a schedule of said property, 
 
 20 with their valuation of the same, each one giving his own 
 
 21 estimate where they cannot agree as to values, and they 
 
 22 shall also certify their opinion as to the necessity for the 
 
 23 destruction of said property to prevent its filling into the 
 
 24 hands of the enemy and the impracticability of its re- 
 
 25 moval })y the owner, and that said owner is a loyal citi- 
 20 zen of the Confederate States. The said Judge or other 
 
 27 officer to whom said report is made shall certify as to the 
 
 28 competency and credibility of the said valuers, and when 
 
 29 not a Judge or Commissioner of a Confedsrate Court, 
 
 30 his official character or authority to administer oaths shall 
 
 31 be verilied by the certificate, under his seal of office, of 
 
 32 the clerk of some court of record of the city or county 
 
 33 wherein the property was situated, or where such Judge 
 
 34 or other officer may reside. 
 
 1 Sec. 6. "When for sufficient cause, to be set forth in 
 
t 
 
 2 tlie alTiclavit of the owner or ]iersou having' the control of 
 
 3 property destroyed undei' the provisions of tliis or any 
 
 4 other Act of (.'ongress heVetofore passed, the proceedings 
 
 5 lierein above provided for to perpetuate testimony, can- 
 G not be liad previous to the destruction of tlie same, it shall 
 
 7 be lawful to institute pi'oceedings for that purpose, as near 
 
 8 as may be in conformity with the provisions of this Act, 
 
 9 as soon after said destruction has occurred as the nature 
 .10 of the case will admit, and like proceedings may be had 
 
 11 when such property has been injured but not destroyed, 
 
 12 as to the nature and extent of the damage necessarily 
 
 13 sustained by the owner of the property so injured ; and 
 
 14 the provisions of this Act as to the mode of taking and 
 
 15 perpetuating testimony shall apply as far as applicable to 
 10 all cases of claims against the government of the Con- 
 17 federate States where no other method is provided by law. 
 
 1 Sec. 7. The proof taken under the provisions of this 
 
 2 Act, and all the papers relating thereto, shall be trans- 
 
 3 mitted by the' officers or other persons taking cognizance 
 
 4 of cases arising under this Act to the Attorney General 
 
 5 of the Confederate States within thirty days after the 
 
 6 case to wiiich such papers refer is disposed of, lo be filed 
 
8 
 
 7 among the archives of the State Department until a 
 
 8 court of claims shall he organized, when they shall be 
 
 9 delivered to the clerk of said court, who shall take charge 
 
 10 thereof, and enter each case upon the • docket of said 
 
 11 court in the order of its priority in date. But nothing 
 
 12 in this Act shall be so construed as to imply an assump- 
 
 13 tiun of liability on the part of the Confederate States for 
 
 14 the pa3'ment or satisfaction of said claims, otherwise than 
 
 15 as provided for by an Act of the Congress of the Con- 
 IC federate States, approved August 30th, 1861, and en- 
 
 17 titled " Ail Act to perpetuate testimony in cases of slaves 
 
 18 abducted or harbored l)y the enemy, and of other pro- 
 
 19 perty seized, wasted or destroyed by them." 
 
HoUinger Corp. 
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