be subject to the order of the governor, who shall pay out of said fund the salary of the superintendent, and the expenses incident to the superintendence and collection, other than those particularly provided for in this act, and shall cause the remaining net proceeds of the revenue collected as above mentioned to be applied solely and exclusively to the preservation, repair, and improvement of said road, and to no other purpose whatever. "SEC. 6. That directors shall be set up at proper and convenient situa- Caution boards, tions, to caution all conductors or drivers of carriages on the road afore- &c. said, that they shall at all times pass on the left of each other, under the penalty of five dollars for every offence; and there shall also be set up at some conspicuous place at each gate, a board, on which shall be legibly painted the rates of toll, as is provided for in this act. Unreasonable "SEC. 7. That, if any of the toll-collectors shall unreasonably delay or hinder any passenger or traveller at any of the gates, or shall demand or delay, &c. receive more toll than is by this act established, he shall, for each and every such offence, forfeit and pay to the party aggrieved the sum of ten dollars. "SEC. 8. That if any person shall purposely and maliciously deface, Injuries to road. or otherwise injure any of the mile-stones, parapet walls, culverts, or bridges, or any of the masonry whatsoever, or any of the gates or tollhouses of and belonging to the said national road in this state, as the same is now constructed, or may hereafter be constructed, every person so offending shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined in a sum not more than five hundred dollars, or be imprisoned in the dungeon of the jail of the county, and be fed on bread and water only, not exceeding twenty days, or both, at the discretion of the court. Obstruction "SEC. 9. That, if any person shall purposely fill, choke, or otherwise obstruct any of the side drains, valleys, gutters, or culverts of said road, of drains, &c. now made or hereafter to be made, or shall connect any private road or cartway with the said national road, without making at the point of connection a stone culvert, or paved valley, or other good and sufficient fixture, so as to secure a free passage for the water along such side drain, where such private road or cartway connects with the said national road, or if any person shall purposely and wilfully travel upon such parts of said national road as are or may be in an unfinished state, against the consent of the superintendent appointed by the United States, or by this state, or shall remove any of the beacons placed upon the said road so in an unfinished state as aforesaid, for the diverting of the travel on and from said road, every person so offending shall, upon conviction thereof, be, for every such offence, fined in a sum not less than one nor more than ten dollars. "SEC. 10. That if any person shall stand his wagon and team, or either of them, over night, upon the pavement of said road, now made, or which may hereafter be made, or shall at any other time stand a wagon and team, or either of them, upon the said pavement, for the purpose of feeding, or if he shall in any other manner purposely and wilfully obstruct the travel upon said road, every person so offending shall, upon conviction thereof, for every such offence, be fined in a sum not less than one nor more than five dollars. "SEC. 11. That if any person shall fast lock or rough lock either of the wheels of any wagon, coach, chaise, gig, sulky, carriage, or other two or four-wheeled vehicle, while travelling upon the pavement of said road, as now made, or which may hereafter be made, (excepting however, such parts of said road as may be, at the time of such locking, covered with ice,) every person so offending shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined in any sum not less than one nor more than five dollars. Stopping on road. Locking of wheels. Culverts, &c. "SEC. 12. The supervisors of roads and highways through whose districts the said national road does now or may hereafter pass, are hereby severally at cross roads Appropriation. Fines, &c. how to be recovered. Alteration of this law. Proviso. Mode of paying tolls. Proviso. authorized and required at the connection with, or intersection of, any state, county or township road, which now is or hereafter may be established under the laws of this state within their respective districts, to build and keep in repair a good and sufficient stone culvert or paved valley, or other good and sufficient fixture, in such manner as to admit of a free passage for the water along the side drain or drains of said national road, at the connection or intersection aforesaid, and according to the grade thereof, as established by the United States' superintendent of said national road. "SEC. 13. That, for the purpose of carrrying into effect the provisions of this act, the governor is hereby authorized to draw on the state treasury for any sum of money not exceeding two thousand dollars, to be paid out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated: Provided, said sum shall be refunded to the state treasury out of the proceeds of the road fund created by the provisions of this act, so soon as the same shall be collected. "SEC. 14. That all fines, penalties and forfeitures incurred under the provisions of this act, shall be recovered by indictment in the court of common pleas of the county where the offence was committed, or by action of debt, in the name of the state of Ohio, for the use of the road fund established by this act, which action of debt may be brought before any justice of the peace or other court having jurisdiction thereof in the county where the offence was committed, or such fine, penalty or forfeiture was incurred; and it shall be the duty of the superintendent, tollgatherers, and of any other person who will complain of the same, to prosecute all offences against the provisions of this act. "SEC. 15. That it shall be lawful for the General Assembly, at any future session thereof, without the consent of Congress, to change, alter, or amend this act: Provided, That the same shall not be so changed, altered or amended, as to reduce or increase the rates of toll hereby established, below or above a sum necessary to defray the expenses incident to the preservation and repair of said road, to the erection of gates and toll-houses thereon, and for the payment of the fees or salaries of the superintendent, the collectors of tolls, and of such other agents as may be necessarily employed in the preservation and repair of the same, according to the true intent and meaning of this act. "SEC. 16. That any person or persons shall have the privilege of paying at either of the said gates, at the rates specified in this act, the amount of toll for any distance which such person or persons may desire to travel on said road, and receive a certificate thereof from the collector of tolls at such gate, which certificate shall be a sufficient voucher to procure the passage of such person or persons through any other gate or gates named in said certificate: Provided, That printed forms of such certificates shall be furnished by the superintendent to be appointed under the provisions of this act to each collector of tolls, and shall be countersigned by such superintendent, and otherwise so devised as to prevent fraud or imposition; and no certificate shall be considered as valid under this section unless such certificate shall be authenticated as aforesaid. "SEC. 17. That the act, entitled An act for the prevention of injuries to the national road in Ohio,' passed February eleventh, eighteen hundred and twenty-eight, be, and the same is hereby, repealed: Provided however, That all actions and prosecutions which may now be pending shall be prosecuted to final judgment and execution, and all offences committed before the taking effect of this act shall be prosecuted and punished in the same manner as if the above-mentioned act was not repealed." APPROVED, March 2, 1831. STATUTE II. CHAP. XCVIII.—An Act to regulate the foreign and coasting trade on the northern, March 2, 1831. north-eastern, and north-western frontiers of the United States, and for other purposes. (a) Custom-house States vessels. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That, from, and after the first fees on United day of April next, no custom-house fees shall be levied or collected on any raft, flat, boat, or vessel, of the United States, entering otherwise than by sea, at any port of the United States on the rivers and lakes on our northern, north-eastern, and north-western frontiers. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That, from and after the first day of Tonnage duApril next, the same and no higher tonnage duties and custom-house ties, &c. on charges of any kind shall be levied and collected on any British colonial British vessels. raft, flat, boat, or vessel, entering otherwise than by sea at any port of the United States on the rivers and lakes on our northern, north-eastern and north-western frontiers, than may be levied and collected on any raft, flat, boat, or vessel, entering otherwise than by sea at any of the ports of the British possessions on our northern, north-eastern and north-western frontiers and that, from and after the first day of April next, no higher discriminating duty shall be levied or collected on merchandise imported into the United States in the ports aforesaid, and otherwise than by sea, than may be levied and collected on merchandise when imported in like manner otherwise than by sea, into the British possessions on our northern, north-eastern and north-western frontiers from the United States. vessels. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That, from and after the passage of License, &c. this act, any boat, sloop, or other vessel, of the United States, navigating to United States the waters on our northern, north-eastern and north-western frontiers, otherwise than by sea, shall be enrolled and licensed in such form as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury; which enrolment and license shall authorize any such boat, sloop, or other vessel, to be employed either in the coasting or foreign trade; and no certificate of registry shall be required for vessels so employed on said frontiers; Provided, That such boat, sloop, or vessel, shall be in every other respect liable to the rules, regulations, and penalties, now in force, relating to registered vessels on our northern, north-eastern and north-western frontiers. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That in lieu of the fees, emoluments, salary, and commissions, now allowed by law to any collector or surveyor of any district on our northern, north-eastern and north-western lakes and rivers, each collector or surveyor, as aforesaid, shall receive, annually, in full compensation for these services, an amount equal to the entire compensation received by such officer during the past year. APPROVED, March 2, 1831. Proviso. Compensation to collector. CHAP. XCIX.-An Act declaratory of the law concerning contempts of court. (b) (a) See notes of the acts relating to the coasting trade, vol. iii. p. 492. STATUTE II. March 2, 1831 (b) The decisions of the courts of the United States on the law applicable to contempts of courts are, The courts of the United States have no common law jurisdiction of crimes against the United States. But, independent of statutes, the courts of the United States have power to fine for contempts, and imprison for contumacy, and to enforce obedience to their orders, &c. The United States v. Hudson et al., 7 Cranch, 32; 2 Cond. Rep. 405. The Supreme Court will not grant a habeas corpus, to bring before it the body of a person confined for a contempt of a circuit court of the United States. Nor, in such a case, will the court inquire into the cause of the commitment of such person. Ex parte Kearney, 7 Wheat. 38; 5 Cond. Rep. 225. Where a court commits a person for a contempt, their adjudication is a conviction; and their commitment, in consequence, is execution. Ibid. ings. Cases for sum- courts of the United States to issue attachments and inflict summary mary proceed- punishments for contempts of court, shall not be construed to extend to any cases except the misbehaviour of any person or persons in the presence of the said courts, or so near thereto as to obstruct the administration of justice, the misbehaviour of any of the officers of the said courts in their official transactions, and the disobedience or resistance by any officer of the said courts, party, juror, witness, or any other person or persons, to any lawful writ, process, order, rule, decree, or command of the said courts. Cases for indictment. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That if any person or persons shall, corruptly, or by threats or force, endeavour to influence, intimidate, or impede any juror, witness, or officer, in any court of the United States, in the discharge of his duty, or shall, corruptly, or by threats or force, obstruct, or impede, or endeavour to obstruct or impede, the due administration of justice therein, every person or persons, so offending, shall be liable to prosecution therefor, by indictment, and shall, on conviction thereof, be punished, by fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment, not exceeding three months, or both, according to the nature and aggravation of the offence. APPROVED, March 2, 1831. March 3, 1831. [Obsolete.] CHAP. CIII.-An Act making appropriations for building lighthouses, lightboats, beacons, and monuments, and placing buoys. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the following appropriations be, and the same are hereby, made, and directed to be paid out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, to enable the Secretary of the Treasury to provide, by contract, for building lighthouses, lightboats, beacons, and monuments, and placing buoys, to wit: One who was not a Quaker, who refused to be sworn as a witness, on the ground of conscientious scruples, arising from a declaration formerly made, was committed, by the circuit court of Massachusetts for a contempt of the court; the liberty to affirm being strictly confined to Quakers, by the law and practice of Massachusetts. The United States v. Coolidge, 2 Gallis. C. C. R. 364. That a counsellor, practising in the highest court of the state of New York, in which he resides, had been struck off from the roll of counsellors of the district court of the United States for the northern district of New York, by the order of the judge of that court for a contempt, does not authorize the Supreme Court to refuse his admission as a counsellor of the Supreme Court. Ex parte Tillinghast, 4 Peters, 108. The Supreme Court does not consider the circumstances upon which the order of the district judge was given within its cognisance; or, that it is authorized to punish for a contempt, which may have been committed in the district court of the northern district of New York. Ibid. If, from any collateral evidence, it should appear that there is reason to believe the respondent has perjured himself, the circuit court will recognise him to answer at the next term of the court, to such matters as may be found against him. United States v. Dodge, 2 Gallis. C. C. R. 313. Unfair practices towards a witness who is to give testimony in court, or oppression under colour of its process, although those practices and that oppression were acted out of the district in which the court is sitting, may be punished by attachment, provided the person who has thus demeaned himself comes within the jurisdiction of the court. But, it is also believed that this mode of punishment ought not to be adopted, unless the deviation from law could be clearly attached to the person against whom the motion was made; and unless the deviation were intentional; or unless the course of judicial proceeding were or might be so affected by it as to make a punishment in this mode obviously conducive to a fair administration of justice. 1 Burr's Trial, 355. Any publication, pending a suit, reflecting upon the court, the jury, the parties, the officers of the court, the counsel, &c., in reference to the suit, or tending to influence the decision of the controversy, is a contempt of the court, and punishable by attachment. Hollingsworth v. Duane, Wallace's C. C. R. 77. For contempts to inferior jurisdictions, not of record, nor having a general power to fine and imprison, unless committed in presence of the officer, and punished instanter, there is no other mode of punishment than by indictment. Ibid. It is not a contempt to serve a party, while attending at the court as a party in the cause, or as a witness, with a summons. The privilege extends to exemption from arrest, but no further. Blight's Ex'rs v. Fisher et al., Peters' C. C. R. 41. It is a contempt of court to serve process, either of summons or capias, in the actual or constructive presence of the court. Ibid. State of Maine.-Four thousand dollars for a lighthouse at the western entrance of Fox island thoroughfare. Six thousand dollars for a lighthouse at or near Cape Porpoise. Four thousand dollars for a lighthouse at or near Marshal's Point, in the town of St. George. Six thousand dollars for re-building the lighthouse at Whitehead. Maine. State of Massachusetts.-Five thousand dollars for building a light- Massachusetts. house on the monument at Gloucester Point. One thousand dollars for erecting a monument on or near Cohasset Rocks. Two hundred and fifty dollars in addition to an unexpended balance of a former appropriation, for erecting a spindle-beacon on Minot's Ledge, and placing a buoy on Hospital Island Ledge near George's island. Twelve hundred dollars for erecting a monument upon a ledge of rocks situated at the outer part of the harbour of Swampscut. One thousand dollars for two monuments, one on Sunken island, and the other on Pig Rocks, in Braintree bay. Five hundred dollars for placing ten buoys in the northern channel through the Vineyard Sound, at the following places: one on Point Rips; one on the Shovel Shoals, near Monomoy Point; three on the Handkerchief, north-east, south-east, and south-west parts; one on a rock near Hyannis harbour, in the channel; and two on the Broad Shoal to the eastward of Falmouth, east and west parts. Five thousand dollars for re-building a lighthouse on Cape Cod, should it be deemed expedient by the Secretary of the Treasury. Four hundred dollars for placing six buoys on ledges and rocks at a place called Wood's Hole, near Falmouth; and a spindle on Lone Rock, near that place. State of Rhode Island.-For a beacon-light at or near the entrance of the harbour of Wickford, in the town of North Kingston, three thousand dollars. Fifty dollars for a spindle on the Halfway Rock between the islands of Rhode Island and Connecticut. State of Connecticut.-Five thousand dollars for building a lighthouse at or near Morgan's Point, on the north side of Fisher's Island Sound, in the township of Groton. Four hundred dollars for a spindle to be erected on the Whale Rock, at the entrance of Mystic river, and for one on Turner's Reef, situated about one-third of the distance from the main land to Fisher's island. Three thousand dollars for erecting a beacon on the beach near the west side of New Haven harbour; and two hundred and fifty dollars for buoys on Pardee's bar, Black Rock Bar, and the Shag Banks in said harbour. Six thousand and two hundred dollars for erecting a monument or beacon on Brandford Reef, in Long Island Sound. Two hundred and fifty dollars for placing buoys, viz: one on the north end of Hatchet's Reef, in the Sound; one on the south end of said reef; one on the south-east tail of Saybrook Bar, at the mouth of Connecticut river; and one on the south end of Crane Reef, west of Saybrook. State of New York.-Three thousand one hundred and ninety dollars to rebuild the beacon in Black Rock harbour, should it be deemed expedient by the Secretary of the Treasury. Four thousand dollars for erecting a beacon-light on a proper site near Sackett's Harbour, in Lake Ontario. VOL. IV.-62 Rhode Island. Connecticut. New York. |