BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A Proclamation. Whereas, on the 15th day of April, 1861, the President of the United States, in view of an insurrection against the laws, Constitution, and government of the United States, which had broken out within the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, and in pursuance of the provisions of the act entitled "An act to provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions, and to repeal the act now in force for that purpose," approved February 28, 1795, did call forth the militia to suppress said insurrection, and to cause the laws of the Union to be duly executed, and the insurgents have failed to disperse by the time directed by the President; and whereas such insurrection has since broken out and yet exists within the States of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas; and whereas the insurgents in all the said States claim to act under the authority thereof, and such claim is not disclaimed or repudiated by the persons exercising the functions of government in such State or States, or in the part or parts thereof in which such combinations exist, nor has such insurrection been suppressed by said States: Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, in pursuance of an act of Congress approved July 13, 1861, do hereby declare that the inhabitants of the said States of Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Florida (except the inhabitants of that part of the State of Virginia lying west of the Alleghany mountains, and of such other parts of that State and the other States hereinbefore named as may maintain a loyal adhesion to the Union and the Constitution, or may be, from time to time, occupied and controlled by forces of the United States engaged in the dispersion of said insurgents) are in a state of insurrection against the United States; and that all commercial intercourse between the same and the inhabitants thereof, with the exceptions aforesaid, and the citizens of other States and other parts of the United States, is unlawful, and will remain unlawful until such insurrection shall cease or has been suppressed; that all goods and chattles, wares and merchandise, coming from any of said States, with the exception aforesaid, into other parts of the United States, without the special license and permission of the President, through the Secretary of the Treasury, or proceeding to any of said States, with the exceptions aforesaid, by land or water, together with the vessel or vehicle conveying the same, or conveying persons to or from said States, with said exceptions, will be forfeited to the United States; and that, from and after fifteen days from the issuing of this proclamation, all ships and vessels belonging in whole or in part to any citizen or inhabitant of any of said States, with said exceptions, found at sea or in any port of the United States, will be forfeited to the United States; and I hereby enjoin upon all district attorneys, marshals, and officers of the revenue and of the military and naval forces of the United States to be vigilant in the execution of said act, and in the enforcement of the penalties and forfeitures imposed or declared by it; leaving any party who may think himself aggrieved thereby to his application to the Secretary of the Treasury for the remission of any penalty or forfeiture, which the said Secretary is authorized by law to grant, if, in his judgment, the special circumstances of any case shall require such remission. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. [L. S.] Done at the city of Washington, this 16th day of August, in the year of our ABRAHAM LINCOLN. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State. AN ACT further to provide for the collection of duties on imports and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That whenever it shall, in the judgment of the President, by reason of unlawful combinations of persons in opposition to the laws of the United States, become impracticable to execute the revenue laws and collect the duties on imports by the ordinary means, in the ordinary way, at any port of entry in any collection district, he is authorized to cause such duties to be collected at any port of delivery in said district until such obstruction shall cease; and in such case the surveyors at said port of delivery shall be clothed with all the powers and be subjected to all the obligations of collectors at ports of entry; and the Secretary of the Treasury, with the approbation of the President, shall appoint such number of weighers, gaugers, measurers, inspectors, appraisers, and clerks as may be necessary, in his judgment, for the faithful execution of the revenue laws at said ports of delivery, and shall fix and establish the limits within which such ports of delivery are constituted ports of entry as aforesaid; and all the provisions of law regulating the issue of marine papers, the coasting trade, the warehousing of imports, and collection of duties shall apply to the ports of entry so constituted in the same manner as they do to ports of entry established by the laws now in force. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That if, from the cause mentioned in the foregoing section, in the judgment of the President, the revenue from duties on imports cannot be effectually collected at any port of entry in any collection district in the ordinary way and by the ordinary means, or by the course provided in the foregoing section, then, and in that case, he may direct that the custom-house for the district be established in any secure place within said district, either on land or on board any vessel in said district or at sea near the coast; and in such case the collector shall reside at such place, or on shipboard, as the case may be, and there detain all vessels and cargoes arriving within or approaching said district, until the duties imposed by law on said vessels and their cargoes are paid in cash: Provided, That if the owner or consignee of the cargo on board any vessel detained as aforesaid, or the master of said vessel, shall desire to enter a port of entry in any other district in the United States where no such obstructions to the execution of the laws exist, the master of such vessel may be permitted so to change the destination of the vessel and cargo in his manifest, whereupon the collector shall deliver him a written permit to proceed to the port so designated: And provided further, That the Secretary of the Treasury shall, with the approbation of the President, make proper regulations for the enforcement on shipboard of such provisions of the laws regulating the assessment and collection of duties as in his judgment may be necessary and practicable. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That it shall be unlawful to take any vessel or cargo, detained as aforesaid, from the custody of the proper officers of the customs, unless by process of some court of the United States; and in case of any attempt otherwise to take such vessel or cargo by any force or combination, or assemblage of persons, too great to be overcome by the officers of the customs, it shall and may be lawful for the President, or such person or persons as he shall have empowered for that purpose, to employ such part of the army and navy or militia of the United States, or such force of citizen volunteers as may be deemed necessary for the purpose of preventing the removal of such vessel or cargo, and protecting the officers of the customs in retaining the custody thereof. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That if, in the judgment of the President, from the cause mentioned in the first section of this act, the duties upon imports in any collection district cannot be effectually collected by the ordinary means and in the ordinary way, or in the mode and manner provided in the foregoing sections of this act, then, and in that case, the President is hereby empowered to close the port or ports of entry in said district, and in such case give notice thereof by proclamation; and thereupon all right of importation, warehousing, and other privileges incident to ports of entry shall cease and be discontinued at such port so closed until opened by order of the President on the cessation of such obstructions; and if, while said ports are so closed, any ship or vessel from beyond the United States, or having on board any articles subject to duties, shall enter or attempt to enter any such port, the same, together with its tackle, apparel, furniture, and cargo, shall be forfeited to the United States. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That whenever the President, in pursuance of the provisions of the second section of the act entitled "An act to provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions, and to repeal the act now in force for that purpose,' approved February 28, 1795, shall have called forth the militia to suppress combinations against the laws of the United States, and to cause the laws to be duly executed, and the insurgents shall have failed to disperse by the time directed by the President, and when said insurgents claim to act under the authority of any State or States, and such claim is not disclaimed or repudiated by the persons exercising the functions of government in such State or States, or in the part or parts thereof in which said combination exists, nor such insurrection suppressed by said State or States, then, and in such case, it may and shall be lawful for the President, by proclamation, to declare that the inhabitants of such State, or any section or part thereof, where such insurrection exists, are in a state of insurrection against the United States; and thereupon all commercial intercourse by and between the same and the citizens thereof and the citizens of the rest of the United States shall cease and be unlawful so long as such condition of hostility shall continue; and all goods and chattels, wares and merchandise, coming from said State or section into the other parts of the United States, and all proceeding to such State or section, by land or water, shall, together with the vessel or vehicle conveying the same, or conveying persons to or from such State or section, be forfeited to the United States: Provided, however, That the President may, in his discretion, license and permit commercial intercourse with any such part of said State or section, the inhabitants of which are so declared in a state of insurrection, in such articles and for such time, and by such persons as he, in his discretion, may think most conducive to the public interest; and such intercourse, so far as by him licensed, shall be conducted and carried on only in pursuance of rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury. And the Secretary of the Treasury may appoint such officers at places where officers of the customs are not now authorized by law as may be needed to carry into effect such licenses, rules, and regulations; and officers of the customs and other officers shall receive, for services under this section, and under said rules and regulations, such fees and compensation as are now allowed for similar service under other provisions of law. SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That from and after fifteen days after the issuing of the said proclamation, as provided in the last foregoing section of this act, any ship or vessel belonging in whole or in part to any citizen or inhabitant of said State or part of a State whose inhabitants are so declared in a state of insurrection, found at sea, or in any port of the rest of the United States, shall be forfeited to the United States. SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That in the execution of the provisions of this act, and of the other laws of the United States providing for the collection of duties on imports and tonnage, it may and shall be lawful for the President, in addition to the revenue cutters in service, to employ in aid thereof such other suitable vessels as may, in his judgment, be required. SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the forfeitures and penalties incurred by virtue of this act may be mitigated or remitted, in pursuance of the authority vested in the Secretary of the Treasury by the act entitled "An act providing for mitigating or remitting the forfeitures, penalties, and disabilities accruing in certain cases therein mentioned," approved March third, seventeen hundred and ninety-seven, or in cases where special circumstances may seem to require it, according to regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury. SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That proceedings on seizures for forfeitures under this act may be pursued in the courts of the United States in any district into which the property so seized may be taken and proceedings instituted; and such courts shall have and entertain as full jurisdiction over the same as if the seizure was made in that district. Approved July 13, 1861. No. 4. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, September 3, 1861. SIR: Instances of communication by land and water with the States controlled by the insurrectionists are still frequently brought to the knowledge of this department. It is to be distinctly understood that all communication, whether for commercial or other purposes, without special permit, is, and since the date of the President's proclamation of the 16th ultimo, has been, in violation of law; but it is also to be understood that no permit of any collector, or other officer connected with this department, is of any validity as a sanction to such intercourse, except as expressly authorized by the license or permission of the President of the United States, through the Secretary of the Treasury, All goods and chattels, wares and merchandise, going to or coming from a State under insurrectionary control, and every vessel or vehicle conveying property or persons to or from such States is forfeited to the United States, and must be seized and proceeded against as so forfeited. Any circumstances requiring or justifying the mitigation or remission of any such forfeiture, will be duly considered on application to the Secretary of the Treasury, in whom, by act of Congress, the sole power of such mitigation or remission is vested. I have the honor to be, with great respect, your obedient servant, S. P. CHASE, Secretary of the Treasury. No. 5. Circular to collectors and other officers of the customs. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, September 21, 1861. In order to prevent seizures of property belonging to citizens of insurrectionary States not warranted by the acts of Congress relating to that subject, it is thought advisable to direct the special attention of the officers of the customs to the provisions of these acts. The 5th section of the act of July 13 provides, that all goods and chattels, wares and merchandise, coming from or proceeding to a State or place declared by proclamation of the President to be in insurrection, together with the vessel or vehicle conveying the same, or conveying persons to or from such State or place, shall be forfeited to the United States. This section obviously applies to all property in transit, or purchased or provided with a view to transit, between loyal and disloyal States; and especially to property forming the subject of commercial intercourse. Such property, wherever found, is liable to seizure, and the only redress of parties who think themselves aggrieved is by appeal to the Secretary of the Treasury, who is invested by law with full power of mitigation and remission. The 1st section of the act approved August 6 declares "that if any person or persons, his, her, or their agent, attorney, or employé, shall purchase or acquire, sell or give, any property, of whatever kind or description, with intent to use or employ the same, or suffer the same to be used or employed, in aiding, abetting, or promoting such insurrection, * or any person or persons engaged therein; or if any person or persons, being the owners of any such property, shall knowingly use or employ, or consent to the use or employment, of the same as aforesaid, all such property is hereby declared to be lawful subject of prize or capture wherever found." No doubt can be entertained that this section was well considered, and that its operation was intended to be limited to property used in furtherance of the insurrection only. Seizures under the act of July 13 should be made by the officers, or under the direction of officers, of the Treasury Department; and all district attorneys and marshals of the United States should afford all practicable counsel and aid in the execution of the law. Seizures under the act of August 6 should be made by the marshal of the district in which such property may be found, under the general or particular direction of the district attorney, or other superior authority. For such seizures there is no power of mitigation or remission in the Secretary of the Treasury; but the district attorney, or other superior authority, may direct the discontinuance of any proceeding in relation thereto, and the restoration of the property seized. It will be seen from an inspection of these provisions of the acts of Congress that no property is confiscated or subjected to forfeiture except such as is in transit, or provided for transit, to or from insurrectionary States, or used for the promotion of the insurrection. The only exception to this rule of forfeiture is that made by the 5th section, of ships belonging, in whole or in part, to citizens of a State in insurrection, which are declared to be forfeited after fifteen days from the date of proclamation, without reference to actual or intended use. Real estate, bonds, prommissory notes, moneys in deposit, and the like, are, therefore, not subject to seizure or confiscation in the absence of evidence of such unlawful use. All officers, while vigilant in the prevention of the conveyance of property to or from insurrectionary States, or the use of it for insurrec |