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Transcript for: Molasses Act

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THE
Statutes at Large,
FROM THE
Second to the 9th Year of King George II.

To which is prefixed,
A TABLE containing the TITLES of all the STATUTES
during that Period.

VOL. XVI.

By DANBY PICKERING, of Gray’s-Inn, Esq;
Reader of Law Lecture to that Honourable Society.

CAMBRIDGE,
Printed by JOSEPH BENTHAM, Printer to the UNIVERSITY;
For CHARLES BATHURST, at the Cross-Keys, opposite St. Dunstan’s
Church in Fleet-Street, London. 1765.

CUM PRIVILEGIO.

CAP. XIII.
An act for the better securing and encouraging the trade of his Majesty’s sugar colonies in America.

WHEREAS the Welfare and Prosperity of your Majesty’s
Sugar Colonies in America are of the greatest Consequence
and Importance to the Trade, Navigation and Strength
of this Kingdom: and whereas the Planters of the said Su-
gar Colonies have of late Years fallen under such great Dis-
couragements, that they are unable to improve or carry on
the Sugar Trade upon an equal Footing with the Foreign Sugar Colonies,
without some Advantage and Relief be given to them from Great-Britain;
for Remedy whereof , and for the Good and Welfare of your Majesty’s
Subjects, we your Majesty’s most dutiful and loyal Subjects, the Commons
of Great-Britain assembled in Parliament, have given and granted unto
Your Majesty the several and respective Rates and Duties herein after men-
tioned, and in such Manner and Form, as is herein after expressed; and do
most humbly beseech Your Majesty that it may be enacted, and be it enacted
by the King’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Con-
sent of the Lord’s Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present
Parliament assembled, and by Authority of the same, That from and after
the Twenty-fifth Day of December, One thousand seven hundred and thirty
three, there shall be raised, levied, collected and paid, unto and for the Use
of His Majesty , His Heirs and Successors, upon all Rum or Spirits of the
Produce or Manufacture of any of the Colonies or Plantations in America,
not in the Possession or under the Dominion of His Majesty, His Heirs and
Successors, which, at any Time or Times within or during the Continuance
of this Act, shall be imported or brought into any of the Colonies or Plan-
tations in America, which now are, or hereafter may be, in the Possession
or under the Dominion of His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors, the Sum
of Nine pence, Money of Great Britain, to be paid according to the Pro-
portion and Value of Five shillings and Six pence the Ounce in Silver, for every Gallon thereof, and after that Rate for any greater or lesser Quan-
tity; and upon all Molasses or Syrups of such Foreign Produce or Manu-
facture as aforesaid, which shall be imported or brought into any of the
said Colonies or Plantations of or belonging to His Majesty, the Sum of
Six pence of like Money, for every Gallon thereof, and after that Rate for
any greater or lesser Quantity; and upon all Sugars and Paneles of such
Foreign Growth, Produce or Manufacture, as aforesaid, which shall be
imported into any of the said Colonies or Plantations of or belonging to
His Majesty, a Duty after the Rate of Five shillings, of like Money,
for every Hundred Weight, Avoirdupois, of the said Sugar and Paneles,
and after that Rate for a greater or lesser Quantity.

And for the better raising, levying, and collecting the said Duties, it
is hereby further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That upon the Impor-
tation of any such Goods, as aforesaid, into any of the said Colonies or

Plantations belonging to the Crown of Great Britain, and Entry or Entries
shall be made with the Collector or other proper Officer of the Customs,
or the Import Officer, or proper Officer of the Excise, in the Port or Place
where the same shall be imported, and that all and every the said Duties
hereby Imposed, for and upon all such Rum, Spirits, Molasses, Syrups,
Sugar, and Paneles, of such Foreign Growth, Produce, or Manufacture, afore-
said, which shall be imported into any of the said Colonies or Plantations of
or belonging to the Crown of Great Britain, as aforesaid, shall be paid down
in ready Money by the Importers thereof, before the landing of the same
respectively.

And be it further enacted, That in case any of the said Commodities
shall be landed or put on Shore in any of His Majesty’s said Colonies or
Plantations in America, out of any Ship or Vessel, before due Entry be made
thereof at the Port or Place where the same shall be imported, and before
the Duties by this Act charged or chargeable thereupon shall be duly paid,
or without Warrant for the landing and delivering the same, first signed
by the Collector, or Import-Officer, or other proper Officer or Officers of
the Custom or Excise belonging to such Port or Place respectively, all such
Goods as shall be so landed or put on Shore, or the Value of the same, shall
be forfeited, and all and every such Goods as shall be so landed or put on
Shore, contrary to the true Intent and Meaning of this Act, shall and may
be seized by the Governor or Commander in Chief, for the time being, of
the Colonies or Plantations where the same shall be landed or put on Shore,
or any Person or Persons by them authorized in that behalf, or by Warrant
of any Justice of the Peace or other Magistrate (which Warrant such Justice
or Magistrate is hereby impowered and required to give upon Request) or
by any Custom-house Officer, Import or Excise Officer, or any Person or
Persons him or them accompanying, aiding, and assisting; and all and eve-
ry such Offence and Forfeitures shall and may be prosecuted for and reco-
vered in any Court of Admiralty in His Majesty’s Colonies or Plantations in
America (which Court of Admiralty is hereby authorized, impowered, and
required to proceed to hear and finally determine the same) or in any Court of
Record in the said Colonies or Plantations where such Offence is committed,
at the Election of the Informer or Prosecutor, according to the Course and
Method used and practised there in Prosecutions for Offences against penal
Laws relating to Customs or Excise; and such Penalties and Forfeitures, so
recovered there, shall be divided as follows, viz. One third Part thereof
for the Use of His Majesty, His Heirs and Succesors, to be applied for
the Support of the Government of the Colony or Plantation where the same
shall be recovered, One third Part to the Governor or Commander in Chief
of the said Colony or Plantation, and the other third Part to the Informer
or Prosecutor who shall sue for the same.

And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from
and after the Twenty-fifth Day of December One thousand seven hundred
and thirty-three, no Sugars, Paneles, Syrups, or Molasses, of the Growth,
Product, and Manufacture of any Colonies or Plantations in America,
nor any Rum or Spirits of America( except of the Growth or Manufacture
of His Majesty’s Sugar Colonies there) shall be imported by any Person or
Persons whatsoever into the Kingdom of Ireland, but such only as shall be
fairly and bona fide loaden and shipped in Great-Britain in Ships navigated
according to the several Laws now in being in that behalf, under the Pen-
alty of forfeiting all such Sugar, Paneles, Syrups or Molasses, Rum or
Spirits, or the Value thereof, together with the Ship or Vessel in which the
same shall be imported, with all her Guns, Tackle, Furniture, Ammuni-
tion, and Apparel; and if any of the Commodities aforementioned shall
be imported into Ireland contrary to the true Intent of Meaning of this
Act, all and every such Commodities, with the Ship or Vessel wherein
they shall be imported, and the Tackle, Ammunition, and Furniture
thereof, shall and may be seized by the Lord Lieutenant, Lord Deputy,
or Lords Justices, for the Time being, for the Kingdom of Ireland, or
any Person or Persons authorized by him, them, or any of them, or by
Warrant of any Justice of the Peace or other Magistrate (which Warrant
such Justice or Magistrate is hereby impowered and required to give upon
request) or by any Custom-House Officer, or Excise Officer, or any Person
or Persons him, them, or any of them accompanying, aiding, and assist
ing, and all and every the said Offences committed against this Act may be
prosecuted, and the Penalties and Forfeitures recovered, in any of His
Majesty’s Courts of Record at Westminster or in Dublin at the Election
of the Informer or Prosecutor, by Bill, Plaint, or Information, wherein
no Essoign, Protection, or Wager of Law shall be allowed, or any more
than One Imparlance; and the Penalties and Forfeitures recovered on such
Prosecution shall go and be divided and applied in Manner following,
One Moiety to the Use of the Informer or Prosecutor.

And it is hereby further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That
if any Person or Persons shall be aiding and assisting in bringing on Shore
or Landing any Such Sugar, Paneles, Syrups, or Molasses, Rum, or
Spirits into the Kingdom of Ireland, or into any of His Majesty’s Colonies
or Plantations in America, contrary to the true Intent and Meaning of this
Act, or shall receive into his, her, or their House or Custody, any of
the Commodities afore-mentioned, knowing the same to be imported or
landed, and brought on Shore, contrary to this Act, every such Person so
offending shall 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 any such Seizures shall be made, to be sued for, recovered,
and applied in manner aforementioned.

And be it further enacted, That if any Person or Persons shall
hinder, molest, or resist, any Custom-House Officer, Import or Excise
Officer, or their or any of their Assistants, in the due Execution of his or
their Duty in seizing or securing any of the Commodities aforementioned,
imported into the Kingodom of Ireland, or landed or put on Shore in any
of the Colonies or Plantations in America, which now are, or hereafter may
be, in the Possession or under the Dominion of His Majesty, His Heirs, or
Successors, contrary to the Purport or true Meaning of this Act, he, she,
or they shall forfeit and pay the Sum of Fifty Pounds, to be sued for, reco-
vered, and applied in manner aforementioned, and shall also be liable to
be prosecuted for the same, by Indictment or otherwise, and being thereof found guilty, shall be imprisoned for Three Months without Bail or Mainprize;
and if any Officer or Officers of the Customs, Import or Excise Officer or
Officers, or their Assistants, shall be sued or prosecuted for any Thing done
in Execution of his or their Duty for the better and more effectual putting
in force this present Act, he or they may and shall plead the General Issue,
and give this Act and the Special Matter in Evidence, and the Judges shall
allow thereof; and if any Officer or Officers of the Customs, Import,
or Excise Office, in any of His Majesty’s Plantations or Colonies in America,
shall willingly or knowingly connive at the fraudulent Importation, or land-
ing and bringing on Shore, of any of the Commodities aforementioned,
contrary to the Purport and true Meaning of this Act, or such Officer or
Officers shall take upon him or them to seize any of the said Commodities,
and shall by Fraud or Collusion desist from or delay the Prosecution there-
of to Condemnation, he or they so conniving, desisting, or delaying, shall
forfeit and lose the Sum of Fifty Pounds, to be sued for, recovered, and
applied in Manner aforesaid, and such Officer or Officers shall also be inca-
pable of holding any Office or Imployment under His Majesty, His Heirs,
or Successors.

And it is hereby further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That
if any of His Majesty’s Subjects, who is or shall be Master, or have the
Charge of any Ship or Vessel, shall take in, or permit, or suffer to be taken
in, at Sea, or in any Creek or Harbour, or other Place, any Sugar, Paneles,
Syrups, or Molasses, Rum, or Spirits, in order to be imported into Ireland,
or brought on Shore, and landed in any of His Majesty’s Plantations in
America, contrary to the true Intent and Meaning of this Act, every such
Master, or other Person, so offending, shall forfeit and pay the Sum of,
One Hundred Pounds, to be sued for, recovered, and applied in Manner
herein before mentioned.

And be it further enacted, That upon all Suits and Prosecutions
for the Importation of any of the Commodities afore mentioned into the
Kingdom of Ireland, or for the bringing on Shore and landing of any of
the Commodities afore mentioned, in any of His majesty’s Colonies or
Plantations in America, contrary to the Purport and true Meaning of this
Act, the Onus probandi, that the same and every Part thereof were fairly
and bona fide, and without Fraud, loaden and shipped in Great Britain, in
Ships navigated according to the several Laws in being in that behalf, or
that the Rum, or Spirits were made of the Growth or Manufacture of some
of His Majesty’s Sugar Colonies in America, were of the Growth, Produce, or Ma-
nufacture of His Majesty’s Colonies or Plantations there, or were duly
entered, and had really and bona fide paid the Duties hereby charged and
chargeable thereon, before the bringing on Shore and landing thereof in any
of His Majesty’s Colonies or Plantations in America, shall lie on the Claim-
er or Owner thereof.

And it is hereby further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That
in case any Sugar, or Paneles of the Growth, Produce, or Manufacture of
any of the Colonies or Plantations belonging to or in the Possession of His
Majesty, His Heirs, or Successors, which shall have been imported into
Great-Britain after the Twenty-fourth Day of June, One thousand seven
hundred and thirty-three, shall at any Time, within one Year after the Im-
portation thereof, be again exported out of Great Britain, and that due
Proof be first made, by Certificate from the proper Officers, of the due
Entry and Payment of the Subsidies or Duties charged or payable upon the Importation thereof, together with the oath of the Merchant or his Agent
importing and exporting the same, or, in case such Merchant or Agent
shall be one of the People called Quakers, by his solemn Affirmation to the
Truth therof, and that all other Requisites shall be performed that are by
Law to be performed in Cases where any of the said Subsidies or Duties are
to be paid by any former Statute, all the Residue and Remainder of the
Subsidy or Duty, by any former Act or Acts of Parliament granted and
charged on such Sugar or Paneles, as aforesaid, shall without any Delay or
Reward be repaid to such Merchant or Merchants, who do export the same,
within One Month after demand therof.
And it is hereby further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That
from and after the Twenty-fourth Day of June, One thousand seven hun-
dred and thirty three, for every Hundred Weight of Sugar refined in Great
Britain, and so in proportion for a greater or lesser Quantity, which shall
be exported out of this Kingdom, there shall be, by Virtue of this Act, re-
paid at the Custom-house to the Exporter, within One Month after the De-
mand thereof, over and above the several Sums of Three shillings and One
shilling per Hundred, payable by Two former Acts of Parliament, one of
them made in the Ninth and Tenth Years of the Reign of his late Majesty
King William the Third, and the other in the Second and Third Years of
the Reign of her late Majesty Queen Anne, the further Sum of Two shil-
lings, Oath or solemn Affirmation as aforesaid, being first made by the Re-
finer, that the said Sugar, so exported, was produced from Brown and Mus-
covado Sugar, and that, as he verily believes, the same was imported from
some of the Colonies or Plantations in America belonging to and in the
Possession of the Crown of Great Britain, and that, as he verily believes,
the Duty of the said Brown and Muscovado Sugar was duly paid at the
Time of the Importation thereof, and that the same was duly exported, His
Majesty’s Searcher also certifying the Shipping therof, and all other Re-
quisites being duly performed, according to the Book of Rates.

And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That all Suits
and Prosecutions for any Offence against this Act shall be brought and com-
menced within Two Years after such Offence committed.

And for the better and more effectual carrying this Act into Exe-
cution, be it further enacted, That the Expence of prosecuting any Offence
against this Act shall be paid and born, in the first Place, out of the Shares
and Parts of the Penalties and Forfeitures hereby given and granted to His
Majesty, His Heirs or Successors, upon Seizure, Condemnation, and
Judgment to be had and obtained for or by reason of any Fraud or Misbe-
haviour against the true Intent or Meaning of this Act.

Provided, nevertheless, That nothing herein contained shall extend
or be construed to extend to hinder or restrain the Importation of any Su-
gars, being of the Growth or Produce of any of the Dominions belonging
to the King of Spain, or the King of Portugal, from any Part or Place from
whence such Sugars might lawfully have been imported before the making
of this Act; any thing herein before contained to the contrary thereof in
any wise notwithstanding.

And it is hereby declared and enacted, That this present Act shall
be taken to be a Publick Act, of which all Judges and Justices shall take
Notice, without specially pleading the same; and the same shall continue
and be in Force for the Space of Five Years, to be computed from the
Twenty fouth Day of June, One thousand seven hundred and thirty three,
and to the end of the then next Session of Parliament.