AN ACT for the sequestration of the estates, property, and
effects of alien enemies, and for the indemnity of citizens of the Confederate
States and persons aiding the same in the existing war with the United States.
Whereas, the Government and people of the United States have
departed from the usages of civilized warfare in confiscating and destroying
the property of the people of the Confederate States of all kinds, whether used
for military purposes or not; and
Whereas, our only protection against such wrongs is to be
found in such measures of retaliation as will ultimately indemnify our own
citizens for their losses, and restrain the wanton excesses of our enemies:
Therefore,
Be it enacted by the Congress of the Confederate States
of America, That all and every the lands, tenements and hereditaments,
goods and chattels, rights and credits within these Confederate States, and
every right and interest therein held, owned, possessed, or enjoyed by or for
any alien enemy since the twenty-first day of May, one thousand eight hundred
and sixty-one, except such debts due to an alien enemy as may have been paid
into the treasury of any one of the Confederate States prior to the passage of
this law, be, and the same are hereby, sequestrated by the Confederate States
of America, and shall be held for the full indemnity of any true and loyal citizen
or resident of these Confederate States, or other person aiding said
Confederate States in the prosecution of the present war between said
Confederate States and the United States of America, and for which he may
suffer any loss or injury under the act of the United States to which this act
is retaliatory, or under any other act of the United States, or of any State
thereof authorizing the seizure, condemnation, or confiscation of the property
of citizens or residents of the Confederate States, or other person aiding said
Confederate States, and the same shall be seized and disposed of as provided
for in this act: Provided, however, When the estate, property, or rights
to be affected by this act were, or are, within some State of this Confederacy,
which has become such since said twenty-first day of May, then this act shall
operate upon and as to such estate, property, or rights, and all persons
claiming the same from and after the day such State so became a member of this
Confederacy, and not before: Provided further, That the provisions of
the act shall not extend to the stocks or other public securities of the
Confederate Government, or of any of the States of this Confederacy held or
owned by any alien enemy, or to any debt, obligation, or sum due from the
Confederate Government, or any of the States, to such alien enemy: And
provided also, That the provisions of this act shall not embrace the
property of citizens or residents of either of the States of Delaware,
Maryland, Kentucky, or Missouri, or of the District of Columbia, or the
Territories of New Mexico, Arizona, or the Indian Territory south of Kansas,
except such of said citizens or residents as shall commit actual hostilities
against the Confederate States, or aid and abet the United States in the
existing war against the Confederate States.
SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That it is, and
shall be, the duty of each and every citizen of these Confederate States
speedily to give information to the officers charged with the execution of this
law of any and every lands, tenements and hereditaments, goods and chattels,
rights and credits within this Confederacy, and of every right and interest
therein held, owned, possessed, or enjoyed by or for any alien enemy as
aforesaid.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That it shall be the
duty of every attorney, agent, former partner, trustee, or other person holding
or controlling any such lands, tenements or hereditaments, goods or chattels,
rights or credits, or any interest therein of or for any such alien enemy,
speedily to inform the receiver, hereinafter provided to be appointed, of the
same and to render an account thereof, and so far as is practicable to place
the same in the hands of such receiver; whereupon such persons shall be fully
acquitted of all responsibility for property and effects so reported and turned
over. And any such person willfully failing to give such information and render
such account shall be guilty of a high misdemeanor, and upon indictment and
conviction shall be fined in a sum not exceeding $5,000 and imprisoned not
longer than six months, said fine and imprisonment to be determined by the
court trying the case, and shall further be liable to be sued by said
Confederate States and subjected to pay double the value of the estate,
property, or effects of the alien enemy held by him or subject to his control.
SEC. 4. It shall be the duty of the several judges of this
Confederacy to give this act specially in charge to the grand juries of these
Confederate States, and it shall be their duty at each sitting well and truly
to inquire and report all lands, tenements and hereditaments, goods and
chattels, rights and credits, and every interest therein within the
jurisdiction of said grand jury held by or for any alien enemy, and it shall be
the duty of the several receivers, appointed under this act, to take a copy of
such report and to proceed in obtaining the possession and control of all such
property and effects reported and to institute proceedings for the
sequestration thereof in the manner hereinafter provided.
SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That each judge of
this Confederacy shall as early as practicable appoint a receiver for each
section of the State for which he holds a court, and shall require him before
entering upon the duties of his office to give a bond in such penalty as may be
prescribed by the judge, with good and sufficient security, to be approved by
the judge, conditioned that he will diligently and faithfully discharge the
duties imposed upon him by law. And said officer shall hold his office at the
pleasure of the judge of the district or section for which he is appointed, and
shall be removed for incompetency, or inefficiency, or infidelity in the
discharge of his trust And should the duties of any such receiver at any time
appear to the judge to be greater than can be efficiently performed by him,
then it shall be the duty of the judge to divide the district or section into
one or more other receivers' districts, according to the necessities of the
ease, and to appoint a receiver for each of said newly created districts. And
every such receiver shall also, before entering upon the duties of his office,
make oath in writing before the judge of the district or section for which he
is appointed, diligently, well, and truly to execute the duties of his office.
SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That it shall be the
duty of the several receivers aforesaid to take the possession, control, and
management of all lands, tenements and hereditaments, goods and chattels,
rights and credits of each and every alien enemy within the section for which
he acts. And to this end he is empowered and required, whenever necessary for
accomplishing the purposes of this act, to sue for and recover the same in the
name of said Confederate States, allowing, in the recovery of credits, such
delays as may have been, or may be, prescribed in any State as to the
collection of debts therein during the war. And the form and mode of action,
whether the matter be of jurisdiction in law or equity, shall be by petition to
the court, setting forth, as best he can, the estate, property, right, or thing
sought to be recovered, with the name of the person holding, exercising
supervision over, in possession of, or controlling the same, as the case may
be, and praying a sequestration thereof. Notice shall thereupon be forthwith
issued by the clerk of the court, or by the receiver, to such person, with a
copy of the petition, and the same shall be served by the marshal or his deputy
and returned to the court as other mesne process in law cases; whereupon the
cause shall be docketed and stand for trial in the court according to the usual
course of its business, and the court or judge shall at any time make all
orders of seizure that may seem necessary to secure the subject-matter of the
suit from danger of loss, injury, destruction, or waste, and may, pending the
cause, make orders of sale in cases that may seem to such judge or court
necessary to preserve any property sued for from perishing or waste: Provided,
That in any case when the Confederate judge shall find it to be consistent
with the safe-keeping of the property so sequestered to leave the same in the
hands and under the control of any debtor or person in whose hands the real
estate and slaves were seized, who may be in possession of the said property or
credits, he shall order the same to remain in the hands and under the control
of said debtor or person in whose hands the real estate and slaves were seized,
requiring in every such ease such security for the safe-keeping of the property
and credits as he may deem sufficient for the purpose aforesaid, and to abide
by such further orders as the court may make in the premises. But this proviso
shall not apply to bank or other corporation stock, or dividends due, or which
may be due thereon, or to rents on real estate in cities. And no debtor or
other person shall be entitled to the benefit of this proviso unless he has
first paid into the hands of the receiver all interests or net profits which may
have accrued since the twenty-first of May, eighteen hundred and sixty-one; and
in all cases coming under this proviso, such debtor shall be bound to pay over
annually to the receiver all interest which may accrue as the same falls due;
and the person in whose hands any other property may be left shall be bound to
account for, and pay over annually to the receiver, the net income or profits
of said property, and on failure of such debtor or other person to pay over
such interest, net income, or profits as the same falls due, the receiver may
demand and recover the debt or property. And wherever, after ten days' notice
to any debtor or person in whose hands property or debts may be left, of all
application for further security, it shall be made to appear to the
satisfaction of the court that the securities of such debtor or person are not
ample, the court may, on the failure of the party to give sufficient additional
security, render judgment against all the parties on the bond for the recovery
of the debt or property: Provided further, That said court may,
whenever, in the opinion of the judge thereof, the public exigencies may
require it, order the money due as aforesaid to be demanded by the receiver,
and if upon demand of the receiver, made in conformity to a decretal order of
the court requiring said receiver to collect any debts for the payment of which
security may have been given under the provisions of this act, the debtor or
his security shall fail to pay the same, then upon ten days' notice to said
debtor and his security, given by said receiver, of a motion to be made in said
court for judgment for the amount so secured, said court, at the next term
thereof, may proceed to render judgment against said principal and security, or
against the party served with such notice, for the sum so secured, with
interest thereon, in the name of said receiver, and to issue execution
therefor.
SEC. 7. Any person in the possession and control of the
subject-matter of any such suit, or claiming any interest therein, may, by
order of the court, be admitted as a defendant and be allowed to defend to the
extent of the interest propounded by him; but no person shall be heard in
defense until he shall file a plea, verified by affidavit and signed by him,
setting forth that no alien enemy has any interest in the right which he
asserts, or for which he litigates, either directly or indirectly, by trust,
open or secret, and that he litigates solely for himself or for some citizen of
the Confederate States whom he legally represents; and when the defense is
conducted for or on account of another, in whole or part, the plea shall set
forth the name and residence of such other person, and the relation that the
defendant bears to him in the litigation. If the cause involves matter which
should be tried by a jury according to the course of the common law, the
defendant shall be entitled to a jury trial. If it involves matters of equity
jurisdiction the court shall proceed according to its usual mode of procedure
in such cases; and the several courts of this Confederacy may from time to time
establish rules of procedure under this act, not inconsistent with the act or
other laws of these Confederate States.
SEC. 8. Be it further enacted, That the clerk of the
court shall, at the request of the receiver, from time to time issue writs of
garnishment, directed to one or more persons, commanding them to appear at the
then sitting or at any future term of the court, and to answer under
oath what property or effects of any alien enemy he had at the service of the
process, or since has had under his possession or control belonging to or held
for an alien enemy, or in what sum if any he is or was at the time of service
of the garnishment, or since has been, indebted to any alien enemy; and the
court shall have power to condemn the property or effects or debts, according
to the answer, and to make such rules and orders for the bringing in of third
persons claiming or disclosed by the answer to have an interest in the litigation
as to it shall seem proper; but in no case shall any one be heard in respect
thereto until he shall by sworn plea set forth substantially the matters before
required of parties pleading. And the decree or judgment of the court rendered
in conformity to this act shall forever protect the garnishee in respect to the
matter involved. And in all cases of garnishment under this act the receiver
may test the truth of the garnishee's answer by filing a statement, under oath,
that he believes the answer to be untrue, specifying the particulars in which
he believes the garnishee has, by omission or commission, not answered truly,
whereupon the court shall cause an issue to be made between the receiver and
garnishee, and judgment rendered as upon the trial of other issues. And in all
cases of litigation under this act the receiver may propound interrogatories to
the adverse party touching any matter involved in the litigation, a copy of
which shall be served on the opposite party or his attorney, and which shall be
answered under oath within thirty days of such service; and upon failure so to
answer the court shall make such disposition of the cause as shall to it seem
most promotive of justice, or should it deem answers to the interrogatories
necessary in order to secure a discovery, the court shall imprison the party in
default until full answers shall be made.
SEC. 9. It shall be the duty of the district attorney of the
Confederate States diligently to prosecute all causes instituted under this
act, and he shall receive as a compensation therefor 2 per cent. upon and from
the fruits of all litigation instituted under this act: Provided, That
no matter shall be called litigated except a defendant be admitted by the court
and a proper plea be filed.
SEC. 10. Be it further enacted, That each receiver
appointed under this act shall, at least every six months, and as much oftener
as he may be required by the court, render a true and perfect account of all
matters in his hands or under his control under the law, and shall make and
state just and perfect accounts and settlements under oath of his collections
of moneys and disbursements under this law, stating accounts and making
settlements of all matters separately, in the same way as if he were
administrator of several estates of deceased persons by separate appointments.
And the settlements and decrees shall be for each case or estate separately, so
that the transaction in respect to each alien enemy's property may be kept
recorded and preserved separately. No settlement as above provided shall,
however, be made until judgment or decree of sequestration shall have passed;
but the court may at any time pending litigation require an account of matters
in litigation and in the possession of the receiver, and may make such orders
touching the same as shall protect the interest of the parties concerned.
SEC. 11. When the accounts of any receiver shall be filed
respecting any matter which has passed sequestration, the court shall appoint a
day for settlement, and notice thereof shall be published consecutively for
four weeks in some newspaper near the place of holding the court, and the clerk
of the court shall send a copy of such newspaper to the district attorney of
the Confederate States for the court where the matter is to be heard, and it
shall be the duty of said district attorney to attend the settlement and
represent the Government and to see that a full, true, and just settlement is
made. The several settlements preceding the final one shall be interlocutory only,
and may be impeached at the final settlements, which latter shall be
conclusive, unless reversed or impeached within two years for fraud.
SEC. 12. Be it further enacted, That the court having
jurisdiction of the matter shall, whenever sufficient cause is shown therefor,
direct the sale of any personal property, other than slaves, sequestered under
this act, on such terms as to it shall seem best, and such sale shall pass the
title of the person as whose property the same has been sequestered.
SEC. 13. All settlements of accounts of receivers for
sequestered property shall be recorded and a copy thereof shall be forwarded by
the clerk of the court to the Treasurer of the Confederate States within ten
days after the decree, interlocutory or final, has been passed; and all
balances found against the receiver shall by him be paid over into the court,
subject to the order of the Treasurer of the Confederate States, and upon the
failure of the receiver for five days to pay over the same execution shall
issue therefor, and he shall be liable to attachment by the court and to suit
upon his bond. And any one embezzling any money under this act shall be liable
to indictment, and on conviction shall be confined at hard labor for not less
than six months nor more than five years, in the discretion of the court, and
fined in double the amount embezzled.
SEC. 14. Be it further enacted, That the President of
the Confederate States shall, by and with the advice and consent of Congress,
or of the Senate if the appointment be made under the permanent Government,
appoint three discreet commissioners, learned in the law, who shall hold at the
seat of Government two terms each year, upon notice given, who shall sit so
long as the business before them shall require, whose duty it shall be, under
such rules as they may adopt, to hear and adjudge such claims as may be brought
before them by any one aiding this Confederacy in the present war against the
United States, who shall allege that he has been put to loss under the act of the
United States in retaliation of which this act is passed, or under any other
act of the United States, or of any State thereof, authorizing the seizure,
condemnation, or confiscation of the property of any citizen or resident of the
Confederate States, or other person aiding said Confederate States in the
present war with the United States, and the finding of such commissioners in
favor of any such claim shall be prima facie evidence of the correctness of the
demand, and whenever Congress shall pass the claim, the same shall be paid from
any money in the Treasury derived from sequestration under this act: Provided,
That said Board of Commissioners shall not continue beyond the organization
of the Court of Claims provided for by the Constitution, to which Court of
Claims the duties herein provided to be discharged by commissioners shall
belong upon the organization of said court. The salaries of said commissioners
shall be at the rate of $2,500 per annum, and shall be paid from the Treasury
of the Confederacy. And it shall be the duty of the Attorney-General or his
assistant to represent the interests of this Government in all cases arising
under this act before said Board of Commissioners.
SEC. 15. Be it further enacted, That all expenses
incurred in proceedings under this act shall be paid from the sequestered fund,
and the judges, in settling accounts with receivers, shall make to them proper
allowances of compensation, taking 2½ per cent. on receipts, and the same
amount on expenditures, as reasonable compensation in all cases. The fees of
the officers of court shall be such as are allowed by law for similar services
in other cases, to be paid, however, only from the sequestered fund: Provided,
That all sums realized by any receiver in one year for his services
exceeding $5,000 shall be paid into the Confederate Treasury for the use of the
Confederacy.
SEC. 16. Be it further enacted, That the
Attorney-General shall prescribe such uniform rules of proceeding under this
law, not herein otherwise provided for, as shall meet the necessities of the
case.
SEC. 17. Be it further enacted, That appeals may lie
from any final decision of the court under this law, in the same manner and
within the same time as is now or hereafter may be by law prescribed for
appeals in other civil cases.
SEC. 18. Be it further enacted, That the word “person”
in this law includes all private corporations, and in all cases when corporations
become parties and this law requires an oath to be made it shall be made by
some officer of such corporation.
SEC. 19. Be it further enacted, That the courts are
vested with jurisdiction and required by this act to settle all partnerships
heretofore existing between a citizen and one who is an alien enemy; to
separate the interest of the alien enemy, and to sequestrate it; and shall also
sever all joint rights when an alien enemy is concerned, and sequestrate the
interest of such alien enemy.
SEC. 20. Be it further enacted, That in all cases of
administration of any matter or thing under this act, the court having
jurisdiction may make such orders touching the preservation of the property or
effects under the direction or control of the receiver, not inconsistent with
the foregoing provisions, as to it shall seem proper. And the receiver may at
any time ask and have the instructions of the court, or judge, respecting his
conduct in the disposition or management of any property or effects under his
control.
SEC. 21. That the Treasury notes of this Confederacy shall
be receivable in payment of all purchases of property or effects sold under
this act.
SEC. 22. Be it further enacted, That nothing in this
act shall be construed to destroy or impair the lien or other rights of any
creditor, a citizen or resident of either of the Confederate States, or of any
other person, a citizen or resident of any country, State, or Territory with
which this Confederacy is in friendship, and which person is not in actual hostility
to this Confederacy. And any lien or debt claimed against any alien enemy,
within the meaning of this act, shall be propounded and filed in the court in
which the proceedings of sequestration are had within twelve months from the
institution of such proceedings for sequestration; and the court shall cause
all proper parties to be made and notices to be given, and shall hear and
determine the respective rights of all parties concerned: Provided, however,
That no sales or payments over of money shall be delayed for or by reason
of such rights or proceedings; but any money realized by the receiver, whether
paid into the court or Treasury, or still in the receiver's hands, shall stand
in lieu of that which produced said money, and be held to answer the demands of
the creditors aforesaid, in the same manner as that which produced such money
was. And all claims not propounded and filed as aforesaid, within twelve months
as aforesaid, shall cease to exist against the estate, property, or effects
sequestrated, or the proceeds thereof.
Approved August 30, 1861.
SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of
the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series IV, Volume
1 (Serial No. 127), 586-92
