PHI!. 1C IMM I MKNIS. 



civil or military, or other person, for any arrest or 

 miii-nt, iics|.asM's, or wrong* done or mm- 



: \:\ \ irtue ur unili-i- color of authority d.-i i\ . d 



I'M. in iiii> act ur i lishing u Hurcuii for the 



.'dmi'ii an., ind all acts amend- 



im- refusing to ilo uny act iijiuii the 



u would I lent with tf. 



i. ill have tin- right to remove such 



..il to the proper district or circuit court 



,1.1-d by tin; "Act relating to 



lafotueorput and regulating judicial proceedings in 



a MM*," tpprored .March 3, 1863, and all acts 



it, TV thereof. The jurisdiction in civil and 



iiferred on the district 



nrts of the United States shall he exer- 



,1 in conformity with the laws of 



-, so far as such laws are suitahle to 



tin- .-nine into effect; but in all cases where 

 MK-II laws are not adapted to the object, or are defi- 

 i-ii-nt in the provi.-ions necessary to furnish suitable 

 remedies and punish offences against law, the com- 

 mon law, as modified and changed by the constitu- 

 tion and statutes of the State wherein the court hav- 

 ing jurisdiction of the cause, civil or criminal, is 



M Car as the same is not inconsistent with the 

 Constitution and laws of the United States, shall be 



'.-d to and govern said courts in the trial and 

 disposition of such cause, and, if of a criminal na- 

 ture, in the infliction of punishment on the party 

 found guilty. 



SBC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the district 

 attorneys, marshals, and deputy marshals of the 

 United States, the commissioners appointed by the 

 circuit and territorial courts of the United States, 

 with powers of arresting, imprisoning, or bailing 

 ort'rii'lcrs against the laws of the United States, the 

 officers ana agents of the Freedmen's Bureau, and 

 every other officer who may be specially empowered 

 by the President of the United States, shall be, and 

 thev are hereby, specially authorized and required, 

 at the expense of the United States, to institute pro- 

 ceedings against all and every person who shall vio- 

 late the provisions of this act, and cause him or them 

 to be arrested and imprisoned, or bailed, as the case 

 may be, for trial before such court of the United 

 - or territorial court as by this act has cog- 

 nizance of the offence. And with a view to afford- 

 ing reasonable protection to all persons in their con- 

 Mitutional rights of equality before the law, without 

 distinction of race or color ? or previous condition of 

 slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punish- 

 ment for crime whereof the party shall have been 

 duly convicted, and to the prompt discharge of the 

 duties of this act, it shall be the duty of the circuit 

 courts of the United States and the superior courts 

 of the Territories of the United States, from time to 

 time to increase the number of commissioners, so aa 

 to afford a speedy and convenient means for the ar- 

 re-t ami examination of persons charged with a vio- 

 lation of this act. And such commissioners are 

 hereby authorized and required to exercise and dis- 

 charge all the powers and duties conferred on them 



is act, and the same duties with rega-d to 

 offences created by this act, as they are authorized 

 by law to exercise with regard to other offences 

 against the laws of the United States. 



. 5. And be it further enacted, That it shall be 

 the duty of all marshals and deputy marshals to 

 obev and execute all warrants and precept^ i~-u>-d 

 under the provisions of this act, when to them di- 

 rected ; and should any marshal or deputy marshal 

 refuse to receive such warrant or other process when 

 tendered, or to use all proper means diligently to 

 execute the same, he shall, on conviction thereof, 

 be fined in the sum of $1,000, to the use of the per- 

 son upon whom the accused is alleged to have com- 

 mitted the offence. And the better to enable the 

 said commissioners to execute their duties faithfully 

 and eflicieiitlv, in conformity with the Constitution 

 of the L'uitea States aud tho requirements of this 



act, they are hereby authorized and empowered, 

 within their counties respectively, to appoint, in 

 w riling, under their hands, any one or more suitable 

 , -. ii '>m time to linn', to execute all ucb war- 

 ud other process as may be issued by t 

 tli.- lawful performance of tln-ir respective d 

 and the persons BO appointed to execute any warrant 

 or process as aforesaid shall have authority to sum* 

 inon and call to their aid the bystanders or \\ie pout 

 comitatus of the piopn- county, or such portion of 

 the land aud naval forces of the United States, or 

 the militia, as may be necessary to the performance 

 of the duty with which they are charged, and to in- 

 sure a faithful observance of the clause of the ('.in- 

 stitution which prohibits slavery, in conformity with 

 the provisions of this act ; and said warrants shall 

 run and be executed by said officers anywhere ia 

 the State or Territory within which they are issued. 

 SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That any person 

 who shall knowingly or wilfully obstruct, hinder, or 

 prevent any officer, or other person charged with 

 the execution of any warrant or process issued un- 

 der the provisions of this act, or any person or per- 

 sons lawfully assisting him or them, from arresting 

 any person for whose apprehension such warrant or 

 process may have been issued, or shall rescue or at- 

 tempt to rescue such person from the custody of the 

 oflicer, other person or persons, or those lawfully as- 

 sisting as aforesaid, when so arrested pursuant to 

 the authority herein given and declared, or shall aid, 

 abet, or assist any person so arrested as aforesaid, 

 directly or indirectly, to escape from the custody of 

 the officer or other person legally authorized aa 

 aforesaid, or shall harbor or conceal anv person for 

 whose arrest a warrant or process shall have been 

 issued as aforesaid, so as to prevent his discovery 

 and arrest after notice or knowledge of the fact that 

 a warrant has been issued for the apprehension of 

 such person, shall, for either of said offences, be 

 subject to a fine not exceeding $1,000, and imprison- 

 ment not exceeding six months, by indictment and 

 conviction before the district court of the United 

 States for the district in which said offence may 

 have been committed, or before the proper court of 

 linal jurisdiction, if committed within any one 



of the organized Territories of the United States. 



SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the district 

 attorneys, the marshals, the deputies, and the clerks 

 of the said district and territorial courts shall be paid 

 for their services the like fees as may be allowed 

 to them for similar services in other cases ; and in 

 all cases where the proceedings are before a com- 

 missioner he shall be entitled to a fee of ten dollars 

 in full for his services in each case, inclusive of all 

 services .incident to such arrest and examination. 

 The person or persons authorized to execute the 

 process to be issued by such commissioners for the 

 arrest of offe'iders against the provisions of this act 

 shall be entitled to a fee of five dollars for each per- 

 son he or they may arrest and take before any such 

 commissioner as aforesaid, with such other fees as 

 may bo deemed reasonable by such commissioner 

 for'such other additional services as may be neces- 

 sarily performed by him or them, such as attending 

 at the examinat'on, keeping the prisoner in custody, 

 and providing him with food and lodging during his 

 detention, and until the final determination of such 

 commissioner, and in general for performing such 

 other duties as may be required in the premises; 

 such fees to be made up in conformity witn the fees 

 usually charged by the officers of the courts of jus- 

 tice within the proper district or county, as near aa 

 may be practicable, and paid out of the Treasury of 

 the United States on the certificate of the judge of 

 the district within which the arrest ia made, and to 

 be recoverable from the defendant as part of the 

 judgment in case of conviction. 



. 8. And be it further tnacttd, That whenever 

 the I'i esident of the United States shall have reascn 

 to believe that offences have beeu or are likely to be 



