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![handle is hein.slavery/ussccases0365 and id is 1 raw text is: Dec. 1871.] STOCKWELL V. UNITED STATES.
Syllabus.
made after that day. I Congress, on the 12th of July, 1870,
repealed the law on which this claim is founded. It cannot
be supposed that this legislation was directed against the
ultimate payment of the promised indemnity, for the repeal-
ing act did not go into operation until the 1st of uly, 1871.
For nearly a year, therefore, the appropriation was con-
tinued, and the constituted authorities of the States, were
told to hasten their action if they wished to avail themselves
of the benefits of the law. It was easy for them to see that-
if by delay, or from any other cause, they suffered the ap-
propriation to expire without getting a settlement of their
claims, that additional legislation would be necessary to fur-
nish them relief, for the effect of the repealing law after the
limitation expired, was not only to take the subject out of
the control of the secretary, but to place it within the con-
trol of Congress.
These views dispose of this case. It is proper to observe,
in conclusion, that many important questions are presented
in the pleadings, and were argued at the bar, on which we
have purposely refrained from expressing an opinion, and
which are open for consideration in any future case that may
arise, where they are applicable.
DEMURRER OVERRULED and a peremptory writ of mandamus
DENIED.
STOCKWELL V. UNITED STATES.
1. The second section of the act of M?[arch 3d, 1823, amendatory of the act
regulating the entry of merchandise imported into the United States
from any adjacent Territory (3 Stat. at Large, 781), enacts: That if
any person or persons shall receive, conceal, or buy any goods, wares, or mer-
chandise, knowing them to have been illegally imported into the United States,
and liable to seizure by virtue of any act in relation to the revenue, such person
or persons shall, on conviction thereof, forfeit and pay a sum double the amount
or value of the goods, wares, or merchandise so received, concealed, or pur-
chased. Held, 1st, that a civil action of debt will lie, at the suit of the
United States, to recover the forfeitures or penalties incurred under this
section ; 2d, that the section is remedial, and not strictly penal in its
character; and 3d, that the section applies to illegal importers as well as
to accessories after the illegal importation.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.slavery/ussccases0365&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)