Caledonian Dickey
| Decision Date | 16 February 1819 |
| Parties | The CALEDONIAN: DICKEY, Claimant |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
APPEAL from the Circuit Court of Rhode Island.
This cause was argued by D. B. Ogden, for the appellant and claimant,(a) and by the Attorney-General, for the United States.(b)
This is the case of an American ship, which sailed from Charleston, South Carolina, with a cargo of rice, bound to Lisbon, about the 28th of May 1813, under the protection of a British license. In the course of the voyage, the ship was captured by a British frigate, and sent into Bermuda for adjudication. Upon trial, she was acquitted, and her cargo being prohibited from exportation, was afterwards sold by the agent of the claimant, at Bermuda, and the proceeds were remitted for his use. The ship sailed from Bermuda for the United States, in November 1813, and upon her arrival at Newport, in Rhode Island, was seized by the collector of that port, as forfeited to the United States. The libel contains four articles propounding the causes of forfeiture; first, for the ship's having on board and using a British license; secondly, for the ship's being engaged in trade with the enemy; and, thirdly and fourthly, for using a British license, contrary to the act of congress of the 2d of August 1813, ch. 56, prohibiting the use of British licenses.
It is unnecessary to consider the last two articles,
(a) He cited The Nelly, note to The Hoop, 1 Rob. 219; The Two Friends, Id. 283; The Thomas Gibbons, 8 Cranch 421, to show, that the vessel could not be seized as prize, after her arrival in port, nor by a non-commissioned seizer.
(b) Citing The Ariadne, 2 Wheat. 143 which are founded upon statutable prohibitions, because it is clear, that the two preceding articles, founded on the general law of prize, are sufficient to justify a condemnation jure belli, the proof of the facts being most clearly established.
The only questions which can arise in the case, are, whether the ship was liable to seizure for the asserted forfeiture, after her arrival in port; and, if so, whether the collector had authority to make the seizure. And we are clearly of opinion, in favor of the United States, on both points. It is not necessary, to enable the government to enforce condemnation in this case, that there should be a capture on the high seas. By the general law of war, every American ship, sailing under the pass or license of the enemy, or...
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