Samuel Freeman Miller

“ If found afloat, whether by steam or sail, without one or the other of these, and without the right one with reference to the trade she is engaged in, or the lace where she is found, she is entitled to no protection under the laws of the United States, and is liable to seizure for such violation of the law, and in a foreign jurisdiction, or on the high seas, can claim no rights as an American vessel. ”

“ It is to be understood that every vessel of the United States, which is afloat, is bound to have with her from the officers of her home port either a register or an enrollment. The former is used when she is engaged in a foreign voyage or trade, and the latter when she is engaged in domestic commerce, usually called the coasting trade. ”

“ To seize and detain these papers, therefore, is to expose her to numerous evils, and, in fact, to prevent her use by her owners, and, as the mildest evil, to tie her up so long as the detention of her papers lasts. ”