Various other amendments having be^.: disposed of, — Mr. DAVIS, of
Massachusetts, moved to amend the bill by adding the following as an addi-
tional section :

Sec. . ^nrf 6e i*/wr^^r cnacferf, That if any mariner or other free colored per-
son arriving on board of any vessel ia any port or place in the United States shall
be imprisoned or deprived of his liberty without any alleged crime or offence
against law, Jt shall in all such cases be the duty of the District Attorney of the
United States within and for the district where such imprisonment or detentiott
may occur, to cause any such person so imprisoned or detained to be brought by
writ of habeas corpus . before the circuit or district judge of such district, and it
shall be the duty of the judge before whom any such person is brought, to inquire
into and decide wheth^ such imprisonment or detention is lawful, and if he find
the same to be unlawful, he shall thereupon discharge from custody any such per-
son. And the necessary charges incurred in suing out such process and prosecut-
ing the same, shall, when the same are approved by the judge hearing the case, be
paid by the United States, in the same manner as similar charges are now allowed
in criminal prosecutions.
Mr. DAVIS, of Massachusetts. 1 have been desirous that the bill should
be matured, so as to take the form in which it will be submitted for our
votes, before I should offer the proposition which has just been read. This
amendment speaks for itself, and shows pretty distinctly what the object is.
