or shall cause to be printed or published, any Newspaper before
there shall be delivered to the Commissioners of Stamps and Taxes,
or to the proper authorized Officer at the Head Office for Stamps
in _Westminster_, _Edinburgh_, or _Dublin_ respectively, or to the
Distributor of Stamps or other proper Officer appointed by the said
Commissioners for the Purpose in or for the District within which
such Newspaper shall be intended to be printed and published, a
Declaration in Writing containing the several Matters and Things
hereinafter for that Purpose specified; that is to say, every such
Declaration shall set forth the correct Title of the Newspaper to
which the same shall relate, and the true Description of the House
or Building wherein such Newspaper is intended to be printed, and
also of the House or Building wherein such Newspaper is intended to
be published, by or for or on behalf of the Proprietor thereof, and
shall also set forth the true Name, Addition, and Place of Abode
of every Person who is intended to be the Printer or to conduct
the actual printing of such Newspaper, and of every Person who is
intended to be the Publisher thereof, and of every Person who shall
be a Proprietor of such Newspaper who shall be resident out of the
United Kingdom, and also of every Person resident in the United
Kingdom who shall be a Proprietor of the same, if the Number of such
last-mentioned Persons (exclusive of the Printer and Publisher)
shall not exceed Two, and in case such Number shall exceed Two, then
of such Two Persons, being such Proprietors resident in the United
Kingdom, the Amount of whose respective proportional Shares in the
Property or in the Profit or Loss of such Newspaper shall not be less
than the proportional Share of any other Proprietor thereof resident
in the United Kingdom, exclusive of the Printer and Publisher, and
also where the Number of such Proprietors resident in the United
Kingdom shall exceed Two, the Amount of the proportional Shares or
Interests of such several Proprietors whose Names shall be specified
in such Declaration; and every such Declaration shall be made and
signed by every Person named therein as Printer or Publisher of the
Newspaper to which such Declaration shall relate, and by such of
the said Persons named therein as Proprietors as shall be resident
within the United Kingdom; and a Declaration of the like Import shall
be made, signed, and delivered in like Manner whenever and so often
as any Share, Interest, or Property soever in any Newspaper named
in any such Declaration shall be assigned, transferred, divided, or
changed by Act of the Parties or by Operation of Law, so that the
respective proportional Shares or Interests of the Persons named in
any such Declaration as Proprietors of such Newspaper, or either of
them, shall respectively become less than the proportional Share or
Interest of any other Proprietor thereof, exclusive of the Printer
and Publisher, and also whenever and so often as any Printer,
Publisher, or Proprietor named in any such Declaration, or the Person
conducting the actual printing of the Newspaper named in any such
Declaration shall be changed, or shall change his Place of Abode,
and also whenever and so often as the Title of any such Newspaper
or the Printing Office or the Place of Publication thereof shall be
changed, and also whenever in any Case, or on any Occasion, or for
any Purpose, the said Commissioners, or any Officer of Stamp Duties
authorized in that Behalf, shall require such Declaration to be
made, signed, and delivered, and shall cause Notice in Writing for
that Purpose to be served upon any Person, or to be left or posted
at any Place mentioned in the last preceding Declaration delivered
as aforesaid, as being a Printer, Publisher, or Proprietor of such
Newspaper, or as being the Place of printing or publishing any
such Newspaper respectively; and every such Declaration shall be
made before any One or more of the said Commissioners, or before
any Officer of Stamp Duties or other Person appointed by the said
Commissioners, either generally or specially in that Behalf; and such
Commissioners or any One of them, and such Officer or other Person,
are and is hereby severally and respectively authorized to take
and receive such Declaration as aforesaid; and if any Person shall
knowingly and wilfully sign and make any such Declaration in which
shall be inserted or set forth the Name, Addition, or Place of Abode
of any Person as a Proprietor, Publisher, Printer, or Conductor of
the actual printing of any Newspaper to which such Declaration shall
relate, who shall not be a Proprietor, Printer, or Publisher thereof,
or from which shall be omitted the Name, Addition, or Place of Abode
of any Proprietor, Publisher, Printer, or Conductor of the actual
printing of such Newspaper, contrary to the true Meaning of this
Act, or in which any Matter or Thing by this Act required to be set
forth shall be set forth otherwise than according to the Truth, or
from which any Matter or Thing required by this Act to be truly set
forth shall be entirely omitted, every such Offender, being convicted
thereof, shall be deemed guilty of a Misdemeanor.
s. 7. “And be it enacted, That if any Person shall knowingly and
wilfully print or publish, or shall cause to be printed or published,
or either as a Proprietor or otherwise sell or deliver out any
Newspaper relating to which such Declaration as aforesaid, containing
such Matters and Things as are required by this Act to be therein
contained, shall not have been duly signed and made and delivered
when and so often as by this Act is required, or any other Matter or
Thing required by this Act to be done or performed shall not have
been accordingly done or performed, every Person in any such Case
offending shall forfeit for every such Act done the Sum of Fifty
Pounds for every Day on which any such Newspaper shall be printed or
published, sold or delivered out, before or until such Declaration
shall be signed and made and delivered, or before or until such
other Matter or Thing shall be done or performed as by this Act is
directed; and every such Person shall be disabled from receiving any
stamped Paper for printing such Newspaper until such Declaration
shall be signed and made and delivered, or until such other Matter or
Thing shall be done and performed.
s. 8. “And be it enacted, That all such Declarations as aforesaid
shall be filed and kept in such Manner as the Commissioners of
Stamps and Taxes shall direct for the safe Custody thereof; and
Copies thereof, certified to be true Copies as by this Act is
directed, shall respectively be admitted in all Proceedings,
Civil and Criminal, and upon every Occasion whatsoever, touching
any Newspaper mentioned in any such Declaration, or touching any
Publication, Matter, or Thing contained in any such Newspaper, as
conclusive Evidence of the Truth of all such Matters set forth in
such Declaration as are hereby required to be therein set forth,
and of their Continuance respectively in the same Condition down to
the Time in question, against every Person who shall have signed
such Declaration, unless it shall be proved that previous to such
Time such Person became lunatic, or that previous to the Publication
in question on such Trial such Person did duly sign and make a
Declaration that such Person had ceased to be a Printer, Publisher,
or Proprietor of such Newspaper, and did duly deliver the same to
the said Commissioners or to such Officer as aforesaid, or unless it
shall be proved that previous to such Occasion as aforesaid a new
Declaration of the same or a similar Nature respectively, or such
as may be required by Law, was duly signed and made and delivered
as aforesaid respecting the same Newspaper, in which the Person
sought to be affected on such Trial did not join; and the said
Commissioners, or the proper authorized Officer by whom any such
Declaration shall be kept according to the Directions of this Act,
shall, upon Application in Writing made to them or him respectively
by any Person requiring a Copy certified according to this Act of any
such Declaration as aforesaid, in order that the same may be produced
in any Civil or Criminal Proceeding, deliver such certified Copy or
cause the same to be delivered to the Person applying for the same
upon Payment of the Sum of One Shilling, and no more; and in all
Proceedings, and upon all Occasions whatsoever, a Copy of any such
Declaration, certified to be a true Copy under the Hand of One of the
said Commissioners or of any Officer in whose Possession the same
shall be, upon Proof made that such Certificate hath been signed with
the Handwriting of a Person described in or by such Certificate as
such Commissioner or Officer, and whom it shall not be necessary to
prove to be a Commissioner or Officer, shall be received in Evidence
against any and every Person named in such Declaration as a Person
making or signing the same as sufficient Proof of such Declaration,
and that the same was duly signed and made according to this Act,
and of the Contents thereof; and every such Copy so produced and
certified shall have the same Effect for the Purposes of Evidence
against any and every such Person named therein as aforesaid, to
all Intents whatsoever, as if the original Declaration of which the
Copy so produced and certified shall purport to be a Copy had been
produced in Evidence, and been proved to have been duly signed and
made by the Person appearing by such Copy to have signed and made
the same as aforesaid; and whenever a certified Copy of any such
Declaration shall have been produced in Evidence as aforesaid against
any Person having signed and made such Declaration, and a Newspaper
shall afterwards be produced in Evidence intituled in the same
Manner as the Newspaper mentioned in such Declaration is intituled,
and wherein the Name of the Printer and Publisher and the Place of
printing shall be the same as the Name of the Printer and Publisher
and the Place of printing mentioned in such Declaration, or shall
purport to be the same, whether such Title, Name, and Place printed
upon such Newspaper shall be set forth in the same Form of Words as
is contained in the said Declaration, or in any Form of Words varying
therefrom, it shall not be necessary for the Plaintiff, Informant,
or Prosecutor in any Action, Prosecution, or other Proceeding, to
prove that the Newspaper to which such Action, Prosecution, or other
Proceeding may relate was purchased of the Defendant, or at any
House, Shop, or Office belonging to or occupied by the Defendant,
or by his Servants or Workmen, or where he may usually carry on the
Business of printing or publishing such Newspaper, or where the
same may be usually sold; and if any Person, not being one of the
said Commissioners or the proper authorized Officer, shall give any
Certificate purporting to be such Certificate as aforesaid, or shall
presume to certify any of the Matters or Things by this Act directed
to be certified by such Commissioner or Officer, or which such
Commissioner or Officer is hereby empowered or intrusted to certify;
or if any such Commissioner or Officer shall knowingly and wilfully
falsely certify under his Hand that any such Declaration as is
required to be made by this Act was duly signed and made before him,
the same not having been so signed and made, or shall knowingly and
wilfully falsely certify that any Copy of any Declaration is a true
Copy of the Declaration of which the same is certified to be such
Copy, the same not being such true Copy, every Person so offending
shall forfeit the Sum of One hundred Pounds.
s. 9. “And be it enacted, That in any Suit, Prosecution, or
Proceeding, Civil or Criminal, against any Printer, Publisher, or
Proprietor of any Newspaper, Service at the House or Place mentioned
in any such Declaration as aforesaid as the House or Place at which
such Newspaper is printed or published, or intended so to be, of any
Notice or other Matter required or directed by this Act to be given
or left, or of any Summons, Subpœna, Rule, Order, Writ, or Process of
what Nature soever, either to enforce an Appearance, or for any other
Purpose whatsoever, shall be taken to be good and sufficient Service
thereof respectively upon and against every Person named in such
Declaration as the Printer, Publisher, or Proprietor of the Newspaper
mentioned in such Declaration.
s. 10. “And be it enacted, That the Commissioners of Stamps and Taxes
shall cause to be entered in a Book to be kept at the Head Office for
Stamps in _Westminster_, _Edinburgh_, and _Dublin_ respectively, the
Title of every Newspaper registered at the said respective Offices,
and also the Names of the Printers and Publishers thereof as the same
appear in the Declarations required by this Act to be made relating
to such Newspapers respectively, and all Persons shall have free
Liberty to search and inspect the said Book from Time to Time, during
the Hours of Business at the said Offices, without Payment of any Fee
or Reward.
s. 11. “And be it enacted, That no Person shall print or publish,
or shall cause to be printed or published, any Newspaper, nor shall
any Officer of Stamp Duties or any Vendor of Stamps for Newspapers
sell or deliver any stamped Paper for Newspapers to any Printer or
Publisher of any Newspaper, or to any Person on his Account, before
or until such Printer and Publisher, together with the Proprietor
of such Newspaper, or such One or more of the Proprietors thereof,
as in the Judgment of the Commissioners of Stamps and Taxes or of
the proper authorized Officer may be sufficient for the Purpose,
together also with Two sufficient Sureties, to be approved of by
the said Commissioners or such Officer as aforesaid, shall have
entered into Security by Bond to His Majesty in such Sum as the
said Commissioners or Officer shall think reasonable and sufficient
for Payment of the Duties which shall or may from Time to Time be
payable for the Advertisements which shall be printed or inserted in
such Newspaper; and every such Bond, when duly executed, shall be
delivered to and deposited with the proper authorized Officer at the
respective Head Offices for Stamps in _Westminster_, _Edinburgh_, or
_Dublin_, according as such Newspaper shall be printed in _England_,
_Scotland_, or _Ireland_; and such Bond shall be renewed from Time
to Time, with Sureties to be approved as aforesaid, whenever any
One or more of the Parties thereto shall die, or become bankrupt or
insolvent, or reside in Parts beyond the Sea, and also whenever and
so often as the said Commissioners or any Officer of Stamp Duties
authorized in that Behalf shall require the same to be renewed, and
shall give Notice to the Printer, Publisher, or any Proprietor of
such Newspaper for that Purpose; and every Person who shall print or
publish, or shall cause to be printed or published, any Newspaper
before such Bond shall have been entered into and delivered as
aforesaid, or who shall neglect or refuse to renew such Bond in
manner aforesaid whenever the same is or shall be required to be
renewed by or in pursuance of this Act, shall forfeit the Sum of One
hundred Pounds for every Day on which such Newspaper shall be so
printed and published before such Bond shall have been entered into
and delivered as aforesaid.
s. 12. “Provided always, and be it enacted, That no Person being a
Printer or Publisher or Proprietor of any Newspaper at the Time of
the Commencement of this Act, and who in pursuance of any Act in
force immediately before the Commencement of this Act shall have
signed and sworn and delivered any Affidavit, or shall have given
or entered into any Bond or Security of the same Nature and for
the like Purposes as any Declaration or Bond required by this Act,
shall by reason of the passing of this Act be required or bound to
deliver or make any new Declaration, or to give or enter into any new
Bond or Security, touching any Newspaper mentioned in such former
Affidavit or Bond or Security, but every such Affidavit and every
such Bond or Security so made and delivered before the Commencement
of this Act as to the Newspaper therein mentioned, whether the
same shall be published before or after the Commencement of this
Act, shall be deemed and taken to be a Compliance with this Act;
and a Copy of every such Affidavit, certified as aforesaid, shall
in all Proceedings and upon all Occasions whatsoever, be received
as conclusive Evidence against any and every Person named in such
Affidavit as a Person making, signing, or swearing the same, of all
the Matters therein contained, in the same Manner as is herein-before
provided with respect to any Declaration which may be made in
pursuance of this Act, and shall be of the same Force and Effect to
all Intents and Purposes as if the same had been made subsequent to
the Commencement of this Act, and in conformity with the Provisions
hereof: Provided nevertheless, that in case the Commissioners
of Stamps and Taxes, or any authorized Officer of Stamp Duties,
shall, by Notice in Writing to be given in the Manner herein-before
directed, require a Declaration to be made and delivered, or any
new Bond or Security to be given or entered into, in conformity
with the Provisions of this Act, by any such Printer, Publisher, or
Proprietor of any such Newspaper, or in case any Transfer, Change, or
Alteration shall take place in the Share, Interest, or Property of
any Person named in such Affidavit relating to any such Newspaper,
or in the Place of Abode of the Printer or Publisher thereof, or of
any Proprietor named in such Affidavit, or the Place of printing
the same, or in the Person by whom the printing of such Newspaper
shall be conducted, or in the Title of any such Newspaper, then
and in every such case a Declaration shall be made and delivered,
and a new Bond shall be entered into and given, according to the
Provisions of this Act; and every Printer, Publisher, or Proprietor
of any such Newspaper who shall knowingly and wilfully continue to
print or publish any such Newspaper, after the happening of any of
the Events aforesaid, before or until a Declaration containing all
the Particulars required by this Act shall be made and delivered,
and a new Bond shall be entered into and given, according to the
Directions of this Act, shall be subject to all such Penalties and
Disabilities as such Printer, Publisher, or Proprietor would have
been subject or liable to under this Act if no Declaration relating
to such Newspaper had ever been made, nor any such Bond entered into:
And provided also, that nothing contained in this Act shall extend to
require the Printer, Publisher, or Proprietor of the _London Gazette_
or _Dublin Gazette_ to make any Declaration required by this Act; but
the Printers and Publishers of the said respective Gazettes shall
enter into the Bonds by this Act required, together with the Sureties
herein-before mentioned for securing the Payment of the Duties upon
all Advertisements which shall be printed in the said Gazettes
respectively, and shall renew the same from Time to Time in like
Manner as the Printers and Publishers of other Newspapers are or may
be required to renew their respective Bonds by or under this Act.
s. 13. “And be it enacted, That the Printer or Publisher of every
Newspaper printed or published in the City of _London_, _Edinburgh_,
or _Dublin_, or within Twenty Miles of any of the said Cities
respectively, shall, upon every Day on which such Newspaper shall
be published, or on the Day next following which shall not be a
Holiday, between the Hours of Ten and Three on each Day, deliver
or cause to be delivered to the Commissioners of Stamps and Taxes,
or to the proper authorized Officer, at the Head Office for Stamps
in one of the said Cities respectively in or nearest to which such
Newspaper shall be printed or published, One Copy of every such
Newspaper, and of every second or other varied Edition or Impression
thereof so printed or published, with the Name and Place of Abode of
the Printer or Publisher thereof, signed and written thereon after
the same shall be printed by his proper Hand and in his accustomed
Manner of signing, or by some Person appointed and authorized by
him for that Purpose, and of whose Appointment and Authority Notice
in Writing, signed by such Printer or Publisher in the Presence of
and attested by an Officer of Stamp Duties, shall be given to the
said Commissioners, or to the Officer to whom such Copies are to be
delivered; and the Printer or Publisher of every Newspaper printed
or published in any other Place in the United Kingdom shall, upon
every Day on which such Newspaper shall be published, or within
Three Days next following, in like Manner between the Hours of Ten
and Three, deliver or cause to be delivered to the Distributor of
Stamps, or other authorized Officer in whose District such Newspaper
shall be printed or published, Two Copies of every such Newspaper,
and of every second or other varied Edition or Impression thereof so
printed or published, with the Name and Place of Abode of the Printer
or Publisher thereof signed and written thereon in manner aforesaid
after the same shall be printed, and the same Copies shall be
carefully kept by the said Commissioners, or by such Distributor or
Officer as aforesaid, in such Manner as the said Commissioners shall
direct; and such Printer or Publisher shall be entitled to demand and
receive from the Commissioners, or such Distributor or Officer, once
in every Week, the Amount of the ordinary Price of the Newspapers
so delivered; and every Printer and Publisher of such Newspaper
who shall neglect to deliver or cause to be delivered in manner
herein-before directed, such Copy or Copies signed as aforesaid,
shall for every such Neglect respectively forfeit the Sum of Twenty
Pounds; and in case any Person shall make Application in Writing
to the said Commissioners, or to such Distributor or Officer as
aforesaid, in order that any Newspaper so signed as aforesaid may be
produced in Evidence in any Proceeding, Civil or Criminal, the said
Commissioners, or Distributor or Officer, shall, at the Expence of
the Party applying, at any Time within Two Years from the Publication
thereof, either cause such Newspaper to be produced in the Court in
which and at the Time when the same is required to be produced, or
shall deliver the same to the Party applying for the same, taking,
according to their Discretion, reasonable Security, at the Expence
of such Party, for returning the same to the said Commissioners, or
such Distributor or Officer, within a certain period to be fixed by
them respectively; and in case, by reason that such Newspaper shall
have been previously applied for in manner aforesaid by any other
Person, the same cannot be produced or cannot be delivered according
to any subsequent Application, in such Case the said Commissioners,
or such Distributor or Officer as aforesaid, shall cause the same to
be produced, or shall deliver the same as soon as they are enabled
so to do; and all Copies so delivered as aforesaid shall be Evidence
against every Printer, Publisher, and Proprietor of every such
Newspaper respectively in all Proceedings, Civil or Criminal, to be
commenced and carried on, as well touching such Newspaper as any
Matter or Thing therein contained, and touching any other Newspaper
and any Matter or Thing therein contained which shall be of the same
Title, Purport, or Effect with such Copy so delivered as aforesaid,
although such Copy may vary in some Instances or Particulars, either
as to Title, Purport, or Effect; and every Printer, Publisher, and
Proprietor of any Copy so delivered as aforesaid, shall to all
Intents and Purposes be deemed to be the Printer, Publisher, and
Proprietor respectively of all Newspapers which shall be of the
same Title, Purport, or Effect with such Copies or Impressions so
delivered as aforesaid, notwithstanding such Variance as aforesaid,
unless such Printer, Publisher, or Proprietor respectively shall
prove that such Newspapers were not printed or published by him, nor
by nor with his Knowledge or Privity: Provided always, that if any
Printer or Publisher of any Newspaper which shall not be printed
and published in the Cities of _London_, _Edinburgh_, or _Dublin_,
or within Twenty Miles of the said Cities respectively, shall find
it more convenient to cause such Copies of such Newspaper to be
delivered to any other Distributor of Stamps than the Distributor
in whose District such Newspaper shall be published, and such
Printer and Publisher shall state such Matter by Petition to the
Commissioners of Stamps and Taxes, and pray that he may have Liberty
to cause such Copies to be delivered to such other Distributor as he
shall so name at the Office of such Distributor, it shall be lawful
for the said Commissioners to order the same accordingly, and from
and after the Date of such Order the Place of Publication of such
Newspaper shall for that Purpose only be deemed and taken to be
within the District of such other Distributor until the same shall be
otherwise ordered by the said Commissioners.
s. 14. “And be it enacted, That at the end of every Newspaper, and of
any and every Supplement Sheet or Piece of Paper, shall be printed
the Christian Name and Surname, Addition, and Place of Abode, of the
Printer and Publisher of the same, and also a true Description of the
House or Building wherein the same is actually printed and published
respectively, and the Day of the Week, Month, and Year on which the
same is published; and if any Person shall knowingly and wilfully
print or publish, or cause to be printed or published, any Newspaper
or Supplement thereto whereon the several Particulars aforesaid
shall not be printed, or whereon there shall be printed any false
Name, Addition, Place, or Day, or whereon there shall be printed any
Description of the Place of printing or publishing such Newspaper
which shall be different in any respect from the Description of the
House or Building mentioned in the Declaration required by this
Act to be made relating to such Newspaper as the House or Building
wherein such Newspaper is intended to be printed or published, every
such Person shall for any and every such Offence forfeit the Sum of
Twenty Pounds.