Clear

Free from indistinctness or uncertainty; easily understood; perspicuous, plain; free from impediment, embarrassment or accusation.

Webster.

For a clear deed, see Rohr v. Kindt, 3 W. & S. (Pa.) 563, 39 Am. Dec. 53; clear title; Roberts v. Bassett, 105 Mass. 409; clear of expense; 2 Ves. & B. 341; clear of assessments; Peart v. Phipps, 4 Yeates (Pa.) 386; clear days; 14 M. & W. 120; 3 B. & Aid. 581. the master or commander (naming him) of a ship or vessel named and described, bound for a port named (and having on board goods described, in case the master requires the particulars of his cargo to be stated in such clearance), has entered and cleared his ship or vessel according to law. This certificate, or clearance, evidences the right of the vessel to depart on her voyage; and clearance has therefore been properly defined as a per, to sail. The same term is also used to signify the act of clearing. Worcester, Diet By U. S. R. S. § 4197, the master of any vessel bound to a foreign port shall deliver to the collector of the district from which he sails a sworn manifest of his cargo and its value. To s;iil without a clearance is punishable by a fine of $500. By R. S. § 4200, before a clearance can be granted to any foreign-bound vessel the owners, shippers or consignors of the cargo shall deliver to the collector sworn manifests of their parts of the cargo, specify the kind of goods shipped and their value, and the master of the vessel and the owners, etc., of the cargo shall subscribe an oath as to the foreign place in which such cargo is intended truly to be landed. The collector of the port cannot refuse clearance because a ship contains contraband; Northern Pac. R. Co. v. Trading Co., 195 U. S. 439, 25 Sup. Ct 84, 49 L. Ed. 2G9. According to Boulay-Paty, Dr. Com. t.

2, p.

19, the clearance is imperatively demanded for the safety of the vessel; for if a vessel should be found without it at sea it may be legally taken and brought into some court for adjudication on a charge of piracy.

See Ship's Papers.