Whatever might be their differences in other respects, Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin agreed on one common point. They held that until some decision should be reached in regard to peace or war, the embargo must be maintained and enforced. Neither the dignity nor the interests of the country permitted a sudden break with the policy which had been steadily followed during the eight years of their power. Abandonment of embargo without war was an act of submission to England and France which would certainly destroy whatever national self-respect might have survived the mortifications of the last three years; but if the embargo was to be maintained, it must be enforced, and without new legislation strict enforcement was impossible. This new legislation was demanded by Gallatin, in a letter of Nov. 24, 1808, addressed to Senator Giles of the Senate committee. December 8, Giles introduced a Bill conferring on Gallatin the “arbitrary” and “dangerous” powers he asked. The new measure answered Gallatin’s description. Henceforward coasting-vessels were to give impossible bonds, to the amount of six times the value of vessel and cargo, before any cargo could even be put on board; collectors might refuse permission to load, even when such bonds were offered, “whenever in their opinion there is an intention to violate the embargo;” in suits on the bond, the defence was to be denied the right to plead capture, distress, or accident, except under conditions so stringent as to be practically useless; no ship-owner could sell a vessel without giving bond, to the amount of three hundred dollars for each ton, that such ship should not contravene any of the Embargo Acts; and by Section 9, the whole country was placed under the arbitrary will of government officials: “The collectors of all the districts of the United States shall ... take into their custody specie or other articles of domestic growth, produce, or manufacture ... when in vessels, carts, wagons, sleighs, or any other carriage, or in any manner apparently on their way toward the territory of a foreign nation or the vicinity thereof, or toward a place whence such articles are intended to be exported;” and after seizure the property could be recovered by the owner only on giving bonds for its transfer to some place “whence, in the opinion of the collector, there shall not be any danger of such articles being exported.” The collectors not only received authority to seize at discretion all merchandise anywhere in, transit, but were also declared to be not liable at law for their seizures, and were to be supported at need by the army, navy, and militia.