Pages 292-309 
|  Pages 326-344
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| Pages 292-309
| Pages 326-344
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| AT A General Assembly, SUMMONED TO BE HELD AT | ||||
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Wm. Gooch, esq. Governor. | |||
 CHAP. I. An Act, for reducing the laws made for laying a duty on Liquors, into one act of Assembly. | ||||
| I. WHEREAS the several acts of Assembly, made for laying a duty upon Liquors, have, by experience, been found useful and beneficial, in lessening the poll-tax, by raising a fund for defraying part of the necessary expences of this government, and for the better support of the College of William and Mary, in this colony; which said acts will expire the tenth day of June, one thousand seven hundred and forty seven: And whereas, thro' the various alterations and amendments of the said acts, they are rendered difficult to be understood, whereby several penalties may be incurred by the more ignorant sort, for want of sufficient knowledge of the same; and this present General Assembly having thought it expedient that the said laws should be re-enacted, with some amendments, and reduced into one act: | Preamble. |
| II. Be it therefore enacted, by the Lieutenant-Governor, Council and Burgesses, of this present General Assembly, and it is hereby enacted, by the authority of the same, That for every gallon of rum, brandy, and other distilled spirits; and for every gallon of wine, which, from and after the said tenth day of June, shall be imported or brought into this colony and dominion, either by land or water, from any port or place whatsoever, the duty or custom of two pence shall be paid, by the owner or importer of the same, for and during the term of four years: And that one other duty of one penny for every gallon of the said liquors, which shall be imported or brought into this colony, shall be paid, by the owner or importer thereof, for and during the term of eleven years: And for every gallon of cyder, beer, or ale, which shall be imported or brought into this colony and dominion, as aforesaid, from any port or place whatsoever, the duty or custom of one penny shall be paid, by the owner or importer of the same, for and during the said term of four years. | Duty on spirits & wine. On cyder, ale and beer. |
| III. Provided nevertheless, and it is hereby enacted and declared, That no duty or custom whatsoever, shall be paid or required, for any of the liquors before enumerated, that shall come directly from Great-Britain; but all such liquors shall remain and continue exempt and free from any imposition, duty, or custom, imposed or required by this act, as if the same had never been made. | Saving as to liquors imported from Great-Britain. |
| IV. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That the master or purser of every ship or other vessel, importing liquors liable to a duty or custom by virtue of this act, to any port or place within this colony and dominion, shall, within eight and forty hours after his arrival, make a true and just report, upon oath, with the collector of the duties upon liquors in the said port or place, of the burthen, contents, and loading of such ship or vessel, with the particular marks and numbers of every cask therein laden with liquors, and to whom consigned, to the best of his knowledge; and also where and in what port the same were laden and taken on board; upon penalty of forfeiting one hundred pounds current money. | Oath of master, &c. |
| V. And be it further enacted, That no liquors, liable to the said duties, imported or brought into this colony |
| by water, by any person or persons whatsoever, shall be landed or put on shore, until due entry made thereof, with the collector of the duties upon liquors in such port or place, and a true account of the marks, numbers, and contents of every cask, at that port or place where the same was shipped or taken on board, given upon oath, either before the said collector, or some justice of the peace of this colony, who shall certify the same upon the back of the original invoice of such liquors, or a true copy thereof to him produced; and thereupon such importer, paying the duties laid by this act, or securing the payment thereof, shall obtain a permit, under the hand of such collector, for the landing or delivery of the same: And all liquors landed, put on shore, or delivered, contrary to the true intent and meaning of this act, or the value thereof, shall be forfeited and lost; and may be seised or recovered, by any officer of his majesty's customs, of the port or place where the same shall be put on shore, or delivered, or by any other person or persons whatsoever: And the owner or importer of any of the liquors aforesaid by land, shall, in like manner, make due entry of the same, within six days after the importation, with the collector appointed, in pursuance of this act, and give a true account of the quantity thereof, upon oath, and pay the duty hereby imposed, or give bond, with good security, for payment thereof, within six months; and thereupon obtain a permit, under the hand of the said collector, for selling or making use of the same. And all liquors imported by land, without such entry made, and permit obtained, or the value thereof, shall be forfeited; and may be recovered or seised by any collector of the said duties, or any other person whatsoever. | Entry, how made. Forfeiture. Permit to be obtained by importer. |
| VI. Provided always, That no person shall be required to give account, upon oath, of the true contents of any pipe or lesser cask of wine imported, but shall have liberty to enter a pipe at one hundred gallons, and all lesser casks after the same proportion: Any thing in this act to the contrary, notwithstanding. | Wines, how entered. |
| VII. And be it further enacted, That if any person or persons whatsoever, shall wittingly or willingly, make a false entry, and be thereof convicted, such person or persons shall forfeit and pay one hundred pounds current money. | Penalty for false entry. |
| VIII. And be it further enacted, That the collectors of the duties or customs upon liquors, or any person by them appointed, shall have full power and authority to go and enter on board any ship or other vessel, and from thence to bring on shore any liquors liable to a duty by virtue of this act, if such duty be not paid or agreed for within ten days after the first entry of such ship or vessel, or bond with good and sufficient security given, for payment of the same, within six months next afer such entry; which bond, if offered, the collector is hereby authorised and required to accept and take; and such liquors so brought on shore, to secure and detain, until due entry and payment made, or security given for the same, as aforesaid; and they are also impowered to stay and remain on board such ship or vessel, until all such liquors be discharged and delivered out of the same: And if any collector or collectors of the said duties, or any other person or persons, deputed or appointed by them, or any of them, shall, directly or indirectly, take or receive any bribe, recompence, or reward, in any kind whatsoever; or shall connive at any false entry of liquors, liable to a duty or custom by virtue of this act; the person or persons so offending, shall forfeit and pay the sum of one hundred pounds current money, and be for ever afterwards disabled in his said office, and rendered incapable of holding any office or employment relating to the customs, within this colony; and the person or persons giving or offering such bribe, reward, or recompence, shall forfeit and pay one hundred pounds current money. | Duty of collectors. Bribery. |
| IX. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful to and for all and every collector and collectors of the duties upon liquors, by warrant under the hand of a justice of peace, (which warrant shall not be granted, but upon an information made to him, upon oath,) and accompanied with a constable, to break open, in the day time, any house, warehouse, or storehouse, to search for, seise, and carry away any liquors, liable to a duty by this act, and for which the said duty shall not have been paid, or secured as aforesaid: And if any collector or constable shall be sued or molested for any thing done in execution of the powers hereby given them, such collector or constable may plead the general issue, and give this act in evidence: And if | Power of collectors, in breaking doors, &c. |
| in such suit the plaintiff be nonsuit, or judgment pass against him, the defendant shall recover double costs. And in all actions, suits, or informations to be brought, or where any seisure of liquors shall be made, if the property thereof be claimed by any person as the importer or owner thereof, in such case, the onus probandi shall lie upon such owner or claimer. | Onus probandi. |
| X. And be it further enacted, That when any liquors shall be consigned to any person, other than the master or owner of the ship or vessel importing the same, every such person to whom such liquors shall be so consigned, shall, upon the importation thereof, pay to the master or owner of the ship or vessel importing the same, the duty payable for such liquors, by this act: And if any person or persons to whom such liquors shall be consigned, as aforesaid, shall refuse or neglect to pay the said duty, or give bond with security, for the payment thereof, to the master or owner of the ship or vessel importing the same, at such time as the same shall become payable; it shall and may be lawful for the master or owner of such ship or vessel, to detain such liquors until the duty shall be paid, or secured to be paid, as aforesaid. | Duties, how paid. |
| XI. Provided always, and it is hereby enacted and declared, That if the owner or importer of any liquors, of which the duties or customs shall be paid, or secured to be paid, within six months after the importation thereof in this colony and dominion, be desirous to export the same, or any part thereof; in such case, the person intending to export the same, shall give a particular account of the marks, numbers, and contents of this casks or vessels containing the liquors he intends to export, to the collector of such district from whence the same is to be shipped for exportation, together with the name or names of the person or persons from whom the same was bought; and shall subscribe it also, and make oath thereto before the said collector; at which time he shall also declare, upon oath, that the said liquors shall be directly carried out of this dominion, and not sold, delivered, or put on shore within the same, or brought back again, without making a new entry, and paying the duty; and shall also deliver, to the collector aforesaid, an account in what vessel the same was entered, at importation, with the oath of the person or persons by whom it was imported, | Drawback. Oath of exporter. |
| that the duty or custom thereof was, at the time of entry, duly paid or secured to be paid, according to law; and then it shall and may be lawful for the collector where the duty or custom for the same was paid, or secured to be paid, and he is hereby required and enjoined to allow the said exporter the whole duty or custom paid, or secured to be paid, for the said liquors, so to be exported: Any thing in this act to the contrary, notwithstanding. But if any person or persons shall export liquors on which there is a drawback, to the province of Maryland, before such person exporting the same shall be intituled to the drawback thereof, he shall produce to the collector of the duties from whose district the same was exported, a certificate, under the hand of the officer of the customs in Maryland, that the said liquors were entered and landed there. | If to Maryland. |
| XII. And be it further enacted, That no drawback shall be allowed to any person or persons, exporting liquors out of this colony by land: Any clause herein contained to the contrary, notwithstanding. | No drawback, if exported by land. |
| XIII. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That if any importer of the liquors in this act mentioned, shall desire to transport the same from one district to another, within this colony, he shall, before he depart out of the district wherein such liquors shall be laden or taken onboard, make oath, before the collector of the duties in the said district, or some justice of the peace, that he hath duly entered such liquors, and paid, or secured to be paid, all the duties by this act imposed; and also deliver, upon oath, an account of the true quantity so taken on board, to be transported; and that he will not take, or suffer to be taken on board the said ship, boat or other vessel, any more liquors than in the said account shall be specified, and shall likewise take a certificate from such collector, or justice of the peace, of the quantity of liquors then on board, and that such oath hath been made thereto; which certificate being produced to the collector of the duties in the district to which the said liquors shall be transported, shall be a sufficient warrant for the owner thereof to sell the same in such other district: And all liquors on which there is a duty, which shall be transported by water, from one district to another, and landed or sold, without producing such certificate as aforesaid, to the officer into whose district | Liquors, how sent from one district to another. Penalty. |
| the same shall be transported, shall be liable to be seised and forfeited. | |
| XIV. And for an encouragement to import money into this colony and dominion, Be it further enacted, That if any person or persons shall pay any of the impositions, duties, or customs, accruing due by virtue of this act, in good and lawful money, of his or their own importation into this dominion, and shall make oath, that he or they did import the same, and did not carry it out of this colony, with an intent to bring it back again, and that it was not exchanged in any adjacent province, for monies carried out of this colony, with intent to obtain any benefit thereby, such person or persons, upon producing a certificate of such oath, shall have an abatement and allowance of fifteen per cent. in all duties so paid and satisfied; and every collector of the said duty is hereby authorised and required to make such allowance, until such sum or sums of money imported, shall be paid away; and upon payment of any lesser sum than is mentioned in the said certificate, to such collector of the duties upon liquors, such collector shall indorse the sum by him received, on the back of such certificate. | Money, premium for importing. |
| XV. And for preventing delays in the payment of the said duty, Be it enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That where any person shall become bound for the paiment of the said duties upon liquors, and shall not pay the same at the time limited, whether such bond be payable to the king, or the collector of the said duties, it shall and may be lawful to and for the collector, to sue out of the general court, or the court of the county wherein such person or his securities respectively reside, one or more writ or writs of Scire Facias, in the name of the king, his heirs and successors, returnable to the said court, against the person or persons chargeable with the said duties, and his or their securities, their executors or administrators, to show cause why execution ought not to issue against him, them, or any of them, for the duties so unpaid, and thereupon to sue out execution accordingly. | Duty-bonds, how prosecuted. |
| XVI. And be it further enacted, That the several forfeitures and penalties which shall or may arise, by virtue of this act, shall be divided into three equal parts; one third part thereof shall be to our sovereign lord the king, his heirs and successors, for and | Appropriation of forfeitures. How recoverable. |
| towards the better support of this government, and the contingent charges thereof; one third part to the governor of this colony, for the time being, to and for his own proper use and behoof; and the other third part to him or them that will inform or sue for the same; to be recovered, with costs, by action of debt, bill, plaint, or information, in any court of record within this colony and dominion; wherein no essoin, protection, or wager of law shall be allowed. | |
| XVIII. And be it further enacted, That the governor or commander in chief of this colony, for the time being, with the advice of the council, shall be, and is hereby impowered, from time to time, and at all times hereafter, to nominate, constitute, and appoint such and so many collectors of the duties laid by this act, upon liquors, and also such salaries, not exceeding six in the hundred, for collecting the said duties, as to him shall seem best. | Collectors how appointed. Salary. |
| XVIII. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That all and every such sum or sums of money, which shall be raised, collected, and levied, by the said duties, the necessary charges of collecting, managing, and accounting for the same, always excepted, shall, from time to time, be accounted for and paid, by the respective collectors thereof, to the treasurer of Virginia, for the time being, upon oath; which oath the said treasurer is hereby impowered to administer; and by the said treasurer accounted for to the General Assembly of this colony, upon oath: And that all and every such sum and sums of money, which shall be raised, collected, and levied, by the said duties of two pence for every gallon of wine, rum, brandy, and other distilled spirits; and one penny upon every gallon of cyder, beer, and ale, over and above the necessary charges aforesaid; are, and shall be appropriated, issued, applied, and disposed to such use or uses, as the General Assembly, from time to time shall think fit to direct, for lessening the levy by the poll, or defraying any public expence, and to and for no other use whatsoever. And that all and every sum and sums of money, to be raised and levied out of the duty of one penny upon every gallon of wine, rum, brandy, and other distilled spirits, by this act imposed, as aforesaid, is, and shall be appropriated to the relief of the college of William and Mary, in this colony, | Collectors to account with and pay to treasurer. Duties appropriated; In aid of the taxes; For relief of Wm. & Mary college. |
| for and during the said term of eleven years; and shall be paid, by the said treasurer, half yearly, in equal portions, unto the president and masters of the college, and their successors; and shall be applied and disposed of for the founding scholarships, and such other good uses, for the better support of the college, as by the visitors and governors of the said college, or the greater part of them, shall, from time to time, be directed and appointed, and not otherwise; and shall be accounted for to the Assembly. | And to be accounted for to the Assembly. |
| XIX. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That all Madeira wine, imported by his majesty's lieutenant governor, or the governor and commander in chief of this colony, for the time being, not exceeding ten pipes in one year, for his own use, be, and are hereby exempted from the payment of the duties imposed upon wine imported: Any thing in this act contained to the contrary, notwithstanding. | Governor's Maderia exempt from duty. |
| XX. And be it further enacted, That all collectors of the duties imposed by this act, be, and are hereby required to account with the treasurer, every half year, (to wit,) on the twenty fifth day of April, and on the twenty fifth day of October, in every year, or within fifteen days afterwards; upon pain of forfeiting one half of their commissions, to be deducted out of their accounts by the treasurer, and by him carried to the credit of the public treasury. | Collectors when to account. |
| CHAP. II. An Act, for continuing the Act, intituled, An Act, for laying a duty upon slaves, to be paid by the buyers. | |
| I. WHEREAS, by an act of Assembly, made in the fifteenth year of the reign of his present majesty, intituled, an act, for continuing the act, intituled, an act, for laying a duty upon slaves, to be paid by the buyers, several other acts therein mentioned, were confirmed and further continued; all which will expire on the last day of July, in the year of our lord one thousand seven hundred and forty seven: And the said duty having, by experience, been found easy to the subjects of this colony, and no ways burthensome to the traders in slaves, and at this time very | Preamble. |
| necessary to be continued, for supporting the public expence: | ||
| II. Be it therefore enacted, by the Lieutenant Governor, Council, and Burgesses, of this present General Assembly, and it is hereby enacted, by the authority of the same, That the said recited act, and the several acts therein mentioned, for so much thereof as relates to the duty upon slaves, shall continue and be in force, from the said last day of July, one thousand seven hundred and forty seven, for and during the term of four years, thence next following, and no longer. | Former acts continued. | |
| CHAP. III. | ||
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| I. WHEREAS, by one act of Assembly, made in the fourth year of the reign of the late queen Anne, intituled, An act, for establishing the General Court; and for regulating and settling the proceedings therein, it is, among other things, enacted, That the said General Court shall be held two times every year, (to wit,) one court shall begin upon the fifteenth day of April, if not on a Sunday, and then on the Monday thereafter, and shall continue to be held eighteen natural days, Sundays exclusive; and the other court shall begin on the fifteen day of October, if not on a Sunday, and then on Monday thereafter, and shall continue to be held eighteen natural days, Sundays exclusive: And whereas the business of the said court is, of late, so greatly increased, that the times aforesaid are not sufficient to go through the same; and thereby suitors are much delayed and put to great charges: For remedy whereof, | Preamble. | |
| II. Be it enacted, by the Lieutenant-Governor, Council, and Burgesses of this present General Assembly, and it is hereby enacted, by the authority of the same, That for the future, one of the said courts shall begin upon the tenth day of April, if not on a Sunday, and then on the Monday thereafter, and shall continue to be held twenty four natural days, Sundays exclusive; and the other court shall begin upon the tenth day of October, | Terms of general court. |
| if not on Sunday, and then on the Monday thereafter, and shall continue to be held twenty four natural days, Sundays exclusive. | |
| III. Provided always, That if the business of the said court shall be ended in less time than the days appointed by this act for the judges or justices of the said court to sit, in such case it shall be lawful for them to adjourn themselves until the next succeeding General court. | Power of adjournment. |
| IV. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid,, That the first five days of every General Court, be appointed for hearing and determining suits in chancery depending in the said court, appeals from decrees of the county courts, or other inferior courts, in chancery, and writs of supersedeas to such decrees; and that the other days be appointed for trying suits or prosecutions, on behalf of his majesty, and all other matters whatsoever, there depending; and the clerk of the court is hereby required to regulate the Docket accordingly, proportioning the said suits and causes to such of the said days as will be most convenient: And that instead of the return days, now by law established, process at the suit of his majesty on criminal prosecutions, be returnable to the sixth day of every General court; process on petitions for lapsed land, to the seventh day; appeals from decrees in chancery obtained in county courts, or other inferior courts, to the third day; appeals from judgments of the last mentioned courts, to the eighth day, instead of the sixth day; to the ninth day, instead of the seventh day; to the tenth day, instead of the eighth day; to the eleventh day, instead of the ninth day; and to the twelfth day, instead of the tenth day: And that all writs of supersedeas, and writs of error, to such decrees or judgments, be returnable to the same day as appeals therefrom; and all other writs of subpœnas in chancery, and other process, to the first and twentieth days of every General court. | Days appropriated for chancery & common law suits. Docket, how made up. |
| V. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That so much of the said recited act, and of any other act, as is contrary to this act, be, and the same is hereby repealed, and that this act shall commence and be in force, on the last day of May next. | Repealing clause. |
| CHAP. IV. An Act, for the revisal of the Laws. | |
| I. WHEREAS the acts of Assembly of this colony, lie in great disorder and confusion, by reason many of them are altered and explained, and others repealed: And whereas it is necessary that the aid laws should be revised, and a new impression thereof made, but such revisal cannot conveniently be effected during the session of an Assembly, without bringing a great and extraordinary charge upon the inhabitants of this dominion; and it will be the most proper and easy method to perform the same, by appointing a joint committee of the Council and Burgesses, to begin and compleat the same: | Preamble. |
| II. Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor, Council, and Burgesses, of this present General Assembly, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That John Robinson, John Blair, and William Nelson, esquires, members of his majesty's honourable council; John Robinson, esquire, Mr. Secretary Nelson, Richard Randolph, William Beverley, Beverley Whiting, and Benjamin Waller, gentlemen, members of the house of burgesses, or any six of them, whereof two to be of the council, and four of the house of burgesses, shall be, and are hereby appointed a committee, for the revisal of the whole body of the laws of this his majesty's colony and dominion; and that George Webb, gentleman, be clerk of the said committee: Which committee, by virtue of this act, shall have full power and authority, to revise, alter, and amend, all or any of the said laws, and reduce the same into bills, in such manner and form as they shall think fit and necessary; which said bills shall, by the said committee, be reported to the next meeting of the Assembly after the said laws shall be fully revised. And to prevent any delay which may happen, in the proceedings of the said committee, by reason of the death, departure out of the colony, or any other disability of the members thereof; | Revisal of the laws. Power of. |
| III. Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the number of three councillors, and six burgesses, to constitute the said committee, shall, from | What member may act. |
| time to time, be kept full and entire: And if any member of the council, appointed to be of the said committee, be so disabled, another member of the council shall and may be appointed, in his stead and place, by the governor or commander in chief, for the time being; or if any member of the house of burgesses, appointed to be of the said committee, shall be so disabled, then the speaker of the house of burgesses, or in case of his death or disability, the major part of burgesses of the said committee which shall be present at the next meeting after such disability, shall be, and are hereby impowered, to elect and choose a burgess or burgesses, to supply the place and stead of the burgess or burgessess, so appointed and chosen, shall be, and are hereby declared, members of the said committee, as if he or they had been, by this act, particularly nominated and appointed: And in case of the death or disability of the said clerk, the greater part of the said committee, who shall be present at the next meeting after such disability, shall have power to choose and appoint another in his stead. | Vacancies how supplied. |
| IV. Provided always, That no person whatsoever, either Councillor or Burgess, shall be enabled or admitted to give any vote, or have any voice, at any of the meetings of the said committee, other than those persons who are or shall, from time to time hereafter, by virtue of this act, be appointed or chosen to attend, as members of the said committee. | Proviso. |
| V. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That the said committee shall meet, at the city of Williamsburg, upon the fourth Monday in July next, and shall sit, from day to day, as long as they shall think necessary, at any of their meetings; and all adjournments, other than the next day, not being Sunday, shall be made to the fourth Monday of every succeeding month: And if the revisal of the whole body of the laws, be not completed by the end of the said meeting of the said committee in November next, then they shall have full power and authority, by virtue of this act, to adjourn themselves to the fourth Monday in March following; and then afterwards shall proceed, from month to month, in manner as is before expressed. | Where to meet. |
| VI. Provided always, That if by badness of weather, sickness, or other accidents, it should so happen, that a full number of the said committee should not meet, sufficient to act as a committee, or to adjourn, at any of the times before expressed, the said committee shall not be thereby discontinued; but they shall and may meet and act the next day following, or on the fourth Monday in the next month, as if the said committee had really and actually adjourned themselves to that time: And also, if any member or members of the said committee, either Councillor or Burgess, shall be disabled in manner aforesaid, the said committee, or the greater part of them present at the next meeting after such disability, shall judge of the said disability; and if they find it necessary, shall make application to the governor or commander in chief for the time being, or to the speaker, for the filling up of such number, in manner aforesaid; and until such application be made, the governor or commander in chief, for the time being, or the speaker, may not appoint any such member or members, in manner aforesaid: Any thing in this act to the contrary, in any wise, notwithstanding. | No discontinuance. New members how admitted. |
| VII. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, and it is hereby enacted, That if this present General Assembly should be hereafter dissolved, before the whole body of the laws of this his majesty's colony and dominion be revised, the said committee shall not be thereby discontinued; but the governor or commander in chief of this his majesty's colony and dominion, for the time being, and the speaker of the present house of burgesses, or in case of his disability, then greater part of the committee then sitting, shall and may appoint any member or members of the council, or any burgess or burgesses of the present house of burgesses, in case of any disability, as aforesaid, in manner aforesaid, as if the said Assembly had never been dissolved. | Not to be discontinued by dissoltion of Assembly. |
| VIII. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, and it [is] hereby enacted, That the said committee shall be, and is hereby authorised and impowered, to send for any persons, papers, records, or copies of records, by warrant, under the hand of any one of the council, and two of the burgesses of the said committee: And if any officer, or other person or persons, | Power of committee to send for persons, papers and records. |
| shall neglect or refuse to obey any such warrant, as aforesaid, he or they so offending, and being thereof lawfully convicted, shall, for every such offence, forfeit and pay the sum of twenty pounds Sterling, to the king's most excellent majesty, his heirs and successors, for and towards the defraying the charge of the said revisal; and to no other use, intent, or purpose whatsoever: To be recovered by action of debt, or information, in any court of record in this his majesty's colony and dominion; in which no essoin, protection, wager of law, privilege, or imparlance, shall be admitted or allowed. | ||
| IX. Provided always, and it is the true intent and meaning of this act, That notwithstanding the powers given by this act, to the said revisors, the laws of Virginia shall stand, remain, and be in force, as now they are, until they shall be repealed, abrogated, made void, amended, or altered, by act of Assembly; and that all bills, of what nature soever, that shall be reported by the said committee of revisors, as aforesaid, shall be construed and deemed not to have any force or authority until they have had their formal readings, and are made laws by an Assembly: Any thing in this act to the contrary, in any wise, notwithstanding. And that the services of the said committee, and clerk, with all reasonable and incident charges, be, at the next session of Assembly, considered, rewarded, and allowed; and so from time to time, as they shall report to the succeeding Assembly or Assemblies, till all the laws be revised, as aforesaid. | Present laws to remain in force, till altered by Assembly.
Report of revisers to have formal readidings, &c. | |
| CHAP. V. | ||
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| I. WHEREAS by an act, made in the fifteenth year of the reign of his present majesty, intituled, An act, for reducing the laws made for amending the Staple of Tobacco; and for preventing frauds in his majesty's customs, into one act of Assembly, among other things it is enacted, That the inspectors | Preamble. |
| shall make every hogshead of Tobacco, paid away in discharge of any transfer note by them given, to contain eight hundred and fifty pounds nett; and it being now found expedient to alter the same, and prize Tobacco to a greater weight; | ||||||||||
| II. Be it therefore enacted, by the Lieutenant-Governor, Council, and Burgesses, of this present General Assembly, and it is hereby enacted, by the authority of the same, That all inspectors, from and after the ninth day of November next, shall, and they are hereby obliged to make every hogshead of Tobacco by them paid away, in discharge of transfer notes by them given, to contain nine hundred and fifty pounds nett at the least; and where any light crop Tobacco shall hereafter be passed, the inspectors passing the same shall, if required, as soon as they conveniently can, without fee or reward, permit the owner thereof, or other person, to make use of one or more of their prizes, to make the same heavier. And whereas, by reason of the large quanity of Tobacco brought to the warehouses at Page's, on Pamunky river, it is thought necessary to have another inspection at or near that place: | Transfer tobacco to be made crop. | |||||||||
| III. Be it therefore enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the said ninth day of November, a public warehouse be erected at Crutchfield's upper landing, on the land of Mann Page: And that the rent thereof be eight pence per hogshead. | Warehouses established. | |||||||||
| IV. And be it further enacted, That the warehouses at Hog-Neck, in James-City, county, and at the Brick-House, in New-Kent county, now under one inspection, be disjoined, and made two inspections: | Warehouses disjoined. | |||||||||
| V. And for the better settlement of the salaries of the inspectors hereafter mentioned, Be it further enacted, That the same be established for each inspector according to the following rates: | Inspectors salaries. | |||||||||
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| VI. And whereas large quantities of Tobacco have been damaged, by the flowing of the tide into many warehouses; for prevention whereof for the future, Be it enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That where any public warehouse is built so near any river, or | What warehouses to have floors raised. |
| creek, that the Tobacco brought thither may be in danger of being destroyed, by the overflowing of such river and creek, the respective courts of the counties where any such warehouse or warehouses, are, shall, and are hereby authorised and required, to direct the floor or floors of such warehouse or warehouses, to be raised, in such manner as to them shall seem best. |
| Pages 292-309
| Pages 326-344
|