Pages 135-154 
|  Pages 172-193
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| Pages 135-154
| Pages 172-193
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| CHAP. LI. | ||
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| I. WHEREAS the laws heretofore made, have been found ineffectual to prevent the exportation of bad and trash tobacco, and the many frauds in deceiving his majesty of his customs, which of late years have greatly increased; to the great decay of the trade of this colony. | 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 the more effectual preventing the exportation of trash, bad, unsound, and unmerchantable tobacco, all tobacco which, from and after the passing of this act, shall be exported out of this colony, (except only such tobacco as hath been, or shall be viewed and inspected, according to the directions of the laws now in force,) shall be first brought to some or one of the public warehouses herein after mentioned, and shall be there viewed and inspected, in manner as herein after is expressed. | All tobacco exported (except such as hath been inspected) shall be brought to some public warehouse, and there viewed and inspected. | |
| III. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That no person shall put on board, or receive into any ship, sloop, boat, or other vessel, in order to be exported therein, any tobacco not packed in hogsheads or casks, upon any pretence whatsoever, nor in any hogshead or cask, to be in that, or any ship, sloop, boat, or other vessel, exported out of this colony, before the same shall have been viewed and inspected, according to the directions of this act, (except as before excepted:) but that all tobacco whatsoever, to be | No tobacco to be put on board any ship or vessel for exportation, before it shall be inspected; and shall be taken only from the warehouses. |
| received or taken on board any ship, sloop, or other vessel, and to be therein exported, or to be carried or put on board any other ship, sloop, or other vessel, for exportation, as aforesaid, shall be received or taken on board at the several warehouses for that purpose herein after mentioned, or some or one of them, and at no other place or places whatsoever. And every master, mate, or boatswain, which shall arrive in this colony, in order to lade tobacco during the continuance of this act, shall, before the said ship or vessel be permitted to take on board any tobacco whatsoever, make oath before the naval officer of the district, wherein such ship or vessel shall arrive, (which oath the said naval officer is hereby impowered and required to administer,) that they will not permit any tobacco whatsoever to be taken on board their respective ships or vessels, except the same be packed in hogsheads or casks, stamped by some inspector legally thereunto appointed: which oath they shall subscribe in a book; to be kept by the naval officer for that purpose. And if any master shall cause any person who is not really and bona fide mate or boatswain, to come on shore and take such oath, he shall, for the said offence, forfeit and pay twenty pounds: And if any master or commander of any ship or vessel, shall take on board, or suffer to be taken on board the ship or vessel whereof he is master, any tobacco brought from any other place than some or one of the public warehouses herein after mentioned, or any hogshead or cask of tobacco, not stamped by some lawful inspectors, or shall suffer to be brought on board any tobacco, except in hogsheads or casks, stamped as aforesaid, every such master and commander shall forfeit and pay twenty pounds of lawful money for every hogshead or cask of tobacco, which shall not have been brought from one of the said public warehouses, or which shall not be stamped as aforesaid; and moreover every such hogshead or cask of tobacco shall be forfeited. | Masters of ships, &c. to make oath, not to permit tobacco to be
taken on board except stamped by some inspector. Master causing a person not being mate or boatswain to take such oath, to forfeit 20l. Or taking on board any tobacco, except from a warehouse, and in stamped hogsheads or casks liable to the same penalty for every hogshead or cask, and tobacco to be forfeited. |
| IV. And forasmuch as the permitting tobacco in bulk or parcels to be water born, on pretence of being carried to the warehouses established by this act, may give great opportunity to the clandestine running the same on board the ships lying at or near the said warehouses, whereby the evil of exporting trash tobacco may be still continued: | To prevent frauds in running tobacco on board. |
| V. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That if any person, taking upon himself to carry any tobacco to or from any of the said warehouses, in his sloop, boat, or other vessel, for hire, shall presume to take on board, or permit or suffer to be taken on board, any tobacco whatsoever in bulk or parcels, such tobacco shall not only be forfeited, and may be seized by any person or persons whatsoever; but the master or skipper offending herein, shall forfeit and pay twenty shillings for every hundred pounds weight of such tobacco, and so proportionably for a greater or lesser quantity: And the master or commander of any ship or vessel, wherein any tobacco in bulk or parcels shall be found, shall, over and above the forfeiture thereof, be subject and liable to the same penalty: to be recovered, if it doth not exceed five pounds, before any two justices of the peace of any county, one of them to be of the quorum, near the place where such ship, sloop, boat, or other vessel shall lie; and if it exceed five pounds, in any court of record by action of debt, where in the plaintiff shall recover his costs. And every servant, slave, or other person, employed in navigating such sloop, boat, or other vessel, who shall connive at, or conceal the taking or receiving on board any tobacco in bulk or parcel as aforesaid, shall connive at, or conceal the taking or receiving on board any tobacco in bulk or parcel as aforesaid, shall, by order of such justices, receive on his bare back, thirty nine lashes, well laid on: And if such sloop, boat, or other vessel, be under the care and management of a servant who cannot satisfy and pay the said penalty, then such servant, and every other person employed under him, who shall be guilty of conniving at, or concealing the taking on board tobacco in bulk or parcel as aforesaid, shall, upon complaint thereof made to any justice of the peace, have and receive, by order of the said justice, thirty nine lashes well laid on. And if any servant shall be again trusted with the care and management of any sloop, boat, or other vessel, and shall be convicted a second time of taking or receiving on board the same, any tobacco in bulk or parcel, contrary to the directions of this act, the owner of such servant shall forfeit and pay the like sum of twenty shillings for every hundred pounds weight of such tobacco, so taken or received on board in bulk or parcel; and shall also forfeit and pay five shillings for every day such servant shall thereafter be employed as skipper or master of any | All tobacco found on board any vessel in bulk or parcels
forfeited and may be seized. Penalty on the skipper and master, and how to be recovered. Every servant on board concealing the fraud to be whipt. If a servant be a skipper, and unable to satisfy the penalty, he shall be whipt; and if he offend a second time, his owner subjected to penalties. |
| sloop, boat, or other vessel, to him belonging: to be recovered and applied as aforesaid. | |
| VI. Provided always, That nothing herein before contained, shall be construed to prohibit any person from carrying, or causing to be carried to the said warehouses, in any boat or other vessel, any tobacco in bulk, or parcels, for the payment of his or her levies, debts, or other duties; nor to prohibit any person to put or take on board any sloop, boat, or other vessel, any hogsheads or casks of tobacco, to be water born to any warehouse or warehouses appointed by this act, so as the same be not carried out of the naval officer's district, wherein the said tobacco shall be made; nor to prohibit the owner of any tobacco to transport his crops, or any part thereof, in hogsheads or casks from one plantation to another, for the better handling or managing thereof; nor any purchaser of tobacco, from bringing the same by water to be re-packed, sorted, stemmed, or prized, before the same be carried to the said warehouses, so as such last mentioned tobacco be packed in hogsheads or casks: but no tobacco, on any pretence whatsoever, shall be carried or transported by water to be inspected, out of the district limited and appointed for the several naval officers of this colony, wherein the same is or shall be made; or being so carried, shall not be inspected or passed by any inspectors, knowing the same to be made out of such district, upon pain of forfeiting, by the owner of such tobacco, and the inspectors who shall pass the same, twenty shillings for every hogshead; to the informer. | But tobacco may be water-born to the warehouses, and from one
plantation to another, or to be re-packed, sorted, stemmed and prized. But shall not be carried, inspected, or passed out of the district, under a penalty of 20s. on the owner and inspectors, for every hogshead. |
| VII. Provided nevertheless, That it shall and may be lawful for the inhabitants of Fleet's-bay, on the south side of Indian creek, in the county of Lancaster, to carry their tobacco by water to the public warehouses at Indian creek; and the inhabitants of Warrisqueak-bay, and the parts adjacent, to carry their tobacco to be passed at any warehouse in the upper district of James river. | Inhabitants of Fleets-bay, and Warrisqueak-bay, where their tobacco may be inspected. |
| VIII. And be it further enacted, That every master of a ship or vessel wherein tobacco shall be laden, shall, at the time of clearing, deliver to the naval officer, two fair manifests of all the tobacco on board his ship or vessel, expressing the marks and numbers of every hogshead, and the tare and nett weight stamped thereon, the person by whom shipped, and from | Masters of ships shall deliver two manifests of all the tobacco on board to the naval officer on oath. |
| what warehouse, and shall make oath thereto, and that the same is a just and true account of the marks, numbers, tare, and nett weight of each respective hogshead, as the same was taken down by the person or persons appointed by him to take the same, before the said tobacco was stowed away; and no ship or vessel shall be cleared by the naval officer, before he shall have received such lists and manifests: one of which said manifests shall, by the said naval officer, be annexed to such master's certificate or clearance, to the end the same may be delivered to the chief officer of the customs in such port or place where the said ship shall unlade; and the other of the said manifests shall, by the said naval officer, be transmitted to the said chief officer of the customs by the next convenient opportunity. | One of which to be annexed to his clearance and the other
transmitted to the chief officer of the customs. |
| IX. And be it further enacted, That if the skipper of any sloop, boat, or other vessel, or other person or persons to whom the care and management thereof shall be intrusted, shall land or put on shore any hogshead, cask, or package of tobacco, put on board the same to be carried to any public warehouse, at any other place or places than the warehouse or warehouses by this act appointed for the reception and inspection of tobacco, or at some or one of them, or the wharfs or other landing to such warehouse or warehouses belonging, or shall put the sam on board any other vessel, or suffer the same to be done, so as the same be not delivered at some of the said public warehouses without fraud or imbezzlement, or shall open any hogshead or cask of tobacco, so as aforesaid water born and landed, and take thereout any tobacco, before the same be viewed by the inspectors, according to the directions of this act, or after the same be [has been] viewed, shall fraudulently open any hogshead or cask, and take thereout any tobacco, every such offence shall be adjudged felony; and the offender or offenders shall suffer as in case of felony. | If any person, trusted to carry tobacco to a public warehouse, shall land it at any other place, or put it on board any ship, before it hath been delivered at some warehouse, or shall open or take out any tobacco before or after view, felony. |
| X. Provided always, That nothing herein [before] contained, shall be construed to prohibit the landing or putting on shore any hogshead, cask, or package of tobacco, out of any sloop, boat, or other vessel, which, by distress of weather, shall be forced on ground, or become leaky, so as such landing be really and bona fide for the preservation of the tobacco laden in such vessel; and that the same be, with all convenient speed, | Unless forced by distress of weather on ground, or the vessel become leaky, in which case it may be landed. |
| carried thereafter to the warehouse or ship, (as the case shall be,) to which it was designed, without imbezzlement. | |
| XI. Provided also, That if, by any of the accidents aforesaid, or negligence of the master or skipper of any vessel, any tobacco which hath veen viewed and stamped, shall in its carriage to the ship in which it is intended to be exported, receive so much damage as that the master of such ship will not receive it on board; every hogshead or cask of tobacco so damnified shall, with all convenient speed, be carried to some warehouse appointed by this act, and there lodged until the owner of the said tobacco, or master of the vessel in which it was damaged, shall have separated the same, and re-packed the good tobacco; and then the same shall be weighed, and stamped with the weight, by the inspectors attending such warehouse, without fee or reward: But if the owner of such tobacco, or the master of the vessel in which it was damaged, shall fail or delay to separate and re-pack the same within ten days, then the inspectors at the warehouse where such damaged tobacco shall be landed, shall, and they are hereby required and enjoined, to separate, repack, weigh and stamp the same; and such inspectors shall have and receive, of the owner of such tobacco, five shillings for each hogshead or cask of tobacco; to be paid by such owner before the said tobacco shall be delivered out for exportation. | If damaged in its carriage to the ship, so that the master will not receive it on board, it shall be carried to a warehouse, to be repacked, weighted and stamped, without fee: but if the owner or master fails to separate and re-pack the tobacco in 10 days, the inspectors shall do it, and receive a reward. |
| XII. And be it enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That all tobacco which shall be brought to any of the public warehouses herein after mentioned, shall be viewed, examined, and inspected by two persons, to be thereunto appointed, who shall be called inspectors; which said inspectors shall be appointed in the manner following, that is to say: The courts of the several counties within this colony wherein any of the public warehouses appointed by this act are established, shall and may, and they are hereby required, once in every year, and no oftener, at their respective county courts held in the months of August, or September, or one of them, to nominate and recommend to the governor or commander in chief for the time being, for so many officer of inspection as are or shall be in their respective counties, four fit and able persons, reputed to be skilful in tobacco, for the execution of the office of inspectors: And where two warehouses | All tobacco shall be viewed by two inspectors. The manner of appointing them. |
| under one and the same inspection, happen to lie in different counties, in that case the courts of each county shall nominate and recommend two for such inspection; which nomination the said courts shall cause to be entered upon record, and the clerks of the said courts shall, and they are hereby required, forthwith to transmit a certificate of the same to the secretary's office: And out of the said four persons so nominated and recommended for each inspection, the governor and commander in chief, with advice and consent of the council, shall and may choose and appoint two, to execute the office of inspectors at such inspection: And in default of such nomination and recommendation by the county courts, as aforesaid, the governor and commander in chief, with the like advice and consent, shall and may appoint such persons as he shall think fit, to be inspectors at such inspection for which no nomination or recommendation shall be made, as aforesaid: And also, in case of the death, resignation, or removal of any inspector, the governor or commander in chief shall and may appoint any person, named in the last recommendation from the county court, for that inspection where the vacancy shall happen, to succeed him, until the next nomination and appointment of inspectors: But if either of the persons named in such last recommendation will not accept the said office, in that case the governor or commander in chief may appoint any other person he shall think fit. | |
| XIII. Provided nevertheless, That the inspectors who are now in office, shall continue to act without taking new commissions, 'til the tenth day of November next. And for preventing the evil of buying and selling the said office of inspector, which hath heretofore been frequently practised, | Present inspectors to continue 'til 10 November next. |
| XIV. Be it further enacted, That if any inspector shall hereafter, accept, receive, or take, directly or indirectly, any fee, gratuity, service, or reward whatsoever, of any person, for resigning or giving up his office of inspector, he shall not only be for ever disabled from holding the like office, but, for such offence shall forfeit and pay the sum of one hundred pounds: to be recovered with costs, by action of debt, in any court of record within this dominion. And every person, offering and paying, directly or indirectly, any fee, service, gratuity, or reward whatsoever, to any | Penalties on inspectors buying and selling their office. |
| inspector to resign his said office, shall, for the said offence be for ever disabled from holding the office of inspector within this colony. | |
| XV. Provided always, That no justice of the peace, being an inspector, or recommended to be an inspector, shall have, or be allowed to vote, in the nomination and recommendation of persons to be inspectors, as aforesaid: And that where any person, once recommended as aforesaid, and executing the office of inspector, in pursuance of such recommendation, shall be again recommended the next succeeding year, the same shall be a sufficient appointment to him to continue in the said office for another year, without any new commission; and so from year to year, so long as he shall be so recommended as aforesaid. | No Justice, being an Inspector shall vote in their
Recommendation. Same Inspector recommended again may act without a new Commission. |
| XVI. Provided always, That every person appointed, or to be appointed an inspector, by virtue of this act, shall, before he enters upon the execution of the said office, enter into bond, with good security, in the penalty of five pundred [hundred] pounds, payable to his majesty, his heirs and successors, with condition for the true and faithful performance of his duty, according to the directions of this act; and shall also take the following oath, that is to say, | Inspectors to give Bond. |
| You shall swear, that you will diligently and carefully view and examine all tobacco brought to any public warehouse or warehouses where you are appointed to be inspector, and all other tobacco which you shall be called upon to view and inspect, and that not separately and apart from your fellow, but in his presence; and that you will not receive any tobacco that is not, in your judgment, sound, well conditioned, merchantable, and clear of trash; nor receive, pass, or stamp any tobacco hogshead or cask of tobacco, prohibited by one act of Assembly, intituled, An act for amending the staple of tobacco, and preventing frauds in his majesty's customs; and that you will not change, alter, or give out any tobacco, other than such hogsheads or casks for which the receipt to be taken in was given: But that you will, in all things, well and faithfully discharge your duty in the office of an inspector, according to the best of your skill and judgment, and according to the directions of the said act; without fear, favour, affection, malice, or partiality. So help you God. | Their Oath. |
| Which oath shall and may be taken before the governor or commander in chief of this colony for the time being, or before the general court, or in the court of the county wherein such inspector shall reside: But before any inspector shall enter upon the execution of his office, he shall produce a certificate, if sworn before the governor or general court, as the case may be, of his taking such oath; which certificate shall be lodged with the clerk of the county where such inspector shall be. And if any person shall presume to execute the office of inspector, before he has given such bond, and taken such oath, as aforesaid, he shall forfeit and pay five hundred pounds. | Where to be taken. If sworn before the governor, or general court to produce certificate, and lodge it with the county Court clerk. Penalty for acting before bond given, or oath taken. |
| XVII. And be it further enacted, That all inspectors, to be appointed by virtue of this act, shall constantly attend their duty at the warehouse or warehouses under their charge, from the tenth day of November, to the last day of August, yearly, (except Sundays, and the holidays observed at Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide, or when hindered by sickness;) and afterwards, they, or one of them, shall constantly attend at the same, (except Sundays) to deliver out tobacco for exportation, 'til all the tobacco remaining there the said last day of August, shall be so delivered: And every inspector neglecting to attend as aforesaid, shall forfeit and pay to the party grieved, five shillings for every neglect; or shall be liable to the action upon the case of the said party grieved, to recover all such damages which he or she shall have sustained by occasion of any such neglect, together with his or her full costs, at the election of such party. And all inspectors shall uncase and break every hogshead and cask of tobacco, brought to them to be inspected, as aforesaid; and if they shall agree that the same is good, sound, well conditioned, merchantable, and clear of trash, then such tobacco shall be weighed in scales, with weights of the lawful standard, and the hogshead or cask shall be stamped and marked, with a hot iron, in the presence of the said inspectors, or one of them, with the name of the warehouse at which the tobacco therein contained shall be viewed and inspected, as aforesaid; and also, the tare of the hogshead or cask, and quantity of nett tobacco therein contained: But if the said two inspectors shall at any time disagree, concerning the quality of any tobacco, brought for their inspection to any warehouse | How long they are to attend at the warehouses. Penalty for neglect. Their duty. Another Inspector to be called, in |
| under their charge, they shall, without delay, as soon as conveniently may be, call from the next adjacent warehouse or inspection, another inspector, who shall determine the difference, and pass, or reject, such tobacco. And where any inspector shall happen to be sick, and unable to attend his duty, in that case it shall be lawful for any other inspector at any adjacent warehouse, to view, inspect, and pass tobacco, in his room. And when any inspector shall bring his own tobabco to the warehouse whereof he is inspector, the same shall not be passed or stamped, unless it be first viewed, examined, and found good, and qualified as aforesaid, by the other inspector there attending, and by one or both of the inspectors, as the case shall require, from the next adjacent warehouse. | case they disagree. Or where one is sick. Or where they bring their own Tobacco to the warehouse. |
| XVIII. And be it further enacted, That if any tobacco shall be brought to any of the said warehouses, for the discharge of any public or private debt or contract, the said inspectors, or one of them, after they have viewed, examined, and weighed the said tobacco, according to the directions of this act, shall be obliged to deliver, to the person bringing the same, as many promissory notes, under the hands of the said inspectors, as shall be required, for the full quantity of tobacco received by them, in which shall be expressed, whether the tobacco so received be sweet scented, or Oronoko, stemmed or leaf; which notes shall bear date the day the tobacco for which the same is given shall be viewed and passed; and shall, and are hereby declared, to be current in all tobacco payments, according to the species expressed in the note, within the county wherein such inspectors shall officiate, and in any other county next adjacent thereto, and no separate therefrom by any of the great rivers or bay herein after mentioned; that is to say, James river, below the mouth of Appamattox; York, below West Point; Rappahanock rive, below Talliaferro's Mount; or by the great bay of Chesapeak; and shall be transferable from one to another in all such payments, (except as herein is excepted;) and shall be paid and satisfied by the inspector or inspectors who signed the same, upon demand: and for every hogshead of tobacco brought to any public warehouse, for the discharge of any public or private debt, in good cask, of such dimensions as herein after expressed; there shall be allowed by the inspector thereof to the person bringing the same, after the rate of four pounds of tobacco, for every hundred | They shall give notes for all Tobacco received. Such notes shall be current in all Tobacco payments, in the same and adjacent counties. Allowance of four per cent to be made for the hogshead, so as not to exceed 30 lbs. |
| pounds the tobacco therein contained shall weigh, after the same shall be viewed and passed, so as such allowance does not exceed thirty pounds of tobacco for each hogshead; And the said inspectors shall, and they are hereby obliged, to make every hogshead by them paid away in discharge of any note by them given as aforesaid, to contain nine hundred and fifty pounds of nett tobacco, at the least; and for every such hogshead of tobacco by them paid away, well lined and nailed, fit for shipping, there shall be paid, by the person receiving such hogshead, five shillings for inspecting, and six pence for nails; which said sum of six pence the said inspectors shall and may retain in their hands for their own use, to reimburse them the expence of providing nails: And the person demanding or receiving tobacco in discharge of notes, as aforesaid, shall allow to the inspectors thirty pounds of tobacco for each hogshead so received, for the cask, and two pounds of tobacco for every hundred pounds of tobacco contained in such notes, and so proportionably for a greater or lesser quantity, for shrinkage and wasting, if the said tobacco be paid within two months after the date of the note given for the same: and one pound of tobacco for every hundred, for every month the same shall be unpaid after the said allowance; so as such allowance for shrinkage and wasting do not exceed, in the whole, six pounds of tobacco for every hundred: And if any inspector or inspectors, by whom any such notes for tobacco, as aforesaid, shall be signed, shall refuse or delay to pay and satisfy the same, when demanded, every inspector so refusing or delaying, shall forfeit and pay, to the party injured, double the value of the tobacco so refused or delayed to be paid: to be recovered with costs, in any court of record within this dominion, if the note or notes so refused or delayed to be paid, exceed two hundred pounds of tobacco, and if the said note or notes do not exceed two hundred pounds of tobacco, the double value aforesaid shall and may be recovered before any justice of the peace of the county wherein the warehouse shall be, at which the note or notes ought to be paid. | Tobacco for each hogshead. Every transfer Hogshead to contain 950lbs. nett tobacco, at least. Five shillings for inspecting, and 6d. for nails, to be paid for such hogshead. With an allowance for cask, and shrinkage. Inspectors rafusing or delaying to pay their notes, shall forfeit double the value, to the party grieved. How to be recovered. |
| XIX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all tobacco brought to any of the said warehouses in hogsheads or casks to be exported, on account and for the use of the owner thereof, after the same shall have been viewed, examined, and weighed, | All crop hogsheads passed by the inspector, shall be stamped, and the inspectors shall give receipts, & |
| and found to be good, shall be stamped, as herein before directed: and the said inspectors, or one of them, shall deliver to the person bringing the same, as many receipts, signed as aforesaid, as shall be required for the number of hogsheads so brought and stamped, in which shall be expressed, whether the tobacco so received, be sweet scented, or Oronoko, stemmed, or leaf; and for every hogshead and cask brought to any of the said warehouses to be exported, on account and for the use of the owners thereof, there shall be paid to the inspectors there attending, three shillings, for viewing, examining, and stamping the same; and the owners of the said tobacco shall find and provide nails for the nailing thereof: And if any inspector or inspectors shall alter, change, or deliver out any hogshead or cask of tobacco, other than the hogshead or cask for which the receipt, to be taken in, was by him or them given, such inspector or inspectors shall not only forfeit and pay the double value of such hogshead or cask so altered, changed, or delivered out; but he or they shall moreover forfeit his or their bonds respectively, given for the due execution of his or their office. And all inspectors shall, and they are hereby obliged, if required, to take in any receipt or receipts by them given for tobacco, and after having weighed such tobacco, to give transfer notes for the same, with an allowance of four per cent. for the cask, so as such allowance does not exceed thirty pounds of tobacco for every cask. | take three shillings per hogshead for the same. Owners to provide nails. Inspectors changing crop tobacco, shall forfeit double the value, & their bonds. They shall, upon request, give transfer notes for crop hogsheads, with an allowance for the cask. |
| XX. And be it further enacted, That during the continuance of this act, no tender of any debt or duty, payable in tobacco, shall be accounted lawful, unless payment of the same be tendered in inspectors notes, or receipts. | No tender of a tobacco debt lawful, unless in inspectors notes or receipts. |
| XXI. And for restraining the undue practice of mixing trash with stemmed tobacco, and preventing the packing tobacco in unsizable casks; Be it enacted and declared, That all stemmed tobacco not laid strait, whether the same be packed loose, or in bundles, shall be accounted unlawful tobacco; and that no tobacco, packed in hogsheads which exceed eight and forty inches in the length of the stave, or thirty inches at the head, within the crow, making reasonable allowance for prizing, (which allowance shall not exceed two inches above the guage in the prizing head,) shall be passed or received: but the owner of such tobacco packed in casks of greater dimensions than before expressed, | No stemmed tobacco not laid strait, nor casks exceeding forty-eight inches in the length of the stave, or 30 inches at the head, shall pass. |
| shall be obliged to repack the same in sizable casks, at his own costs and charge, before the same shall be received and stamped by the said inspectors. | |
| XXII. And be it further enacted, That when any tobacco shall be brought to any of the public warehouses, and refused by the inspectors there officiating, the same shall be immediately burnt by them, unless the owner or person brining such tobacco desires to sort and separate the same, and to pick out such as is bad; in which case the inspectors shall permit the same to be done, at the warehouse to which the said tobacco shall be brought, without fee or reward; but shall not, on any pretence, suffer the said tobacco to be removed or carried from the said warehouse: and the said inspectors shall allow one month for separating and picking such tobacco; after which time, if the same be not done, it shall be lawful for them to burn the whole, except where the tobacco is in a sweat, or where the circumstances or accidents of weather may have prevented the handling of it; in which case the inspectors shall allow such further time as they shall think reasonable: and where any tobacco shall be separated and picked, as aforesaid, the trash and bad tobacco shall be burnt by the inspectors on the same day it is picked out, under the penalty of forfeiting five shillings for every failure, to the informer. And if any tobacco, packed in cask by an overseer, or the hands under his care, shall be burnt by the said inspectors, by reason of its being bad, unsound, or not in good condition, the overseer who had the care of making and packing the same, shall bear the loss of the tobacco so burnt, and make satisfaction for the same, out of his share, of the crop, or otherwise: And the inspectors shall be obliged to keep an account of all tobacco so burnt. | Tobacco refused by the inspectors shall be burnt by them, or
picked at the warehouse. One month allowed for picking. Overseers liable for all damage, if they suffer bad tobacco to be packed. |
| XXIII. And to the intent that a just quantity of tobacco exported may be more exactly known, and all evil practices to defraud his majesty of his customs prevented, Be it enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That all inspectors shall carefully enter in a book, to be provided and kept for that purpose, the marks, numbers, gross, nett weight, and tare of all tobacco viewed and stamped by them, as aforesaid, and in what ship or vessel the same shall be laden or put on board; and shall also, with every sloop load or boat load of tobacco, send a list of the marks, numbers, gross, nett weight, and tare of every hogshead of | For preventing frauds in the customs. Weights of all tobacco shall be entered in books, particular accounts thereof to be sent on board ships with the tobacco. |
| tobacco then delivered, to be given to the master of the ship or vessel in which the same shall be put on board; and if the tobacco delivered to the same sloop or boat, is intended to be put on board several ships or vessels, then they shall deliver so many distinct and several lists, as aforesaid, of the hogsheads to be put on board such ship or vessel respectively: which lists, every master of a ship or vessel is required to produce to, and lodge with, the naval officer of the district where the ship or vessel, whereof he is master shall ride, or by whom he shall be cleared, sometime before her clearance. But whereas it may happen, that the ship, in which such tobacco was intended to be put may be so full as not to be able to stow all the tobacco contained in such list; in such case, it shall and may be lawful to ship the said tobacco, or any part thereof, on board any other ship or ships where the owner thereof shall think fit, the masters of such ships indorsing on the said lists, the marks and numbers of the respective hogsheads by them taken on board, and giving notice to the inspectors of the warehouse from whence the same was brought; or if there be no ship to receive the said tobacco, then it shall and may be lawful for the master of the first mentioned ship or vessel, to put the said tobacco into any warehouse in the district where such ship shall ride, giving immediate notice thereof to the inspectors who stamped the same; and the inspectors of that warehouse where such tobacco shall be delivered, shall give a receipt for the same, and shall cause the said tobacco to be safely lodged, and delivered to the order of the owner thereof, whenever he or she shall think fit to ship it off, and that without fee or reward. | Which the master shall produce to the naval officer. If the ship be full, the tobacco may be put on board other ships, the master endorsing the quantity by them received, and giving the inspectors notice. Or it may be lodged in another warehouse, and the inspectors there shall give a receipt. |
| XXIV. And be it further enacted, That if any person whatsoever shall forge or counterfeit the stamp, note, or receipt, of any inspector; or tender in payment any such forged or counterfeited note or receipt, knowing it to be such; or export, or cause to be exported, any hogshead or cask of tobacco, stamped with a forged or counterfeited stamp; or demand tobacco of any inspector upon any such forged or counterfeited note or receipt, knowing such note or receipt, or such stamp, to be forged or counterfeited; or shall put or pack into any hogshead or cask of tobacco, stamped by any inspector, any tobacco whatsoever; or shall draw or take out any stave, plank, or heading | Penalty upon forging or counterfeiting any stamp, note, or receipt, &c. |
| board, so stamped as aforesaid, of any hogshead or cask of tobacco, after such hogshead or cask of tobacco shall be delivered out from any of the public warehouses aforesaid; every person so offending, and being thereof convicted by due course of law, shall be adjudged a felon, and shall suffer as in case of felony. | |
| XXV. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That if any inspectors notes or receipts be casually lost, mislaid, or destroyed, the person or persons entitled to receive the tobacco by virtue of any such note or receipt, shall make oath, before a justice of the peace of the county where the same is payable, to the number or date of every such note or receipt, to whom, and where payable, and for what quantity of tobacco the same was given, and that such note or receipt is lost, mislaid, or destroyed, and that he, she, or they, at the time such note or receipt was lost, or mislaid, or destroyed, was lawfully entitled to receive the tobacco therein mentioned, and shall take a certificate thereof from such justice; and upon producing a certificate of such oath to the inspectors who signed such note or receipt, and lodging the same with them, the said inspectors shall, and are hereby directed, to pay and deliver to the person obtaining such certificate, the tobacco for which any such notes or receipts were given, (if the same or any part thereof, shall not have been before by them paid by virtue of the said notes or receipts,) and shall be thereby discharged from all actions, suits, and demands, on account of such notes or receipts: and if any person shall be convicted of making a false oath, or producing a forged certificate, in the case aforesaid, he shall forfeit and pay twenty shillings for every hundred pounds weight of tobacco contained in such certificate; and moreover upon conviction in any court of record, shall suffer as in case of wilful and corrupt perjury. | Method to be taken where notes or receipts are lost, mislaid, or
destroyed. Penalty for making a false oath, or producing a forged certificate. |
| XXVI. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That all tobacco due, or to grow due and payable, for public, county or parish levies, or for quit-rents, or for secretary's, clerks, sheriffs, surveyors, or other officers fees, shall be paid and discharged by transfer notes, in the following manner: that is to say; all levies and quit-rents, shall be paid in some warehouse in the county where such levies are laid, and lands, chargeable with such quit-rents, lie; and all officers fees in the county where the person chargeable | How levies, quit rents, & officers fees shall be paid. |
| therewith lives, except such person shall have a plantation, with slaves thereon, in the county where the service is performed; and then all fees, (except secretary's fees,) shall be paid in such county: but the said levies, quit-rents, and fees, due and payable in any county where no public warehouse is established, shall be paid at some warehouse in the next adjacent county. | |
| XXVII. Provided always, That no transfer notes of the preceeding year shall pass in any such payment, nor no notes of the county of Prince-William shall pass in any payment of levies, quit rents, or fees, becoming due in the county of Orange; and the notes of the warehouses herein after mentioned, shall pass in payment of all quit-rents, levies, and officers fees, payable in the counties following: that is to say; the notes of Kemp's warehouse shall pass in the county of Gloucester; of Turner's and Bowlers, in the county of Middlesex; of Lawrence's, Gray's Creek, and Cabbin-Point, in the county of Isle of Wight; of Lawrence's and all the warehouses above, on the south side of James river, in the county of Brunswick; and all the warehouses above Jordan's-Point, on the south side of James river, in the counties of Amelia and Lunenburg; of Wainwright's, Appamattox, Maycock's, Jordan's and Warrisqueake-Bay, in the county of Surry; of Warwick, Bermuda-Hundred, John Bowling's, and Cabbin-Point, in the county of Prince-George; of Turkey-Island and Hog Neck, in the county of Charles-City; of Littlepage's, or the Brick-House warehouses, in the county of James-City; of York, Roe's, and Hampton, in the county of Warwick; of Roe's, in the county of Elizabeth-City; of Page's and Meriwether's, in the county of King-William; of Todd's, Aylet's, and Layton's, in the county of Caroline; of Conway's, in the county of Spotsylvania; of Fredericksburg, in the county of Louisa, of Shoccoe's, Warwick, Crutchfield's, Rocky-Ridge, Page's, and Meriwether's, in the county of Albemarle; of Indian-Creek, in the county of Lancaster; of Yeocomico, in the county of Northumberland; of Mattox, Machotack, and Falmouth, in the county of Stafford; of Princess-Anne and Norfolk, in either county; of any warehouse in Accomack or Northampton, in either county; of Acquia, in the county of Prince-William. | What notes shall pass in payments. |
| XXVIII. And be it further enacted, That out of every hundred pounds of tobacco, paid in discharge of |
| quit-rents, secretary's, clerks, sheriffs, surveyors, or other officers fees, and so
proportionably for a greater or lesser quantity, there shall be made the following abatements or
allowances to the payer: that is to say; For tobacco due in the counties of Goochland, Brunswick, Lunenburg, Orange, Amelia, Albemarle, and the county of Louisa, the person paying shall and may retain in his own hands, thirty pounds of tobacco for every hundred so due from him. For tobacco due in the county of Princess-Anne, twenty pounds of tobacco. For tobacco due in the counties of Henrico, Caroline, Nansemond, Norfolk, Hanover, and Spotsylvania, fourteen pounds of tobacco. For tobacco due in the counties of Prince-George, Surry, Isle of Wight, Fairfax, and Prince William, twenty pounds of tobacco. For tobacco due in any other county, ten pounds of tobacco. |
What allowances shall be made out of such public dues and fees to the payer. |
| XXIX. Provided always, That where any person chargeable with officers fees, (except the secretary's fees) lives in another county, than where the service is performed, or the fees become due, the same allowance shall be made to every such person as is by law settled to be allowed in that county where the service is performed, or the fees become due. | Proviso. |
| XXX. And for preventing all mistakes and controversies concerning the allowances to be made, upon the payment of public, county, or parish levies; Be it enacted, That the levies aforesaid shall be all laid in nett tobacco, and the abatement which ought to be made of every creditor's claim, for convenience, shall be deducted out of such claim at the time of laying the said levies; which abatements are hereby settled and declared to be the same as are before mentioned and directed to be allowed, upon payment of quit rents and officers fees: but where any creditor by law or contract ought to be paid with convenience, in that case, no abatement shall be made to the people by the collectors thereof: and where any tobacco ought to be paid with cask, there shall be levied four per cent for cask, and no more: and there shall be also levied in all the said levies, six per cent, for collecting the same, and no more; which shall be paid and allowed to the respective collectors of the said levies. And for all tobacco paid and discharged in inspectors notes, | For preventing mistakes levies shall be laid in nett tobacco.
No abatement to be made in a payment with convenience. Four per cent. to be allowed for cask. |
| for quit-rents, secretary's, clerks, sheriffs, surveyors, and other officers fees, to the person entitled to receive the same, there shall be paid and allowed by such persons to the sheriff or collector, six pounds of tobacco, for every hundred pounds of tobacco so paid, and so proportionably for a greater or lesser quantity; and the said sheriff or other collector is hereby impowered to retain the same in his hands: and the sheriff or other collector of the levies, quit-rents, and fees aforesaid, shall pay and discharge the same by the same notes which they shall receive in payment thereof. | Six per cent. allowed for collecting. Collectors shall pay the same notes they received. |
| XXXI. And be it further enacted, That during the continuance of this act, the clerk of the general court, and of every county court in taxing the costs of any judgment or decree obtained, or to be obtained, shall deduct out of the said costs the same allowance for convenience as shall or ought to be made and allowed to the party first charged with the fees so taxed in the bill of costs by the respective officers; and execution shall issue for no more than the said costs amount to after the said deduction. | Bills of costs shall be taxed in nett tobacco, and execution shall issue accordingly. |
| XXXII. And be it further enacted, That all public, county, and parish levies, quit-rents, secretary's, sheriffs, clerks, surveyors, and other officers fees, payable in tobacco, shall be paid and satisfied by the persons chargeable with, and indebted for the same, to the sheriffs or other collectors, by transfer notes, before the tenth day of April, yearly: And if any person, chargeable with the levies, quit-rents, and fees aforesaid, shall neglect or refuse to pay the same, within the time aforesaid, it shall and may be lawful to and for the sheriffs and other collectors, immediately after the said tenth day of April, to distrain the goods and chattels of the person or persons so neglecting and refusing, and to sell and dispose thereof for tobacco, in the same manner as is directed by law for goods taken in execution; and the overplus, (if any be) after paying the said levies, quit-rents, and fees, and the charge of distress, which is hereby declared to be the same as for serving an execution, shall be returned to the debtor. | Public due and officers fees shall b paid before the
tenth o April, yearly. In case of failure, collectors may distrain and sell. |
| XXXIII. Provided always, That where any goods or chattels shall be distrained, for non-payment of quit-rents, the same shall be redeemed by the payment of money for so much as the said quit-rents amount to; | Goods distrained for quit-rents, how to be redeemed, or sold. |
| and if not redeemed, the sheriff shall sell the same for money accordingly: and the sheriffs or other collectors of the said levies and fees, shall, before the last day of May, yearly, pay and deliver to each creditor, according to their respective debts or claims, all the inspectors notes he or they have received, in satisfaction thereof: and if any sheriff or other collector shall refuse or delay to make payment accordingly, if required, he or they so refusing or delaying, shall forfeit and pay to the party grieved, double the value of the tobacco so refused or delayed to be paid: To be recovered, with costs, in any court of record within this dominion, if the debt due exceeds two hundred pounds of tobacco; and before any justice of the peace, if the debt be two hundred pounds of tobacco, or under. | Collectors to account and pay before the last day of May,
yearly. If they refuse or delay shall forfeit double the value to the party grieved. How to be recovered. |
| Pages 135-154
| Pages 172-193
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