Pages 482-521 
|  Pages 541-567
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| Pages 482-521
| Pages 541-567
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| CHAP. XI. An act to increase the salaries of certain officers of government. | |
| WHEREAS the wages and salaries hitherto allowed to the officers of government hereafter mentioned, are inadequate to the necessary expenses of their offices, and it is just and reasonable that all those who dedicate their time and assiduity to the publick service should have full and ample compensation for the same: | Preamble. |
| Be it therefore enacted by this present General Assembly, That from and after the last day of December in this present year, all former wages and salaries heretofore allowed to the said officers, shall cease, and in lieu thereof shall be paid to the governour the sum of three thousand pounds by the year; to the members of the privy council or council of state the sum of four thousand eight hundred pounds by the year, to be divided amongst such of them as attend or shall be in Williamsburg to attend, but prevented by sickness; to the treasurer of this commonwealth the sum of two thousand pounds by the year; to the judges of the high court of chancery the sum of eight hundred pounds each by the year; to the judges of the general court the sum of eight hundred pounds each by the year; to the attorney general eight hundred pounds by the year; to the auditors of publick accounts the sum of one thousand pounds each by the year; and to the commissioners of | Salary of Governour; council who attend, or are in Williamsburg to attend, but prevented by sickness; Treasurer; Judges of the High Court of Chancery; Judges of the General Court; Attorney General; Auditors; and Commissioners of the Navy, encreased. |
| the navy the sum of forty shillings each per day, for every day they shall respectively attend; which several sums of money shall be paid by the treasurer of this commonwealth in quarterly payments, or in any manner the said officers may prefer, so that not more than their said salaries or wages are drawn within the year, out of any publick money in his hands. | |
| So much of the act passed in October one thousand seven hundred ans seventy seven, giving proper salaries to certain officers of government, as comes within the sense and meaning of this, is hereby repealed. | |
| This act shall continue and be in force for one year after the said last day of December, and from thence to the end of the next session of assembly. | |
 CHAP. XII. An act for establishing a Court of Appeals. | |
| FOR establishing a court of appeals for finally determining all suits and controversies, Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That at such place* as shall be appointed by act of general assembly there shall be holden a court of appeals, which, in causes removed after decision from the high court of chancery, shall consist of the judges of the general court, and three assistant judges to be chosen by joint ballot of both houses of Assembly; in those from the general court shall consist of the judges of the high court of chancery, and the said assistant judges; in those from the court of admiralty, and in those adjourned into the said court from either of the others before decision, on account of difficulty, shall consist of all the said judges, in which court of appeals the judges of the high court of chancery shall take precedence, and next to them the judges of the general court, three fourths of the members who are to be of the said court in any case shall be sufficient to proceed to business, the judges also of that court from which the cause is removed after decision, shall attend at their places in the hearing thereof, and shall there | Court of Appeals established. Of what judges constituted. Precedence of judges. |
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| * Williamsburg, See post. chap. XXIII. |
| deliver the reasons of their judgments. Every such judge before he enters upon the duties of his office in the said court, shall, in open court, take and subscribe the oath of fidelity to the commonwealth, and take the following oath of office, to wit: "You shall swear, that you will well and truly serve this commonwealth in the office of a judge of the court of appeals, and that you will do equal right to all manner of people, great and small, high and low, rich and poor, without respect to persons. You shall not take by yourself, or by any other, any gift, fee, or reward, of gold, silver, or any other thing, directly or indirectly, of any person or persons, great or small for any matter done or to be done by virtue of your office, except such fees or salary as shall be by law appointed. You shall not maintain by yourself, or any other, privily or openly, any plea or quarrel depending in the courts of this commonwealth. You shall not delay any person of right for the letters or request of any person, nor for any other cause; and if any letter or request come to you contrary to the law, you shall nothing do for such letter or request, but you shall proceed to do the law, any such letter or request notwithstanding. And finally, in all things belonging to your said office, during your continuance therein, you shall faithfully, justly, and truly, according to the best of your skill and judgment, do equal and impartial justice, without fraud, favour, affection, or partiality." | Oath of judges. |
| There shall be two sessions of the said court in every year, to wit: One to begin on the twenty ninth day of March, if not Sunday, and then on the next day, the other to begin on the twenty ninth day of August, if not Sunday, and then on the next day, to continue each of them six days (Sundays excluded) unless the business depending before them shall be finished in less time, in which case the judges may adjourn to the next succeeding court. The said court shall have power to hear and finally determine all suits and controversies whatsoever which shall be brought before them by petition and appeal from the high court of chancery, or court of admiralty, or by writ of errour sued out to correct any judgment of the general court, or which shall be adjourned thither from either of the said courts, on account of difficulty. If the said court shall at any time be equally divided in opinion on any question coming before them by appeal, or writ of errour, the decree, | Terms. Jurisdiction. |
| judgment, or sentence of the court below on such question shall stand confirmed. Provided that no appeal shall be allowed to the said court, or writ of errour sued thereout, unless the matter in dispute, exclusive of costs, shall be of the value of fifty pounds, or some franchise or freeholder be in question; and that upon all such appeals, or writs of errour, the arty prosecuting the same shall give bond and security in the same manner, and shall be liable to the like damages upon the affirmation of the decree, judgment, or sentence, as is provided and directed upon appeals to or writs of errour sued out of the general court. | Bond and security on appeals. |
| The said court of appeals shall have power to appoint a tipstaff and cryer, and also a clerk, who upon bond and security given to him shall receive and file petitions for appeal addressed to the said court, and suggesting errour in the proceedings below; such petition being signed by counsel attending, some one of the superiour courts shall thereupon issue a summons against the appellee requiring him to appear and answer the said petition and appeal, and a supersedeas when it shall be necessary to surcease farther proceedings in execution of the decree or sentence; he shall also upon like bond and security issue writs of errour for correcting judgments of the general court; shall receive and carefully preserve transcripts of the records upon all such writs and on appeals which shall be transmitted to him by the clerks of the high court of chancery, the general court, and court of admiralty, repectively, entering the names of the parties in a docket in the order he shall receive them, that the suits may be heard in regular course, without preference to suitors, unless the court, for good cause unto them shewn, shall order any cause to be heard out of its turn. The said clerk shall also attend the court during their several sittings, and make due entries of their proceedings, and shall certify their affirmation or reversal of the decree, judgment, or sentence, in each case, with the costs of the party prevailing, to the court where the said decree, judgment, or sentence, was given; which court shall enter up the same, and execution shall issue thereupon, as well for the costs expended in the court of appeals, as the other matters recovered by the decree, judgment, or sentence. | Tipstaff, Cryer, Clerk. Petitions for appeals. Supersedeas Writs of error. Docketing causes. Clerk to certify affirmance or reversal. |
| No appeal shall be allowed to the said court, or writ of errour issued, until a final judgment be given in the court from whence the appeal is or to which the writ of | No appeal till final judgment or decree. |
| errour is directed. Previous to the hearing of each cause in the said court a clear and concise state of the case of each party, with the points intended to be insisted on, shall be drawn up and signed by the party's counsel, and printed copies thereof delivered to each of the judges for their perusal and consideration, the expense whereof shall be taxed in the bill of costs. | Statements. |
| Any person who had entered an appeal from a decree in equity, or a judgment at common law, of the late general court, to the king of Great Britain, in his privy council, if the decree or judgment were not affirmed or reversed, or the appeal dismissed, and notification thereof in the usual forms made to the said late general court, shall have right to lodge a transcript of the record with the clerk of the said court of appeals, all the members whereof are hereby authorised to sit in the said cases at any time within one year after the first session of the said court ended; whereupon the said court shall proceed to hear and finally determine the same, six months previous notice having been given to the adverse party; and their clerk shall certify their affirmance or reversal of the decree or judgment, with the costs of the party prevailing to the high court of chancery or general court (as the case may be) who shall enter up the same, and cause execution to be done as before directed in cases of appeals from the said high court of chancery or general court. | Appeals from the late general court to the king in council, not decided, transferred to the court of appeals. |
| CHAP. XIII. An act for dissolving several vestries, and for other purposes. |
[Chan. Rev. pa. 83.] |
| I. BE it enacted by the General Assembly, That the vestries of the parishes of Manchester, in the county of Chesterfield, of St. Paul, in the county of Hanover, of North Farnham, in the county of Richmond, of Elizabeth river, and Portsmouth, in the county of Norfolk, of Beckford, in the county of Shenando, of Nottoway, in the county of Southampton, of Hanover, and Washington, in the counties of King George and Westmoreland, | Vestries of parishes of Manchester, in county of Chesterfield; of St. Paul, in Hanover; of North Farnham, in Richmond; |
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of Elizabeth River, and Portsmouth in Norfolk; of Beckford in Shenando: of Nottoway in Southampton; of Hanover & Washington in King George & Westmoreland; of St. Stephen in Northumberland; and of Blisland in New Kent & James City, dissolved. | |||
| IV. For remedy whereof, Be it enacted, That all that part of the said parish of Hanover, lying in the said county of Westmoreland, be added to and made part of the said parish of Washington; and that all that part of the said parish of Washington, lying in the county of King George, be added to and made part of the said parish of Hanover. | Part of Hanover parish added to Washington, and part of Washington to Hanover. | |||
| V. And whereas by the addition of the said parish of Washington to the parish of Hanover the present glebe of the said parish of Washington will be in the said parish of Hanover and it is just and right that the inhabitants of the said parish of Washington should receive the benefit thereof, Be it therefore enacted, That the said glebe land, with the appurtenances, be, and the same are hereby vested in John Martin, John Washington, Thomas Turner, and Beckwith Butler, gentlemen, commissioners in trust, that they, or any three of them, shall, by deeds of bargain and sale, sell and convey the said glebe, with the appurtenances, for the best price that can be got for the same, to any person or persons who shall be willing to purchase the said lands, to hold to such purchaser or purchasers, his or their heirs, and assigns, for ever. | Glebe of Washington parish to be sold. | |||
| VI. And be it farther enacted, That the money arising from the sale of the said glebe shall be by the said commissioners paid to the vestry of the said parish of |
| Washington, to be by them laid out in the purchase of a more convenient glebe for the use and benefit of the minister of the said parish of Washington for the time being, for ever. | |
| VII. Provided always, That the collectors of the parishes of Hanover and Washington respectively, shall have power to collect and distrain for any dues which shall remain unpaid by the inhabitants of the said parishes of Hanover and Washington at the time of the divisions taking place, and shall be answerable for the same in like manner as if this had never been made. | |
| VIII. And be it farther enacted, That the vestry of the upper parish, in the county of Nansemond, shall, and they are hereby empowered and required to sell the workhouse and lands thereto belonging in the town of Suffolk for the best price that can be had, and upon receipt of the consideration money to convey the same to the purchaser or purchasers in fee simple; that the money arising from such sale shall be by the said vestry applied for and towards lessening their parish levy. | Vestry of upper parish in Nansemond to sell the workhouse and lands, in Suffolk. |
| IX. And whereas for the want of a vestry in the parish of Botetourt, in the county of Botetourt, the poor of the said parish are likely to suffer for want of proper support and maintenance, Be it therefore enacted, That the commissioners of the tax in the county of Botetourt shall, and they are hereby empowered and required to make the like provision for the poor thereof, and levy the expense in the same manner as the vestries of the several parishes within this commonwealth can or may do; and the said commissioners are hereby authorised to settle and recover all debts due to the said parish of Botetourt, and liquidate all demands against the same. | Commissioners of tax in Botetourt, to provide for the poor. |
| X. And be it farther enacted, That every sheriff, when required by the churchwardens of any parish within his county, shall collect the parish levy becoming due within the same, for the performance of which he shall enter into bond with sufficient security in a sum equal to the whole collection, and payable to the churchwardens and their successours; and if such sheriff shall fail to account for and pay his said collection on or before the first day of August, reserving a commission of six per cent for his trouble in collecting, the same proceedings shall be had for the recovery thereof in the court of the county wherein the parish is situate, at the instance of the churchwardens for the time being, as is by law directed in the case of county levies. | Sheriffs when required by churchwardens to collect and account for parish levies, in the same manner as county. |
| CHAP. XIV. | |||
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[Chan. Rev. p. 83.] | ||
| I. WHEREAS the act of assembly intituled "An act to open the courts of justice, and to revive and amend an act intituled An act for the better regulating and collecting certain officers fees, and other purposes therein mentioned," will, so far as the same relates to reviving and amending the said act, shortly expire, and it is necessary the same should be farther continued and amended: | Preamble. | ||
| II. Be it therefore enacted, That the act intituled "An act for the better regulating and collecting certain officers fees, and other purposes therein mentioned" (except the fifteenth section thereof) shall continue and be in force, from and after the end of this present session of assembly, for one year, and from thence to the end of the next session of assembly. | Fee-bill act revived. | ||
| II. Provided always, and it is farther enacted, That it shall be lawful for any person or persons chargeable with any of the tobacco fees mentioned in the said act, to pay the same in money at the rate of thirty three shillings and four pence per hundred of gross tobacco, for services to be performed after the passing of this act; and the clerks of the respective county courts, of the Hustings court in the city of Williamsburg, and of the general court, shall annually on or before the first day of March, deliver or cause to be delivered to the sheriff of every county in this commonwealth respectively, and to the serjeant of the said city, their accounts of fees due from any person or persons residing therein, which shall be signed by the said clerks respectively; and the said sheriff and serjeant is hereby empowered and required to receive, levy, and account for the same accordingly, on or before the first day of August, pursuant to the directions of the before recited act. | Tobacco fees, at what rates dischargeable in money & when and how to be accounted for. | ||
| IV. And be it farther enacted, That the allowances to sheriffs, jurors, and witnesses, attending the trials of criminals, shall be settled and paid in money at the rate of forty one shillings and eight pence by the hundred. | Allowances to sheriffs, jurors, and witnesses, in criminal cases, how paid in money. |
| V. And whereas the lawyers fees allowed to be taxed in the bill of costs by an act intituled "An act for allowing the full fees to which the lawyers practising in the several courts of this commonwealth" are entitled in particular cases therein mentioned, to be taxed on recovery in the bills of costs, are found insufficient, and it is unreasonable that the party who prevails and recovers in any such action or suit should be subject to the payment of a greater fee to his lawyer than he can recover from the adverse party, Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly, That from and after the passing of this act, the clerk of the high court in chancery shall, and he is hereby required to tax in the bill of costs on all decrees obtained in the said court a fee of ten pounds, and the clerk of the general court shall, and he is hereby required to tax in the bill of costs on all judgments obtained in the said court in any real, mixed, or personal action, where the title or bounds of land shall or may come in question, a fee of ten pounds, and the clerk of the said general court shall, and he is hereby required to tax in the bill of costs on all judgments obtained in the said court in any personal action (except as before excepted) or on any petition for lapsed land, a fee of five pounds, where the party obtaining such decree or judgment employed a lawyer, except against executors or administrators, or where the plaintiff may not recover more costs than damages; and the clerks of the respective county courts, or other inferiour courts of this commonwealth, shall, and they are hereby required to tax in the bill of costs in all decrees, and every judgment obtained on real or mixed actions, where the title or bounds of land shall and may come in question, either where the plaintiff may recover or be nonsuited, or where his suit shall be dismissed, four pound; and in all other actions, except by petitions, forty shillings for an attorney's fee, if the party employed one, except against executors or administrators, or where the plaintiff may not recover more costs than damages; and in all suits by petition the clerk of the said county court, or other inferiour courts, shall tax in the bill of costs the sum of fifteen shillings as an attorney's fee, against the party who shall be cast, where an attorney shall be employed, except against executors or administrators. | What lawyer's fees shall be taxed in bills of costs. |
| VI. And be it farther enacted, That so much of the said recited acts as is contrary to any thing contained |
| within the purview of this act, shall be, and the same is hereby repealed. | ||
| CHAP. XV. | ||
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| WHEREAS divers persons for their own private lucre, transport out of this state into parts beyond the seas, wheat, Indian corn, and other provisions, when the same may be greatly wanted for the relief of the inhabitants of this state and support of our army and navy and those of our allies. | Preamble. | |
| And whereas no person or persons hath or have been hitherto invested by the legislature of this commonwealth, by whom alone it can be done, with power to lay an embargo on provisions, except wheat, Indian corn, and other grain, when necessary and expedient for the good of the same, Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly, That it shall and may be lawful for the governour, with the advice of the council of state, from time to time to issue his proclamation, thereby prohibiting the exportation of beef, pork, bacon, wheat, Indian corn, pease, or other grain or flour, and meal made of the same, any or either of them, or any other provisions, for and during such time as he, with the advice aforesaid, shall judge most fit and necessary; so as such prohibition shall not extend to any vessel laden or to be laden by proper officers with all or any of the enumerated provisions for the use of the armies or navies of the Unites States or their allies. | Governor, &c. by proclamation may lay an
embargo, on exportation of provisions. Proviso. | |
| And be it farther enacted, That all beef, pork, bacon, wheat, Indian corn, pease, or other grain, and all flour and meal, or other provisions, which at any time during the continuance of such embargo shall be laden or put on board any vessel for exportation, except as before excepted, shall, together with the vessel, tackle, furniture, and cargo, be forfeited, and may be seized by any magistrate, naval officer, officer commanding a fort, | Vessels laden, in breach of embargo, forfeited with their cargoes. |
| or officer commanding any armed vessel in the service of this state, who are hereby empowered and required at any time during the continuance of the said embargo, to search any vessel on which it shall be suspected any prohibited articles are laden for exportation; one half of which forfeiture shall be to the use of the commonwealth, and the other to any of the persons abovementioned who shall seize, or any other person who shall inform and prosecute for the same; and the forfeitures shall and may be recovered by bill in the court of admiralty. | May be searched & seized by armed vessels. Penalties, how appropriated. |
| And be it farther enacted, That none of the prohibited articles, or other provisions, during the continuance of such prohibition, shall be transported or exported out of this state by land or in boats or vessels over any of the rivers in this state, except such as shall be transported for the use of the armies or navies of the United States or their allies, under penalty of the forfeiture of the carriage and team or boats or vessels employed in such transportation, together with the prohibited in articles contained therein, unless the person or persons transporting or exporting the same produce a certificate from the commissary or quartermaster general of this district, or his or their agent or agents, that such prohibited articles are ordered on by them for the service of the navies or armies of the United States or their allies; and the same may b e seized by warrant of any justice of the peace upon information to him made; the forfeitures to be appropriated as aforesaid, and recovered in any court of record within this commonwealth, by bill, plaint, or information. | No prohibited articles or provisions to be transported, out of the state, by
land. How they may be seized and forfeited. |
| And be it farther enacted, That during the continuance of such embargo every master of any ship or vessel shall, before he be allowed to clear out the same, enter into bond with one or more sufficient security or securities in the penalty of five thousand pounds, payable to the governour for the time being for the use of the commonwealth, with condition that he will not carry our or cause to be carried out in his said ship or vessel any of the articles prohibited by the embargo, which said bond the naval officer of the district is hereby required and empowered to take, and also every master of any such ship or vessel shall, with the two persons next in command in the said ship or vessel, take the following oath (or, being a quaker or Menonist, solemn affirmation) viz. "I A. B. do solemnly swear, or affirm, | Bond and oath, not to sail in contempt of embargo. |
| that there are not on board my ship or vessel any of the following articles, to wit, beef, pork, bacon, wheat, Indian corn, pease, or other grain, or flour or meal made of the same, any or either of them, or any other provisions prohibited to be exported, except such only as are necessary for the victualling such ship or vessel for her voyage. So help me God." Which oath the naval officer for the district where the said ship or vessel is laden, shall be, and he is hereby required and empowered to administer. | |
| Provided always, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to restrain the taking on board any ship or vessel any of the above enumerated articles, or other provisions that may be necessary for the victualling such ship or vessel for her voyage. | Proviso. |
| Provided also, That none of the articles prohibited laden on board any ship or vessel for exportation, before notice of such embargo, shall be liable to seizure or forfeiture, if the owner or owners shall, in convenient time after proclamation of such embargo issued, reland or cause the same to be relanded and disposed of in this state. | Further proviso. |
| Provided nevertheless, That where the inhabitants of any of the United States shall be in real distress for want of provisions, upon application of the executive power of such state to the executive power of this, it shall be lawful for the governour, with the advice of the council, to suffer provisions to be exported to such state; the naval officer taking bond with sufficient security in at least double the value of the cargo to be exported, and exacting an oath from the exporter for the faithful exportation thereof. | Executive may permit provisions to be exported to inhabitants of U. States, in real distress. |
| This act shall be in force from and after the passing thereof, unto the end of the next session of assembly, and no longer. And all other acts so far as they relate to any matter or thing herein contained, or within the purview of this act, are hereby repealed. |
| CHAP. XVI. | ||
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| WHEREAS divers ill disposed persons have possessed themselves of large quantities of salt, which they have not only refused to sell at any reasonable price, but to enhance the value of their own salt, and to prevent their fellow citizens from being supplied with that necessary article of life, unless they will submit to their exorbitant demands, have purchased up large quantities from the several retailers in this state, by voluntarily offering larger prices in the wholesale way than those retailers were actually selling the same for by the single bushel, which iniquitous practice calls loudly for redress: | Preamble. | |
| Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly, That it shall and may be lawful for the governour, with the advice of the council, and he is hereby authorised and required to lay an immediate embargo upon all salt now within this commonwealth for the space of four months; and that the holders of such salt may be deterred from attempting to export it contrary to the intent of this act, Be it enacted, That every vessel or carriage in which such salt shall be attempted to be exported, be, together with their lading, forfeited, one half to the informer, the other to the use of the commonwealth, to be recovered by bill or information in any court of record. | Embargo laid on salt. Penalty for attempting to export it. | |
| And that all persons who have purchased up large quantities of salt, with an intention of keeping up that commodity, may be disappointed in their wicked designs, to distress and ruin their fellow citizens, Be it farther enacted, That whenever any person shall be suspected of having engrossed a larger quantity of salt than is necessary for his own use, and shall refuse to sell the same at a moderate price, it shall be lawful for any justice of the peace of this commonwealth, and he is hereby required, upon the application of any freeholder within the same, to grant his warrant directed to three freeholders within his county, who being first sworn to | How salt engrossed may be seized & disposed of. |
| act impartially, shall have liberty, accompanied with the sheriff, deputy sheriff, or constable, to break open in the day time, and search for, seize, appraise, and value all the salt found in the possession of any engrosser, over and above what is necessary for his own use, so that they shall not appraise the salt so seized at a higher price than that which salt was actually retailed at by the single bushel at the time the engrosser purchased the same; and the said freeholders shall return a certificate of their valuation, together with the number of bushels seized, to the governour and council, who are hereby authorised and required to appoint one or more commissioners in each county, city, and corporation, in this commonwealth, who having first given bond and security in the sum of five thousand pounds faithfully to discharge his duty, shall take charge of, and store al the salt so seized in his district, and deliver the same out to the order of the court of each county, city, and corporation, in this commonwealth, in such proportions as the governour, with the advice of the council, shall allot and direct; provided that the valuation money, together with the sum of one shilling and seven pence per bushel, and the charge of storage; out of which price the said commissioner or commissioners shall retain in his own hands the necessary expense of storage, and one shilling per bushel for his trouble, and six pence per bushel to be paid by him to the freeholders who made the seizure, also one penny per bushel to the sheriff or officer who attended for their trouble, and shall pay the residue to the proprietor of the salt; and on failing to do the same in two months shall forfeit and pay the sum of one shilling per bushel, over and above what shall be due from him on account of the salt so delivered out, which money so due from him, together with the forfeiture last mentioned, shall be recovered by the proprietor on motion in any court of record within this commonwealth, provided the said commissioner or commissioners shall have ten days previous notice thereof. | |
| Provided nevertheless, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to empower the governour to lay an embargo on any salt hereafter to be imported, or to subject such salt to any seizure; and wherever any question shall arise whether the salt seized was really imported | Proviso. |
| after the commencement of this act, the onus probandi shall lie on the proprietor. | |
| Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to extend to any person who has really purchased or laid up salt for the use of his family, not exceeding what shall be thought by the said freeholders sufficient to serve the said persons family and stock for one year. | Further proviso. |
| And be it farther enacted, That if any justice of the peace shall, upon application made to him by any freeholder, refuse or neglect to issue a warrant, as is herein before directed, for the space of four hours, he shall forfeit and pay the sum of five hundred pounds; and if any freeholder to whom such warrant shall be directed shall fail to execute the same, he shall forfeit and pay the sum of two hundred pounds. And all other penalties and forfeitures hereby inflicted shall be recovered in any court of record in this commonwealth, by action of debt, bill, plaint, or information; one half thereof to the informer who shall sue for the same, the other half to the use of the commonwealth. | Penalties for refusing to execute this act. Penalties, how recovered and appropriated. |
| And if any person or persons shall be sued for any thing by him or them done in execution of this act, it shall be lawful for him to give this act in evidence upon the general issue, and if a verdict be found for the defendant or defendants, he or they shall recover treble costs. | Indemnification. |
| And whereas other persons who may wish to evade this, may, under the pretence of carrying the salt to the Eastern Shore, proceed with it to some other place, Be it enacted, That the same restrictions and prohibitions shall take place with respect to that part of the country as are directed with regard to the other states, it appearing that the inhabitants of the Eastern Shore have made salt sufficient for their own use. | Provision of this act extended to exportation of Salt to Eastern Shore. |
| And be it farther enacted, That this act shall commence and be in force from and after the sixteenth day of November in the present year. |
| CHAP. XVII. | |
| An act for establishing a board of Auditors for publick accounts. | [Chan. Rev. pa. 84.] |
| I. BE it enacted by the General Assembly, That there shall be a standing board of auditors for publick accounts, to consist of three persons, to be chosen from time to time as vacancies shall happen, by joint ballot of both houses of assembly, and to continue in office until removed by the joint vote of both the said houses, and where any person so appointed shall refuse to act, resign, or die, during the recess of assembly, it shall be lawful for the governour, with the advice of the council of state, to appoint some other fit and able person to act in his stead until the next meeting of the general assembly. The auditors so appointed shall not be capable of acting until they shall have taken the oath of fidelity to the commonwealth, and also an oath impartially and honestly to execute the duties of their office; which oaths during the sessions of the high court of chancery shall be taken before the said court, and during their vacation shall be taken before some judge thereof, and by him shall be certified to his next succeeding court and entered of record; any two of the said auditors so qualified shall have power to proceed to business. The auditors now in office by virtue of former appointments shall continue to act and be considered to all future intents and purposes as if they had been appointed by virtue of this act. | Auditors, how appointed, qualified and removable. |
| II. The said board of auditors are authorised and required to state and keep an exact account of all articles of debit or credit hereafter to arise between this commonwealth and the United States of America, or any of them, or any other state; to raise and keep accounts with all officers of civil government who are entitled to receive from the publick treasury salaries or wages fixed by law; to inquire into all legal expenditures for the army, navy, or militia, of this commonwealth (including in respect to the last those expenditure which ought to be paid by the United States, to adjust which no immediate provision shall have been made by congress) and on requisition from the governour and council to give their warrant to the treasurer | Their power, duty, and subjects of examination. |
| for the allowance of monies for such purposes, debiting therewith the person to whom it is confided, and calling him in due time to render account of the application thereof; to examine all demands for the hire of horses, waggons, or other things employed or impressed by authority of law for the publick service, or for the worth thereof, or injury done thereto, where the thing impressed has been consumed, lost, destroyed, or damaged, in such service; to make just allowances to expresses employed by the governour and council, the navy board, or our delegates in congress, or sent on the publick service to the governour and council, or to any Indian nation, the governour and council certifying there was good reason for sending such express, or to scouts and look-outs, or any others doing services to the publick for which they are entitled in law to receive payment, and no person particularly authorised to ascertain the quantum of such payment; to allow annual pensions to officers and soldiers of the army or navy raised by any act of general assembly, and disabled in the service, and to widows of those slain or dying therein, as also sums in gross for their immediate relief, proportioning the same with impartiality and discretion to the nature of every case, such sums in gross, however, to be given but once to any one person, and not to exceed one year's pay, and such annual pension not to exceed full pay; to enter in account all draughts on the treasurer for money by the governour and council, or by the navy board, for the publick service, to certify such entry to the treasurer for payment, and to audit in due time the expenditure thereof; to give warrants on the treasurer for the payment or advance of wages to our delegates in congress, debiting each delegate respectively with the warrant given in his name, and requiring account thereof to be rendered within three months after the expiration of his appointment; to audit all accounts for wages due to the members of the general assembly for service therein or for their travelling allowances, such attendance and allowances being previously entered with the clerk of the house of which such member is, in separate books to be kept for that purpose, and to lie during session on the table of the house, and being certified by the said clerk to be son entered; and to audit accounts for salaries or wages to the officers and attendants of the two houses; to settle the expenses of sending for the members |
| of either house by special messengers; of providing robes for the speakers and clerks of both houses, maces, lights, fuel, blank books, parchment, paper, and other articles necessary for the use of either house, or of the governour and council, or navy board, or the superiour courts of justice while on duty in the capitol; to audit all accounts for building or repairing houses or other articles of publick property, such buildings or repairs being authorised by act of assembly, or the previous vote of the two houses of assembly; to examine all claims for the support of prisoners where the publick is chargeable with such support, or for the removal of any such to the prison of the general court, or for the guard of criminals, or for jurors or witnesses attending their trials, or witnesses for the commonwealth attending a court of justice, or judicial officer in any other case, or for slaves executed by judgment of common law for any crime, or legally put to death under process of outlawry; to examine all claims, petitions, and applications, for money, which at the end of this present session of assembly shall be depending and undetermined before the assembly, and which are of a like nature with any of those submitted by this act to the examination of the said auditors; to call for annually and to examine the accounts of expenditures for the publick trade, the publick hospital, and for all works undertaken and carried on at the publick expense by authority from the legislature, and to enter the same in separate accounts; inquire into all demands for bounties or premiums payable by law out of the publick treasury for the encouragement of particular manufactures, of bringing to justice publick offenders, of destroying noxious animals, or of any other matter; to examine and enter in account all other demands for money on the treasurer made under authority of any law heretofore passed, or hereafter to be passed; to settle the accounts of all publick debtors, and of all collectors of any revenue, or tax, levied by act of general assembly, and payable to the treasurer, or of any monies due to the publick, to call upon such debtors or collectors to render account at proper times, and on failure so to do to instruct the attorney general to institute proceedings at law for compelling them to justice, and though it should appear on trial that the defendant oweth no balance to the publick, yet his having failed to render account to the auditors, and to take | Expences of General Assembly, & Superior Courts, allowed. |
| from them his quietus, shall subject him to the payment of all costs incurred by such proceedings, as well to himself as to the commonwealth; to require information on oath from any person, party or privy, of matters relative to any account under their examination and material for their information, to administer such oath where the party is attending, and, where absent, to take out a commission from the high court of chancery, directed to any justice of the peace to take his examination on interrogatories to be stated by them; whereon any such settlement a balance shall appear due to the publick to certify the same under their own hands to the treasurer, and hold the party charged therewith till he shall produce to them the treasurer's receipt for the same, on which they shall give him a quietus, debit the treasurer therewith, and certify such debits to the next committee of assembly appointed to settle the treasurer's accounts, and where such balance is due from the publick to certify it in like manner to the treasurer, and debit the party with such certificate; to enter in proper accounts all loan office certificates hereafter to be given, and endorse on such certificates that they are entered in the said auditors office, without which endorsement no such certificate shall be valid; to require counsel of the attorney general on all doubts in matters of law relative to the duties of their office; to state and keep all the accounts coming under their examination specially against each person, so as to shew amount of all warrants and certificates given on the treasurer, for what service or article of publick expense they were given, or where they have ben for money advanced, to whom it was advanced, and for what purpose, and to preserve the vouchers in due order; and also to raise general accounts shewing the amount of the expenditures for the army, the navy, the militia, the publick trade, the publick works, and manufactories of every kind, of pensions, claims, and all other expenses of government, each stated in a collective view under its separate and proper head, and to lay before the assembly annually the said general accounts, together with an account of all balances due to and from the publick as nearly as they shall be able. | |
| III. And it is farther enacted, That it shall not be lawful for the treasurer to pay or receive any money on account of the publick but on warrant or certificate from the board of auditors, unless in cases where any future | No money to be received and paid at treasury but by their warrant. |
| act of assembly shall in express words, and not by inference or implication only, declare that in that particular case it is to be understood as the intention that the claim specified by such act shall not be audited in the regular course, save only that the salaries of the said auditors, together with the accounts for the expenses of their office for fuel, blank books, paper, presses for the preservation of their books and papers, and other implements necessary for the use of their office, shall be examined and certified for payment to the treasurer by the governour and council. | Except by express action of assembly. And except their own accounts. |
| IV. The said auditors shall be allowed a clerk of accounts, and an assistant clerk, to be appointed by themselves from time to time at their will, who, before entering on the exercise of their offices shall take the like oath, and in like manner as is before directed for the said auditors to take, and shall receive annual salaries, to wit, the said clerk of accounts four hundred pounds, and the said assistant clerk two hundred and fifty pounds by the year. | Clerks, to auditors. |
| V. Where the auditors acting according to their discretion and judgment shall disallow or abate any article of demand against the commonwealth, and any person shall think himself aggrieved thereby, he shall be at liberty to petition the high court of chancery or the general court, according to the nature of his case, for redress, and such court shall proceed to do right thereon; and a like petition shall be allowed in all other cases to any other person who is entitled to demand against the commonwealth any right in law or equity. | Appeal from their decisions. |
| VI. The act of general assembly passed in the year one thousand seven hundred and seventy six, and intituled "An act to establish auditors of publick accountts, " is hereby repealed. | Repeal of a former act. |
| Pages 482-521
| Pages 541-567
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