Pages 391-405 
|  Pages 439-457
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| Pages 391-405
| Pages 439-457
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| AT A GENERAL ASSEMBLY, BEGUN AND HELD | |||
|
Thomas Jefferson, esq. governor. | ||
 CHAP. I.* An act concerning the adjournment of the supreme courts. |
[Chan. Rev. p. 139.] | ||
| I. WHEREAS upon the punctual administration of justice, criminal as well as civil, the publick peace and well being depend for support, and it may be often interrupted by hostile alarms and other obstacles, if the courts be stationary at particular places; Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That so often as it shall appear necessary, it shall be lawful for the governor, with the advice of the council of state, by a proclamation, bearing date one month at least before the first day of meeting, and dispersed throughout the several counties (that of Illinois excepted) to cause the court of appeals, the high court of chancery, and the | Preamble. Governor & council may by proclamation change the place of holding courts; and the time. | ||
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| * In the original none of the acts of this session are numbered by chapters, nor are they separated by sections. −− Such only as were published in the Chan. Rev. will be so noted in this edition. |
| general court, to meet at any convenient place within the commonwealth, there to hold their respective sessions immediately succeeding each proclamation. If it shall so happen that the cause of adjournment shall occur within the space of a month next preceding the day of meeting, it shall be lawful for the governor, with the advice of the council of state, by a proclamation dispersed as aforesaid, to postpone the time of meeting beyond the day, taking care that one month at least shall intervene between the date thereof and such new day, and that the new day does not fall within the month next preceding a stated term, except that in the case of postponing the March and October session of the general court, no regard need be had to the June and December terms. If after a session begun, a majority of the judges of the aforesaid courts who are present, shall be of opinion, and so record, that they cannot sit with safety at the place at the place fixed by law, or the proclamation aforesaid, it shall be lawful for them to adjourn to the succeeding term: and thereupon all business shall stand continued over. A majority of the judges of the court of admiralty may, on any necessary occasion, sit at places other than that appointed by law, but reasonable notice shall be given by the marshal or his deputy to all parties to suits depending therein of such adjournment, if to be found, or to their proctor if absent: And if neither they nor their proctor be found, three weeks publication in the Virginia Gazette shall be adjudged sufficient notice of the adjournment. Copies of any proclamation of adjournment shall be sent, under signature of the governor and seal of the commonwealth, to each of the judges aforesaid, whose court may be so adjourned. No court, thus holden under a proclamation, shall be adjudged one of those, at which, a criminal, petitioning to be tried, and not being tried shall be discharged and acquitted; nor shall there be a discontinuance in any proceeding whatsoever, if the courts aforesaid, or either of them, should not be holden in their usual terms. | Judges may adjourn if they think they cannot sit with safety. Court of admiralty may sit any where on proper occasions. Courts held under proclamation not one of the two for trial or discharge of criminals. No discontinuance if courts not held in usual terms. |
| CHAP. II. | |||
|
See Nov.
1781, c. 9. Oct. 1782, c. 42. | ||
| WHEREAS the congress of the United States, by their act of the third day of February last, recommended it to the several states, that they vest a power in congress, enabling them to levy a duty of five per centum ad valorem, on certain goods wares and merchandizes, and also on all prizes and prize goods: It is therefore enacted, That the United States in congress assembled, shall be, and they are hereby authorized and empowered to levy a duty of five per centum ad valorem, to be paid in gold or silver, or the value thereof in the current money of the United States, or of this state, at the time and place of importation, upon all goods, wares and merchandizes of foreign growth and manufacture, which may be imported into this commonwealth, from any port, island or plantation not within any of the United States, after the first day of August, in the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty-one, except arms, ammunition, cloathing and other articles, imported on account of the said states or any of them, and except wool cards and cotton cards and wire for making them, and also except salt during the war; the said United States are hereby also empowered to levy a like duty of five per centum on all prizes and prize goods condemned by the admiralty court of this commonwealth as a lawful prize to be paid as aforesaid. | Congress authorized to impose a duty on goods and prizes. | ||
| And whereas it will conduce to the general interest, that the commercial regulations throughout the said states be uniform and consistent, Be it therefore enacted, That the said United States in congress assembled, are hereby authorized to appoint one or more collector or collectors in this commonwealth, to collect the said duties, according to such rules and ordinances for collecting the same, as they | And to appoint collectors. |
| shall judge expedient; Provided, That such rules and ordinances be not repugnant to the constitution and laws of this state. | Proviso. |
| And be it farther enacted, That the monies arising from the said duties, shall be appropriated to the discharge of the principal and interest of the foreign debts already contracted, or which may be contracted, on the faith of the said states for supporting the present war. | Appropriation of duties. |
| And be it farther enacted, That this act shall remain and continue in force until the full and final discharge of the debts herein before-mentioned, and no longer. | Limitation. |
| CHAP. III. An act to amend the act for raising two legions for the defence of the state. | |
| WHEREAS the act for raising two legions for the defence of this state needs amendment, in order to induce the well disposed citizens to enlist therein; Be it enacted, That all persons now enlisted, or who may hereafter enlist to serve in either of the said legions shall be exempted from the present draft for filling up this state's quota of continental troops. And the county lieutenant, or other commanding officer of the militia, shall, in making up his accounts of men on whom the said draft hath fallen, or may fall, distinguish such as belong to the said legions, for which his said county shall have credit in the number demanded for the purpose aforesaid; Provided, That the presiding officer at any draft shall cause the men so inlisted in the said legions, to be fairly drawn for as in other cases, and such officer or other person guilty of collusion to throw the draft on any person so inlisted, shall forfeit and pay twenty thousand pounds of tobacco, to be recovered by the commanding officer of the legion, in any court of record by action of debt in the name of | Troops in the two legions exempted from drafts. |
| such commanding officer, to which the drafted man shall belong, and applied by him towards procuring hospital stores for his sick. No person engaging either as officer or soldier in the said legions, shall be thereby debarred from enjoying or exercising any right, office or privilege which he might otherwise possess as a citizen of this commonwealth. | ||
| And whereas if the time of service was shortened it might conduce to the inlisting of men; It is farther enacted, That the officers may, and they are hereby empowered to recruit men for the term of three years. | Term of service. | |
| CHAP. IV. | ||
| ||
| WHEREAS it is necessary for the safety of the army, that all persons within a limited distance thereof should be subject to martial law; Be it enacted, That all persons whatsoever either in the American army or within twenty miles thereof, and also all persons within twenty miles of the enemy's camp, shall, and they are hereby declared to be subject to martial law, as declared by the continental rules, articles and regulations of war; and any person within the said limits, guilty of disobedience of orders or of any other offence, punishable by the said articles of war, shall be tried, acquitted or condemned, and punished as in and by the said rules and articles of war is ordered and prescribed. Provided, That this act shall continue and be in force until the end of the next session of assembly, and no longer. | Martial law declared within 20 miles of the American army, or the enemy's camp. |
| CHAP. V. | ||
| ||
| WHEREAS many places within this commonwealth have been exposed to the incursions of the enemy, whereby the freeholders of some counties have been prevented from meeting at the places appointed by law, to elect representatives to serve in general assembly; in order to prevent the like inconveniences in future, Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That during the present war, it shall be lawful for the sheriff of any county, when the usual place of holding elections shall appear to him insecure from the enemy, to hold his election at any other place within his county which shall be more safe, having given ten days notice thereof previous to the said election. | Elections for members of assembly may be held in any place secure from the enemy. | |
| CHAP. VI. An act for calling in and exchanging this state's quota of continental money. |
[Chan. Rev. p. 140.] | |
| I. BE it enacted by the General Assembly, That so much of the act of assembly, entitled "An act to explain and amend the act for calling in and redeeming the money now in circulation, and for emitting and funding new bills of credit according to the resolutions of congress of the eighteenth of March last," as directs the treasurer to exchange the old continental bills in the manner as by the said act is directed, shall be, and the same is hereby repealed. | Act of May 1780, ch. X. for calling in this state's quota of continental money repealed. | |
| II. And be it farther enacted, That from and after the first day of July next, the said first day of July next, the said old money shall | Old money not a legal tender. |
| cease to be a legal tender in discharge of any debt or contract whatsoever: Provided, That the sheriffs and other publick collectors shall continue to receive the same in payment of all publick debts and taxes, and upon the settlement of their several collections to pay the same into the publick treasury in discharge thereof. | But receivable in taxes. | |
| III. And be it farther enacted, That the treasurer of this commonwealth shall not pay out of the treasury, for any cause whatsoever, any part of the said money to be issued in virtue of the resolutions of congress of the eighteenth day of March, one thousand seven hundred and eighty, except by the directions of the executive or the legislature. | No more of this money to be paid out of the treasury. | |
| CHAP. VII. | ||
| ||
| WHEREAS in this time of publick danger, it is necessary to invest the executive with the most ample powers, both for the purpose of strenuous opposite to the enemy, and also to provide for the punctual execution of laws, on which the safety and welfare of the commonwealth depends; Be it therefore enacted, That the governor, with advice of council, is hereby empowered to call forth the forces and resources of this state, in such numbers and quantities, and for such purposes as the common good may make necessary, and to march or order them to such place or places as the service may require. The governor, with the advice of council, is also hereby empowered to procure by impress or otherwise, under such regulations as they shall devise, provision of every kind, all sorts of cloathing, accoutrements and furniture, proper for the use of the army, negroes as pioneers, horses both for the draft | Preamble. Extensive powers of governor & council; to call forth the forces & resources of the state. To impress property. |
| and cavalry, waggons, boats or other vessels and their crews, and also all other necessaries as may be wanted for supplying the militia or other troops employed to the public service. The governor, with advice of the council, may order out such particular officers as may be approved, to command any militia which shall take the field. The governor, with advice of the council, is also hereby empowered to apprehend or cause to be apprehended and committed to close confinement, any person or persons whatsoever, whom they may have just cause to suspect of disaffection to the independence of the United States or of attachment to their enemies, and such person or persons shall not be set at liberty by bail, mainprize or habeas corpus. The governor, with the advice of council, is also hereby empowered, if necessary, to send within the enemy's lines, any person or persons who hath or have heretofore refused to take the oaths of allegiance, unless such refusal shall have arisen from religious scruples or other reasons equally satisfactory, and who they shall have good cause to suspect, do still continue inimical to the independence of the United States; and also any person or persons having been previously convicted by testimony on oath before the said executive of disaffection to the government, giving any person or persons at the least twenty days notice of such banishment, that he or they may have an opportunity to dispose of his or their property, which they are hereby permitted to do. And any person refusing to go when so ordered, or returning after heaving so gone with the enemy's lines, shall be adjudged guilty of felony and shall suffer death without benefit of clergy. And if the time of executing any law for recruiting men or raising supplies for the army hath elapsed or may hereafter elapse before it hath been compleately executed, the governour, with advice of council, may, by his proclamation, appoint other dates for the execution of such laws, and any person or persons failing to carry into effect the law at such dates, shall pay and suffer the same penalties as they would have paid and suffered at the time of executing the said laws as therein prescribed. If any person or persons shall make opposition by force to laws for the express purpose of calling men into the field for the defence of this state, he or they shall be considered as civilly dead as to his or their property. | To order out particular officers. To apprehend disaffected persons, who are denied bail, mainprize, or habeas corpus. To send such persons within the enemy's lines. To banish others. Felony without clergy to return from banishment. Persons opposing the laws for calling out military force, declared civilly dead. |
| which shall go and descend to his or their next heir, or be distributed among his or their next of kin according to law; every such person shall also incur and suffer all the pains, penalties and forfeitures of a premunire. | |
| And be it farther enacted, That the governor, with the advice of council, may, if occasion shall require, appoint some three persons learned in the law, either of the judges of this commonwealth or of others, by commission of oyer and terminer, to hold courts at such time and place as shall be therein defined, which said court shall have full power to hear and determine all criminal matters which the general court could have heard and determined. The said court shall be attended either by the clerk or sheriff of the general court or by the clerk or sheriff of the county wherein it shall be held, either of which sheriffs shall summon grand or petit juries from the adjoining counties where the case may require it. Provided, That the said court may, by order, direct a venire to be summoned either of the by-standers or of others, where the circumstances of the case may prevent the getting of a jury from the vicinage. The said court shall be attended by the attorney general, or in his absence by any attorney for the commonwealth: And if the clerk of the county shall attend the said court, he shall transmit to the clerk of the general court a fair transcript of the proceedings of such court, to be by him carefully preserved among the records of his office. All persons owing suit or service to the said court so to be erected, shall be subject to, and pay the same fines, forfeitures and penalties for any neglect of duty, as the like persons bound to render suit or service to the general court are liable to. The said court thus constituted shall have power to adjourn from time to time as to them shall seem good, or as the public exigencies may require. | Special courts may be constituted by governor and council, with same powers, as to criminal matters, as general court. |
| And be it farther enacted, That the governor, with the advice of council, if it shall be judged necessary may discontinue the state quarter-masters and commissaries, and put into the hands of the continental staff officers the disbursement of the state resources, who shall furnish the militia, as well as other troops employed in the defence of this state, with provisions and other necessaries; for which purpose the executive may, if they shall adopt this arrangement, make application. | Governor & council may discontinue state's quarter-masters, and commissaries, and transfer their powers to continental staff. |
| to congress for a controuling power over the said continental staff: Provided, That care shall be taken to keep distinct accounts of the supplies furnished by this state for continental purposes, and that regular returns be made thereof to the board of auditors for the state, to be kept as vouchers for the said supplies. | ||
| And be it farther enacted, That all property taken or impressed by virtue of this act shall be duly appraised in specie on oath by two indifferent persons, and a certificate thereof delivered to the owner; and every person acting under an appointment from the governor to make impresses of any property whatsoever, shall previously shew his said appointment to the person or persons concerned, or to his or their agent if to be found: Any person making impressment contrary hereto shall forfeit and pay double the value of the thing impressed. This act shall continue and be in force from and after the passing thereof until the end of the next session of assembly, and no longer. | Rules in impressments, under this act. | |
| CHAP. VIII. | ||
| ||
| WHEREAS the now existing laws to regulate and discipline the militia and for providing against invasions and insurrections, have been found inadequate to the end, Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly, That the militia of this state when drawn out into actual service, and acting separately or in conjunction with regular troops, shall be and they are hereby declared to be subject to the continental rules and articles of war, except as hereafter is excepted; which shall be previously read to the militia so drawn into service. That every militia-man ordered into actual service, who shall refuse and neglect to appear at the time and place of rendezvous appointed for the company, corps or detachment | Militia in actual service, subject to articles of war. |
| to which he belongs, without a reasonable excuse, or produce an able-bodied substitute to serve in his room (but no person shall be admitted as a substitute except he belongs to the militia of the same county, and if it shall come to such substitute's tour of duty before he returns, then the person employing him shall be obliged to serve in his room or procure a second substitute) shall, upon conviction before a court-martial, be declared a regular soldier for six months, and shall, by order of such court-martial, be delivered to a continental officer for that purpose, who shall give to the officer delivering him a receipt descriptive of his age, person, occupation, and residence, which receipt shall be returned to the county lieutenant or commanding officer of the county to which the delinquent belongs, to the end that every such delinquent may, in case of desertion before the expiration of his term of service, be duly apprehended and punished agreeable to the law-martial. And for the due conviction of all such delinquents, a court-martial shall, by order of the county lieutenant or commanding officer, be held within ten days at such place as he shall appoint, under the penalty of ten pounds of tobacco on such county lieutenant or commanding officer neglecting to order the same, and of five thousand pounds of tobacco upon every member of such court failing to attend without a reasonable excuse. | Failing to appear at rendezvous, when ordered to march, or find
a substitute, declared a regular soldier for 6 months. Rules as to substitutes. |
| And be it enacted, That where any quaker or menonist shall be allotted to any division of the militia, who is to perform the succeeding tour of duty, he shall not be compelled personally to serve the same, but it shall and may be lawful for the commanding officer of the militia of said county, to cause to be levied on all the society of quakers and menonists in such county according to their assessable property, by warrant under his hand directed to the sheriff or any person or persons whom he shall appoint, such sum or sums of money as he shall think sufficient to procure a substitute for each quaker or menonist whose tour of duty it is, and the money when collected shall be deposited in the hands of the commissioners of the money tax, who shall pay the same on warrant from the commanding officer of the said militia, to such substitute or substitutes as may be employed for such quaker or menonist, | Quakers or menonists, not compelled personally to serve; but a substitute provided at expense of society. |
| and the overplus (if any) shall be returned to the said quakers or menonists in equal proportion to their different advancements or credited in their next money tax; and in case the money so collected shall not be applied as above directed before the next assessment, the said commissioners shall allow the same in discount of their several taxes. Any sheriff or collector failing to perform his duty as above, shall forfeit and pay five thousand pounds of tobacco, and each of the said commissioners who shall fail to perform his duty, shall forfeit and pay five thousand pounds of tobacco, to be recovered on motion by the said commanding officer of the militia in any court of record, giving ten days previous notice. The fines thus recovered shall go towards satisfying the quakers or menonists who shall be aggrieved thereby, and the overplus towards enlisting a soldier to serve in the continental army. | |
| And be it farther enacted, That any militia-man deserting while in actual service with public arms, shall, upon conviction before a court-martial, suffer death, or such other punishment as the said court shall inflict. And every militia-man deserting without public arms, shall suffer such punishment, not touching life or member, as a court-martial shall direct; to which end, if such deserter be apprehended before the discharge of the company, corps or detachment to which he belongs, he shall be forthwith returned thereto and be tried by the rules of the law-martial; but if such corps, company or detachment shall have been previously discharged, then such deserter shall be tried by a court-martial of the county to which he belongs; such court to be ordered by the county lieutenant or commanding officer of the militia upon receiving notice of the apprehension of any such deserter, under the same penally for his neglect in so dong and for the failure of attendance in any member of such court as is before directed. And for the information of the county lieutenant or commanding officer of the militia, the officer commanding a company, corps or detachment, to which such deserter belongs, shall certify the same as soon as may be to such county lieutenant or commanding officer, under the penalty of five thousand pounds of tobacco for every failure. | Penalty on militia deserting. |
| And whereas there are many difficulties in bringing delinquent officers of the militia to punishment; It is |
| farther enacted, That any militia officer either on duty or not, for crimes relating to the duties of his office may be arrested in the same manner as is allowed by the law-martial, and when arrested shall be tried within the number of days prescribed by the continental articles of war, before a court-martial to be appointed by the commanding officer at the post or in the county, and if the rank of the delinquent officer shall make it impossible to get a court-martial for his trial under the said articles, the governor, on information thereof, shall order a court-martial to be appointed out of the militia at large within any reasonable time, for the trial of the offender. The governor may arrest and bring to trial in manner herein prescribed any officer of the militia whatsoever. The members of the said court so constituted, shall take the oath of secrecy and also an oath to be conformable in their sentence to the continental articles of war as therein written. Every sentence of the said court where the trial shall be before the court-martial of the county and the officer tried shall be a field officer, shall be transmitted to the governor for the time being, who may either approve aor disapprove the same, according to the custom of the law-martial, but where the officer tried shall be under the rank of a field officer, in that case the lieutenant or commanding officer of the county where the trial shall be, shall have the power to approve or disapprove the sentence of the said court. | Militia officers, how arrested, and tried. |
| And be it farther enacted, That the militia of this commonwealth, when drawn out into actual service, except upon sudden alarms, for the defence of their respective counties, shall be entitled to and receive the same pay and rations as the officers and soldiers in continental service. The captain or othe rofficer commanding a company or detachment, shall, when discharged, make out a pay-roll to commence from the day they join the army when to act within the state, and from the commencement of their march when they are to act out of the state, which shall be examined and certified by the commanding officer of the regiment or detachment to whom they belonged; which pay-roll shall be by the officer laid before the auditors of public accounts, who are hereby empowered and required to issue printed certificates agreeable thereto, and shall be by the captain or officer paid to the men | Pay of militia when in actual service. Their certificates receivable in taxes. |
| entitled to receive the same, which said certificates shall be receivable in taxes; and in case any person or persons shall counterfeit, alter or erase, or shall aid or assist in counterfeiting, altering or erasing, the certificates so issued, or shall attempt to pass the same knowing them to be counterfeited, altered or erased, he or she so offending shall be deemed a felon and suffer death without the benefit of clergy. No person shall be considered to have performed a tour of duty unless he shall have joined the army or detachment where ordered. A tour shall not exceed two months, unless the relief ordered shall not arrive in time from any unavoidable accident. The militia marching to and from camp shall be furnished with rations at the public expence. | Death to counterfeit them. Tour of duty, what. |
| And be it farther enacted, That as an inducement, additional to what the law hath already given, to persons for apprehending deserters, that any militia-man who shall apprehend and deliver an able-bodied deserter to any officer of the continental army or of the troops of this state, not being under the rank of a field officer in either service, and taking the receipt of such officer for the said deserter, or if the deserter be a militia-man shall deliver him to the commanding officer of the battalion or regiment from whence he deserted and taking the receipt of such officer, in either case it shall be considered as having thereby performed a tour of militia duty. | Further encouragement to apprehend deserters. |
| And whereas an opinion hath prevailed that the courts are obliged by law to promote officers in the militia according to seniority, whereby great mischief hath accrued to the country by improper appointments; Be it farther enacted, That the county courts in all their recommendations of militia officers, are and shall be at full liberty to nominate their militia officers hereafter to be appointed out of the people in their respective counties at large, without paying any regard to seniority. And for the due promulgation of this act and the better information of the militia, Be it farther enacted, That such a number of printed copies of this act and of the continental articles of war as the governor may deem necessary, shall be with all possible expedition transmitted to each county in this commonwealth for the use of the militia officers therein, and shall by such officers be read to their respective militia, | Courts to nominate militia officers, without regard to seniority. |
| at every general and petty muster. Each county lieutenant failing herein shall for every offence forfeit and pay the sum of five thousand pounds of tobacco; each field officer three thousand; and each captain two thousand pounds of tobacco. | |||
| And be it farther enacted, That all the penalties inflicted by the said recited acts, or either of them, shall cease, and in lieu thereof there shall be inflicted an additional penalty in the proportion of ten for one upon every officer, non-commissioned officer and private, for neglect or failure of duty therein prescribed; which penalties, as well as those inflicted by this act, shall be recovered and applied in manner therein directed. | Fines encreased. | ||
| And whereas it has happened that some counties have been thrown into confusion by means of the necessary papers for laying off the militia into divisions being lost or destroyed by accident or neglect; for remedy whereof, Be it enacted, That the field officers of any county where such case may be, shall, upon the receipt of this act, immediately proceed to lay off their said militia into division, and cause the same to be again drafted agreeable to the rules and directions laid down in the act entitled "An act for providing against invasions and insurrections," in order that a due and regular rotation may be kept up. | New draft of militia, in what cases. | ||
| CHAP. IX. | |||
|
Chan. Rev. p. 140.] | ||
| I. WHEREAS the additional session of the general court which ought by law to have been holden on the second Tuesday in the month of June, in the present year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty one, was omitted to be so holden from an invasion | No discontinuance of general court, or its proceedings in consequence of a failure to hold a term. |
| of this commonwealth, and without some legislative provision a discontinuance of the said court may thereby be produced: And whereas amidst those distractions and exertions which are caused and called for by a state of war, no leisure is left for questions of a nature merely private: Be it enacted, That no discontinuance shall take place in the general court, or in any proceeding depending therein or belonging thereto, by the failure to hold the additional session aforesaid at the time aforesaid, but in every construction or adjudication in the said court or elsewhere, the adjournment from the session of the said court which was in the month of March in the present year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty one, to the said additional session, shall be taken and deemed as if it had been an adjournment to the session to be holden in the month of October in the same year, or to a session holden under a proclamation by the governor pursuant to an act of general assembly entitled "An act for giving certain powers to the governour and council, and for punishing those who shall oppose the execution of laws," according as the one or the other shall be first holden. | |
| II. And be it farther enacted, That until a declaration shall be made by the general assembly to the contrary, neither the court of appeals, the high court of chancery, the general court, nor any county court, shall hear or determine any matter, cause, or thing, except mere pleas of the commonwealth, private questions brought on by consent, suits instituted for the division of estates, contestations of wills, and such other cases in which the law requires not a declaration or bill in equity to be filed; but the said courts shall still be open for the issuing of dedimuses, for the examination of witnesses, writs of ne exeat republica, injunction, or habeas corpus, de homine replegiando, for the institution of suits in perpetuam rei memoriam, and for no other purpose whatsoever. And as the issuing of patents whilst there is so great difficulty in entering caveats may produce much injustice, It is farther enacted, That the register shall not issue any patent until the term of six months shall have elapsed after such declaration as aforesaid shall take place; and any patent so issued shall be void. Any caveat may be entered against the issuing a patent at any time within the said six months. | Courts suspended, except in particular cases (Suspensiou removed Nov. 1781, ch. 12.) The issuing of patents suspended. (Suspension removed Nov 1781, ch. 29.) |
| Of the time between the first day of January, in the year aforesaid, to the last day of that session of the general assembly, at which the foregoing suspension of judiciary proceedings shall be removed, no account shall be made in any computation upon the act of limitations. | Time taken out of act of limitations. | |
| CHAP. X. | ||
| ||
| WHEREAS the act of assembly passed in the year one thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight, entitled, "An act to empower the governor and council to lay an embargo for a limited time," which was continued by several subsequent acts, will expire at the end of this present session of assembly, and it is expedient that the same should be farther continued; Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly, That the act entitled "An act to empower the governor and council to lay an embargo for a limited time," shall continue and be in force from and after the expiration thereof, until the end of the next session of assembly, and no longer. | Act empowering governor & council ta lay embargoes, further continued. |
| CHAP. XI. | |||
|
[Chan. Rev. p. 141.] | ||
| I. WHEREAS the act of assembly passed in the year one thousand seven hundred and seventy eight, entitled, "An act to revive and amend an act to make provision for the support and maintenance of ideots, lunaticks, and persons of unsound minds," will expire at the end of this present session of assembly, and it is necessary that the same should be farther continued; Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly, That the act entitled "An act to revive and amend an act to make provision for the support and maintenance of ideots, lunaticks, and persons of unsound minds," shall continue and be in force from and after the expiration thereof, for and during the term of one year, and from thence to the end of the next session of assembly, and no longer. | Act making provision for idiots & lunaticks, further continued. |
| CHAP. XII. | |||
|
[Chan. Rev. p. 141.] | ||
| WHEREAS the act of assembly passed at the last session entitled, "An act to exempt artificers employed at iron works from militia duty," will expire at the end of this present session of assembly, and it is expedient that the same should be continued; Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly, That the act entitled "An act to exempt artificers employed at iron works from militia daty," shall continue and be in force from and after the expiration thereof until the end of the next session of assembly, and no longer. | Act exempting artificers at iron works from militia duty further continued. | ||
| CHAP. XIII. | |||
| |||
| WHEREAS the act of assembly passed in the year one thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight, entitled "An act to amend an act for preventing forestalling, regrating, engrossing and public vendues," will expire at the end of this present session of assembly, and it is necessary that the same should be farther continued; Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly, That the act entitled "An act to amend an act for preventing forestalling, regrating, engrossing and public vendues," shall continue and be in force from and after the expiration thereof for and during the term of one year, and from thence to the end of the next session of assembly, and no longer. | Act for preventing, forestalling, regrating, engrossing and public vendues, further continued. |
| CHAP. XIV. | ||
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| WHEREAS the act of assembly passed in the year one thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight, entitled "An act to enable the governor and council to supply the armies and navies of the United States and of their allies with grain and flour," expired on the fourteenth day of July last, and it is expedient and necessary that the same should be revived; Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly, That the act entitled "An act to enable the governor and council to supply the armies and navies of the United States and of their allies with grain and flour," be revived, and shall continue and be in force from and after the end of this present session of assembly for and during the term of one year, and from thence to the end of the next session of assembly, and no longer. | Act to enable the governor to supply the armies and navies of the United States, and their allies, with grain & flour revived and continued. | |
| CHAP. XV. An act to regulate the department of the war office. | ||
| WHEREAS it is necessary for the establishment of œconomy and greater regularity in the different departments of this state, to invest the commissioner of the war office with more ample powers, and more expressly to define his duty; Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly, That the said commissioner shall have full power and authority to demand and receive such returns from the different public offices as | Preamble. Powers and duties of commissioners of war more accurately defined. |
| may enable him to prepare for the inspection of government, as well the executive as the assembly, general abstracts of the state, applications, receipts and issues of the various articles of specific supplies, furnished by the several counties under the different laws for this purpose, and assigned to the respective departments according to the nature of their several employments. For this end, therefore, the quarter-master general shall once at least in every three months, make a report to the war office of all the stores belonging to his department, as well as exact accounts of all the forage collected by him or his agents in the different counties, by the various laws for raising specific supplies; he shall report the state of the magazines, with the quantity, quality and kind of stores in each, with the quantity, quality and kind of stores in each, with a special account of his transfers and issues to continental agents or for continental purposes, as well as of all other issues and alterations in the number, quantity and state of his stores of every kind, which may have occurred since the next preceding general report. Similar quarterly returns are likewise hereby required from the commissary general, comprehending all the articles of provisions procured, received or issued by him or his deputies, distinguishing the counties who have furnished their respective quotas to specific supplies, as also those which have not, with the deficiencies due from each, and distinguishing likewise the quantities and articles of provision furnished for continental purposes or to continental agents, by himself or his deputies. The sub or state clothier shall also make exact reports to the war office of his receipts and issues, distinguishing the supplies furnished by the continent from those by the state, and specifying the articles of cloathing delivered by the different counties and what may still be due from them respectively. From the commercial agent a quarterly return shall be lodged in the war office of all the tobacco and hemp raised by the taxes and allotted to his disposal, as well as of the stores he may have purchased for the public, and what he has issued to the various departments. The commissary of military stores shall also make particular returns of the state of his department, including the laboratory and military magazines, and account for all receipts and issues. The commissioner of the | Duties of quarter master general.
Commissary general, his duties. State clothier. Commercial agent. Commissary of military stores. |
| war office is hereby further authorized to demand and receive from the commissioners of the specific tax and of provisions in each county, exact quarterly returns of the various articles by them collected agreeably to law, to whom also they have delivered them, and what may be due in their respective counties. The commissioner of war is likewise authorized and required to discharge the duties belonging to the adjutant general's department. All orders from the executive to persons acting in any of the different military departments or upon military matters shall issue through this office and be recorded in it. Here shall also be kept a roster for the regulation of militia duty through the state, and register of the names and rank of the militia officers, with half-yearly returns of the strength of their respective corps and the number and condition of their arms and accoutrements. In this office shall be lodged descriptive lists of all recruits, deserters and militia delinquents, with the proceedings and sentences of courts-martial. Here shall be recorded the rank roll of the Virginia continental and state lines, and the reutrns of the strength of their respective corps. From this office shall issue all warrants for commissions to continental officers, and all commissions for the officers of the militia, signed by the governor and attested by the commissioner. It shall be the duty of the said commissioner to digest the various returns before mentioned from the departments into general abstracts, for the inspection of the executive and the legislature. He shall also superintend the establishment of magazines, the regularity of issues, and shall in general direct and manage (being subject both in the before enumerated duties, and also in all other things, to the controul and direction of the governor with the advice of the council) all matters and things within the department of war, as well as all persons holding offices or performing duties within that department. | Commissioner of war to discharge duties belonging to adjutant general's department. Military commissions to issue from war office. |
| And whereas from the constancy, difficulty and extent of business, which will of necessity pass through the said office, it will be expedient that the salary of the commissioner and the number of assistants should be increased; Be it enacted, That from and after the first day of July, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-one, the commissioner of the war office shall, in lieu of the salary heretofore given by law, receive | Salary of commissioner of war office. |
| forty thousand pounds of tobacco per annum, to be paid quarterly; and he is hereby empowered to appoint one first clerk; who in the necessary absence of the commissioner may superintend and conduct the business of the office, and also one assistant clerk. The said first clerk shall receive an annual salary of twenty thousand pounds of tobacco, to be estimated and discharged in like manner with the salaries given by law to other public officers, and the assistant clerk the same salary as is allowed to the clerk of the council. | ||
| CHAP. XVI. | ||
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| BE it enacted by the General Assembly, That the money emitted or to be emitted by an act of this present session of assembly, entitled "An act to empower the treasurer to emit a further sum of money," shall be to all intents and purposes a legal tender for all debts, in like manner as the money emitted at the last session of assembly. | Paper money emitted at this session a legal tender. | |
| And be it enacted, That the same pains and penalties be infliced on all persons for altering, erasing, counterfeiting or passing the same, or for having types or stamps as described in an act passed at the last session, entitled, "An act for punishing the counterfeiters of the paper money of this state or of the United States, and for making the same a legal tender," as by the said act are imposed and inflicted against such offenders. | Forging or counterfeiting, how punishable. |
| CHAP. XVII. An act to empower the treasurer to emit a further sum of money. | |
| WHEREAS the money already ordered to be emitted by an act of the last session, may be expended before the meeting of the next session of assembly, and it is expedient that the treasurer should be empowered to emit a further sum of money to supply the exigencies of government; Be it therefore enacted, That the treasurer of this commonwealth shall have power, and he is hereby required to issue treasury notes in dollars for any sum or sums of money which may be necessary for the exigencies of the state. The sum or sums of money to be emitted by virtue hereof, shall not exceed the sum of twenty millions of pounds, which money shall be receivable in all taxes whatsoever, and the public faith is hereby pledged for the redemption thereof, on or before the thirtieth day of December, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-four, by fair and equal assessment upon the whole property of this commonwealth. | Further emission of paper money authorised. |
| And be it farther enacted, That the governor, with advice of council, shall have power to stop the issuing of any part of the aforesaid sum if the situation of the country will permit. The treasurer shall cause the said notes to be engraved and printed in such manner and upon such paper as he may think most likely to secure them against counterfeits. The face of the notes thus to be emitted shall read in manner following, to wit: "No. −−−− −−−− dollars. This bill of −−− dollars shall be exchanged and redeemed in Spanish milled dollars, or the value thereof in gold or silver, at the rate of one for forty, at the treasury of Virginia, on or before the thirtieth day of December, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-four." On each of the said notes the treasurer shall cause such a device to be printed as will readily distinguish them from any others heretofore emitted. He shall also appoint proper persons to over-look the press, to number and sign the said notes upon the best terms he can, always observing to publish the names of such numberers and signers | One for forty. |
| in the news-paper. The bills of credit to be emitted by virtue of this act, shall be entered in the auditors office to the treasurer's account, and be signed by one of the auditors or by one of their clerks or by an assistant clerk, whom the auditors may appoint for this special purpose, who shall receive such an allowance for his trouble as they shall judge reasonable, without which signatures the said bills of credit shall not be current. | |
| CHAP. XVIII. An act for the relief of certain persons now resident on the western frontier. | |
| WHEREAS a number of poor persons with their families have removed to the Kentucky country, and by reason of great hardships they have encountered and expences incurred by them in their removal to that distant place and the parts adjacent, they have become unable to advance ready money to pay the state price of vacant lands. For relief of such poor persons, Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That the courts of the counties of Lincoln, Fayette and Jefferson, be, and they are hereby empowered and required to issue their orders to the surveyors of the said counties respectively, commanding them to lay out and survey for such poor settlers any tract of land in the said counties or either of them which shall be vacant. And the surveyor shall proceed with all possible expedition to survey such vacant land and make out platts and certificates for the same in the usual manner; and the register of the land office and all other officers of government, shall proceed in the usual manner for compleating the titles of such lands as in similar cases. Provided, That no persons shall be entitled to lands under this act, except such as are now actually resident in that country or the parts adjacent, and the masters and mistresses of families there at this time, and have not | County courts in the Kentucky country, authorised to direct surveys to poor persons, actual settlers, not exceeding 400 acres to a family. |
| acquired a right to land there either in law or equity, and are too poor to procure lands in the ordinary method. And the courts of the said counties are hereby required diligently to enquire into the circumstances aforesaid, and to grant no order of survey to any person except as before excepted. No order of survey under this act shall exceed the quantity of four hundred acres for each family, and the surveyor shall lay out the same in one tract, the greatest length of which shall not exceed the breadth by more than one third. All persons claiming under this act, besides the usual office fees, shall pay into the public treasury after the rate of twenty shillings in specie, or the value thereof in paper money, for every hundred acres, within two years and an half from the date of the survey, as the state price, and in default of making such payment, all rights and interest to such surveys shall be forfeited to the commonwealth, and the lands subject to the claim of any person who shall pay the said state price for the same, and prosecute by way of caveat in the manner prescribed by law. All orders of survey and proceedings contrary to the true intent and meaning of this act shall be void and of no effect or avail to the persons claiming under them. This act shall continue to be in force two years, and no longer. | Time of payment. | |
| CHAP. XIX. | ||
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| WHEREAS the average price of tobacco fixed by the grand jury at the last session of the general court, for the payment of the salaries of the officers of government, hath been found inadequate, and any estimate to be made of the average price of that article in manner aforesaid or by the market price thereof, may, during | Preamble. |
| the fluctuation of the times, produce injustice to the said officers; Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly, That for every hundred pounds of tobacco given by law to the officers of the civil list establishment respectively, including the commissioner of the war office, members of the general assembly, the clerks allowed to any of the said officers and those of the several public boards, there be allowed the sum of twenty shillings in specie, which specie shall be discharged in current money of the state according to such difference of exchange as shall be settled by the grand jury at the first session of the general court which may be held after the passing this act. And such difference of exchange shall thereafter continue to be made by the grand jury at each of the quarterly sessions of the general court in every year, and be the ration by which the said salaries shall be discharged in future. | Salaries of officers of government how liquidated. Grand jury to settle difference of exchange. |
| CHAP. XX. An act for enlisting soldiers to serve in the continental army. | |
| BE it enacted, That the governor, with the advice of council, immediately upon the passing of this act, shall proceed to appoint some discreet officer or officers in the respective counties within the state, to recruit by voluntary enlistments, any number of soldiers not exceeding the number of three thousand, for the term of two years or during the war; each soldier to be five feet four inches high, not being a deserter nor subject to fits, of able body and sound mind, fit for immediate | Officers appointed, to enlist soldiers for two years, or the war. |
| service. The recruiting officers shall be allowed all reasonable expences incurred whilst in discharge of duty, to be examined and settled by the auditors of public accounts, and a warrant shall issue to the treasurer for the payment of any sum so expended as to them shall seem just and reasonable. For every solder enlisted as above described the recruiting officer shall be entitled to the sum of twenty shillings in specie, or the value thereof in paper money. The governor, with the advice of council, shall have power to advance any sum of money necessary for the full execution of this act, either to the officer aforesaid or to some other proper person in each respective county where the recruiting business shall be, first taking bond and good security if necessary for the faithful application of the same. The men when enlisted shall be entitled to subsistence from the day of their enlistment. | Expenses of recruiting service, how paid. |
| And be it enacted, That every soldier who shall enlist to serve in the continental army for the term of two years or during the war, shall be allowed the sum of ten thousand dollars, to be paid down as soon as he is sworn for that purpose, and shall also be entitled to all other immunities that other continental soldiers are. The governor, with advice of council, shall appoint the place of rendezvous and also a proper officer to take a review of all the troops that are enlisted, and shall order the same to be marched on to join the army with all possible expedition. If upon a review any soldier shall be deemed unfit for service, the officer so recruiting him shall be responsible for the bounty-money or find another in his room. The time of service shall begin from the date of the review, and not sooner. | Bounty and immunities. |
| CHAP. XXI. An act for giving farther time to delinquent counties to pay their specific tax. | |
| WHEREAS it hath been represented that there are great deficiencies in the collections of grain under the act "For laying a tax payable in certain enumerated commodities," which hath in a great measure been owing to the frequent calls of the militia, by which means many were in service at the time the said act should have been complied with. And whereas the demand for grain for public use is pressing, and it is indispensably necessary that further time should be given for the collection of the same; Be it therefore enacted, That the commissioners of the grain tax in each county where the collection hath not been made, be empowered and required to receive from each person offering the same till the first day of August next, so much of the commodities as by the said recited act they may be chargeable with, of which public notice shall be given in their several counties, and the said commissioners shall, after the said first day of August, make proper returns to the execution of all such commodities by them received. | Further time allowed for payment of specific tax. |
| CHAP. XXII. | |||
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[Chan. Rev. p. 142.] | ||
| I. WHEEEAS the allowance heretofore made to the commissioners appointed to carry into execution an act entitled "An act for adjusting and settling the titles of claimers to unpatented lands," and to the sheriffs, surveyors and clerks attending the same, is inadequate to their trouble and expences; Be it enacted, That each commissioner for every day he shall necessarily be employed in going to, attending on and returning from the business of his office, shall receive sixty pounds, the sheriff thirty pounds for every day he shall attend, and the surveyor thirty pounds for every day he shall attend, in lieu of the former allowance made by the said recited act. | Allowances to commissioners for adjusting claims to lands, and their attendants, encreased. | ||
| II. And whereas the expence of carrying the said act into execution will be greatly increased, and it is reasonable and just that such expence should be defrayed by the persons to be benefitted thereby; Be it farther enacted, That for every hundred acres of land contained within the certificates to be granted by the commissioners, the party receiving the same shall pay twenty dollars to the commissioners, besides a fee of ten dollars for each certificate to the clerk. | Tax on suitors encreased. | ||
| III. And whereas the commissioners appointed for the purpose of carrying into execution the before-recited act, were discontinued in the district of Kentucky, whereby many good people of this commonwealth were prevented from proving their rights of settlement and pre-emption in due time, owing to their being engaged in the public service of this country; Be it therefore enacted, That the county courts in which such lands may lie, are hereby empowered and required to hear and determine such disputes as have not heretofore been | County courts in district of Kentucky authorised to hear and determine land claims, left unfinished by commissioners. |
| determined by commissioners acting in that country under the act of assembly; taking for their guide and direction the acts of assembly whereby the commissioners were governed. And the register of the land office is hereby empowered and directed to grant titles on the determination of such courts in the same manner as if the commissioners had determined the same. | Register to issue grants thereon. | |
| CHAP. XXIII. | ||
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| WHEREAS great abuses have happened and may happen both in the inequality of the prices and the exorbitancy of the sums at which provisions to be impressed for the use of the army shall be appraised; Be it therefore enacted, That so much of the laws heretofore in force or which have passed during the present session of assembly, as relate to the valuation of any provisions so impressed, are hereby repealed, and in lieu thereof, It is enacted, That the governor and council be empowered to fix from time to time a reasonable price in specie for all the said articles, as enumerated in and by an act of October session, one thousand seven hundred and eighty, entitled "An act to revive and amend the act for procuring a supply of provisions and other necessaries for the use of the army," and shall also be empowered to settle the allowance to be made in current money upon all certificates granted under this act, which shall be paid in taxes, to which said price and allowance the auditors of public accounts shall pay due regard, which shall be their guide for settling all certificate for the articles so enumerated; Provided, That where the quantum or weight of any such article may be matter of doubt, it shall be ascertained by the opinion of two indifferent persons under the same regulations as appraisements would have been made except for this act. | Governor & council authorised to fix the value of provisions impressed for the use of the army. | |
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| Pages 391-405
| Pages 439-457
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