Pages 60-81
|  Pages 105-129
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| Pages 60-81
| Pages 105-129
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| CHAP. XLVII. | [Chapter LXXXVII in original.] | ||
|
[Chan. Rev. p. 166.] | ||
| I. WHEREAS by an act of the last session of assembly certain certificates were directed to be granted the officers and soldier raised by this state, for deprecation and arrears of pay due them, which certificates, from the urgent necessity to the said officers and soldiers, and from the insufficiency of the funds provided for their redemption, have already depreciated in their value, and without the aid of the legislature, will not answer the equitable purpose for which they were intended: Be it therefore enacted, That all persons who have obtained or may hereafter obtain injunctions in chancery to stay the sale of any escheated or forfeited estates, or have filed, or may hereafter file a plea of monstrans de droit, or traverse, shall be considered as plaintiffs prosecuting against the commonwealth, in which the proof shall lie upon them; and the court of chancery or general court, as the case may be, shall, at their second sessions after any injunction obtained, or plea of monstrans de droit, or traverse filed, proceed to hear, try and determine the same, unless good cause for a continuance be shewn to the court, otherwise every such injunction shall be considered as dissolved, or plea of monstrans de droit, or traverse set aside. | Preamble. Injunctions or pleas to stay sale of escheated property to be expedited. | ||
| II. And be it further enacted, That upon any information being given to an escheator, that any British subject, or other person absent, or his or their attorney, on his or their behalf, hath made a fraudulent or fictitious | Fraudulent conveyances of British subjects. |
| conveyance of the estate of such British subject or absentee, since the nineteenth day of April, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five, such escheator shall, and he is hereby empowered and required to summon, as well the trustee, or person to whom such estate may have been conveyed, as also such other persons as can give evidence thereon, to appear before a jury of inquest, and if the said jury upon examination of the witnesses, the oath of the party, or other sufficient evidence, shall find that such British subject or absentee, hath any present or future interest in the said estate, such interest shall be forfeited to the commonwealth for the purposes aforesaid: | |
| III. And be it further enacted, That so much of the act for sequestering British debts as authorizes the payment thereof, be, and it is hereby revived and put in full force. And all persons indebted to British subjects, and others, absentees as aforesaid, who shall annually in the month of May, pay into the public treasury, in specie, or in the tobacco or hemp, at the prices to be fixed by the auditors, one tenth part or more of the debts they respectively owe to such British subjects or absentees, shall be so far exonerated from the same: Saving, however, to any bona fide creditors of such British subjects or absentees, the right which by law they may have to attache such debts in the general court or court of any county where such debtor or debtors to any British subject or absentee resides. And the treasurer is hereby directed to sell at public auction, as soon as may be, for specie or the said certificates, all such tobaccoes or hemp, and the money arising therefrom, as also all sums as may be paid into the treasury by the said debtors, shall in the month of June in every year, be applied to the discharge of the interest due upon the said certificates, which said interest shall be computed to commence on the first day of January last. And should it so happen, that after the payment of the interest as aforesaid, there shall be remaining in the treasury, on the first day of July for two years next to come, any monies arising from the funds appropriated for payment of the interest and redemption of the said certificates, the same shall be paid to the holders thereof in equal proportion. | Payment of British debts into the treasury revived. Creditors may attach. |
| IV. And be it further enacted, That no escheated or forfeited estate shall hereafter be sold without three months previous notice thereof in the gazette. | Sale of forfeited estates. |
| V. And whereas the documents required by the auditors of public accounts as legal vouchers for the settlement of the pay accounts of the officers and soldiers, who have served in the northern or southern armies, or in the county of Ilinois, can never be produced, owing to the deaths of many individuals, and the unavoidable separation and other accidents which the events of war have occasioned: Be it therefore enacted, That the said officers who have served for any term not less than one year prior to the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty-one, shall be admitted to settle their pay accounts with the public auditors upon oath: And any soldier producing the discharge of his captain or commanding officer, shall be entitled to the arrears of cloathing and his pay for the time expressed in the discharge, or in case of such time not being ascertained, then shall be entitled to his pay for the term of his enlistment. And the like certificates for the balances, if any shall appear to be due, shall be thereupon granted by the auditors to the said officers and soldiers. | Officers and soldiers to pass their accounts on oath. |
| VI. Provided always, and it is hereby further enacted, That the more effectually to guard against the depreciation of the said certificates, the auditors of public accounts shall, for the present, issue certificates for the one third part only of the respective officers and soldiers, and the remainder at such times and in such proportions as hereafter may, to the governor in council, appear fit, upon the application of any three or more of the general and field officers heretofore appointed by the said officers to act for them in his behalf. | Guard against further depreciation. |
| VII. And whereas it is necessary that the number of claims to any part of the lands appropriated for the benefit of the said officers and soldiers should be speedily ascertained; Be it therefore enacted, That all persons having claims as aforesaid be required, and they are hereby directed, to transmit authenticated vouchers of the same to the war-office on or before the first day of January next; and if any person having such claim shall be without the state, he shall transmit the same on or before the first day of June next following. | Officers and soldiers to give in their public claims. |
| VIII. And be it further enacted, That the register of the land-office be, and he is hereby empowered and required to grant to the said officers and soldiers, warrants | How their land warrants are to be obtained. |
| for the lands allotted them, upon producing to the register a certificate of their claims respectively from the commissioner of war, and no otherwise. | |
| IX. And be it further enacted, That any officer or soldier who hath not been cashiered or superseded, and who hath served the term of three years successively, shall have an absolute and unconditional title to his respective apportionment of the land appropriated as aforesaid. And for every year which every officer or soldier may have continued, or shall hereafter continue in service beyond the term of six years, to be computed from the time he last went into service, he shall be entitled to one sixth part in addition to the quantity of the land apportioned to his rank respectively. | Bounty in land for 3 years service.
Addition for six years service. |
| X. Provided always, and it is hereby enacted, That no surveyor shall be permitted to receive any location upon any warrant for lands within the county [country] reserved for the officers and soldiers, until the apportionment and draught for the same, as directed by the act intituled, "An act to adjust and regulate the pay and accounts of the officers and soldiers of the Virginia line on continental establishment, and also of the officers, soldiers, sailors and marines in the service of this state, and for other purposes." | No locations within their bounds. |
| XI. And be it further enacted, That the said officers and soldiers certificates shall be received in lieu of any fees or other monies which may be hereafter due to the public for patents for the lands assigned to the said officers and soldiers by law. | Their certificates to be received for public patent fees. |
| XII. And be it further enacted, That so many officers and soldiers in lieutenant-colonel Lee's legion, or any other corps, as are credited to the quota of troops required from this state and properly belonging to the same, as also all military staff officers appointed from, and acting in, the Virginia continental line, upon producing to the auditors a certificate in favor of any such officer or soldier from the commissioner of war, shall be allowed certificates for depreciation and arrears of pay, in like manner and upon the same terms as the other troops raised by this state. And the commissioner of war is hereby authorised and required to take the most effectual precautions which he may think proper, precisely to ascertain the claims of such staff officers | Certain officers included in pay & bounty. |
| XIII. And be it further enacted, That the naval officers, sailors and marines of this state, shall, in all respects, have the same claims, and be subject to the same restrictions and regulations, in all matters coming within the purview of this act, as are allowed to the officers and soldiers in the land service of the same. So much of the act intituled, "An act to adjust and regulate the pay and accounts of the officers and soldiers of the Virginia line on continental establishment, and also the officers, soldiers, sailors and marines in the service of this state, and for other purposes," as comes within the purview of this act, shall be, and is hereby repealed. | Repealing clause. |
 CHAP. XLVIII. An act for establishing a district court on the western waters. |
[Chapter LXXXVIII in original.] [Chan. Rev. p. 167.] |
| I. WHEREAS the mode of administering justice has become exceedingly inconvenient and burthensome to suitors living westwardly of the Allegany mountains; Be it therefore enacted, That from and after the first day of August next, the counties of Jefferson, Fayette and Lincoln shall be one district, and called the Kentucky district, for which there shall be a supreme court of judicature of original jurisdiction, (separate and independent of all other courts except the court of appeals) which said court shall have cognizance and jurisdiction of all treasons, murders, felonies, crimes and misdemeanors committed in the said district, except those made triable by the constitution before the general court; and also of all other crimes, matters and things at common law and in chancery arising therein, of which the high court of chancery and general court now have cognizance; and from and after the said first day of August, the said high court of chancery and general court shall cease to exercise any original jurisdiction whatsoever within the said district, except in | Preamble. District described. Supreme court. Jurisdiction. |
| the case before-mentioned, and thereafter the court of the district shall have and exercise the same controuling power over the county and other inferior courts within the district, which are now exercised over them by the high court of chancery and general court, and all appeals from such inferior courts shall be made to the court of the district. There shall be one judge and two assistant judges for the said court, chosen by joint ballot of both houses of assembly and commissioned by the governor, who shall reside in the district, and any two of them may hold a court, and vacancies during the recess of the assembly shall be supplied in the manner pointed out by the constitution. The said judges shall, before entering upon the duties of their office, take the oaths prescribed by law to be taken by the judges of the high court of chancery and general court, adapting them to their respective cases which oaths may be administered to any one of the said judges by one of the others, and by him to the other two. They shall hold four sessions in every year, to commence on the first Mondays in March, June, September and November, and shall continue eighteen days, exclusive of Sundays, unless the business depending before them be sooner finished; and if two of the said judges shall not attend on the first day of any term, one judge may adjourn the court till the next day, and so on from day to day for six days, and if another judge shall not then attend, the said court shall be adjourned till the court in course, and thereupon all causes, matters and things depending before the court shall stand continued till the next court. The first three days of every term shall be set apart for the trial of criminal matters, the next five days for chancery matters, ant the rest of the term for the trial of other business; but the judges for good cause may, before issuing subpœnas, order their clerk to regulate his docket otherwise so as not to postpone criminal matters which shall be first tried. The said court shall be a court of record, and shall, at any time during the term, take cognizance of matters arising within the district respecting the probate of deeds and wills and granting letters of administration, and may admit deeds to record within the time limited by law, either upon proof or acknowledgment thereof before such court, or upon a certificate to such proof or acknowledgment before | Three judges to reside in the district. Their oath. Sessions. Mode of adjournment. Allotment of business to different days. Power as to deeds and wills. |
| any other common law court from the clerk of such court and under the seal thereof. The said court shall also have jurisdiction of all matters respecting escheats and forfeitures arising within the district, and in those cases escheators returns shall be made thereto and other proceedings had therein according to law. All caveats against grants for land lying in the said district, and all local actions accruing therein, heretofore cognizable before the said high court of chancery and general court, shall be tried in the court of the district; and such caveats may, after the said first day of August, be entered in the office of the deputy register, and shall, within one month after such entries, respectively be entered in the office of the clerk of the district, and summonses issued thereupon; but after the return of the plats and certificates to the land-office, caveats shall be entered in the register's office, and the term of six months allowed for the entry thereof in the office of the clerk of the district. All process shall bear test in the name of, and be signed by the clerk of the said court, and may be sent into any county in the district; and where local actions shall be commenced against defendants living out of the district, or defendants in other actions shall remove therefrom after the commencement of any suits, process may in those cases be sent into the counties in which the defendants live. Executions, attachments for contempts, commissions for taking acknowledgments of feme coverts to deeds, for taking depositions of witnesses not living in the district, which the said court shall award, upon good cause shewn may in like manner be sent to the counties in which the parties live. All process issuing from the said court shall be returnable to the days herein after mentioned, to wit: writs of habeas corpus issued in vocation, unless ordered to be returned before a single judge, and process in criminal cases, to the first day of every court: Process and appeals in chancery, to the fourth or seventeenth days: Habeas corpuses issued in term time, on such days as the court shall direct: Appeals in other cases, and all other process, except subpœnas, on the ninth or seventeenth days: Subpœnas for witnesses, on such days as the suits shall stand docketted to, and the court shall, on the ninth day thereof, regulate all matters respecting the rule docket, and try all disputes respecting bail. At the commencement of every term, | Escheats & forfeitures. Caveats and local actions. Process. May be sent out of the district in certain cases. Return days. Rule proceedings when to be regulated. |
| the sheriff of the county in which the court may be held, and as many of his deputies as are necessary, shall constantly attend, and shall summon twenty-four able and discreet freeholders, or others qualified by law to serve as jurors, to appear on the first day thereof, who, or any sixteen of them appearing, may be sworn a grand jury for the district, who shall have power to present all offences committed therein, but the court shall have power to discharge such grand jury whenever it is necessary, order another to be summoned, and may proceed to the trial of criminals at any time during the term, if such criminals shall desire it. All persons committing capital offences in the said district, shall be examined in the courts respectively of the counties in which they are apprehended, and shall be tried by juries from the counties in which the offences are committed, and may be removed to and tried in the court of the district, in the same manner as is now practised in the general court. Provided, That there shall be at least six weeks between the time of passing sentence of death upon any criminal and the execution thereof; and the judges shall have power, for good cause shewn, to respite execution of any such criminal eight months. All actions, suits and other matters depending in the high court of chancery and general court, which by this act are made cognizable in the court of the said district, shall be transferred tot he docket of such court, to be proceeded on in the same manner as if they had originated therein. And all papers and pleadings filed in such suits, shall be delivered to the clerk of the said court, to be filed in his office. The clerk of the said court shall call over his appearance docket, both in common law and chancery, on the fourth Mondays in those months in which courts are held, which are hereby declared to be the appearance days upon process, returnable to the preceding courts, and shall call over his docket on the same day in every month between the terms, whereupon such steps shall be taken as are directed in like cases in the high court of chancery and general court, and the same rules of proceeding observed therein, and when issues are made up, or suits in chancery set for trial, they shall be entered on the court docket for trial at the next term, the clerk setting as nearly an equal number thereof as may be, or as the court shall direct, to the days | Grand jury. Trial of criminals. Their execution respited. Suits now in the chancery or general court transferred. Appearance day. Rule days. Rules. Docket to be regulated. |
| set apart for the trial thereof. And the judgments and decrees of the said court when rendered, shall be final in all cases, except those in which the court of appeals hath a controuling power over the high court of chancery and general court, in which cases the court of appeals shall have the like controuling power over the court of the district. The said district court shall have power to appoint their clerk and gaoler, and to superintend and regulate all matters respecting their gaol, and my also appoint persons to contract for building, repairing or enlarging the court-house and prison; and such gaoler, by warrant of a justice of the peace of his county, may summon guards to attend the gaol during the confinement of criminals, who shall obey such summons, or be liable to be fined by the said court, at their discretion, not exceeding twenty shillings for one offence. The said court shall also order seals to be provided for the use of the court, and any one of the judges thereof, out of session, shall have power to award writs of ne-exeat, injunctions, supersedeas, and certiorari, to award writs of habeas corpus, returnable before him at his chambers, to take recognizance of special bail, and to perform all other duties which a judge of the high court of chancery or general court can perform; and any acting justice of the peace may in like manner take recognizance of special bail in suits depending in the said district court. There shall be a person appointed by joint ballot of both houses of assembly, to attend the said court as attorney for the commonwealth; and in case of a vacancy during the recess of the assembly, it shall be supplied by the governor and council pro tempore, which said attorney and judges shall hold their offices on the same terms, and be punishable for misfeazance therein, in the same manner with the judges of the general court and the attorney general, and shall, as well as their clerk, be exempted from military duty. | Judgments to be final, except the power of court of
appeals. To appoint clerk & jailer, and superintend the jail. Build courthouse & prison. Jailer to impress guards. Providing for seals. Power of one judge out of session. Attorney for the commonwealth. He and the judges to hold their offices during good behaviour. |
| II. And be it further enacted, That where it is not otherwise directed by this act, all officers of the said court shall have the same powers, perform the same duties, and be entitled to the same fees as are given to, required of, or payable to the like officers of the high court of chancery and general court; and that in all cases not hereby particularly provided for, the said | General rules for court & officers. |
| court shall be governed by the laws and regulations now in force in the high court of chancery and general court. | |
| III. And whereas it is just that those who receive the benefit of the before mentioned regulations should bear the expence thereof: Be it enacted, That upon the commencement of any action or suit in the said court, there shall be paid to the clerk a tax of twenty shillings, to be by im accounted for and paid at the end of every term, that is to say: The sum of fifty pounds to the judge, the sum of twenty shillings to each assistant judge for every day they shall respectively attend, and the sum of thirty-seven pounds ten shillings quarterly to the attorney of the commonwealth, and the remainder of such tax, if any, to be applied towards defraying the expences of the public buildings, and such clerk shall be entitled to five per centum for his trouble in collecting and paying the same. | Taxes on suitors. How disposed of. |
| IV. And be it further enacted, That the judges of the said court shall hold their sessions at Harrodsburg, in the county of Lincoln, until proper buildings shall be erected at such place as the general assembly shall direct, and in the mean time shall have power to adjourn the said court to such places as they may think proper; and shall also have power over the gaoler of the county in which the courts are held, who shall receive into his custody, all persons committed by the said court. | Present place of session. |
| V. And whereas it may not be expedient to proceed immediately to the appointment of the judges and attorney for the said district: Be it therefore enacted, That the governor, with the advice of the council, shall make temporary appointments in the mean time; the persons so appointed to have the same powers, and be entitled to the same salaries, as are by this act given or payable to the attorney and judges to be appointed by the general assembly. Provided always, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent the solicitor general from obtaining judgments in the general court against delinquent sheriffs and collectors in the district aforesaid. | Governor to make temporary appointments of judges & attorney. |
| CHAP. XLIX. | [Chapter LXXXIX in original.] | ||
|
[Chan. Rev. p. 169.] | ||
| I. WHEREAS the powers of the commissioners for adjusting and settling the titles of claimers to unpatented lands will expire before the business can be finished: Be it therefore enacted, That all the powers heretofore given them, except in the district of Kentucky, shall continue and be in force until the first day of June next, and that the like time be allowed for locating pre-emption warrants in the surveyors offices respectively. | Powers of commissioners for adjusting titles to lands continued; and time for locating pre-emption warrants extended; | ||
| II. And whereas sundry persons omitted to have their certificates recorded in the surveyor's office and to enter their settlement rights in his books within the time prescribed by law: Be it therefore enacted, That such persons shall be allowed until the first day of may next to make such entries and record such certificates. | And to have certificates recorded. | ||
| III. And whereas great inconveniencies have arisen from the register's not having been furnished with a copy of the proceedings of the commissioners for the district of Kentucky: Be it therefore enacted, That the said commissioners shall forthwith deliver to the said register all the books and papers respecting their said business, which books, or authentic copies of any certificates, shall be sufficient authority to the register to issue pre-emption warrants upon the claimants performing the other requisites in those cases. | Books and papers of Kentucky commissioners to be delivered to register. | ||
| IV. And whereas in some cases plotts and certificates of survey have not been recorded in the surveyor's office nor returned to the register's office within the times respectively limited by law, and it is doubtful whether the lands held under such surveys are not sill liable to be caveated: Be it therefore enacted, That where no caveat shall be entered before the said duties respectively shall be performed, such lands shall not thereafter be liable to forfeiture on account of such failure. | Lands saved if duties performed before caveat. |
| Every persons instituting a suit before any court of commissioners, shall pay down six shillings in lieu of the ten pounds hereafter directed to be paid. | Tax on litigants before commissioners. |
| V. And be it further enacted, That specie certificates, being first audited, or warrants upon the treasury, shall hereafter be receivable in discharge of the composition money, payable upon certificates of surveys on entries made with the surveyors before the establishment of the commonwealth's land-office, and upon certificates of survey of settlement rights; and that the deputy register of the land-office for the time being, shall be, and he is hereby empowered to receive such composition money or certificates, together with with the plotts and certificates of survey in the Kentucky country. | Specie certificates or warrants to be taken for land. |
| VI. And be it further enacted, That there shall be allowed a term of twelve months from the end of this present session of assembly, for returning to the land-office certificates of survey of land heretofore surveyed, and the register of the land-office is hereby empowered and required to receive the same, notwithstanding the time limited for that purpose may have expired. | Further time to return surveys. |
| VII. And be it further enacted, That the surveyor of any county within the district in which the right of pre-emption was granted, is hereby authorised and directed to locate and survey any pre-emption warrant on any waste and unappropriated lands within the district without exchanging the same: Provided, They do not have any force of pre-emption, but shall be equal and on the same footing with treasury warrants. | Pre-emption warrants may be located on any waste lands; but to lose their force of pre-emption. |
| CHAP. L. An act for calling in and redeeming certain certificates. |
[Chapter XC in original.] |
| I. FOR redeeming and paying all military certificates, either for tobacco or specie, as well as those to be issued in virtue of an act intituled, "An act for adjusting claims for property impressed or taken for public service:" | Provision for redeeming military and other certificates. |
| II. Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That there shall be paid a tax of one per cent. for every hundred pounds, and so in proportion for a greater or lesser sum of the valuation of all lands and lots as the same shall have been valued by the commissioners; also a tax of ten shillings by every free male person above the age of twenty-one years, who shall be a citizen of this commonwealth; and also the like tax of ten shillings upon all slaves above the age of sixteen years, to be paid by the owners thereof, except such free persons and slaves as shall be exempted by the respective county courts through age or infirmity; also two shillings for every horse, mare, colt and mule; also three pence per head for all cattle; also five shillings per wheel for all coaches, chariots, phaetons, four-wheeled chaises, stage waggons for riding carriages, chairs, and two wheeled chaises; also fifteen pounds for every billiard-table, and four pounds for every ordinary license, over and above the taxes imposed by any act or acts of assembly. The court of every county shall, before the month of November next, take bond of the sheriff, with sufficient security, in the penalty of ten thousand pounds, payable to the treasurer of this commonwealth for the time being, and his successors, for the use of the commonwealth, and conditioned for the true and faithful collecting, paying, and accounting for all taxes in his county hereby imposed; and the said bond shall be recorded in the court of the county where the same is taken, and an attested copy thereof shall be transmitted by the respective clerks, without delay, to the auditors of public accounts, and admitted as evidence in any suit or proceeding founded thereon: And the said sheriff shall, from and after the first day of March | Additional taxes. On lands. Poll-tax. On slaves. Horses. Cattle. Carriages. Billiard tables. Ordinary licenses. Bonds to be taken of sheriffs. Certified copy evidece. |
| next, collect, receive, distrain for, and pay the taxes hereby imposed in his said county, under the like rules, regulations, allowances and penalties as are prescribed by an act of this present session of assembly intituled, "An act to amend the act for ascertaining certain taxes and duties, and for establishing a permanent revenue." Provided nevertheless, That the commissions to sheriffs for collecting the said taxes, shall be payable in kind. Every person and persons chargeable with the said taxes, shall pay the same to the sheriff or collector, either in Spanish milled dollars, at the rate of six shilling each, or in other current silver or gold coin at a proportionate value, or in military audited certificates, or in treasury tobacco notes, which were payable to enlisted soldiers, at the rate of twenty shillings per hundred weight, or in the warrants to be issued by the auditors of public aecounts in virtue of an act of the present session of assembly, intituled, "An act for auditing certain public claims;" and that every person, upon paying the said taxes in any manner as before directed, shall be discharged thereof, and may demand and receive of the sheriff or collector, a receipt or discharge accordingly. That where any certificate shall have been liquidated by the auditors, and warrants, granted upon the treasurer for payment in paper money, which remains unpaid, the same shall be re-audited and depreciation allowed thereon, agreeable thereon, agreeable to the scale fixed by act of assembly, and certificates issued by the auditors for the sum in specie. | Taxes when to be collected and distrained for. When accounted for. Commissions payable in kind. Taxes payable in gold or silver, or certificates, or treasury tobacco notes payable to enlisted soldiers. |
| III. Whereas great inconveniences may arise for want of change
between the sheriffs and the people, in the payment of the aforesaid certificates and warrants:
For remedy whereof, IV. Be it enacted, That the auditors of public accounts are hereby required to grant their certificates or warrants in such sums as will be most agreeable to the persons entitled to receive the same. Provided they are not to be divided in sums less than five pounds, unless it be to make up the balance of the sums thus to be divided; and the sheriffs shall account with the treasurer, upon oath, for the actual sums which they receive, whether the same be in specie or in certificates; and the treasurer is hereby required to carry all sums of money paid agreeable to this act, to account of the |
Certificates and warrants to be divided by auditors, into small sums, for conveniency of
change. Sheriffs to acount on oth, for actul summs received. |
| fund for redeeming certain certificates and auditors warrants, and retain the same until appropriated by the general assembly. | ||
| CHAP. LI. |
[Chapter XCI in original.] | |
| ||
| I. WHEREAS the act of assembly passed in the year one thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight, intituled, "An act for reviving several public ware houses for the inspection of tobacco," which was continued and amended by several subsequent acts, will expire at the next session of assembly, and it is expedient and necessary that the same should be farther continued and amended: | Acts concerning the inspection of tobacco, further continued. | |
| II. Be it therefore enacted, That the act intituled, "An act for reviving several public ware-houses for the inspection of tobacco," shall continue and be in force, from and after the expiration thereof, for and during the term of six months, and from thence until the end of the next session of assembly, and no longer. | ||
| III. And whereas, by the several tobacco laws, now in force, the inspectors are not made liable for the tobacco by them inspected, by reason whereof, great losses are sustained by the proprietors thereof: For remedy whereof, | ||
| IV. Be it enacted, That the inspectors shall be answerable for all tobacco by them inspected, except where the same may be destroyed either by fire, floods or the enemy. | Inspectors liable for tobacco lost, except by fire, floods, or the enemy. | |
| V. And be it further enacted, That there shall be paid to the proprietors of each ware-house, for all tobacco lying therein more than twelve months, at the rate of three pence per month for each hogshead, to be paid by the shipper thereof at the time of shipping the same: That a tax or duty of six shillings per hogshead for each hogshead of inspected tobacco, shall be | Storage on tobacco lying in ware-houses more than twelve months.
Export duty. |
| paid by the person or persons demanding the same from the several inspectors of this commonwealth, into the hands of such inspector, before the same shall be delivered, whether the said tobacco is to be exported from this commonwealth by land or by water, which is hereby declared to be the only duty payable on tobacco at the exportation thereof. And for the faithful accounting for and paying the said tax or duty to be received by the respective inspectors as aforesaid, they and each of them, shall, on or before the tenth day of August next, or at the next succeeding court to be held for their county, enter into bond with approved security, payable to the governor and his successors, for the time being, in the penalty of at least double the sum which each county court may estimate the tax or duty to, for which they the said inspectors will hereby become answerable: And for the true and faithful accounting for and paying into the treasury of this commonwealth, all sums of money to be by them received or collected by virtue of the said tax or duty, they and each of them, shall once in every three months, or oftner if necessity requires it, settle their accounts for the collection aforesaid, with the auditors of public accounts, and pay the money which may appear to be due into the public treasury; for which trouble, the said inspectors, and each of them shall be entitled to a commission of two per centum upon all and every sum or sums of money to be by them collected in virtue of the said tax or duty aforesaid, to be deducted out of such collection and allowed in the settlement of their accounts. And the clerks of the respective county courts before whom such bond is given, shall immediately thereafter transmit such bond to the solicitor general; and if any inspector or inspectors shall fail to account for and pay into the treasury the monies by them to be received within the time hereby limited, the said solicitor may, and he is hereby authorized to move in the county court where such delinquent inspector or inspectors may reside, or in the general court, for judgment against such delinquent inspector or inspectors, upon giving ten days previous notice of such motion. | Inspectors to give bond to account for duty. Commissions. Clerks to transmit bonds to solicitor general. Remedy against inspectors, by motion. |
| VI. And be it further enacted, That the monies arising for rents at any ware-house where the same hath been destroyed or burnt by the enemy and rebuilt, or to be rebuilt at the public expence, shall be applied | Rents of warehouses, destroyed or burnt by the enemy, applied |
| towards paying for the rebuilding the same: And the inspectors in every such case are hereby empowered and required to pay all such monies to the undertakers, or so much thereof as shall be sufficient, upon such undertakers first producing an order from the court of their county for the allowance made for rebuilding such ware-house, which money, so paid, shall be allowed by the treasurer in the settlement of such inspectors account. −− And in all cases where the proprietor of any ware-house shall refuse or delay to make such necessary repairs as by the county courts may be directed, it shall and may be lawful for such court to order the letting of such repairs to the lowest bidder, to be paid out of the rents of such ware-house, and the whole of the rents as aforesaid, shall be paid by the inspectors to the undertaker, until he shall be fully satisfied; any law to the contrary notwithstanding. | to rebuilding them. If proprietors refuse to rebuild, courts may order it. |
| VII. And whereas the time limited by an act of the last session for the disposal of all tobaccoes remaining in any ware-house theretofore discontinued, hath been found too short; | |
| VIII. Be it therefore enacted, That the commissioners of the tax in each county wherein such discontinuance hath been, shall be allowed until the first day of October next to dispose of all tobaccoes remaining in any such ware-house or ware-houses. | Further time allowed for disposing of tobacco in warehouses, discontinued. |
| IX. And whereas the ware-houses at Pitt's Landing, in the County of Accomack, and at Fulgham's in the county of Isle of Wight, have been discontinued, and it is judged expedient to revive the same: | |
| XI. And be it further enacted, That the inspectors of the several ware-houses shall grant receipts for all tobaccoes to them, or either of them delivered, when the same cannot be inspected, and shall be liable for the same when demanded by the owner thereof for inspection, except at such inspections where the ware-houses have been destroyed, or where there is not room for the storage thereof. | Inspectors to give receipts for bacco, as delivered. |
| XII. And be it further enacted, That the money arising from the duties hereby imposed upon tobacco exported, shall be set apart and appropriated in aid of the funds estabished by an act intituled, "An act for defending and protecting the trade of Chesapeake Bay." | Appropriation of export duty. | ||
| XIII. And be it further enacted, That the people attending the several ware-houses called Pickers and Turners-up, shall demand from the proprietors of the tobacco to be inspected, at the following rates, and no more; that is to say, for turning up and finding nails, three shillings for each hogshead, and for repacking tobacco, six shillings for each hogshead; but nothing herein contained shall prevent the owners of tobacco from performing the said services themselves if they think proper. | Fees of pickers and turners-up. | ||
| CHAP. LII. |
[Chap. XCII in original.] | ||
|
[Chan. Rev. p. 169.] | ||
| I. WHEREAS inconveniencies may arise from allowing the millers or manufacturers of wheat at their discretion to put into barrel any indefinite quantity of flour, not less than one hundred and ninety six pounds nor more than two hundred and four pounds; and in order that the exporters of flour from this state may be enabled to go to market with the same conveniency as the exporter from any of our sister states: Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That every barrel of flour for exportation shall contain one hundred and ninety six pounds, and no more. | Preamble. Contents of barrels of flour. | ||
| II. And be it further enacted, That all flour that may be paid for taxes shall be inspected at Warwick, in the county of Chesterfield, or some one of the public inspections already established, or to be established, agreeable to the direction of an act "For ascertaining certain taxes and duties, and for establishing a permanent | Flour paid for taxes to be inspected. |
| revenue," under the same regulations as are provided in the aforesaid act for regulating the inspection of flour, and that each barrel shall contain one hundred and ninety six pounds, and no more. | |
| III. And whereas by an act of this session intituled "An act to repeal so much of a former act as suspends the issuing of executions upon certain judgments until December one thousand seven hundred and eighty three," it is enacted, that executions may be discharged among other commutable articles in merchantable inspected hemp and flour: Be it therefore enacted, That all hemp and flour tendered in payment of any debt or execution, shall be first inspected at the aforesaid public inspections, and that the receipts of the inspectors for hemp or flour may be paid agreeable to the tenor of the said act, and no other. Provided always, That no inspectors receipt for flour shall be offered in payment when the flour has been inspected more than three months. | Flour and hemp tendered on executions, to be inspected. |
| IV. And be it further enacted, That the governor and council shall be empowered to rent other ware-houses at the heads of navigation, if the public ware-houses are not sufficient to hold all the flour and hemp to be inspected as aforesaid. | Warehouses for flour and hemp may be rented. |
| V. And be it further enacted, That there shall be paid upon the delivery of the private hemp or flour, by the person holding the receipts for the same, three shillings for every ton of hemp per month, and four pence for every barrel to flour per month, for every month that the same may lie in the warehouses as the governor may hire; and that the inspectors of hemp shall be allowed five shillngs per ton for inspecting the same, to be paid by the person depositing the same at the warehouse. | Fees for rents. For inspection of hemp. |
| VI. And be it further enacted, That if any person whatsoever shall forge or counterfeit, alter or erase, the stamp or receipt of any inspector of flour or hemp, or tender in payment any such forged or counterfeited, altered or erased receipt, knowing it to be such, and shall thereof be convicted, he or they shall be adjudged a felon, and suffer death as in case of felony, without the benefit of clergy. | Death to counterfeit receipts for hemp or flour. |
| CHAP. LIII. An act to establish a town at the courthouse in the county of Fayette. |
[Ch. XCIII in original.] |
| I. WHEREAS it is represented to this assembly, that six hundred and forty acres of unappropriated lands in the county of Fayette, whereon the courthouse of the said county stands, have been by the settlers thereon laid out into lots and streets for a town, and that the said settlers have purchased seventy acres of land contiguous to the said six hundred and forty acres, being part of a survey made for John Floyd: And whereas it would tend greatly to the improvement and settling the same, if the titles of settlers on the lots were confirmed and a town established thereon: | Town of Lexington, Fayette county, Kentucky established. |
| II. Be it therefore enacted, That the said seven hundred and ten acres of land be and the same is hereby vested in fee simple in John Todd, Robert Patterson, William Mitchell, Andrew Steel, William Henderson, William M'Cownald, and William Steel, gentlemen, trustees, and established a town by the name of Lexington. | |
| III. And be it further enacted, That the said trustees, or any four of them, shall, and they are hereby empowered and required to make conveyances to those persons who have already settled on the said lots; as also to the purchasers of the lots heretofore sold, agreeable to the condition of the contracts; and may also proceed to lay off such other part of the said land s is not yet laid off and settled into lots and streets, and such lots shall be by the trustees sold or otherwise disposed of for the benefit of the inhabitants of the said town, and convey the same in fee simple, agreeable to the condition of the contract. Provided always, That the lots in the said town which have been laid off and set apart for erecting thereon the public buildings of the said county, shall be and remain to and for that use and purpose, and no other whatever. | Trustees to make conveyances to settlers. |
| IV. And be it further enacted, That the said trustees, or the major part of them, shall have power, from time to time, to settle and determine all disputes concerning the bounds of the said lots, and to settle such rules and | Power of trustees. |
| orders for the regular building of houses thereon as to them shall seem best and most convenient. And in case of the death, removal out of the country, or other legal disability of any of the said trustees, it shall and may be lawful for the remaining trustees to elect and choose so may other persons in the room of those dead, removed or disabled, as shall make up the number, which trustees so chosen, shall be, to all intents and purposes, individually vested with the same powers and authority as any one in this act particularly mentioned. | Vacancies, how supplied. |
| V. And be it further enacted, That the settlers as well as purchasers of the lots in the aid town, so soon as they shall have saved the same, according to the condition of their respective deeds of conveyance, shall be entitled to and have and enjoy all the rights, privileges and immunities which the freeholders and inhabitants of other towns in this state, not incorporated by charter or act of assembly, have and enjoy. | Privileges of settlers. |
| VI. And be it further enacted, That the said trustees shall cause the survey and plot of the said town to be recorded in the court of the said county of Fayette. Saving to all persons all such right, title and interest which they or any of them could or might have to the lands, or any part thereof hereby vested in the said trustees, if this act had never been made. | Survey and plat, where to be recorded. |
| CHAP. LIV. An act for seizure and condemnation of British goods found on land. |
[Ch. XCIV in original.] |
| I. FOR preventing clandestine trade with our enemies during a time of war; Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That all goods, wares or merchandize, of the growth, produce, or manufacture of Great-Britain, or of any territory depending thereon, which shall be imported or brought into this commonwealth and found on land, from and after the first day of September next, shall, and the same are hereby declared to be | British goods found on land liable to seizure and confiscation. |
| prohibited and subject to seizure and confiscation. It shall and may be lawful for any person within this commonwealth, being a magistrate, or legally authorized to make seizures, to seize upon land any such goods, wares and merchandize. And to determine the validity of such seizures. | |
| II. Be it further enacted, That the person or persons by whom such seizer shall be made, shall in ten days thereafter, procure a citation to be issued from the court of admiralty, to summon the person or persons from whom the seizure shall be made, to appear before that court, on some certain day, not less than twenty days after the date thereof, to make good his claim to the goods in question, and upon the return of the citation served, or copy left at the last place of abode of the defendant, by any sworn officer, it shall and may be lawful for the court, and they are hereby directed to proceed to trial thereupon, agreeable to the rules of that court in cases of capture on the seas. Provided, That before any such trial, a copy of the citation shall be publicly affixed to the court-house door of the place where the seizure shall be made ten days, and shall also be inserted three weeks in the Virginia Gazette, to the intent that any person claiming right of interest in the goods seized may have an opportunity of entering and making known his claim, agreeable to the rules of that court. Provided always, That if it shall appear that the goods in question were imported or brought into this or any other of the United States before the said first of September next, such goods, wares or merchandize shall not be subject to condemnation under this act. In every case of condemnation by virtue of this act. In every case of condemnation by virtue of this act, the goods shall be sold by the marshal of the said court, and the money arising therefrom, after all charges are deducted, shall be divided, one moiety to the use of the prosecutor, and the other to the use of the commonwealth. Where the prosecutor shall be cast in his suit, the claimant or defendant shall recover full costs against the prosecutor, Provided always, That nothing in this act shall extend or be construed to extend to any goods, wares or merchandize which shall be captured or taken from the enemy. Provided also, that the operation of this act shall be, and is hereby suspended until the rest of the | Proceedings to determine validity of seizures. Suspension of act. |
| United States shall have passed similar laws on this subject. This act to continue and be in force for and during the continuance of the present war, and no longer. | |
| CHAP. LV. An act to amend the act for establishing a district court on the western waters. |
[Ch. XCV in original.] [Chan. Rev. p. 170.] See ante ch. 48. |
| I. BE it enacted, That in case the judges of the court of the district of Kentucky shall not attend at the place appointed for holding the first court, they shall hold a court on such court day as they may attend, in the same manner as if the court had been adjourned to such day, and if all the judges should fail to attend on any court day, the court shall stand adjourned till the court in course, and all matters depending therein shall be continued til such court. | Provision in case judges of district court of Kentucky do not attend. |
| II. And be it further enacted, That whenever process shall be sent out of the district, the same may be made returnable on any return day within the term of nine months from the date thereof. | Return of process sent out of district. |
| III. And be it further enacted, That where transitory actions shall be depending in the high court of chancery or the general court on the first day of August next, between inhabitants of the district of Kentucky and inhabitants of any other part of this commonwealth, or where witnesses in any action or suit which may hereafter be depending in the said courts shall be living in the said district, the like process may in those cases issue from such courts to any county in the said district, which are directed to issue from the court of the said district to any other part of the commonwealth. | Certain transitory actions provided for. |
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