Pages 185-205
|  Pages 247-264
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| Pages 185-205
| Pages 247-264
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| CHAP. X. | [Chap. CLIV in original.] | ||
|
[Chan. Rev. pa. 188.] | ||
| I. WHEREAS the several acts of assembly for the inspection of tobacco, are, from the many alterations made therein, rendered difficult to be understood, whereby many penalties may be incurred; and it is necessary that the said acts should be amended and reduced into one act; and doubts have arisen whether the said acts, or any, or which of them are now in force; Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly, That no person shall put on board, or receive into any ship or vessel, in order to be exported therein, any tobacco not packed in hogsheads or casks, upon any pretence whatsoever, nor in any hogshead or cask to be in that or any ship or other vessel exported out of this state, before | Preamble. No tobacco to be exported, bu tin casks and inspected. |
| the same shall have been reviewed and inspected according to the directions of this act; but that all tobacco whatsoever, to be received or taken on board any ship or other vessel, and to be therein exported, or to be carried and put on board any ship or vessel for exportation as aforesaid, shall be received and taken on board at the several warehouses for that purpose herein after mentioned, or some or one of the, and at no other place whatsoever: And every master, mate, or boatswain, of any ship or other vessel which shall arrive in this state, in order to load tobacco during the continuance of this act, shall, before the said ship or vessel be permitted to take on board any tobacco whatsoever, make oath before the naval officer of the district wherein such ship or vessel shall arrive, which oath the said naval officer is hereby empowered and required to administer, that they will not permit any tobacco whatsoever to be taken on board their respective ships or vessels, except the same be packed in hogsheads or casks, stamped by some inspector legally thereunto appointed; which oath they shall subscribe in a book, to be kept by the naval officer for that purpose. And if any master shall cause any person who is not legally [really] and bona fide mate or boatswain, to come on shore and take such oath, he shall, for the said offence, forfeit and pay five hundred pounds: And if any master or commander of any ship or other vessel, shall take on board, or suffer to be taken on board the ship or vessel whereof he is master, any tobacco brought from any other place than some or one of the public warehouses herein after mentioned, or any hogshead or cask of tobacco, not stamped by some lawful inspector, or shall suffer to be brought on board, any tobacco, except in hogsheads or casks, stamped as aforesaid, every such master or commander shall forfeit and pay fifty pounds for every hogshead or cask of tobacco which shall not have been brought from one of the said public warehouses, or which shall not be stamped as aforesaid; and moreover, every such hogshead or cask of tobacco shall be forfeited, one moiety thereof to the use of the informer, and the other moiety to the use of the commonwealth. | The oaths of masters of vessels intending to load with tobacco. Penalties. No tobacco to be taken on board any vessel in bulk or parcels. Penalties. |
| II. And be it further enacted, That if any person, not being a servant or slave, taking upon himself to carry any tobacco to or from any of the said warehouses | Further penalties for taking on board |
| in his boat or other vessel, for hire, shall take on board, or permit or suffer to be taken on board, any tobacco whatsoever, in bulk or parcels, such tobacco shall not only be forfeited, and may be seized by any person or persons whatsoever, but the master or skipper offending herein, shall forfeit and pay two shillings for every pounds weight of such tobacco; and the master or commander of any ship or vessel wherein any tobacco in bulk or parcels shall be found, shall over and above the forfeiture thereof, be subject and liable to the same penalty; to be recovered, if it doth not exceed five pounds, before any two justices of the peace of any county near the place where such ship, boat, or other vessel, shall lie; and if it exceeds five pounds, in any court of record, by action of debt, wherein the plaintiff shall recover his costs. And if any servant, or other person employed in navigating any such boat or other vessel, shall connive at or conceal the taking or receiving on board any tobacco, in bulk or parcel as aforesaid, he shall pay the sum of five pounds, to be recovered as aforesaid; and if such servant or other person shall be unable to pay the said sum, he or they, and every slave so employed, shall, by order of such justice, receive on his bare back, thirty nine lashes well laid on; and if such boat or other vessel be under the care and management of a servant who cannot pay and satisfy the penalty so to be inflicted on the master or skipper offending as aforesaid, then such servant, and every other person employed under him, unable to pay the said penalty, who shall be guilty of conniving at or concealing the taking on board tobacco in bulk or parcels as aforesaid, shall, upon every complaint and proof thereof made to a justice of the peace, have and receive, by order of the said justice, thirty nine lashes well laid on; and if any servant shall again be entrusted with the care and management of any boat or other vessel, and shall be convicted a second time of taking or receiving on board the same, any tobacco in bulk or parcel, contrary to the directions of this act, the owner of such servant shall forfeit and pay the like sum of two shillings per pound for every pound weight of such tobacco so taken or received on board in bulk or parcel, and shall also forfeit and pay ten shillings for every day such servant shall thereafter be employed as skipper or master of any boat or vessel to him belonging, | tobacco, in bulk or parcels. |
| to be recovered and applied as aforesaid. Provided nevertheless, That it shall be lawful for the proprietor or proprietors to break any hogshead of tobacco after it shall be passed and stamped, and to repack and prize the same into small casks for the convenience of stowing, provided it be done at the warehouse where the same was inspected and weighed, marked, and stamped; and the inspectors shall particularize all such casks in their manifests to be given to the masters or skippers of the vessel in which such tobacco be laden, Provided always, That nothing herein before contained shall be construed to prohibit any person from carrying, or causing to be carried to the said ware-houses, in any boat or other vessel, any tobacco in bulk or parcels, for the payment of his or her levies, debts, or other duties, or to prohibit any person to put or take on board any boat or other vessel, any hogsheads or casks of tobacco to be waterworn to any ware-house appointed by this act, so as the same be not carried out of the naval officer's district wherein the said tobacco shall be made, nor to prohibit the owner of any tobacco to transport his crops, or any part thereof in hogsheads or casks, from one plantation to another, for the better handling and managing thereof, nor any purchaser of tobacco from bringing the same by water to be repacked, sorted, stemmed, or prized, before the same be carried to the said ware-houses, so as such last mentioned tobacco to be packed in hogsheads or casks; but no tobacco, on any pretence whatsoever, shall be carried or transported by water to be inspected out of the district limited and appointed for the several naval officers of this state, wherein the same shall be made, or being so carried, shall not be inspected or passed by any inspectors knowing the same to be made out of such district, upon pain of forfeiting, by the owner of such tobacco, and the inspectors who shall pass the same, fifty shillings for every hogshead to the informer. Provided nevertheless, That it shall and may be lawful for the inhabitants of Fleet's bay, on the south side of Indian creek, in the county of Lancaster, to carry their tobacco by water to the public warehouse at Indian creek; and the inhabitants at Warrasqueake bay, and the parts adjacent, to carry their tobacco to be passed at any warehouse in the upper district of James river. | Provisos for sundry purposes. Proviso, as to Fleet's bay & Warrasqueake. |
| III. And be it further enacted, That every master of a ship or vessel wherein tobacco shall be laden, shall at the time of clearing, deliver to the naval officer, a fair manifest of all the tobacco on board his ship or vessel, expressing the marks and numbers of every hogshead or cask, and the tare and nett weight stamped thereon, the person by whom shipped, and from what warehouse, and shall make oath thereto, and that the same is a just and true account of the marks, numbers, tare, and nett weight, of each respective hogshead or cask, as the same was taken down by the person or persons appointed by him to take the same before the said tobacco was stowed away; and no ship or vessel shall be cleared by the naval officer before he shall have received such list and manifest, which shall by the said naval officer be transmitted to the treasurer of this commonwealth for the time being. | Masters of vessels to give in upon oath a manifest of their tobacco when clearing out. |
| IV. And be it further enacted, That if the skipper of any
boat or vessel, or the person or persons to whom the care and management thereof shall be
entrusted, shall land or put on shore any hogshead, cask, or package of tobacco, put on board the
same to be carried to any public warehouse at any other place or places than the warehouses by
this act appointed for the reception and inspection of tobacco, or at some or one of them, or the
wharfs or other landing to such warehouse or warehouses belonging, or shall put the sam eon board
any other vessel, or suffer the same to be done, so as the same be not delivered at some of the
said public warehouses, without fraud or embezzlement, or shall open any hogshead or cask of
tobacco so as aforesaid waterborn and landed, and take thereout any tobacco before the same be
received by the inspectors according to the directions of this act; or after the same has been
viewed shall fraudulently open any hogshead or cask, and take thereout any tobacco, every such
offence shall be judged felony, and the offender or offenders shall suffer as in the case of
felony. Provided always, That nothing herein before contained shall be construed to
prohibit the landing or putting on shore any hogshead, cask, or package of tobacco, out of any
boat or other vessel, which by distress of weather shall be forced on ground, or become leaky, so
as such landing be really and bona fide for the preservation of the tobacco |
Relanded tobacco must be at some
public warehouse. Penalty for that or opening hogsheads & taking out tobacco. Exception as to tobacco landed in distress of weather. |
| laden in such vessel, and that the same may with all convenient speed be thereafter carried to the warehouse or ship (as the case may be) to which it was designed, without embezzlement. Provided also, That if by any of the accidents aforesaid, or negligence of the master or skipper of any vessel, any tobacco which hath been viewed and stamped, shall in it carriage to the ship or vessel in which it is intended to be exported, receive so much damage as that the master of such ship or vessel will not receive it on board, every hogshead or cask of tobacco so damnified shall with convenient speed be carried to some warehouse appointed by this act, and there lodged until the owner of the said tobacco, or master of the vessel in which it was damaged, shall have separated the same and repacked the good tobacco, and then the same shall be weighed and stamped with the weight by the inspector attending such warehouse without fee or reward; but if the owner of such tobacco, or the master of the vessel in which it was damaged, shall fail or delay to separate and repack the same within ten days, then the inspectors at the warehouse where such damaged tobacco shall be landed, shall, and they are hereby required to separate, repack, weigh, and stamp the same; and such inspectors shall receive of the owner ten shillings for their trouble and nails. | Provision for tobacco damaged. |
| V. And be it further enacted, That public warehouses for the reception of tobacco, pursuant to this act, shall be kept at the several places herein after mentioned, that is to say: In the county of Accomack, at Pitt's land, [landing,] upon Pocomoke, at Guilford, and at Pungoteague, under one inspection; in the county of Caroline, at Roy's; in the county of Charles City, at Kennon's; in the county of Dinwiddie, at Bolling's point, Bollingbrooke and Cedar point; in the county of Essex, at Hobb's Hole, at Bowler's, and at Layton's; in the county of Fairfax, at Colchester, at Alexandria, and at the falls of Potowmack; in the county of Gloucester, at Poropotank, and at Deacon's neck; in the county of Hanover, at Page's, and at Meriwether's; in the county of Chesterfield, at Rocky Ridge, at Warwick, at Osborne's, and at John Bolling's; in the county of Henrico, at Byrd's, at Shockoe, and at Rockett's; in the county of Isle of Wight, at Smithfield, and at Fulgham's, under one inspection; in the county of King | Warehouses established. |
| and Queen, at Shepherd's, at Mantapike, and at Frazer's, in King William, under one inspection; and at Todd's in King and Queen, and at Aylett's, in the county of King William, under one inspection; in the county of King George, at Boyd's Hole, & Machodack, under one inspection, and at Gibson's; in the county of Lancaster, at Davis's and Lowry's, under one inspection, and at Deep Creek and Glasscock's, under one inspection; and south Wicomico and Indian creek, under one inspection; in the county of Middlesex, at Urbanna; in the county of Nansemond, at Milner's, and Wilkinson's; in the county of Northampton, at Cherrystones and Naswaddox, under one inspection; in the county of New Kent, at Littlepage's, and at the Brick House; in the county of Prince George, at Boyd's, Davis's, and Blandford; in the county of Prince William, at Quantico and at Dumfries; in the county of Richmond, at Cat point, and at Totusky; in the county of Surry, at Gray's creek, and at Low point; in the county of Stafford, at Falmouth, at Aquia, and at Dixon's; in the county of Spotsylvania, at Fredericksburg, and at Royston's; in the county of Warwick, at Denbigh; in the county of Westmoreland, at Nomini, at Leed's, and Mattox, under one inspection; at Yocomico and Rust's, under one inspection; at the College landing, in the county of James City, and at York town, in the county of York, under one inspection; at Hampton, in the county of Elizabeth city. | |
| VI. And be it further enacted, That the rents of the several warehouses hereby established, shall be and they are hereby established at the following rates: At Pitt's and Guilford's, ten pounds; at Pungoteague, eight pounds; at Cherrystone's and Naswaddox, eight pounds; at Hampton, ten pounds; at College landing, ten pounds; and at all the other warehouses there shall be allowed and paid for the rents of the same, one shilling and six pence for every hogshead of tobacco that already have been or shall be received, inspected and delivered out of such warehouses respectively. And there shall be paid to the proprietors of each warehouse, for all tobacco lying therein more than twelve months, at the rate of three pence per month for each hogsheads [hogshead] to be paid by the shipper thereof at the time of | Rents of warehouses. |
| shipping the same. Provided always, That where wharfs are or shall be necessary to be built or kept in repair at any of the said warehouses, and the rents hereby established are not sufficient for building and keeping in repair such wharfs, or where any new warehouse shall hereafter be guilt in pursuance of this act, and the rent hereby established shall not be proportionable to the expence of such building, in both the said cases such further allowance shall be made by the general assembly as shall be thought reasonable; and the rents aforesaid, together with the inspectors salaries, shall be paid and allowed by the treasurer to the several inspectors upon the passing their accounts, and the inspectors shall pay the rents to the persons entitled to receive the same, out of the money received by them for inspecting tobacco; and if the money received by the inspectors at any warehouse shall not be sufficient to pay the salaries and rents aforesaid, and other incident charges in this act mentioned, such deficiency shall be made good out of the general fund arising by the profits of the other warehouses; and if that shall prove deficient, then the said rents and charges, together with the inspectors salaries, shall be paid and satisfied out of any other public money in the hands of the treasurer, for the time being, not otherwise appropriated by law. | Proviso as to wharves. |
| VII. And be it further enacted, That where the ware-houses are already built at any of the places herein before mentioned, and appointed for keeping the same, and are now made use of for the public ware-houses, the proprietors and owners of such ware-houses shall be, and they are hereby obliged, to let the same to the inspectors during the continuance of this act, at the rent hereby established for such ware-houses respectively; and if any proprietor or owner shall refuse so to do, he shall forfeit and pay five hundred pounds; and where ware-houses are not already built at any of the places aforesaid, or where any new ware-houses shall be hereafter appointed to be kept at any other place, it shall be lawful for the justices of the court of that county, wherein such place is or shall be, and they are hereby required, at the next court to be held for their county after the commencement of this act, or after such new ware-house shall be so appointed (as the case may be) to order and direct so many strong, close | Proprietors of old ware-houses to let them to inspectors.
Courts to direct the number and kind of new warehouses and wharves. |
| and substantial houses, secured with strong doors, hung on iron hinges, and with strong locks or bolts, as will contain sufficient room for two thirds of the number of hogsheads, which in their opinion, will be annually brought to the same, and one brick square or funnel six feet high at least, and four feet diameter, with a proper arch at the bottom of the same, for burning tobacco refused and picked, at such ware-houses, and such wharfs and other conveniences, as shall be necessary; and shall cause the owner or proprietor of the land where such ware-houses are appointed to be kept, and if such owner or proprietor be under age, feme covert, or out of the country, then the guardian, husband, or known attorney, or agent (as the case may be) of such owner or proprietor, to be summoned to appear before them at the next succeeding county court, after such summons shall issue, there to declare whether they will undertake to erect and build such houses, funnel, wharfs, and other conveniences, and let the same to the inspectors appointed to attend at such ware-houses, at the rent settled by this act, or which shall be hereafter settled for the same; and in case such owner, guardian, husband, known attorney, or agent, will undertake the same, then the said court shall, and they are hereby required, to take bond with sufficient security, in a reasonable penalty, payable to the governor and his successors, to the use of the commonwealth, with condition for the due performance of such undertaking. And if such owner, guardian, husband, known attorney, or agent, shall refuse to undertake the same, or give such bond as aforesaid, then it shall be lawful for the said justices, and they are hereby required, to value an acre of the said land, and to pay or tender to the proprietor, his or her guardian, husband, known attorney, or agent, the value thereof, which shall be repaid to the said justices by the public; and from thenceforth the justices of the county for the time being, shall be seized in fee of the said land, in trust, and for the use of the public, during the time the said place shall be made use of for a public ware-house; and the said justices shall agree with some person or persons to erect and build thereon such houses, funnels, wharfs, and other conveniences, as is herein before directed, and shall certify the charge thereof to the treasurer of this state for the time being, who is | And take bond with security of the proprietor if he chooses to build and let them. If he refuses the land paid for and houses, &c. built at expense of the public and rents paid to treasurer. |
| hereby directed and required to pay the same out of the public money in his hands, arising from the inspection of tobacco, and shall take and receive of the inspectors the rent established at such ware-houses for reimbursing the public the charge of such buildings, until the same shall be repaid, with lawful interest. −− And where the justices of any county court, or any other person or persons, have already built ware-houses on lands of another person, by virtue of, or in pursuance of, the laws lately or now in force, the said justices, or other person or persons, shall in like manner be seized in fee to the acre of land upon which such ware-houses are built, so long as the said places respectively shall be made use of for public ware-houses; but if any of the ware-houses which are or shall be built by the public, the justices, or other persons, shall hereafter be discontinued, the proprietor of the land, returning the price paid for the same, with lawful interest, shall be thenceforth seized of his former estate. | Warehouses discontinued, how proprietors revested. |
| VIII. And be it further enacted, That the inspectors at the several ware-houses shall, at the court to be held for their respective counties in the month of September yearly, or at the next succeeding court, produce and render into court an exact account, under their hands, of the number of hogsheads of tobacco inspected at their respective ware-houses the preceding year, and of the condition of the ware-houses under their charge, and the quantity of tobacco they are capable of containing, and thereupon such court, if they shall not be satisfied that the ware-houses already built at any of the said inspections are properly secured, and contain sufficient room for two thirds of the number of hogsheads mentioned in such account to be conveniently stowed, shall enter an order that the owner or proprietor of such warehouses shall, within such reasonable time as the said court shall think fit to allow, repair and make close the ware-houses already built, and secure the same with strong doors hung on iron hinges, and with strong locks or bolts; and that such owner or proprietor shall also before the first day of April, in the ensuing year, erect, build, and completely finish, such and so many other strong, close, and substantial houses, as with the other houses already built, shall be sufficient, in the opinion of such court, conveniently to contain two thirds of the quantity | Inspectors yearly to lay before the court an account of tobacco
inspected and condition of the houses. Court may order houses to be repaired or secured, and new houses built if necessary. |
| of tobacco, mentioned in such inspectors account, and secure the same in the manner herein before directed; a copy of which order shall be served on such owner or proprietor, or his or her guardian, husband, attorney, or agent, (as the case may be) and if such owner or proprietor, his, or her guardian, husband, attorney, or agent, shall fail to appear at the next succeeding court, after such notice, and enter into bond with sufficient security, in a reasonable penalty, payable to the governor for the time being and his successors, with a condition for the due performance of the same, then it shall be lawful for the said court, and they are hereby required, to cause such repairs and houses to be made and built as aforesaid, and shall certify the charge thereof to the treasurer of this state for the time bing, who is hereby required to pay the same out of the public money in his hands, arising from the inspection of tobacco, and shall take and receive from the inspectors the whole or a proportion of the rents established at such ware-houses, for reimbursing the public the charge of such buildings and repairs, with interest thereon, which proportion shall be settled by the court, and by them certified to the treasurer; but if there shall appear to be an immediate occasion to hire houses before others can be built as aforesaid, the rent of such houses shall be paid by the public, without any charge upon the landlord. Provided, That where two or more inspections are established in one county, within the distance of six miles, and that it shall be necessary to build more houses at any of them, the court shall direct the building such additional houses, at such of the said inspections as to them shall seem most proper, and if there shall be in the whole sufficient house room, according to the directions of this act, for two thirds of the tobacco brought to such inspection, the court shall not direct the building other houses at any of them. | By the proprietor or public. Proviso for united inspections. |
| IX. And be it further enacted, That if any county court shall fail or refuse to do their duty in directing such houses, funnels, and wharfs, and other necessary conveniences at the places established by this act for erecting new ware-houses, or such additional buildings and repairs at the places where houses are already built, and causing the same to be built or made according to the directions of this act, every justice so failing | Penalty on county courts for neglect. |
| or refusing shall forfeit and pay thirty pounds; to be recovered in the general court with costs, by action of debt or information against such justices jointly. Provided always, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to give power to the said justices to take away the houses, orchards, or other immediate conveniences of any proprietors of lands for the purposes aforesaid, nor to the said inspectors to keep any horses, cattle, or hogs, at any public ware-houses, except their riding horses, upon the land appointed for such ware-houses; and if any swine belonging to the said inspectors, or any of them, shall be found at large upon the land appropriated for such ware-houses, or the lands adjoining thereto, it shall be lawful for the proprietors of the said lands to kill, or cause to be killed or destroyed, all such swine. Provided also, That where any ware-houses have been or shall be built by the justices or other persons as aforesaid, and the first proprietor of the land shall desire to have the same again, such proprietor, upon payment of so much money as shall be sufficient to reimburse the said justices or other person the principal money expended for the purchase of the land and the building such ware-houses, with lawful interest, deducting the rents received by the said justices or other person, shall be restored to his former estate in the land whereon such ware-houses are built, and shall receive the rents aforesaid growing due for such ware-houses. Provided also, That if any proprietor so as aforesaid restored to his estate, shall neglect or refuse to build and repair such houses and whars [wharfs] as the court shall think necessary, the justices shall again be seized of the fee simple estate in such land during the time such place shall be made use of for a public warehouse, and such proprietor shall not have any benefit of the rents that shall hereafter become due. | Conveniences not to be taken from proprietors. Nor inspectors to keep horses, cattle, or hogs, on the land. How proprietors may be restored to former estate; But if he again fails to build or repair, to be revested in the public. |
| X. And be it further enacted, That on complaint being made by the owner or owners of any of the warehouses aforesaid, to any justice of the peace in the county where such warehouse shall lie, against any person or persons for breaking, tearing, or committing any waste or destruction of, or in, such warehouse or warehouses, it shall be lawful for such justice, and he is hereby empowered and required, to give judgment and award execution against the body or estate of such | Waste or destruction of warehouses, how to be punished. |
| offender if found guilty, for all damages occasioned by such breaking, tearing, or waste or destruction, provided such damages do not exceed the sum of twenty-five shillings in his opinion; and if such damages shall exceed that sum, then it shall be lawful for such owner or owners to commence and prosecute his or their action at law against any such offender, in any court of record within this state, in which the plaintiff shall recover costs, although the damage shall be under forty shillings. | |
| XI. And be it further enacted, That there shall be kept at every one of the said warehouses herein before appointed, and at all others hereafter to be appointed, a good and sufficient pari of scales with weights to weigh fifteen hundred pounds at the least, and a set of small weights the same that are or ought to be provided for the standard weights of each county; and where such scales and weights are not already provided, or now are or shall hereafter be worn out or become unfit for use, the justices of the respective county courts wherein any of the said warehouses are or shall be, are hereby directed and required to provide the same with all convenient speed; and the treasurer for the time being, is hereby empowered and required to pay the purchase money out of the public money in his hands arising from the inspection of tobacco; and moreover the said justices are hereby required and directed, twice in every year at least, to appoint one or more of their number to view the said scales, and examine and try the weights at the several warehouses by the standard weights of the county, and if the said scales and weights shall want repairing, or the weights be found deficient or differing from the lawful standard, the said justices shall cause the same to be repaired and mended; and the weights made conformable to the standard; and if the justice or justices so appointed, shall refuse or neglect to do the same, the justice or justices so refusing, shall forfeit and pay the sum of fifty pounds; and the charge of repairing and amending the said scales and weights, and also for removing the standard to the several warehouses for trying the same, shall be paid by the inspectors respectively, and be again allowed to them in their accounts with the treasurer. | Scales and weights be provided. And tried & repaired twice a year. |
| XII. And be it further enacted, That all tobacco which shall be brought to any of the public warehouses | Inspectors, how nominated and commissioned. |
| shall be viewed, inspected, and examined, by two persons to be thereunto appointed, who shall be called inspectors, which said inspectors shall be appointed in the following manner, that is to say: The courts of the several counties within this state, wherein any of the public warehouses appointed by this act are established, shall, and they are hereby required, once in every year, and no oftener, at their respective county courts held in the months of August or September, to nominate and recommeud to the governor, for the time being, for so many offices of inspection as are or shall be in their respective counties, four fit and able persons, reputed to be skilful in tobacco, for the execution of the office of inspectors; and where two ware-houses, under one and the same inspection, happen to lie in different countries, [counties,] in that case the court of each county shall nominate and recommend two for such inspection, which nomination the said court shall cause to be entered upon record; and the clerks of the said courts shall, and they are hereby required, forthwith to transmit a certificate of the same to the clerk of the council; and out of the said four persons nominated and recommended for each inspection, the governor, with advice and consent of council, shall choose and appoint two to execute the office of inspectors at such inspection; and in default of such nomination or recommendation by the county courts as aforesaid, the governor, with the like advice and consent, shall appoint such persons as he shall think fit to be inspectors at such inspection for which no nomination or recommendation shall be made as aforesaid; and also in case of the death, resignation, or removal of any inspector, the governor shall and may appoint any person named in the last recommendation from the county court for that inspection where the vacancy shall happen, to succeed him until the next nomination and appointment of inspectors; but if either of the persons named in such last recommendation, will not accept the said office, in that case the governor, with the advice and consent of the council, may appoint any other person they shall think fit; and besides the two inspectors appointed as aforesaid, the governor, for the time being, with the advice of the council, shall appoint one of the persons recommended with such inspectors, to be additional inspector at the warehouse for which he shall be recommended, which | An additional inspector, and when to act. |
| additional inspector shall officiate as such only in cases of the disagreement in opinion of the other inspectors as to the quality of tobacco brought to their inspection, or where either of them shall through sickness or otherwise be absent from his duty, or shall bring his own tobacco to the warehouse whereof he is inspector, to be viewed; and the said additional inspector shall be paid for the services he shall perform, by occasion of the absence of either of the other inspectors, out of the salary of such absentee, in proportion to the time he shall officiate. | |
| XIII. And be it further enacted, That if any inspector shall hereafter accept, receive, or take directly or indirectly, any fee, gratuity, service, or reward whatsoever, of any person, for resigning or giving up his office of inspector, he shall not only be forever disabled from holding the like office, but for such offence shall forfeit and pay the sum of two hundred pounds, to be recovered with costs, by action of debt, in any court of record within this state, by any person suing for the same; and every person offering or paying, directly or indirectly, any fee, service, gratuity, or reward whatsoever, to any inspector to resign his said office, shall for the said offence, be forever disabled from holding the office of inspector within this state. Provided always, That no justice of the peace, being an inspector, or recommended to be an inspector, shall be allowed to vote in nomination and recommendation of persons to be inspectors as aforesaid; and where any person once recommended as aforesaid; and where any person once recommended as aforesaid, and executing the office of inspector in pursuance of such recommendation, shall be again recommended the succeeding year, the same shall be a sufficient appointment to him to continue in the said office for another year without any new commission, and so from year to year, so long as he shall be so recommended as aforesaid. | No inspector to take a reward for resigning. Penalty on giver & receiver. No inspector to vote in recommendation. Inspectors in office recommended continue without new commissions. |
| XIV. And be it further enacted, That every person appointed, or to be appointed, inspector by virtue of this act, shall, before he enters upon the execution of the said office, enter into bond with good security, in the penalty of one thousand pounds, payable to the governor, for the time being, and his successors, with condition for the true and faithful performance of his duty, according to the directions of this act; which bond shall be recorded in the county, and transmitted | Inspectors to give bond and take an oath. |
| by the clerk of the court to the treasurer, under the penalty of one hundred pounds, who shall move for judgment against every inspector failing to discharge the same within two months after failure, under the penalty of one hundred pounds; and every such inspector shall also take the following oath at the time he gives bond, that is to say: "You shall swear, that you will diligently and carefully view and examine all tobacco brought to the public ware-house or ware-houses where you are appointed inspector, and that not separately and apart from your fellow, but in his presence: and that you will not receive or pass any tobacco that is not, in your judgment, sound well conditioned, merchantable, and clear of trash; nor receive, pass, or stamp, any tobacco hogshead or cask of tobacco, contrary to the act, intituled, "An act to amend and reduce the several acts of assembly for the inspection of tobacco, into one act," nor refuse any tobacco that, in your judgment, is sound, well conditioned, merchantable, and clear of trash; and that you will not change, alter, or give out, any tobacco, other than such hogsheads or casks for which the receipt to be taken was given; but that you will in all things well and faithfully discharge your duty in the office of an inspector, according to the best of your skill and judgment, and according to the directions of this act, without fear, favor, affection, malice, or partiality. So help you God." Which oath shall be taken before the governor of this state for the time being, before the general court, or in the court of the county wherein such inspector shall reside, or the ware-houses at which he shall be inspector shall stand. But before any inspector shall enter upon the execution of his office, he shall produce a certificate, if sworn before the governor or general court as the case may be, of his having taken such oath; which certificate shall be lodged with the clerk of the county where such inspector shall be. And if any person shall presume to execute the office of inspector, before he shall have given such bond, and taken such oath as aforesaid, he shall forfeit and pay five hundred pounds. | Form of oath. Penalty. |
| XV. And be it further enacted, That all inspectors to be appointed by virtue of this act, shall constantly attend their duty at the ware-house or ware-houses under their charge, from the first day of October, to the | Time inspectors are to attend. |
| tenth day of August, yearly, except Sundays, and the holydays observed at Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide, or when hindered by sickness; and afterwards they, or one of them, shall constantly attend at the same, except Sundays, to deliver out tobacco for exportation, until all the tobacco remaining there the said tenth day of August shall be delivered; but no inspector shall be obliged to view any tobacco between the said tenth day of August and the said first day of October, except such as remained in the ware-house on the said tenth day of August. And every inspector neglecting to attend as aforesaid, shall forfeit and pay to the party grieved five shillings for every neglect; or shall be liable to an action upon the case of the party grieved, to recover all such damages as he or they shall have sustained by occasion of any such neglect, together with his or their full costs, at the election of such party. And that all persons having tobacco at the public ware-houses may have equal justice, the inspectors shall enter in a book, to be kept for that purpose, the marks and owners names of all tobacco brought to their respective ware-houses for inspection, as the same shall be brought in, and shall view and inspect the same in due turn, as it shall be entered in such book, without favor or partiality; and shall uncase and break every hogshead or cask of tobacco brought them to be inspected as aforesaid; and if they shall agree that the same is good, sound, well conditioned, merchantable, and clear of trash, then such tobacco shall be weighted in scales with weights of the lawful standard, and the hogshead or cask shall be stamped in the presence of the said inspectors, or one of them, with the name of the war-house at which inspected, and also the tare of the hogshead or cask, and quantity of nett tobacco therein contained. And the inspectors at such ware-houses shall issue a receipt for each hogshead of tobacco they shall pass, if required by the owner, which receipt shall be in the form following, to wit: | Penalty for not attending. Tobacco to be entered as brought in, and viewed in due turn. Each hogshead to be uncased and viewed, and if found good, stamped receipts given. |
|
Form of the receipt, which is to be printed, for crop tobacco. | ||
| [ In the original, the above text is printed vertically (rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise) ] | |||
And no inspector or inspectors shall, under any pretence whatsoever, issue a receipt for any tobacco other than such as shall be printed, in which the date shall be inserted at full length. And if any inspector or inspectors shall presume to issue a receipt in any other manner than is hereby expressed, he or they, for every such offence, shall forfeit and pay the sum of one hundred pounds, to be recovered with costs, by any person |
| who may sue for the same, in any court of record within this state; which receipts as aforesaid, shall be furnished by the public printer, and at the public expense. But if the said two inspectors shall at any time disagree concerning the quality of any tobacco brought for their inspection to any ware-house under their charge, they shall, as soon as conveniently may be, call in the additional inspector appointed to attend such ware-house, who shall determine, and pass or reject such tobacco; and if he shall pass the same, his name shall be entered in a book kept by the inspectors, opposite the mark, number and weight, of the hogshead by him passed, together with the name of the inspector at such ware-house who shall officiate with him. And the inspectors at each of the ware-houses established by this act, shall constantly keep so many able hands at their respective ware-houses not exceeding two, as the courts of the several counties wherein they lie shall from time to time judge necessary and direct, for the purpose of taking care of all tobacco brought to such ware-house, and stowing it away after the same shall be inspected and stamped. And no inspector shall, by himself, his servant, or any other person, either directly or indirectly, be concerned in picking any refused tobacco, unless it be his own property, on any pretence whatsoever, under the penalty of being for ever thereafter disabled from holding the office of inspector. | Where the inspectors disagree. What hands the inspectors shall keep. Inspectors or servants, not be concerned in picking tobacco. |
| XVI. And be it further enacted, That when any tobacco shall be refused by the inspectors, the proprietor thereof shall be at liberty to separate the good from the bad; but if he refuses or neglects so to do within one month of such refusal, the inspectors shall employ one of the pickers attending the ware-house, to pick and separate such refused tobacco, and give the owner credit for so much thereof as shall be found merchantable, after paying the pickers one fifteenth part of the quantity saved; and the inspectors shall cause the tobacco which shall by them be judged unfit to pass, to be burnt in the brick funnel, erected or to be erected at such ware-honse, under the penalty of forty shillings for every failure to the informer, recoverable with costs, before any justice of the county wherein such ware-house shall lie. | Refused tobacco may be picked. If unfit to pass, to be burnt. |
| XVII. And whereas it has been found that many persons attending the ware-houses under the denomination of tobacco pickers, have been found guilty of great frauds, impositions, and abuses therein: For remedy whereof, Be it enacted, That the courts of the several counties wherein any of the public ware-houses appointed by this act are established, shall, and they are hereby required, to nominate and appoint, from time to time, such and so many persons as to them shall seem necessary, who are willing to undertake the same, to attend the several ware-houses, within this state, to turn up, sort, separate, and pick such tobacco as shall be refused by the inspectors. And every person so appointed a picker, shall make oath before the court at the time of his appointment, or at the next succeeding court, that he will carefully and diligently, without fraud or embezzlement, sort and separate all such tobacco as shall be refused by the inspectors, and the owner or proprietor thereof, or the inspectors, shall employ him to pick. And every picker of tobacco shall be allowed to demand and receive from the respective proprietors, one shilling and three pence per hogshead for opening, and one fifteenth part of all the tobacco saved out of any refused hogshead by him picked, for his services in opening, sorting, and picking the same, and no more. And no picker of tobacco shall keep or employ any negro or mulatto slave at any public ware-house, on any pretence whatsoever; nor shall any picker presume to hinder any person who may choose to open their own tobacco, or to pick what may be refused by the inspectors, from the free use of the picking house and prize for the conveniency of picking and prizing the same. And if any picker shall misbehave himself in his said office, it shall and may be lawful for the court of the county where such picker shall be appointed, on complaint and motion to them made, to remove such picker from his said office, and to appoint another person to act in his room, if to them it shall seem necessary; and every picker so removed, shall for ever after be rendered incapable of serving as picker at any public ware-house, provided such picker hath ten days previous notice of such motion; and any person who shall be aggrieved by any such misbehaviour in a picker, may make complaint thereof to any justice of the peace, who is hereby empowered | Pickers, how to be appointed. Their oath. Allowance. Duty. Punishment for misbehaviour. |
| and directed to take depositions therein, provided such picker have notice thereof, and to transmit the same to the next court to be held for the county where the offence shall be committed, to be there given in evidence on the examination into such misbehaviour. And if any person, not being appointed and sworn as aforesaid, shall presume to undertake the opening, sorting, picking, or separating any such tobacco for hire or reward, every person so offending shall forfeit and pay twenty shillings for every such offence; to be recovered by the informer to his own use before any justice of the peace. Provided, That any proprietor of tobacco who may choose to open, pick, and prize his own tobacco, may employ his own servants or slaves, or any other person or persons, other than the hands kept by the inspectors, to assist him in opening, picking, or prizing the same; and the person or persons so employed, shall not incur or be subject to the last mentioned or any other penalty or forfeiture for so doing; and the inspectors shall issue receipts for all tobacco saved by picking to the proprietors only of such tobacco, and not to the pickers of the same> And the inspectors shall not suffer or permit any picker to prize up any tobacco, that he shall have saved by picking, for his own use. And if any tobacco packed in any hogshead or cask by an overseer, or the hands under his care, shall be burnt by the inspectors by reason of its being bad, unsound, or not in good condition, the overseer who had the care of making and packing the same shall be at the loss of the tobacco so burnt, and make satisfaction for the same out of his share of the crop, or otherwise; and the inspectors shall be obliged to keep an account of all tobacco so burnt. | Penalty for picking, without being so appointed, except by
the proprietor, his hands, or others. Overseers liable for tobacco refused & burnt. |
| VIII. And be it further enacted, That where any tobacco shall be brought to any of the said ware-houses for the discharge of any public or private debt or contract, the said inspectors, or one of them, after they have viewed, examined, and weighted the said tobacco, according to the directions of this act, shall be obliged to deliver to the person bringing the same, as many receipts, under the hands of the said inspectors, as shall be required for the full quantity of tobacco received by them, in which shall be expressed whether the tobacco so received by sweet scented or Oronoko, stemmed or leaf; which receipt shall be in the form |
| following, to wit: " river, number ware-house, the day of , 17 Received of , pounds of transfer tobacco, to be delivered on demand to him or to his order, according to the directions of the act, intituled, "An act to amend and reduce the several acts of assembly for the inspection of tobacco, into one act. Witness our hands." And shall bear date the day the tobacco for which the same is given shall be received and passed, and shall be current in all tobacco payments, according to the species expressed in the receipt, within the county wherein such inspectors shall officiate, and in any other county next adjacent thereto, and not separate therefrom by any of the great rivers or bay herein after mentioned, that is to say: −− James river, below the mouth of Appomattox; York, below West-Point; Rappahannock, below Taliaferro's Mount or by the bay of Chesapeake; and shall be transferable from one to another in all such payments, except as herein is excepted, and shall be paid and satisfied by the inspector or inspectors who signed the same upon demand. −− And for every hogshead of tobacco brought to any public ware-house and transferred, there shall be allowed by the inspectors thereof, to the person bringing the same, after the rate of four pounds of tobacco for every hundred pounds of tobacco the said hogshead shall contain, for the cask, so as such allowance do not exceed thirty pounds of tobacco, provided the cask or hogshead is good, and of such dimensions as is herein after expressed; and the said inspectors shall, and they are hereby obliged, to make every hogshead by them paid away in discharge of any receipt by them given as aforesaid, to contain one thousand pounds of nett tobacco at the least; and for every hogehead of tobacco by them paid away, well lined and nailed, fit for shipping, there shall be paid by the person shipping such hogshead, six shillings for inspection, and three shillings and six pence for prizing and nails; which said sum of three shillings and six pence the inspectors may retain in their hands for their own use, to reimburse them the expense and trouble of providing nails and prizing. And the person demanding or receiving tobacco in discharge of receipts as aforesaid, shall allow to the inspectors thirty pounds of tobacco for each hogshead so received for the cask, and two | Form of tranfer receipts. Their date and currency. Weight of tobacco prized in discharge of notes. 6s. inspection, and 3s. for prizing & nails. |
| pounds of tobacco for every hundred pounds of tobacco contained in such receipts, and so in proportion for a greater or lesser quantity, for shrinkage and wasting, if the said tobacco be paid within two months after the date of the receipt given for the same, and one pound of tobacco for every hundred for every month the same shall be unpaid after the said allowance, so as such allowance for shrinkage and wasting do not exceed in the whole six pounds of tobacco for every hundred. And if any inspector or inspectors, by whom any such receipts for tobacco as aforesaid shall be signed, shall refuse or delay to pay and satisfy the same when demanded, every inspector so refusing or delaying, shall forfeit and pay to the party injured double the tobacco so refused or delayed to be paid; to be recovered with costs, in any court of record within this state, if the receipt or receipts so refused or delayed to be paid exceed two hundred pounds of tobacco; and if the said receipt or receipts do not exceed two hundred pounds of tobacco, the double value aforesaid shall and may be recovered, before any justice of the peace of the county wherein the ware-house shall be at which the receipt or receipts ought to be paid. | Allowance to be made for cask and shrinkage. Remedy against inspectors. |
| XIX. And be it further enacted, That all tobacco brought to any of the said ware-houses in hogsheads, to be exported on account, and for the use of the owner thereof, after the same shall have been received, examined, found to be good, and weighted, shall be stamped as herein before directed; and the said inspectors, or one of them, shall deliver to the person bringing the same, as many receipts signed as aforesaid, as shall be required for the number of hogsheads so brought and stamped, in which shall be expressed, whether the tobacco so received be sweet scented or Oronoko, stemmed or leaf, or whether the same be tied up in bundles or not; and where any hogshead hath part leaf and part stemmed, shall signify the same at the bottom of the receipt, and they shall not mix stemmed and leaf tobacco in any hogshead which they shall prize, and pay away in discharge of their transfer receipts; and for every hogshead brought to any of the said warehouses, to be exported by land or by water out of this state, there shall be paid to the inspectors attending at such ware-houses, by the exporter at the time of demanding the same for exportation, the sum of six shillings; | How receipts are to be given for crop tobacco. Six shillings inspection tax to be paid by exporter. |
| and the owners of the tobacco shall find and provide nails sufficient for securing and nailing thereof, and where they shall fail so to do, the inspectors at such ware-house shall furnish nails for the purpose aforesaid, and shall be allowed and paid by the owner eight pence for each hogshead so secured. And if any inspector or inspectors shall alter, change, or deliver out, any hogshead of tobacco, other than the hogshead for which the receipt for crop tobacco to be taken in, was by him or them given; or shall alter or change in any such tobacco, although no such receipt shall have been given, such inspector or inspectors shall forfeit and pay fifty pounds for every hogshead so altered, changed or delivered out. And if any inspector shall fail or refuse to deliver any hogshead of tobacco, when the same shall be demanded for exportation, such inspectors shall forfeit and pay to the owner thereof double the value of the tobacco which they shall so refuse or fail to deliver. And all inspectors shall, and they are hereby obliged, if required, to take in any receipt or receipts by them given for crop tobacco, and after having weighted such tobacco, to give transfer receipts for the same, with an allowance of four per centum for the cask, so as such allowance do not exceed thirty pounds of tobacco for every cask. Provided, That such hogshead shall contain at least one thousand pounds of nett tobacco, and not mixed leaf and stemmed. Provided nevertheless, That no inspectors shall give their receipt or receipts for any transfer or crop tobacco, which shall be opened or picked, by any picker legally appointed, until the proprietor of such tobacco, or his or her agent, shall have first paid or tendered to such picker his lawful charges for opening or picking the same. And in the absence of any such picker, a payment or tender to any of the inspectors there attending, for the use of the picker, shall be as effectual as if made to such picker in person. And if any inspectors shall deliver their receipt or receipts for any such tobacco, so opened or picked, before such payment or tender be made, they shall be liable to such picker for the amount of the same. | Penalty on inspectors changing tobacco. Or failing to deliver it, when demanded. To transfer crop tobacco. Rule as to paying pickers. |
| XX. And for restraining the undue practice of mixing trash with stemmed tobacco, and preventing the packing of tobacco in unsizeable casks, Be it enacted, That all stemmed tobacco, not laid straight, whether | Stemed tobacco to be laid straight. |
| the same be packed loose or in bundles, shall be accounted unlawful tobacco; and that no tobacco packed in hogsheads which exceed forty-eight inches in the length of the stave, or thirty inches at the head, within the crow, making reasonable allowance for prizing, which allowance shall not exceed tow inches above the gauge, in the prizing head, shall be passed or received; but the owner of such tobacco, packed in casks of greater dimensions than before expressed, shall be obliged to repack the same in sizeable casks, at his own charge, before the same shall be received or stamped by the inspectors. | Size of tobacco hogsheads. |
| XXI. And whereas many and great inconveniences have arisen from inspectors undertaking to deliver tobacco, the property of others, in their ware-houses, without order from the proprietor of the same: Be it enacted, That from and after the passing of this act, if any inspector shall presume to deliver any tobacco in his ware-house, without order from the owner or proprietor of such tobacco, every inspector so offending, and being thereof duly convicted in the court of the county wherein he officiates, is declared incapable of serving for ever after as an inspector in this state, and moreover shall be liable to the penalty of fifty pounds, for every hogshead of tobacco so as aforesaid delivered, without order of the owner or proprietor thereof, to be recovered by such owner or proprietor thereof, if he or she shall prosecute within four months after the offence committed; or if he or she decline the prosecution, then, after that time, by any person who shall inform or sue for the same, by action of debt or information, in any court of record within this commonwealth. And if any inspector shall deliver any transfer receipts, or notes of credit, for tobacco, to any person or persons, unless at the time of delivering the same, he shall have actually and bona fide received and passed tobacco the property of him, her, or them, in whose name or names such receipts or notes shall be made out to the full amount of the quantity therein specified, every inspector so offending, and being duly convicted, shall be disabled from serving as an inspector, and moreover shall forfeit five pounds for every hundred weight of tobacco such fictitious note shall express, to any person who will sue for the same, recoverable by action of debt in any court of record. −− | Penalty for delivering tobacco, without an order from the
proprietor. And for issuing fictitious transfer notes, in suits for which the proof shall lie on the inspector. |
| And for every prosecution against any inspector or in- inspectors, for the said offence, the proof of his or their innocence shall lie upon the defendant. | |
| XXII. And be it further enacted, That the owner of any transfer receipts may, at any time before the sale of the tobacco contained in such transfer receipts, as herein after is directed, receive and mark hogsheads of tobacco to satisfy such receipts; and the inspectors shall take in their former receipts and deliver crip receipts for such hogsheads, and shall be answerable for the safe keeping thereof in the same manner as they are for crop tobacco; but the persons receiving such hogshead, shall pay to the inspectors nine shillings and six pence for the inspection and nails for every hogshead, that is to say, three shillings and six pence down to the inspectors for their use, for nails and their trouble in prizing, and six shillings as inspection, when the tobacco is delivered. And the inspectors shall, at the court held for their county in the month of September yearly, or if there by no court in that month, then at the next court held for their county, lay before the court an account, upon oath, of all transfer receipts that were not by them taken in and received before the time of sale herein before mentioned; and after such account exhibited, and oath made, shall sell the tobacco in such receipts contained, deducting the allowance for shrinkage and wasting, at public auction, at the door of the court-house, between the hours of twelve and two; and the inspectors shall pay the money arising by such sale in satisfaction of their receipts, from time to time, to the proprietors thereof, making their demand, under the same penalty as is inflicted for not paying inspectors receipts. And all inspectors shall keep a just and true account of the tobacco gained or saved upon the allowance made for cask and for shrinkage of transfer tobacco, or otherwise; and if any tobacco shall be so gained or saved, shall exhibit an account thereof, and shall also sell the tobacco so gained and saved, in the manner as is directed for the sale of transfer tobacco, and shall account for the money arising by such sale to the treasurer of this state, for the time being, in their next account with him; and the said treasurer shall account for the same to the general assembly; and no inspector shall convert any tobacco so gained to his own use. | Inspectors to give crop notes in exchange for transfer. And in September court yearly account, and sell the tobacco for all notes outstanding. Also tobacco gained by allowance for shrinkage. |
| XXIII. And be it further enacted, That all inspectors shall, before the tenth day of October in every year, account with the treasurer of this state, upon oath, for all monies received, or which ought to be received, by them by virtue of this act, except the money paid for nails and for their trouble in prizing, or for re-packing damaged tobacco which shall be relanded at their inspection, for every hogshead of transfer tobacco; in which account they shall be allowed their salaries, the rents of the ware-houses, and all other necessary disbursements in pursuance of this act. And in order to ease the inspectors giving their personal attendance at the treasury, they are hereby required, after stating their accounts with the treasurer, as above directed, to take the following oath, before some one justice of the peace of the county where they officiate, to wit: −− "We, A. B. and C. D. do swear, that the account now produced contains an exact state of all the tobacco shipped the preceding year from ware-house, all taxes received or due for the same, also all tobacco gained at the said inspection, by any means whatsoever. So help me God." And the justice of the peace, before whom they are sworn, shall, and he is hereby required, to certify on the said account that they have taken this oath. | To account with the treasurer upon oath, when and how. |
| XXIV. And for the more effectual prevention of frauds in shipping uninspected tobacco, and in the not regularly entering and reporting at the naval-offices tobaccoes shipped from the ware-houses; Be it further enacted, That the several inspectors of tobacco in this state shall, annually, at the time of settling their accounts with the treasurer, deliver to him an account, upon oath, of all the tobacco shipped from their respective ware-houses within the year preceding, containing the number of hogsheads or casks sent on board each ship or vessel respectively; and every inspector failing herein, shall forfeit and pay the sum of fifty pounds. And that the several naval-officers shall, on or before the twenty fifth day of October, annually, return tot he said treasurer an account, upon oath, of all the tobacco on board each ship or vessel which shall have been cleared out in such naval officer's district in the preceding year, according to the manifests thereof delivered by the master of such ship or vessel at the time of clearing, distinguishing the number of hogsheads | To return an account annually of all tobacco shipped, and the
penalty. Naval officers on account of the tobacco entered −− penalty. |
| or casks put on board such ship or vessel from each respective ware-house; and every naval-officer failing herein, shall forfeit and pay the sum of one hundred pounds for every failure. And if any justice of the peace shall know, or be informed upon oath, of any tobacco pressed or packed, in order to be shipped off or carried out of this state by water, without being inspected, such justice by himself, or any sheriff, or constable, by warrant from such justice, within the limits of his county, shall have power and authority, and is hereby required, to enter any suspected houses, and to break open all doors in the day time, the keys of such doors having been first demanded, and refused to be delivered, to search for the same; and if any tobacco shall be found by such justice, sheriff, or constable, pressed in any hogshead, cask, barrel, or other package whatsoever, such justice, sheriff, or constable, shall seize the same; and the person in whose possession such tobacco shall be found, shall forfeit to the informer five pounds for every hundred weight, and so in proportion for a less quantity, to be recovered, with costs, in any court of record, if it be twenty-five shillings or upwards. And any justice of the peace of any county near the place where any ship or other vessel shall ride, upon information to him made upon oath, by any free man, that other e is good cause to suspect any tobacco uninspected, in cask, bulk, or parcels, to be on board such ship or other vessel, shall, and he is hereby empowered and required, to issue his warrant directed to the sheriff or any constable of his county; and the sheriff or constable shall have full power and authority, and he is hereby required to enter and go on board such ship or other vessel, to search for and seize such tobacco, and the same being seized, shall be brought on shore and carried before the same or any other justice, who shall cause the said tobacco to be carried to the nearest ware-house and there inspected, and if passed, restored to the owner in case he shall be innocent of the fraud; but if he shall appear to have been concerned in such fraud, or if no owner shall claim within three months, the said tobacco shall be sold by the inspectors, and the money arising from such sale be paid into the public treasury, and accounted for to the general assembly. And the commanding officer or skipper of any ship or vessel on | Proceeding where tobacco is about to be exported by water, uninspected. |
| board which such tobacco is found, shall forfeit to the informer five pounds for every hundred weight, and so in proportion for a less quantity to be recovered with costs, in any court of record, if it be twenty-five shillings or more. And if any master or commanding officer or skipper of any ship or vessel, or any other person whatsoever, shall resist the officer in the execution of any such warrant, every such master, commanding officer, or skipper, shall forfeit and pay two hundred pounds; and every sailor or other person so resisting, shall forfeit and pay twenty-five pounds. −− And if any action shall be brought against any justice of the peace, sheriff, or constable, for doing any thing in execution of this act, the defendant may plead the general issue and give this act in evidence; and if the plaintiff shall be non-suited, or a verdict pass against him, or a judgment on demurrer, the defendant shall recover double costs. | |
| XXV. And be it further enacted, That where any tobacco hath remained, or shall hereafter remain, undemanded in a public ware-house two years, after the same hat been or shall be inspected, the inspectors at such ware-house shall advertize in the Virginia Gazette, for three weeks successively, a list of the marks, numbers, and weights of such tobacco, with the names of the persons for whom it was inspected; and if no owner appears to claim the same within three months, they shall at the next court to be held for the county in which such ware-house shall be, after the expiration thereof, and advertizing as aforesaid, deliver to the court the like list, which court is hereby empowered and required to order the same to be publicly sold at the court-house door, on a court day, to the highest bidder; and the money arising from the sale thereof shall be paid by the inspectors to the treasurer of this state for the time being, who shall account for the same, from time to time, to the general assembly. −− And if any person having a right to any tobacco so sold, shall prove his property therein, the said treasurer shall re-pay to such person the money for which such tobacco was sold. | Old tobacco to be sold. |
| XXVI. And be it further enacted, That no person taking upon himself the office of inspector, shall, during his continuance in that office, or within two years after he shall be out of his said office, be capable of | Inspectors ineligible to general assembly. |
| being elected a member of either house of assembly, or shall presume to intermeddle or concern himself with an election of a member or members of either of the said houses, otherwise than by giving his vote, or shall endeavour to influence any person or persons in giving his or their vote, under the penalty of fifty pounds for every offence; nor shall any inspector by himself, or any person for him, be allowed to keep an ordinary or house of entertainment at or near the warehouse where he is an inspector; and every inspector herein offending shall be incapable of serving in that office; neither shall any inspector, during his continuance in that office, be, or undertake to be, collector of any public tax, other than what relates to such office, county or parish levies, or any officer's fees; nor shall directly or indirectly for himself, or for any other person, buy, or receive by way of barter, loan, or exchange, any tobacco whatsoever, under the penalty of fifty shillings for every hundred pounds of tobacco so bought or received. Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to hinder any inspector from receiving his rents in tobacco, which shall be first viewed, examined, and stamped, according to the directions of this act. | Other incapacities. |
| XXVII. And for the farther and better directions of the inspectors aforesaid in their duty; Be it enacted, That no inspectors shall take, accept, or receive, directly or indirectly, any gratuity, fee, or reward, for any thing by him to be done in pursuance of this act, other than his salary, and the other payments and allowances herein before mentioned and expressed; and if any inspector shall take, accept, or receive any such gratuity, fee, or reward, such inspector, being thereof convicted, shall forfeit and pay the sum of one hundred pounds, to be recovered with costs, by any person or persons who shall inform and sue for the same, by action of debt or information, in any court of record within this commonwealth, and moreover shall be disabled from holding the office of inspector during the continuance of this act. And if any person shall offer any bribe, reward, or gratuity, to any inspector for any thing by him to be done in pursuance of this act, other than the fees and allowances herein before directed, every person so offending, and being thereof convicted, shall, for every such offence, forfeit | Penalty on inspectors receiving other gratuity than salaries.
And on the person offering a bribe. |
| and pay the sum of twenty pounds current money, to be recovered in any court of record within this state, one half of which forfeiture shall be to and for the use of such inspector refusing such bribe or reward, and the other half to the person who will inform and sue for the same. And there shall be paid to the several inspectors, appointed to attend and attending the said several ware houses, the salaries herein after mentioned, that is to say: At Pitt's, Guilford, and Pungoteague, under one inspection, thirty-five pounds; at Roy's, sixty pounds; at Kennon's, thirty pounds; at Bolling's point, eighty pounds; at Bollingbrooke, eighty pounds; at Cedar Point, eighty pounds, if the ware-houses shall be re-built and inspectors appointed; at Hobb's Hole, thirty-five pounds; at Bowler's, thirty pounds; at Layton's; thirty pounds; at Colchester, fifty pounds; at Alexandria, forty pounds; at the Falls of Potowmack, forty pounds; at Deacon's Neck, thirty pounds; at Page's, eighty pounds; at Meriwether's, sixty pounds; at Poropotank, thirty pounds; at Rockey Ridge, eighty pounds; at Warwick, seventy pounds; at Osborn's, sixty pounds; at John Bolling's, sixty pounds; at Byrd's, eighty pounds; at Shockoe's, eighty pounds; at Rockett's, eighty pounds; at Smithfield & Fulgham's, under one inspection, thirty-five pounds; at Mantapike and Frazer's, under one inspection, forty pounds; at Shepherd's, thirty pounds; at Aylett's and Todd's, under one inspection, forty pounds; at Boyd's Hole and Machodack, under one inspection, forty-five pounds; at Gibson's, thirty pounds, at Davis's and Lowry's, under one inspection, thirty pounds; at Urbanna, thirty pounds; at Coan's and North Wicomico, under one inspection, forty pounds; at Deep Creek and Glasscock's, under one inspection, thirty-five pounds; at Indian Creek and South Wicomico, under one inspection, forty pounds; at Milner's and Wilkinson's under one inspection, forty pounds; at Cherry stone's and Naswaddox, under one inspection, thirty-five pounds; at Littlepage's, thirty-five pounds; at the Brick-House, thirty pounds; at Boyd's, eighty pounds; at Davis's, in Blandford, eighty pounds; at Blandford, eighty pounds; at Quantico, seventy pounds; at Dumfries, seventy-pounds; at Cat Point, thirty pounds; At Totusky, thirty pounds; at Gray's Creek, thirty-five pounds; at Low-Point, forty pounds; at Falmouth, | Inspector's salaries. |
| sixty pounds; at Acquia, fifty pounds; at Dixon's sixty pounds; at Fredericksburg, seventy pounds; at Royston's, seventy pounds; at Denbigh, twenty-five pounds; at Nominy, thirty pounds; at Leed's and Maddox, under one inspection, fifty pounds; at Yocomico and Rust's, under one inspection, forty pounds; at York-Town and the College-Landing, under one inspection, forty pounds; at Hampton, ten pounds. | |
| XXVIII. And for the better detecting inspectors who shall not do their duty, and for the more speedy and easy examination into complaints against them; Be it enacted, That any two justices of the peace, not being inspectors, shall have power to hear all complaints against any inspector within their county, and to take the depositions of witnesses upon the matter of such complaint on both sides, which shall be transmitted by them to the governor and council, for their determination. And to the end such depositions may be taken in the best manner, the clerk of the county, or some sufficient person by him to be appointed, shall attend the said justices for that purpose, and be paid by the county the same fees as is or shall be by law established for attending the examination of witnesses upon a dedimus potestatum. And moreover any two justices shall have power to visit all or any of the public ware-houses within their county, and if they shall discover any negligence in the inspectors either in securing the tobacco or stowing the same away in a proper manner for saving the room in such houses, or that they are guilty of any other breach or breaches of their duty, the justices shall certify the governor and council thereof. And if any inspector shall be adjudged guilty of a breach of his duty, he shall be removed from his office, an be for ever after incapable of serving as an inspector. And if any inspector shall be removed from his office, upon a complaint and prosecution against him in the method by this act prescribed, he shall be liable to the action on the case of the prosecutor for his necessary costs and expences in such prosecution, in which the prosecutor shall recover his full costs of suit; but if the inspector or inspectors shall be acquitted upon such examination, the prosecutor shall be liable to the action of such inspector or inspectors for the recovery of all damages and expenses which he or they shall have sustained or been put to by such | Method of detecting inspectors who shall not do their duty. |
| prosecution and costs, unless the governor and council shall certify that there was reasonable cause for such complaint; and every inspector shall moreover be liable to the action of the party grieved for all loss and damage that my happen or arise to any person by occasion of any failure of duty or neglect of any such inspector, in which action the plaintiff shall recover his full costs, although the damages do not exceed forty shillings. | |
| XXIX. And be it further enacted, That all tobacco due or to grow due and payable for public, county, and parish levies, or for clerks, sheriffs, surveyors, or other officers fees, shall be paid and discharged by transfer receipts in the following manner, that is to say: All levies shall be paid in some ware-house in the county where such levies are laid, and all officers fees in the county where the person chargeable therewith lives, except such person shall have a plantation with slaves thereon in the county where the service is performed, and then all fees shall be paid in such county; but the said levies and fees due and payable in any county where no public ware-houses is established, shall be paid at some ware-house in the next adjacent county. Provided always, That the receipts from the ware-houses hereafter mentioned shall pass in payment of all levies and officers fees payable in the counties following, that is to say: In the county of Accomack, Cherrystone's and Naswaddox; in the county of Albemarle, Page's, Fredericksburg, Roystons, Meriwether's, Rockey Ridge, Byrd's, Shockoe's, and Rocket's; Amelia, Charlotte, Halifax, Henry, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Pittsylvania, and Prince Edward, at Blandford, Bolling's Point, Bollingbrooke, Davis's Cedar-Point, Boyd's, Rockey Ridge, Warwick, and Osborn's; Amherst, at Byrd's, Shockoe's, Rockett's, Rockey Ridge, Page's, and Meriwether's; Bedford and Campbell, at Byrd's, Shockoe's, Rockett's, Rockey Ridge, and Warwick; Brunswick & Greensville, at Blandford, Bolling's-Point, Bollingbrooke, John Bolling's, Boyd's, Davis's, Cedar-Point, Smithfield, Fulgham's, Low-Point, and Gray's Creek; Nansemond, at Smithfield, Fulgham's, and Low-Point; Buckingham, at Byrd's, Shockoe's; Rocketts, Rockey Ridge, Warwick, and Osborne's; Caroline, at Todd's, Aylett's, and Layton's; Culpeper, at Dixon's, Quantico, Dumfries, Acquia, | How tobacco due for levies, clerk's, sheriffs, surveyors, or other officers' fees, shall be paid. |
| Falmouth, Fredericksburg, and Royston's; Cumberland and Powhatan, at Byrd's Shockoe's, Rockett's, Rockey Ridge, Warwick, and Osbornes; Dinwiddie, at Blandford, Boyd's, John Bolling's, and Davis's; Elizabeth City, at Hampton; Essex, at Port Royal, Todd's, and Mantipike; Fauquier, at Falmouth, Dixon's, Quantico, Dumfries, and Acquia; Goochland and Fluvanna, at Byrd's, Shockoe's, Rockett's, Page's, Meriwether's, and Rockey Ridge; James City, at Littlepage's, Kennon's, the Brick-House, York, and College-Landing; King George, at Dixon's, Falmouth, and Mattox; Isle of Wight, at Kennon's, Wilkinson's, and Milner's; King William, at Meriwether's and Page's; Lancaster, at Indian Creek; Loudoun, at any of the ware-houses in Fairfax and Prince William; Louisa and Orange, at Fredericksburg, Royston's, Page's, Meriwether's, Byrd's, Shockoe's, and Rockett's; Norfolk, at any of the ware-houses in Nansemond and Elizabeth City; Northampton, at Pitt's, Guilford, and Pungoteague; New-Kent, at the Brick-House, Littlepage's, and Kennon's; Northumberland, at Yocomico and Rust's; Prince George, at Bolling's-Point, John Bolling's, Cedar-Point, Bollingbrooke, Davis's, Blandford, Low-Point, Gray's Creek, and Kennon's; Prince William, at Alexandria, Acquia, and Colchester; Fairfax, at Quantico and Dumfries; Gloucester, at Deacon's Neck and Poropotank; Princess Anne, at any of the ware-houses in Nansemond and Elizabeth City; Southampton, at any of the ware-houses in Isle of Wight and at Low-Point; Stafford, at Boyd's Hole, Gibson's, Dumfries, and Quantico; Surry, at Kennon's, Blandford, Boyd's, and Davis's; Sussex, at Blandford, Bolling's Point, Bollinbrooke, John Bolling's, Davis's, Boyd's, Cedar-Point, Grays's Creek, Low-Point, and Smithfield; Westmoreland, at Machodack and Gibson's; York, at College-Landing, Denbigh, and the Brick-House. | |
| XXX. And be it further enacted, That all public, county, and parish levies, sheriffs, clerks, surveyors, and other officers fees, payable in tobacco, shall be paid and satisfied, by the persons chargeable with, and indebted for the same, to the sheriffs or other collectors, by transfer receipts before the tenth day of June yearly. And if any person chargeable with the levies and fees aforesaid, shall neglect or refuse to pay the | When levies and officers' fees may be distrained for. |
| same within the time aforesaid, it shall be lawful to and for the sheriffs and other collectors, immediately after the said tenth day of June, to distrain the goods and chattels of the person or persons so neglecting or refusing, and to sell and dispose thereof for tobacco in the same manner as is directed by law for goods taken in execution; and the overplus (if any be) after paying the several levies and fees, and the charge of distress, which is hereby declared to be the same as for serving an execution, shall be returned to the debtor. And the sheriffs or other collectors of the said levies and fees, shall, before the last day of July yearly, pay and deliver to each creditor, according to their respective debts or claims, all the inspectors receipts he or they shall have received in satisfaction thereof; and if any sheriff or other collector shall refuse or dely to make payment accordingly, if required, he or they so refusing or delaying, shall forfeit and pay the party grieved double the value of the tobacco so refused or delayed to be paid; to be recovered, with costs, in any court of record within this state. | When the sheriffs are to account. |
| XXXI. And be it further enacted, That if any of the ware-houses herein before mentioned, shall happen to be burnt, the loss sustained thereby shall be made good and repaired to the several persons injured, by the general assembly; and in case of such accident, no inspector shall be sued or molested for or by reason of any receipts by them given, or for any tobacco burnt in any of the said ware-houses, but shall be altogether acquitted and discharged of, and from the payment of the tobacco in such receipts mentioned; any thing herein before contained to the contrary notwithstanding. Provided always, That if the receipts for tobacco so burnt and destroyed shall be of an older date than twelve months, the tobacco shall not be paid for by the public, but the owner or proprietor thereof shall bear the loss. | Warehouses burnt, the public to pay for the tobacco, and
inspectors indemnified. Exception. |
| XXXII. And be it further enacted, That the inspectors shall not permit the proprietor or any other person to make use of the ware-house at which they are inspectors. And if any ware-house shall hereafter happen to be burnt, and it shall appear that such ware-house was burnt by means of the inspectors permitting the proprietor or any other person to make use thereof, such inspectors shall re-pay to the treasurer, for | Warehouses not to be used for private purposes. |
| the time being, all such sum or sums of money as shall have been paid to the person or persons so injured. | |
| XXXIII. And be it further enacted, That if any person hereafter shall make any fire within any public ware-house, or without doors, within one hundred yards of such ware-house, other than in the inspectors counting room, squares, or funnels, such person, if a free man, shall, for every such offence, forfeit and pay ten pounds, to be recovered, with costs, by action of debt or information, in any court of record within this state, by the informer to his own use; and if a servant or slave, he or she shall, by order of any justice of the peace, receive on his or her bare back twenty lashes for every such offence. And it shall not be lawful for any person whatsoever to erect or build, or cause to be erected or built, any wooden chimney or chimnies within two hundred yards of any public ware-house; and where any such are already built, within the distance aforesaid of any public ware-house, the owner or proprietor thereof shall pull down the same, or on refusal or neglect so to do in one month after the passing of this act, it shall be lawful for the sheriff of the county, and he is hereby required, to cause such chimney or chimnies to be pulled down and demolished. | No fire to be kindled in or near a warehouse. Nor wooden chimnies built near. |
| XXXIV. And to the intent that the just quantity of tobacco exported may be more exactly known, and evil practices to defraud the public of the duty prevented, Be it enacted, That all inspectors shall carefully enter in a book, to be provided and kept for that purpose, the marks, numbers, gross, nett weight, and tare, of all tobacco viewed and stamped by them as aforesaid, and in what ship or vessel the same shall be laden or put on board; and shall also, with every sloop or boat load of tobacco, send a list of the marks, numbers, gross, nett weight, and tare, of every hogshead or cask of tobacco then delivered, to be given to the master of the ship or vessel in which the same shall be put on board; and if the tobacco delivered to the same sloop or boat is intended to be put on board several ships or vessels, then they shall deliver so many distinct and several lists as aforesaid of the hogsheads or casks to be put on board such ship or vessel respectively; which lists every master of a ship or vessel is | Inspectors to keep books, &c. and deliver manifests with each load of tobacco. |
| required to produce to and lodge with the naval officer of the district where the same ship or vessel whereof he is master shall ride, or by whom he shall be cleared, some time before his clearance. But whereas it may happen that the ship in which such tobacco was intended to be put, may be so full as not to be able to stow all the tobacco contained in such list, in such case it shall be lawful to ship the said tobacco, or any part thereof, on board any other ship or ships where the owner thereof shall think fit, the masters of such ships endorsing on the said lists the marks and numbers of the respective hogsheads by them taken on board, and giving notice to the inspectors of the ware-house from which the same was brought; or if there by no ship to receive the said tobacco, then it shall be lawful for the master of the first mentioned ship or vessel to put the said tobacco into any ware-house in the district where such ship or vessel shall reside, giving immediate notice thereof to the inspectors who stamped the same. And the inspectors of that ware-house where such tobacco shall be delivered, shall receive from the persons re-landing such tobacco, one shilling and six pence for every hogshead so re-landed, and shall give a receipt for the same; which money so received by the inspectors, shall be paid by them to the person or persons entitled to receive the rent of the said ware-house. | Tobacco re-landed or put on board other ships. |
| XXXV. And be it further enacted, That he or she shall be adjudged a felon, and not have the benefit of clergy, who shall forge or counterfeit, alter or erase, the stamp or receipt of any inspector or inspectors; or shall cause or procure such stamp or receipt to be forged or counterfeited, altered or erased; or shall aid or assist in forging or counterfeiting, altering or erasing such stamp or receipt; or shall pass or tender, or shall cause or procure to be passed or tendered, any such stamp or receipt, in payment or exchange, knowing the same to have been forged or counterfeited, altered or erases; or shall have in his or her custody or possession any inspectors stamp or receipt, which hath been altered or erased, knowing the same to have been altered or erased, and shall not discover such altered or erased stamp or receipt to two justices of the peace before the first day of July, in the present year, or within five days after they, or either them, shall have come to his or her possession; or shall export, or cause | Death to counterfeit notes, &c. |
| to be exported, any hogshead or cask of tobacco stamped with a forged or counterfeited stamp; or shall receive or demand tobacco of an inspector upon any forged or counterfeited, altered or erased stamp or receipt, knowing such stamp or receipt to be forged or counterfeited, altered or erased; or shall put or pack, or cause or procure to be put or packed, into any hogshead or cask, stamped by an inspector, any tobacco whatsoever; or shall draw or take out, or cause or procure to be drawn or taken out, any staves, plank, or heading board, of any hogshead or cask of tobacco, so stamped as aforesaid, after the same shall be delivered out of any of the public ware-houses aforesaid. | |
| XXXVI. And be it further enacted, That if any inspector or inspectors shall give, deliver, or issue, to any person whatsoever, his or their receipt, expressed to be for any hogshead or cask of tobacco, or for any quantity of transfer tobacco, or for any quantity of transfer tobacco, which they have not actually received into the ware-house whereof they are inspectors, at the time of giving such receipt; or shall give, deliver, issue, or cause or procure to be given, delivered, or issued, more than one receipt for any hogshead or cask of tobacco, or quantity of transfer tobacco, by him or them received, except where authorized by law so to do, such inspector or inspectors, being thereof convicted by due course of law, shall be adjudged a felon, and shall suffer death as in case of felony, without benefit of clergy. | Or to issue double notes for the same tobacco, or notes for tobacco not received. |
| XXXVII. And be it further enacted, That if any inspector's receipt be casually lost, mislaid, or destroyed, the person or persons entitled to receive the tobacco, by virtue of any such receipt, shall make oath before any Justice of the peace of the county where the same is payable, to the number and date of every such receipt, to whom and where payable, and for what quantity to tobacco the same was given, and that such receipt is lost, mislaid, or destroyed, and that he, she, or they, at the time such receipt was lost, mislaid, or destroyed, was lawfully entitled to receive the tobacco therein mentioned, and shall take a certificate thereof from such justice; and upon producing a certificate thereof from such justice; and upon producing a certificate of such oath to the inspectors who signed such receipt, and lodging the same with them, the inspectors shall, and are hereby directed, to pay and deliver to the person obtaining such certificate, the tobacco for which | Method to be taken where receipts are lost. |
| any such receipt was given, if the same or any part thereof shall not have been before by them paid by virtue of the said receipts, and shall be thereby discharged from all actions, suits, and demands, on account of such receipts. And if any person shall be convicted of making a false oath, or producing a forged certificate in the case aforesaid, such person shall suffer as in case of wilful and corrupt perjury. | Penalty for false oath, or producing a forged
certificate. |
| XXXVIII. And be it enacted, That when any new inspectors shall be appointed at any of the said warehouses, such inspectors shall, and they are hereby required, to give to the person or persons whom they shall succeed, a receipt, with his or their hands subscribed, containing the numbers, marks, gross, tare, and nett weight, of all and every hogshead or cask of tobacco which shall be then remaining at the warehouse or warehouses at which time they are appointed inspectors, with the delivery and payment of which said hogsheads or casks of tobacco so remaining, he or they shall from thenceforth be chargeable and liable; but he or they shall in no wise be accountable or answerable for the loss of weight, or for quality of tobacco contained in any hogshead or cask, for which receipt was by him or them so as aforesaid given. And if any hogshead or cask of tobacco shall hereafter be received by any person or persons whatsoever, and delivered out of any of the said warehouses for exportation, by the inspector or inspectors attending the same, such inspector or inspectors from the time of such delivery, shall be for ever discharged and acquitted from all actions, costs, and charges for, or by reason of, the tobacco contained in any such hogshead or cask being unsound and unmerchantable, or of less quantity than the receipts given for the same shall specify; any thing herein before contained to the contrary notwithstanding. And when any prized tobacco shall be brought to any public warehouse, in order to be shipped on freight or otherwise, and the inspectors there attending shall refuse to pass such tobacco, unless such as shall be bad and unmerchantable shall be picked and separated from the rest; or where any light crop tobacco shall hereafter be brought to any of the said warehouses, in either case, the said inspectors, if required, shall permit the owner or other person bringing such tobacco, | New inspectors to give their predecessors a receipt for the
tobacco in the warehouses. Inspectors discharged on the delivery of tobacco. Prizes to be used in turn for prizing tobacco picked, or light hogshead. |
| to make use of one or more of their prizes, for the re-packing, prizing, or making heavier, such tobacco, without fee or reward; and if there shall be several hogsheads of tobacco, belonging to several owners, to be picked, re-packed, or prized, at any public warehouse, the owner or other person bringing the same, whose tobacco shall be first viewed and refused, or found light, shall be first permitted and allowed to make use of such prize or prizes, for the purposes aforesaid; and no inspector shall take or convert to his own use, or otherwise dispose of, any draughts or samples of transfer or crop tobacco, but the same, if fit to pass, shall be put into the hogshead or bulk out of which it was drawn, under the penalty of forfeiting twenty shillings for every draught so taken away and not returned as aforesaid, contrary to the directions of this act, to be recovered by the informer, one moiety to his own use, and the other moiety to the use of the proprietor of such tobacco, before any justice of the peace of the county wherein such offence shall be committed. And all inspectors, if required, shall alter the mark and number of any hogshead of re-prized tobacco for which they have before given a receipt; and for preventing confusion and mistakes shall keep a waste book, in which shall be entered the marks and numbers of all hogsheads of tobacco received by them, and another book, in which shall be entered the marks, numbers, and weights thereof, when the same shall be delivered out by them; and all inspectors, when required, shall be obliged to prize any light hogshead of tobacco under one thousand pounds, so as to make it up the weight of one thousand pounds nett, but shall receive the same fee upon such hogshead as for transfer tobacco. And where any tobacco shall be brought to the warehouse by the overseer of the owner thereof, the inspectors shall give receipts in the name of the owner and not of the overseer. | Penalty for taking and using drafts. Inspectors to prize light crop tobacco on request. To give notes in the name of the owner, not the overseer. |
| XXXIX. And be it enacted, That the inspectors of tobacco at the several warehouses within this state, shall, immediately on the delivery of every hogshead of tobacco at the warehouse whereof they are inspectors, give a receipt for such tobacco, if required by the proprietor or person bringing the same to the said warehouses, expressing therein that the same is for uninspected tobacco; every inspector refusing so to do | To give receipts for tobacco when brought. |
| shall forfeit and pay to the owner of such tobacco the sum of twenty shillings. | |
| XL. And be it further enacted, That all the penalties and forfeitures in this act contained, and not herein before particularly appropriated, shall be one moiety to the commonwealth, to be applied towards defraying the charges of the execution of this act, and the other half for the person who shall inform & sue for the same, & shall be recovered, with costs, by action of debt or information, in any court of record within this state, where the penalty or forfeiture exceeds twenty five shillings or two hundred pounds of tobacco; & where the same does not exceed those sums, before any justice of the peace for the county where the offence shall be committed. | Penalties, how to be recovered and applied. |
| XLI. And whereas recoveries and forfeitures inflicted by this act are liable to be evaded by masters or commanders and skippers of vessels and other persons leaving this state, before any action or suit brought for such recovery can be determined: For remedy thereof, Be it enacted, That upon the appearance of the defendant in any action or suit brought against any master, commander, or skipper, of any vessel, or any other person, for a breach of this act, where the plaintiff shall move that the defendant may be held to special bail, the court may, if they see cause, rule him to give special bail accordingly, or commit him in custody of the sheriff until such bail be given; any law, custom, or usage, to the contrary notwithstanding. | Masters of vessels sued may be ruled to bail. |
| XLII. And whereas the act of assembly passed in October, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight, for reviving several public ware-houses for the inspection of tobacco, hath expired, and it is necessary the same should be revived and continued; Be it therefore enacted, That the said recited act shall be and is hereby revived and continued until the last day of September next, except so much thereof as makes it felony for any person or persons to forge, counterfeit, alter, or erase, any inspector or inspectors receipt or stamp; and in lieu thereof so much of this act as inflicts the punishment on persons guilty of the offences aforesaid, or either of them, is hereby declared to be in force from the passing of the same. | The act of Oct. 1778, ch. 10, revived and continued till
September. Exception. |
| XLIII. And whereas the several amendatory acts of assembly for the inspection of tobacco, passed subsequent to the aforesaid act, of one thousand seven | Other subsequent acts continued to same time. |
| hundred and seventy-eight, will expire at the end of this session of assembly, and it is expedient the same should be further continued; Be it therefore enacted, That all and every act or acts, passed as aforesaid, shall be continued and be in force until the last day of September next, and no longer. | |
| XLIV. And be it further enacted, That all acts & proceedings of the inspectors, made and done in pursuance of the directions of the said recited act, or any or either of them, shall, notwithstanding the expiration thereof, be held and deemed good and valid in law. And all such inspectors are hereby exonerated and discharged of and from all costs, damages, pains, and penalties, by them incurred or to be incurred, for any thing by them done in pursuance of the said acts by reason of the expiration thereof. | Inspectors indemnified. |
| XLV. And be it further enacted, That in case any of the ware-houses herein before named shall not after the first day of October next, and before the first day of October one thousand seven hundred and eighty-five, receive a sufficient quantity of tobacco to pay the inspectors salaries and rents of the ware-houses, the inspection of tobacco at such ware-houses respectively shall be thenceforth discontinued, unless the same shall be supported at private expense. Provided, That this clause shall not extend to the discontinuance at one time of two or more ware-houses which may be in the same county, or county next adjacent, but in such cases, that ware-house shall be discontinued to which the smallest quantity of tobacco may be brought in the years aforesaid. | Warehouses to be discontinued,
October 1, 1785, if the inspection tax does not pay the salaries and rent. Exception |
| XLVI. And be it enacted, That the public printer shall furnish one copy of this act to the inspectors at each of the ware-houses herein mentioned; and also to each of the naval-officers within this state. This act shall commence and be in force from and after the first day of October next, and not sooner, except such parts as is declared to be in force from the passing thereof. | Commencement of this act. |
| XLVII. And be it further enacted, That the acting inspectors of tobacco at the several ware-houses be, and they are hereby exempt from militia duty, except in case of actual invasion or insurrection. | Inspectors exempt from militia duty. |
| Pages 185-205
| Pages 247-264
|