A.D. 1796. will carefully and diligently view and examine all casks in which such flour shall be brought and contained; and that he will not pass or brand any cask or casks of flour, unless such cask or casks be of such size, goodness and thickness, as by this Act is required.

XV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That no inInspector prohibited from spector of flour shall purchase, directly or indirectly, any flour by him condealing in flour. demned as aforesaid, or any flour whatsoever, other than for his own family use, under the penalty of six dollars for each barrel by him purchased. XVI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any Penalty for al- person shall alter the mark stamped on any barrel of flour by any inspectering marks or tor; or shall mark or brand any barrel of flour which hath not been inspected, with any mark or brand similar to or in imitation of the inspector's said mark or brand; or after the said inspector shall have passed any barrel of flour as merchantable, shall pack into the cask which contains the same, any other flour; or after any barrel of flour shall be branded with an arrow, shall unpack and repack the same into other casks or packages for exportation out of this State; such person shall forfeit and pay the sum of six dollars for every barrel.

brands.

Power to re

XVII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said commissioners, or the major part of them, shall be, and are hereby, emmove inspector. powered, at any time to displace or remove the said officer from his office, if the said commissioners, or the major part of them, shall see cause, and shall and may nominate and appoint another fit person to such office during the residue of the year, who shall have power to execute the same office, according to the directions of this Act, on his taking the said oath of office.

Flour to be inspected on board vessels, if required.

tants.

XVIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the inspector of flour, appointed by this Act, shall, and is hereby directed, at the request of any person who shall bring above ten casks in any one vessel, to go on board such vessel in the harbor of the said city, and inspect the said flour on board, under the penalty of three dollars for every neglect or refusal.

XIX. And whereas, it may sometimes happen, that by reason of a Inspector may great quantity of flour being brought at once to Charleston, the person appoint assis- who shall be appointed inspector of flour, cannot alone, with sufficient dispatch, inspect and brand all such flour; and as it is apprehended that the most likely means to support the credit of the inspection brand, is to make one inspector answerable; Be it therefore further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the person to be chosen and appointed inspector of flour, shall or may, on such occasions only, or in case of sickness, employ one or more persons of good repute, and well qualified for such service, as assistants, to assist him in the execution of his said office; and such assistants, after taking the oath or affirmation herein prescribed to be taken by the inspector of flour, are hereby authorized to inspect and brand any barrels of flour at Charleston, as the inspector himself might do.

XX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all and evMode of recov-very of the penalties and forfeitures, in and by this Act set and appointed, ering penalties. shall be recovered before a single magistrate, as in case of small debts, or before the City Council, in the name of the commissioners, and be by them paid into the treasury of the State for the use of the public.

for Charleston.

XXI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That EdCommissioners ward Darrell, Thomas Morris, Nathaniel Russel, Robert Henry, Philip Gadsden, William Crafts and Adam Tunno, be, and they are hereby appointed, commissioners for carrying into effect this Act.

XXII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That Zacha- A.D. 1796. riah Cantey, Thomas Broom, John Kershaw, John Adamson and Daniel Carpenter, or a majority of them, are hereby appointed commissioners to Commissioners meet at the town of Camden, on the second Monday in January next, and for Camden. on the second Monday in every January thereafter, to nominate and appoint a person of good repute, and skilful in the goodness and quality of flour, to be an inspector of flour at the said town of Camden; which said inspector shall have all the powers, discharge all the duties, and be subject to all the regulations, which are prescribed by this Act for the inspectors of flour in the city of Charleston.

XXIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That Thomas Taylor, John Taylor, Timothy Rives, Benjamin Waring and Robert Commissioners Lithgow, or a majority of them, are hereby appointed commissioners to for Columbia. meet at the town of Columbia, on the second Monday in January next, and on the second Monday in every January thereafter, to nominate and appoint a person of good repute, and skill in the goodness and quality of flour, to be an inspector of flour in the said town of Columbia; which inspector shall have all the powers, discharge all the duties, and be subject to all the regulations, which are prescribed by this Act for inspectors of flour in the city of Charleston.

XXIV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful for Samuel Smith, George Heriot, Savage Smith, Commissioners Francis Gottier Deliesseline and Robert Elliott, or any three of them, and forGeorgetown. they are hereby required, to appoint, on the first Monday in January next, and on the first Monday in every January thereafter, one inspector of flour and bread, at the town of Georgetown; which said inspector shall have all the powers, discharge all the duties, and be subject to and observe all the regulations, which are prescribed by this Act for such inspectors of the city of Charleston.

XXV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful to and for Jesse Arthur, John Bynum, John Commissioners Means, John Sims and Gerard Burke, or any three of them, and they are for Granby. hereby required, to appoint, on the first Monday in January next, and on the first Monday in January in every year thereafter, one inspector of flour at the town of Granby, on the west side of the Congaree river; which said inspector shall have all the powers, discharge all the duties, and be subject to and observe all the regulations, which are prescribed by this Act for such inspectors at the city of Charleston.

Commissioners

XXVI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That J. Bell, Duke Bell, Francis Carlisle, Alexander Noble and Wm. Scott, or any three of them, shall, and they are hereby required to, appoint, on the said first for Vienna. Monday in January next, and on the first Monday in January in every year thereafter, an inspector of flour, at the town or village of Vienna, on Savannah river; which said inspector shall have all the powers, discharge all the duties, and be subject to all the regulations, which are prescribed by this Act for such inspector at the said city of Charleston.

XXVII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That every clause, matter and thing herein contained, shall extend, as fully and amply, to the said towns of Georgetown, Granby, Vienna, Camden and Columbia, as if the same were particularly mentioned in every clause of this Act.

XXVIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That this

A. D. 1796. Act shall continue and be in force for and during the term of six years, and until the end of the then next session of Assembly.

In the Senate House, the nineteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six, and in the twenty-first year of the Independence of the United States of America.

DAVID RAMSAY, President of the Senate.

ROBERT BARNWELL, Speaker of the House of Representatives.

No. 1656. AN ACT to establish the Roads and Ferries therein mentioned; to prescribe certain regulations respecting Roads; and for other purposes therein mentioned.

(Passed December 20, 1796. See last volume.)

No. 1657. AN ACT to prolong the time for certain Officers of the Militia to take the oath or affirmation prescribed by law.

(Passed December 20, 1796. See last volume.)

No. 165S. AN ACT more effectually to prevent Shopkeepers, Traders and others, from dealing with Slaves having no tickets from their owners; and for other purposes therein mentioned.

(Passed December 20, 1796. See last volume.)

No. 1659. AN ACT FOR RAISING SUPPLIES FOR THE YEAR ONE THOUSAND SEVEN

Preamble.

HUNDRED AND NINETY-SIX.

WHEREAS, we, the representatives of the free and independent State of South Carolina, in General Assembly met, have thought it expedient and necessary that a tax, for the sums and in the manner herein mentioned, should be assessed, raised, and paid into the public treasury of this State, for the use and service thereof:

1. Be it therefore enacted, by the honorable the Senate and the House of Representatives, now met and sitting in General Assembly, and by the authority of the same, That the half of one dollar per centum ad valorem on every hundred dollars, to be paid in specie or

A. D. 1796.

Rate of taxation on lands.

paper medium, shall be, and is hereby, imposed on all lands granted within this State, and in the manner and under the several regulations hereinafter expressed and set forth, that is to say: No. 1. All tide swamps, not generally affected by the salts or freshes, of the first quality, shall be rated at twenty-six dollars per acre; of the second quality, at seventeen dollars per acre; of the third quality, at eight dollars and an half per acre; all pine barren land adjoining such swamps, or contiguous thereto with respect to the benefit of water carriage, at two dollars per acre; all prime inland swamp, cultivated and uncultivated, at an average of thirteen dollars per acre; second quality, at eight dollars and an half; third quality, at four dollars per acre; pine barren land, adjoining or contiguous thereto, at one dollar per acre; salt marsh, or inland swamp, clearly proved to the assessors to be incapable of immediate cultivation, at one dollar per acre. No. 2. High river swamps or low grounds, cultivated and uncultivated, including such as are comcommonly called second low grounds, lying above the flowing of the tides, and as high up the country as Snow Hill, on Savannah river, the fork of Broad and Saluda rivers on the Congaree, Graves's Ford on the Wateree, and the boundary line on Pedee; the first quality at thirteen dollars per acre; the second quality at eight dollars and an half per acre; the third quality at four dollars per acre; except such as lie so low as to be clearly proved to the assessors to be incapable of immediate cultivation, which shall be assessed at one dollar per acre. No. 3. All high river swamp, or low grounds, lying above Snow Hill, the fork of Broad and Saluda rivers, Graves's Ford, and the old Indian boundary line, three dollars per acre. No. 4. All high lands without the limits of St. Philip's and St. Michael's parishes, on John's island, James island, and on the main, within twenty miles of Charleston, at four dollars per acre. No. 5. All lands on the Sea islands, Slann's island included, or lying on or contiguous to the seashore, usually cultivated, or capable of cultivation, in corn or indigo, and not within the limits prescribed in class No. 4, at four dollars. per acre. No. 6. All oak and hickory high lands lying below Snow Hill, the fork of Broad and Saluda rivers, Graves's Ford, or the new boundary line on Pedee, and not included in the limits or description of the two preceding classes, numbers four and five, at three dollars per acre. No. 7. All pine barren lands not included in numbers one, four, and five, to be assessed at twenty cents per acre. No. 8. All oak and hickory high lands lying above Snow Hill, the fork of Broad and Saluda rivers, and Graves's Ford, the first quality, at one dollar and an half per acre; the second quality, at one dollar per acre; the third quality, at forty cents per acre. No. 9. All oak and hickory high lands above the old Indian boundary line, the first quality, at one dollar and twenty cents per acre; the second quality, at sixty cents per acre; the third quality, at twenty cents per acre. That all lands within the parishes of St. Philip and St. Michael shall be assessed in the same manner and upon the same principles as houses and lots in Charleston, and in a relative proportion to lands in the country. That the sum of seventy-five cents per head shall be levied on all slaves; the Kate of taxing slaves, &c. sum of two dollars per head, on all free negroes, mulattoes, and mestizoes, between the ages of sixteen and fifty years; and an half dollar per centum ad valorem on all lands, lots and buildings within any city, village, or borough ; and on every hundred dollars stock in trade, factorage, employments, faculties and professions, (clergymen, schoolmasters, schoolmistresses and mechanics, excepted)-to be ascertained and rated by the assessors and collectors throughout the State, according to the best of their knowledge and information; to be paid in specie or paper medium of this State. VOL. V.-38.

A. D. 1796.

Slaves employed on Indian

lands.

Religious Soci

eties exempted

ble taxed.

II. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all negroes and other slaves who are employed on any lands leased by any person or persons of the Catawba Indians, shall be, and they are hereby made, liable to the payment of this tax.

III. And whereas, doubts have arisen and are still subsisting concerning the construction of former tax Acts, inasmuch as the tax collectors have assessed the property of divers religious societies, and also of the incorporated South Carolina Society and others; Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, that nothing in this Act, or in any former Act contained, shall be construed to impose a tax on any property of any religious society, or of the South Carolina, Fellowship and Winyaw Indigo Society.

IV. And whereas, it is the duty of every person claiming of or receiving from this government the protection either of his person or property, to contribute not only his quota of money, but also those personal services which every citizen is bound to contribute to the support of that government, or to pay an additional tax in lieu of such services; And whereas, there are numbers of persons holding large estates in this country, who reside without the limits of the United States, and annually draw from this State great resources, which are expended in foreign countries without any advantage to this government, to which they are indebted for the protection Absentees dou. of their property; Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, that every person holding, or being entitled to, any taxable property in this State, who resides without the limits of the United States, shall, for the use of this State, pay a double tax on their estate and property; which tax and assessment the tax collectors throughout this State are hereby required to exact and recover from every such person: Provided, nevertheless, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to extend to the property of any person sent, or hereafter to be sent, abroad in the employment of this State or of the United States, until one year after the expiration or determination of his commission, or to the property of any young man sent abroad for his education, until he attain the age of twenty-three years, or to the property of any person now absent from the United States, unless such person shall be absent for one year.

V. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the enCompensation quirers, assessors and collectors, appointed by law, shall, for their services of enquirers, in the discharge of their duties, receive, on closing their accounts with the assessors, &c. commissioners of the treasury, five per centum, except the parishes of St. Philip and St. Michael, who are to receive 23 per centum, on the` amount of taxes collected by them, to be allowed and paid to the several tax collectors.

Returns of former taxes to be made.

VI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the assessors, enquirers, and collectors respectively, shall begin their enquiry on the first day of February next; and that where all the collectors who were appointed for any parish or county are dead, and the tax returns not closed with the commissioners of the treasury, the collector who shall thereafter be appointed is hereby directed and ordered to demand receipts or to administer an oath, or to procure other satisfactory proof, from the persons of the county or parish, that he or they had paid their taxes for the preceding years, in order to discover their taxes still due, and to enable the public to ascertain what sums of money are due by the estates of deceased collectors; and should the executors or administrators of the deceased collectors refuse to produce the accounts of the deceased, or to give information on the subject, the commissioners of the treasury are hereby ordered to put the law in force against the estates of the deceased collectors.