The Statutes at Large of South Carolina: Acts, 1787-1814

siding officer shall convene the trustees in the same manner as the presi- A.D. 1798. dent is herein before directed, and the trustees, being met, shall proceed to the election of a president or other officer, in the same manner as prescribed at their annual election: Provided that such president, or other officer, shall only continue in office until the next annual election.

IX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said trustees, or a majority of them, shall have full power and authority, from time to time, to make, constitute and establish such and so many by-laws, Shall have rules and orders, as to them shall seem necessary and convenient, for the power to make better regulation, government, well ordering and directing themselves as by-laws, &c. trustees aforesaid, and the schools so to be established by virtue of this Act, and all officers, professors, or other persons by them employed, or to be employed, in and about the same, and of all students in the said schools, and for the better managing and transacting all things necessary for and concerning the government of the same schools, and the same bylaws, rules and orders, to put in force and execution accordingly, and the same again at their will and pleasure to revoke, alter, change or annul; all which by-laws, rules and orders, so to be made as aforesaid, shall be binding on each and every of the trustees, and on all officers, professors and other persons by them employed, and on all students in the said schools, and shall be, from time to time, by each and every of them, invariably and punctually observed, according to the tenor thereof, under the several pains, penalties and disabilities therein to be expressed, fixed, appointed or declared: Provided that the same shall be reasonable, and not contrary or repugnant to the laws of this State, or of the United States.

X. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That seven of the said trustees, assembled together for that purpose, public notice of such Seven trustees meeting being given by the president or presiding officer, at least thirty a quorum. days previous thereto, shall be capable in law of doing, executing, performing and carrying into effect all the powers, duties and authorities, by this

Act vested in them.

XI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said

trustees shall be, and are hereby declared to be, escheators for the district Trustees ap

of Orangeburgh, and that all the lands or other property which has already pointed esor shall hereafter escheat, in the district of Orangeburgh, not exceeding

the value of twenty thousand dollars, shall be, and are hereby, vested in

the said trustees, for the purposes aforesaid.

XII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the afore

said trustees shall keep an accurate account of all their proceedings, in To keep an acregard to the property hereby vested in them, which, whenever required so

to do, they shall lay before the Legislature for their information.

count.

XIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That this Act This Act a shall be deemed a public Act, and judicially taken of as such, without spe- public Act. cial pleading; and that the same shall or may be given in evidence, on any

issue to be tried in any court of law in this State.

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

JOHN WARD, President of the Senate.

WM. JOHNSON, Jr. Speaker of the House of Representatives.

A. D. 1798.

No. 1706.

AN ACT to establish an uniform and more convenient System of
Judicature.

(Passed December 21, 1798. See last volume.)

No. 1707. AN ACT TO RAISE SUPPLIES AND TO MAKE APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE

Rate of taxation on lands.

YEAR ONE THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED AND NINETY-EIGHT; AND FOR other
PURPOSES THEREIN MENTIONED.

I. Be it enacted, by the honorable the Senate and House of Representatives, now met and sitting in General Assembly, and by the authority of the same, That a tax, for the sums and in the manner hereinafter mentioned, shall be raised, and paid into the public treasury of this State for the use and service thereof.

II. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the half of one dollar per centum ad valorem shall be paid in specie or paper medium on all lands granted within this State, under the several regulations hereinafter expressed, that is to say: Class No. 1 shall contain all tide swamp of the first quality, not generally affected by salts or freshes, which shall be rated at twenty-six dollars per acre; all tide swamp of the second quality, not generally affected by the salts or freshes, which shall be rated at seventeen dollars per acre; all tide swamp of the third quality, not generally affected by salts or freshes, which shall be rated at eight dollars and one half per acre; all pine barren land adjoining such swamps, or contiguous thereto with respect to the benefit of water carriage, which shall be rated at two dollars per acre; all prime inland swamp, cultivated and uncultivated, which shall be rated at an average of thirteen dollars per acre; all inland swamp of the second quality, which shall be rated at eight dollars and one half per acre; all inland swamp of the third quality, which shall be rated at four dollars per acre; pine barren land, adjoining or contiguous thereto, which shall be rated at one dollar per acre; and all salt marsh, or inland swamp, clearly proved to the collectors to be incapable of immediate cultivation, which shall be rated at one dollar per acre. Class No. 2 shall comprehend all high river swamps and low grounds, cultivated and uncultivated, including such as are commonly called second low grounds, lying above the flowing of the tides, and as high up the country as Snow Hill on Savannah river, and the fork of Broad and Saluda rivers on the Congaree, Graves's Ford on the Wateree, and the boundary line on the Pedee; the first quality of which shall be rated at thirteen dollars per acre; the second quality at eight and one half dollars per acre; and the third quality at four dollars per acre; excepting such as may be clearly proved to the collectors to be incapable of immediate cultivation, which shall be assessed at one dollar per acre. Class No. 3 shall comprehend all high river swamp and low grounds, lying above Snow Hill, the fork of Broad and Saluda rivers, Graves's Ford, and the old Indian boundary line, which shall be rated at three dollars per acre. Class No. 4 shall comprehend all high lands without the limits of St. Philip's and St. Michael's parishes, within twenty miles of Charleston, and on John's Island and James's Island, which shall be rated at four dollars per acre. Class No. 5

shall comprehend all lands on the Sea islands, (Slann's island included,) A.D. 1798. or lying on or contiguous to the seashore, usually cultivated, or capable of cultivation, in corn or indigo, not within the limits prescribed in class No. 4, which shall be rated at four dollars per acre. Class No. 6 shall comprehend all oak and hickory high lands lying between 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 next preceding classes, numbers four and five, which shall be rated at three dollars per acre. Class No. 7 shall include all pine barren lands not included in the classes numbered 1, 4 and 5, which shall be rated at twenty cents per acre. Class No. 8 shall comprehend all oak and hickory high lands lying above Snow Hill, the fork of Broad and Saluda rivers, and Graves's Ford, the first quality of which shall be rated at one dollar and one half per acre; the second quality, at one dollar per acre; and the third quality at forty cents per acre. Class No. 9 shall comprehend all oak and hickory high lands above the old boundary line, the first quality of which shall be rated at one dollar and twenty cents per acre; the second quality, at sixty cents per acre; and the third quality, at twenty cents per acre. Class No. 10 shall include all lands within the parishes of St. Philip and St. Michael, which 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.

III. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That seventyfive cents per head shall be levied on all slaves; the sum of two dollars per Rate of taxing head on all free negroes, mulattoes, and mestizoes, between the ages of slaves, &c. sixteen and fifty years; and the half of a dollar per centum ad valorem on all lands, lots and buildings within any city, village, or borough; and on all stock in trade, factorage, employments, faculties and professions, (excepting clergymen, schoolmasters, schoolmistresses and mechanics,)-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.

lands.

IV. 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 Slaves employ. persons of the Catawba Indians, shall be, and they are hereby made, lia- ed on Indian ble to the payment of this tax. But nothing in this Act contained shall be construed to impose any tax upon the property or estate of any religious society, or the South Carolina Society, the Winyaw Indigo Society, or Exceptions. the Fellowship Society, or the estate of the late Doctor De la Howe, devised for charitable purposes, or the Clarendon and Camden Orphan Societies.

ble taxed.

V. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That every person entitled to any taxable property or estate in this State, who resides Absentees douwithout the limits of the United States, shall, for the use of this State, pay a double tax on the same. But this clause shall not 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 attains the age of twenty-three years; or to the property of any person now absent from the United States, unless such person has been absent for one year.

VI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the enquirers, assessors and collectors appointed by law shall do and perform all and Compensation of enquirers, singular the duties of their offices, according to the Act entitled "An Act for declaring the powers and duties of the enquirers, assessors and collec

assessors, &c.

A. D.1798.

Returns of former taxes to be made.

Time of pay

tors of the taxes, and other persons concerned therein ;" and that on closing their accounts with the treasury, and not before, they shall receive five per cent. on the amount collected, excepting the collectors of St. Philip's and St. Michael's parishes, who shall receive in like manner two and a half per cent. VII. 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 inhabitants of the county or parish, in order to ascertain whose taxes might be still due, and to enable the public to discover what sums of money might be due by the deceased tax collectors; and if the executors or administrators of any deceased tax collector neglect or refuse to produce the accounts of the deceased, or to give all the information in their power on the subject, the treasurers are hereby ordered to proceed according to law against the estates of the deceased tax collectors.

VIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all persons in any wise liable to pay the taxes hereby imposed, shall, on the first ment of taxes. day of February next, give in a true and just return of all slaves, and of the quality and quantity of all lands, as directed or required by this Act, which they may hold or be intitled unto, either in his, her or their own right, or in the right of any person or persons whomsoever, either as guardian, trustee, attorney, agent, executor, administrator, or otherwise howsoever; and shall, on or before the first day of April next, pay their taxes to the collector of that parish, county or district where the party making such return, either by himself or his or her family, may reside the greater part of the year. And the said assessors and collectors shall pay the same, and settle their accounts with the treasury, on the first day of June next.

IX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all the Appropriation. interest on the paper medium which shall be due on or before the first Wednesday in March next, shall be, and is hereby, appropriated to make up any deficiency of money that may happen under this Act.

received for

taxes.

X. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the tax What shall be collectors throughout the State shall receive no payment of taxes but in gold or silver coin made current in this State, the paper medium issued under the authority of the Legislature, bank paper redeemable in the first instance with gold and silver at the bank of the United States, the branch thereof in Charleston, or the bank of South Carolina, or certificates for the pay of the members of the Legislature, or of the Solicitors, for their attendance on the Legislature.

XI. And whereas, enormous tracts of land within this State have lately Land owned by been sold in the Northern States and in foreign countries, and the owners persons out of thereof are supposed at present to pay no tax whatever; Be it therefore the State. enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall be the duty of, and it is hereby enjoined on, all tax collectors to enquire for all such land, and collect the tax and arrears of tax thereon; and if the taxes thereon, and the arrears of taxes thereon, shall not be fully paid at or before the time hereinbefore appointed for the payment of the general tax, then the tax collectors shall forthwith proceed to sell the same, agreeably to the mode prescribed by law for selling the property of those who make default in paying their taxes.

XII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the commissioners of the treasury shall be, and they are hereby, required to furnish

copies of this Act to each of the collectors appointed by law, throughout A.D.1798. this State, within one month after the passing of this Act, and their reasonable expenses occasioned thereby shall be reimbursed.

XIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the instalment of the paper medium which will be due on the first Wednesday The paper mein March next, shall not be required to be paid as directed by the Act en-dium, when to titled "An Act for raising supplies for the year one thousand seven hun- be paid. dred and ninety-three," but shall be paid on the first Wednesday in March, which will be in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and four: Provided always nevertheless, that no person shall be entitled to the benefit of this clause who shall not give an additional security, if required by the treasurer of Charleston, and in all cases when he is not fully satisfied of the sufficiency of the former security, and in all cases where default has been made in paying what has heretofore been due, or which shall be made in paying the interest to grow due in March next.

XIV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the sums to be raised and collected under and by virtue of this Act shall he, Appropriation. and are hereby, appropriated to the following purposes, to wit: a sum not exceeding sixty-five thousand five hundred dollars, to the payment of the civil list as estimated in the statement No. 1 hereunto annexed; a sum not exceeding thirty-two thousand five hundred dollars to the payment of the contingent accounts and extraordinaries as estimated in the statement No. 2; and the surplus of which shall remain in the treasury after satisfying the aforesaid appropriations shall and may be applied by the treasurers as is or may be directed by law.

ESTIMATE

Of supplies wanted for the support of Government, for the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight, and to discharge demands incurred in the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight.

STATEMENT NO. I.

SALARIES, AS SETTLED BY LAW.

For the Governor,

For the Secretary to the Governor,

For four Judges of the Superior Courts of Law, $2,572 each,

For one Judge of the Court of Equity, $2,144,

For the Attorney General, for giving advice to the Governor and other pub

$2,572 00

430 00 10,288 00

2,144 00

lic officers, in matters of public concern, in addition to his other duties,

860 00