satisfaciendum against the body of the said defaulter for the said sum, A D. 1719. requiring the said Marshal to take such defaulter in execution and him in safe custody to keep, until he shall pay his assessment aforesaid and the costs of such execution and levying thereof.

tax assessed if

property comes

hands.

XXI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That in case any person shall happen to die between the time of giving in his Exeuctors or account to the inquisitors and the payment of the same to the said commis- administrators sioners, that then the executor, administrator or other person to whose liable for the hands the effects of the said deceased shall happen to come, shall pay the said assessment, or otherwise a Fieri facias de bonis Testatoris shall be into their issued by the said Chief Justice, and the executor, administrator or other person to whose hands the effects of the said deceased shall come, shall pay the said assessment for the said deceased, or otherwise the said marshal shall return a Devastavit thereon, and an execution shall issue de bonis propriis of the executor, administrator or other person in whose hands the same effects of the deceased shall happen to be. And if any person or persons so assessed shall be about to depart this Province before the respective days of payment, they shall pay to the said commissioners the sum so assessed or give security to the Chief Justice to pay their assessments at the respective days limited, or otherwise the said Chief Justice, at the request of the said assessors or commissioners, shall grant execution for the same forthwith, notwithstanding the respective days of payment are not then yet already come. And in case any person who has mortgaged his lands or negroes shall not pay a tax for the same, the mortgagee shall be answerable and subject to an execution as aforesaid for the sum so assessed on the mortgagor, if he, the said mortgagee, has got the lands or negroes so mortgaged in his possession; and in case he has not got such lands or negroes into his possession, that then the said negroes shall be subject to be taken in execution to answer the said assessment, (notwithstanding such mortgage,) in whose hands soever the same shall happen to be.

swear off the excess.

XXII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That every person, as well assessors as others, who shall have reason to believe Persons overhe is overrated for his interest in Charlestown, may, at the time of the rated may meeting of the said assessors, or within such time as shall be allowed by the said assessors by publick advertisement to be posted at the watchhouse in Charlestown for that purpose, have liberty to swear off what they shall be overrated, and the assessors are hereby impowered to administer such oath accordingly.

Fractions less than a penny to

XXIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That in assessing of the sum of Seventy Thousand Pounds, if any fraction arise in each man's assessment, not exceding a penny, the assessors may be assessed. raise and assess such fraction notwithstanding the same may arise to more than what each year they shall be assessed at.

Commissioners

XXIV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That Samuel Eveleigh, Esq. Mr. William Gibbon, and Capt. William Dry, be and are hereby appointed commissioners for drawing orders on the com- appointed for missioners for receiving the tax herein after named, for payment of the paying off the arrears due to the officers and soldiers at the Savannah town garrison, and public debts. for the two scout boats to the southward, aud for necessaries for the same, amounting in the whole to the sun of two thousand three hundred sixtyfive pounds six shillings and six pence, and for the moneys due on account of the late expeditions against the pyrates, amounting to the sum of eight thousand five hundred sixty-one pounds thirteen shillings and four pence; which orders so drawn shall be signed by the said commissioners who

A. D. 1719. shall draw the same; and the said commissioners are hereby directed to deliver the said several orders so signed by them for the arrears due to the Savannah town garrison, amounting to one thousand three hundred seventy three pounds six shillings, to the commissioners for the Indian trade; and for the scout boats, amounting to nine hundred ninety-two pounds sixpence, to the commissioners of the said scout boats, to be by them paid in discharge of the said arrears; and the orders for the money due on account of the expeditions against the pirates, shall be draw naccording to a list of debts of the said expeditions, and delivered to the several claimers of the said debts.

£2000 appropriated to repair Johnsons Fort.

XXV. And be it likewise enacted, That Capt. Jonathan Drake be and is hereby appointed sole commissioner for repairing Johnson's Fort, and the foundation, platform, carriages and other necessaries thereunto belonging, and that the sum of two thousand pounds be and is hereby appropriated for that purpose; and the said Jonathan Drake is hereby impowered to draw orders on the commissioners of the tax aforesaid, for defraying the charges aforesaid.

XXVI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That Orders with in- as well all and every of the said orders, as also all orders which now are terest declared extant and already drawn by the General Assembly, and all salaries now commissioners. due by virtue of any law or ordinance of this Province, which shall be cer

current to the

After cancel

ling £30,000, orders may be issued bearing interest at 10 per cent.

tified by an order under the hand of the publick Receiver on the commissioners of the tax, and all the outstanding orders, commonly called three sealed orders, with the interest thereon, and all the outstanding orders given out for necessaries pressed for the Indian war, with the interest thereon, and all other orders already drawn by virtue of any law of this Province, and all orders which shall be drawn by this present General Assembly, as also all and every of them, shall and are hereby declared to be current to the commissioners of the said tax and the said publick Receiver, until the same shall be called in and cancelled, as hereby is intended. And in case any person shall refuse to take any of the said thirty thousand pounds bills of credit now extant, being duly tendered in payment, that then, in all and every such cases, it shall and may be lawful for every defendant, being hereafter sued for any debt or debts whatsoever, (unless gold, silver or plate, or the species of gold or silver be expressly mentioned in the bond or condition, contract or agreement, given by one to another,) to plead a tender of the said bills, et adhuc paratus, and bring the same into court; and in case the plaintiff or plaintiffs shall then refuse to accept of said bills, the court shall give judgement for the defendant against the plaintiff with double costs of suit to be taxed by the court, and such plaintiff or plaintiffs shall in such case forfeit his debt, and shall be from thenceforth immediately forever debarred of his debt aforesaid, and also from commencing any action or suit de novo, either in law or equity, for the same; and the court and courts shall observe all other rules of law and practice in relation to tenders, as hath heretofore been used, still deeming a tender of the said bills to be a lawful tender.

XXVII. And be it further enarted by the authority aforesaid, That the said tax or sum of thirty-five thousand pounds, hereby first intended to be raised on or before the second Tuesday in May, in the year one thousand seven hundred and nineteen, shall be applyed towards sinking and cancelling so many of the said orders and debts as shall amount to the said sum of thirty-five thousand pounds. And to the intent that the same orders may be effectually cancelled and sunk, the commissioners hereby appointed for receiving the said tax shall, on the twenty-sixth day of May, in the year one thousand seven hundred and nineteen, issue forth a general notice, under

their hands or under the hands of any five of them, for all persons who A. D. 1719. have any of the said orders then remaining in their hands, to bring them in and lay them before the commissioners for receiving the said tax, by a day certain, by the said commissioners to be inserted in the said notice, not less than one week next after the date of such notice, or otherwise that the said orders shall be and are hereby declared to be no longer current to the said commissioners of the tax or publick Receiver, than as in the said notice shall be expressed; and upon the persons bringing in such orders, the said commissioners shall deliver out such bills of credit for the same as they shall receive from others in the payment of the said tax hereby first intended to be raised and paid in to the said commissioners as aforesaid; and the said commissioners for receiving the said tax shall then cause thirty-five thousand pounds of the said orders so brought in, in payment of the said tax, to be raised for the said year one thousand seven hundred and nineteen, to be cancelled and burned. And to the intent that no person may plead ignorance of the said notice, the said commissioners for receiving the said tax shall cause duplicates of such notice or notices, under their hands or under the hands of any five of them, to be affixed at every church or meeting-house door of each parish and such other publick places as they shall see occasion for. And the commissioners of the said tax are hereby required to allow no further interest on any of the said orders that now bear interest than until the time by them allotted for the paying in and cancelling the same.

XXVIII. And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That after the commissioners of the said tax have cancelled the said sum of thirty-five thousand pounds in orders, as aforesaid, and have the remaining part of the orders brought into their hands, they are hereby authorized and impowered to issue out new orders under their hands, bearing an interest of ten per cent. per annum, to be delivered out by them to such persons as shall be concerned, in the room of all the orders so remaining uncancelled, after the cancelling the aforesaid sum of thirty-five thousand pounds, which said new orders shall be current in payment to the publick Receiver and commissioners of the tax, after the same manner as is before directed in this Act, until the second Tuesday in March in the year one thousand seven hundred and nineteen following, and no longer. Provided the said new orders do not exceed the sum of five thousand pounds, with the interest computed thereon to the said second Tuesday in March, as aforesaid.

· XXIX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said tax or sum of fifteen thousand pounds, for the year one thousand Application of seven hundred and nineteen, shall be applyed by the commissioners of the £35,000. tax as followeth that is to say, the sum of five thousand pounds towards cancelling all the said new orders with the interest thereon, and the other ten thousand pounds shall be applyed to the sinking of so many bills of credit as shall equal the said sum of ten thousand pounds: and the remain. ing sums of ten thousand pounds and ten thousand pounds, hereby intended to be raised for the years one thousand seven hundred and twenty and one thousand seven hundred and twenty-one, shall be applyed by the said commissioners of the tax towards sinking the remainder of the said thirty thousand pounds bills of credit, yearly and every year, until the same be wholly and entirely cancelled and sunk, and to no other use, intent or purpose whatsoever.

XXX. And whereas, great complaint hath hitherto been made by persons having occasion for moneys to pay in their tax, that they have Prices of goods been forced to give extravagant premiums for taking up moneys to discharge the same, or that they have been forced to sell their commodities

VOL. III.-11.

to be received.

A. D. 1719. for about two-thirds of the value, or less than what the usual price of commodities then usually bore, by reason of persons taking advantage of their immediate necessities; Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all persons paying any tax for the years one thousand seven hundred and nineteen, one thousand seven hundred and twenty, and one thousand seven hundred and twenty-one, shall have liberty to pay in their respective taxes to the said commissioners of the taxes in good and merchantable rice (of which goodness the commissioners of the said tax shall be sole judges), at thirty shillings per hundred weight for the year one thousand seven hundred and nineteen, at twenty-five shillings per hundred weight for the year one thousand seven hundred and twenty, and at twenty shillings per hundred weight for the year one thousand seven hundred and twenty-one, computing five score to the hundred, the weighing whereof shall be at the charge of the owner so paying his tax; and the said rice shall be delivered to the said commissioners upon the Bay in Charlestown, in good and merchantable barrels, of which goodness the said commissioners shall be sole judges, and the said commissioners shall allow seven shillings and six pence for each barrel they receive in the year one thousand seven hundred and nineteen, six shillings and three pence for each barrel they receive in the year one thousand seven hundred and twenty, and five shillings for each barrel they receive in the year one thousand seven hundred and twenty-one; and in case the said rice or barrels shall not be good and merchantable in the opinion of the said commissioners, they shall refuse to receive the same, and the owner thereof shall be dealt with in all cases as a defaulter not paying in his tax.

be sold forth

with.

XXXI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the Rice paid in, to commissioners receiving the said tax, if any rice shall happen to be delivered to them in payment as aforesaid, shall dispose of the same as soon as conveniently may be, for the best price they can reasonably get in bills of credit, and the bills of credit so received for the said rice (after deducting charges of storage and other necessary charges, and after deducting the charges of this assessment) together with the said bills of credit so to be paid by the rest of the persons so assessed as aforesaid, shall burn or cause to be burnt in the presence of the rest of the said commissioners, or any five of them, keeping an account nevertheless of the bills so received for the said rice or otherwise.

XXXII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any Counterfeiting person or persons shall counterfeit any of the said bills or orders now bills of credit. extant and issued or to be issued as aforesaid, or knowing any of them to be false or counterfeit shall utter the same in payment, that then, in such case, the counterfeiter or any one aiding or fraudulently contriving and assisting to utter any such false or counterfeit orders or bills, being thereof duly convicted at the next general sessions of the peace to be holden for this Province, shall be deemed guilty of felony, and shall suffer as a felon, without benefit of the clergy.

nominated.

XXXIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That Commissioners Colonel Thomas Broughton, Colonel George Logan, Colonel William Rhett, Arthur Middleton and Ralph Izard, Esqs. Richard Beresford, Landgrave Joseph Morton, Benjamin Godin, Esq. and Capt. Christopher Wilkinson, be and are hereby appointed commissioners for receiving the said tax or sum of seventy thousand pounds, and sinking and cancelling the orders and bills of credit as aforesaid, and shall be allowed one or more clerks and a messenger, and pay them what they shall think reasonable, and shall begin to meet at the house of Madam Martha Guerard, or such other house in or near Charlestown as they shall think fit, on the

second Tuesday in May next, and at or upon the second Tuesday of March A. D. 1719. following the same yearly and every year during the continuance of this Act, and there sit de die in diem, or as often as need shall be, to receive the said tax, call in the said orders, and to do such other matters as by this Act is required of them.

XXXIV. And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any

refusal to act.

of the said commissioners for receiving the said tax shall happen to die, go Provision in off, or refuse to act, the other commissioners shall have the same power of case of death or choosing others in their room as herein before is given to the assessors, and the commissioner or commissioners so chosen shall have the same powers and authorities and be subject to the same penalties as the rest of the commissioners for receiving the said tax herein named have and are subject unto.

XXXV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That every inquisitor, assessor, commissioner for receiving the tax, and every other Penalty on magistrate and officer which shall neglect to do and perform the charge neglect of duty. and trust herein and hereby to them given and committed, shall for every neglect of his duty in the premises forfeit the sum of one hundred pounds, to be recovered in any court of record in this Province, by action of debt, bill, plaint or information, to be brought in the name of the publick Receiver, one half to the use of the publick and the other half to the use of the informer, wherein no essoign, imparlance, protection or wager of

law shall be allowed.

expenses to be

XXXVI. And be it further enacted, That the charges accruing by this assessment, viz. the expenses of the assessors and their clerks and mes- Charges and and the expenses of the commissioners for receiving the tax, paid by the senger, with their clerks and messenger, as also the expenses of the commis- receiving comsioners appointed by this Act for drawing orders, and their clerk, (a missioners. computation of which charges and expenses shall be made and computed as near as may be by the said assessors before the finishing the said assessment, and added by them to the several assessments hereby intended to be made as aforesaid,) shall be paid by the commissioners for receiving the said tax, out of the bills of credit that shall come to their hands in payment of the said tax.

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

two several Tax Acts, the one intituled an Act to continue the cur- Repeal of three rency of Thirty Thousand Pounds in Bills of Credit, &c., ratified the former Acts. thirtieth of June, one thousand seven hundred and sixteen, and the other Act intituled an Additional Act to an Act intituled an Act to continue the currency of Thirty Thousand Pounds in bills of Credit, and ratified the eleventh of December, one thousand seven hundred and seventeen-and also one other Act intituled an Act to impower the Honourable the Governour to raise forces to be sent to the assistance of the Cherikees against their enemies, and for the providing for their subsistence and payment of the same, ratified the fifth of July, one thousand seven hundred and eighteen-and every of the three Acts last abovesaid, and every matter, article, clause and thing in them or any of them contained, be, and is hereby repealed.

XXXVIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the Chief Justice for the time being, at the request of the said commissioners of the tax, be and is hereby impowered to grant new executions, and take such methods for the recovery of the arrears of the tax which was to be paid on the eleventh of March, one thousand seven hundred and seventeen, as herein before is directed, against the defaulters of paying in the tax appointed to be raised by virtue of this Act.

New executions to be granted.