| 1786.
CHAP.
XLIX. |
LAWS of MARYLAND.
as the chancellor shall approve, with condition that he will satisfy
and
pay all just debts due from such creditor to any citizen of this state
so far as
debts shall be collected by him; and no debtor of any such British creditor
shall
be obliged to pay his debt before bond be given as hereby required; and
if bond
and security shall be given as aforesaid, then the British merchant, agent
or factor,
shall not be obliged to return the list as is herein before directed. |
Claims rejected
may be
laid before
the chancellor,
&c. |
IV. And,
whereas numbers of accounts and claims against persons whose property
has been confiscated by this state, have been laid before the auditor to
be
approved and passed for payment thereof, and many of them have been, and
still
may be, rejected for want of the necessary evidence to satisfy the auditor
of the
justness of the claim, Be it enacted,
That in all cases where the auditor has
rejected, or shall reject, any account or claim as aforesaid, for want
of the necessary
proof, or from an opinion that the claim is unjust, the claimant may lay
his
papers before the chancellor, who is hereby authorised to make up an issue
on
the case, and send it for trial to the county court where such person resides,
or
the general court, as the case may require, and any judgment obtained on
trial
as aforesaid, shall be sufficient to authorise the treasurer to receive
the claim for
payment agreeably to law. |
Creditors to
be satisfied
out of death,
&c. |
V. And be it
enacted, That in all cases where it shall appear to the auditor
by the lists returned as before directed, that there are debts in the hands
of the
citizens of this state due to persons whose property has been confiscated
as British
property, the creditors of such persons shall resort for satisfaction out
of such
debts, and the property confiscated shall be only responsible where such
debts are
insufficient to pay and satisfy the claims of such creditors. |
Power in governor,
&c.
abrogated,
&c. |
VI. And be it
enacted, That the power and authority heretofore vested in the
governor and council to approve or reject accounts passed by the auditor,
be and
is hereby abrogated, and the auditor is hereby required to take into his
possession
all the accounts and claims which now lie before the governor and council,
and
to reconsider, adjust and pass, or reject the same, as justice shall require. |
|
County courts
to appoint
persons, &c. |
VII. And, whereas
there may be debts due to persons convicted of treason,
and there is no mode pointed out by law for collecting the same,
Be it enacted,
That the county courts be, and they are hereby directed to appoint a proper
person
in their county to take into their possession the books, accounts, or other
papers belonging to such persons convicted as aforesaid; and that the said
person
so appointed, shall be and is hereby authorised to collect, and, if need
be, to sue
for and recover in the name of this state all such debts, dues and demands,
as
he shall discover to be due in his county to such convicted person, and
to pay the
same after deducting his commission for his trouble and expence into
the treasury
of his shore, and that the monies so paid in shall be considered as part
of the
estate of the person to whom due, and applied towards discharging the claims
against such estate; and the person so as aforesaid appointed by the county
court
for the purpose aforesaid shall, before he acts in virtue of such appointment,
give
bond to the state in such penalty, and with such security, as the said
court shall
approve, for the faithful execution of the trust reposed in him by this
act; the
said bond to be lodged with the clerk of said court, to be by him recorded,
and
the original to be transmitted with all convenient speed to the register
in chancery,
to be by him safely kept in his office; and such county court may allow
the
person by them appointed such commission for his trouble as they may adjudge
reasonable according to circumstances, not exceeding in any case fifteen
per cent. |
Provision in
case of contract,
&c. |
VIII. And,
whereas there may have been contracts and sales made of lands by
persons who were British subjects at the time of the revolution with
citizens of
this or some one of the United States, and there is no mode of procuring
a conveyance
of such property, or compelling a specific performance of such contracts,
Be it enacted, That in all cases where
there has been a contract and sale of any
real property by a British subject previous to the revolution, and such
contract has
not been completed, in all such cases it shall and may be lawful for the
chancellor, |
|
 |
