The Lower House. 419

By the Upper House of Assembly, November 20:^th 1770.
Gentlemen,
The many Instances in which this House have from Time to
Time exercised their Right to amend Bills ..... [The message
beginning thus is printed in full in the Upper House Journal,

Pp. 364-365].

L. H. J.
Liber No. 54
Nov. 20

Which was read the first Time; and the Amendment proposed to
the Bill was read, and unanimously rejected.

M.^r J. Paca brings in, and delivers to M.^r Speaker, a Bill, entitled,
A Supplementary Act to the Act, entitled, An Act, to prevent the
Exportation of fflour, Staves and Shingles, not merchantable, from
the Town of Baltimore, in Baltimore County, and to regulate the
Weight of Hay, and Measure of Grain, Salt, fflax-Seed, and ffire-
Wood within the said Town —
Which was read and ordered to lie on the Table.
M.^r Beall brings in, and delivers to M.^r Speaker the following
Report:
By the Committee of Grievances and Courts of Justice, November
20.^th 1770.

p. 180

Your Committee, upon the Complaint of several Persons of Prince
George's and Charles Counties, of excessive Charges of the Deputy
Surveyors of those Counties, for Resurveys made by Virtue of War-
rants from the Land Office, have examined the Accounts of John
Frederick Augustus Priggs, Deputy Surveyor of Prince George's
County, against John Lowe, Sen.^r, John Hamilton, James Edmons-
ton, and Benjamin Belt, jun.^r and the Accounts of Theophilus Han-
son, late Deputy Surveyor of Charles County, against Henry Hardy
jun.^r William Hayes, and John Smith, among which we beg Leave to
lay before the honourable House the Account against John Lowe,
Sen.^r aforesaid, by which it appears, that said Priggs, for resurvey-
ing two small Tracts of Land, and adding 182 1/2 Acres of contiguous
Vacancy, amounting in the whole, to 408 1/2 Acres, hath made an
Excess of Charge to the Amount of above 1600 lbs of Tobacco;
which excess your Committee find principally arises on the Sur-
veyor's charging not only for the Tracts they are directed by War-
rant to resurvey, but also for resurveying and laying down, by Way
of Illustration, all the Tracts adjacent, and by charging for every
Piece of Vacancy added, as if they were so many distinct Tracts; and
in most Instances, your Committee, from their Observations of the
Manner of ascertaining the Location of adjacent and neighbouring
Tracts, whereby to ascertain the Vacancy intended to be taken up,
are apprehensive, that where only a few Lines of elder Tracts are
run, and the rest are only plotted, or where, as is common, the Lines
of the Elder are also Lines of the Younger, and consequently there

p. 181