CHAP.
IV.
Debtors to be
sued in the
County
Court for
Debts, &c.
not exceeding
20 l. Sterling,
or 5000 lb
Tobacco.
On Penalty of
Non-suit, &c.
No suit to
be brought on
Bond in any
other than the
County
Court, unless
the real Sum
in the Condition
amount
to 20 l. Sterling,
or
5000 lb
Tobacco.
Proviso with
regard to Covenants.
Bonds for
Payment of
Bills of Exchange
how
to be sued.
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to France and Spain in great Measure prohibited, so that
very many honest
and industrious Planters, her Majesty's Subjects here, by the very Charges
of necessary Clothing and Tools for themselves and Families, are become
vastly indebted; and no Prospect as yet appearing of any Means whereby
they may extricate themselves out of their miserable and deplorable Circumstances,
which are very much heightened and aggravated by their being sued
and brought to Annapolis from the remotest parts of this Province,
to their
manifest oppression and Impoverishment: So that many of the good
Inhabitants
of this Province daily desert their Habitations, and remove themselves
to Plantations and Colonies where they are dar less serviceable to her
sacred
Majesty, and her Revenue of Customs of Tobacco; which calls for some
speedy and proper Remedy to be applied thereto. Wherefore this present
General Assembly humbly supplicate her most sacred Majesty, that it may
be
Enacted;
II. And be it
Enacted, by the Queen's most excellent Majesty, by and with the
Advice and Consent of her Majesty's Governor, Council, and Assembly of
this Province,
and the Authority of the same, That from and after the End of this
present
Session of ASsembly, all Persons whatsoever, residing, negociating or
trading to or within this Province, having any personal Claim or Demand
against
any the Inhabitants of this Province, wherein the original Debt or Damages
do not exceed the Value of Twenty pounds Sterling, or Five Thousand
Pounds of Tobacco, shall (by virtue of this act) be obliged to sue and
implead their several and respective Debtors in the several and respective
County Courts where such their Debtors inhabit and reside, and not elsewhere
on Penalty of suffering a Non-suit, and paying the Defendant his
reasonable Charges, to be adjudged by the Justices of any other Court wherein
they shall be sued and impleaded; any Law, Statute, Usage, or Custom,
to the contrary notwithstanding.
III. And be it
further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, by and with the
Advice and Consent aforesaid, That where any Debt or Damages is demanded,
by virtue of any Bond, or Writing Obligatory, the Penalty of such Bond
shall not, although it exceed Twenty Pounds in Money, or Five Thousand
Pounds of Tobacco, entitle any Plaintiff to bring his Action in any Court
but the County Court, unless the real Sum in the Condition of such Bond
amounts
to Twenty Pounds, or Five Thousand Pounds of Tobacco; any thing
in this Act, or any other Statute, Law, Custom, or Usage, to the contrary
notwithstanding.
IV. Provided
always, That nothing in this Act shall extend, or be construed
to extend, to debar or hinder any person from bringing his Action in the
Provincial or Superior Court, on any Covenant, or any Bond for the Performance
of Covenants, or for the Performance or Sufferance of any Act or
Acts, Thing or Things whatsoever, although the real Damages or Sum recovered
be less than Twenty Pounds Sterling, or Five Thousand Pounds of
Tobacco, and so as the Penalty of such Bond for the Performance of Covenants,
or Performance or Sufferance of any other Matter or Thing whatsoever,
exceed Twenty Pounds in Money, or Five Thousand Pounds of Tobacco.
But no Bond for Payment or Performance of any Bill of Exchange,
shall be prosecuted in any Court but the County Court, unless the original
or
principal Sum mentioned in such Bill of Exchange, and due on the same protested,
shall amount to Twenty Pounds Sterling; any thing in this Act, or any
other Statute, law, use, of Custom, to the contrary notwithstanding.
V. And whereas
the Justices if the several County Courts of this Province,
by their Commission, cannot hold plea or Cognizance of any Sum above
One Hundred Pounds Sterling, or Thirty Thousand Pounds of Tobacco,
and that id often happens that several persons, Inhabitants of this Province, |
