Preamble.
Penalty on
Persons transporting
Tobacco
out of
this Province,
before Entry.
Tobacco put
into any Boat,
Cart, &c. to
be carried in
to the neighbouring
Colonies,
without
a Permit,
shall be forfeited,
&c.
Penalty for
abusing or resisting
Officers,
&c.
All Officers,
Magistrates,
&c. to put
this Law in
Execution,
&c. |
WHEREAS several Persons residing and trading within this Province,
regardless of the common Interest thereof, for the sake of their
own private Advantage, carry large Quantities of Tobacco into
several of the neighbouring Colonies without making any Entry thereof,
paying
the lawful Duties, or giving any Security to prevent its being carried
into
Places prohibited by Law, contrary to the manifest Intent of several Acts
of
Parliament, to the Prejudice of the Crown, and the Lord Proprietor, as
well
as the Discouragement of the Trade of the Province; To remedy which Evils,
II. Be it Enacted,
by the Right Honourable the
Lord Proprietor, by and with
the Advice and Consent of his Lordship's Governor, and the Upper and Lower
Houses of Assembly, and the Authority of the same, That
no Person whatsoever,
shall presume to transport out of this province, (by Land or Water) any
Hogshead, Package or Parcel of Tobacco, without first entering the same
according
to Law, with the proper Officers; and that whosoever shall, without
making such Entry, carry or transport, or cause to be carried or transported,
any Tobacco as aforesaid, shall (for every Hogshead or other Package,)
forfeit
Ten pounds Sterling; and for every Parcel weighing Five Hundred
Pounds of Tobacco, the like Sum, and so in Proportion for a greater or
lesser
Quantity, one Half to the Lord Proprietor, the other Half to the Informer,
or him that will sue for the same; to be recovered by Action of Debt, Bill,
Plaint or Information, wherein no Essoin, Protection or Wager of Law to
be
allowed.
III. And
be it Enacted, That any Tobacco
that shall be put on board of
any Boat or other Vessel, in any
River or Creek within this Province, contiguous
to any of the neighbouring Colonies, whence Tobacco hath been usually
carried into such Colonies, or loaden
on any Cart, Waggon, or other Land
Carriage, in Places where it hath been usual to carry, or convenient for
the
carrying the same by Land, to the Bay or River of Delaware, without
first obtaining
a permit from the proper Officer, shall be forfeit, together with such
Boat, or other Vessel, and the Cart, Waggon, or other Land Carriage, and
Horse or Oxen drawing the same; and that it shall and may be lawful for
any
Person, in Presence or Absence of any of the Officers hereafter mentioned,
to seize them and every of them; one Half of the Forfeitures to the Lord
Proprietor, the other Half to any Officer, or other Person, that shall
seize,
or cause the same to be seized. And that every person that shall
presume to
abuse or resist any Officer, or other Person, in the Execution of this
law, or
convey away or remove any of the Things seized, shall for every Offence
forfeit
Ten Pounds Sterling; to be recovered and applied as aforesaid.
IV. And
for the more effectual putting
this Law in Execution; Be it
Enacted, That every Officer of
the Customs within this Province, Provincial
Justice, Justice of the Peace, Sheriff, Under-Sheriff, Vestry-man, Church-warden,
and Constable, and every of them, shall be, and are by this Act impowered,
enjoined and required, respectively, to put this Act in Execution,
and to be aiding and assisting to every Person that shall make any Information
or Seizure, on Pain of forfeiting Five Pounds Sterling for every Neglect
or
Omission; to be recovered in the Manner, and to the use aforesaid. |
