CHAP.
LXI.
Agent to dispose
of certain
property, &c.
And to call on
the attorney-general,
&c.
No payment
to be valid,
&c.
Right to
cease, &c.
Agent to take
back property,
&c.
And may
compromise,
&c. |
not otherwise, shall purchase any property so exposed to sale for the
use of the
state, in payment, or part payment, as the case may be, of the arrearages
due
by the collectors whose property may be so purchased, and that no purchase
authorised
by this act shall be considered as made on the part of the state, unless
a
public declaration to that effect be made by the said agent or his
deputy immediately
after such sale and purchase; and any property so purchased for the
use
of the state, the said agent may again expose to public auction, on
the most
advantageous terms, for the use of the state, and if the same be sold
on credit,
which shall in no case exceed the term of two years, the said agent
shall take
bond, with good and sufficient security, to be approved of by the treasurer
of
the western shore, from the purchasers of such property; and all bonds
by him
so taken shall be deposited, with an accurate list thereof, subscribed
by him, in
the treasury of the western shore, and shall be a lien upon the real
property of
such purchasers, and their securities, from the respective dates, or
so much thereof
as is mentioned in the schedule thereto annexed.
VI. And
be it enacted, That the said agent is hereby directed to dispose
of at
public sale all confiscated British property that remains unsold, giving
at least
thirty days notice thereof by public advertisement, and take bonds
to the state,
with sufficient security, and give time for payment, not exceeding
two years from
the first day of January, seventeen hundred and ninety-seven.
VII. And
be it enacted, That the agent shall immediately call on and request
the attorney-general to commence, and prosecute to final determination
as speedily
as possible, the state's right to all confiscated property which hath
been made
known and discovered to the said agent; and the said agent shall report
to the
next session of assembly such suit as are or may be depending to recover
the same,
and also such as may then not be commenced; and to cause immediate
notice to be given in the public papers of this state to the discoverers
of
confiscated property, to produce to the agent the title papers of the
lands by
them respectively discovered, on or before the first day of August
next, in order
that the same may be laid before the attorney-general for his opinion
thereon.
VIII. And
be it enacted, That no payment in future by any officer or person
indebted to the state shall be valid and effectual, unless made to
the treasurer of
the western or eastern shores, or to the agent for the time being,
or unless made
to the clerks and sheriffs of the several counties, in the cases where
the said clerks
and sheriffs are by law authorised to receive the same.
IX. And
be it enacted, That the right, title and interest, of any and every
informant or discoverer of property liable to confiscation, shall cease,
determine
and be utterly null and void, unless the title papers to authenticate
the state's
right be produced and lodged with the agent by the informant or discoverer
on
or before the first day of August next.
X. And
be it enacted, That the agent shall have full power and authority,
by
and with the advice and approbation of the governor and council, in
all cases of
uninstalled debts, to take back any property heretofore purchased by
any person
and not yet paid for, in cases where the person so having purchased,
and his securities,
are not capable of paying for the same, and to compromise the same
upon
terms and principles of equity and justice, by and with the advice
and consent
aforesaid; and the agent is hereby required to lay a particular statement
of his
proceedings under this section before the next session of assembly.
XI. And
be it enacted, That the agent, with the approbation and consent
of
the governor and council, be and he is hereby authorised and empowered
to compromise
any suit depending in chancery with any state debtor, upon any terms
in
their judgment calculated to promote the interest of the state, and
obtain the
speedy receipt of the sums due. |
