LAWS OF MARYLAND.— 1793.

297

give a preference to tradesmen and mechanics, by obliging said
applicants for said orphan or orphans, or other child or children,
to sign a good and sufficient indenture to learn said apprentice
the occupation that he follows, and to find him in good and
sufficient clothing, meat, drink, washing and lodging, and to
give such education as masters are obliged to give to appren-
tices bound by the several orphans courts of this state; and said
indenture, when so taken, shall be lodged with the register of
the orphans court of the county where such indenture is taken,
by any one of the trustees of the poor of the said county,
within thirty days after the execution thereof, under the penalty
of three pounds for every neglect, to be recovered by present-
ment in the county court of the county where any such orphan
or poor child shall be bound, and applied to the use and benefit
of the poor of said county, and the register of said orphans
court shall and he is hereby obliged to receive and record the
said indenture as other indentures heretofore taken for orphans
bound by the court of said county are and have been recorded,
and the said clerk shall be allowed the sum of three shillings
current money for each and every indenture so received and
recorded, to be paid by the master.

SEC. 6. And be it enacted. That it shall and may be lawful
for any manufacturer or mechanic to take as an apprentice any
male child until he shall arrive at the age of twenty-one years;
provided always, that the contract so made shall specify the age
of the child at the time of making the said contract, and that
the parent or parents of such child, if living, or if an orphan,
the orphans court of such county as the child shall reside in,
shall see the contract within two months after its execution,
and notify their approbation thereof by an endorsement on the
same, and that then the said contract shall be recorded among
the records of the orphans court, and the sum of three shillings
shall be paid by the master of the said apprentice therefor, and
when so recorded the said contract shall be of the same validity
as if the same had been originally made with the parents of the
said child, or with the orphans court.

Manufactu-
rer, &c.
may take
apprentice,
&c.

SEC. 7. And, whereas by reason of the inaccuracy of appren-
tices' contracts, disputes frequently arise between the parties, Be
it enacted, That the justices of the county or criminal courts, on
the petition, in writing, of any master or mistress of any appren-
tice so as aforesaid bound out, shall and may inquire into, hear
and determine, any and every dispute that may arise on any
contract or agreement so as aforesaid made; and if it shall ap-
pear to the said county or criminal court, that the said contract
has been violated on the part of the master or mistress, or that
the complaint of such apprentice so petitioning as aforesaid is
38

Justices, on
petition,
may inquire
&c.