| 1780.
CHAP.
XL. |
LAWS of MARYLAND.
The aforesaid articles of confederation
were finally ratified on the first day of March, 1781; the state
of Maryland having, by their members in congress, on that day acceded thereto,
and completed the
same. |
|
CHAP. XLI.
An ACT to compel the payment
of the taxes in Somerset county. |
|
CHAP. XLII.
An ACT for the building a gaol for the safe keeping of the disaffected
and prisoners
of war.
In Montgomery county, near the court-house,
convenient to a good spring. N. B. It has never
been built. |
|
CHAP. XLIII.
An ACT to procure recruits.
Viz. to procure 1,000 men, to serve
three years unless sooner discharged. The property in the state
is to be divided into classes of £. 16,000, each of which is, within
twenty days, to furnish one recruit,
who may be either a freeman or a slave. In each class failing to
procure a recruit, there is to be a
draught five days after the expiration of the 20 days, and the person drawn
is to be considered, to all intents
an enlisted soldier, until the 10th December, 1781, entitled however to
be discharged, if within
twenty days he find a substitute. |
|
CHAP. XLIV.
A Supplement to the act to procure recruits.
The executive are empowered, at discretion,
to suspend, until the next session, the draught generally,
or in such counties only as have exerted themselves in procuring recruits. |
Persons re-enlisting
entitled
to a certificate,
&c. |
III. Be it enacted,
That in case any person, sufficient and proper to be passed
as a recruit, who hath already served one year or more in the continental
army,
and hath been discharged, and shall enter as a recruit according to the
act of the
present session to procure recruits, shall not only be entitled to all
the benefits proposed
by the said act, but also to a certificate for the depreciation of the
pay which
became due to him while he was in service, between the first of January
seventeen
hundred and seventy-seven and the last day of July last, as if he was in
the quota
of this state of the continental army at the time of of passing the act
of the present
session to settle and adjust the accounts of the troops of this state in
the service of
the United States, and for other purposes. |
|
CHAP. XLV.
An ACT to seize, confiscate and appropriate, all British property
within this state. |
| Preamble. |
WHEREAS Great-Britain commenced an unjust war against
the United
States, and because of their defending themselves against her unprovoked
and unjustifiable violence, declared the people of these states
rebels, and out of the protection of her government; and now prosecutes
the
war against them on pretence of their being revolted colonies and in rebellion,
and
hath confiscated the property of some, of citizens of these states; the
British
army and navy, and other armed vessels, acting under the authority of the
British
king, have seized in this and other of the United States the negroes and
other
property of the citizens of these states, and the property so seized have
carried off
and disposed of at their will and pleasure; the said army and navy, and
other
armed vessels, have committed various outrages on the persons, and devastations
on the property, of the people of these United States, contrary to the
practice of
civilized nations, and the present usage of war, in burning houses and
towns,
without any necessity, out of mere wantonness and cruelty; unfortunate
American
prisoners, by cruel usage and threats, have been compelled to enlist in
the
army of their enemies, and fight against their country; and many of the
citizens
of these states, taken captive, have been forced on board ships of war,
and compelled,
under an act of the parliament of Great-Britain, and the cruel execution
of it by the officers of the king of Great-Britain, to fight against their
country,
their friends and relations: And whereas the subjects of Great-Britain
possess
considerable landed and other property in this state, which the legislature,
from a
disinclination to distress individuals, hath suffered to remain in the
hands and
management of their agents, hoping that a conduct so moderate would induce
the
enemy to respect the rights of humanity, emulate the example, and alleviate
the |
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