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JOHN EAGER HOWARD, Esq; Governor.
XIV. And be it
enacted, That all property belonging to the commissioners
or trustees of George-town, shall be and the same is hereby transferred
and
vested in the mayor, recorder, aldermen, and common-council of the
said town,
and their successors for ever, for the use and benefit of the said
town. |
1789.
CHAP.
XXIII.
Property vested
in the
mayor, &c. |
CHAP. XXIV.
An ACT for the relief of certain foreigners who have settled
within this state, and for other purposes, supplemental
to the
act for naturalization. |
Passed December
22. |
WHEREAS the act for naturalization, passed at July
session, in the
year seventeen hundred and seventy-nine, declares, that every person
who shall thereafter come into this state, from any nation, kingdom
or state, and shall repeat and subscribe a declaration of his belief
in the christian
religion, and take, repeat and subscribe, the oath or affirmation in
the same act
prescribed, before the governor and the council, or before the general
court, or
any one of the judges thereof, or before any county court, shall thereupon
and
thereafter be deemed, adjudged, and taken to be a natural born subject
of this
state, and shall be thenceforth entitled to all the immunities, rights
and privileges,
of a natural born subject of this state, subject nevertheless to the
restrictions
provided by the said act: And whereas, since the passage of the
said
act, divers foreigners have come into this state, and have settled
and become
inhabitants thereof, and have been induced, from the various advantages
afforded
by our government, climate, sole and commerce, to employ their money
in the
purchase of property, both real and personal, and to improve the same,
thereby
acquiring a just and equitable title to such property, but through
ignorance of
the provisions contained in the before-mentioned act, or apprehending
that taking
and subscribing the oath of allegiance in the usual manner would entitle
them to
the advantages of property, the said foreigners have not taken and
subscribed the
oath prescribed by the act for naturalization under the particular
circumstances
required by the same, whereby their titles to such real property as
they have
acquired since their settlement in this state, may be drawn in question,
to their
great prejudice and injury: And whereas the said foreigners have
always manifested
a firm attachment to our government and laws, and it is conceived,
that
by securing their interest in our soil, their affections to this country
will be
more fully confirmed, and that justice and policy require that the
hardships
and inconveniencies under which they respectively labour, should be
remedied;
therefore, |
Preamble. |
II. Be it enacted,
by the General Assembly of Maryland, That all and every
the said foreigners, who, since their settlement in this state, have purchased
and
acquired, by any lawful and fair means, any portion of property, real,
personal
or mixed, and have since possessed and enjoyed the same, and have still
a just
and equitable title thereto, whether such title be derived from grant,
gift,
purchase or devise, shall, by virtue of this act, hold, possess, and enjoy
such
property, real, personal and mixed, as fully and amply, and to all intents
and
purposes, as rightfully as the said foreigners would have been entitled
to hold,
possess, and enjoy the same, if they had respectively naturalized themselves
according
to the express provisions contained in the said act for naturalization. |
Foreigners to
hold certain
property, &c. |
III. And be
it further enacted, That in case any real property, purchased or
acquired by foreigners since the passage of the aforesaid act, hath been
escheated,
it is hereby declared, that all the right and title of this state to the
said property
so escheated, and to any property so escheatable, shall be and the same
are hereby
relinquished, and vested for ever hereafter in the said foreigners,
their heirs and
assigns, saving nevertheless to all persons whatsoever, who may have heretofore
acquired titles to any such escheatable property under the laws of this
state,
their several and respective rights; and all and every person and persons
who may
have purchased, or otherwise acquired, any real property from or under
the said
foreigners, or any of them, shall be and they are hereby declared so be
entitled
to all and every advantages with respect to such property, as if the same
had been |
Right of state
to escheated
property relinquished,
&c. |
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