76 VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS, NOVEMBER SESSION, 1805.

That the auditor of the state, under the control first of the intendant, and afterwards of the governor and
council, was, by the several acts relating to this subject, invested with authority to settle and adjust the ac-
counts of the several Maryland creditors against British subjects, which authority was finally vested in the
auditor alone. But all the powers of the creditor in this respect have long since ceased, and there now exists
no legal mode by which the remaining creditors can affect confiscated property for the payment of their claims,
the different laws limitting the time for bringing such claims having taken away from the auditor the authority
to adjust die-in.

Your committee further report, that William and Robert Mollison were British subjects under the meaning
and purview of the act of October, seventeen hundred and eighty, and as such their property became seized and
confiscated to the use of the state; and that the commissioners appointed for the preservation and sale of con-
fiscated British property, on the twentieth of October, seventeen hundred and eighty-three, sold a house and
lot in George-town, Montgomery county, to William Burke, For fifteen hundred and fifty-seven pounds current
money, on twelve months credit, the whole of which money has been paid to the state, and upon a full and
accurate investigation in the proper offices it appears to the committee, that the state has never paid any debts
due from the aforesaid Messieurs Mollisons.

That Edward Hall, the late husband of the present petitioner, before the revolutionary war, shipped a large
quantity of tobacco to the above-mentioned William and Robert Mollison, and the war soon after breaking out,
he was prevented from obtaining payment, and died in the winter of seventeen hundred and eighty-five, without
ever receiving the money due him; and that his widow, the present petitioner, being unacquainted with the
form of adjusting her account, and there being in reality considerable difficulty in liquidating claims of this
nature, omitted to present her claim to the proper officers until it became too late under the existing laws;
she, however, commenced suit in Anne-Arundel county court, and at April term, seventeen hundred and nine-
ty-five, obtained a judgment for an attachment against William Mollison, the survivor of the aforesaid Messrs.
Mollisons, for two hundred and forty pounds eleven shillings and eleven-pence costs, but there not being any
debts due to the said Mollison, and the confiscation law having transferred to the government all the property
of British subjects, Mrs. Hall has not been enabled to obtain payment of her debt.

Your committee further beg liberty to report, that although the time for bringing this claim has long since
elapsed, yet that in their opinion the particular cil cumstances connected with it will justify the legislature in
interfering, and the committee are happy to find that this, their opinion, will in a great degree be sanctioned
by the former proceeding of the general assembly, in a similar instance which occurred at November session, se-
venteen hundred and ninety-two, when the legislature granted relief to John Robertson, of Charles county,
who claimed to be paid a debt clue from a British subject whose property had been confiscated.

Your committee further state, that in their judgment the application of the petitioner appears reasonable,
and as the state has received a large sum of money arising from the sales of the property of the Messieurs Mol-
lisons, it would be just that the Maryland creditors should receive payment of their honest debts, as far as the
amount of the said property will extend; the committee therefore submit the following resolution:

RESOLVED, That Martha Hall, administratrix of Edward Hall, of Henry, shall be authorised to lay before
the auditor her claim, as administratrix aforesaid, against William Mollison, surviving partner of William and
Robert Mollison, and the auditor is hereby authorised and empowered to liquidate and adjust the same, and to
ascertain the balance, if any, due thereon to the said Martha Hall, administratrix of the said Edward Hall, of
Henry, and the treasurer of the western shore is hereby authorised to pay to the said Martha Hall, out of any
unappropriated money in the treasury, the amount of the balance so to be ascertained by the auditor.

By order, L. GASSAWAY, clk.

Which was read.
Mr. Higgins, from the committee, delivers to the speaker the following report:
THE committee to whom was referred the petition of Anthony Fox, of Anne-Arundel county, late a soldier
in the revolutionary war, report, that they have had the same under consideration, and find, from ample testi-
mony, that the petitioner was wounded while fighting the battles of his country, which secured liberty and
independence to America, the effects of which have rendered him unable, in his advanced age, to procure a
support for himself and four helpless daughters, dependent on him for their subsistence; with this view of his
case, your committee, under the impression that it becomes the peculiar duty of a dignified state to provide for
the unfortunate meritorious soldier who has spent the prime of his life and nobly shed his blood in her cause,
recommend the following resolution:

RESOLVED, That the treasurer of the western shore be and he is hereby directed and required to pay to An-
thony Fox, of Anne-Arundel county, late a meritorious soldier in the revolutionary war, or to his order, in
half yearly payments, a sum of money equal to the half pay of a sergeant, as a provision to him in his indigent
situation when advanced in life, and as a further remuneration to him for those services by which his country
has been so essentially benefitted.

By order, L. GASSAWAY, clk.
Which was read.

Mr. Van-Horn, from the committee, delivers to the speaker a bill, entitled, An additional supplement to an
act, entitled, An act to lay out and establish a road from the city of Annapolis to the city of Washington, and