T. WATKINS LIGON, ESQUIRE, GOVERNOR

369

contract; Provided, that the said justice, before he ren-
ders judgment against the negro, shall be satisfied that
the wages are reasonably secure, and that the said ne-
gro did not quit the service of the employer on account
of improper usage, or treatment, or without sufficient
cause; that the constable arresting such person shall
have the same right to see we his or her appearance by
confinement, as in ordinary cases of misdemeanor, till
the hearing can be had before the justice, and which
shall take place as speedy as practicable.

Proviso.

SEC. 2. And be it enacted, That if any free negro
shall hereafter contract or agree, in writing, to hire to
any white person for a year, or less time, and for cer-
tain wages, and shall afterwards refuse to enter into the
service of such person, and shall hire to another person,
the first person shall have process of summons in such
case without delay against such free negro, and upon
trial and proof, shall have judgment against such free
negro for two-fifths of the amount of wages contracted
to be paid, which judgment shall be a lien on the wages
in the hands of the person in whose service he may be
engaged, from the time notice of such judgment shall
be given to said employer, and shall be paid when due
to the person recovering judgment, and may be recov-
ered by an action of debt before any justice of the
peace, as in ordinary cases of debt; but in case the said
employer shall hire the said negro with a full knowl-
edge of the previous hiring, and shall refuse to deliver
him to the first claimant on demand made, the party
first hiring may have process of replevin to recover pos-
session of the said negro, to be obtained from a justice
of the peace, and which shall be heard and tried, judg-
ment rendered, and execution awarded and executed,

Process of
summons.

as in ordinary cases of replevin; Provided, that before
any judgment he given against the negro or the employer,
under this section, the justice shall be satisfied that the
wages agreed to be paid by the party first hiring was
reasonably secure, and that the said negro had not suf-
ficient and just cause to refuse to enter into the service
of the said party.

Proviso.

SEC. 3. And be it enacted, That in case any free
negro shall leave the service of his employer after judg-
ment rendered against him, as provided for in the first
section of this act, and refuse or fail to return to the ser-
vice of the employer, the said employer may take pos-
session of the said negro wherever found, and confine
him in the public jail for a period not exceeding one
week at any one time, and may exercise, in such case,

Leaving ser-
vice after a
judgment.