LAWS OF MARYLAND.

53

conditions following: all and every owner or owners of a gate or
gates kept on public roads, shall have his, her, or their gate or gates
hung on good and sufficient iron hinges, and shall keep the same, and
that part of the said rood which they occupy in good order and re-
pair, so as to impede as little as possible persons travelling with car-

riages of pleasure or burthen.

Dec. Ses. 1823

2. And be it enacted, That if any person or persons after the
passage of this act, shall cut down, destroy, wilfully leave open, or
remove any of the said gates, they shall upon conviction thereof, be-
fore a magistrate, forfeit and pay to the owner of such gate, a sum
not less than one not exceeding ten dollars for every such offence,

to be recovered as small debts are out of court.

Gates pro-
tected

3. And be it enacted, That on all gates authorised by this act
to be kept on the public roads, the owner or owners thereof shall pay
annually a tax of one dollar for each and every gate by him, her or

them kept on the public roads in said county.

Tax payable.

4. And be it enacted, That the owner or owners of all such gate
or gates, are hereby required and directed to transmit, on or before
the first day of May annually, to the clerk of the levy court of Queen
Ann's county, the number of gates by them respectively owned and
kept on the public roads, in writing, under their hands and seals, and
such clerk shall keep a list of the same, and shall deliver a copy
thereof, with the amount of tax on each annexed, to the collector of
the county taxes to be by him collected as other taxes.

Make return.

5. And be it enacted, That if any person or persons who is or
are the owner or owners of such gate or gates, shall neglect or refuse
to give in a statement of the number of gates by him,her or them ow-
ned and kept on the public roads,to the clerk of the levy court aforesaid,
on or before the first day of May in every year as aforesaid, and shall
continue to use or keep up such gate or gates, such gate or gates shall
be deemed a public nuisance or nuisances on the public highways,
and the owner or owners thereof, shall forfeit and pay for each and
every gate so kept up and not given in as aforesaid, the sum of one
dollar, to be recovered by bill of indictment of the grand jury be-
fore the county court, and to be applied towards defraying the afore-
said county charges.

Case of neg-

lect.

6. And be it enacted, That all monies collected by the collector

of the said county under the provisions of this act, shall be paid over
to and applied by the levy court of said county to defraying the

county charges.

Disposition
of money.

7. And be it enacted, That in all cases where tenants shall reside,
on lands through which public roads may pass, and shall keep gates
thereon, it shall and may be lawful for such tenants to enter such
gates in the manner prescribed by the fourth section of this act, and
to pay the tax thereon, who shall be allowed the same by his landlord
in his rent upon producing the collectors receipt, shewing that he has

paid the same.

Tenants au-

thorised.

8. And be it enacted, That if any slave shall cut down, destroy,
injure or wilfully leave open any gate upon the public roads which
shall have been entered in the manner prescribed by the fourth sec-
tion of this act, such stave shall be punished for every such offence
on conviction before a justice, by the oath of one or more witnesses,
by whipping on his bare back, in the discretion of said justice, not
exceeding for each offence the number of ten lashes; Provided al-
ways that the master or mistress of such slave, or any other person
in their behalf, may redeem said slave so convicted from such pu-

Slaves offen-
ding.