escheated to the commonwealth by his death, after the payment of the just debts of the said decedent. And that the creditors of the said Robert may have an opportunity of ascertaining their claims, 2. Be it further enacted, That they shall be, and are hereby creditors to estab- allowed until the first day of January, 1805, to prosecute and establish in a legal manner their respective demands against the estate of the said Robert Irwin, deceased.

Time allowed his

lish their claims.

When warrrant

shall issue in fa

3. And the auditor of public accounts is hereby authorized and vour of his heirs. required, after the expiration of the time aforesaid, to issue to the heirs of the said Robert Irwin, deceased, or their attorney, a warrant or warrants for so much money as may remain from the proceeds of the sale of the said escheated property, on the fund arising from escheated property.

Commencement.

Salaries allowed.

Chief clerk to perform the duties of

of sickness.

His compensa.

tion.

4. This act shall commence and be in force from and after the passing thereof.

CHAP. 108.-An ACT to fix the salaries of certain officers.

[Passed February 2, 1804.]

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That the officers hereafter mentioned, shall be allowed annually the following salaries, to wit the keeper of the penitentiary house, the sum of one thousand two hundred dollars; to the assistant keepers of the penitentiary, two hundred and fifty dollars each; the turnkey to the penitentiary house, the sum of two hundred and sixty-six dollars and sixty-six cents; the clerk of the penitentiary house, the sum of six hundred and twenty-five dollars; the door keeper of the capitol and of the council, whose duty it is to keep the capitol clean, and obey the orders of the executive, the sum of three hundred dollars; the keeper of the keys of the capitol, the sum of two hundred dollars; to each of the under clerks in the register's office, five hundred hundred dollars; to the keeper of the public seal, three hundred dollars; to the assistant clerk of the council, one thousand dollars; the superintendant of the manufactory of arms, the sum of two thousand dollars; the master armourer, the sum of one thousand dollars; the assistant armourer, the sum of one thousand dollars; the clerk to the manufactory of arms, the sum of five hundred dollars; which several sums shall be paid quarterly out of the treasury on warrants to be issued by the auditor of public accounts; and to the commissary and store keeper to the manufactory of arms, the sum of five hundred dollars, to commence as soon as the executive shall adjudge that his services are necessary, and shall be paid in the same manner that the other salaries allowed by this act are paid.

2. And be it further enacted, That the chief clerk of the audithe auditor in case tor's office shall perform the duties of the said auditor in case of sickness; and whenever such case shall occur, the said clerk shall be allowed a compensation for such service, at the rate of one hundred and sixty-six dollars and sixty-seven cents per annum, in proportion to the time that he shall be employed therein: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be construed so as to increase the salary of the clerk of accounts in the auditor's office.

Proviso.

Repealing clause.

3. All acts or parts of acts which authorized the executive to fix the salary of any clerk, shall be, and the same are hereby repealed.

CHAP. 109.—An ACT subjecting the securities of sheriffs to motions in cer

tain cases.

(Passed February 2, 1804.)

sheriffs and their

for failing to pay

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That hereafter where Judgment may be the sheriff of any county, bound for the collection of the public re- obtained against venue, shall fail to pay the same into the public treasury, pursuant securities jointly, to law, it shall be lawful for the auditor of public accounts, and he the amount of the is hereby required and directed, to obtain a judgment by motion public revenue. jointly against such sheriff and his securities, in the general court: Provided, Such sheriff, his security or securities, or such of them Proviso. against whom judgment shall be rendered, shall have ten days previous notice of such motion; and the lands, tenements, goods and chattels of the said security or securities, shall be liable in the same manner as the sheriffs are now liable.

ney received by

2. And be it further enacted, That where any principal sheriff, The same for moor his deputy, shall receive any money by virtue of any writ of fieri virtue of any profacias, or other process, and shall fail to pay the amount, or so cess. much as shall be in his hands, it shall be lawful for the party on whose behalf such process was awarded, to obtain a judgment against the principal sheriff and his securities, or their legal representatives, jointly: Provided, That they, or such of them against whom judgment shall be rendered, have ten days previous notice of such motion Provided, That nothing in this act contained shall Proviso. be so construed as to subject the securities of sheriffs to such motions, in cases where they have become such, before the commencement of this act.

CHAP. 110.-An ACT to amend the act for reducing into one the several acts concerning the land office; ascertaining the terms and manner of granting waste and unappropriated lands; directing the mode of processioning, and prescribing the duty of surveyors.

(Passed February 2, 1804.)

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That the second sec- Part of the former tion of the act of the general assembly, passed on the twenty-eighth law repealed. December, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-five, intituled, "An act to amend the act for reducing into one the several acts concerning the land office; ascertaining the terms and manner of granting waste and unappropriated lands; settling the titles and bounds of lands; directing the mode of processioning, and prescribing the duty of surveyors," shall be, and the same is hereby repealed; and surveys shall be received into the land office, and locations made on land office treasury warrants, under the same regulations as before the passing of said act: Provided, That no lo- Proviso. cation shall be made on any warrant in any other county than that in which the first location on such warrant is made; and if any person hath part of such warrant unappropriated, it shall be lawful for such person to obtain an exchange warrant for such unappropriated part: And provided also, That the surveyor of any county, where any location or locations is or are made, shall certify on the back of such warrant, how much remains unappropriated, and if the whole of the said warrant be appropriated the same shall accompany the last survey made by virtue thereof.

2. This act shall commence and be in force from and after the Commencement. passing thereof.

Allowance to the

neral assembly.

CHAP. 111.—An ACT for paying the officers of the general assembly for their services during the present session.

(Passed January 30, 1804.)

1. Be it enacted, That the allowance to the officers of the geneofficers of the ge- ral assembly, for their services during the present session, shall be as follows, that is to say: To the chaplain, twenty dollars per week; to the clerk of the house of delegates, one hundred and forty-five dollars per week; to the clerk of the senate, seventy-two dollars and fifty cents per week; to the clerk of the committee for courts of justice, forty dollars per week; to the clerk of the committee of propositions and grievances, forty dollars per week; to the clerk of the committee of privileges and elections and claims, forty dollars per week; to the serjeants at arms to the senate and house of delegates, each, thirty-seven dollars per week; to each of the doorkeepers of the senate and house of delegates, twenty-one dollars per week; to Samuel Pleasants, junior, for printing the journals of the senate, two hundred and seventy-five dollars, and to the person who cleans the capitol, twenty dollars..

Commencement.

Number of electors.

into districts.

2. This act shall commence and be in force from and after the passing thereof.

CHAP. 112.—An ACT to amend an act, intituled, “An act to amend an act, intituled, 'An act for appointing electors to choose a president and vice-president of the United States.""

(Passed January 21, 1804.)

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That the persons qualified to vote for electors of a president and vice-president of the United States, under the act, entituled, " An act for appointing electors to choose a president and vice-president of the United States," shall each vote hereafter for twenty-four electors, in manner herein diCounties arranged rected. Every voter shall vote for one person residing in each electoral district as arranged by this act; for which purpose, the counties of Norfolk, Princess Anne, Nansemond and borough of Norfolk, shall compose one district; the counties of Surry, Isle of Wight and Prince George, one other district; the counties of Sussex, Dinwiddie and Southampton, one other district; the counties of Brunswick, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg and Greensville, one other district; the counties of Charlotte, Halifax and Prince Edward, one other district; the counties of Amelia, Chesterfield, Cumberland, Nottoway and Powhatan, one other district; the counties of Albemarle, Amherst, Buckingham and Fluvanna, one other district; the counties of Franklin, Pittsylvania, Campbell, Bedford, Henry and Patrick, one other district; the counties of Goochland, Henrico, Louisa and city of Richmond, one other district; the counties of Hanover and Caroline, one other district; the counties of King and Queen, King William and Essex, one other district; the counties of Spotsylvania, Orange, Madison and Culpeper, one other district; the counties of Loudoun and Fauquier, one other district; the counties of Accomack, Northampton, Elizabeth City, Warwick and York, one other district; the city of Williamsburg, the counties of James City, Charles City, New Kent, Middlesex, Gloucester and Mathews, one other district; the counties of Richmond, Lancaster, Northumberland, Westmoreland and King George, one other district; the counties of Prince William, Fairfax and Stafford, one other district ; the counties of Frederick and Hardy, one other district; the coun

sons are voted for

named receives

cute this law.

ties of Hampshire, Berkeley and Jefferson, one other district; the counties of Rockingham, Shenandoah and Pendleton, one other district; the counties of Rockbridge, Augusta and Botetourt, one other district; the counties of Washington, Lee, Russell, Grayson, Wythe and Tazewell, one other district; the counties of Greenbrier, Bath, Monroe, Kenawha, Mason and Montgomery, one other district; and the counties of Monongalia, Brooke, Ohio, Harrison, Wood and Randolph, shall compose one other district. In case any Where two perticket shall contain two or more names of persons residing in the in the same dissame district, the first of such names only shall be considered as trict, the first duly voted for and in like manner, if two or more persons, shall be the benefit. of the twenty-four first upon the poll, who shall reside in the same district, he who shall have the greatest number of votes shall only be duly elected. The governor, with the advice of council, shall Commissioners on or before the first day of August in every year, wherein such appointed to exeelection is to take place, appoint and commission three persons in each county of this state, and in the cities of Richmond, Williamsburg, and borough of Norfolk, for the purpose of executing this law, any two or more of whom shall be competent to act. Each person, before he enters upon the duties herein enjoined, shall take and subscribe the following oath: "I, A. B. do solemnly swear, faithfully Their oaths. and truly to execute the office of a commissioner under the act, intituled, An act to amend an act, intituled,' An act to amend an act, intituled, 'An act for appointing electors to choose a president and vice-president of the United States;' that I will, to the best of my skill and judgment, admit all persons to vote entitled to do So, and reject all who are not so entitled; and that I will make a fair return of the persons voted for as electors within my county, and of the number of votes given for each according to this act: So help me God." Which affidavit the magistrate administering the oath shall Affidavit to be rereturn attested to the clerk of the county court, to be by him filed; of the county and the said magistrate shall also give to such commissioner a cer- court, &c. tificate that he had taken the oath prescribed by this act. It shall Duty of commisbe the duty of the said commissioners to attend at the several places for holding the said elections, directed by law, and then and there to hold the same in manner following: they shall receive of each person whom they shall adjudge to be entitled to a vote in his county or corporation, a paper containing the names of twenty-four persons, for whom such individual shall vote as electors, on the back of which paper shall be written the name of the person voting, and as the votes are rendered, it shall be the duty of the said commissioners to take an exact poll of the names of all voters. It shall be the duty Duty of the clerk. of the clerk of each county to attend at the said election for the electors of a president and vice-president of the United States, with the list of the lands as taxed therein, to be used by the said coinmissioners as evidence towards ascertaining the right of any person to a vote. If it shall appear to the said commissioners, that the For what cause the poll may be persons entitled to vote, were prevented from attending by bad weakept open. ther, or from any other cause, they are hereby empowered and required to keep the poll open for a term not exceeding two days. So soon as the poll is closed, the said commissioners shall subscribe Forms to be obeach sheet upon which the same containing the names of all the served by the comvoters shall be taken, and also obtain a subscription of two or more the poll is closed. creditable persons thereto, which poll thus subscribed it shall be their duty to file in the clerk's office of the said county or corpora

turned to the clerk

sioners.

missioners after

be made by the

commissioners.

tion within ten days of the time of holding the election, there to be recorded according to law. The said commissioners shall, within two days after the poll shall be closed, ascertain the number of votes given for every person who shall be voted for as an elector: Provided, That until the return shall be signed by the commissioners holding the election, the tickets so delivered in shall be kept by one of the said commissioners, under the seal and superscription of more than one, and shall never be opened or examined by less than two of the said commissioners. The said commissioners shall, within three days after closing the poll as aforesaid, make out three copies Form of return to of a return in the following form: "We, A., B. and C., commissioners for holding the election of electors for a president and vicepresident of the United States, for the county, city or borough (as the case may be) of do hereby certify, that an election was held on the first Monday in November, for the said county, city or borough (as the case may be), pursuant to law, and that the number of votes herein specified opposite to the names of the several persons following, was given for such persons as electors for the state of Virginia, of a president and vice-president of the United States, namely, [here such list of persons and votes is to follow.] Given under our hands and seals, this one thousand eight hundred and Which returns, written in words, and not in figures, shall be sealed and subscribed by the commissioners holding the election. One of the said returns shall be delivered to some person among the twenty-four, who shall have therein the greatest number of votes; another shall be filed in the clerk's office of the county or corporation electing; and the third shall be transmitted to the governor and council; all of which shall be done within fifteen days after the same shall be made out. And the governor and tise the names of council shall proceed to ascertain from the said returns, the twentyfour persons having the greatest number of votes throughout this state, and to advertise their names in such gazettes as they may think proper.

Governor and council to adver

the electors.

In case of sick

missioners shall

act.

Sheriffs and serjeants to attend commissioners during the election.

Penalty on sheriff's

for failure of duty.

day of

2. If on account of death, sickness, or other cause, only one of ness, how the com- the said commissioners shall attend at the time and place for holding the said election, he is hereby empowered to associate with himself, as a commissioner, the high sheriff, or any magistrate of the county or corporation electing, who, being qualified as before directed, shall be as competent to act as if he had been appointed by the governor, with the advice of council. It shall be the duty of the sheriff of every county, and of the serjeant of every corporation entitled to elect, to attend the said commissioners during the said election, and to remove force should any be offered. And if and commissioners any sheriff shall fail in his duty as aforesaid, or if any commissioner shall refuse to take the polls, being required so to do by a candidate or person qualified, or shall take it contrary to this act, or shall make or sign a false return, or shall falsify the polls or tickets by erasure or alteration, he or they so offending, shall, for every such offence, forfeit and pay the sum of three hundred dollars, to be recovered with costs in an action of debt, before any court of record, by any Duty of commis person who will sue for the same. After the said return shall be made, it shall be the duty of the said commissioners to seal up all the tickets or votes by them received in manner herein directed, and endorse their names upon the cover as aforesaid, which shall be preserved by one of the said commissioners, and shall, if demanded

sioners after return.