Fraudulent vant; cógnizance thereof, by any person who will sue for the same, one half of which forfeiture shall be paid to the prosecutor, and the residue to the overseers of the poor of the city or town in which such offence shall be committed, for the benefit of such poor. XXI. And be it further enacted, That if any person shall, by sales af slaves fraud or collusion, sell, or pretend to sell or dispose of any aged or infirm slave, to any person who is unable to maintain such slave, such sale or disposition shall be void, and the person making the same shall forfeit the sum of fifty dollars for each offence, and shall moreover be deemed the owner of such slave, within the meaning of the seventh section of this act, and the forfeitures shall be recovered and applied as is directed in the next preceding section of this act. XXII. And be it further enacted, That if any person shall employ, harbor, conceal or entertain, any slave, or such servant as Penalty for harboring a aforesaid, knowing such slave or servant to belong to any other perslave or ser son, without the consent of such owner, such person shall forfeit to the owner of such slave or servant, the sum of twelve dollars and fifty cents for every twenty-four hours, and in that proportion for a greater or less time, which such slave or servant shall have been so employed, harbored, concealed or entertained; but such forfeiture shail not in the whole exceed the value of such slave, or of the service such owner is entiled to receive from such sevant: And further, if any person shall be guilty of harboring, entertaining or concealing, or of assisting to convey away any such slave or servant, and such slave or servaut be lost or die, such person shall forfeit to the owner of such slave or servant, the value of such slave, or of the service such owner shall be entitled to receive from such servant; all of which forfeitures may be recovered by an action of debt, with costs of suit, in any court having cognizance thereof. Or conveying away; with; XXIII. And be it further enacted, That if any person shall trade Or trading or traffic with any such slave or servant, knowing them to be such, either in buying or selling, without the consent of the owner of such slave, or the master or mistress of such servant, such person shall, for every such offence, forfeit treble the value of the articles so bought or sold, and also the sum of twelve dollars and fifty cents, to the owner of such slave or servant, to be recovered with costs against such person, by action of debt, in any court having cognizance thereof; and every contract so made with such slave or servant shall be void. quor to. XXIV. And be it further enacted, That if any person shall sell Or selling li- any rum or other strong liquor, to any such slave or servant, knowing him or her to be such slave or servant, without the consent of the owner of such slave, or the master or mistress of such servant, such person shall forfeit, for every such offence, the sum of five dollars, to be recovered in the name of the owner of such slave or servant, with costs, by action of debt, in any court having cognizance thereof; the one half of which forfeiture shall be paid by such owner to the overseers of the poor of the city or town where Masters lia- such offence shall be committed. ble tor tres passes of XXV. And be it further enacted, That if any person shall, by their slaves. trespass committed by any such slave or servant, whilst such slave or servant remains in the employ and custody of such owner, sustain damage to the value of twelve dollars and fifty cents or under, the owner of such slave, or the master or mistres of such servant, shall be liable to make satisfaction for the same to the party injured; to be recovered by action of debt, with costs, in any court having cognizance thereof. ters and ser XXVI. And be it further enacted, That all complaints by any servant, born of a slave and made free by virtue of this act, arising Complaints under this act, against his or her master or mistress, and all complaints between mas by any such master or mistress against such servant, shall be heard, vants. tried and determined in the manner, and with like effect, as complaints by and against masters and apprentices, under the laws of this state. XXVII. And be it further enacted, That if any person shall knowingly and wilfully swear falsely, on any oath or deposition, False swearmade or taken by virtue of or pursuant to this act, such false swear- ing. ing shall be deemed and taken to be wilful and corrupt perjury; and the person thereof convicted shall be liable to all the pains and penalties thereof. person. XXVIII. And be it further enacted, That if any such slave shall strike a white person, it shall be lawful, on proof of the same, Slave not to by the oath of such person, for any justice of the peace to commit strike a white such slave to gaol, who shall thereupon be tried and punished as in cases of petit larceny, according to the act, entitled " an act declaring the powers of the courts of general sessions of the peace, and the powers and duties of justices of the peace." Kidnapping. XXIX. And be it further enacted, That if any person shall, without due process of law, seize and forcibly confine, or inveigle or kidnap, any negro, mulatto, mustee or other person of color, with intent to send or carry him out of this state against his will, or shall conspire with any other person or persons, or aid, abet, assist, hire, command or procure any other person to commit the said offence, or any captain of a vessel or other person, shall sell or dispose of in any foreign port or place any negro, mulatto, mustee or other person of color, and shall be duly convicted of any of the said offences, before any court of oyer and terminer or general sessions of the peace of any county in or through which such negro, mulatto, mustee or other person of color as aforesaid have been brought, taken, kidnapped, confined, seized or inveigled, or sold as aforesaid, shall be fined or imprisoned, or both, in the discretion of the court before which such conviction shall be had, such fine not to exceed one thousand dollars, and such imprisonment not to exceed fourteen years at hard labor in the state prison; and it shall be lawful for the said court to imprison such offender in the county gaol, provided the term of imprisonment imposed shall not require the offender to be sent to the state prison. Whereas persons of color, owing service or labor in other states, sometimes secrete themselves on board of vessels while such vessels are lying in the ports or harbors of other states, and thereby subject the commanders thereof to heavy fines and penalties: Therefore, XXX. Be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for all such Persons of captains or commanders, or their agents, to seize such person of ing themcolor and take him before any magistrate of a county, or if in the city of New-York, before the justices of the police office, and upon proof by oath or affirmation, to the satisfaction of the said color secret. selves on board of ves. sels may be returneds magistrate or justice, that such person of color did, without his consent or knowledge, secrete himself on board his vessel, such magistrate or justice shall give a certificate thereof to such captain, commander or agent, which shall be a sufficient warrant to send or carry such person of color to the port or place from which such person was so brought: Provided, that nothing in this section contained shall prevent such person of color, when brought before such magistrate or justice, from proving he does not owe service or labor in any other state. XXXI. And be it further enacted, That in any action instituted for the recovery of the penalties under this act, the person or persons sued may be held to special bail. XXXII. And be it further enacted, That every negro, mulatto or mustee within this state, born before the fourth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-nine, shall, from and alter the fourth day of July, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven, be free. XXXIII. And be it further enacted, That the act, entitled “an act concerning slaves and servants," passed April 9th, 1813, and the act, entitled "an act to prevent kidnapping of free people of color," passed February 25, 1813, be and the same are hereby repealed: Provided, that nothing herein contained shall in any wise be deemed or taken to affect any penalties, pains or forfeitures, incurred for any violation of either of the said acts. CHAP. CXXXVIII. AN ACT to alter the time of holding town meetings in the town of Schroon, in the county of Essex, and to annex a part of the town of Richland to the town of Mexico, in the county of Oswego. Passed March 31, 1817. I. BE it enacted by the people of the state of New-York, represent ed in senate and assembly, That the annual town meetings in the town of Schroon, in the county of Essex, shall, after the first Tuesday of April next, be held on the first Tuesday in March, annually; and that all such town officers, whose duty it was to meet on the last Tuesday in March, shall meet on the last Tuesday in February, to do and transact such business as to their respective offices may appertain. II. And be it further enacted, That all that part of the town of Richland, in the county of Oswego, known as lots number one hundred and thirty-seven, one hundred and thirty-eight, one hundred and thirty-nine, one hundred and forty, one hundred and forty-one, one hundred and forty-two, one hundred and forty-three, one hundred and forty-four, one hundred and forty-five, one hundred and forty-six, one hundred and forty-seven, and one hundred and forty-eight, shall be and the same is hereby annexed to the town of Mexico, in said county. CHAP. CXXXIX. AN ACT appointing commissioners to lay out certain roads therein mentioned, in the county of Broome. Passed March 31, 1817. ers appoint I. BE it enacted by the people of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, That Mason Whiting, James Pumpela, and Commission Joseph Walds, 2d, be and they are hereby appointed commissioners ed. to lay out the following roads or highways, each four rods wide: one commencing at or near the village of Owego, in said county, and running a northeast direction to the Jericho and Ithaca turnpike, in the town of Lisle, by the most direct and eligible route; the other road to commence at the west line of lot number twenty-eight, in Broughan's patent, and running in a northwest direction, the most direct and eligible route to the same turnpike, in the town of Berkshire. II. And be it further enacted, That when the said commission. To file deers shall have laid out said roads, they shall cause a description of scription. the route of each of the said roads to be filed in the clerk's office of the said county. III. And be it further enacted, That there shall be assessed, paid Assessments. and collected, for the purpose of opening and making said roads, on every acre of land in each lot where any part of said lot shall lie within one mile of either said roads, (except the land belonging to the people of this state) not more than twelve and an half cents, nor less than three cents; which said assessment shall be made iu proportion to the value of the land and to the advantages resulting to the owners thereof, from the establishment of said roads. IV. And be it further enacted, That the said commissioners shall, To make just as soon as the routes of the said roads shall be marked and fixed up- assessments. on by them, examine the land hereby made subject to a assessment, and make the said assessment fairly thereupon in writing, and shall ascertain and describe the lots and parcels of land so assessed, as accurately as may be; which assessment, so to be made in writing as aforesaid, shall be filed in the office of the treasurer of said county; and it shall thereupon be the duty of the said treasurer to give notice, in one of the newspapers printed in said county, three months successively, that said assessment had been made agreeable to the said act, and that unless the said tax be paid within the said three months, to the said treasurer, that the said assessment roll, or so much thereof as shall remain unpaid, would be returned to the comptroller of this state; and that the said treasurer shall, as soon thereafter as may be, certify to the comptroller of this state, so much of the assessment roll as shall remain unpaid; and that the said comptroller shall, on the receipt of the same, pay to the order of the said treasurer the amount of the said assessment or tax so remaining unpaid, and it shall be the duty of the said comptroller to give notice, in the newspaper published by the printer of this state, describing particularly all the lots or parcels of land on which the said tax shall remain unpaid, that the same will be sold at public vendue, by the said comptroller, in the city of Albany, to the highest bidder, or so much thereof as may T Proviso. be necessary to raise the several sums so assessed and remaining un paid, together with all the expenses of advertising, selling and conveying the same, on such day as he shall appoint, not exceeding three months nor less than two months from the date of such advertisement; and the said comptroller shall be and hereby is authorised ito execute a conveyance to the purchasers of the land so sold, which shall vest the absolute title thereof, in fee simple, in the purchaser : i Provided, the owners of such lands, so sold by the said comptroller, shall not, within two years after the said sale, pay to the said comptroller, for the benefit of such purchaser, the sum paid for the same, with interest at the rate of fourteen per cent. per annum. \V. And be it further enacted, That the said treasurer shall pay Treasurer to over to the said commissioners all monies that he may receive, by pay monies virtue of this act, for the purpose of making the roads aforesaid: Provided however, that the said commissioners shall, before they receive the said money, or any part thereof, enter into a bond with such ers to give security and in such sum as shall be approved by the said treasurer of the county, with whom the same shall be filed, with the condition that they will faithfully expend and account for the said sum of money, according to the true intent and meaning of this act. Commission security. Their pay. VI. And be it further enacted, That each of the said commissioners appointed by this act, shall be entitled to receive, out of the monies to be paid to them, two dollars and fifty cents for each and every day's service in which they shall be employed in exploring, making and laying out said roads, making said assessment, or in expending said monies on said roads, together with the wages and expenses of such persons as they shall employ to assist them in executing the duties enjoined by this act. Bounds of CHAP. CXL. AN ACT to erect parts of the towns of Kortright in the county of Delaware, and Maryland in the county of Otsego, into a separate town by the name of Davenport. Passed March 31, 1817. I. BE it enacted by the people of the State of New-York, represented in Senate and assembly, That from and after the last day of March, one thousand eight hundred and seventeen, such parts of the towns of Kortright and Maryland as are contained in the following bounds, to wit: beginning at the Charlotte river, on the southwest corner of the town of Maryland, and running from thence northon the line between the towns of Maryland and Milford, to the north line of lot number four of Fitch's patent; thence east to the northeast corner of lot number seven; thence south to the northwest corner of lot number nine; thence easterly to the northeast corner of lot number thirty-five of said patent; thence on a direct line to the centre of the Charlotte creek, at the southeast corner of the town of Maryland, which is the southwest corner of the town of Worcester; thence down the same to the east line of the town of Kortright; thence southerly on the said line so far as to include two tier of lots of |