The aforesaid Committee returned, and reported that several gentlemen had offered themselves as candidates, which they approved of, and recommended that the House should make choice of four of the said gentlemen for that purpose.

Pursuant to which Mr. William Kennon was appointed Commissary for the District of Wilmington, Mr. Robert Salter Commissary for the District of Newbern, Mr. Andrew Knox Commissary for the District of Edenton, and Mr. Robert Lanier Commissary for the District of Salisbury.

Ordered, That Mr. Needham Bryan, Mr. Hinton, Mr. Jacob Blount, Mr. William Bryan, and Mr. Duncan Lamon, have leave to absent themselves from the service of this Congress.

Mr. Archibald Maclaine, Chairman from the Committee appointed for the purpose of preparing a plan for the regulation of the internal peace, order and safety of this Province, and making such arrangement in the civil police of this Province, &c., laid the same before the Congress, which was read.

Ordered, The same be committed to a Committee of the Whole House to-morrow morning.

The Congress adjourned till to-morrow morning, nine o’clock.

Thursday, September 7, 1775.

The Congress met according to adjournment.

The House taking into consideration the Report of the Committee of Ways and Means, came to the following Resolution, to wit:

Resolved, That a sum not exceeding One Hundred and Twenty-Five Thousand Dollars be emitted by this Congress in Bills of Credit, for the defence of this Colony.

Resolved, That this Province be pledged for the redemption of the Bills of Credit now directed to be emitted.

Resolved, That the number and denomination of the Bills be as follows, viz:

Resolved, That the form of the Bills be as follows:

“ North-Carolina Currency.

“No. . . .                                                                                                        . . . . Dollars.

“ This Bill entitles the bearer to receive . . . . Spanish milled dollars, or the value thereof in gold and silver, according to the Resolution of the Provincial Congress at Hillsborough, the 21st day of August, 1775.”

Resolved, That Mr. Samuel Johnston, Mr. Richard Caswell, Mr. Richard Cogdell, and Mr. Andrew Knox, or the survivors of them, be a Committee to get proper Plates engraved, and to provide Paper, and to agree with an Engraver to stamp or print the said Bills, and to frame devices for the same; and that they be and are hereby fully authorized to superintend the press, to have the oversight and care of stamping or printing the Bills of Credit so to be struck, and to number and sign the same; and after numbering and signing them, shall deliver the same to the Treasurers, or one of them, taking his or their receipt for the Bills so delivered: and that they be allowed the sum of fifty Pounds each for such services.

Resolved, That the said sum be sunk by a tax of two Shillings every year on each taxable person within this Province, to commence for the year 1777, and continue for nine years, unless the money should be sooner sunk.

Resolved, That if any person shall refuse to receive the publick Bills of Credit by this Congress directed to be emitted, in payment of any debt or demand, or shall refuse to give them credit, or speak disrespectfully of the said Bills, or shall offer a greater sum of the said Bills in exchange than at the rate of eight Shillings for a Dollar, such person shall be treated as an enemy to his Country; and it is recommended to the inhabitants of this Province to have no further connection or dealing with him.

Resolved, That where any person shall be accused of counterfeiting, altering, or erasing any Bill or Bills of Credit of this Province emitted by virtue of the Resolves of this Congress, or shall knowingly pass or utter, or with intent to pass or utter shall offer the same to any person or persons, (oath being made thereof, or sufficient pregnant circumstances made appear, before any three Members of the Committee of the County where he shall be apprehended, or the nearest Town,) such person shall by the said Members of Committees, be committed to the jail of the District where the offence is supposed to be committed, there to remain until the next meeting of the Committee of Safety thereof. And the said Committee shall inquire into the truth of the accusation, and if it shall appear to twelve of them that there is sufficient proof to convict him, he shall be remanded to prison, there to remain until a convenient power shall be established for hearing and determining the matter, agreeable to the constitutional mode heretofore used in all capital cases; and if he shall be convicted on such future hearing, or shall stand mute, or challenge more than twenty of the petit jury, he shall suffer death as a felon, without benefit of clergy. But if the said Committee shall be of opinion that there is not sufficient proof to convict him, he shall be discharged; and the persons who shall first commit him shall take necessary measures to compel the witnesses, as well for as against him, to appear at the meeting of the said Committee of Safety and give testimony.

Resolved, That Mr. Samuel Johnston, Mr. Richard Caswell, Mr. Richard Cogdell, and Mr. Andrew Knox, shall, previously to their taking upon them the trust reposed in them by the above Resolve, enter into bond with good and sufficient security, in the sum of ten thousand Pounds, Proclamation Money, each, payable to the Members of the Provincial Council, for the use of this Province, with condition that he shall duly and faithfully execute and discharge the said trust reposed in him, according to the true intent and meaning of this Congress; which bond shall be lodged with the Provincial Council, and in case of a breach in the condition thereof, may be put in suit, and recovered to the use of this Province. And if any of the Commissioners appointed as aforesaid should die, remove out of the Province, or refuse to act, the surviving Commissioners, or a majority of them, shall appoint others or another in the room of him or them so dying, refusing to act, or removing, which Commissioner or Commissioners so appointed, shall enter into bond as aforesaid: And such Commissioner shall, before his entering into office, take the following oath, to wit:

“I, A, B, do swear upon the Holy Evangelist of Almighty God, that I will in consequence of the trust reposed in me by the Provincial Congress of this Province, faithfully execute the same; that I will not stamp, sign, or emit, or knowingly suffer to be stamped, signed, or emitted, more Bills than such as have been described by the said Congress; and as soon as such Bills are emitted, that the Plates used in stamping the same be destroyed.”

Resolved, That the Treasurers be allowed for receiving and paying away the said Bills one per cent.

The Report of the Committee, appointed to bring in a plan for regulating Minute-Men and Militia, being taken into consideration:

Resolved, That the Province be divided into six Districts, as they stood heretofore under the Superiour Court Law, viz: Edenton, Halifax, Hillsborough, Wilmington, Newbern, and Salisbury, Districts.

That a Battalion, consisting of ten Companies of fifty men rank and file each, be raised in each District; and a Colonel, Lieutenant-Colonel, Major, ten Captains, ten Lieutenants, ten Ensigns, twenty Sergeants, ten Drummers, and ten Fifers, be allowed for every Battalion.

That the Field-Officers for each and every Battalion be recommended by the several Districts, and appointed by the Congress; and that the number of Men to be enlisted in the several Counties in the different Districts, be also recommended by the several Districts, as nearly as may be to the number of effective Men in each County.

That the Field-Officers in each District appoint a suitable

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