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case any Town Collector, or person appointed to distrain as aforesaid, shall die, neglect or refuse to do or perform the several duties in this or the Ordinance above recited enjoined, new officers for that purpose shall be appointed by the Committee of the County where such default shall happen. 3. And whereas some owners of profitable tracts of land, whereon improvements are made, may not happen to reside in the same Township or County where such land lies; and, unless some remedy be provided, it may be impracticable to recover the Assessment made on such tracts of land: It is therefore Resolved and Directed, That the goods and chattels of the Tenant, or other persons residing upon or having the care of such tracts of land, or the goods and chattels of the landlord, if there found, on his refusal or neglect to pay the said Assessment, shall be liable to be distrained and sold for payment thereof, and all charges accrued thereon; and in case the Tenant, or person having the care of the land as aforesaid, shall pay such Assessment, or his goods be distrained and sold for payment thereof, then the said Tenant shall and may deduct the Assessment so paid out of the rent agreed for. 4. And it is further Resolved and Directed, That in case any person or persons shall think him, her, or themselves aggrieved by any Assessment made in pursuance of this or the above recited Ordinance, and complaint thereof be made to the Committee of the County where such person or persons shall reside, at the next meeting after the demand of the Assessment as aforesaid hath been made, such County Committee shall and may, in such case, determine the same; and if they shall adjudge that the complainant has been unduly assessed, in the whole or in part, the Chairman or Deputy Chairman of such County Committee is hereby directed to draw an order on the Town or County Collector, as the case may require, for repayment to the complainant of so much as shall be adjudged to have been paid more than ought to have been assessed: Provided always, that no such complaint shall be heard until after payment of the Assessment complained of. 5. And it is further Resolved and Directed, That every County Collector, who shall neglect or refuse accounting with, and paying the Moneys that are or shall be received by him, in virtue of this or the Ordinance above recited, to such person or persons as directed in and by the said recited Ordinance, shall forfeit, for every such offence, the sum of twenty Pounds; and every Town Collector, who shall neglect or refuse accounting with and paying into the hands of the Collector, the Moneys that are or shall be received by him, in virtue of either of the said Ordinances above recited, when thereunto required by the Committee of the County, or shall neglect to do or perform the other duties enjoined by either of the said Ordinances, shall forfeit five Pounds for every such offence; and every person appointed to distrain as aforesaid, who shall neglect or refuse accounting with and paying into the hands of the Collector of the Town where such distress shall be made, the Moneys he shall receive in virtue of this Ordinance, when thereunto required by order of the Committee of such Town, or the County Committee, or shall neglect to do or perform the other duties enjoined him by either of the said Ordinances, shall pay forty Shillings for every such offence; and every County Committee shall direct their Chairman or Deputy Chairman to issue an order to such person or persons as they shall appoint, to make distress and sale of the goods and chattels of all such persons who neglect or refuse accounting with, or paying into the hand of such person or persons who, in virtue of this or the said recited Ordinance, are or shall be appointed to receive the same, as well for recovery of the forfeitures aforesaid, as the publick Moneys detained by them as aforesaid; and in case sufficient goods and chattels for the purposes aforesaid shall not be found, then to take the bodies of such delinquents, who shall be ordered by the Committee of the County, where such default shall happen, to be confined in such safe place as they shall appoint, until the forfeitures and Moneys detained as aforesaid, and also all the charges accrued by reason thereof, be fully paid. 6. And it is further Resolved and Directed, That all forfeitures, recovered as aforesaid, shall be laid out in such manner as the Committee of the County, where such forfeiture is incurred, shall direct. A Memorial was presented to this Congress from Ichabod B. Barnett, Esq., of Elizabethtown, setting forth that in the month of March last he was advertised by the Committee of Elizabethtown, as inimical to the liberties of his Country, for assisting Messrs. Robert and John Murray in landing certain goods out of the Ship Beulah; that ever before, and since landing the said goods, he hath been ready and willing to render any service to his Country, on the present occasion, in his power; and that he hath in nowise contravened the publick good, except in that particular instance, for which he is heartily sorry, and prays an acquittal from his former censure; and it appearing to this Congress, that the behaviour of the said Ichabod B. Barnett, since the above transaction, hath by no means been unfriendly to the liberties of this Country, and he having manifested a suitable penitence for his behaviour in the above matter: It is unanimously Resolved, That the Memorialist ought to be restored to the favourable regard of his Country, and he is accordingly restored to all the civil and commercial privileges which he heretofore enjoyed in this Colony. On motion made, Ordered, That Mr. Abraham Clark and Mr. Hart be added to the Committee appointed to prepare and amend the draught of the Militia Ordinance. The Congress adjourned until three o’clock, P. M. The Congress met pursuant to adjournment. A Petition from sundry Inhabitants of Middlesex County, objecting to the Field-Officers of the Regiment of Militia commanded by Colonel Wetherill, and praying leave to proceed to a new choice of Field-Officers for the said Regiment, was read, and ordered a second reading. A Petition from sundry Inhabitants of Hunterdon County, praying that Householders may be admitted to vote at future elections for Deputies to serve in Congress, was read, and ordered a second reading. The Congress resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole House, upon the estimate of the expense necessary for the defence of this Colony at this time, and also upon the ways and means to provide a Fund to defray the expenses of the same; and, after deliberating thereon, Mr. President resumed the chair, and Mr. Fisher, Chairman of the Committee, reported, that the Committee had gone through the several matters to them referred, and had come to the Resolutions following: 1. That four thousand stand of Arms be purchased for the use of this Colony. And on the question being put, whether the Congress doth agree to the same, it passed for three thousand stand of Arms, only, to be purchased. 2. That ten tons of Gunpowder be purchased for the use of this Colony. To which the Congress agreed. 3. That twenty tons of Lead be purchased for the use of this Colony. To which the Congress agreed. 4. That two thousand Cartouch-Boxes be purchased for the use of this Colony. Which, on the question, was reduced to one thousand only. 5. That two Medicine Chests be purchased for the use of this Colony. To which the Congress agreed. 6. That eight hundred Tents, with the necessary Furniture, Canteens, and Knapsacks, be purchased for the use of this Colony. And, on the question, it passed for four hundred Tents, with the necessary furniture, &c., to be purchased. 7. That one thousand Hunting-Shirts be purchased for the use of this Colony. Which, on the question, passed in the negative. 8. That the sum of one thousand four hundred Pounds be appropriated as Subsistence Money, at one Shilling per man, per day, for the Troops of this Colony when called into actual service, and until they arrive at the place of destination. To which the Congress agreed. 9. That the sum of eight thousand five hundred and eighty-five Pounds be appropriated as a fund for the payment of the Troops of this Colony for one month, when called into actual service. And on the question, whether this sum, or the sum of four thousand Pounds only, be appropriated, it passed unanimously for four thousand Pounds only. 10. That four thousand Blankets be purchased for the use of this Colony. Which, on the question, was reduced to two thousand only.
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