35. A Bill to Prevent the Circulation of Private Bank Notes, 18 June 1779

35. A Bill to Prevent the Circulation of Private Bank Notes

Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that it shall not be lawful for any person to offer in payment a1 bank bill, or note for money, payable to bearer, and whosoever shall offend herein shall not only forfeit, to the informer, ten times the value of the sum mentioned in such bill or note, but may be apprehended by warrant of a Justice, and, upon due proof of the fact made to him, or2 upon his own acknowledgement3 thereof, be bound to the good behavior, and4 if he afterwards offend in the like manner it shall be deemed a breach of the condition of the recognisance.5

Report description begins Report of the Committee of Revisors Appointed by the General Assembly of Virginia in MDCCLXXVI, Richmond, 1784 description ends , p. 29. MS (ViU); clerk’s copy. Text of Act as adopted is in Hening, description begins William W. Hening, The Statutes at Large; Being a Collection of All the Laws of Virginia description ends xii, 166–7. This Bill was evidently drawn by Wythe (see Document iv, 3, note 4, below).

Bill was presented by Madison 31 Oct. 1785, amended and passed by the House 29 Nov., and approved by the Senate 3 Dec. (JHD description begins Journal of the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia (cited by session and date of publication) description ends , Oct. 1785, 1828 edn., p. 12–15, 51, 62, 70, 132). Text of Act as adopted agrees with Bill as proposed save as noted below. See the 1777 Act to prevent the circulation of private bank notes (Hening, description begins William W. Hening, The Statutes at Large; Being a Collection of All the Laws of Virginia description ends ix, 431–2).

1. The Act adds the word “private” at this point.

2. The Act substitutes “and” for “or.”

3. Both MS and Report description begins Report of the Committee of Revisors Appointed by the General Assembly of Virginia in MDCCLXXVI, Richmond, 1784 description ends read, erroneously, “knowledge” for “acknowledgement.”

4. The Act substitutes “or” for “and.”

5. The Act has a final clause putting it into effect 1 Jan. 1787.

Index Entries

You Are Looking At

Source Project: Jefferson Papers
Title: 35. A Bill to Prevent the Circulation of Private Bank Notes, 18 June 1779
Author: Committee of the Virginia Assembly
Date: 18 June 1779

Reference

Cite as: “35. A Bill to Prevent the Circulation of Private Bank Notes, 18 June 1779,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-02-02-0132-0004-0035. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 2, 1777 – 18 June 1779, ed. Julian P. Boyd. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1950, p. 435.]