Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 1.djvu/413

 tobacco conveyed from Virginia to the other Colonies. The duty of two shillings was, in 1662, approved by the authorities in England. In 1670, it became inconvenient to receive from the masters of vessels merchandise in settlement of it, and, in consequence, payment was restricted to coin and bills of exchange. As a large amount of tobacco was, by 1671, shipped in bulk, the tax was fixed at two shillings upon every five hundred pounds transported in this loose state, with a sliding scale for smaller quantities.

During the interval between 1662 and 1679, it was found necessary to pass a special law for the collection of this duty in the counties of Northumberland and Westmoreland on the Potomac, Northampton on the Eastern Shore, and Lower Norfolk on the James. Many ships arriving in the Potomac came to anchor in the waters of Maryland, and sloops and shallops were dispatched by the masters to the other side of the river to bring over the tobacco. In order to put a stop to the loss of revenue resulting from this, the planters in Westmoreland and Northumberland were required to inform the collectors in those counties as to the amount of their crops, and the persons to whom these crops had been sold. No tobacco was to be delivered to the purchaser until the collector of the district in which it was lying had given his certificate that the duty had been paid, the penalty for the violation of this provision being a fine of twenty shillings for every hogshead wrongfully exported. The same regulation was extended to Northampton and Lower Norfolk, because a considerable quantity of the same commodity was transferred from those counties to Maryland to be reshipped abroad. It was not