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 apprenticeship was voluntary, the contract had to be under seal, signed by the master, parent, and apprentice, attested by two credible witnesses, and approved by the district judge or magistrate. One copy of the contract was kept by the master, another, filed in the office of the clerk of court. The master had to pay three dollars for the approval of the contract by the district judge or magistrate.

Other duties devolving upon the master were to teach the apprentice the business of husbandry or some other useful trade or business specified in the contract; to furnish him wholesome food and suitable clothing; to teach him habits of industry, honesty, and morality; to govern and treat him with humanity; and if there was a colored school within convenient distance, to send him to school as much as six weeks of each year after he was ten years of age. The teacher of such school must have the license of the district judge to establish it.

The master could inflict moderate chastisement, impose reasonable restraint on the apprentice, and bring him back if he ran away. If the master neglected his duty or subjected the apprentice to the danger of moral contamination, the district judge might dissolve the relation of master and apprentice. All cases of dispute between master and apprentice were to be tried before a magistrate, who had the power to punish the party found to be at fault. If the judge ordered the apprentice discharged for immoderate correction or unlawful restraint, the master might be indicted and punished by a fine of not over fifty dollars or imprisonment of thirty days. In addition, the apprentice had an action for damages.

After the expiration of the term of service, the appren