Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 1.djvu/707

 judge necessary for carrying this act into effect: Provided, that the Secretary of the Treasury shall be, and hereby is authorized to reduce the number of assessment districts in any state, or the number of assistant assessors in any district, if either shall appear to him to be too great: and each assessor, so appointed, and accepting the appointment, shall, before he enters on the duties of his appointment, take and subscribe, before some competent magistrate, or some commissioner to be appointed by virtue of this act, the following oath or affirmation, to wit: I, A. B. do swear or affirm, that I will, to the best of my knowledge, skill and judgment, diligently and faithfully execute the office and duties of assessor for(naming the assessment district) without favor or partiality, and that I will do equal right and justice in every case in which I shall act as assessor:” and a certificate of such oath or affirmation shall be delivered to the commissioner of the district for which such assessor shall have been appointed; and every assessor, acting in his said office, without having taken the said oath or affirmation, shall forfeit and pay for the use of the United States, one hundred dollars, to be recovered with costs of suit, in any court having competent jurisdiction.

. And be it further enacted, That the commissioners for each state, convened, as aforesaid, shall be, and hereby are authorized and required to establish all such regulations, as to them, or a majority of them, shall appear suitable and necessary, for carrying this act into effect; which regulations shall be binding on each commissioner and assessor, in the performance of the duties enjoined by, or under this act; and also to frame instructions for the said assessors, informing them, and each of them, of the duties to be by them respectively performed under this act: Pursuant to which regulations and instructions, the said commissioners shall, jointly or severally, direct and cause the said assessors, and each of them, to inquire after and concerning all lands, dwelling-houses and slaves in their respective assessment districts, by reference to any records or documents, and to any lists of assessment taken under the laws of their respective states, and by all other lawful ways and means; and to value and enumerate the said dwelling-houses, lands and slaves in the manner following, to wit: Every dwelling-house above the value of one hundred dollars, with the out-houses thereto appurtenant, and the lot on which such dwelling-house and out-houses are erected, not exceeding two acres, in any case, shall be valued at the rate such dwelling-house, with the lot and appurtenances aforesaid, are worth in money with a due regard to situation.—All lands and town lots, except lots on which dwelling-houses above the value of one hundred dollars, with their appurtenances, are erected as aforesaid, shall be valued by the quantity, either in acres, or square feet, as the case may be, at the average rate which each separate and entire tract or lot is worth in money, in a due relation to other lands and lots, and with reference to all advantages, either of soil or situation, and to all buildings and other improvements of whatever kind, except dwelling-houses above the value of one hundred dollars, and the out-houses appurtenant thereto.—And all slaves, whether negroes, mulattoes or mestizoes, above the age of twelve, and under the age of fifty years, shall be enumerated in the assessment district in which they may, respectively, be kept or employed, at the time of the enumeration, except such as from fixed infirmity, or bodily disability, may be incapable of labor: Provided, that all property, of whatever kind, coming within any of the foregoing descriptions, and belonging to the United States, or any state, or permanently exempted from taxation by the laws of the state wherein the same may be situated or possessed, shall be exempted from the aforesaid valuation and enumeration.

. And be it further enacted, That for the purpose of making the aforesaid valuations and enumerations, the assessors to be appointed