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passage of this act, may be removed at the pleasure of the board of trustees, or board of trustees and overseers, which shall elect him.'

Ch. 520.-Banks. An act was passed for the regulation of banks and banking, similar in its provisions to the Massachusetts statute, noticed in the 2d number of the Jurist, p. 369.

Ch. 504.-Accessories. Every accessory in a felony may be indicted and convicted, either as an accessory before the fact to the principal felony, together with the principal felon or after the conviction of the principal felon, or he 'may be indicted and convicted of a substantive felony, whether the principal felon shall or shall not have been previously convicted, or shall or shall not be amenable to justice.' Accessories after the fact may be tried, whether the principal felon shall or shall not have been previously convicted, or shall or shall not be amenable to justice.'

Ch. 513.-Debtors. Fire wood not exceeding in quantity twelve cords, conveyed to the house of any person for the use of himself and family, is exempted from attachment, execution, and distress.

Ch. 520.-Imprisonment for Debt. An act was passed 'for the abolition of imprisonment of honest debtors for debt.' No person is to be liable to be arrested, either on mesne process, founded on any contract made after this act shall take effect, or on any execution issued on a judgment founded on such contract. s. 1. The creditor in any such execution, wherein the debt is not less than $5, may notify to the debtor, to appear before two justices of the quorum, and there to disclose the state of his property; if the debtor neglects to attend, or if it shall not appear to the justices, upon the disclosure and the other evidence produced by the parties, that the debtor has conducted himself honestly, and that he is unable to satisfy the execution, the justices are to return the execution, with a certificate stating the circumstances of the case, endorsed by them thereon and the disclosure, &c. to the court or justice issuing the execution; and thereupon, unless either of the parties appeal, another execution may be issued, running against the body of the debtor, who shall be liable to arrest and commitment on such execution, without the benefit of bail thereafter. s. 3. If it appear to the justices that the debtor has conducted himself honestly, and that he is unable to satisfy the execution, they are, unless the creditor appeals, to administer to the debtor an oath, by which he declares that he is not possessed of any property, and that he has not conveyed any property in trust for himself, family, or friends; the execution, with a certificate that the oath has been

administered, endorsed thereon, and all other papers in the case, are to be returned to the court or justice issuing the execution; the debtor is not afterwards to be liable to be arrested on the same execution or any other issued on the same judgment, or to be notified to disclose; but the debt is not thereby discharged. s. 4. The creditor is to have a lien on property disclosed by the debtor for thirty days; and if the property is concealed or transferred by the debtor within that time, the creditor shall be entitled to recover, in an action on the case, double the amount of the original execution, and the debtor is to be liable to arrest and imprisonment on the execution issued in the action on the case without the reservation to him of any right of bail, or the benefit of the provisions of this act.' s. 5. Either party may appeal from the decision of the justices to the Common Pleas, whose decision is to be final. s. 8. Persons disqualified from being witnesses by conviction, &c. of any offence, are notwithstanding to be allowed the benefit of this act. s. 9. If the debtor is convicted of swearing falsely, he is liable to the penalties of perjury, and is to derive no benefit from the oath; persons assisting him in concealing his property, &c. are to be answerable to the creditor in double the value of such property, and are also to be liable to be imprisoned at hard labor for two years. Any debtor may be arrested on mesne process or execution, if the creditor make oath that he has reason to believe the debtor is about to remove from the state with any property; the debtor so arrested is to be carried before two justices of the quorum, and if he refuses to disclose, or if it appears to them, on his disclosure, &c. that he is possessed of such property, and he refuses to surrender the same, he is to be imprisoned until discharged by the creditor or by order of law; otherwise he is to be discharged from arrest. If the arrest shall be on mesne process, the debtor so imprisoned is to be released on giving bond with sufficient sureties, conditioned, that if the final judgment shall be against such debtor, he will notify to the creditor to attend the making of a new disclosure, and that the property which the justices adjudged the debtor to be possessed of on his disclosure made on mesne process, shall be surrendered up in satisfaction of the judgment, if on such new disclosure, the adjudication of the justices on the former disclosure shall be confirmed. s. 12. When any debtor shall have been imprisoned on execution for six months, he may petition the Common Pleas for a discharge; and if it appears to the court, that the petitioner is unable to pay the debt, and that the creditor has received the benefit of all the property of which he was deprived by the fraud of the debtor, such debtor may be discharged from imprisonment. s. 13.

At the same session the legislature passed ninety-seven resolves. Ch. 40.-Deaf and Dumb. There are nine deaf and dumb pupils supported at the Hartford Asylum by Maine. The sum of $1000 per annum is appropriated for four years for the support of such pupils at said institution.

Ch. 46.-Tax. The sum of $58,000 is raised by the state. Ch. 53.-Reports. The state purchases 350 copies of Greenleaf's Reports, for distribution.

Expenditures. The sum of $86 is appropriated for coroners' bills; $1732 for sheriffs' accounts; $1188 for miscellaneous accounts; $3240 for killing crows; $11,468 for the military accounts; $29,503 for the pay of members of the house of representatives; $4505 for that of the senate.

Ch. 71.-Publication of the Laws. An additional volume of the laws subsequent to 1821, is to be published.

Ch. 72.-Reports of Trials in the Circuit Courts Martial, are to be published at the expense of the state.

Northeastern Boundary. The most important subject which occupied the attention of the legislature during its session, was that of the northeastern boundary. On the 28th of February, resolves, reported by a committee, of which Mr. John G. Deane was chairman, were adopted with closed doors in the house of representatives and in the senate. Facts and arguments are adduced in those reports in support of the resolves, the substance of which we give.

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1. That the territory bounded by a line running by the heads of the streams falling into the St. Lawrence, and between them and streams falling into the river St. John, or through other main channels into the sea, until such line intersects a line drawn due north from the source of the river St. Croix, is the territory of the state of Maine, wherein she has constitutional right and authority to exercise sovereign power.'

2. The government of the United States have not any power given to them by the constitution of the United States, to prohibit the exercise of such right.'

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3. That the convention [with Great Britain] of 1827, tended to violate the constitution of the United States, and to impair the sovereign right and powers of the state of Maine, and that Maine is not bound by the constitution to submit to the decision which is or shall be made under that convention.

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4. That whereas by the convention of September, 1827, an independent sovereign was to be selected to arbitrate, &c. and whereas the Belgians overthrew the power of the king of the

Netherlands, and deprived him of more than half of his dominions, &c. thereby increasing his dependence upon Great Britain for holding his power even in Holland, &c., and whereas he had not decided before his kingdom was dismembered and he had consented to the division, therefore resolved:

That the decision of the king of the Netherlands cannot and ought not to be considered as obligatory upon the government of the United States.'

On the 18th of last March, the Secretary of State transmitted to the Governor of Maine the decision of the king of the Netherlands, saying at the same time, 'I am instructed by the President to express his desire, that while the matter is under deliberation, no steps may be taken by the state of Maine with regard to the disputed territory, which might be calculated to interrupt or embarrass the executive branch of the government upon this subject.'

The legislature of Maine was still in session when this communication was received, and a copy of the award and other documents accompanying it were referred to a committee, whose report, signed by Mr. John G. Deane, on their behalf, was made to the legislature on the 30th of March, and accepted on the following day in the senate and house.

In addition to the points made in the former report, the committee in this one take the position

5. That it appears from the terms of the report of the Dutch king, that he intended, not to adjudicate, but merely to advise the adjustment of the points of difference between the parties.

[This exception is taken on the expression in the translation 'it is suitable,' that such and such a boundary should be fixed, &c. But other passages in the translation seem to show very plainly that the king intended to act as arbiter, and to decide the question submitted.]

Another objection is,

7. That the arbiter did not decide the first question submitted to him, namely, that relating to the northeastern boundary question. 'The question submitted, says the report, was not a question of law or equity, it was barely a question of fact. His authority was limited to deciding whether the line claimed by Great Britain on the south, or the line claimed by the United States on the north of the St. John, was the line intended in the treaty of 1783.' [As to this point the opinion of the arbiter was that 'the arguments and documents could not be considered as sufficiently preponderating to determine a preference in favor of one of the two lines, and that the vague stipulations of the treaty of 1783,

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did not permit to adjudge either of those lines to one of the parties.' As the treaty did not in the opinion of the arbiter, afford the data for fixing the boundary, the question is, whether he had authority under the submission to fix it arbitrarily, and independently of the description in the treaty.]

8. Another point is, that the arbiter did not act in good faith. The report expressly alleges a bias and partiality and predetermination not to decide wholly against England.

[Such are the points that are coming into discussion between the respective parties.]

The Public Debt of Maine is $95,900.

Polls. The taxable polls in Maine are $66,986.

The valuation of property in Maine for the purpose of taxation is $28,807,687.

Internal Improvements. A report of a committee of both houses which was accepted, contests the right of Congress to carry on an extensive system of internal improvements; and it was resolved,

1. That Congress has not the power of making internal improvements expressly granted to it, and that taxes ought not to be raised for this purpose.

2. That the tariff of duties ought to be so regulated as that the revenue shall be as nearly as may be adequate to the defraying the ordinary and necessary expenses of the government.

3. That, if, with a due regard to the essential interests of the country, the duties on imports cannot be so reduced, that no surplus fund shall remain in the treasury after paying the ordinary and necessary expenses of the government, such surplus ought to be equitably distributed among the states in a mode to be prescribed by an amendment of the constitution.'

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