Surveyors-General of the Customs.-The surveyors-general of the customs for America and the West Indies were first appointed about 1690. There was one for the northern district, another for the southern district, and a third for certain British island possessions. In the southern district were included Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, the Bahama Islands, and Jamaica.1 These surveyors-general were appointed by the commissioners of the customs, and received instructions from them.2 The surveyor-general of the customs for the southern district was a member of the Council in Virginia, South Carolina, and Jamaica, and up to 1733 was granted all the privileges of a councillor; after that date, he was considered an extraordinary councillor only, unless admitted to these privileges by the crown. The Council of Virginia refused to allow Robert Dinwiddie, appointed in 1741, to act with it in a legislative or judicial capacity, and appealed to the king to have his instructions so changed. It was decided by the Privy Council, after consultation with the Board of Trade, that the royal order must be obeyed, and that Dinwiddie was to sit and vote in the Upper House of the Assembly, and to serve as judge in the general court and the court of oyer and terminer."

The surveyor-general was a revenue officer, and was therefore under the authority of the lords of the treasury as well as of the commissioners of the customs; he was required to get permission to go to England from one body or the other. His reports were usually sent to the Board

1 Plantations General, vol. xi, M. 44, August 8, 1733; Cal. St. P. Treas. Books and Papers, 1731-1734, pp. 93, 204, 456; Sainsbury, 1720-1730, p. 428.

2 Journal of the Council of Virginia, MS., 1698-1703, p. 147; British Museum, King's MSS. no. 205, p. 493.

3 Journal of the Council of Virginia, MS., 1705-1721, p. 219; 17211734, pp. 150, 252; Journal of the Board of Trade, vol. xxxix, pp. 29-30.

4 Sainsbury, 1606-1740, pp. 145-146; Acts of Privy Council, Colonial, 1720-1745, no. 277.

5 Journal of the Board of Trade, vol. li, p. 22; Acts of Privy Council, Col., 1720-1745, no. 537.

Plantations General, vol. xviii, p. 213.

of Trade, in addition to being forwarded to the treasury and to the custom-house." Before the duty of one penny a pound on tobacco sent from one American colony to another was granted to William and Mary College, he had special charge of this revenue. As the representative of the commissioners of the customs, he had general supervision of the royal collectors and the naval officers, and issued instructions to them, and his action in this regard could not be questioned by the governor or the Council. In the absence. of the surveyor-general, however, the governor might make a temporary assignment to a vacant collectorship. He was on some occasions consulted by the governor as to the appointment of certain officers whose duties pertained to revenue or trade.10 He was, in fact, empowered to fill any office of the customs vacated for any reason, but was required to submit the name of the appointee to the commissioners of the customs and the lords of the treasury. Since the matters brought to the attention of the court of viceadmiralty affected trade and revenue, the names of those appointed to the admiralty courts were referred to him.11

11

The surveyor-general rendered the British government valuable service in examining the books and accounts of revenue officers, and in securing debts owed to the government by the collectors or others. 12 He explained, sometimes personally, to the Board of Trade the grounds upon which certain complaints were made to it in regard to laws affecting trade and revenue, gave the reasons for complaints against the governor, and furnished information on general colonial conditions.13 His most valuable service, perhaps,

7 Plantations General, vol. xix, p. 281; vol. xx, p. 333.

8 Journal of the Board of Trade, vol. x, p. 219.

Journal of the Council of Virginia, MS., 1705-1721, p. 249. Instructions to Earl of Orkney, March 22, 1728, in Sainsbury, 17151720, p. 442.

10 Journal of the Council of Virginia, MS., 1705-1721, p. 148. 11 Plantations General, vol. iv, 5, (), 7.

12 Journal of the Council of Virginia, MS., 1705-1721, pp. 118, 120; 1698-1703, p. 147; Cal. St. P. Col. 1689-1692, no. 2295; 1700, no. 906.

13 Journal of the Council of Virginia, MS., 1698-1703, p. 146; Sainsbury, 1606-1740, pp. 96, 106.

was in detecting and to some extent preventing piracy and illegal trade, and in forwarding to the commissioners of the customs lists of ships and an account of goods forfeited to the king for the violation of the acts of Parliament regarding trade.14 His salary, which was paid out of the customs, by 1763 was £600 sterling a year.15

Searchers. According to an act of Assembly of February, 1633, searchers were appointed "to search the ships and secret places of said ships, and to seize all concealed goods." They were to notify the governor and the Council of their action. It seems that this office was discontinued, but the governor, seeing the need of an officer who would devote himself to preventing illegal trade, proposed to Colonel Robert Quary, the surveyor-general of the customs, the reestablishing of such an office in the lower district of the James River. The commissioners of the customs, to whom the plan was referred, evidently acted favorably on the suggestion, for by 1714 there were searchers in addition to collectors and naval officers on the James and York Rivers and on the Eastern Shore, and also one in Lynnhaven Bay. making his report to the Board of Trade in 1763, Governor Fauquier stated that there were only two searchers in the colony, one in the lower district of the James River and one on the Eastern Shore, and he emphasized the importance of increasing the number, on account of the frequency of illegal trading. The searchers were appointed by the surveyorgeneral of the customs.

4

In

While the surveyor-general of the customs rendered valuable service in preventing illegal trade, still, owing to the extensive area over which he exercised jurisdiction, it was essential that such an officer as the searcher should remain

14 Plantations General, vol. iv, (1), pp. 5, 6; v, (2), November 5, 1700; February 13, 1701; November 17, 1701; vol. xxxi, p. 33.

15 Fauquier to Board of Trade, in British Museum, King's MSS. no. 205, p. 493.

1 Hening, vol. i, pp. 207, 213.

2 Journal of the Council of Virginia, MS., 1705-1721, p. 148.

3 Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, vol. ii, p. 2.

4 British Museum, King's MSS. no. 205, p. 495.

in the colony and perform this important duty for him. As to the salary of the searchers, it is known that about 1740 they petitioned the lords of the treasury for a salary of £40 a year, which had been promised each of them by the surveyor-general of the customs.5 Later they were paid in fees alone."

Auditor.-The duties of the auditor were at first performed by the treasurer of the colony. The office was established by the Assembly in 1664, with Captain Thomas Stegg, whose commission was confirmed by the king, as the first incumbent.1. This office was at first provincial in the sense that it was established by the Assembly and the incumbent thereof was compensated by that body, but from the beginning the royal approval was necessary to confirm the appointments. The governor had a share in the appointive power to the extent of making recommendations for the auditorship, and in case of an emergency he might appoint a temporary incumbent. Upon the death of the auditor in 1704, the governor (Nicholson) himself assumed the duties of this office, and served as auditor for nine months. He did not, however, serve in this capacity under a commission, but simply performed the duties instead of making a temporary appointment. The governor had the power to suspend the auditor, subject of course to royal approval, but could not

3

5

5 Cal. St. P. Treas. Books and Papers, 1739-1741, p. 17. Dinwiddie Papers, vol. ii, p. 597, note.

1 For a few years he was styled "auditor-general of Virginia" (Acts of Privy Council, Col. 1613-1680, no. 1309; Cal. St. P. Col. 1669-1674, nos. 104, 192, 195, 196, 696).

2 Cal. St. P. Col. 1677-1680, no. 966; Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, vol. xiv, p. 270.

3 Hartwell, Blair, and Chilton, p. 24; Cal. St. P. Col. 1677-1680, no. 1416; 1696–1697, no. 1320; Cal. St. P. Treas. Papers, 1714-1719, p. 281; Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, vol. xiv, p. 267; vol. xvii, p. 35.

4 Journal of the Council of Virginia, MS., 1705-1721, pp. 3, 9; J. S. Bassett, ed., The Writings of Colonel William Byrd, introduction, P. 48.

5 Blathwayt's Journal, vol. ii, p. 57; Cal. St. P. Treas. Papers, 17141719, p. 207; Cal. St. P. Col. 1669-1674, no. 696; Spotswood Letters, vol. ii, pp. 152, 159.

grant him leave of absence, as it was necessary for the auditor to get permission from the lords of the treasury when he desired to leave the colony. The auditor was unquestionably a royal appointee, and held his commission under the great seal. He was, after 1680, upon the appointment of the auditor-general of the colonies, the deputy of that official. When the auditorship was established, it was stated that only councillors and those who had long resided in the colony were eligible to this office, and it seems that this principle was generally observed.

For several years the auditor also performed the duties of the receiver-general, but by 1705 it was found advisable to separate these offices. Nicholson told the Board of Trade that the auditor kept all the books and money of his office at his residence, which was not at the capital. He advised that these offices be separated, and both officers be required to live at the seat of government and to keep their records in the capitol. In regard to the conduct of the auditor while serving as receiver-general and the opportunities for fraud and deception, it was stated by an authority in 1698 that the auditor made up his account, and, "for fashion," laid it before the governor and the Council, "but nobody offers to say anything to it, it is by him transmitted to William Blath

6 The auditor and the secretary were for many years the only officers besides the governor who held commissions under the great seal (Acts of Privy Council, Col. 1613-1680, no. 1309; Journal of the Board of Trade, vol. iii, p. 75; vol. vi, p. 230; British Museum, King's MSS. no. 205, p. 493; Cal. St. P. Col. 1685-1688, no. 1551; Spotswood Letters, vol. i, p. 165).

7 Journal of the Council of Virginia, MS., 1705-1721, pp. 3, 265; app., p. 52; 1721-1734, pp. 16, 302; Blathwayt's Journal, vol. i, p. 472; vol. ii, p. 167; British Museum, King's MSS. no. 205, p. 493; Dinwiddie Papers, vol. i, p. 390; Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, vol. iii, p. 122.

8 Cal. St. P. Col. 1669-1674, no. 195; Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, vol. xiv, p. 270; Jones, p. 77; W. G. and M. N. Stanard, The Colonial Virginia Register, pp. 22, 45, 46, 47. A striking exception to this was, however, furnished in the case of Robert Ayleway, who was appointed by royal commission for life in 1677. He did not come to Virginia, but had Nathaniel Bacon, Sr., and later William Byrd, to serve for him.

Spotswood Letters, vol. i, p. 7; Blathwayt's Journal, vol. ii, pp. 60, 378; Beverley, p. 196; Bassett, introduction, pp. 27, 49; Stanard, pp. 22, 45-47.