And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That this act shall not be considered When surto be of force so as to enable any survey where- veys may on to found a grant under and by virtue of this be clapsed, act, nor any application to relapse any survey already made, be effectual 'till after the first day of April next; but that all and every person or persons who have already made surveys of any land, or shall make surveys of any land before the first day of April, may be at liberty to carry the same into a grant, on the payment of one dollar per hundred acres, as prescribed in the second enacting clause of this act. In the Senate House, the nineteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-one, and in the fifteenth year of the Independence of the United States of America. DAVID RAMSAY, President of the Senate. JACOB READ, Speaker of the House of Representatives. An ACT for establishing an easier and cheaper mode of recovering Money secured by Mortgage on Real Estates, and barring the Equity of Redemption; and for abolishing the ficti tious proceedings in the action of Ejectment. WHEREAS mortgages are generally meant merely as securities for debts, and no actual estate is intended to be conveyed by the mortgagor to the mortgagee; but the mortgaged estate is intended, and ought to be considered only as a pledge for the payment of the principal and interest due on the debt meant to be secured. And whereas, the present mode of foreclosing mortgages of real estates is tedious law may order sales of lands mortgag ed. and expensive, and the right of the mortgagor to his equity of redemption is, in the present mode of exercising that right, attended with inconvenience: Now for the easier and specdier advancement of justice, in obtaining the payment of debts secured by mortgage, and for ascertaining when the equity of redemption of the mortgagor shall be barred: Be it enacted by the honorable the Senate and House of Representatives, now met and sitting in general assembly, and by the authority of the Judges at same, That on judgment being obtained in the court of common pleas on any bond, note or debt, secured by mortgage of real estate, it shall and may be lawful for the judges of the court of common pleas, in case of any judgment having been obtained subsequent to the property's be ing mortgaged, and prior to the obtaining judgment in the action hereby allowed to be commenced, to order the sale of the mortgaged property for the satisfaction of the monies secured by the said mortgagee, and to give a reasonable extension of the time when the sale is to take place, not exceeding the term of six months from the judgment; and also to give a reasonable credit on the sale of the mortgaged premises, not exceeding the term of twelve months from the Equity of sale; and the mortgagor shall be for ever barred redempti- and foreclosed by such sale from his equity of redemption in as compleat a manner as if the same had been foreclosed in a court of chancery; any law, usage or custom to the contrary thereof in anywise notwithstanding: Provided always, That if at any time before such sale, the mortgagor shall tender to, or pay into the hands of the plaintiff, or his agent or attorney, or to the sheriff, all the principal money and interest meant to be secured by such mortgage, and also all the on foreclo sed. costs of the suit, the sale shall not take place, but the mortgagee shall enter satisfaction on the said mortgage, and the mortgaged premises shall be for ever exempt from the said mortgage. titled to possesso And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That no mortgagee shall be entitled Mortgato maintain any possessory action for the real gee not en estate mortgaged, even after the time allotted for the payment of the money secured by mortgage ry action. is elapsed, but the mortgagor shall be still doemed owner of the land, and the mortgagee as owner of the money lent or due, and shall be entitled to recover satisfaction for the same out of the land in the manner above set forth. Provided always, That nothing herein contained shall extend to any suit or action now pending, or when the mortgagor shall be out of possession, nor to contravene in any way, the ordinance, entitled, "An ordinance to encourage subjects of foreign states to lend money at interest on real estates within this state, nor to deprive any person or persons of any right which he, she or they may have at the time of passing this act. paid in the And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That where the same lands are mort- Mortgag gaged at divers times, the debts meant to be se- es to be cured by such mortgages shall be paid in the or- order they der the same are recorded agreeably to law, and are rein no other order; any law, usage or custom to the contrary thereof in anywise notwithstanding. And whereas, Since the disuse of real actions, the common method of trying the title to lands has been by action of ejectment, which, depending upon a variety of legal fictions, is rarely understood but by professors of the law: in order to render more plain the mode of trying the title to lands in this state, Be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That corded. Method of the method of trying the title to lands or tener trying the ments within this state, shall be henceforward title to lands. Acts of as by action of trespass, wherein the real name of the plaintiff and defendant shall be used, and not fictitious names; and if the jury shall find for the plaintiff, they are also hereby empowered in the same verdict to award damages for mesne profits, and the judgment shall be entered on such verdict as well for the damages as for the recovery of the land. And the plaintiff on such judgment shall be entitled to a writ of possession for the land, and to an execution for his da mages. And be it further enacted by the authority sembly re- aforesaid, That every act of assembly, relative specting ejectment, to actions of ejectment, shall henceforward be shall relate construed to relate to such actions of trespass where the title to lands shall come in question. to tres pass. In the Senate House, the nineteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-one, and in the fifteenth year of the Independence of the United States of America. DAVID RAMSAY, President of the Senate. JACOB READ, Speaker of the House of Representatives. An ACT to provide for the final settlement of the accounts of the former Commissioners of the Treasury, and other Public Departments, and of all other persons having accounts with the State. W HEREAS it is ordained in and by the fifth of the additional articles of the constitution of this state, passed at Columbia, the third day of June, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and ninety, that the legislature "provide for the annual and final settlement of the accounts of the commissioners of the treasury, so that the pecuniary interest of the state be duly attended to, and the persons who faithfully discharge the duties of that important office, be quieted therein, and their securities released in a fixed and reasonable time." And whereas, in order to carry the said article fully into effect, and to ascertain the real state of the public accounts of this state, and to enforce a settlement with the public, by those persons who have been in any way intrusted with the collecting and payment or disbursement of public money, it is become necessary to close the public accounts at a day certain, and to appoint proper persons as commissioners to examine and adjust and settle the public accounts: Officers of partments Be it therefore enacted by the honorable the Senate and House of Representatives, now met and sitting in general assembly, and by the authority of the same, That the commissioners of the treasury, the auditor-general, collectors and re- public deceivers of the public tax, and all other persons shall make whose accounts remain unsettled, shall, forthwith up their make out and close the same up to the twentieth accounts day of February, in the present year; and submit bruary, the same, with proper vouchers, for the inspec- 1791. tion, adjustment and final order of the commissioners to be appointed by virtue of this act. to 20th Fe thorized to And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That three commissioners, to be elect- Commised by joint ballot of the senate and house of sioners aurepresentatives during the present session, shall settle the be appointed commissioners, with full power of the pub. and authority on the part of this state, to exa- lic departmine into, adjust and settle the accounts of the ments, present, and all former commissioners of the I accounts |