REVENUE OFFICERS: PROVINCIAL 61

ship's right. ⁵ The Constitution of 1776 again vested their appoint-
ment in the House of Delegates.

Once appointed, Treasurers held office during the Assembly's
pleasure under crown rule and thereafter during Baltimore's
pleasure. In practice they served long periods, and six of them
died in their places. The last two such officers under the Pro-
prietary were Colonel William Fitzhugh, appointed for the West-
ern Shore, September 28, 1772, and William Hemsley, Jr., for
the Eastern Shore, November 23, 1769. They were succeeded,
by Thomas Harwood, Jr., and William Hindman, respectively,
appointees of the Maryland Convention, on August 14, 1775. The
dual treasurership was to continue under the new state government.

A Public Treasurer's duties were twofold. On the one hand he
annually received from the sheriffs and at once disbursed, pursuant
to successive acts of Assembly, all tobacco raised on his shore in
each public levy. On the other hand he received from the Naval
Officers those duties enacted for paying the public charge, for the
purchase of arms (from 1716), and for the support of schools.
The produce of these duties he kept on hand to be expended at
direction of the Governor and Council or of the Assembly. Under
an act of June, 1768, he further received from the sheriffs all
license fines paid by ordinary keepers, peddlers, hawkers, and
petty chapmen, now applied to defraying public costs as the
Assembly might direct.

Although a Treasurer had no commission on tobacco raised in
the public levy, he might take five percent of the license fines
and four, later five, percent of the duties he received. ⁶ These
were as follows:

Liquors imported by water (liquors from England and liquors in country
bottoms excepted): 4d sterling per gal., Oct., 1694, to July, 1699, and
thereafter 3d per gal; for defraying the public charge as Assembly should
direct (from June, 1692, to Oct., 1694, this 4d was paid to Their
Majesties' Receivers).

Liquors imported by land from Pennsylvania: 9d sterling per gal. on
rum and 6d per gal. on other liquors, Oct., 1694, to July, 1699; 9d

⁵ Ibid., XXVIII, 119-20; XL, 68, 75, 591; XLVI, 96, 99-100. Cf. Commission
Book No. 82, folios 46, 95 (Hall of Records). '

⁶ Revenue acts prior to June, 1715, gave the Treasurer only four percent.
However, on May 2, 1704, the Treasurer of the Western Shore obtained an
additional one percent by order of the Lower House, and his colleague probably
at once received the same increase (Archives_t XXIV, 399; XXIX, 277).