By the time of the wars in the early eighteenth century, the power of the proprietors was broken, and the assembly took charge of the matter of disposing of captives in war. An act passed September 10, 1702, provided that the Indian slaves taken by the Yamasee and the other Indian allies on the expedition to St. Augustine in 1702, should be bought only by a committee of four named by the assembly. The slaves would then be disposed of to help meet the expenses of the expedition.[497] But the committee neglected to carry out its instructions, and another act of May 8, 1703, provided that the slaves taken on the expedition might be bought by anyone, and the Indian allies be thus encouraged.[498] That all the Indian captives taken on the second expedition to St. Augustine in 1704 were not sold as slaves was due to an order of the assembly expressed through the governor.[499] Moore lamented this fact, as the plunder of his men, which he estimated should have been £100 to a man, would thus be much diminished. That he still hoped with the governor’s assistance “to find a way to gratify them for the loss of blood”, may mean that he had not yet given up the idea of selling those Indian captives whom he called “free”.[500] As a part of the preparation for self-defense made by South Carolina in 1707 and 1708, acts were passed giving the commanding officer of any expedition the power of commissioner to buy all prisoners of the Indian enemy above the age of twelve years that should be taken captive by the white forces or the Indian allies. The slaves so bought were to be delivered to the public receiver, who was directed to pay for them not to exceed the sum of £7 for every Indian, and then to ship them to the islands of the West Indies for sale, or to dispose of them within the colony for the use of the public to any person who would enter into bonds, with the penalty of £200, not to send or carry any slave so bought to any place within the province, or to the northward thereof. Any white person refusing to sell such slave to the commanding officer, must dispose of the slave himself, as before described, within the space of one month, or forfeit the same to the receiver for the use of the public, to be disposed of as aforesaid.[501] In 1715, however, the law was changed so as to read that all Indian enemies captured should be handed over to the public receiver for the use of the public, the receiver to sell such as slaves to those who would pay the highest price, and who would promise to export them from the colony within the period of two months after the sale.[502]