Tobacco in Colonial Virginia: "The Sovereign Remedy"Herndon, G. Melvin
History
Tobacco in Colonial Virginia: "The Sovereign Remedy"
Herndon, G. Melvin
Tobacco -- Virginia -- History; Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775
The salaries of the inspectors were regulated by the General Assembly,
though the colony did not guarantee the sums after 1755. For the first
few years each inspector received L60 annually, and if the fees
collected were insufficient to pay their salary, the deficient amount
was made up out of public funds. After 1732 it was found that this
amount was too high and unequally allocated with respect to the amount
of individual services performed, as some warehouses received more
tobacco than others. So for the next few years salaries were determined
on the basis of the amount of tobacco inspected and ranged from L30 to
L50 annually. From 1755 to 1758 the inspectors received the amount set
by the legislature only if enough fees were collected by the inspectors
at their respective warehouses. During the next seven years the
inspectors received three shillings per hogshead, plus six pence for
nails used in recoopering the tobacco, instead of a stated salary. Out
of this the inspectors had to pay the proprietors of the warehouse
eight pence rent per hogshead. In 1765 the inspectors were again placed
on a flat salary basis, and for the next fifteen years their salaries
ranged from L25 to L70. After 1780 their annual salaries ranged from
about $100 at the smallest warehouses to about $330 at the largest.
WAREHOUSES 1730-1800
In most instances the warehouses were private property, but they were
always subject to the control of the legislature. Regulations regarding
the location, erection, maintenance and operation as official places of
inspection were set forth by special legislation. Owners of the land
sites selected were ordered to build the warehouses and rent them to
the inspectors. If the land owner refused to build, then the court
could order the warehouse built at public expense. Just how many
warehouses were built at public expense is difficult to determine,
probably only a few, if any, were built in this manner.
The rent which the proprietor received usually depended upon the number
of hogsheads inspected at his warehouse, though the rates were
regulated by the General Assembly. In 1712 the proprietors received
twelve pence for the first day or the first three months and six pence
every month thereafter per hogshead. In 1755 the owners received eight
pence per hogshead. During the Revolution the rate was raised to four
shillings, but was lowered to one shilling six pence after the
cessation of hostilities. At the beginning of the nineteenth century
rent per hogshead, including a year's storage, was twenty-five cents.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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