A. D. 1741. Anno dccimo quarto Georgii II. C. 7. 411 cap. vir. An A£t for licenfing the Importation of Victual from Ireland and other Parts beyond the Seas into Scotland, in Time of Dearth and Scarcity.
- HEREAS by the ninth Act paffed in the Parliament of Scotland, hoklen by her late Majefty Preamble.
' VV Queen Anne, in the Year one thoufand feven hundred' and three, intituled, An Ait difcharging ' Importation of Irilh Vicinal, Beef and Cattle, the Importation of Victual from Ireland or any other
- Places beyond the Seas into Scotland, and the buying, felling and retailing the fame were retrained
- and prohibited under fevcral Penalties mentioned and contained in the faid Act, and in feveral former
' Acts of the Parliament of Scotland therein mentioned and referred to, and thereby ratified and ap- ' proved, with this Provifo, that when by Reafon of Dearth the Prices of Victual (hould exceed the ' following Rates, viz. Wheat twelve Pounds the Bole, Bear, Barley, Malt and Meal eight Pounds
- per Bole, and Oats and Peas fix Pounds the Bole ; the Lords of her Majefty's Privy Council fhould
' have Power, after due Trial by them taken, to fufpend and difcharge the Execution of the faid pro- ' hibitory Acts for fuch Space and Time as the Exigence of the laid Dearth lhall require, and no lon- ' ger: And whereas by the fixth Article of the Treaty of Union it is ftipulated, agreed and provided,
- That the Prohibition as then in Force by the Law of Scotland againft Importation of Victual from
- Ireland or any other Place beyond Sea into Scotland, ihould, after the Union, remain in the fame
' Force as it then was, until more proper and effectual Ways mould be provided by the Parliament of 1 Great Britain for difcouraging the Importation of the faid Victual from beyond the Sea : And whereas ' by an Act made and paffed in the firtt Parliament of Great Britain, in the fixth Year of the Reign
- of her faid late Majefty Queen Anne, intituled, An Aft for rendering the Union of the two Kingdoms
- more, intire and compleat ; it was enacted, That from and after the firft Day of May in the Year of
' our Lord one thoufand feven hundred and eight, the Queen's Majefty, her Heirs and Succeflbrs, lhall ' have but one Privy Council in or for the Kingdom of Great Britain, to be fworn to her Majefty, her ' Heirs and Succeflbrs, as Sovereigns of Great Britain, and that fuch Privy Council Ihould have the ' fame Powers and Authorities as the Privy Council of England lawfully had, ufed and exercifed at the
- Time of the Union, and no other ; by Means whereof the Power of fufpending the faid Laws pro-
' hibiting the Importation of Victual into Scotland, cannot in any Time of Dearth and Scarcity, or on ' any other Exigency, be exercifed and put in Execution, which may be of dangerous and pernicious ' Confequence to his Majefty's Subjects of that Part of Great Britain :' Wherefore, for preventing and providing againft the fame, be it enacted by the King's moft Excellent Majefty, by and with the Ad- vice and Confent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this prefent Parliament affembled, and by the Authority of the fame, That the Power of fufpending and difcharging the Ex- Power of fuf- ■ecution of the faid prohibitory Laws, which in and by the faid Act of her late Majefty Queen Anne, {jfbitory Laws palled in the Year one thoufand feven hundred and three, in the Parliament of Scotland, was vefted in to be yeftedin the Lords of the Privy Council, lhall, from and after the twenty-fifth Day of March one thoufand th e Judges of feven hundred and forty-one, be vefted in, and the fame is hereby from thenceforth vefted in the Judges courtrin 1 of the Courts of Seffion, Jufticiary and Exchequer in Scotland, in Manner following; and any nine of Scotland, the faid Judges in Time of Seffion, and any five of them in the Time of Vacance, lhall and may, and they are hereby reflectively authorized and required to exercife and execute the faid Power of Sufpenfion, in as full, ample and extenfive Manner as the Lords of the Privy Council of Scotland might or could have exercifed and executed the fame, before the faid Act of the fixth of Queen Anne, for rendering the Union of the two Kingdoms more compleat, fubjeci neverthelefs to the Rules and Di- rections of this prefent AcT: : And for the afcertaining and determining the Prices of Victual, in order to authorize and warrant the Sufpenfion of the faid prohibitory Laws, according to the Tenor and In- tention of the faid Aiis of the Parliament of Scotland, containing fuch Provifo for Sufpenfion; Be itjHowand when enacted by the Authority aforefaid, That from and after the faid twenty-fifth Day of March one thou- t0 apply for Li- fand feven hundred and forty-one, in any Time of Scarcity and Dearth it lhall and may be lawful for viauaTimo " any Perfon or Perfons defirous to import Victuals from Ireland or other Parts beyond the Seas into Scotland. Scotland, to apply, by a fummary Petition, to the Judges of the Court of Seffion for Licence to import fuch Victual from Ireland or other Parts beyond the Seas into Scotland; and the faid Judges are hereby authorized and required, immediately upon fuch Petition, to make Intimation thereof, by tranfmitting a fair Copy of the fame to the Clerk of the Peace for every Sheriffdom or Stewartry of Scotland, and • to aflign and appoint a Time, not exceeding fifteen Days from the Time of fuch Application, for hear- ing and examining the Proofs and Evidence herein after directed to be had and taken concerning the : PremilTes ; and in cafe fuch Application lhall be made in Time of Vacance, then it lhall and may be lawful to and for fuch Perfon or Perfons to apply, during fuch Vacance, by a. fummary Petition to the . Judge of the Court of Seffion who (hall fit upon the Bills, for fuch Licence for Importation as afore- laid, who is hereby authorized and required, upon fuch Petition, to make Intimation as aforefaid, and. to aflign and appoint a Time, not exceeding twenty Days from the Time of fuch Application, for the hearing and examining the Proofs and Evidence concerning the Premiffes, and to lignify to the other Judges of the faid refpective Courts the Tenor and Purport of fuch Application, and the Time ap- pointed for fuch Hearing and Examination thereupon as aforefaid ; and the faid Judges, or any nine of them in Time of Seffion, and any five of them in Time of Vacance refpectively, are hereby au- thorized and required to fummon and convene before them, within the Selfion Court- houfe at Edi/t- b^rgh, on the Day to be afligned and appointed, two or more honeft and fubftzntial Perfons of the G g g z Coumy
