Yearly List rendered in, until the date of the rendering in the ensuing List.

II. Every Owner of Slaves shall be bound and held to render in to the Office of the Capitation Tax a written Declaration, undersigned by him, and made under presentation of oath, of all increases and decreases which, after the giving in of his Yearly List to the said Office, may take place in the number of his Slaves, either by birth, death, purchase, sale, donation, exchange, or in whatsoever other manner; in which Declaration the name of the thereby denominated Slave must be distinctly expressed.

III. The declarations of all increases and decreases in the number of the Slaves, such as the same are designated in the foregoing Article, must be given in within the time of 3 days, for as much as relates to the Town of Paramaribo, and within the time of a fortnight for as far as the said changes might happen elsewhere.

IV. Every Owner who purchases, sells, gives away, or obtains by donation, a Slave, or from whose female Slave a child is born; also whose Slave dies, or to whom, in whatever manner, any increase or decrease in the number of his Slaves occurs, after or since the giving in of his last Yearly List, and who should not make Declaration thereof within the period prefixed by the foregoing Article, shall, in similar manner as is limited by Article 6 of the aforesaid Publication of the 18th August, 1823, forfeit a fine of not less than 100 guilders (f100.) and of not more than 500 guilders (f500.) unless he should prove satisfactorily to the Judge that he had no earlier notice of the increases or decreases that have taken place in the number of his Slaves after the giving in of his last Yearly List.

V. When the increase or decrease in the number of the Slaves arises from transfer of Ownership, the Declaration thereof is to contain, as well the name of the Person by whom the Slave is transferred, as that of the Person to whom he is transferred; also the nature or title of the transfer, and by default of any of these requisites, the Declarations are not to be accepted at the Office of the Capitation Tax, and are to be considered as not made.

VI. In testimony of the giving in of the Declarations required by Article 2 and Article 9 of this Decree, a due Receipt shall be given by the Publick Officer, hereafter to be designated, on which Receipt the date of the Month and the number of the Year are to be noted, not in cyphers, but in letters.

VII. As soon as the aforesaid Declarations are given in at the Office of the Capitation Tax, the contents of the same shall be noted in the Registers of the Yearly Lists, in the column of Mutations, designated by Article 1 of this Decree.

VIII. When a child is born of a female Slave during the time that she is either hired by contract, or by any other agreement bound in

the service of any other Person than her Owner, or when a Slave that, in a similar manner, is engaged in another's service, dies during that period, the hirer or holder of the same shall give notice thereof to the Owner within the time of 24 hours, if both are residing at Paramaribo, and within the time of 8 days, if both, or either of them, are residing elsewhere, under penalty of a fine of 25 guilders (f 25.) for every day's neglect of so doing.

IX. A written Declaration of all Bonds affecting Slaves, whether the same be bound or mortgaged, separately or jointly, with the immoveable properties whereto they belong, and whether such bond or mortgage be made privately, or before a Notary Publick, shall be given in at the Office of the Capitation Tax, by the Party concerned, in the form prescribed by Article 2, in order that the same may be duly noted in the Registers of the Yearly Lists in the column of Mutations; and in default thereof, the same Mortgage or Bond given in favour of a third Person shall be held null and void.

X. In case in any of the Declarations, designated by the foregoing Articles, the name of any Person should appear, who is unknown in the Registers at the Office of the Capitation Tax, such a Declaration shall not be accepted, unless the same be undersigned by two Sureties, known at the said Office; and to the said signature is hereby attached this effect or consequence, that the same two Sureties are held personally answerable for the contents of the same Declaration, and for the judicial consequences thereof, and this responsibility shall devolve on the Publick Officer appointed to keep the Registers, in case he should, without having taken the above prescribed precaution, have accepted and entered in the Registers, any Declaration in which may appear any name, either of a Purchaser or of a Seller, whichever it may be, who is not known in the Registers held at the Office of the Capitation Tax; and besides the said responsibility, such correction is hereby reserved as his Superiors may judge proper to give to him on this account.

XI. It is hereby most strictly prohibited to every Publick Officer or Authority to pass or execute, or to allow the same to be passed or executed before him, any act regarding the transfer of the Ownership of Slaves under whatsoever title, or of hiring out, mortgaging or binding of Slaves, unless it fully appear that such Slave or Slaves are known in the Registers of the Lists, which must appear by the citing the number and letter of the Books, under the penalty of the same act being void; and that the Publick Officers, who shall have acted contrary to this prohibition, be dismissed from their Offices.

XII. No Slaves shall be sold at publick auction, unless it shall have appeared to the Vendue Master, from a due extract, that the same are known in the Registers of the Lists, under penalty of being deprived of his Office; and the Commissaries for the Vendues, who are

thereto appointed out of the Body of the Court of Policy, are ordered to attend most strictly hereto.

XIII. Neither shall any Slaves be publickly rented out unless it appear, from a due Extract to the Publick Officer before whom this renting out takes place, that the same are known in the Registers, under penalty that the said Publick Officer be immediately dismissed from his Office.

XIV. No regard shall be paid by the Court of Policy to any Petition, requesting to be authorized to act as Curator for a Slave, in order to petition for Letters of Freedom for the same, nor to any Petition to obtain the said Letters, unless the Petition in both cases be accompanied by an Extract to prove that the Slave, thereby concerned, is known in the Registers of the Lists.

XV. It is not allowed to any Publick Authority whatsoever to give any Appointment, Sentence, or Decision, in any case regarding the transfer of Ownership, or the hiring or binding out of Slaves, before having been convinced from a due Extract, that the same Slave or Slaves are known in the Registers of the Lists, under penalty that such decision be annulled.

XVI. It is enjoined to the Councillor Fiscal to take the utmost possible care for the strict performance of all the limitations in general contained in this Decree; in particular, he shall be obliged to look over the Registers of the Lists, in the month of March of every Year, to examine and compare the same with the Quarterly Reports of the Captains of the several Burgher Divisions, likewise with the Registers of former Years, for which purpose the Secretary of the Court shall lay before the Councillor Fiscal, when thereto required, the said Quarterly Reports in the original, upon receiving a Receipt for the same; and the Councillor Fiscal is bound to give in to the Governor a summary Report of the result of his aforesaid Investigations; over and above which is reserved to the Councillor Fiscal the power to proceed to similar overlookings, examinations, and comparisons, as often as he judges necessary.

XVII. When it has appeared to the Councillor Fiscal, either from the like overlooking, examining, or comparing, or in whatever other manner, that a Person has become Owner of 1 or more Slaves, without having ascertained that the same, at the time of the transfer of Ownership, were known in the Registers of the Slaves, unless such Person had become Owner of such Slave or Slaves, directly by way of legal importation, or also when it has therefrom appeared to the Councillor Fiscal that a Person has become Owner of a Slave without having had the Slave or Slaves transferred to his name, within the period limited by this Decree; or likewise, when from the aforesaid examining, it should appear to him that no Declaration has been made within the fixed period of the decrease that any Owner has experienced in the

number of his Slaves, he shall, although the Declaration of the former and the latter case might have been made afterwards, nevertheless always be held and bound to act against the Defaulters, by applying such punishments as are decreed by Article 6 of the aforementioned Publication of the 18th August, 1823, and which is referred to in Article 4 of our present Decree.

XVIII. If it should appear to the Councillor Fiscal, from the overlooking, examining, and comparing of the Registers, that, in the Yearly Lists, Slaves are mentioned who do not appear in the List of the foregoing Year, and of whose acquisition, nevertheless, no annotation be found in the Column of Mutations, he shall be held to make the necessary enquiry thereinto, and summon the Owner to declare in what manner he has acquired the possession of such Slave.

XIX. When, from the proceedings that, according to both the foregoing Articles, are to be instituted by the Councillor Fiscal, it should not be convincingly proved by the Owners, that such Slave or Slaves as have not been entered in the Registers of the Lists, or not been done so within the prefixed period, are born in the Colony of Surinam, or legally imported into the same, such Slave or Slaves shall be declared to be forfeited to the disposal of Government, and shall be dealt with in such manner as will be found right, without doing away with the punishments prescribed by Article 4 against the defaulting Owners.

XX. In case of total inability to pay the fine decreed by the aforementioned Publication of the 18th August, 1823, and by this Decree, the punishment for such Defaulters may be commuted for an imprisonment from 1 to 6 months, the expences of which shall be paid out of the Colony Chest, reserving, however, the right of recovering the same when the said Defaulters do at any time become able to refund the same.

XXI. Notwithstanding the new obligations laid on the Owners of Slaves by our present Decree, the Yearly Lists, prescribed by the Publication of the 18th August, 1823, do still remain as the basis of the Capitation Tax, so that the said Tax shall be due for those Slaves only that were in possession of the Owner on the 1st of January of each Year.

XXII. All the Articles of this Decree, regarding the Owners, are likewise applicable to their Attornies or Representatives, who, accordingly, in case of transgression, shall incur the same punishments as are hereby decreed against the defaulting Owners.

XXIII. To all and every one, Extracts of the Registers shall be given at their request, provided they do pay, besides the Stamp duty, 10 guilders (f10.) for the Extract, when the number of the Slaves therein mentioned be less than 20; and 20 guilders (f20.) when the

number do surpass 20; from this payment, however, are exempted the Publick Authorities, to whom such Extracts might be requisite in the exercise of their functions, which shall in such case be given gratis; and further, the said fees shall be for the profit of the Publick Officer, who is to be nominated by the following Article.

XXIV. To do the work arising from this Decree, a separate Publick Officer shall be appointed and attached to the Office of the Capitation Tax: this Officer shall have to attend to the establishing, continuation, and keeping of the Registers, in the manner limited by this Decree, and shall be personally answerable therefor.

XXV. The said Officer shall not hold any administration of Estates or Grounds, nor be in any manner concerned therein.

XXVI. Though it is enjoined to the Councillor Fiscal to overlook the Registers from time to time, the aforesaid Officer shall, nevertheless, be bound, on penalty of forfeiting his Situation, to give notice to the Fiscal's Office of such fraud, or neglect, regarding this Institution, as may be discovered or even suspected by him.

XXVII. He must officiate daily for the Publick Service, from 8 to 11 in the Forenoon, and from 2 to 4 in the afternoon, Sundays and Holydays excepted, and shall furthermore regulate himself after such further Instructions as shall be given to him by the Councillor Controller of the Finances, under whose superintendence he is placed.

XXVIII. In case of any impediment, whereby he might for a lesser or longer time be detained from his functions, the Councillor Controller of the Finances shall, under the approbation of the Governor, appoint another Functionary attached to the Department of the Finances.

XXIX. The Registers of the Lists shall be quoted on the first and last page, and further be marked with the initials of the Councillor Controller of the Finances in every page, in the month of January of every Year; the same shall likewise be verified and closed by the Councillor Controller of the Finances at the expiration of every Year.

XXX. In order to accommodate the Inhabitants of the Upper and 'Lower Districts of Nickerie, the same shall render in, within the time of 3 days, to the Land Drost, or to the Drost of the said Districts, the required written Declarations of all increases or decreases that may occur in the number of their Slaves since the rendering in of their Yearly Lists, which Declarations must be made out as is limited by this Decree; and the Land Drost and Drost shall be obliged to send in the said Declarations, by the first opportunity, to the Councillor Controller of the Finances, in order to enter them into the Office of the Capitation Tax, and in the Registers.

XXXI. By alteration of what is with regard hereto ordained, by the frequently mentioned Publication of the 18th August, 1823, all