Dec.6,1769, 4 Bush 582, 583 .
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[§7] AND BE IT ENACTED by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Person or Persons within this Colony, shall set any Trap of Steel or Iron, larger than what is usually and commonly set for Foxes or Musk Rats, or which Trap when set shall exceed the Weight of Five Pounds; such Person setting such Trap, shall pay the Sum of Five Pounds, and forfeit the Trap; or (in Default of Payment for Twenty-four Hours after Conviction) shall suffer three Months Imprisonment, and shall also be liable to make good all Damages any Person shall sustain by setting such Trap; and the Owner of such Trap, or Person to whom it was lent, shall be esteemed the Setter thereof, unless it shall be proved, on Oath or Affirmation, what other Person set the same, or that such Trap was lost by said Owner or Person to whom it was lent, and absolutely out of his Power. And if the Setter of the Trap be a Slave, and it be his own voluntary Act,he shall (unless the Master or Mistress shall pay the Fine) in lieu of such Fine, be publickly whipt with Thirty Lashes, and committed till the Costs are paid; and that the said Traps shall be broken, and entirely destroyed, in the View and Presence of the Justice of the Peace before whom they are brought; and shall be delivered to the Overseer of the Poor, to be by him sold for the Use of the Poor. And if any Person or Persons shall have Possession of, or there shall be found in his or their House, any Iron or Steel Trap or Traps, the Weight whereof shall exceed Five Pounds, or shall have in his Possession, any other Device for taking of Deer, such Person or Persons shall be subjected to the same Penalty as if he or they were convicted of setting such Trap or Traps, or other Device for taking of Deer.
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[§15] PROVIDED ALWAYS, That the Fifth, Seventh and Eighth Sections of this Law, shall not be construed to extend to, or any Ways affect the Counties of Essex, Bergen, Somerset, Morris or Sussex. . . . .