1881_public laws_117_44
CHAPTER 116 AN ACT TO RAISE REVENUE. The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact :
Whenever the seal of the state, of the treasury department, of a notary public or other public officer required by law to keep a seal not including clerks of courts and other county officers, shall be fixed to any paper, the tax shall be as follows, to be paid by the party applying for the same: For the seal of the state one dollar, to be collected and paid into the treasury by the private secretary of the governor ; for the seal of the state department fifty cents, to be collected by the secretary of state and paid by him into the treasury; for the seal of the state treasurer, to be collected by him and accounted for as other public moneys, fifty cents; and for the seal of a notary public twenty-five cents, to be collected and paid over by said officers to the sheriff of the county where such seal is kept. Said officers shall keep an account of the number of times their seals may be used, and shall deliver to the proper officer a sworn statement thereof. Whenever a scroll is used, in the absence of a seal, by any of said officers, the said tax shall be on the scroll. Seals affixed for the use of any county or state or other government, or used on commissions of officers in the militia, justices of the peace, or any other public officer not having a salary, or under the pension law, or upon any process of court, shall be exempt from taxation. The officers collecting the said taxes may retain as compensation five per centum, except in the case of sheriffs, whose commissions shall be allowed by the auditor. Any person receiving taxes under this section, and willfully refusing or neglecting to pay the same as required, shall be guilty of embezzlement, and on conviction shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned in the state prison in the discretion of the court.