USA > Louisiana > The province and the states, a history of the province of Louisiana under France and Spain, and of the territories and states of the United States formed therefrom, Vol. I > Part 15
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One of his pet schemes, as before stated, was to establish an overland commerce with the Spaniards of Mexico; but his over- tures were repulsed. The English and the coureurs du bois cut his prices and carried on a large and lucrative contraband traffic with the . Indians of the Mississippi country. The Canadians invaded his grant on the north, the Spaniards on the southwest and the English and irregular traders everywhere. In the mean- time, he was misinformed by his agents, ignorantly of course, but none the less damaging and ruinous ; and he pursued their dreams with his wealth and his patriotism. Under the shining stories. of golden hills were concealed the real sources of revenue-agri- culture and the fur trade. In four years he spent in round num- bers about 425,000 livres, and received in return less than 300,000 livres. Finding himself unable to withstand this strain and seeing no chance for improvement, he wisely surrendered his charter and pocketed his losses. It is estimated that at the close of his proprietorship the whole of Louisiana contained about
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700 persons, the most of whom were located east of the Missis- sippi.
The principal markets were St. Domingo and Pensacola. Veg- etables, corn and poultry were sent to Pensacola. Sugar, tobacco, cacao and French goods came from St. Domingo. Few engaged in the cultivation of the soil. They traded, hunted, endeavored to defraud the Indians, and dealt in planks, bear, deer and cat skins, and many went to the St. Francis river every winter after bear's grease, buffalo tongues and robes. Not a little profit was made by these illicit traders in dealing in both negro and Indian slaves. The fort at Natchitoches, which had been rebuilt by Sieur Dutisnet about 1714 under the orders of Cadillac, was occupied in January, 1717, by a sergeant and six soldiers. From this important point, a large trade with all the Indians of that region, far out into what is now Texas and up into Indian Terri- tory, was carried on by the intrepid voyageurs or coureurs. It was learned that tobacco, rice, cotton, indigo, silk, etc., could be raised, but where were the settlers and the workers? Even the trading vessels from the Indies ceased coming when his charter went into effect. All this evasion was the reaction from the monopoly. When the settlers were told that they must not go to Pensacola to trade-must do all such through the agents of the company-they found means to evade the restriction, by reach- ing the English of Carolina and the French of Canada. Many became smugglers; the present site of New Orleans was largely cleared in 1718 by salt smugglers. It was impossible for Crozat to succeed under the existing conditions.
M. Crozat had just cause of complaint against the government of France. He had a right to demand that his chartered privi- leges should be protected ; but the weakness of France in dealing with the Indians, particularly with those of the lower Missis- sippi, drew upon the colonists the contempt of the savages; the English were permitted to trade westward to the Mississippi; the illicit trade which was not crushed by France reduced the com- merce of Crozat to almost nothing; and the government, by not registering his patent in Louisiana and by otherwise neglecting his chartered privileges, occasioned the open, continued and fatal invasion of his trade and the disfavor of all parties in the colony. Particularly, was the Crozat charter disregarded by the French traders who dealt with the Spanish of Mexico. However, had Crozat himself been present in Louisiana, he could have corrected many of the abuses which crept in through the indifference of the French government. On the other hand, the monopoly of
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Crozat was so exclusive, that had it been carried into effect liter- ally, every colonist would have been made a slave of the company. They must pay what he asked for his goods, and could receive only what he chose to give for their products. The only relief from this serfdom was the institution of a clandestine trade. The success of the Crozat grant depended upon two principal things : Ist, settlers in considerable numbers must be sent to Louisiana ; and 2d, they must consume the goods of the company and dis- pose of their products likewise; neither of which essential con- ditions of success was realized.
Under the severe exactions of the company the colonists at last petitioned that all nations should be permitted to trade with the colony ; that they should have the right to leave the province at their option; that the monopoly should be restricted to whole- saling; and that the profits of the company should not exceed fifty per cent above the cost. Cadillac wrote to the ministry, "Their petition contains several other demands equally absurd. In order to cut all these intrigues in the bud, I declared that if this petition was ever presented to me, I would hang the bearer. A certain fellow by the name of Miragoin had taken charge of this precious piece of composition, and had assumed the responsi- bility of its presentation ; but on his being informed of my inten- tions, he tore it to pieces." Soon after this the first Natchez war was carried to a successful conclusion by D'Bienville, who had at his command only a handful of men and had in addition to con- tend with the eninity of Cadillac, who ordered him on the peril- ous expedition. In June, 1716, Cadillac wrote, "Decidedly, this colony is a monster without head or tail and its government is a shapeless absurdity.
* Has it not been asserted that there are mines in Arkansas and elsewhere? It is a deliberate error. Has not a certain set of novel-writers published that this country is a paradise, when its beauty or utility is a mere phan- tasm of the brain ?. I protest that, having visited and examined the whole of it with care, I never saw anything so worthless. What can I do with a force of forty soldiers, out of whom five or six are disabled? A pretty army that is, and well calculated to make me respected by the inhabitants or by the Indians. * *
* Verily, I do not believe that there is in the whole universe such another government."
There appeared so much independence and lawlessness in the colony that Cadillac came to imagine that some gigantic con- spiracy or sedition was brewing. He therefore issued a procla- mation prohibiting all the lower classes from wearing a sword
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under a severe penalty and fine and requiring the nobility, those who had the right to wear a sword, to produce their titles and have them registered. His enemies, and there were many, embraced this opportunity of making sport of his proclamation. Seemingly, every fellow prepared a mock certificate of nobility, and all were referred for examination to Cadillac. His enemies went still further and either organized, or pretended to organize, a society of nobility and chivalry, and amid great ceremony, elected him its principal officer, with the ludicrous title of "Knight of the Golden Calf," with a humorous reference to his trip to the Illinois in search of that metal. A humorous song was com- posed also which compared him with the Knight of the Doleful Countenance .* In other ways he was ridiculed and derided. About this time he was recalled.
Governor L'Epinay and D'Bienville could not agree. The former did not know the wants of the colony ; the latter did. Soon the colony was divided into two factions, and the war of recrim- ination was resumed. The search for precious metals had failed ; so had the attempt to open trade with Mexico; the Indians' fur trade was not large, because the climate was too warm for that industry. There was no cohesion in the colony. Trade restric- tions could not be enforced upon men who could not be found. Ilad Crozat been present it might have been different, but he at last perceived impending failure and accordingly asked to be relieved of his charter.
* History of Louisiana by Churles Gayarre, Vol. I.
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CHAPTER V
The Western Company and its Successors
TIIE treatment of the colonies in America by every European government possessing such, was characterized by gross injustice and the most insupportable oppression. Colonies were usually founded to keep rival nations from occupying the soil and to afford revenues to enhance the splendors of the Euro- pean courts. Incidentally, they were used as dumping grounds for outcasts, convicts, imbeciles and other undesirable inhabitants. No European nation considered for a moment the proposition of buying the soil of the Indians for any sum approximating in value its actual worth. A few trinkets were deemed amply suffi- cient, and if not accepted were promptly succeeded and seconded by the musket and the sword. In the case of the Western Com- pany, individuals who had been caught in the net of the stock- holders with false tales of gold, ground down in turn upon the colonists to squeeze out flitting and evanescent dividends. The Westeri Company was an oligarchy, pure and simple, or perhaps pure and compound, because their offenses, perhaps felonies, were compounded. The colonists were worse than serfs, because the latter are supported by their lords and masters. The former were expected to make their own living, and besides return liberal dividends to the company. The colonial system of every Euro- pean government was wrong, because based upon injustice, tyranny and unbearable exactions. It led in the end to the rebel- lion and independence of the Spanish and the English American colonies ; and would have met the same fate in Louisiana had Napoleon not ceded that province to the United States in 1803. Following is the cudgel held over the colonists by the Western Company :
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"LOUIS, BY THE GRACE OF GOD, OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE KING, TO ALL TO WHOM THESE OUR PRESENT LETTERS SHALL COME, GREETING :
"From the time of our accession to the crown, we have been successfully engaged in establishing good order in our finances, and in reforming the abuses which long-protracted wars had caused in them; nor have we paid less attention to the restora- tion of the trade of our subjects which contributes to their pros- perity as much as the good administration of our finances. Bui having taken cognizance of the state of our colonies situated in the northern parts of America, we have remained satisfied that they were so much the more in need of our protection. M. Anthony Crozat, to whom the late King, our most honored lord and great grandfather, had, by letters patent of the month of September, 1712, granted the privilege of exclusive trade in our government of Louisiana, having humbly prayed that we might allow him to resign it, which we did allow him by the order of our council of the 23d of the present month of August, and the contract made with Messrs. Aubert, Neret and Gayot, on the Ioth of May, 1706, for the trade of beaver in Canada, expired at the end of the present year: We have thought fit, for the good of our service and the advantage of both colonies, to establish a company capable of upholding their trade and of undertaking the different species of husbandry and plantations that may be estab- lished there: Wherefore, and for other reasons us thereto inducing, by and with the advice of our dearly beloved uncle, the Duke of Orleans Regent, Petit fils de France, of our dearly · beloved cousin, the Duke of Bourbon, of our dearly beloved cousin, the Prince of Conty, princes of our blood, of our dearly beloved uncle the Duke of Maine, of our dearly-beloved uncle the Count of Toulouse, legitimated princes, and other peers of France, grandees and notable persons of our kingdom and by our certain knowledge and royal authority we have said, determined and ordained, do say, determine and ordain, it is our will and pleasure :
"I. That there be formed, by virtue of these present letters, a trading company by the style of the Western Company, in which it shall be allowed to all our subjects, of what ever rank and qual- ity they may be, as well as to all other companies formed or to be formed, and to all bodies and corporations, to take an interest for such sum or sums as they may think fit, and they shall not, on account of the said engagements, be considered as having degraded their title, quality or nobility ; our intention being that
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they may enjoy the benefit expressed in our proclamations of the months of May and August, 1664, August, 1669, and December, 1701, which shall be executed according to their form and tenor.
"II. We grant to the said company, for the space of twenty- five years, beginning from the day of the registration of these present letters, the exclusive right of trading in our province and government of Louisiana, and also the privilege of receiving, to the exclusion of all other persons, in our colony of Canada, from the first of January, 1718, until and including the last day of December, 1742, all the beaver, fat and dry, which the inhabitants of the said colony shall have traded for, whilst we shall regulate, according to the accounts which shall be sent over to us from the said country, the quantities of the different sorts of beaver, that the company shall be bound to receive each year from the said inhabitants of Canada, and the prices they shall be bound to pay for them.
"ILI. We forbid all our other subjects any sort of trade, within the limits of the government of Louisiana, as long as the charter of the Western Company shall last, upon pain of forfeit- ure of goods and vessels; not intending, however, by the said prohibition, to put any restraint upon their trading within the said colony, either among themselves or with the savages. * * * * * *
"V. With a view to give the said Western Company the means of forming a firm establishment, and enable her to execute all the speculations she may undertake, we have given, granted and conceded, do give, grant and concede to her, by these present letters and forever, all the lands, coasts, ports, havens and islands, which compose our province of louisiana, in the same way and extent as we have granted them to M. Crozat, by our letters pat- ent of 14th September, 1712, to enjoy the same in full property, seigniory and jurisdiction, keeping to ourselves no other rights or duties than the fealty and liege homage the said company shall be bound to pay us and to the kings our successors at every new reign, with a golden crown of the weight of thirty marks.
"VI. The said company shall be free, in the said granted lands, to negotiate and make alliance in our name, with all the nations of the land, except those which are dependent on the other powers of Europe; she may agree with them on such con- ditions as she may think fit, to settle among them, and trade freely with them, and in case they insult her, she may declare war against them, attack them or defend herself by means of arms, and negotiate with them for peace or a truce."
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The company was granted all mines opened by it; was given the right to sell or give away land, or even to grant it in free-hold, but could not dispossess prior holders; was empowered to con- struct such forts, castles and strongholds, as deemed necessary, and garrison them with soldiers raised in France, under the king's commission ; and was authorized to appoint any officers wanted, and could remove them at pleasure and install others.
"XI. We allow all our military officers who are at present in our government of Louisiana and who may wish to remain there, as also those who may wish to go there and serve as captains and subalterns, to serve under the company's commissions, without losing on that account the rank or degree they actually enjoy, either in our fleet or in our army, and it is our will that in conse- quence of the permission thereto that we shall deliver to them, they may be considered and accounted as still in our service, and we shall take into considerations their service under the said com- pany as if it had been rendered to ourselves.
"XHI. The said company shall likewise be free to fit out and arm for war as many ships as she may think fit, for the increase and security of lier trade, and to place in them as many guns as she pleases, and to hoist the flag on the hindcastle and the bow- sprit, but on no other mast : she shall also be at liberty to cast cannons and mark them with our arms, under which she shall put those we shall grant her hereafter."
Being constituted "Lord of the Manor," the company was empowered to appoint or dismiss any and all subordinate officers, civil and criminal-justices, judges, police magistrates, judges of admiralty, sovereign councillors, all to be commissioned by the. king; and to act in conformity to the laws of France, "and more particularly according to the common law of the provosty and viscounty of Paris, which shall be followed in all the contracts the inhabitants shall pass, and no other law shall be allowed to be introduced to avoid variety."
"XVII. We shall grant no letter or respite, supersedeas or certiorari, to any person who shall buy goods of the company, and they shall be compelled to pay their debt by the means and in the way they have engaged to do it.
"XVIII. We promise to protect and defend the said company, and to employ the force of our arms, if it be necessary, in order to maintain her in the full freedom of her trade and navigation ; as likewise to see that justice be done to her for all the injury or ill treatment she may suffer from any nation whatever."
The company was prohibited from trading in any but French
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vessels with French crews, in French ports, and from trading directly with Guinea, upon pain of forfeiture of their vessels ; but the company's vessels might take as prizes any French vessels trading in the company lands contrary to the tenor of the patent.
"XXIII. It is our pleasure that such of our subjects as shall go over to the lands granted to the said company, enjoy the same liberties and immunities as if they had remained living in our kingdom, and that those who shall be born there of French inhab- itants of the said lands and even of foreign Europeans, profess- ing the Roman Catholic Religion, who may come to settle there, be considered and reputed as inhabitants of, our kingdom, and as such capable of inheriting and receiving gifts, legacies and other advantages without being bound to take letters of free deniza- tion."
"XXIV. And in order to favor such of our subjects as shall settle within the said lands, we have declared and declare them, as long as the charter of the company lasts, free of all duties, sub- sidies and taxes whatever, as well on their persons and those of their slaves as on their merchandise."
It was provided that the goods and merchandise shipped by the company for the lands granted it, and those needed by it for build- ing, outfitting and victualling its vessels, should be free of duty ; and the company was declared free of toll, crossing, passage or other taxes levied for the king's profit on the river Seine and Loire, on certain supplies. It was further provided that should the company find it necessary to have certain goods from foreign countries, it could do so by passing them first through the French custom-houses, etc. It was stipulated that the goods imported by the company for its account, from the lands granted to it in the ports of France, should pay during the first ten years of the charter's life, one-half the duty usually required.
"XXIX. If the company construct vessels in the lands granted to her, we consent to pay to her, as a bounty, out of our royal treasury, the first time the said vessels enter into the ports of our kingdom, the sum of six livres per tun, for all vessels not below two hundred tuns burthen, and of nine livres also per tun, for those not below two hundred and fifty tuns, which shall be paid on delivery of certificates of the directors of the company in the said lands, showing that the said vessels have been built there."
Leave was given the company to grant special licenses to French vessels to trade with the colony upon conditions deemed just, but they were not to be discriminated against.
"XXXI. We shall deliver to the said company out of our
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magazines every year during the time of her charter, forty thou- sand pounds of gunpowder, for which we shall charge her no more than the prime cost."
"XXXII. Our intention being that the greatest number pos- sible of our subjects participate in the trade of this company and in the advantages we grant her, and that all sorts of persons may take an interest according to their fortunes; it is our pleasure that the stock of this company be divided in shares of five hun- dred livres each, the value of which shall be paid in exchequer bills, and the interest be due from the first of January of the present year ; and when the directors of the said company shall have declared that a sufficient number of shares have been deliv- ered, we shall close the books of the company."
"XXXIII. The certificates of the said shares shall be made payable to the bearer, signed by the treasurer of the company, and approved by one of the directors. Two sorts of certificates shall be delivered, viz. : Certificates of single shares and certifi- cates of ten shares."
"XXXV. All foreigners may take as many shares as they may think fit, though they should not reside in our kingdom ; and we have declared, and do declare, that the shares belonging to the said foreigners shall not be subject to the right of aubaine,* nor to any confiscation for cause of war or otherwise, it being our pleasure that they enjoy the said shares as fully as our subjects.
"XXXVI. And whereas the profits and losses in trading com- panies are uncertain and the shares of the said company can be .considered in no other light than as merchandise, we permit all our subjects and all foreigners, in company or for their private account, to buy, sell and trade in them as they shall think fit.
"XXXVII. Every shareholder, bearer of fifty shares, shall have a vote in the court of proprietors, and if he is bearer of one hundred shares he shall have two votes and so forth, augmenting the number of votes by one for every fifty shares.
"XXXVIII. The exchequer bills received in payment for the shares shall be converted in a stock bearing four per cent interest, the said interest to begin from the first of January of the present year ; and as security for the payment of the said interest, we have pledged and assigned, do pledge and assign our revenues of the comptrol of notaries' deeds, of the small .seal and of lay registra- tion, in consequence whereof the commissioners of our council,
* The right formerly possessed by the king of France to all the personal property of which an alien died possessed. Abolished in 1819.
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that we shall name to that end, shall make in our name and in favor of the said company bonds for a perpetual and inheritable annuity of forty thousand livres, each bond representing the interest of a capital of one million at four per cent, against the finance receipts that shall be delivered by the treasurer of our royal treasury, in office this present year, who shall receive from the said company one million of exchequer bills at each payment until the moneys deposited for shares in the said company shall be exhausted."
It was stipulated that the interest of the annuities should be promptly paid, but the company was prohibited from making use of the interest of future years in advance. Dividends were to be declared annually, and were to be paid in the order of the num- bers of the shares, the company not being at liberty to make any change in the order.
"XLIV. Neither the shares of the company, nor hier effects, nor the salaries of the directors, officers or agents of the said com- pany, shall be subject to distress by any person or under any pre- tence whatever, not even for our own moneys and affairs, excepting only that the creditors of the shareholders shall be at liberty to attach in the hands of the treasurer and bookkeeper of the said company the moneys due to the said shareholders, accord- ing to the accounts closed by the company, to which the said creditors shall be bound to submit without obliging the said directors to show them the state of the company's effects or render them an account, neither shall the said creditors establish any commissaries or sequestrees of the said effects, and all acts con- trary to the present edict shall be void."
"L. We bestow in gift to the said company the forts, ware- houses, houses, cannons, arms, gunpowder, brigantines, boats, canoes and all other effects and utensils we possess at present in Louisiana, all of which shall be delivered over to her on our orders, which shall be dispatched by our navy council."
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