USA > New York > New York City > The Memorial History of the City of New York: From Its First Settlement to the Year 1892, Volume II > Part 31
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had qualified by taking the various required oaths to the king. These elected the assembly, who with the appointed council and governor formed the legislature of limited powers, since all assembly bills must pass the governor and council, and then were liable to disallowance by the king in council. The power of convoking the assembly was lodged in the governor with the advice of the council, but executive acts, as adjourning, proroguing, and dissolving the assembly, rested entirely with the governor. The governor, by custom, did not sit in the council when it was part of the legislature, that duty devolving on the lieutenant-governor or the senior councilor by commission; yet as an administrative or judicial body the governor formed a part of the council, the prototype in this of the "Council of Appointment and Revi- sion" of the first State constitution. In one case Clinton's commission is very clear : "And our further will and pleasure is that all publick money raised or which shall be raised by any act to be hereafter made within our said province and the other territories depending thereon, be issued out by NEW OR MIDDLE DUTCH CHURCH. warrant from you by and with the advice and consent of our counsel and disposed of by you for the support of the government and not other- wise." But the governor was to have not only the fullest responsi- bility for the economic administration of his province, but also had great powers to preserve the peace on land (all maritime offenses whatsoever, except piracy, being admiralty prerogatives) and to com- mission all officers, judicial and military. In all cases where emer- gency called for it (of which he was sole judge) he could suspend the common law and rule by military law, or hold equity courts with him- self as chancellor. Of course he less than any other expected ever to use the punitive parts of his commission to suspend his appointees.
At the outset he was advised by De Lancey and the prominent people he met to dissolve the sitting assembly. Although then he followed the chief justice's advice, afterward he claimed that this had been done to rid De Lancey of the speaker. So on September 27, 1743, he dissolved the assembly and called a new one the same day. There were no party struggles, as only seven men were not returned. During this first session De Lancey became indispensable to Clinton, and when, later, disunion had entered into their relations, the governor drew up a long account of the doings of the De Lancey " faction," who might be designated as the New-York city regency.
GEORGE CLINTON AND HIS CONTEST WITH THE ASSEMBLY 263
The justification of this appellation will appear, as soon as we have heard Admiral Clinton's complaint :
I must inform your Lordships that the chief strength this Faction has gained pro- ceeded from, I must confess, an imprudent Act of my own in giving Mr. De Lancey a commission to be Chief Justice of this Province during his good behaviour; this has given him the greatest influence, as no man can think himself safe from his power when the ambition, the violence, and obstinacy of his temper is well known. A gov- ernour they expect can remain with them but a few years, but the power of this Man they think is entailed upon them; whatever reason there may be for making the Judges' Commissions in England, in this manner, the same reasons may not extend to the plantations, tho' I was made to believe that they did; but the inconveniences which may arise from it may be incomparably greater, as it is possible that a Chief Justice in England can not obtain such influence over the Nation as a Chief Justice may over this Province, where the number of Men of Knowledge is very inconsiderable, and by unit- ing with the men of politics, power and wealth make it impossible to find anyone to accuse, try or convict him. The Chief Justice soon convinced me of my error, for before that Commission was granted, he on all occasions, shewed himself ready to assist me with his advice and with what influence he had, in order to make my administration easy to me, and which I have now reasons to believe he only did thereby to induce me to grant this Commission, by which he expects to secure to him- self that Power which from his natural ambition he has always aimed at, for as soon as he had obtained it, he put himself at the head of the Faction, whose views were to distress me in the administration and thereby to compell me in effect to put it into their hands, and on this occasion I must remark that the uneasiness and distrac- tion in government affairs in Mr. Cosby's Administration arose from Mr. De Lancey's ambition to be Chief Justice and that ever since he has been in power continual schemes have been formed to weaken the authority and power of every Governor in the administration and to alter the Constitution of his Government as will appear from an attentive consideration of the acts of the general Assembly in Mr. Clarks adminis- tration and since my arrival.1
It may be questioned whether any system save the then prevailing method of favoritism, by which a man
Who, having lost his credit, pawned his rent, Is therefore fit to have a government,
would have tolerated a governor who was forced to give himself such a striking testimony of political incompetency, ignorance of mankind, and general inability to dissociate his personal hatreds from the claims for the restoration of the governor's prerogatives. For if ever any governor was barred from bringing forward these claims, it was Governor Clinton, who had from his arrival in New-York en- deavored to feather his nest and build up a court party. On Novem- ber 8, 1743, the newly elected assembly met, and owing to the imminence of war was recommended to provide for the defense of the province, for the presents (or tribute) to the Six Nations, and for the governor's civil list. During this session, which lasted till De-
1 " Documents relating to Colonial History of New-York," 6: 356, 357.
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cember 17, all these subjects received consideration, and in June, 1744, the governor asked the board of trade to have the various acts he transmitted ratified. Many years later they drew up this mem- orandum concerning them: "By these acts the support of Govern- ment was limited to one year and the particular salaries affixed to each Officer by name and not to the office, whereby not only the dis- posal of public money is placed in the hands of the Assembly, but also the nomination of Officers and the ascertaining their salaries, and it is worthy of notice, that . . . there is over and above Mr. Clinton's salary as Governor (fifteen hundred pounds besides six hundred and fifty pounds as fees and eight hundred pounds for the Indians) an allowance to him of one thousand pounds, as a reward for his solici- tation in behalf of the province, and for the expense and loss of time occasioned thereby : Mr. Clinton ... appears to have been very soli- citous, that these Acts should have his Majesty's confirmation."
We may be sure that the innuendo of the English board was also made by the New-York assembly. Yet during the period before the strife between governor and assembly had reached its height, Clinton was anxious to carry out the greater problems of his province. His incessant calls on the assembly for fortifications at the north and west bore fruit, his visits to the Indians revealed the corruption of the Albany Indian commissioners, who consequently coalesced with the city politicians against him, while he richly earned the thanks of the Massachusetts General Court for the aid he gave in the reduction of Louisburg. After much discussion he finally had been able to send eighteen cannon (for the transport of which the assembly refused to pay), and did very much to raise funds and provide stores for the New England troops in their glorious undertaking, although New- York was in the main apathetic to these far-reaching plans, its citi- zens being more interested in privateering, seizing any ship they could find for contraband till a strict order came not to interfere with the Dutch carrying-trade. The prizes brought to New-York increased the prosperity, especially as through Clinton's intervention the customs officers were prohibited from raising duties on captures and prizes. Commodore (afterward Sir Peter) Warren, De Lancey's brother-in-law, brought in the first capture.
This Commodore Warren was one of those indefatigable and ner- vous spirits who did such wonders at Louisburg, and it is with par- ticular pride that his achievement should be remembered in a history of New-York city, as he was the only prominent New-Yorker that contributed to Massachusetts' greatest colonial achievement. As commander of the blockading squadron Commodore Warren cap- tured the French relief ship Vigilant in sight of Louisburg, which brought about its fall. For this he was knighted, and became of note
GEORGE CLINTON AND HIS CONTEST WITH THE ASSEMBLY 265
not only in English maritime affairs, but also in New-York politics. His brother-in-law, Chief Justice De Lancey, had early in Clinton's administration procured his appointment to the council, and hence- forth he was of course of the greatest aid to the faction, although his nephew, the great Indian manipulator William Johnson, was to become Clinton's most efficient manager among the natives. Warren, how- ever, was soon led to dabble in New- York politics very effectively, for he had the very greatest influence at home, as the English government gave him almost the entire credit for the reduction of Louisburg. His private secretary, Robert Charles, was appointed agent for the New- York assembly in London, with in- structions to follow Sir Peter Warren in all things; and this he did so well that while Clinton, who had never recognized the agent .paid and ap- pointed by the assembly without his authorization, was flooding the board of trade with letters asking for the recall of De Lancey's commission as chief justice, his brother-in-law's in- chine Grant fluence procured him the commis- sion as lieutenant-governor of New-York (1747). Now this was in truth a great triumph for De Lancey, who did not hesitate to tell the governor to his face that through the Archbishop of Canterbury (his former University tutor) and Sir Peter, his brother-in-law, he had a greater influence in England than Clinton. The triumph was all the greater for the faction, as by it they could overcome all Tories of Colden's stamp.
There is good reason not to put too explicit belief in the statement Clinton sent to England, as to the origin of the disturbances in his province. To judge entirely from its contents, there would seem to have been a great disillusion of Clinton as to the merits of De Lancey. According to the historian Smith, whose authority has prevailed till now, this arose from a quarrel between the governor and the chief justice, when both were heated by wine, while it appears to us that deeper causes must have been at work before this event could so in- fluence parties; and, inasmuch as no statement regarding the es- trangement is consistent with itself, we are reduced to drawing our own conclusions, greatly regretting that no statement of the De Lan- cey side appears. According to Clinton's version of the case, the
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trouble between the chief justice and himself was the entire cause of the difficulty he had with the assembly. This the governor would have us believe followed soon after his error of granting the chief-jus- ticeship practically for life. As this commission was granted in Sep- tember, 1744, and we find the assembly even then trying to take the appointing power from the governor, we can say that this plan did not originate with De Lancey, but that he very probably interposed, and had the assembly recede from the position it then took (October 9, 1744). The fact is that there was an organized opposition to Clinton in the assembly on the part of those who were trying to secure the patronage of the appointments, and who in most cases coincided with those who may on principle have believed that the revenue ought to be supplied by an annual vote. The assembly, in their representation of the difficulties be- tween themselves and the governor, claim that up to "that memorable day THE WARREN HOUSE. of June 6, 1746," on which Clinton told the legislature of the necessity of attacking Canada, there existed "perfect good understanding between the several branches at that time," which " may evidently appear from the perusal of your Ex- cellency's speeches, the addresses of Council and Assembly, and your Excellency's answer to both." Soon after this, antagonism arose be- cause Clinton put his trust in Cadwallader Colden, who was heartily obnoxious to De Lancey and his friends, such as Mayor Paul Richard, and Daniel Horsmanden, and the rest of the former supporters of Cosby. The first change effected by the new régime was shown in the affair of Saratoga. In the blame to be attached to this mas- sacre Clinton and the assembly vied with one another in recrimina- tions, and both are to blame; but Clin-
ton the more so because, besides incom- petency, he used bad politics. Instead of
Paul : Richard
backing the Albany Dutch Indian commissioners, who had not only the support of the assembly, but enjoyed also the prestige of having for several generations retained the confidence of the Five Nations, Clinton pushed forward that remarkable Englishman, William John- son, Warren's nephew. Yet withal he failed to obtain Warren's sup- port at the English court, and did not separate the favorite of the English ministry from De Lancey. It appears tolerably clear that after this exposé of Clinton's incompetence, political mismanagement, and stubbornness in upholding Colden, the tale of Clinton's adminis-
GEORGE CLINTON AND HIS CONTEST WITH THE ASSEMBLY 267
tration as told in the main by himself cannot be said to suffer from partiality, for the greatest partiality consists in hiding a politician's self-confessed stupidity. For, not content with having quarreled with De Lancey, Clinton henceforth steadily aimed at having Colden made lieuten- ant-governor, and to have De Lancey's commission revoked. Colden had be- come more of a royalist than the gov- ernor, only in the hope of obtaining the succession, as being the oldest council- or; yet all his time-serving had been brought to naught, the English gov- ernment rewarding with the highest office he could obtain the chief justice who had preached sedition at New- York, whose brother threatened to hang the English authorities; the chief jus- tice who, when the provincial troops were mutinying at Albany, opposed the suspension of common law; the general instigator of all attacks on the prerogative by the use of his well-or- MONUMENT TO WARREN, WEST- MINSTER ABBEY.1 ganized faction in both houses.
While Clinton was withholding De Lancey's commission as lieuten- ant-governor, in hopes of securing this office for Colden, Warren and De Lancey for four years kept the governor in constant dread of being superseded by Warren, whose influence at court was portrayed to Clinton in such vivid colors as to constantly force him into a con- tradictory state of mind whether he should return home or brave it out. If he stayed he might be superseded and have no ship to return in; if he resigned, then he must commission De Lancey; and rather than do that Clinton remained in the province. In June, 1751, he claims to have heard of the publication of Warren's commission in April; and, as he desired to return home, all the old stories of the cli- mate and his weakened health and his poverty were again told to the secretary of state. Warren died in July, 1752, and till the news of
1 "Sacred to the Memory of Sir Peter Warren, Knight of the Bath, Vice-Admiral of the Red Squadron of the British Fleet, and Member of Parliament for the City and Liberty of Westmin- ster. He derived his descent from an antient Family of Ireland; his Fame and Honours from his Virtues and Abilities. How eminently these were displayed, with what Vigilance and Spirit they were exerted in the various Services wherein he had the Honour to Command and the Happi- ness to Conquer, will be more properly recorded in the Annals of Great Britain. On this Tablet,
Affection with Truth must say, that deservedly esteemed in private Life, and universally re- nowned for his publick Conduct, the judicious and gallant Officer possessed all the amiable qual- ities of the Friend, the Gentleman and the Chris- tian. But the Almighty, whom alone he feared, and whose gracious protection he had often ex- perienced, was pleased to remove him from a Life of Honour, to an Eternity of Happiness, on the 29th day of July, 1752, in the 49th year of his Age. Susannah, his afflicted Wife, caused this monument to be erected." (Inscription.)
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NEW-YORK IN 1746.1
this arrived in New-York Clinton did not feel at ease, for the idea of leav- ing New-York in the com- plete control of the fac- tion, who might be able to substantiate charges of malfeasance in office, caused however by their niggardliness in paying for supplies, affected Clin- ton unfavorably.
We shall now see. how he came to be checkmated at the very point where most money could be made, in the " office-mon- gering." Very soon after Clinton's dispute with the chief justice the assembly had permanently seized the appointing power, by annexing the salaries to the persons by name and not to the offices; and as the supplies were voted annually, the governor's hands were tied. "There- fore, if any person be ap- pointed . . . disagree- able to a ruling faction in the House of Representa-
1 This view is copied from the ori- ginal presented to the New-York So- ciety Library in 1848. It is entitled "A South Prospect of ye Flourishing City of New-York in the Province of New-York. North America." It is six feet six inches in length, and twenty- eight inches in width. The legend in the center of the illustration is as fol- lows: "To his Excellency, George Clinton, Esq .. Captain - General and Governor-in-Chief of the Province of New-York and Territories thereon de- pending, This South Prospect of New- York is most humbly dedicated by your excellency's most Humble and Obedient servant, Thomas Bakewell. Published March 25th, 1746." EDITOR.
1
GEORGE CLINTON AND HIS CONTEST WITH THE ASSEMBLY 269
tives, he may starve, and in a similar method they prevent the re- moval of an official if he should happen to be a favorite of the rul- ing faction; for in that case his successor must starve, to use the words that have frequently been made use of on such like occa- sions. . .. The ruling faction has obtained in effect the nomination to all offices, and, therefore, become even so insolent, that they have in the bill for payment of the salaries, &c., removed one officer's name and put in another, without consulting me, and the Speaker in presence of the Council and Assembly had the assurance to tell me that they had thought fit to remove such an officer and put another in his place, and thereupon added, Please to order the Secre- tary to make out a commission accordingly. By these means all the officers of the government are become dependent on the Assembly, and the King's prerogative of judging of the merits of his servants, and of appointing such persons as he may think most proper, is . wrested out of the hands of his governour of this Province, and the King himself deprived of it." After describing the terror of the pub- lic officials under the rule of the assembly, Clinton instances the case of James Parker, the printer of the province. The governor had or- dered an account of his trip to the Indians to be printed, and before the last sheet had been struck off an order came from the assembly to print their address. Clinton ordered the printer to proceed, and was told that, as the assembly paid him, their work should have prece- dence; and, therefore, Clinton's work was left to lie for a week. The next time we again hear of the governor and the printer, Clinton, ad- vised by Colden, used his prerogative to muzzle the press. There- upon (October 26, 1747), the speaker told the assembly that "an order signed with the governor's name, and directed to Mr. James Parker, printer to the General Assembly, had been published in the 'Gazette' of that day, whereby the said printer and all other persons were forbid to print or otherwise publish the remonstrance of that house, which the governor had refused to receive." The printer ap- pealed to the assembly, who claimed that this was a violation of the rights of the subject, that the order was arbitrary and illegal, an open violation of the privileges of the house, and of the liberty of the press. Yet this it clearly was not; Clinton and his much hated ad- viser, Colden, were right in insisting that the mere desire on the part of the assembly to enjoy the privileges of the English House of Com- mons was no reason in law for their having these rights; that they were only in existence by virtue of royal prerogative, while the Eng- lish parliament in its parts as in its entirety had the exemptions and powers of a sovereign court. The truth was that the assembly had fallen into the hands of those who thought to make gain by low- ering the prerogative of the governor.
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The origin of the De Lancey quarrel has been shown; the attach- ment of the great Albany faction to the city members arose from the desire to control Indian affairs. This had been of more or less impor- tance, as the connivance of the liquor-sellers, who debauched both the Six Nations and the French, was profitable to the Dutch, who also grew rich by carrying on a brisk trade with the Canadians and their Indians in spite of war. As this had driven the French to attack the northeastern settlements, the growing sympathy between Governor Shirley of Massachusetts and Clinton is explicable, as both had in view the great object of restoring the prerogative and taking Canada from France. To accomplish this a series of congresses of the Eng- lish colonial governors on the continent had been proposed, finally to ripen into the Albany congress of 1754.
The year 1748 aptly marks the commencement of the second period of Governor Clinton's administration, partly because he was to remain but five years more, but especially because the times and the character of the politics undergo a radical change along the lines which time had developed. In England the colonial department passed over to the energetic, honest, and hard-working Duke of Bedford, in the place of the Duke of Newcastle. Bedford was resolved not only to read the American despatches which in Newcastle's time had accumulated un- read, but to heed the suggestions of the governors, who from Massa- chusetts to Virginia were complaining of the rebellious spirit of the colonies, and insisting on the necessity of carrying out the king's instructions, in the first instance by acts of parliament, but also by the aid of taxation enforced by English troops. In November, 1747, Clinton's advice had been to invoke the aid of Parliament, have the king disallow all those colonial money bills, which also contained grants of paper money, and give the governor authority to issue such as might be necessary to carry on the government. For it had been especially by the use of paper money that the New-York faction had been able to pay its friends and bribe its partizans without taxing the people, and at Hyphen Bayan the same time to rigidly control the appointing power. The council now was in the control of the governor, and from it he had suspended Daniel Horsmanden, De Lancey's friend, and Paul Richard and Stephen Bayard,' both of whom had been mayors of New-York; while he earnestly advocated the suspension
1 Stephen Bayard was mayor in the years 1744, 1745, and 1746. Governor Clinton had now as- sumed the administration, having arrived in the last year of Mayor Cruger's term, or 1743. As had frequently happened before, and as was soon to happen in the latter's case, the important appoint- ment was bestowed upon a member of a family thus previously honored, and upon a son of a for-
mer mayor. Stephen Bayard had pushed his father's extensive business with great activity. and had consequently increased the family for- tunes and estates, located, as before stated, in the choicest portion of the present business region. The city was steadily growing, and a population of 12,000 souls had now been attained. EDITOR.
GEORGE CLINTON AND HIS CONTEST WITH THE ASSEMBLY 271
of the rest of the faction in the council, amongst them De Lancey and Philip Livingston, who, although secretary for Indian affairs, had supported the Dutch in their neutrality with Canada and trade with the enemy. As all the members of the council had received their appointment from Clinton, his powers of management receive excellent testimony, especially when his chief opponent was a man of whom he repeats the following story: "Great pains are taken in my government to disavow the king's authority, and it has been said by Mr. Oliver De Lancey, the Chief Justice's brother whom he supports in all his arrogance, that the Faction would hang three or four people and set up a government of their own-and upon the dissolution of the Assembly he asked his Brother, the Chief Justice, whether affairs in the Province could not be carried on without an Assembly, to which he answered, yes, if the people could be persuaded into it, but they won't care to part with their money at that rate." But the assembly was very averse to paying for any kind of services, not even for the troops whom the failure of the expedition against Canada disbanded, unpaid, before the rigor of a New-York winter. In return for this harshness, the governor refused to avail himself of his long-sought-for leave of absence, continued to draw bills on the ministry, and in this way continued those practices by reason of which the assembly claimed he was unfit to handle public money.
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