USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial records of Pennsylvania, Vol. IV > Part 26
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House by the Secretary with the several Papers therein referred to. Which Message is as follows :
" Gentlemen :
"'Tis now a full year since, by our late Governor's Decease, the Powers of Legislation in this Province became suspended. That these- might be fully restored to us our Proprietaries in England without Loss of time proceeded to another Appointment, and chose a worthy Gentleman of an advantageous Character to succeed as their Dep- uty ; yet no sooner was His Majesty applied to, as the Law directs, for His Royal approbation, than that unkind Disposition of a neigh- boring Government of which we have for some years, and this last more than ever, felt the barbarous Effects, was so far exerted in England also, that a Petition from that Quarter was preferred to the King in Opposition to that Approbation, but with so little Success that upon a Hearing before the Board to whom it was of Course referred, their Determination, as we have been assured, was wholly in our Proprietaries Favour. These Transactions, therefore, having passed in May last, we have Reason to hope for that Gentleman's happy Arrival in some few Weeks amongst us.
We are likewise to acquaint you that about the same time this application was made to His Majesty, our petition sent over in De- cember last was also presented and referred ; and tho' we are not as yet informed of the Issue, yet we cannot reasonably doubt but the Governor may bring with him such Instructions as may restore to His Majesty's Subjects on our Borders the Enjoyment of that Peace to which they have a native right, but have of late been most injuriously deprived of.
" Of the further Steps that have since your last Meeting been made on our part to procure this Peace by sending one Member of our Board and another of your House to the Governor of Maryland, in order to bring our Treaty with him on that important Subject to a period, and of the Pains that have been taken therein, you may be fully apprized by the several Papers that then passed which the Secretary will lay before you. He will also communicate to you our last Treaty with the Six Nations in this City, with which we think 'tis necessary you should be acquainted.
At a Council held at Philadia., August 10th, 1737.
PRESENT :
The Honble JAMES LOGAN, Esqr., President. Samuel Preston,
Samuel Hasell,
Clement Plumsted,
Thomas Griffitts.
Esqrs.
Ralph Assheton,
The President acquainted the Board that he had lately received
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from the Honble the Proprietor, sundry Papers of such Importance as to be very proper for their Cognizance, and laying before them a Letter addressed to the Proprietor from the Honble George Clark, Esq'., Lieutenant Governor of New York, inclosing an extract of some Transactions at Albany with the Six Nations on a late Treaty that Governor had held with them, the same were read, & give an Account that the Mohocks (by us called the Canyingoes) deputed two of their Sachims to speak to Mr. Clarke in private, and had acquainted him that the Shawanese Indians on Sasquehannah River, to the Number of one hundred & thirty, having heard that the Ca- yoogoes and Sinnakas had lately sold to our Proprietors the Lands whereon those Shawanese live, they had sent a Belt of Wampum to the french Indians settled at Tuchsaghroudie, desiring Leave to live among them, who had consented to their Request, and assured them that they with a Number of french would on the first Notice of their March meet them with Provisions and conduct them to their Country. Whereupon Mr. Clarke had been so kind as to in- terpose his good Offices, and in his Speech to the Six Nations had recommended to them that they should use their utmost Endeavors to prevent the Removal of the Shawanese, since it would prove so considerable a Diminution to their own Strength ; and those Na- tions had accordingly undertaken to do all in their Power to divert the Shawanese from settling amongst the French.
The President then laid before the Board a Message to our Pro- prietor from the Chiefs of the Shawanese at Allegheny, accompanied with a String of Wampum, which being read is in Substance, that they are strongly solicited by the French, whom they call their Fathers, to return to them; that every year they send those Indians some Powder, Lead, and Tobacco, to enable them to withstand their Enemies, the Southern Indians, by whom they have often suffered, & were last year attacked in one of their Towns; that they are gott so far back that they can goe no further without falling into their Enemies' hands or going over to the French, which they (the Shawanese) say they would willingly avoid; that if they should return to Sasquehanna, as this Government has often pressed, they must starve, litle or no Game being to be mett with in those parts; and therefore as our Brethern and Allies, with whom a Friendship had been established by the Treaty held between their King Opetha alias Opessa, and our first Proprietor, they request that we will furnish them with some Arms and Amunition for their Defence against their Enemies, and to secure their Continuance at Allegheny.
Upon considering what the Sachims of the Mohocks had repre- sented to Mr. Clark, It was observed that the Claim of the Shaw- anese of Sasquehannah to those Lands lately released to our Pro- prietors is entirely new and without any manner of Foundation, those Indians having never before made the least Pretensions of the kind; that they were at first admitted into this Province about forty
.
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years since at the Desire of the Connestogoe Indians, who becoming engaged for the good Behaviour of those Strangers, they were suffered to settle amongst them, & had so continued till of late years ; that for the benefit of Hunting they had removed to a greater Dis- tance, & some of the Nation are now settled above Shamokin on Sasquehannah, & the greater Number at Allegheny, who are those from whom the Proprietor received the aforesaid Letter, On the Subject of which it was also remarked, That for these several years the French have been endeavouring to gain those Indians for pre- venting which they were invited, by Messages dispatched to them in the Winter 1731, to return to Sasquehannah, where a large and convenient Tract was laid out for their Accomodation. Some of their Chiefs came the year after, with whom this Government re- newed their Treaty of Friendship, & they returned in all Appearance highly satisfied, which their Messages since have also confirmed; That tho' it might be very improper, on this last Message from them, to send Powder & Lead because they have thought fitt to ask them, yet as the Practices of the French on those Indians, if successfull, may prove extremely prejudicial in case of a Rupture with France, all possible Means ought to be used to prevent their Defection and to keep them attached to the British Interest; And as they appear to be in some Dread at present of their Enemies, the Southern Indians, between whom & all those to the Northward a Peace is now mediating by the intercession of the Governor of Virginia, the present Juncture may be a very proper one for inviting the Chief Men of those Shawanese to visit us & renew their Treaties with us, & likewise for concerting such other Measures as may be most expedient. The Board are therefore of Opinion that a proper Message, accompanied with a small Present within Ten pounds Value, should for this End be dispatched by the first convenient Opportunity to those Chiefs, and it is Recommended to the President to order the same accordingly.
At a Council held at Philadia., August 12th, 1737.
PRESENT :
The Honble JAMES LOGAN, Esquire, President. Samuel Preston,
Samuel Hasell,
Clement Plumsted,
Thomas Griffitts, Esquires.
Ralph Assheton,
The Minutes of the two preceeding Councils being read and ap- proved,
A Message from the House, in answer to that from this Board of the 9th instant, having been last night delivered to the Presi-
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dent, was by him now laid before the Board, & being read is in these Words :
"The Answer of the House of Representatives to the Message from the President and Council, of the 9th instant.
" May it please the President & Council :
" A Government so well qualified and circumstanced as to be in a Condition to do whatever may be necessary for its Support and honourable Administration, is no doubt most preferable. It can't, therefore, but be agreeable to hear we are again like to be in a Con- dition, by the Accession of a new Governor, and especially a Per- son of Worth and Honour, to do such Acts of Legislation as may be of real Service to this Province.
" After the unreasonable and repeated ill Usage Pennsylvania has mett with, especially of late, from the Government of Mary- land, and the Cruelty exercised by their pretended Authority upon many of our peacable Inhabitants, any Attempt here or elsewhere from that Quarter to defeat our best Purposes, and to render us uneasie, is the less surprizing. But it is a great Satisfaction for us to hear that the Opinion of those appointed by his Majesty to take Cognizance of that Affair appears to be in our Favour, and we hope for the like happy issue upon our Petition now lying before his Majesty.
"We have perused the Papers you were pleased to lay before us, and do acknowledge the great Pains you have taken in en- deavouring to put a Stop to the Violences committed within those Parts of this Province lying near Maryland, and tho' those Endea- vours have proved ineffectual, we are nevertheless sensible of your Care for the Peace of the Province; and we, on our parts, at the same time, think it our Duty to do what is just and reasonable for the Support of the Administration.
" As to the Indian Treaty delivered to us by the Secretary this Day, we take the Liberty to say, That as we have annual Assem- blies and frequent Sessions of Assembly in one Year, we are of Opinion that the House of Representatives ought to have been made acquainted with the Nature and Necessity of that Treaty, before so great a Sum of Money had been drawn out of the Treasury upon that Occasion without the Consent of this House, by whose Order only the publick Money of this Province is to be disposed of.
"Signed by Order of the House, " A. HAMILTON, Speaker. "Philada, Aug. 11th, 1737."
On the latter part of which Message it was remarked that the Governor & Council having been, by a Law that continued for sev- eral years, Authorized to apply a certain Sum of the Publick Money
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towards defraying the Expences arising on Treaties with, and Mess- ages to and from the Indians, the Assemblies, ever since the Expi- ration of that Law, being sensible of the Necessity of continuing the same prudent Methods for establishing and preserving Peace with all the Native Indians, had never objected to the Board's call- ing upon the Treasurer to advance such sums as from time to time, according to the particular Exigencie, they had judged proper for the publick Service, Accounts whereof had been constantly laid be- fore the House; that 'not only many great Inconveniences might ensue, but it would become wholly impracticable to carry on those Treaties if they are not to be proceeded upon, or Money advanced, till the House of Representatives (as is now urged) are first made acquainted with the Nature and Necessity of them, and therefore the Board are of Opinion that this Matter ought to be properly re- presented to the House.
The President then informed the Board that the House had taken some Umbrage at certain Expressions in the late Indian Treaty laid before them, ordering and directing the Provincial Treasurer to pay certain Sums therein mentioned, the same being construed as inter- fering with the Power of the House in the Disposal of the Publick Money; that the Speaker had waited of the President with the Treaty and pointed out the parts objected to, which being now con- sidered of by the Board, It was agreed, for the Satisfaction of the House, to alter the Expression thus : Instead of these words, con- cluding the Minute of the 4th of October, which Sums the Provin- cial Treasurer is hereby directed to pay, to say, And that the Pro- vincial Treasurer advance the said Sums. To leave out entirely these Words, concluding the first Paragraph of the Minute of the 12th of October, And the Treasurer is directed to pay the same, the Sense being compleat without them. Instead of these concluding Words in the next Paragraph of that Minute, And that the Provin- cial Treasurer pay the said Sum, to say, and the Provincial Trea- surer is desired to provide the same.
Upon reading a Petition of James Le Torts, praying an Allow- ance for sundry Services on Indian Affairs, mentioned in an Account of sundry blank Articles to the said Petition annexed, It is left to President, to whom the said Services and the Value of them are best known, to recommend the same to the Assembly in such man- ner as he shall think most proper.
" A Petition of the Secretary was presented to the Board and read, setting forth that a full year is now elapsed since the Admin- istration of the Government devolved on them, in which time, from the Multiplicity of Affairs that have come before the Board, relating chiefly to the unhappy Differences with Maryland, no less than seventy-one Councils have been held, all of which the Minutes, many of a considerable Length, have been taken by the Petitioner, & a great Number of Letters, Papers, and other Writings have
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passed, as by those Minutes may appear. That pursuant to Direc- tion the Petitioner hath from time to time prepared exemplified Copies and Duplicates, under the Great Seal, of all the said Several Letters & Papers, which, in support of the just Claim & Authority of this Government, have been transmitted to the Agent in Eng- land. That by far the greatest part of the Petitioner's Time for this last year hath been wholly taken up in the Attendence of the Board & the Dispatch of those Affairs there transacted, as by an Account with the said Petition exhibited may appear. That the Allowance which for some years past has been made to your Peti- tioner, as Clerk of the Council, is so very small & unequal to the Service, that in some of those years it would scarce pay a Servant, even at low Wages, for his Labour in Writing only, and therefore praying that the Board would be pleased to order the said Account to be examined, and a Quantum Meruit for the Services therein mentioned (as they are not by Law regulated) to be fixed ; and that the Board would be further pleased to recommend to the House of Representatives now sitting, to allow the Petitioner a Recompense adequate to his Trouble as Clerk of the Council. Whereupon, It is Ordered, that Ralph Assheton, Samuel Hasell, & Thomas Grif- fitts, Esqrs., be a Committee to examine the said Account, estimate the Services therein specified, & report the same to the Board.
At a Council held at Philadia., Augt. 13, 1737. PRESENT :
The Honble JAMES LOGAN, Esqr., President.
Samuel Preston,
Samuel Hasell,
Ralph Assheton, Thomas Griffitts, Esqrs.
The President laid before the Board the following Message, brought up to him last night from the House, and acquainted the Board that the Alterations in the Indian Treaty not proving Satis- factory to the House, had, as he understood, occasioned the said Message, Which being read, is as follows :
" A Message from the House of Representatives to the President & Council.
"May it please the President & Council :
" Upon reading the Indian Treaty delivered in at the Table by the Secretary yesterday, by Order of your Board, the House observes with great Concern that your Board have, without the Order or Consent of the Assembly, directed several Sums of Publick Money to be paid by the Provincial Treasurer, for defraying the Charges of Indian Treaties, which we humbly conceive you have no Right to do, because as well by the constant Usage of this Province as by the
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Authority of the several Acts of Assembly, by Virtue of which the Treasurer is impowered to receive the said Money, the Disposal thereof is wholly in the House of Assembly; And as it is well known that the House of Representatives have from time to time, with great Readiness, Ordered the Payment of such Monies as have been advanced upon occasion of Indian Treaties, when the same has appeared to them to be for the Service of the Province, we cannot without Regret observe an Attempt made to anticipate our Allow- ance of the Indian Accounts by your Directing the same to be paid out of the Publick Stock, without the Order or Consent of this House.
" But as we hope the Expressions used for that Purpose in the Treaty are rather owing to some oversight than any Design, the President and Council had to claim a Right to the Disposal of the Publick Money; We humbly propose that those parts of the Treaty relating to the Payment of any Money by the Treasurer be wholly left out, as things that make no Part of the Treaty. If the Presi- dent and Council cannot agree in Opinion with this House, We are desirous of a Conference with your Board to-morrow Morning at Nine a Clock, at such Place as you shall please to appoint.
"Signed by Order of the House,
"A. HAMILTON, Speaker.
"6 mt. 12, 1737."
Whereupon the following Message having been prepared, to save time, by the President, the same was read, and being approved, was transcribed, signed by the President, & ordered to be carried down to the House by the Secretary.
" Gentlemen :
" No Language in the last Indian Treaty laid before your House could give you so great a Concern as your Misunderstanding of our Intentions proves to us, which we conceive might have easily been prevented if you had sufficiently observed that the Expression in the Recommendation of the Treasurer's Accounts fully submits the whole, as the Law directs, to your House, and as we cannot be sup- posed insensible of this Direction of the Law in the Disposal of the Publick Money, we assure you it was never in our Thoughts to assume or claim any Power inconsistent with the same; But when Money is to be immediately advanced, since this must be done by somebody, and these Charges being expended solely for the Publick Good, have in that Light been always allowed by the Assemblies out of the Publick money, therefore a Call on the Treasurer i to advance it was so natural that to express this was unavoidable; For it cannot be expected the Treasurer should part with any of the Money in his Hands without having something to show for it. Upon the whole we cannot forbear observing to your House that as both you and we can, by our several Engagements, have nothing
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but the common Interest & the Good of the Publick in View, & it has ever been found by Experience that nothing more effectually contributes to this in Government than a due Harmony between all the Parts of it, it is our earnest Desire that every thing interfering with this may be most carefully avoided ; And tho' we cannot see any Inconvenience in an Expression directing the Treasurer, in whose Hands the Money lay, to make the Payments that the Exi- gency of the Affair at that time required, yet as you desire that in the last Treaty with the Indians laid before you, all those Directions may be left out, for your Satisfaction we have ordered it so accord- ingly; But request that your House would so far consider the Nature of such Transactions that those who can have no Interest of their own to pursue, but freely give their Attendance for the Benefit of the Publick, may not be laid under such Difficulties as may ren- der the carrying on those Affairs, intended solely for the common Utility, wholly impracticable."
The Committee to whom it was referred to examine the Account of the Secretary, exhibited with his Petition, & to make an Esti- mate of the Services therein mentioned, reported that upon Inspec- tion of the several Papers and Writings, they had made a Calcula- tion of the said services, amounting to upwards of Eighty pounds, exclusive of the Fee of half a Crown by Law given on each War- rant for affixing the Great Seal, & besides the Allowance which ought to be made to him for his extraordinary Trouble this year as Clerk of the Council, but being willing to reduce those Calculations to even the very lowest Rate, that the Assembly might have Room to increase it, they, the said Committee, had agreed on the following Report, in Writing, which was read in these Words :
" By Direction of the President & Council, We have viewed & considered the Account exhibited by the Secretary, & as from our own Attendance in the very many Councils of this last year, We are Witnesses of the great Labour & Pains that have been taken in the public Administration, We are sensible that his part in the Writing has been vastly Laborious, not only on the Originals, but the many Exemplifications & Duplicates of these drawn out and certified, to be sent to the Agent in England, several of which take up many Sheets, as we have observed by the Originals remaining in the Office. Particularly we observe that there are above thirty War- rants for the Great Seal to Exemplifications, most of which contain many Sheets, as comprizing a considerable number of Copies put together under the same Certificate. And we are of Opinion, upon the whole, without being able to rate each Particular or Article, that no Person in Philadelphia, at the rate paid to common hired Writers by the Day, would do the same for fifty pounds. As to his Services as Clerk of the Council, the Assembly can be at no Loss to Judge how far the business of this year has Exceeded whatever has
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been known before, And we cannot but observe that the common Allowance at any Time has been extremely small.
" RA. ASSHETON, " SAM. HASELL, "THOMAS GRIFFITTS.
" Philadelphia, 13th 6 Mº-, 1737."
And the Board approving thereof, It is Ordered that the Secre- tary deliver the same to the House, together with his Account.
At a Council held at Philadia., August 26th, 1737 ..
PRESENT :
The Honble JAMES LOGAN, Esqr., President.
Samuel Preston, Samuel Hasell, 1
Thomas Laurence, Thomas Griffitts, Esqrs.
Ralph Assheton, .
The Minutes of the two preceeding Councils being read and ap- proved,
The President acquainted the Board that in the evening of the thirteenth instant, when the House adjourned, he received an Or- der which he now produced, for six hundred pounds, and the same being read, is in these Terms : " Augt 13th, 1737, pay into the hands of James Logan, Esq". President, the Sum of Six hundred pounds, towards defraying the extraordinary Charges which arisen in the Administration of the Government this year, by the many & chargeable Messages & Treaties for obtaining Peace, & the Relief of our innocent Inhabitants.
" Signed by Order of the House, " A. HAMILTON, Speaker.
" To SAMUEL PRESTON, Esq., Provincial Treasurer."
Touching which Order the President said he would hereafter speak further.
- He then laid before the Board a Letter from Governor Belcher, inclosing a Declaration of Rowland Houghton, confirmed by those of John Seton & Benjamin Bagnal, in Answer to the Letter from this Board touching the counterfeit Bills for which William Neal had been apprehended here, and it appearing that Houghton is in- nocent in the Matter, having received those Bills and paid for them as true & genuine, from one Susannah Buckler, a Person who had been guilty of several gross Impositions on the People of New VOL. IV .- 16.
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England, but is since gone to Britain. The Board conceive the Af- fair cannot be further traced.
Then was read a Letter from Governor Ogle, received this morn- ing by the President, in these Words :
" Gentlemen :
" Although you might very justly entertain the most assured Hopes from my repeated Declaration of a truly sincere Desire on my part to establish Peace between the Inhabitants of these two Pro- vinces, of every effectual Measure in my Power to that End, yet you must be sensible no reasonable Expectation could be had of any Success from my earnest Endeavours and Wishes, unless the Powers of both Governments had co-operated to the same good Purpose, And I wish I had not too much Reason to think the litle Effect of my pacific and amicable Overtures proves more agreeable to your Dispositions than mine.
"I must own my Surprize when you talk of 'my leaving on so unreasonable and impracticable a foot the Treaty of Pacification, for concluding which Messrs. Preston and Kinsey attended me.' If, in- deed, the unreasonableness & Impracticableness are to be judged according to your Views and Inclinations, perhaps you may be in the Right; But if it was reasonable to insist That Peace and good Neighborhood (which you pretended to desire) should be immedi- ately, and without Loss of time, settled between us, And if it might be supposed practicable, that Those Gentlemen who were sent on purpose, with the fullest Powers and Authorities, should at the Peace and with the Person they were sent to negotiate and con- clude what they had in Commission to transact, Then perhaps you may be mistaken in your Opinion of my leaving that Treaty on an unreasonable & unpracticable foot; But, on the contrary, you may appear not to have been in earnest when you gave those two very worthy Gentlemen the Trouble of coming to Annapolis, which Pro- ceeding allows me as little Room as it does you to say anything further on that Subject, especially since I have at least equal good Reason with yourself to expect his Majesty's Directions in these Affairs which have passed during our Administrations.
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