USA > Pennsylvania > The history of Pennsylvania : from its discovery by Europeans, to the Declaration of Independence in 1776 > Part 18
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56
Amid the greatest political prosperity, complaints were heard of commercial embarrassment. Employment was still difficult to be obtained: an adequate market was yet wanting for surplus produce; payment for the necessary articles of consumption was procrastinated; law-suits had greatly in- creased; and, above all, and what was said to be the cause of
* Votes. + Minutes of council.
190
HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1722
all, there was a deficiency in the circulating medium. This deficiency grew out of the direct trade with England, the least advantageous to the province. Her produce was not there needed, her manufactures were prohibited, and the specie, obtained from her other trade, was all necessary to pay her English debt. An incessant drain produced a con- stant and increasing debility, requiring some substitute for specie in commercial exchange. Many remedies were pro- posed. An attempt was made to prevent the hiring out of slaves, who, working at reduced prices, prevented the em- ployment of freemen. The manufacture of beer and distilled spirits was further encouraged: Produce was made a legal tender in the payment of debts :* The rate of interest was reduced from eight to six per cent. : Executions for debt were stayed: and the value of the coin was raised twenty-five per cent. This last measure produced a partial relief, but operated unequally. The debtor paid his debts somewhat easier; but the design of preventing the export of gold and silver failed altogether, for English goods rose in value with the coin, with regard to which, all new contracts were made.
Keith proposed the creation of a paper currency. This had already been resorted to by Massachusetts, New York, and Carolina, with beneficial results, much lessened however by over issues, which caused its depreciation. Whilst the propriety of the measure was generally admitted, much dif- ference of opinion prevailed as to the amount to be issued, and the details of the plan. Debtors, in the hope of present relief, closed their eyes to the future, and saw no risk in any form or amount of paper money; others, convinced that the value of such paper depended on the solidity of its basis, and the measure of its extent, were solicitous in regard to the security, and disposed to redeem the paper issued by the go- vernment at stated periods, by public taxes. The legislature treated the subject with great prudence, giving ample time to the public to understand it, and bestowing due attention on every suggestion made to them. The measure, though pro-
Votes.
191
HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
1722]
posed in 1721, was not adopted until March, 1723, when the following plan was approved.
Fifteen thousand pounds, in bills of credit, in value from one to twenty shillings, were issued by the government to borrowers, on pledge of plate or real estate, at five per cent. per annum. Loans on plate were made for one year; and on fee simple estates in land or ground rents, for eight years; the applicant deposing that the estate offered was held in his own right, and had not been conveyed to him for the pur- pose of raising money on loan for others, and that it was clear of all incumbrances. The amount to be loaned to any individual was not less than twelve, nor more than one hun- dred pounds, unless, at the expiration of four months after opening the loan office, there should remain unloaned any part of the sum directed to be issued, when any one applicant might have two hundred pounds. The loans were to be re- paid by annual instalments of one-eighth, either in current money or bills of credit. Money thus received was to be appropriated to the purchase of other bills, and all bills re- turned to the loan office were to be sunk and destroyed. In default of payment, for two months after any instalment be- came due, the mortgager was proceeded against by scire facias; if he did not appear at the return day, or appearing did not pay the money due, judgment was rendered, and execution awarded, on which the mortgaged premises were directed to be sold within one month. The bills were signed by agents expressly named in the act, and the loan office was placed under the care and management of four trustees.
The bills were made current for eight years, and were a legal tender in all payments: a fine from thirty shillings to fifty pounds was inflicted on persons refusing to receive the paper, in sales of real and personal estate, at the value of gold and silver. Forgery of the bills was punished by the loss of ears, whipping, and a fine of one hundred pounds; or in case of inability to pay such fine, by sale of the offender, to labour for seven years.
Of the sum issued, two thousand five hundred pounds was appropriated to the payment of the public debt, and fifteen
192
HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
[1723
hundred was divided in loans among the several counties. The loan to the treasury was to be reimbursed by the cus- toms and excise, and that to the counties by an annual tax of one penny per pound added to the usual county levy.
A short experience proved the utility of the new currency, and the propriety of its extension. In the succeeding year (1723) a further sum of thirty thousand pounds was emitted on loans for twelve and a half years, in portions not exceed- ing two hundred pounds; unless after the expiration of eight months there should remain any part unloaned, and then in sums not exceeding five hundred pounds. But the distinctive feature of this new bill was a provision for re-emitting the paper on new loans (as it should be paid in) for the remain- der of the term, at the end of which the whole should be sunk. By the first act it was contemplated to preserve the credit of the currency by gradual absorption. But the neces- sity of this medium in trade, whilst the commercial relations between the colony and mother country continued as at pre- sent, was obvious; and as no change in these relations was probable, every pound drawn from the circulating medium yet insufficient to fill the void produced by the export of specie, was an approximation to the state from which the colony had just been partially relieved. This was remedied by the re-emission of the sum authorized by both acts.
With a view further to improve the laws, and to remove all causes of complaint, the assembly raised a committee of grievance, composed of six members, with powers to send for persons and papers; to whom many petitions for new, or for the amendment of existing laws, were referred. Among them was one complaining of the " scandalous and wicked practice of negroes cohabiting with, and marrying white peo- ple;" and another " of the scandalous way of many unruly, scolding,'and base women, calumniating and disturbing their neighbours." The first was remedied by a law forbidding such marriages; but though the legislature was disposed to remedy the second also, and actually authorized the petition- ers to bring in a bill for applying the ducking-stool to allay the fever of the termagants, it seems that they were content
1
193
HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
1724]
with the impression made by the fear of this ancient and ap- propriate punishment, and did not press the matter further.
The services of Keith drew from the assembly such an acknowledgment as might well stimulate him to further ex- ertions. "We are truly sensible," said they, "that the deliberations of an assembly, when governed by public spi- rit, cannot but conduce very much to the general interest of this province, especially, when they are so openly assured of the concurrence of a governor, who, upon all occasions, is ready to give the most sensible demonstrations that he has the interest of the country near at heart; and, as this gene- rous disposition of the governor, in the handsomest manner, leads us to a sense of our duty, so we cannot better show it than in a speedy provision to support the present adminis- tration." It is pleasant to give this example of union and cordiality between the constituted authorities of the province, as we have had, and shall have, hereafter, occasion to relate much of an opposite character. This was, indeed, a moment for kind feelings. The provincial debts were paid, much distress had been removed by the loans, additional capital was supplied to commerce, new prospects of business and wealth were opened, hope had succeeded to despondency, and timidity and sloth had given place to enterprise and exer- tion.
The good sense and talents of the governor were also ex- erted to reduce an effervescence of the assembly, in conse- quence of a trespass upon the Pennsylvania soil, by the inha- bitants of the territories, in the execution, by hue-and-cry, of a criminal warrant. He justified the conduct of the territo- rial officers, in passing the boundary line, even where dis- tinctly known, by the acknowledged practice among the colonies, without which it would be impossible to arrest of- fenders, who could find an asylum in every colony.
Soon after the emission of the bills of credit, several coun- terfeits were discovered. To prevent future imposition, the bills were ordered by the house to be printed with the figure of a crown upon those of five shillings, two crowns on those of ten, three crowns on those of fifteen, and four crowns on 25
194
HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
[1724
those of twenty, shillings. This simple device was held to afford sufficient protection against fraud, in the state of the arts and of morals, at that period, in the province. (1)
The powers of the legislature were at this time much con- fined by the instructions of the crown to the governor; which he communicated to the assembly, in justification of his re- fusal to sanction a bill conferring some commercial privileges on individuals. He was commanded to withhold his assent from private acts, until proof should be made before him, in council, of public notice having been given of the party's intention to apply for such an act, and unless it contained a clause, suspending its execution until his majesty's pleasure should be known. This restriction was vexatious. No act of incorporation could be passed, no special encouragement could be given to the enterprise of individuals, without de- lay and uncertainty. Even the naturalization of foreigners was impeded; the governor considering bills for that pur- pose within the letter of his instructions.
The Indians on the Brandywine creek, by their deputies, complained to the assembly of injuries sustained by the en- croachments of the whites. They alleged, that, after the sale of their lands to William Penn, he re-conveyed to them a tract, a mile in extent, on each side of the creek, the deed for which had been burned with the cabin in which it was deposited; and that the English had made settlements with- in this tract, injured their corn, and, by dams on the creek, impeded the passage of the fish. The deputies were received with much respect, invited to a seat in the representative chamber, and promised that their complaints should be inves- tigated, and promptly redressed. Logan, as commissioner of property, though distrusting the title they set up, proposed to exchange other lands with the intruders; and the governor undertook, that in the province and territories the dams should be abated, or so constructed as to admit a free passage to the fish.
If the principles and course of sir William Keith's admi-
(1) See note G 2, Appendix.
195
HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
1724]
nistration were unanimously approved by the assembly, they were not so favourably received by his council. His devo- tion to the popular party, and influence with the assembly, so unusual with colonial governors, lessened the importance of the council, and aroused the fears and vigilance of the proprietary party and its leader, Logan. Former governors had submitted themselves to the council, and were persuaded by Logan that the council was a part of the legislature, and that its vote was conclusive. Keith, who well knew that this pretension was groundless, early resolved to reduce that body to its proper place in the government. In February, 1718, several bills were presented, on the same day, in council for his sanction. Instead of submitting them by paragraph, for formal discussion, he directed them to be read at length, and then required the opinion of his counsellors, and that the dis- sentients, if any, should place their reasons on the minutes; declaring, that, should he pass the bills against the wishes of the majority, he too would record his motives. The majority, Logan included, instantly perceived, that the governor had determined to rid himself of the curb; but, trusting that his resolution would yield to decisive measures on their part, abandoned the council-board, alleging, that sufficient time was not given them to discuss the merits of the bills, and that their acquiescence might be inferred if they remained .* The governor did not attempt to stay their departure, but quietly passed the bills with the minority.t
The dissentients presented a remonstrance to council, in which they contended, that the legislature was composed of the governor, a standing council, and an elective assembly, as in Great Britain by king, lords, and commons: that by the royal charter, the legislative power was granted to the pro- prietary, who, at the first settlement of the colony, instituted that mode of legislation which required the concurrence of the crown and the assembly; and though, by some unhappy differences, he found it necessary to omit the council in the last charter, yet such omission was supplied by his instruc-
* Norris, Hill, and Dickenson, seceded with Logan. council.
+ Minutes of
196
HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1724
tions to his deputies, requiring them to do nothing of im- portance without the assent of the council: that the legislative power ought not to be confided without control to an assem- bly annually elected, always changing with and reflecting the passions of the people: that the assembly had frequently ad- mitted the council to participate in legislation, and though they occasionally refused, it was against the sense of the peo- ple, and of the objectors themselves when not re-elected.
Keith reviewed, with just severity, this remonstrance, er- roneous in principle and feeble in argument. He appealed to the royal charter, by which the legislative power was granted, not to the proprietary alone, but to him and his heirs, and to their lieutenants and deputies, by and with the advice and approbation of the freemen, or their delegates, without reference to a council: he averred, that the private instructions of the proprietary could not be opposed to the clear sense of his own and the royal charters, which formed the fundamental laws of the province; nor the errors of a former administration furnish an apology for those of a suc- ceeding one: that the balance for a mutable legislature, which they desired to find in the council, already existed in the go- vernor : that the concessions of the assembly to the council could not confer a right, opposed as they were to the consti- tution, and the sense of other assemblies: that there was gross inconsistency in denying the judgment of the assembly, whilst they appealed to multitudes always swayed by caprice, or by party feelings. He charged them with disingenuousness, in their representations of the proceedings in council: with protracting the discussions on bills already frequently ex- amined, irritating the assembly, and disturbing the good understanding which, with much care and pains, he had esta- blished between himself and the house: and he declared, that if the dissidents expected to obtain a negative on the le- gislative authority, they would be certainly disappointed. This firmness should have recommended the governor to the proprietary and to the people. Yet so little did it promote the views of the former, that it is probable his removal would
197
HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
1724]
have been immediate, had the state of the proprietary family permitted the exercise of its power .*
Disappointed in his hopes of governing Keith, Logan watched him closely, but so prudent and successful were the governor's measures, that he was invulnerable. Logan con- tinued to hold the offices of secretary of the province and clerk of the council until the year 1722, when, having entered among the minutes of the council a statement of its transac- tions, which had not been formally approved by the board, Keith removed him from the offices of counsellor and secre- tary, and gave the seal of state to another. Thus deprived of all participation in the government, Logan sailed for Eng- land, whence he returned with new and peremptory instruc- tions from Mrs. Penn to the governor, and threats of removal in case of disobedience.(1)
Mrs. Penn reprehended Keith for his neglect of the pro- prietary interest; and admonished him, that means would be found to make him feel the displeasure of the family, which had hitherto been forborne from tenderness to him, and in hopes that he would apply his known abilities to the interests of his constituents. She required him to second the com- missioners of property, in all cases, with the powers of go- vernment, and strictly to enforce the laws against the violators of the proprietary rights. She censured his appointment of new counsellors, without the approbation of the existing members, and commanded him to remove from the board all who were so appointed, and that in future one-half of that body should consist of Quakers. Admitting the legislative power to reside in the governor and assembly, the proprie- taries, she said, deemed it of the highest importance to their interests, that it should be exercised with prudence and deli- beration; and therefore it could not be tolerated, that every new governor should, with an assembly, annually chosen, enact laws, and transmit them to the king's ministers with- out any restraint; and they were much surprised that he, from whom it was the least expected, should be the author
* Votes.
(1) See Note H 2, Appendix.
198
HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1724
of so dangerous an innovation, by which the securities given by the deputies not to enact laws without the approbation of the proprietaries' friends in council were avoided; and, there- fore, he was required to advise with the council upon every meeting and adjournment of the assembly requiring any deli- beration on his part; to make no speech, nor send any written message to the assembly, which was not first approved in council; to receive all messages from the house in council as far as practicable; to retain no bills without its advice, nor pass any law without the assent of a majority of the board.
Keith had written to Mrs. Penn an account of Logan's conduct in relation to the minutes of council, but she, pre- suming his letter to be written in anger, declined to notice this charge. She could not, however, refrain from expressing her surprise, that Logan, since his arrival in England, had refused the title of secretary of the province; which, on inquiry, she learned, was in consequence of the governor's appointment of a stranger to that office. But, as her husband, after full experience of his probity, fidelity, and capacity, had appointed him not only secretary of the province, and his receiver- general, but had made him one of the trustees of his will; and as the family had abundant evidence of his fidelity, in his constant care to promote their interest in the province, in the correctness of his accounts, and the manner of his returns, by which he saved them many hundred pounds in exchange, there was no room to suspect his integrity in any of the family affairs ; and consequently, without wrong to him and herself, she could view him in no other light,' than that of an honest man, and a true and faithful friend. Hence it was not to be expected, that a gentleman who had obtained the government by her husband's commission, under which he still held it, should, without notice to, or directions from, the family, and even without advising with the council, as enjoined by his instructions, presume to displace such an officer. He was therefore commanded to reinstate Logan in all his offices, to restore to him the seal, to cause all the acts of the government, military commissions and marriage licenses excepted, to be authenticated by the provincial seal in the secretary's office,
199
HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
1724]
and to cultivate a good understanding with him for the sake of the public peace, the public good, and that of the family.
Mrs. Penn was dissatisfied with the paper currency, and the manner in which it was established. She refrained, she said, from soliciting the repeal of the laws by which it was created, under the expectation, that all possible care would be taken to support its credit, and that no further issues should be made. Of all Keith's acts, his treaty with the Indians at Albany, alone, drew forth commendation; but even here a great portion of the merit was assigned to his counsellors, to whose guidance, especially that of the commissioners of pro- perty, he was recommended, in all matters relating to the aborigines. This long and severe lecture concluded thus: "As thou wert chosen in the time of my husband's weak- ness, by means of his friends only, to that important trust, it would be with some regret should we be obliged to make a change before our final settlement with the crown, though the means are ready at hand. We earnestly, therefore, desire that thy skill and abilities may be employed to render thy continuance yet grateful to us, which can be no other way effected than by thy strict observation of thy former, and these present instructions."
Accompanying Mrs. Penn's epistle, was one from Henry Gouldney, and Joshua Gee, written in like spirit, but in terms more absolute. "The care of the province," said they, " devolving in some measure upon us as trustees, we have been obliged to consider thy late conduct in it, which has been so far from giving content to thy friends, who ex- pected a very different account of it, that we might have very justly proceeded to a change. But the widow of our wor- thy friend, our deceased proprietary, is still willing thou mayest have a further trial, and be continued longer; the only terms of which is thy strict compliance with the instruc- tions given in the foregoing letter. Thou may suppose, perhaps, that the powers of government are not directly lodged by the will in our said friend the widow; and, there- fore, that it may not belong so immediately to her to direct in affairs of government; but as the interest of the family is
200
HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
[1724
principally concerned in the welfare and prosperity of that province, it can become no other person better to take care of it; and if ever the propriety of this proceeding be ques- tioned, thou may easily be convinced, there is sufficient power to end all disputes with thee about it."*
This potion, so bitter in itself, was rendered more nauseous to Keith by being mixed and administered by the hand of Logan. Keith, assured of his animosity, believed that the want of power, and not the forbearance of the family, pre- vented his own removal. He knew that the powers of go- vernment were in abeyance by the refusal of those who had the legal estate in them, to act without the authority of chan- cery, and that the land trustees had no right directly to interfere with the administration. And he flattered himself that, if the consent of the necessary parties to the appoint- ment of another governor could be obtained, under any cir- cumstances, it would not be predicated upon his refusal to submit to the dictation of his council ; and that the fortunate state of the province attesting his zeal and wisdom, would outweigh the interested fears of the family, and the sugges- tions of an ambitious man devoted to their cause.
From such considerations, Keith, in his reply, openly jus- tified the course he had pursued. Professing his readiness to obey such instructions as were not repugnant to the constitu- tion, he asserted the right of the deputy-governor to act in- dependently of the proprietary, to have been conclusively settled at the commencement of Evans' administration. That deputy being required to pass no law without the assent of the proprietary, the assembly demanded of the council, whether such reservation was void in itself, or whether it avoided the whole commission? The council, then composed of the most respectable and devoted friends of the family, among whom was Logan, judge Mompesson, and the eldest son of the proprietary, unanimously declared the reservation void. If, therefore, Keith inferred, the proprietary could not directly control his deputy, such power could not be
* Votes.
201
HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
. 1724]
indirectly exercised. The insuperable objections arising from the constitution, were thus supported by the best authority, and there were others equally insurmountable. By act of parliament, the proprietary was forbidden to appoint a lieu- tenant, who had not given security in the exchequer, to obey the royal instructions; therefore, the veto now insisted upon for the council, could not be conceded without his majesty's consent, and was in truth injurious to his prerogative. Yet he urged, though unable to surrender his conscience and will to the council, that he had always solicited, and frequently pro- fited, by its advice; and, holding the members but as legal advisers, and solemn witnesses of his actions, for which he alone was responsible, it was his duty, as it was his right, to appoint his secretary and clerk, that their minutes might be faithfully entered and carefully preserved in hands that would not dare to violate them. This confidence he could not place in Logan, who had falsified the minutes, and deign- ed not to deny or extenuate his conduct .*
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.