USA > Rhode Island > Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in New England. Printed by order of the General Assembly, Vol. V > Part 2
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and make the harbor on Block Island, and the rest of the said interest to the use of the public. Silver was worth at the emission of those bills, twenty-five shillings per ounce ; and their total amount about £21,840.
1738. We emitted $100,000 more, on the like security with the former banks, the interest to be appropriated to the building of a large brick state house, for the colony's use, and to erect a light house for the benefit of our navigation, and to ren- der it more easy and secure. The cause of this emission, also, was the want of a suf- ficient medium of exchange. For the colony of Connecticut carries on but a small trade, and that chiefly with the produce of their own soil, as wheat, Indian corn, pcas, beans, onions, beef; pork, and such like commodities, and therefore stand in need of a very small medium, which, with a quantity of our bills passing there, hath rendered it unnecessary for them to make any large emissions of bills of credit ; and the Province of the Massachusetts Bay, having their hands so tied up, that notwith- standing a great number of our bills is circulating among them, the merchants of Boston have been forced to emit a round sum of negotiable notes of hand, to supply the want of money, and prevent business from stagnation. Silver was at about twenty-seven shillings per ounce, when these bills were emitted; and their amount about £ 19,444 8s. 10d.
1740. As the King's Most Excellent Majesty had engaged in a just and neces- sary war against Spain, on account of the repeated depredations and unheard of cruelties by that nation exercised on our fellow-subjects, the General Assembly, at their session last winter, calling to mind the great danger we were constantly ex- posed to, in the late war with the French, by being unprovided with avessel of war of our own, and so frequently obliged to take the vessels of private persons, and equip them in haste to go out and fight the enemy, as they came to infest our coast, re- solved, and accordingly built, carly the last spring, a fine sloop, of the burthen of one hundred and fifteen tons, mounted her with twelve carriage and twelve swivel guns; and furnished her with small arms, pistols, cutlasses, &c., to defend us against the enemy, should we be attacked.
In the former part of the current year, we received Ifis Majesty's royal instruc- tions, directing us to raise as many able bodied, effective men in this colony as would voluntarily enlist in his service, on an expedition intended against some of the King of Spain's territories in the West Indies. In obedience to which, the General Assembly immediately appointed three captains, and passed an act granting a bounty of £3, and other encouragement to every such man that should voluntarily enter into the aforesaid service. This zeal in the Assembly, animated the common people to such a degree, that two of the captains had completed their companies, each consisting of one hundred men, within the space of two months ; the third had collected above seventy soldiers, and would have made up his company in due time, had the government been honored with another of the royal commissions.
These soldiers were billeted out, at the charge of the public (from the time of their being enlisted, till they were disbanded, about the 16th of August) ; and so were the other two companies, till the middle of September, when they embarked for New York, in two transports, hired by the colony, for that purpose, having first received blankets and other necessaries, as a further gratuity from the government ; all which extraor linary expenses, and the incident charges of government, greatly augmented by the war, made it absolutely necessary to emit more bills of public credit. Upon which, the Assembly have this year, 1740, passed an act for issuing out £20,000 in paper bills, equivalent to silver, stated at six shillings and nine pence
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RECORDS OF THE COLONY OF RHODE ISLAND
[1741.
per ounce, to be let out at four cent. upon loan (on such land security as hath been heretofore taken), for ten years, and then to be sunk by ten equal annual payments. Silver is now worth twenty-seven shillings per ounce, and the whole of this bank amounts to about £15,555 11s. 1d.
And now, may it please your Lordships, having given you an exact account of the several emissions of our paper bills, their amount, &e., as was required, we en- treat your Lordships to consider that this colony was first purchased, then settled, and hath been at all times defended by its inhabitants at their own proper costs and charges, as well against the Indian natives in former times, as against foreign ene- mies of latter years ; and that without ever becoming chargeable to our mother country, or repining at the expense ; for, although we were not rich, yet poverty was a stranger among us, till the year 1710, when we were called upon to appear in the field for the honor and interest of Great Britain. The vast expense of that and other expeditions, in the war, reduced us to a low ebb ; yet we manfully struggled through our difficulties, and upon the restoration of peace, boldly ventured upon enlarging our trade, which God Almighty hath crowned with so great a suc- cess, that we follow the same path to this day.
We have now above one hundred and twenty sail of vessels belonging to the in- habitants of this colony, all constantly employed in trade ; some on the coast of Af- rica, others, in the neighboring colonies, many in the West Indies, and a few in Europe.
Besides the two hundred soldiers raised for Ilis Majesty's immediate service, the merchants of the town of Newport have equipped five privateers, with crews amounting in the whole, to near four hundred men, who are now cruising against the Spaniards.
Our fort is provided with thirty-six cannon, well mounted, and furnished with a suitable quantity of military stores ; by which, and our having a privateer able to fight a hundred men on her deck, and ready upon all emergencies, we are become the barrier and best security of the New England trade.
These, may it please your Lordships, are matters of the utmost importance to us ; for navigation is one main pillar on which this government is supported at present ; and we never should have enjoyed this advantage, had not the govern- ment emitted bills of credit to supply the merchants with a medium of exchange, always proportioned to the increase of their commerce ; without this, we should have been in a miserable condition, unable to defend ourselves against an enemy, or to assist our neighbors in times of danger.
In short, if this colony be in any respect happy and flourishing, it is paper money, and a right application of it, that hath rendered us so. And that we are in a flour- ishing condition, is evident from our trade, which is greater in proportion to the di- mensions of our government, than that of any colony in Ilis Majesty's American dominions.
Nor have we served ourselves only, by engaging so deeply in navigation. The neighboring governments have been in a great measure, supplied with rum, sugar, molasses and other West India goods by us brought home and sold to them here. Nay, Boston, itself, the metropolis of the Massachusetts, is not a little obliged to us for rum and sugar and molasses, which they distil into rum, for the use of their fish- ermen, &e.
The West Indies have likewise reaped great advantage from our trade, by being supplied with Number of all sorts, suitable for building houses, sugar works and
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making easks ; beef, pork, flour and other provisions, we are daily carrying to them, with horses to turn their mills, and vessels for their own use; and our African trade often furnishes them with slaves for their plantations. To all this, we beg leave to add, that the merchants of Great Britain, have, within these twelve months, or thereabouts, received seven or eight sail of ships from this colony, for goods im- ported here of late, and sold to the inhabitants.
On the whole, your Lordships will perceive that the various emissions of bills in this colony were made to answer good and generous intentions ; that the interest arising on the several banks, together with part of some of the principal sums, have been applied to the necessary defenee and support of the colony, building of piers and harbors, for promoting the fishing business, and to encourage the raising and manufacturing of hemp, &c.
And although the sums emitted, are large in sound, yet, when the whole of what we have outstanding, to wit: £340,000, is reduced to sterling money, it will not amount to more than £88,074 16s. 104d., a very small sum to answer for a medium of exchange, considering the extent of our trade, the number of inhabitants, and their improvements ; and that those bills answer the same end, and are the major part of the currency in the neighboring governments, and the banks emitted in 1728 and 1731, will begin to be sunk the next year.
Your Lordships will doubtless observe, that paper bills, have from the time of their being first made, sunk in value, till of late years, the cause whereof (which common experience hath taught us), we humbly take leave to suggest to your Lordships, it is supposed by many that the frequent emissions of those bills hath ef- fected their depreciation. But the contrary may be safely averred. For they al- ways passed, and were received equal to silver, at so much per ounee, till the mer- chants of Boston, having large quantities of goods from Europe, and supplying all the governments of New England therewith, could find no way to make sufficient remittances, but by buying up all the silver and gold they could purchase. This put those commodities on the same level with common merchandize ; and so they who wanted it most, bid higher and higher, till gold and silver arrived to the price they now bear, always taking care to rate their goods in proportion to what they last gave for sterling money. And this is the only true way of accounting for that misfortune ; and what confirms it is, that the colony of Connectieut have not, at this time, above £13,000 or £14,000 extant, in bills of credit ; and yet it takes as much of their money to purchase an ounce of silver, as it does of the Massachusetts, New Hampshire or ours. Hereto, we beg leave to add, that within the space of about six or seven years, several of the merchants of Newport have contracted a corres- pon lence in London, procured goods to be sent to them, and thereby so well sup- plied our shop-keepers, that our dependence on Boston hath been in some measure taken off. In return for those goods, our merchants have remitted to their corres- pondents, ships of our own building, logwood fetched from the Bay of Honduras, in our own vessels; bills of exchange purchased of the planters, in the West Indies, and other commodities, in such quantities, that for these six years last past, bills have continued be equal to silver, at twenty-seven shillings per ounee.
We are required to give our sentiments with regard to the easiest method of sinking the bills of eredit now outstanding. In answer thereto, we ean only assure your Lordships, that after our utmost efforts to do our money justice and save the inhabitants from inevitable ruin, we have not been able to find out a letter way
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RECORDS OF THE COLONY OF RHODE ISLAND
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than to sink the several banks by ten equal annual payments. We have learnt from experience that this is a safe course, and therefore pursue it.
To conclude, we are humbly of opinion, that, considering the good foundation on which our bills have been emitted, and the substantial security taken (according to the several acts) for paying in the same, no damage can possibly accrue from those emissions, which encourages us to hope that your Lordships and the honora- ble inspectors into those affairs will, from what little has been offered, view the state of this colony in a true light, and find that we have acted such a part as has ren- dered this government strong and secure against our enemies, without any charge to Great Britain, and a barrier to that very Province that is always reviling us for the loss of their trade, as well as advanced ourselves to be not the most inconsider- able of His Majesty's plantations in America.
We are, may it please your Lordships, Your most obedient and very humble servants, RICHARD WARD, Governor, For the company of the colony of Rhode Island, &c.
Proceedings of the General Assembly held for the Colony of Rhode Island and . Providence Plantations, at Providence, the first Wednesday of April, 1741.
The HIon. Richard Ward, Governor.
The Ilon. William Greene, Deputy Governor.
With the assistants and deputies from the several towns.
An Act for incorporating the west end of the town of East Greenwich into a township, and the same to be distinguished and known by the name of West Greenwich.
Whereas, several of the inhabitants of the aforesaid town of East Greenwich, by petition to this Assembly, did set forth the great disadvantage they labor under, on account of the great extent of said town ; and, as it is conceived, it will be more for the case and benefit of all its inhabitants in transacting and negotiating the prudential affairs thereof, to have a division made ;-
Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly, and by the authority thereof it is enacted, that from the westerly line
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of the old township, unto the colony line, be set off and incor- porated a township, and the same to be distinguished and known by the name of West Greenwich ; and that the in- habitants thereof, from time to time, shall have, and enjoy the like benefits, liberties, privileges and immunities with other towns in this colony, according to our charter.
And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that John Spenser, Esq., a justice of the peace, living within the aforesaid new town, remain in his office till the first Wednes- day in May, next ; and that he grant forth a warrant to call in the inhabitants of the said town together on the third Tuesday of this instant April, to elect such town officers as they shall have occasion for, and the law directs; and to appoint the time of their town meeting, and the places, and to choose and elect two deputies, to represent them at the next General Assembly, and so on, as by the charter is directed.
And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that said town shall send one petit juror to the superior court of judicature, court of assize and general jail delivery ; and one grand and one petit juror to the inferior court of common pleas and general sessions of the peace.
And it is also further enacted, that there be two trustees appointed for the said new town, for the letting out of its pro- portionable part of the £20,000, ordered to be emitted.
Voted and resolved, that John Spenser, Esq. and Mr. John Greene, be committee men for the town of West Greenwich, to let out their proportionable part of the bank money.
Voted and resolved, that Peter Bours, Samuel Clarke, Thos. Spenser, William Jenckes, Stephen Hopkins, Daniel Abbott, Francis Willett, Henry Bull, Daniel Updike, James Honey- man, Jr. and Thomas Ward, Esqs., or any four of them, be, and they are hereby appointed a committee to represent and manage the affairs of this colony before the commissioners to hear and determine the boundary between this colony and the Province of the Massachusetts Bay ; and they are hereby fully empowered to employ one or more attorney or attornies, and
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RECORDS OF THE COLONY OF RIIODE ISLAND [1741.
to do all and every thing else lawful and necessary for prosc- cuting said affair to effect.
And also, that Ezekiel Warner and George Brown, Esqs., both of Providence, in the county of Providence, in said colony, be, and they are hereby appointed and chosen the two public officers in this colony, pursuant to the commission for settling the boundary between this colony and said Province of the Massachusetts Bay.
Voted and resolved, that the attorney general sue to the next inferor court of common pleas, to be held at Newport, all the committees of the several towns in this colony, who have not made return of the mortgages and bonds to the grand com- mittee, and bonds for interest to the general treasurer, which they took for the proportionable part of the last bank, and the former banks, belonging to each town, to account for the same.
An Act for equipping the colony sloop, and sending of her out to cruise, &c.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the committee who procured the colony sloop to be built, forthwith equip and fit her with ammunition, stores and all other necessaries suita- ble for a cruise.
And be it further enacted by the authoritty aforesaid, that His Honor, the Governor, and so many of his council as shall be present, together with the aforesaid committee, be, and they are hereby empowered and directed to appoint forthwith a captain. lieutenant, master, gunner, boatswain, carpenter, cook and twelve other men, upon the best terms they can, to be- long to said sloop constantly, until orders from the Assembly to the contrary.
And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that ITis Ilonor, the Governor, with the advice of such of his council as shall be present, from time to time, upon news of an enemy being upon the coast, shall (if they think proper to send out saidl sloop) immediately order the captain to beat up for vol-
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unteers, and enlist to the number of one hundred men with them before belonging to said sloop, and send her out with the greatest expedition.
And if at any time there does not a sufficient number of men enlist, that His Honor, the Governor, be, and he is hereby directed and fully empowered to give out his warrant for im- pressing so many men as there shall be a necessity of, to make up the complement ; and that the volunteers, as well as those impressed, be under pay from the colony from the time they enter, or are impressed, till they are discharged.
Whereas, James Greene and others, did, by petition to this Assembly, set forth that there is, on the south branch of Paw- tuxet river, within the township of Warwick, a very convenient place for the erecting of works for the refining of iron, and which it is conceived, will prove of great advantage to the public, in clearing land, &c .; and as the same cannot be accomplished without building a dam across said river, and which, according to a late law of the colony, must be left open from the 10th day of April to the 20th day of May, annually, which would entirely frustrate the good design of the petitioners, therefore prayed that they might have the liberty of building their works, and erecting a dam across said river, for the purpose aforesaid, without being obliged to leave said dam open within the time aforesaid ;-
Which being duly considered, be it enacted by the General Assembly, and by the authority thereof it is enacted, that the petitioners have liberty to build iron works on the south side of Pawtuxet river, and adjoining to their land, for the purpose aforesaid, and to erect a dam across said river, without being obliged to leave open the same within the time aforesaid.
Voted and resolved, that the sum of £5 be allowed and paid out of the general treasury, to George Taylor, Esq., a justice of the peace, in the county of Providence, for his service in ad ministering the oaths of allegiance from a company of soldiers raised within the said county of Providence, to go in the ser vice of His present Majesty, on an expedition against the Spaniards.
VOL. V. 3
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RECORDS OF THE COLONY OF RHODE ISLAND [1741.
Whereas, William Jenckes, of Providence, in the county of Providence, Esq., did present to this Assembly a copy of the record of the laying out an open highway from Pawtucket bridge on the other side thereof, to the country road, to the satisfaction of said Assembly ;-
It is therefore voted and resolved, that the said William Jenckes draw out of the general treasury the &50 granted him at the last October session, towards building one half of said bridge.
Voted and resolved, that the sum of £30 be allowed and paid out of the general treasury to William Jenckes, Esq., which, together with the sum of £50 already ordered to be paid him by this Assembly, is in full satisfaction for the build- ing one half of Pawtucket bridge.
An Act for laying an embargo on vessels (bound to sea) upon any emergent occasion.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of this colony, and by the authority thereof it is enacted, that His Honor, the Gov- ernor, with such of his council as shall be present, be, and they are hereby empowered to lay an embargo upon all or any ves- sels in this colony, from time to time, as they shall think needful.
God save the King.
Proceedings of the General Assembly, held for the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, at Newport, the 5th day of May, 1741.
The Hon. Richard Ward, Governor.
The IIon. William Greene, Deputy Governor.
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ASSISTANTS.
Capt. Benjamin Ellery,
Mr. John Dexter,
Mr. Ezekiel Warner,
Mr. Philip Arnold,
Mr. Richard Fenner,
Mr. John Wickes,
Mr. Gideon Cornell,
Mr. Christopher Phillips.
Mr. Stephen Hopkins, speaker.
Mr. Josias Lyndon, clerk.
Voted, that the following be admitted freemen of this colony :
Of Newport, Mathew Pate, Oliver Arnold, John Jepson, Philip Wilkinson, Jonathan Conklin, Edward Church, Joshua Lyon, William Pinnegar, Abraham Borden, Charles Wickham, Jonathan Easton, Jr., Benjamin Pitman, Thomas Melvil, John Clarke, shoemaker ; George Gibbs, William Weeden, Jr., Chris- topher Bennett, William Edmonds, Abner Coffin, Walter Rod- man, Henry Taggart, Philip Wanton, John Goddard, Israel Chapman, Charles Davenport, Clement Stanton, Samuel Hunt, Thomas Brewer, George Cornell, Jr., Peleg Carr and Caleb Carr.
Of Providence, Jonathan Knight, Jr., Silas Field, John War- ner, Mathew Manchester, Phineas Brown, Thomas Fenner, son of Joseph ; Richard Fenner, Jr., Charles Atwood and William Borden.
Of Portsmouth, Timothy Lawton and William Cogges- hall, Jr.
Of Warwick, Charles Rhodes, Anthony Goff, Samuel Wales, Moses Blanchard and Joseph Wickes.
Of Westerly, Ichabod Prossor, John Lewis, son to John Lewis, Jr., Stephen Lewis, Jedediah Irish and Peter Cran- dall,
Of New Shoreham, Robert Hull, Nathaniel Rathbun and Samuel Dun.
Of North Kingstown, Simon Smith, Eber Shearman, son of
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RECORDS OF THE COLONY OF RHODE ISLAND [1741.
William ; William Draper, Joseph Rodman, William Reynolds Jeremiah Gardner, Jr. and Jonathan Allen.
Of East Greenwich, James Lewis, John Wells, Ebenezer Mattason, John Nichols, son of Stephen ; William Clarke, Sam Rogers and Griffen Sweet.
Of Jamestown, John Eldred, Joshua Bill, Thomas Eldred and Nathaniel Church.
Of Smithfield, Benjamin Buffum, Joseph Buffum, Philip Loja, Abiah Angel, Elisha Arnold, William Whipple and Sam Irons.
Of Scituate, Joseph Berry, David Daley, William Collins, Thomas Bennett, Jr. and David Young.
Of Glocester, Benjamin Smith.
Of Charlestown, James Rogers, Jr. and Amos Greene.
Of West Greenwich, Abraham Mattason, Samuel Wilcox and Samuel Rogers, Jr.
Proceedings of the General Assembly, held for the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, at Newport, the first Wednesday of May, 1741.
The Hon. Richard Ward, Governor.
The Hon. William Greene, Deputy Governor.
With the assistants and deputies from the several towns.
DEPUTIES.
For Newport.
For Providence.
Mr. George Goulding,
Mr. John Potter,
Mr. Daniel Gould,
Col. Jabez Bowen,
Col. John Cranston,
Mr. Robert Gibbs,
Mr. Joseph Whipple,
Capt. Ezbon Sanford.
Capt. Jonathan Randall.
1741.]
AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
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DEPUTIES.
For Portsmouth. Mr. Stephen Brownell, Mr. Gideon Freeborne, Mr. Daniel Howland, Mr. Robert Lawton. For Warwick. Major Joseph Stafford, Mr. William Holdon, Mr. Jeremiah Lippett, Capt. Abel Potter. For Westerly. Mr. Thomas Hiscox,
Mr. William Champlin, Jr. For New Shoreham. Capt. Simon Ray,
Mr. Henry Gardner.
For North Kingstown.
Mr. Job Tripp, Mr. John Reynolds. For South Kingstown.
Capt. Robert Hassard,
Capt. Ichabod Potter.
For East Greemvich. Mr. Thomas Spencer, Capt. Thomas Nichols. For Jamestown. Capt. Benjamin Sheffield, Mr. John Martin. Smithfield. Mr. Resolved Waterman, Mr. John Sayles. Scituate. Mr. Job Randall, Mr. Stephen Hopkins, Glocester.
Mr. Edward Mitchell, Mr. Richard Steere. For Charlestown. Mr. Samuel Perry, Mr. Joseph Clarke. West Greenwich. Mr. John Greene, Mr. Joseph Slocum.
Mr. Stephen Hopkins, speaker. Mr. Josias Lyndon, clerk.
The following officers were declared elected, and duly engaged.
The Hon. Richard Ward, Governor. The Hon. William Greene, Deputy Governor.
ASSISTANTS.
Capt. Benjamin Ellery, Mr. Ezekiel Warner, Mr. Richard Fenner,
Mr. Peter Bours,
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RECORDS OF THE COLONY OF RHODE ISLAND [1741.
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