USA > Rhode Island > Rhode Island : three centuries of democracy, Vol. I > Part 31
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ECONOMIC CONFLICT-The mercantile theory dominated the economic views of English statesmen in the eighteenth century, and dictated various measures to monopolize trade and navigation. While these measures were intended to promote ultimately the economic welfare of the empire, they conflicted in many instances with the immediate interests of the colonies, were resented therefore, and produced irritation, restlessness, and, occasionally, open resist- ance. The proclamation in 1708 that rice and molasses had been added to the list of colonial products that must be shipped first to England in the course of exportation beyond the empire, awakened little discontent in Rhode Island then ; later the regulation of the trade in molasses would make the trade and navigation acts extremely unpopular in Rhode Island. Governor Cranston's reply to an inquiry concerning the colonial practice of clipping coins,
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that Rhode Island's intimate trade relations with Massachusetts suggested the necessity of awaiting prior action by the larger colony, elicited a sharp rejoinder from England. To assure the collection of imperial customs the mother country settled collectors in important seaports. There being no established rates for entering and clearing vessels, the collectors exacted fees to satisfy and enrich themselves. To curb this practice, the Rhode Island Gen- eral Assembly, in 1710, "taking into consideration that there is no table of fees settled for the collector's office within this colony, by which the collectors have opportunity to extort such fees as they think fit, to the discouragement of trade," established stated fees. Later in the same year the table of fees was repealed, and another adopted for the collector and naval officer. A penalty of twenty shillings for excessive charges was prescribed, the penalty to be enforced by arrest. In a letter to the English Board of Trade Governor Cranston asked approval of the fee table, or the suggestion of amendments to it. He also complained that the English collectors of customs had limited entry and clearance to only one port in each colony, and of the inconvenience to coastwise shipping between colonies arising therefrom. The latter he described as "a very great imposition" and "to the great discouragement of trade; we having small sloops and open boats constantly trading from one colony to the other; . ... and it often happens that the wind and weather are such that they cannot (without great danger, or to the risk of their voyage) reach that particular port that the said collectors do so impose upon them." The Governor asked "that the collectors of the particu- lar governments may be directed to settle their deputies in offices at each trading port allowed of by the several governments, or that the entries and clearings from the naval offices may be approved of." Their lordships promised to take the matter of fees and the complaint under consideration. In 1711, the colony exempted open boats and lighters trading up and down the bay and rivers within the colony and so far as Connecticut from fees for entry and clear- ance. The colony's attempt to restrict the collectors to stated fees inevitably produced fric- tion, and in one instance led to a display of resistance in Newport that recalled the incident of the "Charles," brigantine, and forecasted other turbulent days in the seaport town. As in earlier days the colony harbored men who were hostile to the republic; Caleb Heathcote complained to the Board of Trade under date of September 7, 1719, in part, thus :
I need not acquaint your lordships that, notwithstanding they have oft received commands for sending home their laws, it has hitherto, in this government, been wholly neglected, and they nevertheless presume to put them in execution, though many thereof are repugnant not only to the laws of Great Britain, but even to the explicit words of the Charter.
I shall instance some of them. One whereof is a law for issuing bills of credit. . . . Notwithstanding the interest arising from it was appropriated for repairing a fortification . . . not a penny thereof . has been applied or expended for that purpose. . . . Nor can the officers of his majesty's customs be safe in putting the acts of trade in force, because on seizing of any vessel for illegal trade (being out of command), they may easily be carried off to sea, or made willing to be put on shore, and which hath been several times, and very lately, practices in the charter governments.
Another law was made in this colony, entitled "an act for establishing of fees," by virtue whereof the officers of his majesty's customs have been most grievously insulted and abused; which occasioned my applying to the honorable the commissioners of his majesty's customs, and they took the Attorney General's opinion thereon, who declared that the execution of such laws were just reasons for forfeiting their Charter; and the commissioners directed me, and by their letters threatened the government with a scire facias, if they insisted on such laws, which I acquainted the Governor and Assembly by letter, with all, but without receiving any answer. .
And 'tis very wonderful to me, who am thoroughly acquainted with the temper of the people, that none of his majesty's officers of the customs have been mobbed and torn in pieces by the rabble, and of which some of them have very narrowly escaped; an instance whereof happened in this town, to the present collector, who having made seizure of several hogsheads of claret, illegally imported, and notwith- standing he had the Governor's warrant, and the high sheriff, besides his own officers to assist, and took the claret in the daytime, yet the town's people had the insolence to rise upon them, and insult both them
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and the civil officers; and having, by violence, after a riotous and tumultuous manner, rescued and possessed themselves of the seizures, set the hogsheads ahead, and stove them open, and with pails drank out and carried away most of the wine, and then threw the remainder into the street.
This tumult was no sooner over but one Mr. John Wanton, who uses the sea, and is master of a sloop, a magistrate, of the people's choice (as may be reasonably supposed), for the keeping up the rage and humor of the mob, did immediately issue out his warrant for apprehending of Mr. Kay, the collector, under pretence of his taking other, and greater, fees for clearing of vessels than the laws of this colony allowed of (and which amounted to only two shillings sterling) ; but the matter being fully examined before the Governor, and it appearing that he had taken no greater fees than above mentioned, and which had always been accustomary, and that the prosecution was maliciously intended to expose the collector he was dismissed. But Mr. Wanton, not satisfied with what the Governor had done, and being willing to ingratiate himself amongst his neighbors, who had so lately advanced him, issued out a second warrant for the very same fact; and to magnify his zeal on that occasion, had him arrested and taken into custody in the custom house, while in his duty, and thence hurried him away amidst a crowd of spectators, refusing to admit him to bail.
John Wanton was one of the fighting brothers, already famous for exploits in colonial wars, each of whom had held distinguished civil as well as military and naval offices. Both subsequently served as Governors of Rhode Island. From May, 1732, to December, 1733, when the former died in office, William Wanton and John Wanton, brothers, were, respec- tively, Governor and Deputy Governor of Rhode Island. John Wanton was Governor from December, 1733, until he also died in office July 5, 1740. John Wanton's prosecution of the collector, and the daring arrest and imprisonment after the more cautious Governor Cranston had released Kay on the earlier complaint were revolutionary in their nature. But these and the episode of the riotous seizure of the claret wine were outbursts related to an exasperated condition of the public mind, irritated by the meddlesome insolence of the King's officers. The officiousness of the latter was breeding contempt for them as officers of the law, and for the law itself in Newport. A people whose normal attitude indicated loyalty was being driven by petty tyranny on toward resistance. The smouldering fire which later would burst into revolution was already at work in Rhode Island. Immediately following the arrest of Collector Kay the General Assembly, as an assurance that the episode would not be repeated, modified the act establishing fees in such manner as to limit the penalty for exces- sive fees to a fine of twenty shillings, and a civil action by the party overtaxed for damages not to exceed forty shillings.
William Wharton, the English solicitor previously employed by the colony as its agent in England, died in 1710-1711; in 1715, Richard Partridge replaced him, and thereafter con- tinued in the service of the colony for many years. Partridge was instructed in 1715 to rep- resent the colony and to use his utmost efforts to exempt Rhode Island from the provisions of a bill then pending the purpose of which was to place the charter governments in America in a new relation to England. Partridge was associated with Joseph Jencks when the latter went to England in 1720 to represent Rhode Island in proceedings to adjust the boundary dispute with Connecticut. With Joseph Jencks went his son Dr. John Jencks, who died while in England.
GOVERNOR CRANSTON'S TACT-In view of Governor Cranston's tactful recognition of facts that were fundamental in the relations between Rhode Island and England, which led him graciously to take annually the prescribed oath to enforce the trade and navigation acts and to play his part honorably and with becoming dignity in assisting the King's officers, the additional requirement in 1723 that he give bond in the amount of £2000 aroused indigna- tion, but was acquiesced in. In the same year a suggestion, originating in the consideration in England of Rhode Island's and Connecticut's rival claims with reference to the boundary line between them, that both colonies surrender their charters and become incorporated with
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New Hampshire under a royal governor, evoked an emphatically negative answer from each, but was influential nevertheless in producing on the part of Connecticut a more conciliatory attitude that was helpful in hastening a final adjustment of the boundary dispute. When John Menzies, judge of admiralty, died in 1728, Rhode Island promptly appointed William Whit- ing to fill the vacancy pending a new appointment from England; similar action was taken in 1733, George Dunbar being appointed to the vacancy caused by the death of Nathaniel Byfield.
Nathaniel Kay found time, additional to that required for the performance of his duties as collector of the port, to write frequently to England reports on conditions in Rhode Island. In 1721, in a letter to Popple, Kay complained of the evil effects of colonial paper currency on trade; the bills of credit issued by the colony, he wrote, tended to increase the prices of commodities, to encourage speculation in land, and to exclude newcomers as set- tlers because of the high prices demanded for land. Again, in 1725, Kay sent to England copies of the Rhode Island laws authorizing paper currency. Thus the home government was well informed and reasonably familiar with the issues involved in the controversy precipi- tated by Governor Jencks's attempt to veto an act authorizing additional issues. The General Assembly, at the session opening on June 14, 1731, passed an act authorizing the issuing of public bills of credit to the amount of £60,000. The session stood adjourned on June 24. It appeared in the letters from Rhode Island that subsequently were sent to England that (I) King George, on May 19, 1720, had issued an order "against the passing any laws whereby bills of credit may be struck or issued by any of the governments in America without a clause inserted therein declaring such acts shall not be in force until approved and confirmed by the royal assent," a copy of the order having been sent to Governor Cranston in 1724; (2) that a formal protest against the issuing of additional paper money had been made while the Assembly was in session, and disregarded; and (3) that the proposition to issue bills of credit had been debated thoroughly, which accounts in part for the continuance of the session through eleven days. Those opposed to the act of the Assembly made preparations imme- diately for an appeal to England. Governor Jencks caused to be written across a certified copy of the session acts the words "His Honor the Governor dissents from the said vote," and ordered the colony seal affixed to copies of the journal and other papers requested by the appellants. Thereafter events followed rapidly.
GOVERNOR JENCKS AND THE VETO-Fighting John Wanton was Deputy Governor, and, as he had been in the days of Governor Cranston, was still a fearless defender of the Charter rights of Rhode Island. Governor Jencks alleged, with reference to the order issued to affix the colony seal: "But it was no sooner known to two of the members of our general council, gentlemen desirous of popularity, and to be accounted the prime agents in preserving of our Charter privileges, but they caused the news thereof to be spread throughout the colony, declaring that the Governor had endangered the loss of our Charter by ordering the colony seal be set to a complaint against the government, in order to be sent to your majesty; the which action of theirs, has occasioned me much trouble, and hath caused many of the inhabi- tants to be highly displeased with me." Upon the refusal of Governor Jencks to recall the General Assembly, Deputy Governor Wanton summoned an extraordinary session to meet on August 3 at Newport. The General Assembly declared the words of dissent added by the Governor "to be no part of said act of Assembly; and that said act be no ways encumbered thereby, but that the said dissent be deemed null and void" for four reasons: (I) That dur- ing the time of the session the General Assembly was not informed of the dissent, "but caused the act to be published, and the same has taken effect, and proceedings have been made thereon accordingly"; (2) that the dissent was entered after adjournment, "it not being in the power of the legislative authority to act except when duly convened, much less for any single member to encumber any act by dissenting or protesting after the resting of the court"; (3) that it was not clear which of several votes the dissent referred to; (4) that the
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"post entry of said dissent deprived the General Assembly of the benefit of considering the consequences thereof." While the foregoing action of the Assembly might serve as an effec- tive overriding of the veto, John Wanton was never otherwise than thorough; he was not content merely to adopt resolutions. Under his leadership the General Assembly took away from the appellants "all our attested copies . . .. and ordered our memorial to be dismissed in this torn and tattered manner, which is humbly conceived to be exceedingly injurious to his majesty's faithful and loyal subjects." With issues thus clearly drawn, and simplified as well, by the uncompromising assertion of the authority of the General Assembly, the matter was ripened for an appeal to England. Nathaniel Kay and eighteen others sent a memorial to the English Board of Trade, reciting their grievances and praying "for a favorable hear- ing." Governor Jencks sent a long letter to the King, asking three specific questions: (1) "Whether an act passed by the General Assembly of this colony may be judged valid, the Governor having entered his dissent from it"; (2) "whether or no the Governor of this colony may with safety disallow or refuse setting the colony seal to papers taken out of the Secretary's office, and attested by him, in order to be sent to your majesty"; (3) "whether it be the Governor's duty to examine all such copies before he orders the colony seal to be set thereto; the Secretary which attests them being an officer under oath." Governor Jencks asked for an early decision, "I having given the government, at our last election, public notice that I should serve them no longer than this year." With the Governor's letter was sent also a petition to the King on behalf of Nathaniel Kay and his associates. The rulings of the English Attorney General and Solicitor General on the questions presented by Governor Jencks were decisive: (1) "In this Charter no negative vote is given to the Governor, nor any power reserved to the crown of approving or disapproving the laws to be made by the colony. We are, therefore, of opinion that, though by the Charter the presence of the Gov- ernor, or, in his absence, of the Deputy Governor, is necessary to the legal holding of a General Assembly; yet, when he is there, he is part of the Assembly, and included by the majority ; and consequently, that acts passed by the majority of such Assembly are valid in law notwithstanding the Governor's entering his dissent at the time of the passing thereof." (2) As to the question "whether his majesty hath any power to repeal or make void the above- mentioned act of Assembly, we humbly conceive that, no provision being made for that pur- pose, the crown hath no discretionary powers of repealing laws made in this province; but the validity thereof depends upon them not being contrary, but as near as may be agreeable, to the laws of England, regard being had to the nature and constitution of the place and the people. Where this condition is observed, the law is binding; and where it is not, the law is void as not warranted by the Charter." (3) It was "the duty of the Governor to set the colony's seal to such copies of acts as were attested by the Secretary, in order to be sent to his majesty; and the examination and attestation of the Secretary are sufficient, without the personal examination of the Governor." Briefly, the King's counsel had decided that neither the Governor nor the King possessed the authority to veto an act passed by the Rhode Island General Assembly. For practical purposes the lawyers for the crown had decided that the Rhode Island General Assembly was immediately and ultimately judge of the extent of its own authority, there being no power beyond the General Assembly to determine the issue suggested by the Charter provision, "regard being had to the nature and constitution of the place and the people." Lest the decision seem altogether inexplicable, it should be noted that Horace Walpole was Prime Minister. Though Macaulay held Walpole up to ridicule in the passage, "It pleased him also to affect a foolish dislike of kings as kings, and a foolish love and admiration of rebels as rebels; and perhaps, while kings were not in danger and while rebels were not in being, he really believed that he held the doctrines which he professed," the fact remains that Horace Walpole was a Whig, and that the administration was Liberal. Perhaps it was "a foolish love and admiration for rebels as rebels" that condoned the daring
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defiance of dashing John Wanton. His portrait in the Corridor of Governors at the State House almost sparkles with the spirit of adventure. A report was spread about the colony in 1736 "that the Honorable John Wanton, Esquire, our present Governor, has drawn out of the general treasury the sum of £70 and appropriated the same to his own use or to treat his friends to vote him or to pay tavern scores"; upon inquiry the Assembly found the report to be "groundless and false, and that the same go out in the acts of this Assembly." No dull, commonplace politician could earn the opprobrium of such a rumor. This was a man who could outwit a pirate, lock up a meddlesome customs officer, defy a Governor and destroy the death warrant of the colony attested by the colony seal. Horace Walpole loved and admired rebels-and John Wanton was a rebel. It is certain that, for the time being, a much better comity and amity prevailed in relations between Rhode Island and England. Absolute mon- archy had passed in England with the Stuart Kings, though the Rhode Island General Assem- bly from time to time referred to one of these as "of blessed memory" by reason of the granting to Rhode Island of a constitution or Charter transcending all previous experience in liberality. The House of Hanover governed less than it was governed. The Whigs were far too jealous of the progress made in England toward popular government to deal unjustly with the most radical, if also the most diminutive, republic in the empire. The decision on Governor Jencks's appeal was entirely consistent with views prevailing in England while Horace Walpole was Prime Minister. The settlement of the boundary dispute with Con- necticut, favorable to Rhode Island, might also be ascribed to the Whig administration. Both decisions were acclaimed in Rhode Island, and reawakened a love for the mother coun- try that had been waning as the colony struggled desperately to maintain its Charter rights against persistent activity to destroy them. Into the colonial wars following Rhode Island entered with a vigor and enthusiasm theretofore not known.
PAPER MONEY-English interest in the paper money situation in the colonies and the reason for the interest were indicated in two letters addressed to Governor Wanton in 1739: (I) "You are immediately to prepare and, as soon as possible, transmit to us, in order to be laid before the House of Commons at their next meeting, an account of the tenor, and amount of the bills of credit which have been created and issued in your government, that are now outstanding, with their respective times when such bills, so outstanding, were issued, with the amount of said bills in money of Great Britain, both at the time such bills were issued, and at the time of preparing your account. You are likewise to send therewith your opinion what will be the most easy and effectual manner of sinking and discharging all such bills of credit, with the least prejudice to the inhabitants of your government, and interruption of the com- merce of this kingdom." (2) "You will perceive how much they apprehend the commerce of Great Britain to have been affected by the large and frequent commissions of paper currency in his majesty's colonies in America, in which Rhode Island has had too large a share. And his majesty . ... having sent circular instructions to the several colonies more immediately under his government* not to pass any more bills for the issuing of paper money, without a clause therein . . . . to suspend the execution till his majesty's pleasure shall be signified thereupon, we think proper to acquaint you therewith, and at the same time to admonish and advise you to pay all due regard to his majesty's intentions, and to the sense of the House of Commons upon this occasion." Governor Wanton had died, and the task of answering fell to Governor Ward, whose reply was a comprehensive review of the causes for issuing bills of credit, a complete history of the several issues, a careful estimate of the colony's actual indebt- edness reduced to sterling, and a masterful argument sustaining the "necessity" of paper cur- rency in a new country having no precious metal resources.t "We have now above 120 sail
*The royal provinces.
¡See Chapter X for further discussion of this letter.
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of vessels belonging to the inhabitants of this colony, all constantly employed in trade," wrote Governor Ward. With our fort and privateers "we are become the barrier and best security of the New England trade. ... Navigation is one main pillar on which this government is sup- ported at present ; and we never should have enjoyed this advantage, had not the government emitted bills of credit to supply the merchants with a medium of exchange, always propor- tioned 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." Governor Ward's estimate of the actual colony indebtedness, based on the issue of £340,000 of currency, was £88,074 16s. 103/4d., "a very small sum to answer for a medium of exchange, considering the extent of our trade, the number of inhabitants, and their improvements." He suggested the sinking of the bills of credit in ten annual payments. The neglected factor in the letter was depreciation; Governor Ward seemed not to recognize the essential injustice involved in a currency that constantly depreciated, and thus permitted debtors to repay their creditors on terms that amounted prac- tically to repudiation of part of the debts. War with Spain was already in progress when this exchange of letters took place; France soon after entered the war, and for the time being the matter was dropped. Rhode Island emitted more paper currency during the war.
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