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ware, exported to America; and for more effectually preventing the clandestine running of goods in the said Colonies and Plantations;' as relates to the Duties upon glass, red lead, white lead, painters' colours, paper paste-boards, millboards, and scaleboards, of the produce or manufacture of Great Britain, imported into any of his Majesty's Colonies in America; and also to the discontinuing the drawbacks payable on china earthen ware, exported to America; and for regulating the exportation thereof." Which Bill received the Royal assent on the 12th of April. On the 30th of April, it was ordered "That an humble Address should be presented to his Majesty, that he would be graciously pleased to give directions that there be laid before this House, copies of all narratives of any disputes or disturbances which have happened between his Majesty's troops, stationed in North America, and the inhabitants of any of his Majesty's Colonies there, since the 24th day of June last, received by the Commissioners of his Majesty's Treasury, and of his Majesty's Secretaries of State, or any other public officers, together with copies of all orders and instructions sent to the Governors, Lieutenant Governors, Deputy Governors, Presidents of the Council of any of his Majesty's Colonies in North America, or to the Commander-in-chief of his Majesty's forces, or any officer, civil, or military, within the same, relative to such disputes or disturbances." And that on the 4th of May, the Lord Harwich, (by his Majesty's command,) laid before the House, several Papers relating to the late Disturbances in America, pursuant to an Address to his Majesty, for that purpose, on the 30th of April last, together with a list thereof; which were ordered to lie on the table. The Committee find that, on the 7th of May, the Lord Harwich, laid before, the House, (by his Majesty's command,) a Narrative of the late transactions at Boston, and the case of Captain Thomas Preston, of the twenty-ninth Regiment of Foot, which had been transmitted to his Lordship, from the War Office; and the same were ordered to lie on the table. On the 14th of May it was ordered, that an humble Address should be presented to his Majesty, that he would be graciously pleased to give directions, that there be laid before this House, copies of the Earl of Hillsborough's letter of the 13th of May, 1769, to the Governors of the several Colonies of North America; together with the Speeches of the Governors, referring to the said letter, and the Answers of the Assemblies to the same, so far as they have been received. And on the 15th, the Lord Harwich laid before the House, by his Majesty's command, copies of the Earl of Hillsborough's letter of the 13th of May, 1769, to the Governors of the several Colonies of North America; together with the Speeches of the Governors, referring to the said letter, and the Answers of the Assemblies to the same, so far as they have been received; together with a list thereof; which were ordered to lie on the table; and the same with the other American Papers presented in this Session, were also ordered to be taken into consideration on Friday next; and the Lords summoned. The Committee find by Lieutenant Governor Hutchinson's letter of the 27th of March, 1770, that when the troops were in the town, the Commissioners of the Customs were sensible they could have no dependence upon them, for if any riot had happened, no Civil Magistrate that he knew would have employed them in suppressing it; those who, from a principle, would have been disposed to it, refusing, and giving this reason, that they must immediately after have left the country; and that just the same principles prevailed with respect to the troops, which were said to be unconstitutional, although established by an Act of Parliament, it being alleged that it was an Act which did not bind Colonists. Lieutenant Governor Hutchinson, in his letter to the Earl of Hillsborough, of the 27th April, 1770, complains, that he has never been able to obtain the advice or consent of the Council to any proposal made for discountenancing the usurpation of the powers of Government by the town of Boston. That he had used the negative powers given him by Charter, in excluding Mr. Hancock from being Speaker pro tempore, and Mr. Cushing from the office of Commissary General, to which offices they had been elected; but adds, that this was doing but little, as he could not remove any of those who were actually in office, some of whom were more inflammatory than any out of office; he further says, that they were then attempting to compel all the importers, of what they call contraband goods, to send them back, and that he was not sure they would not succeed; that all goods which they have not enumerated are called contraband. That tea from Holland may lawfully be sold; that it is a high crime to sell any from England. That Mr. Hancock offered to send one or more of his ships back, and to lose the freight; that several of the importers pleaded that they should be utterly ruined; but the Boston zealots had no bowels, and gave for answer, "That if a ship was to bring in the plague, nobody would doubt what was necessary to be done with her; but the present case is much worse than that." In the same letter the Lieutenant Governor observes, "That the Boston principles obtain more and more in the remote parts of the Province, and the Representatives of seven-eighths of the town appear, in the present session, to be favourers of the non-importation measures. That their internal distresses may, in a course of years, force them to desist, but that the distress at present, and it may be for some time to come, lies principally upon the friends to Government, who run the risk of importing goods, and then are compelled, by the ruling power, to keep them unsold, or to ship them back; that he made an attempt that day to prevail upon a merchant of the first estate and character, to induce him to promote an Association, but to no purpose; and that he gave him for answer, 'that, until Parliament made provision for the punishment of the confederacies, all would be ineffectual, and the associates would be exposed to popular rage." He observed further, that the last year, when the King's speech, and the Addresses of the Lords and of the House of Commons first came to them, the heads of the opposition were struck with terror, and the seditious newspaper writers laid aside their pens for five or six weeks, but as soon as the apprehension of vigorous measures ceased, their fears were over, and they became more assuming and tyrannical than before, and although the terror was not so great the present year, yet it was visible; but now, that they expect nothing will be done, they are recovering their spirits, knowing there is no power within the Government to restrain them. The resistance to the custom-house officers still continued to manifest itself upon every occasion, in consequence of which, on the 18th of May, 1770, a tideman of the customs, who had seized a small coasting vessel belonging to Connecticut, and a few casks of sugar, for breach of the Acts of Trade, in the evening was seized, stripped, and carried about the town, three or four hours, besmeared with tar, and then covered with feathers, and followed by a great number of disorderly People. The Committee do not find in your Lordship's Journals of the years 1771 and 1772, any material proceedings relative to the matter to them referred. Though in the year 1771, things remained tolerably quiet in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, yet the disposition to disavow the authority of Parliament, occasionally broke out in the House of Assembly and town meetings; accordingly, in an Answer from the House of Representatives to a Message from the Governor, on the 5th of July, 1771, they say, that "They know of no Commissioners of his Majesty's Customs, nor of any revenue his Majesty has a right to establish in North America; that they know and feel a tribute levied and extorted from those, who, if they have property, have a right to the absolute disposal of it." At the same time, the disposition to import goods in defiance of the laws of Revenue and Trade, and to support such iniquitous practices, by insults and open violences upon the officers whose duty it is to carry the said laws into execution, broke out upon many occasions; and, as usual, the
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