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"est whereof to sink the further Sum of £29000 to be "also made curr' for the immediate Service of the "Crown if the same shd be needed, otherwise for the "Relief of the sd Colony" was prepared and sent hither for yo' previous Approbation, hoping there could be no ground to find any material Fault therewith as it was calculated for the Good & Ease of the Province in general by preventing any new Taxes on the Inhabitants with which the Province is already loaded, supplying a greater medium in Trade by lending it out in small Sums under the legal Rate of Interest there; and granting so large a Sum as £29000, for his Majty Service and by ye same Act appropriating it.

That your Memorialist apprehends it remains no Doubt but that in such a Country as New Jersey is, paper Currency is the principal Medium of Trade, & in its present Exigency of a State of War the only immediate Fund to raise Money to pay their Troops, & defend their Country wch they have hitherto done by 5 year Acts most of them now near expiring, the Sums thereby raised are to be paid off by Taxes which are almost insupportable.

That as it is allowed a paper Currency is always useful in North America & more so upon Emergencys of Governm'; The only Two real Objections that can be raised agst it (as yo' Memorialist humbly apprehends) must arise either from the Quantum or the Mode of raising it.

As to the Quantum your Memorialist humbly apprehends it has been fully proved at your Board by Witnesses of Reputation and Credit in that Country & knowledge in those Affairs, That his Maju loyal Province of New Jersey has ever maintained its Credit in this respect, and is capable of supporting a much larger Sum than is now prayed for.

And as to the Mode of doing it yo' Memorialist humbly hopes that y" more Easy and general any Tax is

(if this may be called one) the more it ought to be favour'd. The Money to be emitted by this Act is to be lent out on Land Security of double the Value & to be repaid by Installments in 16 Years, the Interest whereof is to sink the £29,000. & thereby a Tax is avoided, & by the length of Time allowed for paying in the £60,000 to be emitted on Land Security as aforesaid, it will hardly be felt by the Borrower; And tho' it is objected that this ought not to be made a legal Tender, Yet when it is considered if it was otherwise, it must by designing Men be unavoidably reduced in its value & quite render'd ineffectual;

And that by this same Act it is declared, and enacted that any Deficiencies (wch might happen) shall be made good by a Provincial Tax in the manner therein directed, it is presumed that having Land Security of double the value, & all deficiencies made good by a Provincial Tax it has virtually the same Basis as if it was only made Curr for 5 Years, and it is so much the better in the present Method as it is not to be sunk by a Tax or all at once, but by easy Installments respecting the £60,000; and the £29,000. to be sunk out of the low Interest of the s £60,000, and the Deficiency finally (if any) is to be made good by a Tax.

In short the difference between creating a Medium of Trade by a loan Act & that of an Act for Taxing the Inhabitants is this. That the One tends to render the Method of it entirely to the Ease and quiet of the People & yet answer in a great Measure y' purposes & Exigencys of the Governm' without being Injurious to any persons whatsoever; Whereas the latter Method will be exceedingly Grievous, distressing & well nigh if not quite insupportable & add to their affliction especially when there is such a great call & Demand for a publick Supply in this Time of the Calamity of War.

That your Memorialist humbly apprehends not any

one Merch or Gentleman whatsoever either British or North American attemping to oppose this Bill before yo! Lordships, is ye highest corroberative Circumstance of its Utility & Fitness.

And therefore prays that yo' Lordships will Report in Favour thereof under the present deplorable Circumstances of this Province they having a Number of Forces to maintain upon the Continent, and relying on the Kings paternal Goodness that such an Act might pass for their Relief.

London 2 mo. or Feb. 25. 1758.

RICH PARTRIDGE

Letter from John Reading, Acting-Governor, to Wil

S!

liam Denny.'

[From the original among the Manuscripts of William Nelson.]

BURLINGTON March y 10th 1758

The Inclosed Dispatches' are Duplicates of those sent to your Honour the sixth Instant which with two Letters directed to the Senior Captains of his Majesties Ships at Virginia and South Carolina were sent to me from Com'odore Durell to forward to the different

Deputy-Governor of Pennsylvania, August, 1756, to November, 1759.-[W. N.] 2 Circular from Secretary William Pitt to the Governors of Massachusett's Bay, New Hampshire, Connecticut. Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey. Whitehall. Dec. 30th 1757." Published in N. Y. Colonial Docs., VII., 339.-[W. N.]

Philip Durell, commissioned Captain in the Royal Navy, February 6, 1742; subsequently became Commodore, and in 1758 was dispatched to Halifax, to expedite the embarkation of the army against Louisbourg; and on the reduction of that place (in which the Navy rendered most effective and decisive service) he was made Rear-Admiral of the Blue, and left in command of the North American station. He was very active at Quebec, and in 1762 became Vice-Admiral of the Blue. He died about 1766.-[W. N.]

Governors on the Continent The[re]fore request the Care of your Honour to dispatch the same pursuant to their perticular directions

I am Your Honours

most obedient Hum! Serv

Jn. Fearing

The Honourable William Denny Esq

Letter from Governor Pownall, of Massachusetts, to

President Reading.

[From the original among the MSS. of G. D. W. Vroom.]

BOSTON March 11. 1758.

Sir:

Yesterday I received his Majesty's Orders to cooperate with the Forces of his Province of Massachusetts Bay, with his Majesty's Regular Forces in a general Invasion of Canada.

I recommended the Matter to the General Court, and the House have this day come to an unanimous Vote to raise a sufficient Number of Men for that Purpose, and then determined that the Number they would raise should be seven thousand Men.

It was thought proper that this Province should set the Example; We have set the Example; and I hope it will be chearfully followed by the other Governments without the least Delay, that we shall answer his Majesty's Expectations from Us, and that by the Blessing of God we shall Now be able to put an End to those Distresses which the Colonies have so long

suffered, and wholly to extirpate their barbarous and perfidious Enemies.

I do not send this to your Honor as a Circular Letter only, which as Governor of Massachusetts bay I have sent to the several Northern Governments to whom the R Honble Mr Secretary Pitts Letter was directed; But also as my Duty as L Governor of his Majesty's Province of New Jersey calls upon me, To recommend this Service to you & the Legislature of the Province in the strongest manner.

I am sir Your Honor's

Most obed & most humble serv't

T. POWNALL

The Honble Mr President Reading.

Letter from the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations to the Attorney and Solicitor General, inclosing Questions they wish answered.

[From P. R. O. B. T. Plantations General, No. 4, Ent: Book L., p. 138.]

To His Majesty's Attorney and Solicitor General Gentlemen.

I am directed by the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations to send you the inclosed Questions, and to desire you will take them into your consideration, and favour their Lordships with answers to them as soon as conveniently may be.

I am, Gentlemen, Your most Obed Serv
JOHN POWNALL. Secry

Whitehall
March 229 1758.

1st QUESTION. Whether a person born in any of His Majesty's Colonys in America, whose Father was a Subject of the Crown of Great Britain, but whose

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