History of Taxation in Rhode Island to the Year 1790

Notes.

1. Gneist, Hist. of the Eng. Const., Vol. 1, p. 34.

2. Wilson, The National Budget, p. 10:

In the year ending March 31, 1886, the net receipts from domains, forests, &c., were only £380,000, out of a total revenue of over £89,000,000, but it is interesting to notice that even now by the ordinary revenue is understood "the old hereditary property of the king, the original property of the state, which belongs to the king independently of any vote of Parliament," while by extraordinary revenue is understood "the income derived from direct taxation, customs, and excises granted by vote of Parliament," Gneist, Hist. Eng. Const. II, 346-7.

3. Wilson p. 7:

The earliest taxation was on land only. Taxation of personal property was introduced by the Saladin Tithe in 1188. It was the introduction of a poll tax which led to the Wat Tyler rebellion of 1381. The first permanent tax was the hearth money tax imposed in 1663. Much the greater part of the taxes are now permanent.

4. In early times the fines were apportioned among those whose neglect had caused the fine i.e. the freeholders with freeholdings, including houses and profitable rights, as the basis of assessment. (Gneist, Hist. Eng. Const. I, 375, 376.) The system now becomes the household (whether freehold or not) "according to the scale of the visible profitable property in the parish." (Ib. II, 212.) The act itself reads that the overseers of the poor shall have power to raise the necessary funds "by Taxation of every inhabitant, Parson, Vicar and other, and of every occupier of Lands, Houses, Tithes impropriate, Propriations of Tithes, Coal Mines or saleable Underwoods in the said Parish, in such competent Sum and Sums of Money as they shall think fit."

5. No tax was ever levied in support of religion. The colony as a whole seems to have neglected education. In 1640, however, Robert Lenthall, school teacher and minister, was granted 104 acres of land by Newport, and 100 acres was appropriated for a school "for encouragement of the poorer sort." Arnold's Hist. of R.I., Vol. 1, p. 145. Providence also later made some provisions for education.

6. Providence, Portsmouth, Newport and Warwick, founded between 1636 and 1642, were perfectly independent with full powers of self government until united under what is known as the Patent in 1647. This independent character of the towns is brought out in W. E. Foster's Town Government in Rhode Island--John Hopkins University Studies, Fourth Series.

7. R.I. Col. Recs. I, 27-31.

8. Among the entries under the first day of which we have record is an order for the appointment of a treasurer for the "expending of the Towne's stock." (R.I. Col. Recs. I, 13) Some months later it is provided that any one more than a quarter of an hour late at a town meeting shall be fined 1s. 6d. (ib. p. 15) An entry under the second year shows that payments had been made for lands received by new comers, and like payments are ordered to be made by future comers, but the amounts are illegible. (Staples' Annals of Prov., p. 23) In 1661, Roger Williams in speaking of the year 1638, says it was agreed that every person admitted to "injoying landes" should pay 30s. to the common stock (R.I. Col. Recs. I, 23) And in the articles of government in 1640, it is provided that every one received as a townsman shall make the same payment (ib. 30) The same provision is included in the plan for a new settlement proposed by Roger Williams (ib. 40)

9. At Portsmouth the charge was 2s. per acre (R.I. Col. Recs. I, 56)

10. In 1638, a fence was ordered to be built "the charge to be borne proportionally to every mans allottment." (repealed). In the same year two treasurers are chosen; it is ordered that the highways be repaired and that a prison be built both to be paid for out of the treasury. A land subsidy for building a mill is granted and in 1643 a town watch is ordered to be kept every night, also to be paid for out of the treasury. (R.I. Col. Recs. I, 53, 57, 58, 59, 78.) Still more interesting is the appointment of four men for the venison trade with the indians. These "truck masters" are forbidden to give more than three half pence a pound, "a farthing for each pound being allowed to the treasury" (Ib. 63) Every inhabitant was ordered to be provided with one musket, one pound of powder, twenty bullets, two fademes of match, sword, rest and bandeliers, (Ib. 54) On another occasion every man was ordered to have by him four pounds of shot and two pounds of powder. (Ib. 77)

11. The treasurer was directed to pay to the secretary for service done £19 and 10 acres of land, and to the sergeant £6. In another instance he is ordered to make a payment of £57 2s. 4d. (R.I. Col. Recs. I, 90, 95) There is no evidence of the payment of the judge and elders, who were both executive and judicial officers.

12. R.I. Col. Recs. I, 87: This is the first statement (if we except the payment according to allotments ordered at Portsmouth, which was repealed. See above Note 10.) which we find of a principle that could serve as a basis of taxation. Another entry which might point either to payments for lands or taxes is "It is ordered that such as shall bring in their acquittances from the Treasury to the Judge and Elders shall have their Lands recorded." (ib. p. 99). That payments for land were required would seem clear from an order of the General Court of the inhabitants of Portsmouth and Newport, after the union of the two towns, directing the "Treasurer to make demands for all such monies as are due to the Treasurers for the Lands assigned forth to particular men." (ib. 103)

13. R.I. Col. Recs. I, 122: The order directs "that the three shillings a day allowance be taken off from the Officers." The "Officers" might imply that all offices were paid, but there has been no mention of payment except to the secretary and sergeant. It is not unlikely that the magistrates received fees in their judicial capacity.

14. A committee appointed to examine and balance the accounts of the treasurers reported that £111, 3s. 4d. was due from the treasury of Newport. The frequent examinations of accounts which are ordered also show that financial matters are increasing in importance.

15. R.I. Col. Recs. I, 125.

16. This interruption was caused by William Coddington, a citizen of Newport, who obtained from the Council of State in England a grant to govern the islands of Rhode Island and Conanicut, with a council of six men named by the people and approved by himself. The grant was repealed in Oct. 1652, but mutual jealousies kept the towns apart till the date given.

17. Government under the Patent was marked by extreme decentralization. At first all legislative powers remained with the freemen of the towns; the committee could merely propose measures and declare the decisions reached by the freemen. The committee, however, tended to become the legislative body and was regularly established as such on the resumption of the government in 1654. (R.I. Col. Recs. I, 276 et seq.)

18. No solicitor was elected after 1684.

19. This continued until 1747. Arnold Hist. of R.I. II, 157.

20. There are several instances of laws imposing fines of from £1 to £10 for refusal to bear office. A man could not be compelled however to bear office for several years in succession. In 1659, an assistant who had been elected several times was excused from further service, and a law of 1665, imposing a fine of £5 on constables for refusal to serve, provided that the same man should not be elected more than once in three years. By act of 1672, no man need serve as a deputy for two courts in succession. More than this, a town law, "declared all the inhabitants, though not admitted freemen, liable to be elected to office," (Staples Annals of Prov. p. 118) By act of Assembly in 1670, any person judged capable of holding public office might be elected a freeman whether he desired it or not. (R.I. Col. Recs. II, 357).

21. The only legislative officers under the Patent who received any pay were the commissioners from the towns, who were allowed 3s. a day payable by the towns, with a double fine for absence (R.I. Col. Recs. I, 307). No salaries appear to have been paid under the charter for the first few years. In 1666, (R.I. Col. Recs. II, 167) 3s. a day was granted to all who served in the general assembly or colony court of trials (except such as had stated fees), payable in the former case by bills receivable for taxes in the town of the holder and in the latter case out of the general treasury. The fine for non-attendance was double the pay. In April, 1672, these salaries were increased, but the increase was repealed the next month, and in November deputies wages were fixed at 2s. a day, payable by the town, with a fine of £1 for non-appearance at the assembly or £2 in case there was no quorum, for an assistant in the latter case the fine was £5. (R.I. Col. Recs. II, 443, 456, 473) By acts of 1664 and 1666, a like fine had been imposed on magistrates absent from the court of trials in case of no quorum. By act of 1680, (R.I. Col. Recs. III, 87) magistrates and deputies were to be paid out of the general treasury at the rate of 7s. a week. Perhaps this was a substitute for the act of 1679. This comprises all the legislation in the records on the subject. There seems to be some doubt as to the extent of the action of these laws. Arnold (Vol. I, 532) says "Salaries had occasionally been paid to the civil officers, but most of the time public service had been performed gratuitously." In any case the imposition of fines for non-attendance must have gone far to make the system self supporting.

22. The sergeant in particular was a considerable source of expense. Several times as late as 1664, we find taxes of from £5 to £25 levied for the payment of his bills, and an act of 1673, recites that the inhabitants have been "greatly oppressed and grieved" by the sergeant's "great wages" and that henceforth he shall receive but 3s. a day for attendance in the general assembly, and simply his fees at the court of trials, instead of "great fees at the Court of Tryalls, and four shillings a day, alsoe" as heretofore.

23. A law of 1670, (R.I. Col. Recs. II, 361) provides that for rates formerly or now ordered the treasurer shall have one shilling in the pound for all he receives in provisions, but nothing for what he shall receive in money or for any fines now due the colony, "and what charge he shall be at he shall be allowed for that besides." In 1671, (ib. 385) it is ordered that for all (in money or other pay) that the treasurer has received during the last, or shall receive during the coming, year he shall be allowed twelve pence on the pound. An audit of 1681, speaks of the treasurer's commissions as 5%. An audit of the accounts of the treasurer under Andros show that the commission was 10%, and this rate seems to have been continued after the reestablishment of the colonial government. In the case of the tax levied in 1679, the towns are ordered to pay the treasurer's salary in addition to the tax, but as a rule his commission seems to have been deducted from the receipts.

24. Later the colony, in some instances, made grants to meet the expenses of certain of the roads and bridges of more than local importance.

25. R.I. Col. Recs. I, 222.

26. Ib. 288.

27. This is shown often in the wording of the laws; for example, in the salary law of 1666. (see p. 97 Note 21) the treasurer is ordered to make payment "out of those monies which either by fine, forfeiture or otherwise, are brought into the Treasury," and in the act granting diet and lodging in 1679, (see ib.) the expense is to be met out of "the fines and forfeitures due to the Collony." Taxes are not specified as a source of revenue. The audit reports entered in the colony account book show the same thing. The decentralization which marked the government under the Patent is seen in the order "that the Publick Treasurer shall only receive such fines, forfeitures, amercements and taxes, as fall upon such as are not within the liberties" of the four towns. (R.I. Col. Recs. I, 197). An act of 1656 (Ib. 334) provides that all "fines that are committed about ye Generall Courts, as of juriemen, &c., shall all returne and belong to ye Generall Treasurie." And in general it was the fines imposed in the colony courts that were the most fruitful sources of revenue.

28. R.I. Col. Recs. I, 223: The towns of Providence and Warwick were to have each one barrel of powder, five hundred pounds of lead, six pikes, and six muskets. Portsmouth was to have two barrels of powder, one thousand weight of lead, twelve pikes, and eighteen muskets; Newport, three barrels of powder, one thousand weight of lead, twelve pikes, and twenty-four muskets.

29. A tax of £24 was levied for this purpose in November, 1658, and in the following May another of £50 (R.I. Col. Recs. I, 395, 416). It is not quite clear whether or not the second was meant to include the first.

30. Three years later the order had not been complied with. Newport however had a prison under way. This was adopted as the prison of the colony and the other towns were ordered to contribute to the cost. The portion of the law ordering cages to be built was repealed.

31. The claims of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Plymouth included practically the whole territory of the colony. The claim of Connecticut up to the bay on the west was not settled until 1703, and the claim of Massachusetts (which had succeeded to the Plymouth claim) up to the bay on the east was not settled until 1746.

32. None of this tax was paid for some years, and the whole amount was never received by Williams (See his letter to the town clerk of Providence, Jan. 1680-81, printed in the Narragansett Club Publications, Vol. 6, p. 400) Contributions (amounting it was claimed to £200) seem to have been taken up in Warwick and Providence to send Williams on his second agency (See R.I. Col. Recs. I, 234, & II, 78), but he was obliged to sell his trading house in Narragansett to support his family during his absence (Arnold I, 239), and he seems to have been compelled to support himself by teaching while in England (Arnold I, 251). As he himself expresses it he was "left to starve, or steal, or beg or borrow." (Letter to Providence R.I. Col. Recs. I, 351). He was also obliged to sell several islands in the bay owned by him to meet his expenses incurred on his journeys to England (Arnold I, 105). Clarke seems to have supported himself in part by preaching and other means. (R.I. Col. Recs. II, 79)

33. It was first attempted to raise the necessary amount by contribution (R.I. Col. Recs. I, 443). About £40 seem to have been secured this way. Those who had contributed were allowed to set off their contributions against their part of the rate.

34. Does not seem to have been fully paid Oct., 1663. (R.I. Col. Recs. I, 506)

35. This tax was collected with the greatest difficulty. Hardly any of it seems to have been paid for several years. A "great part" remains unpaid in October, 1669, (R.I. Col. Recs. II, 288) and we find measures taken for its collection in certain places as late as May, 1671. (R.I. Col. Recs. II, 380-3). In October, 1666, (ditto II, 183) it is mentioned that "several persons" are "yett behind" in former rates.

36. Westerly had contributed £65 and was excused from the tax. In May, 1671, (R.I. Col. Recs. II, 380 et seq.) a great portion of this tax had not been assessed.

37. This was the first percentage tax. In May, 1674, "under severall pretences few or none paid." (R.I. Col. Recs. II, 521). Some are also behind in former rates, (ditto 522). So far as shown by the colony account book, the receipts from this tax amounted to but a few pounds.

38. In May, 1679, several towns had not assessed the rate. (R.I. Col. Recs. III, 33) An audit in July, 1681, shows that £108 6s. 10d. is due on this and the rate of 1680, a considerable portion of the deficiency being for the present tax.

39. The sum was paid down by Stephen Arnold, who was guaranteed by the notes of several other persons who in turn were to be paid out of the tax. In June, 1681, certain of those who had given their notes to Arnold petition for relief, from which it is evident that the tax had not been paid. The delinquent towns are ordered to pay.

40. For delinquency in payment see notes 38 and 41.

41. The colony account book shows the receipt of but £59, 13s. 10d. up to September, 1686, from the deficiency of £108, 6s. 10d. (Note 38) and the present tax. More may have been received for the accounts were left in an irregular manner, and the custom of offsetting debts due from the colony against rates may have prevented some payments being recorded at all. On the other hand it was in the summer of 1686, that the colony forfeited its charter so that it would not be strange if the taxes due were not collected.

42. I have been able to find no trace of this tax in the colony records, but such a tax seems to have been ordered by Andros throughout his whole jurisdiction, and it is mentioned as levied in Staples Annals of Providence, p. 177.

43. This tax as assessed in Providence amounted to £37 12s. 3d. of which £14 was poll money, giving the number of polls assessed as 178. The number of separate property assessments was 144. In the rate of £120 levied in the same year Providence paid one sixth of the whole. Using this as a basis of calculation the penny in the pound and poll tax would have amounted to about £225. The other penny in the pound taxes do not seem to have yielded quite so much. The three perhaps yielded about £600.

44. R.I. Col. Recs. I, 104-5. Herdsmen or lightermen detained on their necessary employment were subject to a fine of only 2s. 6d., and farmers might leave one man at home subject to the same penalty.

45. R.I. Col. Recs. I, 153: Provision was also made for archery. Every person above seven years of age was required to be supplied with bow and arrows and to practice shooting. (Ibid 186)

46. R.I. Col. Recs. I, 372: In 1673, those also were exempted who could not fight without violating their conscience. A concession to the Quakers, but the abuse to which the law was subject led to its repeal a few years later.

47. The arms required by the act of 1647, were "a musket, one pound of powder, twenty bullets, and two fadom of match, with sword, rest bandaliers all completely furnished." By act of 1665, in addition to his arms each man must be furnished with two pounds of powder and four pounds of lead or shot. (R.I. Col. Recs. II, 117). Under the law of 1677 the requirements were one gun or musket, one pound of powder, and thirty bullets (Ibid 570). The act of 1665, speaks of the burden on the poorer citizens in keeping their arms in repair, and ammunition on hand, and provides that to meet these expenses nine shillings a year in current pay shall be paid to each enlisted soldier, the necessary amount to be levied by rate. No future law makes any mention of such payment and service was probably as a rule without recompense.

48. We have of course no accurate records of the number of the population at that time. From the data which we do have however it is probably safe to say that when the four towns came together in 1647, the colony contained less than one thousand inhabitants, and that the number gradually increased until at the end of the period, it amounted to between four and five thousand. The royal commissioners reported in 1665, that the "Colony hath its scattered townes upon Rhode Island, two upon the maine land, and four small villages" (R.I. Col. Recs. II, 129). By 1678 the towns had increased to nine, at which number they remained for many years. Certain parts of the colony, as the island and some of the country in the south and to the west of the bay (the Narragansett country) seem to have been very fertile. Say the commissioners above quoted "In this Province also is the best English grasse, and most sheepe, the ground very fruitfull, ewes bring ordinarily two lambs, corn yields eighty for one, and in some places, they have had corne sixe years together without manuring." The industry of the colony at this period was wholly agricultural and tended to stock and dairy farming rather than to the raising of grain. Indeed the colony seems on some occasions to have been dependent on its neighbors to supplement its own supply of the latter article. The colonists seem to have been comfortably off, without either great wealth or great poverty. In Providence estates were of small size (a few acres), life was on a very humble scale, the inhabitants enjoying only the real necessities. On the island estates were also small in size but there was more wealth, and the Narragansett country a few years later saw the growth of large stock farms and plantations, sometimes five, six, or even ten square miles in extent, managed by slave labor. Perhaps the condition of the colony as a whole during the period from 1647 to 1689, is best summed up in the words of Governor Ward in a letter to the Board of Trade many years later, "for, although we were not rich, yet poverty was a stranger among us, till the year 1710." An excellent picture of the early economic development of Providence can be found in Dorr's "Planting and Growth of Providence," published as No. 15 of the Rhode Island Hist. Tracts. A description of the "Narragansett Planters" is given by Mr. Edward Channing (Johns Hopkins University Studies, Series IV, No. III). Not only were the people of that time lacking in wealth according to the standard of today, but the organization of their economic life was entirely different from that we now know. Each family possessed a sufficiency of land, but produced only enough to meet the current needs of the household. There was no chance for saving, investment and accumulation; there was no adequate money system. All this would make a tax fall much more heavily than under our present conditions. Another circumstance that added to the burden was that taxes were not levied continuously, a small amount each year, but in considerable amounts, at intervals of several years. The colony suffered greatly at the time of Philips war. Warwick and a large part of Providence were destroyed, the inhabitants taking refuge on the island. All these considerations must be taken into account in the endeavor to form a judgment of the burden of taxation during the period.

49. In the letter from Roger Williams to the town clerk of Providence, already mentioned (note 32) he says that taxation in Rhode Island is far lighter than in any other colony. He also mentions that the charter cost about £1,000, while that of Connecticut cost £6,000. The letter itself is a plea for the more prompt payment of rates.

50. R.I. Col. Recs. II, 505.

51. Ibid III, 13.

52. Ibid III, 162.

53. That these loans or contributions were often only for a few pounds is expressive of the poverty of the treasury. The occasional reports entered in the colony account book give us some idea of the financial transactions of the colony at this time. The amount entered as due the colony from May, 1672, to May, 1673, was £33, all from fines (£8 from jurors fines), of which £23 12s. had been received. In August, 1673, there was reported due £64 14s. 4d. for rates and fines unpaid between 1664 and 1670. The amount expended from May, 1672, to August, 1673, was £21 6s. 3d. for jury dinners, provisions for the general court (wine and brandy), for transportation of public officers, for books for the treasurer, for capturing a prisoner, for support of prisoners, for hanging prisoners, for messengers to and from Plymouth. The audit committee in August, report £137 6s. due from the colony. The receipts entered from October, 1673, to May, 1675, are £125 9s. 10d. of which £95 is specified as coming from fines, and £3 12s. from rates (the farthing in the pound rate of 1673), the remainder not being specified. This may not be the amount actually received, but rather what was known to be due the treasury, for the amount entered as expended between May, 1672, and April, 1677, was £101 2s. 3d., the most important items being as before jury dinners. (£7 1s. 8d.) criminal matters (£ll 16s. 6d.), carriage of public officers (£2 11s.), general sergeant (£23 1s. O.) general recorder (£17 11s.) The committee to audit the accounts of Peleg Sanford whose term of office as treasurer was from May, 1678 to May, 1681, reported payments amounting to £392 1s. 9d., largely for surveys made in the Narragansett country, expenses in connection with the boundary line, and other expenses similar to those previously mentioned. In the greater part of the payments, however, only the name of the person paid and not the purpose is given. Some of these payments may have been on account of expenses in connection with the war. Fines form a principal element of the receipts, but the principal item was £299 13s. 2d. from the taxes of 1678 and 1680. The expenditures entered between September, 1681, and September, 1686, amounts to only £82 0s. 11d. largely for jury dinners and payments to the sergeant and recorder. The audit of the accounts of the treasurer under Andros show nominal receipts of £213 6s. 8d. from taxes, and expenditures of £232 7s. 1d, the principal items being the court houses and the bounty on wolves, the purposes for which the taxes were laid, and payment of the sheriff. (£18 4s.).

54. One of the complaints made against the colony by Bellemont in 1699 was, "They raise and levy taxes and assessments upon the people, there being no express authority in the charter for so doing." (R.I. Col. Rec. III, 386). Article IV, Sec. 10, of the present constitution provides that "The general assembly shall continue to exercise the powers they have heretofore exercised, unless prohibited in this constitution," but makes no more definite grant of the right to tax. It would seem that this right has never been specifically granted to the assembly.

55. The separation took place in 1696, Arnold I, 533.

56. During the early years of the colony there were several outlying districts (Block Island, Conanicut, and certain districts which afterwards became Kingstown and Greenwich) not yet incorporated into towns. For those places assessors were generally appointed by the general assembly, collection was by the general sergeant. By 1678, however, these places had all attained to the dignity of towns.

57. R.I. Col. Recs. I, 306: If any person refused to assist an officer in gathering rates he was to be fined ten shillings.

58. R.I. Col. Recs. I, 227: Those individuals that did not pay their tax within twenty days were to be liable "in Generall, and each man in particular x x to the penealtie of the forfeiture of ten pounds," imposed by the court of commissioners upon the town for failure to pay its quota. Both of these provisions are also found in the act ordering that the magazines be supplied in 1650. (Ibid 223)

59. In the act ordering the erection of prisons in 1655, the assembly chose three men to make the rate in each town except Newport, for which four were chosen. Each town was empowered to add to the number, or to substitute others for those chosen. These same men were to have the charge of building the prisons. (R.I. Col. Recs. I, 311). The several acts in regard to the rates of 1662 and 1664, do not prescribe the machinery of assessment and collection except where extraordinary measures are adopted as a result of non-payment. In other cases it is simply ordered that the inhabitants of the towns meet and assess the rate. It does not seem probable that a full town meeting would undertake to apportion a rate. It is more likely a committee of assessors would be appointed for the purpose. The law of 1665, providing for the military assessment orders the appointment of men to make the rate. An act of October, 1670, directs each town to choose a convenient number of persons to make the rate ordered the June before. After 1678, the records of Providence show that the election of assessors was customary. They were elected for each tax. It was not till well into the next century that assessors became regular town officers.

60. It is probable that in the earlier years each individual was his own collector, the constable being sent for the rate only on failure to pay. Before long, however, the constable must have become practically the collector. A law of June, 1684, provides that all future rates shall be gathered by the town constables who were to be allowed two shillings on the pound for their services, and to forfeit double their fees in case of neglect (R.I. Col. Recs. III, 162)

61. R.I. Col. Recs. II, 510.

62. Taxation according to "strength and estate," as it usually reads, is the almost unvarying form in which these early colonists expressed their idea of equality in taxation. It would be difficult to find a better expression.

63. Payment however must be made in what may be kept in a store house three months without damage.

64. This is explained as follows, "or that is accordinge to tenn upon the hundred a yeare forbearance". This and a like reference further on in the text would seem to show that it was ten per cent interest which was to be charged on rates not paid when due and that the usual rate of interest was five per cent.

65. The only case before the time of Andros was the farthing in the pound tax levied at the time of the passage of the law. Very little seems to have been received from this tax. The following provision of the law may afford some explanation. "All rates to be paid in country pay, accordinge to price of wooll twelve pence a pound; and to vallue their estates according as it would be worth to pay a debt in old England." It was added by way of explanation at the next session, "every penny of English money to be the value of four pence here." From other laws &c., it appears that the English pound sterling was only a little more than twice as valuable as the pound of "country pay" so that a valuation at the rate of four to one would be an undervaluation. And again, wool was usually received in payment at six or seven pence a pound so that payment at the rate of wool twelve pence a pound would be payment in a depreciated currency.

66. It should be noted however that the magistrates were also members of the councils of the towns in which they lived.

67. It was a common thing to make the rate makers, whether appointed by the town or the assembly, responsible for the rate in case it was not made. The same is true for the constables and sergeants in case it was not collected. The reasons for the non-payment of taxes seem to have been political rather than economic. All through this period, particularly in the early part, the central government, as we have said, was weak and the colony was torn by dissensions. There does not seem to have been entire harmony between the main land and the island, and it was in the main land towns and outlying districts that the greatest difficulty was found in collecting taxes. Warwick protested strongly against paying her portion of the £600 tax to pay Clarke in 1664, (R.I. Col. Recs. II, 78) claiming that most of the time Clarke had been merely the agent of the island. If the tax must be levied, the town prayed that it might be levied on the Indians who had intruded on their lands and stolen their goods, or by "just fines and amersements, layd upon such in the Collony as have not only gone about, but allso have betrayed the Collony." This tax was not collected in Warwick for six or seven years. There were also internal dissensions in the towns themselves, particularly in Providence where the opposing parties seem to have been of nearly equal strength. In 1641, the inhabitants of Pawtuxet, an outlying district of Providence, submitted to Massachusetts jurisdiction and was not permanently reunited to Rhode Island until 1658, (Arnold I, 111). Until 1703 the conflicting claims in Narragansett country continued to interfere seriously with the exercise of jurisdiction in that country, sometime rendering it altogether impossible. Another cause which rendered collection difficult was the custom of offsetting debts due from the colony against rates. One of the provisions enacted at the same time with the sedition act was "neither shall any persons plea that the Collony is in his debt, be of any force or offset to his or their said rate on that pretence, untill the end be answered for which the rate is or shall be made." Similar acts were passed on many other occasions. Nevertheless offsetting rates against debts was customary and the practice is authorized by a general law of 1684. (R.I. Col. Recs. III, 165)

68. R.I. Col. Recs. II, 438: The act speaks of "a covetous or ffactious and mallicious sperritt appeeringe in sundry townes and places of this Collony; who oppose all or any rates, and thereby prevailinge, by their deluded adherents in overpowering the more prudent and loyall partys in such towne and place, to the frustration of the most necessary and needfull ends for which such rates are levied."

69. Arnold I, 356.

70. It does not seem quite clear whether this provision means merely that each town should be represented, or that each town should have its full representation. Arnold (I, 365) thinks the latter. When the tax of 1673 was levied no deputies are recorded as being present from New Shoreham (Block Island) or Westerly. The great distance in the one case and the interference of Connecticut in the other, rendered attendance from those towns very uncertain and may have caused their absence to be necessarily disregarded. Only five deputies from Newport and one from Warwick however are reported as "engaged." This would make it seem doubtful if a complete representation was actually required. An act of April, 1678, (R.I. Col. Recs. III, 6.) repealed this act of 1672, and provided that the general assembly should consist (as provided in the charter) of the governor or deputy governor with six assistants, "and soe many of the freemen as shall be elected in each respective towne, x x x or the major part of them then present," who should have to make laws and levy taxes, provided however that no tax should be levied without notice given to each town, that the "townes may accordingly by their representatives give their due attendance." A year later the restriction was removed and the assembly resumed its old powers. (R.I. Col. Recs. III, 53).

71. Arnold II, 502: Under the Andros government (in the case of the per centage taxes and the £120 tax ordered in December, 1688) a return seems to have been made to the system of assessment by town councils. A copy of a warrant, dated July 20, 1687, from John Usher, treasurer and receiver general of his majesty's revenue in New England, to the constable and selectmen of Providence is preserved among the papers of the historical society. The constable is ordered to call a town meeting for the choice of a "commissioner" who, with the selectmen, is to make a list of all males over sixteen and "a true Estimation of all reall & personall Estates," as provided in the act of Andros and council, and then to assess a poll tax of 1s. 8d. (members of his majesty's council exempt) and a property tax of a penny in the pound. The commissioner was then to meet with the commissioners of the other towns of the county (Rhode Island), when as a body they were to "examine x x & correct & perfect" the rate lists according to the true meaning of the act and transmit the result to Usher, together with the names of the constables in each town to whom warrants for collection were to be issued. I have not been able to find the act of Andros and his council here referred to, but it seems to have included the provisions contained in the warrant and also a table of values at which the different kinds of property were to be estimated. It is in these taxes levied by Andros that we first meet with the poll tax which was soon to become a part of the regular system of taxation adopted by the colony.

72. These proceedings are to be found in the town records Vol. III, p p. 12-15. A table of values such as that given in the text was not always adopted when a rate was to be levied, but the rate of assessment seems often to have been left to the discretion of the assessors. In the case of the £160 rate of 1684 a committee was appointed to "Consider what lands may be deemed Rateable." The committee report "That all Meadowes & Orchards & all other improved lands what so Ever it is yt is inclosed, is Rateable, and as for Cattell, That all Sorts of Cattell upward of a yeare old are Rateable," but no table of values is reported. The number of assessors varied from three to five. They were prominent men of the community and there was a tendency to reelect the same individuals for the service. In a list of twenty-two assessors appointed between 1678 and 1687 there are only eleven different individuals.

73. The following is the account of the rateable estate of Daniel Abbott, like Whipple a prominent citizen. "My house & Land at home, & yt in ye neck that seem to be fenc't, and ye 3d part of a share of meddow in my Custody wth ye demolished orchard of Tho. walling. 2 Cows, one of them farrow, a of 3 yeares & vantage steers one horse, & one Maire 5 poor swine and as oe household-things you may be pleased to vew them yorselves, we have but one poor bed of or owne Saith Daniell Abbott Memoorand a yoak of oxen yet." An entry on the back of this list shows that about 290-1/2 acres of land had been laid out to Abbott, more than the usual amount it would appear. Much of it was probably wild land. An entry in the colonial records (II, 415), in 1671, shows us also the character of property at the time. The inhabitants of Westerly petitioned the assembly to send thither persons to take an "inventory of their personal estate." The assembly accordingly delegated certain persons to "take an exact inventory of the personal estate of each inhabitant, consisting either of house, household stuff, goods, cattle, horse kinde, or any other chattels whatever."

74. "The first grand period of Rhode Island history, the formation period, was ended. The era of domestic strife and outward conflict for existence, of change and interruption, of doubt and gloom, anxiety and distress, had almost passed. The problem of self-government was solved, and a new era of independent action commenced". (Arnold I, 519)

75. The exemption was granted in 1690. (R.I. Col. Recs. III, 274). It would seem to be uncertain how long it lasted as in 1707 (Ib. IV, 24) a law is passed exempting the "Governor x x x; his dwelling house" and its conveniences from taxation during his term of office. The other legislation during the period in regard to the payment of public officers was as follows. In 1698, the governor's salary was increased to £30 and, in 1701, to £40. In addition the assembly in many years voted him a gratuity, amounting sometimes to as much as his salary. In 1695 deputies were allowed, apparently out of the general treasury, 3s. a day, with a double fine for non-attendance. In 1698, the towns were ordered to pay the deputies, but in 1703 it was again ordered that they be paid out of the colony treasury. On account of the increasing revenue the treasurer's fees were reduced to one shilling in the pound in 1698, and to six pence in 1705. Before 1702, the agents were inhabitants of the colony, sent over to England by the assembly. In that year Penn, then in England, was intrusted with the interests of the colony. He employed for the purpose a solicitor, William Wharton, at £40 a year. In March, 1708-9, the assembly granted Wharton £30 a year additional for past services, to cover expenses, and appointed him agent for the future with £80 a year salary.

76. It seems to have been intended to send the money to aid other colonies. In July, 1695, the rate was to a great extent uncollected, however, and none of it seems to have been applied to the purpose intended. With the exception of the May and June sessions of 1691, and August, 1692, no records of the assembly are known to exist, for the period October, 1690, to July, 1695.

77. During this period however the colony seems to have run into debt, which was defrayed out of future taxes.

78. The loose way in which the treasury accounts were kept does not permit us to show exactly how much of the revenue went for each of these objects. It is possible to make an estimate of some value, however. After the governor's salary had been increased to £40, and including the special grants frequently made to him, the payments made to the legislative and executive officers amounted, probably, to about £150 a year. The payments made to agents for the period 1695-1710, were probably not far from £1,000. The whole cost of the civil government, including the support of the agent, seems on the average not to have exceeded £500 a year. It was probably under rather than over that amount. The remainder were military expenditures, the most important being on account of the expeditions of 1709 and 1710.

79. This census is included in a report, containing quite a full account of the condition of the colony, sent by Governor Cranston to the Board of Trade in reply to their inquiries (R.I. Col. Recs. IV, 56). It probably cannot be depended on for accuracy, and would seem to be rather an under estimate. Some years before the militia, which is here given at 1362, had been estimated at 2,000. This however was doubtless too high.

80. This law had principally to do with the administrative side of taxation. It was doubtless established by custom that all property was taxable. The tax law as it stands on the statute book today is hardly more than administrative; as in 1703, everything is supposed to be taxable, except what is specially exempted.

81. A committee was appointed to draw up a law for valuing lands and cattle, and if upon examination it was found that any town had been overrated a rebate was to be allowed to it out of the next tax. The committee reported the present law sufficient, and the only additional legislation at this time was a grant to the magistrates to "regulate anything appearing defective" in the law, and the provision that the treasurer of each town should be regarded as the deputy of the general treasurer.

82. R.I. Col. Recs. III, 300. The magistrates were ordered to call town meetings "with all expedition for choice of the "three men." It was further ordered "that there be a Commissioner chosen in each town, to meet with the men that shall be chosen in each town, to assess the said rate of two pence per pound, and to adjust the proportions, and sign with each Committee, and return the same to the General Treasurer." It will be remembered that there was a tax officer with a similar title at the time of the Andros government (note 71), His duties were different from those of the present commissioner. In fact it is difficult to see how the latter differed from the other three men referred to. The number of assessors does not seem to have been definite. In the case of the penny in the pound tax of 1695, the towns were to choose "two or three" men and the following year they were to choose as many as they should see fit. In the case of both taxes in 1695, tables were adopted stating the amount of tax to be collected on certain kinds of personal estate, not the valuation of the estate as in the table given on page 22. The following is the table adopted for the penny in the pound tax:

Oxen, four years old and upwards, at three pence per head	00 00 30
Steers, three years old, and all cows at two pence per head	00 00 20
All two year old, a penny per head	00 00 10
All three year old, at half penny per head	00 00 01
All sheep at one year's old and upward, at five pence per score	00 00 50
All swine above a year old at a half penny per head	00 00 01
All horses and mares above three years old, at three pence per head	00 00 30
All two years old horses and mares, at one penny per head	00 00 10
All year olds, at a half penny per head	00 00 01
All negro men servants, per head	00 01 80
Negro women servants, per head	00 00 100

It is evident that the property in the above table is taxed on its value and not on the yearly profit and, in want of further information, it would be unsafe to infer that the provision for taxing lands, houses, and trademen according to profit was intended to introduce anything in the nature of an income tax. What evidence we have tends to show that the tax was assessed not on profits, but on the value of the property, in determining which value the yearly profit was probably the most important consideration.

83. The best account of the commerce of the colony is to be found in the report to the Board of Trade in 1708, already referred to. (note 74) The land on the island had been well taken up by this time and the younger generation in that part of the colony was betaking itself, in the words of the report, "to trades and callings," especially to navigation for which their situation so well fitted them. Twenty-nine vessels were now owned in the colony in place of the four or five of twenty years before, and all but two or three were owned in Newport. Ship building also became an important trade, no less than eighty-four vessels having been built in the colony from 1698 to 1708. Direct foreign trade existed with the Bermudas, the West Indies, Madeira, Fayal and Curacoa, the colony sending out lumber, beef, pork, dairy products, horses, cows, onions, cider, rum, and, sometimes money, and receiving in return sugar, molasses, cotton, ginger, indigo, pimento, rum, English goods, Spanish iron, brasalleta, wines, salt and cocoa. Some of these articles, together with the products of the colony, were taken to all the coast colonies to the South who gave in return, rice, pitch, tar, turpentine, valuable woods, skins, flax, pork, grain, and rigging. With England the colony had no direct trade but received most of its English goods through Boston, paying for them in dairy products and money. It was estimated that £20,000 in cash was annually sent to Boston on this account. It is evident that the colony had entered upon a new phase in its economic development.

84. The records of Providence do not show but the provision was complied with.

85. The poll tax as we have seen was introduced under Andros, but does not seem to have been assessed since his fall. It must be remembered that the present act was not a general law (see p. 33). How the law of October, 1699, (note 88) may have affected this question we do not know. The law of January, 1703-4, is chiefly administrative and makes no mention of a poll tax, and it would hardly seem to fall under the law of May, 1704. (Note 90). It seems probable on the whole that the poll tax was not as a rule assessed. The wording of the law in 1707, exempting the governor from taxation might seem to imply that a poll tax was assessed, (see note 75)

86. Indians had been exempted as early as 1672. (R.I. Col. Recs. II, 436)

87. For this law see R.I. Col. Recs. III, 343, et seq. If those appointed to take account of estates neglected the work they were to be fined twenty shillings.

88. The most important of the modifying laws seems to have been passed in October, 1699. It is referred to as the model law in subsequent acts assessing taxes before January, 1703-4. This law is unfortunately not preserved in the records, but references go to show that it did not essentially modify the administrative features of the law of the previous year. By act of August, 1702, any assistant or justice neglecting his duty under the act was made subject to a fine of £20.

89. For this law see R.I. Col. Recs. III, 484, et seq. The likeness to the present law is seen still more fully in some of the details of administration which have not been changed since that time. Later some of the towns seem to have been divided into districts and constables assigned to, and held responsible for, each district. The fine imposed on an assessor for neglect of duty was 40s.

90. R.I. Col. Recs. III, 501. The oath was as follows: "You A.B., do, on your solemn engagement, hereby declare the accounts and list as you present of your estate, is the whole and true account of all your rateable estate, as to your knowledge you know of (or is in your care and custody), and this you declare to be the truth, and nothing but the truth, upon the perill of the penalty of perjury". The same act declares that what is rateable estate shall be known by the act of 1698. That act contains on the subject only what is given in the previous pages. I have unfortunately found no return of estates by individuals for this period, but there is no reason to suppose it different from what it was before or after; that is, it included everything with the possible exception of clothes and necessary household furniture.

91. There were some three or four such returns ordered in all and severe penalties were sometimes enacted for neglect. Complaints against the apportionment among the towns do not seem to have been frequent, though there are one or two instances of dissent on record.

92. As earlier, the difficulty was political rather than economic. There seems to have been in the colony at this time a party, how strong it would be difficult to say, in sympathy with the efforts to curtail the charter privileges. There were also disputes between the towns as to boundaries, while the colony dispute with Connecticut was not settled until 1703. In 1700 the sheriff while attempting to collect a tax in Westerly was carried off to Connecticut. It is worthy of note in connection with this difficulty of collection that the severity of the penalty seems to have had little influence. The assessors or collectors were not infrequently made responsible for the whole tax in case of neglect, but taxes were not promptly collected until government had become firmly established and could rely on the united support of the people. When it was strong enough to enforce the penalties, the necessity had passed away. In the copy of the laws sent to Bellemont in 1699, the sedition act (see page 20) seems to have been included, though repealed nearly thirty years before. The act was again repealed in March, 1702.

93. The first mention of the constables fees for collection which I have seen was in 1684, and allowed two shillings on the pound. As long as this lasted collectors' fees alone eat up ten per cent of the tax, but by the law of January, 1703/4, the fees were reduced to one shilling. Assessors were paid by the day, the amount varying from two to five shillings. The act just referred to placed it at two shillings and six pence, and a law of 1705 provided that no rate maker should charge for more than three days. The most full and detailed statement of loss on the articles in which taxes were paid, is in the accounts of the treasurer under Andros. It was as follows: Loss by 935 bushels of corn and rye £20-0-10, by 9 ferkins of butter £1-12-1. Twelve bushels of corn had been sold and delivered but no payment had been made. In addition there were the following expenses and losses: Freight £5-3-4, warehouse room for 1300 lbs. of wool £1, turning corn ten or twelve times 18s., "275 lbs. of wool taken out of my house £9 3-4." "Money taken out of Major Goulding's house £32-10-0." As the total receipts did not exceed £230 it will be seen that expenses and losses eat up a good part of the revenue. They were in this case probably far larger than usual, but they must always have been considerable in amount, while no satisfactory money existed, in quantities sufficient for the needs of the community.

94. R.I. Col. Recs. III, 357, et seq. The proceeds of the tax were to be for the poor, highways and bridges. It was indeed a town and not a colony tax.

95. R.I. Col. Recs. III, 421, et seq.

96. R.I. Col. Recs. III, 438.

97. The amount received as stated in the report on the treasurer's accounts in 1711, was £2,032-19-2. The amount outstanding on bonds given for land was £1,523-17-5. Arnold (Vol. II, p. 37, Note) says that the report of a committee, subsequently made, shows that £3,795-15s.-10d. was received at the rate of about 1s. 6d. per acre.

98. In 1709, four ferries were leased for seven years at an annual rental of £4. This is the last record that I find of any payment made to the general treasury. "Leases" were afterwards spoken of, but these seem to refer simply to grants of the right of ferriage, bonds being required for the observance of the law in regard to ferries. In 1748, the colony purchased two of the ferries but does not seem to have been successful in its enterprise and sold them again in 1750.

99. In 1837, Mr. E. R. Potter published a pamphlet entitled "A brief Account of Emissions of paper money made by the Colony of Rhode Island". It has been reprinted with additions in the "Historical Sketches of American Paper Currency" (first series) by H. Phillips. This little work contains about all the facts which are accessible, including the reports made to the General Assembly, and much that relates to Massachusetts and Continental money. In 1880, it was reedited and enlarged by Mr. Sidney S. Rider, and published as number eight of the Rhode Island Historical Tracts. Mr. Rider has added an almost complete list of the fac similes of the various issues, but has omitted other portions which are of more value to the economic student.

100. Provision was made for sinking these bills by an annual tax of £1,000, (R.I. Col. Recs. IV, pp. 100, 106, 150) The law however does not seem to have been vigorously enforced and in some instances the taxes collected were diverted to other purposes than that intended. Five payments of this annual tax are entered on the credit side of the treasurer's accounts, the last being in 1715. In that year the first bank was issued and the sinking annually of £1,000 of the earlier bills was one of the purposes to which the interest was to be applied. The provision was not carried out. No further taxes for the purpose seem to have been collected. From the manner of keeping accounts at that time, it is not quite clear whether those taxes entered as received in the treasurer's books had been actually received in full. Up to 1715, only £1,102-8s. 6d. had been burnt. As regards the legal tender character of this and future issues there seems to be some uncertainty. The bills of the first issue of £5,000 emitted in 1710, read "This indented bill x x x shall be equal in value to money, and shall be accordingly accepted by the general treasurer and receivers subordinate to him, in all public payments". The law as printed in the colony records (Vol. IV, p. 96) makes no further reference to the subject of tender, but, as printed in the Digest of 1744, (p. 43) enacts that the bills "shall be received and paid for the same value and equal to the current Coin passed in this Colony, for Goods or any other thing bought or sold in all Payments to be made whatsoever; (Specialties only excepted)". In the other issues of 1710 and 1711, it is provided in some cases that the bills shall pass in "all Payments", in other cases that they shall pass in "all publick Payments" as the bills of the first issue do. The bills of the bank emitted in 1715, were declared to be of the same tenor as those of former issues, but in the same year there was passed an act "making public bills of credit of this colony, to be lawful pay, on tendering the same for all bonds and specialties." This caused so much opposition that in the following year it was repealed and the act declared to extend "to no other bonds and specialties that what mention current passable bills of credit of this colony, or of any of the governments of New England." (R.I. Col. Recs. IV, 210) The other bills emitted up to 1740, were "of the same Tenor" as those previously issued. The act emitting the bank of 1740, declares the bills equal to silver at 6s. 9d. per ounce and that it "shall be accordingly accepted by the Treasurer, and the Receiver thereof, in all Payments." (Dig. 1744, p. 230). In the following year 6s. 9d. of this "new tenor" was declared equal to 27s. of the previous issues or "old tenor", and a sufficient tender for the same in all payments. Courts of Justice were to govern themselves accordingly. (Dig. 1744, p. 237). Subsequent issues until 1750, were in accordance with these acts. The most severe of the laws to enforce circulation was passed in connection with the issue of March, 1750. (Digest 1752, pp. 86, 99). The act recites that the depreciation of the bills of credit is due to "illegal Practices" in "offering from time to time, for Gold and Silver, and Bills of Exchange, for Sterling Money," larger sums in bills than was stated in the acts of emission. The new bills were declared equal to silver at 6s. 9d. per ounce--to 16s. "new tenor" and to 64s. "old tenor". Any person who should receive or pay bills of credit at any higher rate for gold, silver, or bills of exchange, was to be fined £50 in the new bills. In case of suits for money due (specialties excepted) the courts were to make their judgments in accordance with the above values. Clerks of courts were forbidden to issue execution or process on any judgment in favor of any person until such person should make oath that he had not violated the above law. No person could enter a public office without taking the same oath. Foreigners coming into the colony to trade were required to take the same oath under penalty of £50. In August, 1751, (Acts and Laws of Rhode Island 1745-1752, p. 104), probably in accordance with the act of Parliament already referred to, it was provided that in all debts which should come due, for every sixty-four shillings appearing to be due in old tenor, sixteen shillings in new tenor, and six shillings and nine pence in the present bills, the debtor should pay as much in any of the afore-mentioned bills as should at the time be worth one ounce of silver sterling.

101. The expenditure for the year ending June, 1718, was £818-3s.-3-3/4d. The more important items were as follows:

Public buildings (court house and jail)	£206-0-0
Salaries (including £20 for gunner)	180-0-0
Bounties on wolves	62-10-0
Cost of revenue (treasurers' fees)	54-8-4
Agent	66-19-4
Weybosset bridge	30-0-0

The items however vary very much from year to year. The payment for the wolf bounty is in this year unusually large. In several years the cost of printing and loaning the paper money is considerable. In the year 1715, the expenditure for that purpose was about £300. The growth of the colony necessitated the erection of colony court houses and jails. Before 1729, however, there were only two counties, the number being increased to three in that year, and the buildings required were of a very primitive kind costing as a rule considerably less than £1,000. The fort was a considerable item of expense; it was rebuilt so as to be able to mount sixty guns though not much more than half that number seem to have been supplied. Previous to 1739, £6,000 in bills were issued to meet the expenses of the fort, and, in the case of several of the banks, the fort is mentioned as one of the purposes to which the interest is to be devoted. In 1739, the assembly ordered the erection of a brick colony house at Newport, which from the treasurer's accounts appears to have cost over £20,000. The agent remained a considerable source of expense. Among the papers in the state house at Providence is preserved the itemized account between the colony and its agent for the period 1715-1746. The amount transmitted to the agent during that period was £4,562-15-10 sterling and there was a balance due of £438-15-5. The agent's salary was only £40 per annum. The principal expense was incurred in opposition to the "molasses act" which passed parliament in 1733, and in connection with the boundary dispute with Massachusetts. The agent also made some purchases of military stores for the colony. Some of the agent's charges throw an interesting light on the character of political methods in England at this time. "To money given Lord Presidents and other Noblemens Servts. when I waited on them Sundry times about the committees report x x 6-1-6." Another charge is for a fee given at the Board of Trade "on the Report for Stores, being in our favor 21-0-0". In 1720, also the colony sent a special agent to England at an expense of over £800 in paper money. As regards salaries, I have found no legislation in regard to that of the governor subsequent to what has been already mentioned. (Note 75). The treasury reports show that after 1711, it was customary to grant £100 a year. He also received gratuities from time to time, in some instances as large as his salary. In 1729, he received £200 in recompense for all services and in 1731, £300. The Colonial Records show that like grants were made in 1732, 1736, and 1744. Douglass (in his Summary) writing about 1750, says that the governor's salary was then £300, and that with perquisites it did not exceed £1,000. The only explanation of "perquisites" which I have found is by an act of October, 1732, (Digest 1744, p. 169) by which the governor is allowed 5s. for each commission signed, and for taxing Bills of cost 2s. 6d. He also seems to have enjoyed a share in prizes. About 1715, it became customary to grant the deputy governor £20 for his year's service. In 1722, his salary was fixed at £30. Like the governor he was frequently granted a gratuity, sometimes as large in amount as his salary. In 1736, and 1744, he is allowed £50 and Douglas states his salary as the same as that of the governor. A law of 1721, granted the assistants a salary of £10 and the deputies 6s. a day, the latter to be paid by the towns. By an act of 1746/7 this law was repealed and these officers remained without pay. By law of 1729, the treasurer was given a fixed salary of £100 which was doubled two years later. Gratuities were sometimes granted for the labor entailed by paper money. He was required to give bonds in £20,000. No other officers received a stated salary. The payments made to them out of the treasury were sometimes comparatively large, those made to the secretary in some instances being from £100 to £200.

102. The population at the periods named was as follows, 1730, 17,935; 1748, 32,773; 1755, 40,414; 1774, 59,707. According to the report made by the governor to the Board of Trade in 1740/1 over one hundred and twenty vessels were owned by inhabitants of the colony, "all constantly employed in trade, some on the coast of Africa, others in the neighboring colonies, many in the West Indies, and a few in Europe." Accompanying this economic development we find a rapid progress in wealth as shown in the great increase of comforts and the introduction of luxuries, and a greater diversification of industries. Many persons in the middle of the century left personal estates of from £1,000 to £2,000 in value aside from all real estate. An excellent and detailed account of this development may be found in Dorr's Planting and Growth of Providence. R.I. Hist. Tracts, No. 15.

103. These bills were termed "new tenor" in distinction from the former issues or "old tenor." One shilling of new tenor was declared equal to four shillings old tenor. Acts and Laws 1744, pp. 226, 230.

104. At the time of this issue an ounce of silver was declared equal to 6s. 9d. of the new bills, to 16s. new tenor and 64s. old tenor. Acts and Laws 1745-1752, p. 99.

105. In the case of Bank IX repayment was to be made in five annual installments, interest to be paid until the last installment (Ibid 85). To what extent the interest from these loans was the only source of revenue can be seen from the following table. The first column states, for the period given, the average annual amounts received from interest bonds as shown by the treasury books, and the second column the total receipts for the same periods, exclusive of money issued to the treasurer to exchange torn bills. The amounts are all given in old tenor value.

1716-1728	£1,999	£2,118
1729-1731	3,984	4,082
1732-1733	6,817	6,853
1734	12,000	12,108
1735-1738	10,000	10,249
1739-1741	15,000	15,004
1742-1743	13,200	(1739)
1744	8,200	Direct issues of money and receipts from taxes, loans, &c. render interest money a comparatively unimportant source of revenue after 1739.
1745-1748	14,600
1749-1751	9,000
1752-1754	18,251
1755-1762	11,851
1763	9,841
1764	7,111
1765	4,741

The above sums do not include £2,000 emitted in 1728 for use on the fort. Portions of the bills emitted to exchange torn bills seem to have been turned from that purpose to meet ordinary expenses. In June, 1726, £46,634 were emitted to exchange £5 and 40s. notes, but only £30,383 seem to have been applied to that purpose. (See report of 1739, given in Potter's history.) This seems to be the only important instance.

106. These figures are taken from a report made by Governor Ward to the Board of Trade (R.I. Col. Recs. IV, 8). It is stated in the same report that the then value of paper money in silver was 27s. per ounce. The value of sterling silver is reckoned at 5s. 3d. per ounce. On this basis the sterling value of the £340,000 would be £77,777, instead of £88,074. If we estimate the population at 25,000 this would give a nominal per capita debt of £13 12s. or in sterling £3 2s. or £3 5s., according to the estimate which we adopt, a large amount in either case. Redemption, it must be remembered however, was to be accomplished not by taxation by repayment of loans on the part of the citizens. There is reason to believe the actual amount outstanding exceeded £340,000. We must also add about £12,000 (nominal) of bills not loaned but issued directly from the treasury and redeemable only by taxation. (See text and succeeding note)

107. The first bank expired in 1728 and repayment by ten annual installments should then have begun. In 1732, £1,066 was due on the second installment, and none of the third was accounted for (R.I. Col. Recs. IV, 476). In some instances persons had neglected altogether to give tenth bonds, as they were called. In 1741, there were five hundred and forty-nine suits on bonds and mortgages in six towns in Providence County. In 1742, one thousand and forty more suits were instituted. The aggregate amount of the latter being only £3,880, which would show that the bonds were taken up in small quantities. (Rider's edition of Potter, p. 56). An examination of the accounts of the grand committee which had charge of these banks shows approximately the amounts (old tenor value) outstanding at the dates given. The second column shows the amounts legally outstanding:

August, 1749	£ 459,000	£ 420,000
March, 1750/1	426,000	360,000
February, 1753	398,000	302,000
August, 1759	218,000	120,000
August, 1762	129,000	48,000

In these statements bank IX which amounted to £237,000 old tenor is not included. All loans should have been repaid in 1767, but a report of May, 1770, shows that £92,615-15-7 was still outstanding. These figures of course do not show the exact amount of the bank money in circulation, but the amount of loans unpaid. Between 1770 and 1775, there is record of £95,144 old tenor burnt.

108. There are several points not clear in this report. In the first place it does not agree with the report of 1739, which, from a comparison with the yearly treasury reports, I believe is correct. The present report places the amount of bills issued to supply the treasury before 1739, at £106,300, and the amount burnt before that time at £88,329. In the second place it states the amount of the bills to supply the treasury, issued between 1739 and 1749, as £206,000 (old tenor value) whereas the records and treasury reports show £219,600. If we adopt the report of 1739, to that date, and rely upon the records and treasury reports after that period we have the following result.

Bills issued to supply the treasury previous to 1749	£ 336,611	old tenor value.
Burnt during same period	194,429

Outstanding January, 1749/50	142,182
Of which there were in the treasury	24,891

In circulation	117,291	per cap. of population £3 11s.
Sterling Value at 11 to 1	10,663	per cap. of population 6s. 5d.

These bills must be redeemed by taxation. There were also actually outstanding probably from £430,000-£440,000 of bank money, of sterling value of about £40,000. Adding these amounts we should have a nominal per capita debt of £16 15s. sterling £1 10s. 7d. Douglas in his Summary (p. ) estimates outstanding bills (old tenor value) of the colonies in 1745, as follows:

Massachusetts	£2,466,612
Connecticut	281,000
Rhode Island	550,000
New Hampshire	450,000

A committee petitioning the king against further issues in September, 1750, places the amount outstanding at £525,335. (R.I. Col. Recs. V, 312)

109. In addition to the taxes specifically levied for continental purposes the state before June, 1779, has paid to the U. S. out of state taxes £30,000 in accordance with the requisition of congress made in November, 1777. The £6,000 tax in May, 1781, was to redeem one sixth of the new continental money issued by the state. £8,640 of the tax of June, 1783, was appropriated to pay interest on the United States debt. Of the tax of June, 1784, one fourth was to be paid in United States interest certificates, and £12,147-6-4 was appropriated to meet a requisition of congress of the previous April. The whole of the tax of June, 1785, was afterwards appropriated to pay the interest on the national debt. But little coin seems to have been received, taxes probably being paid in evidences of debt. Two facts should be remembered. 1. These taxes, particularly those assessed after the close of the war, were not promptly paid. 2. The war expenditures of the state itself were regarded as national expenditures, the accounts between the state and the central government to be settled in the future.

110. Rhode Island bore more than her share of war expenditures see p.

111. In the volume of acts and Laws published in 1730 (p. 42) appears a law providing that rates should not be applied to any other purpose than that for which they were levied. Several special enactments to this effect had been passed during the previous period.

112. Volume of Acts and Laws, 1744, p. 219. Peddling from house to house had at first been subjected to a tax and finally forbidden altogether in 1728. A law of 1750, made it lawful for the assessors in any town, on notice from two freeholders, to enquire into the quantity of European goods sold by Foreign traders, and assess them "at their Discretion according to the Largeness of their Trade," for the use of the town. The assessor not complying was discharged from office. This law stands in the Digest on 1767 (p. 243) except that the limitation to "European goods" is omitted.

113. Volume of Acts & Laws published in 1744, p. 295.

114. The three points to be noticed in this law are: 1. the assignment of fixed and uniform values to the more important kinds of personal property; 2. the evidence of the beginning of the development of intangible species of personal property; 3. the use of the tax machinery to encourage the growth of mercantile pursuits.

115. The Digest of Laws published in 1767, contains no mention of the poll tax, but, as has been said, its assessment was usual. In the case of some taxes assessed before 1767, no poll tax was mentioned, and in some cases when mentioned the amount was not specified. It is probable however that the poll tax had become an established part of the town assessment. The limit of age varied in the earlier acts but finally settled as above stated. The only exemptions were in the case of settled ministers of the gospel, except during the Revolution when the exemption was extended to officers and men in the regular army or naval service. In the tax act of February, 1780, the assessors were empowered "to consider the circumstances of the Poor, in their respective Towns, and exempt from the poll tax such as they think unable to pay the same." This provision was re-enacted in every tax act until the poll tax was repealed in 1808. In several of the tax acts during the Revolutionary period the towns were empowered to fix the poll tax at such sum as they should see fit.

116. Page 219.

117. Schedules March, 1769, p. 2.

118. Schedules June, 1782, p. 27.

119. They first appear enumerated among the regular town officers in the Digest published in 1767. As a matter of fact they seem to have come into existence some years earlier.

120. Schedules p. 79.

121. Real Estate in Rhode Island enjoyed peculiar privileges and does not seem to have been included in property, liable to action by distraint, unless by special enactment. The first law in regard to lands owned by non-inhabitants, was passed in February, 1747. (Acts & Laws 1745-1752, p. 47). It merely recites the difficulty of collecting taxes on such lands, used only to grow grass, hay, or corn, which was carried away once a year and authorized distraint on the goods and chattels of the owner or occupant, corn, hay, or grass, within the same county where the lands lay. In September, 1757, (Schedules p. 62) it was provided that unimproved lands owned by non-residents might be sold for non-payment of taxes. In 1767, the same provision was applied to unimproved lands owned by non-residents, when not inhabited, and in October, 1782, (Schedules p. 16) it was extended to all lands owned by non-residents. An act of May, 1777, authorized the collector to sell the wood and stone on any unimproved land, the owner whereof resided in another town and neglected to pay the tax assessed. (Schedules p. 44) After the evacuation of Rhode Island by the British there were many persons in the island towns possessed of considerable real estate but very little personal property. In case the latter was not sufficient to pay the tax on the real estate, the collectors were authorized to sell so much of the real estate as might be necessary to pay the tax. (Schedules May, 1781, Sec. Sess. p. 61.)

122. Schedules June, 1756, p. 40.

123. Schedules August, 1763, p. 65. Any town neglecting to pay was to suffer a fine of double the amount of the tax. Ib. p. 65.

124. July, 1781, p. 6.

125. See tax law in Digest of 1767.

126. Schedules October, 1769, p. 69.

127. Schedules November, 1782, p. 26.

128. Collectors who made distraint were ordered to settle accounts with the town treasurers once a month (Dec. 1781). Debts due from Great Britain which do not seem to have been taxed during the war were declared subject to taxation (June, 1784). One of the dangers of an unsound financial system is shown in the order forbidding collectors to pay to the general treasurers taxes, collected by them, in orders on the state treasury, purchased by the collectors for a sum below their face value. (May, 1785). To avoid careless methods of accounting collectors were ordered, if required, to lay before the town treasurer once in fourteen days a clear statement of the taxes committed to them to collect, showing that taxes had already been paid. (June, 1788)

129. $4,224,178 in our present money.

130. I have been able to find no returns under this act, nor any further mention of the act itself. It does not appear in the volumes of Acts and Laws published in 1730, and subsequently.

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