210 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY. 



lend iu Massachusetts the public bills which they thus secured at a higher 

 rate of interest than tliat charged bj the Colony, so that they iu turn 

 made a profit. The privilege of obtainiug shares iu these loans com- 

 manded a ready sale at a premium. Douglass quotes the premium on 

 the privilege to subscribe to the £100,000 loan in 1738 at 35 per cent. 

 To all of this the people of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay had 

 to submit, through the obstinacy and stupidity of the traders, who in- 

 sisted upon giving currency to the Rhode Island bills. 



The rate of silver should naturally have gone in 1748 above seventy 

 shillings, but the belief that the expenses of the Cape Breton expedition 

 would be reimbursed must have held it in check. Certainly this must 

 have been the case after the passage of the Act in January, 1748-9, 

 providing for the future redemption of the bills, if the coin should be 

 received by the Province, in settlement of the claim for reimbursement. 

 Furthermore, this Act contained arbitrary measures for the prohibition of 

 the circulation of the bills of the other governments, and this ajrain had 

 a tendency to reduce the silver rate. 



The addition of another line to the diasi'am, showinof the volume of 

 the entire currency in circulation, including the contributions of the other 

 governments, might perhaps have added to its interest. It will not be 

 difficult, however, to make use of the figures heretofore given to obtain 

 an approximate result of this sort. In its present shape, the diagram 

 brings forth vividly the peculiar condition of this Province, just prior to 

 the inflation under Shirley, when suffering vicariously for the sins of 

 Rhode Island. The Province had responsibilities enough of its own to 

 bear in this connection, and it is well that so much of the burden as can 

 be lifted shall be deposited where it belongs. 



