The Rise of Manufactures. 135 



export of gold and silver to Great Britain, and the recall of the 

 New England bills of credit which had been issued to defray 

 the expenses of the late war, they desired to establish a bank of 

 credit on land security. The main purpose of the scheme, as 

 stated in the petition, was to better enable His Majesty's sub- 

 jects in New England to cultivate and improve naval stores, 

 and to take ofif in greater quantities the manufactures of Great 

 Britain, — suggestions admirably calculated to prejudice the 

 Board of Trade in favor of the plan. Nevertheless, the land 

 bank did not meet with approval.^ 



New England was on the verge of financial ruin. The mer- 

 chants had drained the province of coin and now complained of 

 the increasing scarcity of money. The period of inflation cov- 

 ered, roughly, the first half of the eighteenth century. The 

 following table- (of Boston exchanges) will serve to indicate 

 the rapidity of the depreciation of paper currency, which had 

 been issued originally to pay for the Canadian expeditions in 

 the late war, and which continued to be received and held at 

 par by main force, until it was redeemed in specie paid over to 

 Massachusetts by Parliament for the ransom of Louisburg. 



1702. /133 exchanged for ^100 sterling. 



1705 135 " " 100 



1713 150 " " 100 



1716 175 " " 100 



1717 225 " " 100 



1722 270 " " 100 



1728 340 " "100 



1730 380 " " 100 



1737 500 " " 100 



1741 550 " " 100 



1749 iioo " " 100 



^This attempt to establish a land bank resulted in a fierce pamph- 

 let war in Massachusetts. Its failure is attributed to the unpopu- 

 larity of private banks at this time. A similar scheme was proposed 

 in 1740. Failing of government support, its originators launched 

 their project at their own risk; but the bank was declared illegal by 

 Act of Parliament in 1741. The subject of land banks in Massa- 

 chusetts has been discussed in detail by Andrew McFarland Davis in 

 the "Quarterly Journal of Economics" for Oct., 1896, and Jan., 1897. 



^Sumner, "History of American Currency," p. 38. In 1700, ac- 



