Early New York Paper- Currency. 



43 



coins were taken and paid in any of the British colonies in 

 America ; also of the amount of paper bills issued in any 

 of said colonies since the year 1700, the provisions made 

 for sinking them, and the amount canceled : to which 

 resolutions, the commissioners of trade and plantations 

 responded, 1 laying before parliament returns quite full? 

 which had been received in answer to inquiries, from 

 eleven of the colonies. 



The proceedings excited the attention of most of the 

 provinces, and their agents in London were instructed to 

 petition the house of commons for a hearing in the matters 

 referred to, and to use their best endeavors to procure the 

 postponement of any unfavorable bill. The subject was 

 temporarily disposed of by declaring that the instructions 

 of his majesty, and the laws of parliament, regarding the 

 rates of foreign coins in the plantations had not been 

 observed. The instruction was renewed not to allow any 

 bill to pass, whereby bills of credit might be issued in 

 lieu of money, without a clause inserted declaring that the 

 act should not take effect until approved by the king. 



It has been already noticed that these instructions were 

 not strictly enforced in the colony of lew York, and the 

 same was probably true in respect to other colonies ; ac- 

 cordingly in 1744 the complaint was renewed that large 

 emissions of bills of credit had been made, notwithstand- 

 ing the ''instructions," and that more were intended. 

 Whereupon leave was granted to bring in a bill to prevent 

 the issuing of paper bills of credit in the British colonies 

 and plantations in America, to be legal tenders in payments 

 of money, which bill having had its first reading was in- 

 definitely postponed. 



No public measures were taken in the general assembly 

 of New York to controvert these proceedings in parlia- 

 ment, but her interests were nevertheless well cared for. 

 It had been rumored in the assembly before the conclusion 



1 March 28, 1740. 



