A history of the American people . the Spanish armed cutters were put on the coasts themore effectually to stop it. A vice-admiralty courtwas set up to condemn the cargoes seized, without ajury. The duties were to be rigorously collected andthe trade broken up, for the sake of the sugar growers of the British WestIndies and mer-chants in London. If New Englandcould no longersend her horses,cattle, lumber,casks, and fish tothe French islandsand the SpanishAlain, and bringthence, in exchangefor them, sugar andmolasses, she mustlet her ships rot atthe wharves andfive thousand of he
A history of the American people . the Spanish armed cutters were put on the coasts themore effectually to stop it. A vice-admiralty courtwas set up to condemn the cargoes seized, without ajury. The duties were to be rigorously collected andthe trade broken up, for the sake of the sugar growers of the British WestIndies and mer-chants in London. If New Englandcould no longersend her horses,cattle, lumber,casks, and fish tothe French islandsand the SpanishAlain, and bringthence, in exchangefor them, sugar andmolasses, she mustlet her ships rot atthe wharves andfive thousand of herseamen go idle andstarve; must seekelsewhere for a mar-ket for her chief products; could make no more rum withwhich to carry on her home trade in spirits or her trafficin slaves on the slave coast; must forego her profitsat the southern ports, and go without the convenientbills drawn on exported Virginian tobacco wherewithshe had been used to pay her debts to the London mer-chants. For thirty years and more it had been under-144. j> A*njy -fcT~ JAMES OTIS THE PARTING OF THE WAYS stood that the duties on that trade were not to be col-lected; but now, of a sudden, the law was to be carriedout by armed vessels, writs of general search, and thesummary proceedings of a court of admiralty. In 1764Mr. Grenville had drawn the lines tighter than ever by a readjustment of duties. That meant ruin; and theStamp Act was but thelast touch of disposition of the min-isters seemed all the moreobvious because of the ob-noxious Quartering Actwhich went along with theStamp Act. They wereauthorized by Parliamentto quarter troops in thecolonies, and by specialenactment the colonistswere required to providethe troops with lodgings,firewood, bedding, drink,soap, and candles. There were other causesof irritation which touchedthe colonists almost asnearly. In 1740 the Massachusetts assembly had setup a Land Bank authorized to issue notes based uponnothing but mortgages on land and p
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