the same, as we . . . shall hereafter ordain and appoint, and shall be agreeably to law; and that from and after the determination of the said term of twenty-one years, the governor of our said province of Georgia, and all officers civil and military, within the same, shall from time to time be nominated and constituted, and appointed by us

No. 28. Molasses Act

May 17/28, 1733

In the exchange of fish, lumber and agricultural products for the sugar, molasses and rum of the West Indies, the northern English colonies in America early found their most important and most lucrative trade. Moreover, it was by means of this trade that the money for the purchase of manufactured goods in England was mainly obtained. The adoption of a more liberal commercial policy by France, however, in 1717, enabled the sugar of the French West Indies to displace the British product in European markets, and to compete successfully in the markets of the English colonies; while the prohibition of the importation of rum into France, as a protection to the production of brandy, forced the producers of molasses in the French colonies to seek a market in New England and New York, where molasses, little produced in the English West Indies, was much in demand. The prosperity of the French colonies led to numerous protests from planters in the British sugar islands, and in 1731 a bill to prohibit the importation into Great Britain or the American colonies of any foreign sugar, molasses or rum passed the House of Commons, but was rejected by the Lords. The object of the bill was attained, however, by the passage, in 1733, of the so-called Molasses Act, by which practically prohibitory duties were imposed upon the beforementioned articles. The act was systematically disregarded by the English colonies, and remained largely a dead-letter. The Molasses Act was to continue in force for five years; but it was five times renewed, and by the Sugar Act of 1764 was made perpetual.

REFERENCES. Text in Pickering's Statutes at Large, XVI., 374-379. The act is cited as 6 Geo. II., c. 13. The best discussion of the act is in Beer's Commercial Policy of England (Columbia Univ. Studies, III., No. 2), chap. 6.

An act for the better securing and encouraging the trade of his Majesty's sugar colonies in America.

WHEREAS the welfare and prosperity of your Majesty's sugar colonies in America are of the greatest consequence and importance to the trade, navigation and strength of this kingdom: and whereas

...

the planters of the said sugar colonies have of late years fallen under such great discouragements, that they are unable to improve or carry on the sugar trade upon an equal footing with the foreign sugar colonies, without some advantage and relief be given to them from Great Britain: for remedy whereof. . . be it enacted That from and after . . . [December 25, 1733,] . . . there shall be raised, levied, collected and paid, unto and for the use of his Majesty. ..., upon all rum or spirits of the produce or manufacture of any of the colonies or plantations in America, not in the possession or under the dominion of his Majesty . . ., which at any time or times within or during the continuance of this act, shall be imported or brought into any of the colonies or plantations in America, which now are or hereafter may be in the possession or under the dominion of his Majesty . . ., the sum of nine pence, money of Great Britain, . . . for every gallon thereof, and after that rate for any greater or lesser quantity: and upon all molasses or syrups of such foreign produce or manufacture as aforesaid, which shall be imported or brought into any of the said colonies or plantations the sum of six pence of like money for every gallon thereof. . .; and upon all sugars and paneles of such foreign growth, produce or manufacture as aforesaid, which shall be imported into any of the said colonies or plantations.

...

a duty after the rate of five shillings of like money, for every hundred weight Avoirdupoize.

*

That from and after . .

IV. And be it further enacted [December 25, 1733,] . . . no sugars, paneles, syrups or molasses, of the growth, product and manufacture of any of the colonies or plantations in America, nor any rum or spirits of America, except of the growth or manufacture of his Majesty's sugar colonies there, shall be imported by any person or persons whatsoever into the kingdom of Ireland, but such only as shall be fairly and bona fide loaden and shipped in Great Britain in ships navigated according to the several laws now in being in that behalf, under the penalty of forfeiting all such sugar, paneles, syrups or molasses, rum or spirits, or the value thereof, together with the ship or vessel in which the same shall be imported, with all her guns, tackle, furniture, ammunition, and apparel. . .

That in case any

IX. And it is hereby further enacted . . sugar or paneles of the growth, produce or manufacture of any of the colonies or plantations belonging to or in the possession of his Majesty . . ., which shall have been imported into Great Britain after [June 24, 1733,] . . . shall at any time within one year after the importation thereof, be again exported out of Great Britain, . . . all the residue and remainder of the subsidy or duty, by any former act or acts of parliament granted and charged on such sugar or paneles as aforesaid, shall without any delay or reward be repaid to such merchant or merchants, who do export the same, within one month after demand thereof.

X. And it is hereby further enacted . . ., That from and after... [June 24, 1733,] . . . for every hundred weight of sugar refined in Great Britain . . ., which shall be exported out of this kingdom, there shall be, by virtue of this act, repaid at the customhouse to the exporter, within one month after the demand thereof, over and above the several sums of three shillings and one shilling per hundred, payable by two former acts of parliament, one of them made in the ninth and tenth years of the reign of his late Majesty King William the Third, and the other in the second and third years of the reign of her late Majesty Queen Anne, the further sum of two shillings, oath or solemn affirmation as aforesaid, being first made by the refiner, that the said sugar so exported, was produced from brown and muscovado sugar, and that as he verily believes, the same was imported from some of the colonies or plantations in America belonging to and in the possession of the crown of Great Britain, and that as he verily believes the duty of the said brown and muscovado sugar was duly paid at the time of the importation thereof, and that the same was duly exported.

Writ of Assistance

December 2, 1762

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IN 1755 a writ of assistance, granting authority to search for and seize uncustomed goods, was issued by the Superior Court of Massachusetts to Charles Paxton, surveyor of the port of Boston. Similar writs were issued in 1758 to the collectors at Salem and Falmouth, in 1759 to the surveyor-general,

and the collectors at Boston and Newburyport, and in 1760 to the collectors at Boston and Salem. By law the writs continued until the demise of the Crown and for six months thereafter. In 1761 the former writs, by reason of the death of George II., being about to expire, the surveyor-general, Thomas Lechmere, made application to the court for the grant of such writs to himself and his officers "as usual." On this application a number of merchants of Boston, and others, petitioned to be heard. The application was argued at Boston at the February term, Jeremiah Gridley appearing for Lechmere, and James Otis and Oxenbridge Thacher for the petitioners and against the writ. Judgment was suspended in order that the court might examine the practice in England. November 18, at the second term, the case was again argued by the same counsel, with the addition of Robert Auchmuty in favor of the writ. The judges were unanimous in their opinion that the writ should be granted, as prayed for, and December 2 a writ was issued to Paxton in the form following. March 6, 1762, a bill “authorizing any judge or justice of the peace, upon information on oath by any officer of the customs, to issue a special writ or warrant of assistance, and prohibiting all others," passed the General Court; but the governor, on the advice of the members of the Superior Court, withheld his approval. Writs of assistance do not appear to have been granted elsewhere in the colonies, except in New Hampshire; they were, however, legalized by the Townshend Revenue Act of 1767 [No. 38]. General warrants were condemned in England in 1766, but general writs of assistance continued to be issued until 1819, when an order of the Board of Customs practically abolished them.

In the manuscript from which the writ following is printed, the words in brackets are interlined, and those in italics erased. The writ was drawn by Thomas Hutchinson, the chief justice.

REFERENCES. - Text in Quincy's Massachusetts Reports, 418-421, where is also, pp. 395-540, an exhaustive examination of the whole subject by Justice Horace Gray. Otis's argument at the February term, as reported by John Adams, is in the latter's Works, II., 521-525; the second argument, in November, is in Quincy, ut supra, 51-57. The earlier accounts, especially those in Adams's Works, II., 124, note; X., 246-249, 274-276; Tudor's Otis, and Minot's Massachusetts, must be read in the light of Gray's notes, above.

Prov. of
Mass. Bay

SEAL

GEORGE the third by the grace of God of
Great Britain France & Ireland King
Defender of the faith &c.

TO ALL & singular our Justices of the peace
Sheriffs Constables and to all other our
Officers and Subjects within our said
Province and to each of you Greeting.

KNOW YE that whereas in and by an Act of Parliament made in the thir[four]teenth year of [the reign of] the late King

Charles the second it is declared to be [the Officers of our Customs & their Deputies are authorized and impowered to go & enter aboard any Ship or Vessel outward or inward bound for the purposes in the said Act mentioned and it is also in & by the said Act further enacted & declared that it shall be] lawful [to or] for any person or persons authorized by Writ of assistants under the seal of our Court of Exchequer to take a Constable Headborough or other publick Officer inhabiting near unto the place and in the day time to enter & go into any House Shop Cellar Warehouse or Room or other place and in case of resistance to break open doors chests trunks & other package there to seize and from thence to bring any kind of goods or merchandize whatsoever prohibited & uncustomed and to put and secure the same in his Majestys [our] Storehouse in the port next to the place where such seizure shall be made.

AND WHEREAS in & by an Act of Parliament made in the seventh & eighth year of [the reign of the late] King William the third there is granted to the Officers for collecting and managing our revenue and inspecting the plantation trade in any of our plantations [the same powers & authority for visiting & searching of Ships & also] to enter houses or warehouses to search for and seize any prohibited or uncustomed goods as are provided for the Officers of our Customs in England by the said last mentioned Act made in the fourteenth year of [the reign of] King Charles the Second, and the like assistance is required to be given to the said Officers in the execution of their office as by the said last mentioned Act is provided for the Officers in England.

AND WHEREAS in and by an Act of our said Province of Massachusetts bay made in the eleventh year of [the reign of] the late King William the third it is enacted & declared that our Superior Court of Judicature Court of Assize and General Goal delivery for our said Province shall have cognizance of all matters and things within our said Province as fully & amply to all intents & purposes as our Courts of King's Bench Common Pleas & Exchequer within our Kingdom of England have or ought to have.

AND WHEREAS our Commissioners for managing and causing to be levied & collected our customs subsidies and other duties