The sun., 1890-09-14

vicissitudes with which previous historians
have been so largely occupied.
The first OF these volumes covers the ninety
three years between the landing Of the Pill
Rrims at Plymouth and the reace ut Utrecht.
There Is not one of its chapters. Or even Of Its
pages, which is not stored with curious and IL
luminative facts. One Is embarrassed to Sc
lect whore every paragraph seems worthy OF
selection. But since choice must be made.
we will conflne ourselves at this time to indi-
eating the role Of wampum in the early trade
OF the colonists. the development OF land COM
munication and maritime commerce; and the
manners, morals, and domestic life OF the New
EnRlanders at two several epochs, to wit, in
1860 and In 17l0.
We are indebted to Mr. weeden for demon
strating that for a long time the intercourse
between the Indians and the colonists was
more important In an economic sense than has
commonly been supposed. The native was
producer not only for himself but through his
surplus, for the white settler. In his furs he
furnished the chief stable OF exchange with
Europe but hs did moro than this; he supplied
corn and other food products to the colonists.
Moreover. he labored for the planters on tho
latters' farms-unsteadily, 1t Is true but such
help as he was willing to give was indispensa-
BILE. It Is also to be noted that at first con-
tact with the colonlsts benefited the Indian
from an industrial point OF view. sachem
would sell tract Of land for certain number
OF hoes. and according to Gov Bradford.
these iron implements, substituted for the
wooden spade or clam shell OF the squaws,
produced more corn on an acre and
yielded surplus for sale. Thus the Mar
rary ftC lad fn oil frpp, 70
1000 bushels nt q time. But for the trade
which soon sprung up medium Of ex-
change was needed, and the relative i'm
portance Of the parties to the CONNER
cial transactions Is indicated by the fact
that 1t was the money. not Of the
colonists but Of the Indians, which became the
common currency. The aboriRines Of New
England had true money in wsmpum. This
name was given to the white beads made from
the stems or inner whorls of a sea shell found
on all the south coast Of New England. When
strung they were called Udmpunl-pedoe. mean
ing strings OF white beads. Color was the basis
ofnomenclature as well as Of difference In value.
The black beads. which were called sackt and
were made from the dark part OF the common
QuahoE, or round clam shell. were generally
worth twice as much as tho white. These sholl
cylinders, black or white. were about one
ter Of an inch long. To bore these with stone
drill was the work OF q deft artisan. who ;then
had to polish them laboriously on stones. An
awl procured from the colonists was In course
OF time substituted for the atone drill. but the
process Of manufacture was still q slow and
nice one. and the New England Indians were
adept at DISTINGUISHING real wampum from
counterfeit. The beads. too. had to be perfect;
II broken they had to be sent to the New Neither
lands whore they passed at a slight discount.
What at first especially contributed to recon-
mend Wampum as q currency 10 the colonists
was the fact that 1t was exchangeable, or, so to
speak. redeemable in furs. and. above all. in
the highly priced skins Of the beaver. AS Mr..
Woedon puts It, wampum was the magnet
which drew the beaver out OF interior forests
and sent 1t to Europe, thus starting the re-
volving commerce between the New nnd the
Old World In calculating wampum, the unit
Of measure was theoretically string OF beads
fathom long but In practice the length va
rtod. After 1913 fathom was always worth
sixty ponce. but as the colonists received
beads sometimes at four and sometimes at six
0 penny. the number OF beads In u fathom
would vary from 240 to $50. We refer, OF
course. to white beads: the black beads were
ratod by colonial statutes at double the value
The strong hold upon colonial life secured by
Wampum is shown by long course Of leRisla-
ton respecting it In 1G4l Massachuse
made the shell beads legal tender at six a
penny uD to &lO. large sum In the transact
lions OF that date. Two years later the legal
tender limit was reduced to forty shillings At
This time wRmpum was universal currency.
exohRngeable for merchandise. for labor, and
for taxes. In 1641. when the trade In wampum
was farmed out In Massachusetts. the lessees
stipulated to redeem from Harvard College all
the accumulations OF peage. or string beads. In
Its treasury under E25. BY 1645 the inventories
OF deceased colonlsts commonly contained
Items OF peage and frequently thora was no
other money. Judgments OF the courts were
made payable in strings OF beads. It is inter-
esttnR to learn that In l648 process analogous
TO ocoinaRO was applied to wampum In Massa-
ehusettS. At President Dunster's suRRs jtion
1t was enacted that the beads should bo strung
In eight definite parcels: Id. 3d.. I'D. in white
beads; 3D.. 3D.. 2s. 3d.. and los. In black Taken
together. these parcels formed q complete as
sortment OF change or small coin.
About the date last mentioned. however, tho
circulation OF wampum began to decline. In
l649 Massachusetts statute prohibiting the
EeceiDt OF beads for taxes-a statute which be-
fore has besn inoperatiye-was reGnacted and
enforced. There were several causes for the
decline; for instance. labor had become better
organized and corn was more abundant
among the colonists; but the main cause was
the falling of In the supply OF beRverA The
eolonists would. In Mr. Weeden's opinion. have
received the beads as readily in 1850 as in
1910 II the same facility OF redemption in
beaver had existed for the continued use OF
WamDum as an accessory currency shows
that 1t was convenient and desirable. In the
remote dis,ricts OF New England wampum
still circulated in the beginning OF the eigh-
tecnth century. Madam Knight found wam-
pun CiAssed as money on the southern shore
0f Connecticut In l7O4. In 1893 the she'll beads
we're recognized In the definite rates Of the
BROOKLYN ferry. In summing up the signln-
eancS OF the use and disuAs OF wampum Mr..
WOsdHn formulates the following conclusions;
l. There WAS an intimate intercourse OF white
aud red mon during the first half century
which largely Increased the resources VI the
planters 2. The growing wealth and trRfio Of
the New England settlements were constantly
tOh1ing 70 throw on th0 bSada, and 70 subati.