The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1895-06-27


already grooming under the weight of taxes that
the French and Indian war caused them. the
King conceived the idea of taking his subjects
in the colonies to support these troops. Previous
to this, however, the laws that forbade the
colonies to trade with no country except Great |
Britain, were now to be enforced, and all the |
prosperous commercial traffic that was being |
carried on with the French and Spanish West |
Indies was to cease, and ships of war were sta |
toned along the coasts of America to stop this |
free trade with foreign countries. 1t became a |
common everyday occurance for the Kings
officers without the least proof of guilt to break
into houses and shops in search of smuggled
goods, and as this could not or should not have
legally been done without search warrants, they
were instead armed with what was known as
"wrts of assistance, an ordinary form of search
warrant in blank. and the officers could and did
fill in any name that suited their fancy, and thus
with mpunity invaded the sacred homes of the
colonists at any and all times that they were in
clined to do So and subject the people to insults
and humiliation; and thus the New Englanders
saw their prosperous trade broken up by the in
sane acts of ruler whose ambition it seemed
to be to ruin every merchant in the country.
Many and long were the protests of the lead
ing citizens but it was all in vain no amount of
pleading or prOtestations could move the OBJ
stinate and narrOw-minded King George III.
But misfortunes rarely come alone and this was
no exception to the rule. The King finally pro-
posed to tax the colonies, but the cOlOnistS had
no representation in Parliament and could not
conceive how the King could lawfully impose
tax on them without this representation; for it
was a law that mo tax should be levied on the
British people except by members of Parliament
elected by the people rs their representatives;
Now by what right could he tax the people of
this country? If he did not consider them as
part of the British people, then he asSuredly had
no jurisdiction ever them; and if, on the other
hand, he acknowledged them British subjects,
without the right of representation, he could not
lawfully tax them. The colonsts considered
| this an open violation of their rights, and for
this reason strongly protested against the i'm
position. some of the best men in Parliament,
such as VIM. Pitt, and Edmund Burke, took the
side of the cOlonists. Burke boldly saying THAT
if the King undertook to tax the Americans
against their will he would find that he had as
hard a job on his hands as the farmer who tried
to shear wolf instead of sheep. But the King
and many others thought the colonists would
stand any amount of shearing, and consequently
Parliament passed the "Stamp Act'' in 1865.
The conditions of this act, were that the cOlOnist
| be required to use stamps on all law and bust
ness papers and on pamphlets and newspapers;
the stamps ranging in price from one cent up to
fifty dollars Thus it can readily be seen that
such a law would tax everybody in spite of them
| selves for every one would be obliged to pay
this tax when they bought paper or pamph-
let, not even dying person could make his will
without paying it as it would be taxable under
the head of legal or business paper. When the
news of the passage of this bill reached this
country in the spring of 1865, the Indignation of
the people rose to the highest pitch. 1t was
then that James Otis declared that taxation
without representation was tyranny" and the
people of Boston emphasized this declaration by
pulling down the building in which the stamps
were to be made and burning in effigy the officer
appointed to sell them, and similar demons
tratonS occurred all over the country. There
was no mistaking these vigorous proceed
ings and when the news reached England the
stamp act was speedily repealed, much to the
delight of the cOlonists as we'll as many people
of England; that true friend to the colonists,
VIM. Pitt, declaring in Parliament lin my
opinion this kingdom has no right to tax the
colonies and rejoice that America has resisted.
But the Joy OF the people over the repeal of
the stamp act was doomed to be of short dura-
ton. The willy King and his party now con-
ceived new scheme to impose duty on glass
paper paints and tea. This new tax had not
only the object of raising money to support the
soldiers in this country as the stamp act had
but two others. first to pay the governors judges
and other officials of the crown in the colonies
thus making them dependent on the King and
not on the people as they had been before, and
, second, to give large sums of money to leading
citizens, and thus have them use their influence
, for the King. But the Americans shrewdly saw
, that George III was endeavoring to enlarge his
own powers and deprive them of theirs, which
resulted in the merchants agreeing to import nc
taxed articles: many even went further anC
!, bound themselves to eat, drink or wear nothing
: imported from England until all tax should be
, taken off. Thus again was the King rebuked
and Parliament decided to take off all taxes, eX
cept that OF a few cents Il pound on tea, thl:
simply as matter of principle that the British
Government maintained the right to tax tht
colonists. The price of tea was put so low thai
the Americans if so disposed, could buy it, ia,
and all. cheaper than they could smuggle il
from a foreign country, but though the people
wanted this tea. they declared also as matter
of principle that they would not take it if an!
tax ever so small was denianded denying tht
right of Parliament to tax them. This FINAL.
led to the famous Boston tea party, the story O.
which we are all familiar with. and makes it un
necessary of further mention here; of the anger
and wrath of the King at this act of the closln!
of the port of Boston until the people paid fo
r the tea destroyed, and made humble submission
e to the King; and lastly, of taking the govern
e ment of the colony out of the hands of the PEG
y Pile and placing it under the rules of Gen. Gates
All of these acts finally leading to hOstities ant
d revolution, were but the outcome of an attemp
X to tax the people while allowing them no voic
a or representation in the halls of Parliament
d Now, in conclusion, wish to digress for
d moment from my subject, and pay as best
o know how passing tribute to one of the great
q est patriots America has ever seen, One who's
e staunch adhesion to the principles of right ant
# whose fearless utterances did much to awakel
the people to resentment of their wrongs, ant
who stood ready at all times to sacrifice his lif
[, and property that this country America. his be
); loved home might oe spared the humiliation o
q bowling down before despotic tyrant and crue
v oppressors; and to the exertiOns Of this nobl
O man, together with that of Others under the fire.
S light of heaven and the pure atmosphere OF