Arizona republican., 1895-01-16
PRACTICALLY PIRATES.
Such Were Some Of Our Early
American Ancestors.
They Sailed the Seas in Guise of Honest
Traders, But Never Let Slip an OPP
-portupity to Swindle For
eign Tradesmen.

Sea stealing, though they did not call
it by so harsh name, was leading
industry with the thrifty jewellers IN
this town two hundred years ago, !
writes Thomas A. Janvier in halper's
Magazine. That was a good time for
sturdy adventure afioat; and our we'll
melted New Workers were not the
kind then, any more than they are
now, to let money-making chances slip
away by default. Even in referring to
what is styled (but very enormously
the drowsy period OF the Dutch DONNA
ton. the most romantic OF our his
torians have not ventured the sugges-
ton that anybody ever went to sleep
when there was a bargain to be made;
and in the period to which l now refer,
when the English fairly settled IN pos
session of New York by twenty years
of occupancy, exceeding wide awake
ness was the rule. Nor was anybody
troubled with squeamishness. There
fore it was that our townsfolk, palter-
ing no more with fortune than they
did with moral scruples, set themselves
briskly to collecting the revenues OF
the sea.
These revenues were raised by two
different systems, which may De
likened. for convenience sake, to direct
and to indirect taxation. In the first
case, oursrobust townspeople put out to
sea in private armed vessels ostenta-
tiouslv carrying letters of marque en-
titling them to war against the king S
enemies - which empowering docu-
ments they construed, as soon as they
had made an ofTing from Sandy Hook,
as emitting them to lay hands upon all
desirable property that they found
afoat under any flag.
The indirect method of taxation hao
in it less heroic quality than was III
volved in the direct levy; yet was 1t
being safer in business way and al
most as profitable, very extensively
carried on Euphemism was wei
thought of even then in New York
wherefore this more conservative elias
of sea-robbers posed squarely as homes
merchants engaged in what the,
termed the Red sea trade. At the foo
of the letter. as our French cousin
say, their position was well taken
Their so-called merchant ships dropPe
down the harbor into the bay an
thence out to the seward, carrying
for merchant men, oddly-mlXed Lac
ings. whereof the main quantities Wer
arms and gunpowder and cannon-pall
and lead, and strong spirits, and pre-
visions and general sea stores. Maxim
Q course to the southeastWard, the
would slide around the cape to som
convenient meeting place in the lndla
ocean, usually Madagascar, where the
would fall in with other ships-wher
of the lading was eastern stuffs, an
spices, and precious stones, and goc
deal of deep-toned yellow-red Arabia
gold. No information was volunteers
by their possessors, a rough-and-tumb
daredevil bushybearded set OF me
as to where these pleasing commodlt1
came from; nor did the New 4orke
manifest an indiscreet curioslty-be11
content that they could exchange the
new 1OIh IdNtllIS AoA oiiS "a AS--N
lading on terms which made the tran
action profita BILE Gn Johnsonlan phras
beyond the dreams of avarice Nh'
the exchange had been effected t.
parties to it separated amicably; t
late vendors of the oriental goods /
taking themselves, most glorious
drunk on their prodigal purchases
West India rum. to parts unknow
and the New Workers decorously
turning with their rich freightage
their home port.
Neither of these methods of acqu
ing wealth on the high seas, the dire
or the indirect, seems to have recelv
the unqualified Endorsement Of pub
opinion in New York in those ola
which came and went again two hi
dred years ago; yet both of them we