The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-07-12

| in search of better ranges for then
stock. The mountain districts IN the
western part were IAnaolteu py q
Scotch-Irish element which greatly
predominated in that section. The
weather. classes were to be found
near the seacoast and were
for the most part in commercial pur-
suits. The principal ports OF the pro-
vince were New Bern and Whining
ton and these by no means could be
| called first class. The economic life
of the people was very crude and there
was but little intercourse with the
other Colonies.
Before 1875 there was a very little
manufacturing carried on in the State.
The ~colonists to the were
becoming SO aggressive in this dlrec-
ton that the English Parliament soon
began to pass restrictive measures for
the protection of British industries.
The people of North Carolina, how
ever depended very largely upon the
English merchant for their supply Of
manufactured articles. Not until the
outbreak of the Revolution did they
arOuS themselves to q realization of
the Importance of manufactures to
their ~Well-being. In September, 1915,
the Provincial Congress passed resolu-
tons tor the purpose or encouraging
Industrial enterprise. Premiums were
offered to any person Or persons no
would undertake the establishment of
factories for supp1yin saltpeter, gun
powder cotton and wooden goods,
cards of wire, pins, paper, and linen
goods. These premiums ranged from
ELS to $3.50. In November Of the same
| year the Continental Congress took
similar action regarding the manufac-
ture of saltpeter.
The staple om odities of the pro-
vince were Indian corn, naval stores,
| bnroT in Al On FLOW cnn1 on1 fnh1nrn
Agriculture was fast becoming an i'm
portant industry, and the people were
beginning to raise wheat and rice in
increasing quantities.
The kinds of taxes and the various
methods employed in taxation serve as
an index of the stage of economic de-
~VelOpment and refinement Of a COM
munity. In North Carolina, the or
binary revenues derived from import
duties laid especially upon wines and
SpirituouS liquors Sufticed for the Or
binary governmental expenses in times
Of peace and taxation was seldom re-
sorted to. The governor who was the
highest salaried official in the pro
vince, was paid out of the Qult-rentS
due to the king. He was also entitled
to certain fees but they We're incon-
siderable in amount. His allowance
during the early administration OF
Governor burlington G731-1734) was
fI00 per annun, but this sum was
later increased. The governors salary
was left unpaid more often than it
was paid: and because of this fact
was the cause of bitter complaint
On the part of nearly every incumbent
Of the office. In 1746 Governor John
ston complained to the Roard Of Trade
that his salary had not been paid for
eight years.
During the colonial period of North
Va ~ I@.@ ~r
a highly organized system of judica-
ture. The number of courts was ex-
ceedingly small as the Colony was
thinly settled and the people were not
SO litigious IS their neighbors to the
north. Josiah Quincy in writing Of
North Carolina in 1878 says, there
are but five provincial laws in force
through the Colony, and no courts
at all in being. No one can a
debt except before a single magistrate,
where the sums are within his juris-
diction, and offenders escape with i'm
punity."
Taxation had been employed as early
as 1I16. From this time up to the
Revolution taxes were levied intermit-
emily and only for extraordinarily pur-
poses. The capitation tax was for a
long time the most important source
Of income. This was imposed on
all the inhabitants of the province
Wnelnef GenJlle or JeW, bona or lfee.
The early land tax was what we would
consider as very light, 2 shiilings anG
6 pence per hundred acres, but at
that time great care had to be exer-
ciSed in matters of taxation FOR the
people did not take kindly to such
methods of raising money. In the
colonial days no extensive public
works were undertaken. The most
passing demands were for the i'm
prOVement OF public highways and for
bridges across streams to obviate the
necessity Of fofding. What court
houses had to be built We're very
plain and Inexpensive. For the cree
ton Of such public buildings, special
taxes were levied in the county which
was to receive the benefit. The pro