Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-04-03

Water has been costly in Wall street ever
since. The Dutch hated the English and
the English hated the Dutch. An Eng
fish offender who came before Dutch
magistrate was likely to get severe treat
ment and the English magistrates re-
taliated in kind on Dutch offenders. New
Jersey was jealous of New York and
captains of incoming vessels avoided port
charges and duties at times by breaking
cargo before coming to town and sending
goods to Elizabethtown, Perth Amboy or
Newark. In the north the French We're
trelesS in their efforts to divert the trade
of the Indians to Montreal and Quebec.
for the fur trade was the richest business
in the colonies.
Dongan's task would have been easier
had he not been a Catholic and had not
the Duke of York, the hope of the Eng
lish Catholics, been his master The
colonists hated the duke, and at first
were suspicious of the governor. Hardly
had Dongan organized his government
than he had to proceed to Albany. Will
liam Penn was in the. Mohawk valley ne
gotiating with the Indians to add the up
per Susquehanna valley to his territory.
Dongan ordered a halt in this business
as prejudicial to the government, and
soon after he got the Indians to cede the
valley to New York. Penn never forgave
him. Then. in obedience to the dukes
orders, he issued a call for the election
of general assembly of freeholders to
enact laws for the government of the
colony The laws We're subject to con-
firmation or rejection by the governor
and by the duke This was an astound-
ing concession to the colonists. 1t gave.
to them something they long had sought.
1t did away with taxation without repre-
Sentation. 1t won the good will of the
ma jOrity of men for the governor. An
address was drawn up in which his act
was described as "a benevolence of which
we have larger and more grateful sense
than can be expressed in this paper.
The assembly met October II, 1888. 1t
had seventeen members and a majority
of them were Dutch. The most important
of the new laws drafted was 1.-The charter
of liberties and privileges. Entire free
dom of conscience and religion was guar
anteed to all persons who 'prOfessed faith
in God by Jesus Christ No tax or inn
post was to be assessed or levied except
by the act or consent OF the governor
and the representative of the people in
general assembly.
Dongan signed the charter October 81.
1t was the first declaration of popular
government in the western world III
none of the charter governments of New
England were 1.-The people recognized as
having legislative authority. The charter
was to stir up a lot of discussion and
meet no end Of opposition in England,
and later it was to be revoked. but IL
laid down broad principle, winch was
to be nodded in the following century
into the Constitution of the United
States. There was no lodging of the is
sue in Dongans charter of liberties and
privileges. Its initial declaration was
that the people in general assembly
were to share in colonial legislation.
For nearly a year the duke held up the
charter. Then he signed 1t. but he never
returned it. In March, 1885, when he as
cended the throne, he withdrew his ap-
prevail declaring the grants were too lib
eral too democratic and too revolution
ary But meanwhile the laws had gone
into effect.
If Dongan was too liberal in his IDEAS
he was none the less too liberal In his
acts He as Catholic, welcomed 10
New York Huguenots and others VINO
were expelled from European countries