Evening star., 1933-04-19

accrue to the mother country. - Such
absurd and tyrannical laws had begun
to be made In the reign of Charles
II. and by 1750 not less than 20 acts of
Parliaments had been passed In this
spirit. II these laws had been strictly
enforced the American Revolution would
PROBABLY have come sooner than it did.
In point OF fact they were seldom
strictly enforced, because so long as the
French were a power in America the
British government felt that it could
not afford to irritate the Colonists. -
1t was IN l76l, Immediately after the
overthrow OF the French in Canada,
That attempts were made to enforce
the revenue laws more strictly than
heretofore. and trouble was at once
threatened. The stamp act was a
direct tax laid upon the whole Ameri-
can people by Parliament, legislative
body in which they were not rep
resented. When the news reached
America there was an outburst of
wrath that was soon heard and felt
IN London. To expect our fore
fathers to submit to such legislation as
this was about as sensible as it would
have been to expect them to obey an
order to buy halters and hang them
selves"
Charles A. Beard supports the gen.
eral contention. THE first task after
the conclusion of peace In 1763." he
writes, was the adjustment of the dis
ordered finances of the kingdom. The
debt stood at the highest point in the
history of the country. More revenue
was absolutely necessary, and Grenville
began to search for it. turning his at
tention finally to the American Colonies.
In this quest he had the aid of a zeal
GUS colleague, Charles Townshend, who
had long been in public service and was
familiar with the difficulties en-
countered by royal governors In Amer
lea. These two men. with the support
of the entire ministry, inaugurated in
February, 1853, a new system OF
colonial government. It was an
nounced by authority that there were
to be no more requisitions from the
plies but that the Colonies were to be
taxed instead by act of Parliament.
Colonial governors and judges were to
be paid by the Crown: they were to be
supported by a standing army Of 20
regiments, and all the expenses Of this
force were to be met by parliamentary
taxation !" The Grenville- Town
shend combination moved steadily
toward its goal While the sugar act was
under consideration in Parliament,
Grenville announced plan for stamp
bill. The next year it went through
both Houses with speed that must have
astounded its authors. The vote in the
Commons stood 205 in favor to 49
against, while in the Lords it was not
even necessary to go through the for
mality Of count. Protests OF Co.
lonial agents in London were futile. We
1,s- <1A n'c
progress exclaimed Franklin. The
stamp act, like the sugar act. de-
clared the purpose Of the British gov
ernment to raise revenue In America
towards defraying the expenses Of de-
Tending, protecting and securing the
British Colonies and plantations IN
America It was long measure OF
more than so sections, carefully planned
and skillfully drawn. BY its provisions
duties were imposed on practically all
papers used IN legal transactions.
The drag net was closely knit. for
scarcely anything escaped. The ministers
were aware that the stamp act would
rouse opposition in America-how great
they could not conjecture. The
answer of the ministry to prophecy OF
force was threat Of force"
William Bennett Munro, interpreting
LIE cNeIltS WIlAll 1C0 w VIC bASoSA
with England" says: The Revolution
did not come because all the Colonies
wanted new charters or elective gov
ernors or manhood suffrage. It's under
lying causes were economic: they con-
cerned questions of trade and taxation.
But once the spirit Of resistance was
aroused, it found, as 1t always does,
new and broader grievances. The
Colonists soon came to realization OF
the fact that democracy, especially In
New England, had been forging ahead
more rapidly than at home, and in the
Declaration of Independence new ideals
Of democracy, unknown at this period
In England, found lofty expression"
District Only Exception.
It was the events Of April 10, ITS.
which made the Declaration necessary
and effectively meaningful; it was the
events Of April 10, 1888, which con-
frmed its high claims.
Today free people pays homage to
the earnest and purposeful, sincere and
courageous men who drew liberty,
self-taxation and self-government out
of the furnace Of war for their en-
dowment. From cost to coast, from
Gulf to Lakes, all Americans enjoy
the rights for which they fought-all,
~ ;.