Year: 1873

currency. The subject viii no doubt be
thoroughly discussed in Congress- and if a
wise measure Of finance be not adopted it
will not be because Of a scarcity Of projects.


| Tyranny and Tea-Thc Boston Mohawks.
| Boston will have tea party tomorrow,
and will celebrate the one hundreth anniver-
sary Of an event that occurred in that city on
December 16, 1773 On that day some sixty
or seventy Boston Mohawks-of whom it has
been shrewdly doubted whether there was
''real Injun' in the number-tried on liberal
scale show tea would mingle with salt water;'
an experiment. with famous history, that
stirred up the world Of that time and provoked
those measures on the part Of the British
Parliament and royal authority which
awakened the slumbering revolt, and famed
the smothered fires of discomfort into the
fame Of battle. 1t was the first organized
open defiance of British authority on the
part of the people of this country;
the first violent act Of the great drama
that led to our national independence,
Writs of assistance, stamp acts and
kindred facts of equal oppression had
done their utmost harm, apparently, in pro-
ducing all over the country an irritation Of
evil augury for the future and, though some
citizens Of Boston had been shot in the
streets by the soldiers, resistance Jagged, and
wise rulers might yet have put off for many
day the sundering Of the colonies from the
imperial power. But there was little wisdom
in London. Government insisted upon the
taxation of the colonies as o necessary badge
Of Parliamentary supremacy" and a law was
passed imposing duty on all ''glass, painters
colors, paper and tea" that should be Sim
ported from Great Britain into any colony or
plantation of America" but subsequent legis-
lation exempted from the import duty all
these enumerated articles except tea.


Vessels freighted with ''the detestable tea"
were sent by the East India Company to
all the colonial ports, and an aggregate
of three hundred and forty-two chests
were in Boston harbor, waiting to be
landed on the memorable 18th of December.
Spontaneous action had been taken by the
citizens, and the captains of the ships had
been publicly notified that they could only
land any portion Of their cargoes at their
proper peril. Notice was also given to the
authorized agents of the company that they
must not receive the tea, and that they must
send the ships away with il. An order from
the Governor for the meeting Of the
citizens to disperse was treated with
contempt, and the whole patriotic in
L. - -
Governor to direct the departure of the ships;
but this failing, the irretaceable step was
taken, and the tea was thrown overheard. AL
the country was in sympathy with the act.
On the day before it was done-the 18th Of
December-the Sons Of Liberty in this city
issued an address to the people, in which they
denounce as IAN enemy to the liberties of
America" any person who should assist in the
landing or carting of any tea or rent any house
or cellar in which tea should be stored or 'swho-
ever should sell or buy, or in any manner
contribute to the sale or purchase of tea sub
ject to duty" In Philadelphia steps were taken
earlier to oppose the landing of the tea. Re-
sistance was therefore the common thought
everywhere, but it fell to the share of Boston
to first act on the thought, and against that
city therefore was directed the disciplinary
measure known as the Boston port bill, which
closed the port until such time as the citizens
might please to make their peace with the
honorable East India Company, the owner Of
the tea. Impending ruin by the closure of the
port and the concentration of troops in the
city convinced the people that there was no
further hope from any peaceable proceedings,
and they began to prepare for the other sort,
to enroll companies and gather military stores,
and an expedition from Boston to destroy a
depot of those stores led to the battle of Lex
ington and so the war came.


AS we are all proud of the results of that
war the whole country will say now, on the
hundreth anniversary of the tea party,
'.Bravo, little Boston !" and this without any
impertinent reference to the relative greatness
Of the city for she had at that time only six
teen thousand inhabitants, but clearer per-
ception Of the right than Rome, with q world
at her feet 1t is o distinctive Characteristic
of Boston, her special attribute, that in the
crises of national life she generally sees little
sooner than others just what should be done,
and is very apt to be reader to do it. She is
less controlled by the 'Aesh pot influences.
Great merchants elsewhere in these cases are
always deprecating "extreme measures" for
fear OF injuring trade; and we can well fancy
how the solid men OF this city in 1873 "sat
on the heads of the Sons of liberty who de-
clared against tea. In another community
than Boston the tea tyranny might have passed
by like the others without consequences from
the mere Sinking of the point of resistance.
AS the measure was framed it was not in
its first effect Of public application. 1t
came upon the importer. Nobody was called
upon to import tea, and need not do it unless
he saw good reason for paying the duty. With