To such a
policy the Tories, as ardent upholders of the monarchy, lent their
support.
[Sidenote: The Sugar Act, 1764]
Grenville, the new minister, accordingly proposed that the colonists
should pay about L150,000 a year,--roughly a half of the estimated
total amount,--and for raising the money, he championed two special
finance acts in the British Parliament. The first was the Sugar Act of
1764. Grenville recognized that a very high tariff on the importation
of foreign sugar-products into the colonies invited smuggling on a
large scale, was therefore generally evaded, and yielded little revenue
to the government. As a matter of fact, in the previous year,
Massachusetts merchants had smuggled 15,000 hogsheads of molasses
[Footnote: Large quantities of molasses were used in New England for
the manufacture of rum.] from the French West Indies. Now, in
accordance with the new enactment, the duty was actually halved, but a
serious attempt was made to collect what remained. For the purpose of
the efficient collection of the sugar tax, the Navigation Acts were
revived and enforced; British naval officers were ordered to put a
peremptory stop to smuggling; and magistrates were empowered to issue
"writs of assistance" enabling customs collectors to search private
houses for smuggled goods.
Pages:
687
688
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711