That method of raising revenue for the support of government which we understand by taxation marks a well advanced stage of economic life and is of comparatively recent origin among Germanic peoples. It was unknown while our English ancestors lived upon the continent of Europe and for many centuries after they had settled in their new home Society, and, as a consequence, government had not as yet become differentiated. Some of the most important duties, such as the defence of the kingdom, the ca

Unlike Massachusetts the towns in Rhode Island remained the supreme authority under the king for some years before any central government was established by charter. [6] The first delegated government established in Providence was in 1640. [7] It was of the simplest nature. Five men were to be elected quarterly, who, subject to the control of the town meeting, were to have the disposal of lands and of the "townes stocke." Disputes between citizens were to be settled by arbitrators appointed eith

With the restoration of the government in 1690, after the fall of Andros, Rhode Island enters upon a new period of her history, a period marked within by a stronger central authority and a more settled and orderly government. [74] In 1695, the governor was granted a salary of £10 a year, the deputy governor £6 and the assistants £4 each. All these officers had previously been exempted from taxation. [75] Without the period was one of successive wars against the French and Spaniards, wars which r

With higher taxes the necessity of a system of taxation just and at the same time capable of strict enforcement, was more strongly felt. We consequently find from the very beginning of the period a great increase of legislation on the subject, so that by January 1703-4 there was placed on the statute book a body of law which contains the substance of our law today, and to which little was added, until, within recent years, the rapidly growing complexity of our industrial life has necessitated [8

There still remain to be noticed one or two matters which have not fallen within the foregoing survey. The first has to do with legislation in regard to traders who cane into Rhode Island from other colonies, sold their goods and then returned remaining often but a short time. It was claimed that these traders carried off much ready money and produce to the detriment of the colony, at the same time escaping the burdens which fell upon the home trader. A law of 1698 levied a tax of five shillings

The history of paper money in Rhode Island has already been treated with considerable fullness. [99] It does not strictly fall within the scope of this monograph and will be treated only so far as to give a clear idea of the financial policy of the colony, an idea necessary to an understanding of the part played by taxation. According to the report on the state of the treasury in 1709; the year of the attempted expedition against Canada, notwithstanding the heavy taxation, the colony found itsel

During the French and Indian war paper money was issued in large quantities but provision was made for its redemption in accordance with the Act of Parliament in 1751, and an earnest attempt was made to meet the obligations thus incurred. The period from 1751 to 1775 was really a period of war financiering, for the debt incurred for war purpose was not extinguished until the beginning of the Revolution, and we shall treat it as a whole. The sources of revenue were loans, bills of credit, treasur

These were usually advanced by private individuals. Unfortunately the accounts entered in the colony book by the auditing committees were not kept in such a manner as to enable us to determine with satisfactory certainty either the amounts borrowed or the times of repayment. The difficulty is the greater with regard to the latter point. So far as the books show the sums borrowed between 1751 and 1775, reduced to sterling, amounted to about £28,441, of which all but about £4,000 was borrowed duri

The history of the bills issued up to the year 1751 we have already considered. It remains to describe the issues of the present war. The first of these issues was in 1755 to meet the expenses of the Crown Point expedition. The bills were of the old tenor denomination, amounting to £240,000 equal to £13,500 sterling. They were to circulate two years without interest and then be called in and sunk. The subsequent issues were all in what were known as lawful money bills. They were issued at variou

These were interest bearing notes issued to meet the bills of credit, bonds given for money borrowed or other treasury notes as they fell due, when receipts from other sources did not suffice for redemption. The practical effect was to work an extension of the debt. As shown by the treasury reports these notes seem to have been issued for the most part between the years 1765 and 1775 and amounted to £46,549 lawful money equal £34,999 sterling. The greater part seem to have been redeemed at the o

These were grants made by the English government to reimburse the colony for expenses incurred in the war. These grants made throughout the course of the war amounted to about £50,000 sterling and there was received from the English commanders in this country about £4000 or £5000 more, making in round numbers £55,000....

We now come to the source of revenue which concerns us most nearly. A slight attempt to resume taxation had been made at the time of King George's war. A tax of £10,000 old tenor (£1677 sterling) had been ordered in 1744 and another of £5,000 new tenor (£2000 sterling) in 1747/8, but the paper money party was still in the ascendant and it was not until after the overthrow of that party that the policy of taxation was seriously resumed in 1754. The following table will show the taxes levied from

With the opening of the Revolution a new debt began to roll up. £60,000 in bills of credit (lawful money) were emitted in 1775 and £80,000 in the following year. A meeting of commissioners from the New England states, in Providence, December 1776, recommended that Rhode Island issue no more bills of credit, except of fractional denominations, but depend upon loans and taxes. The State complied with the suggestion and the only other issue of bills, before 1780, was in May 1777, when £4,500 in fra

The history of the law of taxation shows us no change of principle but only a further development of detail where experience had shown [111] existing provisions inadequate. Additional measures against foreign traders were passed. In 1738 each town was directed to choose "three discreet and prudent Persons" to assess such foreign traders according to their trade. In case of non-payment the delinquent might be distrained upon or in case there was not sufficient visible property he might be committ

The law of taxation as it appears in general acts has to do principally with questions of administration. What we might call the principle of the tax system was not as a rule embodied in the general law. It was the growth of custom and its existence was assumed in legislative acts. That the state might apportion the taxes among the towns with some degree of justice, it was necessary, however, that it should obtain information in regard to the value of the property existing within its borders. Th

Among the acts of the first assembly under the Patent in 1647, occurs the following: "It is ordered that the Dutch, French or other alliants, or any Englishman inhabitating among them, shall pay the like customs and duties, as we do among them for all such goods as shall be imported for the English, except beaver." This act was probably of little practical importance as the trade of the colony during the seventeenth century was very small. In 1655, an excise duty of five shillings was imposed on

Tonnage duties were imposed as early as 1690, and continued until Rhode Island entered the union. They were first levied for the support of the fort and were payable in either money or powder. About the middle of the eighteenth century a light house was built and additional tonnage duties were imposed for its support. The amounts varied from time to time, according to the needs of the fort or light house, and there was discrimination in favor of vessels engaged in home trade. In 1767, a time of

1 . Gneist, Hist. of the Eng. Const., Vol. 1, p. 34. 2 . Wilson, The National Budget, p. 10: In the year ending March 31, 1886, the net receipts from domains, forests, &c., were only £380,000, out of a total revenue of over £89,000,000, but it is interesting to notice that even now by the ordinary revenue is understood "the old hereditary property of the king, the original property of the state, which belongs to the king independently of any vote of Parliament," while by extraordinary re

Henry Brayton Gardner was born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1863. He fitted for college at Mowry and Gregg's English and Classical School, Providence, Rhode Island. He entered Brown University 1880, and was graduated with the degree of A.B. in 1884. He entered the Johns Hopkins University as a graduate student in the Department of History and Political Science, in 1884; and remained there until 1888, holding the position of Fellow in History during a portion of the year 1887. Since 1888, he ha