GEORGE II. 1727-1760
EXAMINATION of the AMERICAN CONTRACT.
The next inquiry in which the house of commons engaged, related to the contracts for victualling the forces in America, which were supposed by some patriots to be fraudulent and unconscionable. This suspicion arose from an ambiguous expression, on which the contractor being interrogated by the committee appointed to examine the particulars, he prudently interpreted it in such a manner, as to screen himself from the resentment of the legislature. The house, therefore, resolved that the contract entered into on the twenty-sixth day of March, in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-six, by the commissioners of the treasury, with William Baker, Christopher Kilby, and Richard Baker, of London, merchants, for furnishing provisions to the forces under the command of the earl of Loudon, was prudent and necessary, and properly adapted to the securing a constant and effectual supply for those forces in America.
INQUIRY INTO THE CONDUCT OF ADMIRAL KNOWLES, &c.
The preceding session an address had been presented to the king by the house of commons, desiring his majesty would give orders for laying before them several papers relating to disputes which had lately happened between his excellency Charles Knowles, esq., and some of the principal inhabitants of the island of Jamaica. This governor was accused of many illegal, cruel, and arbitrary acts, during the course of his administration; but these imputations he incurred by an exertion of power, which was in itself laudable, and well intended for the commercial interest of the island. This was his changing the seat of government, and procuring an act of assembly for removing the several laws, records, books, papers, and writings belonging to several offices in that island, from Spanish Town to Kingston; and for obliging the several officers to keep their offices, and hold a supreme court of judicature, at this last place, to which he had moved the seat of government. Spanish Town, otherwise called St. Jago de la Vega, the old capital, was an inconsiderable inland place, of no security, trade, or importance; whereas Kingston was the centre of commerce, situated on the side of a fine harbour filled with ships, well secured from the insults of an enemy, large, wealthy, and flourishing. Here the merchants dwell, and ship the greatest part of the sugars that grow upon the island. They found it extremely inconvenient and expensive to take out their clearances at Spanish Town, which stands at a considerable distance; and the same inconvenience and expense being felt by the rest of the inhabitants, who had occasion to prosecute suits at law, or attend the assembly of the island, they joined in representations to the governor, requesting, that, in consideration of these inconveniences, added to that of the weakness of Spanish Town and the importance of Kingston, the seat of government might be removed. He complied with their request, and in so doing entailed upon himself the hatred and resentment of certain powerful planters, who possessed estates in and about the old town of St. Jago de la Vega, thus deserted. This seems to have been the real source of the animosity and clamour incurred by Mr. Knowles, against whom a petition, signed by nineteen members of the assembly, had been sent to England, and presented to his majesty.—In the two sessions preceding this year, the affair had been brought into the house of commons, where this governor’s character was painted in frightful colours, and divers papers relating to the dispute were examined. Mr. Knowles having by this time returned to England, the subject of his administration was revived, and referred to a committee of the whole house. In the meantime, petitions were presented by several merchants of London and Liverpool, concerned in the trade to Jamaica, alleging, that the removal of the public courts, offices, and records of the island of Jamaica to Kingston, and fixing the seat of government there, had been productive of many important advantages, by rendering the strength of the island more formidable, the property of the traders and inhabitants more secure, and the prosecution of all commercial business more expeditious and less expensive than formerly; therefore, praying that the purposes of the act passed in Jamaica for that end might be carried into effectual execution, in such manner as the house should think proper. The committee, having examined a great number of papers, agreed to some resolutions, importing, that a certain resolution of the assembly of Jamaica, dated on the twenty-ninth day of October, in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-three, implying a claim of right in that assembly to raise and apply public money without the consent of the governor and council, was illegal, repugnant to the terms of his majesty’s commission to his governor of the said island, and derogatory of the rights of the crown and people of Great Britain; that the six last resolutions taken in the assembly of Jamaica, on the twenty-ninth day of October, in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-three, proceeded on a manifest misapprehension of the king’s instruction to his governor, requiring him not to give his assent to any bill of an unusual or extraordinary nature and importance, wherein his majesty’s prerogative, or the property of his subjects, might be prejudiced, or the trade or shipping of the kingdom any-ways affected, unless there should be a clause inserted, suspending the execution of such bill until his majesty’s pleasure should be known; that such instruction was just and necessary, and no alteration of the constitution of the island, nor any way derogatory to the rights of the subjects in Jamaica. From these resolutions the reader may perceive the nature of the dispute which had arisen between the people of Jamaica and their governor, vice-admiral Knowles, whose conduct on this occasion seems to have been justified by the legislature. The parliament, however, forebore to determine the question, whether the removal of the courts of judicature from Spanish Town to Kingston was a measure calculated for the interest of the island in general.
RESOLUTIONS concerning MILFORD-HAVEN.
The last object which we shall mention, as having fallen under the cognizance of the commons during this session of parliament, was the state of Milford-haven on the coast of Wales, one of the most capacious, safe, and commodious harbours in Great Britain. Here the country affords many conveniences for building ships of war, and erecting forts, docks, quays, and magazines. It might be fortified at a very small expense, so as to be quite secure from any attempts of the enemy, and rendered by far the most useful harbour in the kingdom for fleets, cruisers, trading ships, and packet boats, bound to and from the westward; for from hence they may put sea almost with any wind, and even at low water; they may weather Scilly and Cape Clear when no vessel can stir from the British channel, or out of the French ports of Brest and Rochefort, and as a post can travel from hence in three days to London, it might become the centre of very useful sea intelligence. A petition from several merchants in London was presented, and recommended to the house in a message from the king, specifying the advantages of this harbour, and the small expense at which it might be fortified, and praying that the house would take this important subject into consideration. Accordingly, a committee was appointed for this purpose, with power to send for persons, papers, and records and every circumstance relating to it was examined with accuracy and deliberation. At length the report being made to the house by Mr. Charles Townshend, they unanimously agreed to an address, representing to his majesty, that many great losses had been sustained by the trade of the kingdom, in time of war, from the want of a safe harbour on the western coast of the island, for the reception and protection of merchants’ ships, and sending out cruisers; that the harbour of Milford-haven, in the county of Pembroke, is most advantageously situated, and if properly defended and secured, in every respect adapted to the answering those important purposes; they, therefore, humbly besought his majesty, that he would give immediate directions for erecting batteries, with proper cover, on the sides of the said harbour, in the most convenient places for guarding the entrance called Hubber-stone-road, and also such other fortifications as might be necessary to secure the interior parts of the harbour, and that, until such batteries and fortifications could be completed, some temporary defence might be provided for the immediate protection of the ships and vessels lying in the said harbour; finally, they assured him the house would make good to his majesty all such expenses as should be incurred for these purposes. The address met with a gracious reception, and a promise that such directions should be given. The harbour was actually surveyed, the places were pitched upon for batteries, and the estimates prepared, but no further progress hath since been made.