[22] Burke's Works, i. 457, Boston ed.
[23] Colonial Policy, i. 156.
[24] But see Works, iv. 301: "Depend upon it, the Americans are not so impolitic as to neglect settlements for unprofitable manufactures; but some manufactures may be more advantageous to some persons than the cultivation of lands."
[25] Burke's European Settlements in America, ch. vii.; Works, ix. 328.
[26] See Franklin's "Rules for Reducing a Great Empire to a Small One", in Works, iv. 387.
[27] See Thacher's "Draft of an Address to the King and Parliament", in Proc. Mass. Hist. Soc., vol. xx. p. 49.
[28] Works, x. 248.
[29] The writs to which he attributed so much importance require explanation. A vessel laden with dutiable goods ought to enter some established port and manifest her cargo at the custom-house for payment of duties. This the government justly demands, and with it the fair trader readily complies. Not so the illicit trader. Before reaching port he may discharge a portion of the cargo in some place remote from the custom-house; or in a regular port, by connivance, he may secrete a portion of it, and thus escape paying duties. In either case the revenue officer needs a search-warrant for such goods. If he applies to the court, he must set forth a general description of the goods concealed and the place where, together with the names of witnesses. This is recorded, and may be known to all parties interested. The result is, that the informer subjects himself to private animosity and public obloquy, and the goods meanwhile may be removed to some other place. This process may be repeated indefinitely, with like results. What the officer needs, therefore, is a general warrant, good for an indefinite time, not returnable into the court, and authorizing search of all suspected places at all hours of the day, for any dutiable goods supposed to be concealed. This is a Writ of Assistance. Its formidable nature is readily understood, and the objections to it are apparent. It is like those General Warrants which made a great noise in England in connection with John Wilkes (Campbell's Lord Chancellors, v. 207, American ed.; Parliamentary History, 1764, vol. xv. 1393). They are prohibited by the Bill of Rights in the Massachusetts Constitution, drafted by John Adams, as infringing the right of the citizen to protect his house from unreasonable search; and when the Constitution of the United States, without a similar provision, was submitted to the people, its absence was noticed, and the omission supplied by the fourth amendment. Such writs are now in force in England (16 and 17 Vict., ch. 107, sec. 221), but not in the United States.
[30] 7 and 8 Wm. 3, ch. 22, sec. 5.
[31] "Boston, Feb. 19th, 1753. Whereas, I am informed there still continues to be carried on an illicit trade between Holland and other parts of Europe, and the neighboring colonies, and that great quantities of European and Asiatic commodities are clandestinely brought from thence unto this port by land as well as by sea; and as I am determined to use my utmost endeavors to prevent the carrying on of a trade prejudicial to our mother country and detrimental to the fair trader, I hereby again give this public notice that if any person or persons will give me information where such goods are concealed, that they may be proceeded against according to law, they, upon condemnation, shall be very handsomely rewarded, and their names concealed; and I hereby direct all the officers of the customs within my district to be very vigilant in discovering and seizing all such contraband goods. H. Frankland, Coll." (Nason's Frankland, p. 44.)