De Meulles still continued as intendant, not being recalled till 1686. He was endowed with much initiative and executive ability, which La Barre wanted, so that he nearly brought the country to ruin. After the disgraceful treaty with the Iroquois, on September 4th, de Meulles found that the drain on the exchequer was so great that he was at his wits' end to pay the soldiers who belonged to "le détachement in French de la marine"—in spite of the name, purely a land body, supported by the department "of the marine," there being no colonial office to France. This detachment was organized in France about the year 1682, from among the disbanded soldiers who had taken part in the Dutch or other wars, to protect the inhabitants of New France from the relentless raids of ever-roving bands of ruthless Iroquois, which had become so persistent as almost to paralyze the agricultural pursuits as well as the trade and commerce of the country.
How was the intendant, de Meulles, to pay these soldiers? There was little or no coin currency. Beaver skins and wheat were legal tender, but very bulky and very inconvenient for small accounts. The dearth of currency may be explained as follows: In New France currency difficulties had always prevailed because any few doles of coin that came from the home government were returned as remittances by the importers as the balance of trade was always against the colony and therefore exchange was necessarily high. In 1670 a special coinage of 15 and 5 sol pieces of silver and doubles in copper were struck at Paris and sent out with a proviso that they should not be circulated in the mother country. But notwithstanding this interdiction these also were sent as remittances. Thus there was little or no coin currency in the country with which to trade. The ready witted intendant therefore invented the pioneer paper money, which originally circulated in the form of a note, on the back of an ordinary playing card signed by de Meulles, in 1685. It was the beginning of the paper money which is now so largely used all over the world. De Meulles hit upon the plan of using whole, or cutting up, ordinary playing cards into halves or quarters, with the word "bon" inserted on each, for a certain sum, signed and sealed in wax with his own hand and countersigned by the clerk of the treasury as they were issued. This emergency card money is claimed by Mr. R. W. McLachlan as the first regular paper money issued in any Caucasian nation. He claims that the Massachusetts paper money, issued first five years after that of Canada, for the similar purpose of paying soldiers, was an imitation.
CARD MONEY
A new supply of these cards was issued in October, 1711. The old issue disappeared and there is not one left even for antiquarian collections. Further issues were made in 1714 and 1717, but in this latter year the total withdrawal of the old cards was ordered. By 1720 these cards had all been redeemed by the government.
In 1721 a copper currency was struck for the colony at the mint of La Rochelle and Rouen of nine denier pieces. Though issued with a proclamation throughout New France they were never acceptable to the Canadians and were at last withdrawn. There was then after the issue of the cards of 1717 a lull of about ten years, when in 1729 recourse was again had to the convenient paper money, but the playing card was superseded by a plain white card with clipped edges and with various other changes in stamps and signatures. This system was continued until Intendant Bigot's time and the fall of New France. The inventory of Jacques LeBer of Montreal, dated June 7, 1735, showing coins to the value of 84 livres 8 sols 3 deniers, and card money to the value of 2833.3.0, indicates the early predominance of card money. About 1750 Bigot introduced, as a new currency, an unauthorized note called an "ordonnance," which, unlike the card issue, did not seek the governor's approval by seal or signature. They were more than twice as large, on forms printed in France on ordinary writing paper, with blank spaces for filling in the amount, the date, and number in writing. These "ordonnances" were orders on the treasury of Quebec or, in the case of the fall of the capital, of Montreal, which could pass as cash and were redeemable in bulk, either in card money, or by drafts on the treasurer of the marine in France. This method afforded ample scope for peculation both from the government and the people. At first Bigot's issue of "ordonnances" was slight but by the end of the French régime, it exceeded 80,000,000 livres or nearly $14,000,000. This was a large sum for an impoverished country to refund. It was years after it was redeemed and some never so by the French Government, after the fall of the French régime in Canada. The cards and "ordonnances" were a drug on the market for many years pending redemption, so that the original holders gained very little. The introduction of specie did much to reconcile the French to the British régime. [131]
1685
La Barre's successor was the Marquis of Denonville, a pious colonel of dragoons, who had seen much active service, and who could act when occasion required with firmness and vigour. In the same boat with him and his wife there arrived at Quebec in the beginning of August, 1685, Laval's successor, the bishop-elect, the young, impetuous, zealous and rigid Monseigneur de Saint-Vallier—and a lasting friendship was then cemented. Denonville's instructions ordered him to uphold the allies of France, to humiliate the Iroquois and to establish peace on a solid basis. He was to spare no effort to maintain a good understanding with the English but should they and the Iroquois be allied in their battles, they were to be treated as enemies. On the 6th of August he presided at the Sovereign Council. After staying a short time at Quebec he went to Montreal and there set up the Chevalier de Callières, a former captain of the Navarre Regiment, as the governor in place of M. Perrot, who had been sent to Acadia (being appointed in 1684), where as governor he pursued the same tactics as at Montreal and was replaced in 1687. Denonville's reign with the English and the Iroquois was stormy, but he was singularly peaceful in his relations with the bishop, the intendant and the governor of Montreal.