to have certain Lands purchased by him, lying in said Portsmouth, annexed to Greenland aforesaid: First, There is no reason for diminishing the Rateable Estate of said Town & lessening the Extent thereof, to enlarge the Parish of Greenland, but quite contrary, for the Annual charges of said Town for Schools, Poor &c. is more than Double in proportion to the Polls & Estates, than the annual charge of Greenland. 2ly. The Reason given by the Petitioners for Annexing the Lands mentioned, to Greenland, is, that they lye contiguous to his other Lands which are in Greenland, & so most convenient for him to have it so; But why most convenient? There is no Reason but only the Rates in Greenland are not so high as in Portsmouth, for as to any other advantage it is not conceivable: the situation of the Land & all other circumstances will be just the same, whether they belong to Greenland or Portsmouth, excepting the article of Rates; and if that is the motive to ask this favour, that alone shows it ought not to be granted; because it shows that Portsm' has greater charges in proportion than Greenland, & therefore more need of Rateable Estate. Besides, what is there in the Petitioner's case that is peculiar, & will not be every man's case who shall ever purchase Lands in the Town if he lives near or upon the line in another Town or Parish all around; or indeed, which will not happen in any other Town thro' the Province. For, may not every purchaser under like circumstances, ask the same favour to have his lands annexed that place which pays the lowest Taxes; and where will this end? There is one Dearborn who owns Lands in Greenland, Stratham & Hampton, which lye contiguous, as the Petitioner's does: May not he with equal Reason come & pray that all his lands may be annexed to that place he likes best, & will there not be the same conveniency to him as in the case of the present Petitioner? and so of many others. It is a rule to be observed with respect to Petitioners, that when any thing is asked which makes way for every person, or an indefinite Number to ask the like,-when the thing ask'd is a mere matter of favour, and no principle of justice or equity to enforce it,-There, in such cases it ought not to be granted. The present Petition is rather against Justice & Equity; it amounts really to no more than this: that the Petitioner may hereafter be exempted from paying half or some part of the Taxes which the Law imposes on him; and there are many others ready to ask the like favour; and then some others must pay the more and can it be said to be just and right to grant a favour to one to the prejudice & Injury of another? Wherefore as the Town of Portsmouth is a Sea Port continually exposed to strangers & many extraordi nary charges, the extent ought by no means to be lessened; and as several others are in like case of the petitioner who will in all probability follow his example in case he succeeds, whereby the charges of said Town will fall so much the heavier on those who remain, 'tis humbly hoped you will see cause to deny the prayer of this Petition. SAM1 HART, in behalf of the Selectmen. agent for WM. PARKER s" Town. Petition for a Lottery to pave the streets in Portsmouth. To his Excellency Benning Wentworth Esq' Governor and Commander-in-chief in & over his Majesty's Province of New Hampshire, the Honble his Majesty's Councill & House of Representatives for said Province in General Assembly conven'd, the 16th day of Octob' 1759. The Humble Petition of sundry of the Inhabitants of Portsmouth in said Province Shews : That your Petitioners apprehend it to be very necessary that the principal Streets in said Town (which are now much us'd & are narrow) shou'd be Pav'd, especially where the Public Business occasions the greatest concourse of People: That this wou'd be a work of very considerable expence, and considering the annual charges of the town for support of the Poor (which by the situation it is often oblig'd to receive) more than any other Town in the Province, with other incidental charges, the Inhabitants cou'd not well sustain a Tax for this purpose at Present ; That works of this & the like nature are annually carried into execution in other Places by Public Lotteries, and much money from this as well as other places in the Province is by the adventures of Particular persons carried away & made contributory to the Designs of those Lotteries; Your Petitioners therefore think it may be prudent to take advantage of this disposition of the People & Direct it to some Public use & General service among ourselves. Wherefore, they Humbly Pray that they may have leave to set up a Public Lottery to raise a sum of money for paving the Streets aforesaid, to be under the Regulation & management of Persons to be stated & appointed in a Bill for that end, and that they may have leave to bring it in accordingly; and your Petitioners as in duty bound shall ever pray, &c. H. Wentworth D. Peirce John Moffat John Sherburne John Newmarch Daniel Rogers Charles Treadwell Jacob Treadwell John Penhallow Saml Penhallow Saml Sherburne Clemt Jackson John Griffeth John Gardner John Beck George Boyd Nathi Mendum Henry Rust Danl Fowle Nathl Treadwell, jun. In Council Octor 30th 1759. Jotham Rindge 8. Livermore Nathl Peirce John Wentworth Damaris Wheelwright Jonathan Warner Saml Frost Joseph Buss Humpy Furnell Thos Hart Hy Apthorp Thos Landell John Hart Saml Cutt John Wendell Theo. Atkinson, jun John Ley William Parker, &c. &c. &o Thos Packer Matthew Livermore Read & Concurr'd & sent down to the Honb' Assembly. Theodore Atkinson, Secy Province of In the House of Representatives, Oct 31, 1759. New Hamp This Petition being read, Voted, That the Prayer thereof be granted & that the Petitioners have Liberty to bring in a Bill accordingly. In Council, Eod. die, read & concurr'd Theodore Atkinson, Secy. A. Clarkson, Clerk. Petition of Portsmouth against a Bridge at New Castle. To his Excellency Benning Wentworth, Esq' Governor & Commander in chief in & over his Majesty's Province of New Hampshire, the Hon his Majesty's Council & House of Representatives for said Province, in General Assembly convened, the 15th Day of Feb 1760. The humble Petition of the Selectmen & agents of the Town of Portsmouth, shews: That your Petitioners have been informed that there is now lying before the Assembly a Bill for granting liberty to the Town of New Castle to set up a Lottery to raise money for building a Bridge a cross that Branch of Piscataqua River call'd Little Harbour, which your Petitioners apprehend if it should be effected will greatly Prejudice the said Town of Portsmouth, especially if done in the manner we are inform'd is design'd & begun; and as your Petitioners have been so lately inform'd of the said Bill they have not time to Reduce the Objections to be made to writing, and especially as there was no Public notice nor Liberty given for that purpose, they could not be prepared therewith, they humbly pray that they may in behalf of said Town be heard, to shew cause why the said Bridge shou'd not be built, especially in the unlimited manner proposed;-and they shall as in duty bound Pray &c. SAM PENHALLOW A. CLARKSON WILLIAM KNIGHT JOHN SHERBURNE JOHN GRIFFeth. Memorial for a bounty on fish, wheat, hemp, &c. To his Excellency Benning Wentworth, Esq' Governor and commander-in-chief, in & over his Majesty's Province of New Hampshire, the Honble his Majesty's Council & House of Representatives in General Assembly convened, June 6th 1763. The MEMORIAL of Sundry Inhabitants of Portsmouth and other places in said Province shews: That as the Business of taking, curing & carrying on the Fishery in this Province wou'd be of great advantage to the Province in general, and especially to the landed Interest, perhaps nothing cou'd sooner & more sensibly encourage & Promote that Business than the favour and regard of the Government, not only countenancing but granting a bounty on the same, in such manner & proportion as in their wisdom shall be judged convenient; for as that Business has been in a great measure neglected for some time & preparing for it is attended with considerable expence, & the issue & event not certain, most People who heretofore were ingaged in it, will be backward to resume it on the bare prospect of the advantage arising by it: That it has been done in many instances by the wisdom of the British Parliament not only for introducing a new Branch of Trade, or a new kind of Manufacture, but also for reviving & giving spirit to any thing of that Nature useful to the Public not wholly disus'd but much decay'd, as in particular on the Whale Fishery an additional Bounty of twenty shillings a Ton on the admeasurement of the ship, by Stat. 22 Geo, 2, was granted to the owners of the ships, on a preceding bounty of twenty shillings, before granted by the Stat. of 5 & 6 Geo. 2, &c. And many other instances might easily be given; For it is now become a maxim from long experience, that the Generality of the world must be counted to pursue their own Interest; And it is a well known Fact, how greatly the State of Ireland has been raised & improved within thirty years last past, by giving bountys & premiums to those who excelled in every kind of manufacture in use there,-which raised a spirit of emulation, in that way bro't arts & industry into credit & reputation & promoted the trade & wealth of the kingdom. The reason is so clear & strong in such cases that even in the New Province & settlement of Nova Scotia, the Government there has granted a Bounty of twelve pence sterling per Quintal on all Cod fish cured there; and in every Government encouragements in this way have not been wanting; That there is perhaps more necessity for such an encouragement in this Province, than in any other place that can be named, to raise something to ballance the large Importation annually made for some of the necessaries of life;-it appearing by the Custom House Book, that between March 1761 & June 1763, 180,865 Bushels of corn had been duly Entered imported here, besides adventures & small quantities not observed, by Coasters, &c. Add to this, the prodigious quantities of flower & great quantities of other provisions, by which means all the silver & gold which used to be current here is gone, or at least the greatest part, and the Bills of credit now current Depreciated as they wou'd not purchase our daily Bread, for it is certain the more limited any currency is & the fewer demands it will answer, the more the value will sink. That a sufficient sum for the purpose aforesaid might be easily raised by an Excise on Spirituous Liquors, more especially on that enormous Quantity of rum imported, which by the entries aforesaid, it appears that more than three thousand eight hundred & twenty hogs heads have been in little more than two years, besides smaller parcels, tho't too inconsiderable to be entered, private adventures, and many hogsheads annually of New England rum, carried up Merrimack & consumed in this Province; and it is well known to every one, that almost all the Profit of this trade is made by the Importation and consumption here; and how prejudicial to the substance, morals and health of the People such a large |