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332 ance to trade, and then, as always, ignorant people and tricksome demagogues sought a cure for the trouble In fresh issues of paper. Wildcat banking- schemes were devised, two of which, the " silver- scheme " and the " land-bank," were especially promi- nent. (See Adams, Samuel.) Upon all financial questions Hutchinson had a remarkably clear head, and there was nothing of the dem- agogue about him. He would not falter with a question of public policy,orseek to hide his opinions in order to curry fa- vor with the people. He was a man of strong convictions and dauntless cour- age, and he opposed the paper-money scheme with untiring zeal. In spite of this, he was re-elected in 1738. Short- ly afterward in town-meeting a set of instruc- tions were reported, enjoining it upon the repre- sentatives to vote for the further emission of pa- per. Hutchinson then and there exposed such in- structions, argued against them as iniquitous, and flatly refused to observe them. There were cries of "Choose another representative, Mr. Modera- tor ! " But this was too silly. Hutchinson opposed the instructions in the general court, and next year failed of a re-election. About this time Mr. Hutchinson was seized with typhoid fever. In 1740 the public confidence in his ability and in- tegrity prevailed over the general dislike for his policy, and he was again chosen as representa- tive. In this year there was an outburst of excite- ment in Boston, not unlike those that ushered in the Revolutionary war. The land-bank and the silver-scheme had both been put into operation in spite of the opposition of Gov. Belcher, who had appealed to parliament for assistance. Parlia- ment now declared the old " Joint Stock Com- panies Act," passed in 1720 after the South Sea bubble, to be of force in the colonies. Both the Massachusetts companies were thus abruptly com- pelled to wind up their affairs, and many of the partners were ruined, among them the elder Samuel Adams. The question as to the authority of parliament over the colonies, which had been discussed as long ago as 1G44, was now warmly agitated. The friends of the land-bank loudly denounced the act of 1740 as a violation of the chartered rights of the colony, and the bitter feelings engendered by this quarrel must be set down among the causes of the American Revo- lution. Mr. Hutchinson's conduct at this time was eminently wise and patriotic. On theory he was a firm believer in the ultimate supremacy of parlia- ment over every part of the British empire ; but he saw distinctly the foolishness of enlisting such a wholesome feeling as the love of self-government in behalf of such an institution as the land-bank, and he accordingly advised Gov. Belcher to bide his time and suppress it in some other way than by an appeal to parliament. This was the first but not the last time that trouble between Eng- land and the colonies was occasioned by disregard of Hutchinson's sagacious advice. In the autumn of 1740 Mr. Hutchinson visited England as com- missioner for adjusting the boundary-line between Massachusetts and New Hampshire, with regard to which some complaint had arisen. After his return in the following year he was again chosen repre- sentative, and annually thereafter until 1749. In 1746-;'8 he was speaker of the house. By the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, the stronghold of Louisburg, which New England troops had cap- tured in 1745, was restored to France, in exchange for Madras in Hindostan. To appease the indig- nation of the New England people at this transfer, parliament voted that adequate compensation should be made for the expense of the capture of Louisburg. The sum due to Massachusetts in pur- suance of this vote was £138,649, which was nearly equivalent to the total amount of paper circulating in the colony at its current valuation of one eleventh of its face value. To attempt to raise such a currency to par was hopeless. Hut- chinson proposed that parliament should be asked to send over the money in Spanish dollars, which should be used to buy up and cancel the paper at eleven for one. Whatever paper remained after this summary process should be called in and re- deemed by direct taxation, and any issue of paper currency in future was to be forbidden. " This rather caused a smile," says the diary, " few appre- hending that he was in earnest ; but upon his ap- pearing very serious, out of deference to him as speaker, they appointed a committee." After a year of hard work, Hutchinson's bill was passed, amid the howls and curses of the people of Boston. "Such was the infatuation that it was common to hear men wish the ship with the silver on board might sink in her passage." They wanted no money but cheap paper money. At the election in 1749 Hutchinson was defeated by a great majority, but was immediately chosen a member of the council. People soon found, to their amazement, that a good hard dollar had much greater purchasing-power than a scrap of dirty paper worth scarcely more than nine cents ; and it was further observed that, when paper was once out of the way, coin would remain in circulation. The revival of trade was so steady and so marked that the tide of popular feeling turned, and Hutchinson was as much praised as he had before been abused. His services at this time cannot be rated too highly. To his clear insight and determined courage it was largely due that Massachusetts was financially able to enter upon the Revolutionary war. . In 1774 Massachusetts was entirely out of debt, and her prosperity contrasted strikingly with the poverty-stricken condition of Rhode Island, which persisted in its issues of paper currency. In 1749 Mr. Hutchinson was at the head of the commission that made peace with the Indians at Casco bay. He had formed an intention to retire from public business and live in scholarly seclusion at Milton, where he had built a fine house, which is still (1887) standing. But his plans were entirely changed in 1753 by the sudden death of his idolized wife, and he sought distraction in public affairs. He had some time before been appointed justice of common pleas for Suffolk county. In 1754 he was one of the commissioners at the famous Albany congress, where he was associated with Franklin on the committee for drawing up a plan of union for the thirteen colonies. Two years afterward, when Shirley was succeeded in the governorship of Massachusetts by Thomas Pownall, Mr. Hutchinson was appointed lieutenant-governor. In 1760 Pownall was succeeded by Francis Bernard, and soon afterward, on the death of Stephen Sewall, Mr. Hutchinson was appointed chief justice