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Show 9 s TRAVF.LS TIIROUGII NORTil AMERICA: carries n a flouri{hing trade to the W cfl: Indies. The c\"port confiCI: 1 · 1· J · of lumber· of pr inci pa lly of tobacco, i1 ur, and earn, a1ll van us {Ill s . ' the latter it derives an incxhaufliblc [upply from tbL: D1fmal Swanlp. in mcdi\tcly in the neighboutlwod. · Norfolk w uld be a place of much grcJtcr trade than it is at prcfent, were it not for the impolicy of ftJme bws which h~tve cxifl:cd in the fi.ttc of VirtTinia. One of there b\\'s, io injurious to cmnmcrce, was 1..) p.dit:d during the wor. Dy thi ~ l.tw it was enacted, that all merchants and pbntcrs in Virgit ia, '' w wed money to Briti fh mercklnts, !hould be cxoner.1tcd f1 om their <;bts if thq p1id· the money due into th · public trca(ury inflc.:, d of fending it to Great Uritain; and all fuch as flood indebted were invited to come forwilrd_, and give their mom~ y in this manner, tOWc1 rds the fupport or the ontcfl ill which America W<\S tht:n engaged. The trcaCury at firfi: did not become much richer in ·onfcquen e of this law; for the Virginian debtor, inclividu ;dly, ould gain notbitw by paying the mon<.:y that he owed into the trt:afury, as he had to pay the full fnm which w:1.s due t the BritiD1 merchant; on the contr,try, he might lo[e conG. lcrably: his credit would be ruined in the eye of the Briti(h mcrch:1nt by fuch a mcafurc, and it 'vVould be a grc<tt impediment to the renewal of a commerciJl intcrcourfe bt:Lwcen them < fter the conclufion or the war. 1 Io\\ ever, wl ct the ontincntal paper money be. "<tmc fo mu h d prciated, that one hundred papcrdolhrs wer not worth on· in filver, manyof the people, who flood deeply indebted to the merchan ts in Great Britain» ..!gan to look upon the mcafure in a dift~rcnt point of viev.:; thc.y now frw a politive advantage in paying their debts intrJ the tr ·afury in thdl! paper dollars, which were a kgal tender; accordingly thl'y d1J fo, and in confcquence were cxon rated of th ·ir debts by the laws of th,· ir country, though in reality they had not paid more than on<.: hundred~h part ofth m. In vain did the Britifh merchant fue for his money when hofliliti s , cr t<.:rminatcd; he could obtain no rcdrcts in. any comt of jufl:ice in VirgmJa. Thus juggled out of hi property he naturally became difl:rufl:ful of the Virginians; he ref~Lfcd to trade with them on the fame terms a w·tl N 0 R F 0 L K. 99 wilh the pcopl of the other fiatcs, and the VirginiJn · have confequcntly reaped the fruits of their very dill onomable concluCl. ·:l< . Another law, banc.ftd in the hi rhcil d ·grct: to the trading intercJl., i · one which rt:nJers all landed property inviolable. This law has induct: d ttUmbct s to ntn into dcht; :mrl as long as it c,' ifl:s Jorcigne1 s will be ~autious of giving credit to a large amount to men who, jf they chufe to pur haft: a tracl: of land witi1 the good or money entrufled to th ir cut:, may fit down upon it [e urcly, out of the rca h of all their creditors, under protcelion of the laws of the ( ountry. Owinrr to thi · . b law they have not yt:t been enabled to get a bank efl:ablifhcd in orfoll ·, though it would be of the utmofl: importance to th<; traders. The direCl. ors of the bani· of the United 'ta tcs have always peremptorily refllfed to let a branch of it he fixed in any part of Virginia wbilJl. this Jaw remains. In Bofi:on, New York, Baltimore, harl fl:on, &c. there ::tre branches of the bank of the United States, bclides other banks, cil:ablifhed U11dcr the Glnclion of the Hate legiflature. I cpcated attempt have been made in the {bte aflcmbly to get this Ja(l: mentioned law repealed, hut they have all proved ineffectual. The debates have been v ry warm on the bufinets, and the names of the majority, who voted for the continuation of it, have been pubJin1ed, to cxpofe them if pofiiblc to infamy; but [o many have fl1eltered thcm[clvcs under jt!l f.1nClion, and fl many flill find an interdl: in its continuance, that it is not likely to be fpecdily rep ·~dcd. The houfes in Norf~>ll- arc about five hundn:d in number; by far the preater part of them are of wood, and but meanly built. Thefe have all bc"'n crcCled fincc the year I 776, when the town vvas tot,tlly ddl:roycd by fire, by the rder of Lord Dun 1ore, then regal governor of Virginia. The loiTcs 1\.dbinec on that occaflon w 'rc eilimat d. at [,. 3oo,ooo frerli1w . Towards the h .nbour the fhccts arc narrow and in egular; it1 • In Fcbnnry 179G, thi~ nduious hu!Jnrr.~ v~s ~t lafl bwught l d u c tl c (up cn:e cou1t of £he Unit ·d Statrs in l'hilH!t I pi i.1 hy dw ;wcnu J • , ()(the Britin, mcrchunt~, and the d~:cifion of the.: judges Y.~S fuch a ~ r I undc I to tlrci r· honour; for they dc<.l :ucu th ~ t thcfc debts lhouf,l all l.:c p:ti I over ncr:tiLI, boln r k, lO the ill itifh merchant. 02 the |
