thus by implication, if not by express grant, the original settlers
were given power to add to their numbers. These associates, upon
receiving their lots and the rights in the common lands, obtained at
the same time a voice in the town-meeting.[1] The same privilege might be gained by those who purchased land from the original owners, and to prevent by this means the influx of undesirable inhabitants, it was customary to place restrictions upon the sale of land.[2] In Hempstead, "quakers and such like" were excluded; and letters of commendation and approbation must be brought by persons coming from other towns.[3] Once possessed of land within the town, the owner had an indisputable right to a voice in the town affairs.[4] In all these respects the customs of the New England colonies were closely followed.
It has been mentioned that all four of the early charters to English towns were granted by Kieft. His successor, Stuyvesant, showed no such favorable disposition, but evinced an unremitting opposition to popular government, both in the towns and in representative provincial institutions. His opinions on the subject are preserved in his correspondence concerning the assembly of 1653. Under the influence of the English delegates,[5] the representatives who met at New Amsterdam in 1653 drew up a remonstrance on December 11, in which, among other charges against the government, they say that "Officers and Magistrates, though by their personal qualifications deserving such honors, are appointed, contrary to the laws of Netherland, to divers offices without the consent or nomination of the people whom the matter most affects or concerns."[6] To this demand for popular elections, Stuyvesant answered by admitting the right of the English to nominate their own magistrates, but stated also that some of them even usurped " the election and appointment of such Magistrates, as they please, without regard to their religion. Some, especially the people of Gravesend, elect libertines and Anabaptists, which is decidedly against the laws of the Netherlands."[7] The Director further questioned the advisabihty of popular elections, for if it is to be made a rule, that the selection and nomination shall be left to the people generally, whom it most concerns, then every one would want for Magistrate
- ↑ In Hempstead, N. Y. Col. Doc., XIV. 529.
- ↑ In Gravesend, owners of land desiring to sell must first offer the land to the town; and after the town's refusal to purchase, they could sell to an outsider if he were not an infamous person or a disturber of the common peace. N. Y. Col. Doc., XIV, 128-129.
- ↑ N. Y. Col. Doc., XIV. 529.
- ↑ See the demands of some Dutch landholders in Gravesend, N. Y. Col. Doc., XIV. 329.
- ↑ N. Y. Col. Doc., I. 553.
- ↑ Ibid., I. 552.
- ↑ Ibid., XIV. 235.
