Opinion of the honorable lord director general on the foregoing propositions.
We concur (on the first point) with the general feeling that the Indians, when they first arrived here, had no other intention than to wage war on the Indians on the eastern end of Long Island—deduced from various events and consequences too long and too complex to relate here—and that careless observation and the all too hasty rashness of some intemperate individuals have diverted the Indians and given rise to the sad consequences and excessive losses. Nevertheless, in consideration of the brazenness of the Indians, which is intolerable, and the ransom that we have to give them for our captive countrymen, whereupon they doubtlessly would be enticed to act out the same tragedy again in the future, I think it necessary that their brazenness be somewhat constrained and curbed; however, not by immediate declaration and undertaking of open warfare, but by strict orders, which if violated by them, in my opinion, will make the punishment more legal and justifiable. What sort of orders need to be enacted, shall follow in the final point.
The second point has been partly answered in the preceding, and as result it is my feeling (subject to correction) that although the war might be legal and justifiable, which does not absolutely contradict that they would not be timely for the present circumstances; for which many reasons could be supplied, which we shall pass over at the present time for the sake of brevity in order to avoid displeasure and increasing alienation. On this point I only need to observe in brief that the proposals made by one or the other (to capture some Indians to use as ransom for the remaining captive Christians) I consider, for the present time, to be too dangerous and also impractical. I say too dangerous because it might give the Indian nation occasion once more either to massacre the captives or move them farther inland, without hope of deliverance; and I esteem the blood of one captive Christian more than 100 Indians. It is impractical because the remaining captives are not held by one nation or tribe of Indians but are spread here and there, and that they are held by nations and tribes from which few or no Indians come here; on the other hand, to seize and hold captive Indians of another nation, seems to us to be irrational and impractical to exchange for prisoners held by another nation, and we have been sufficiently taught by experience from the last war that we were never able to ransom one Christian with the numerous and varied captives of the Indian nation held by our people, not even while negotiating and concluding the most recent peace, but rather we had to ransom our captive countrymen separately. As authority I refer to the testimony of the old settlers who have been here before my time.
Concerning the third point, whether, in case the war is judged both legal and timely, we would be strong enough, on a human scale, in our present state of affairs, to carry it on and bring it to a satisfactory conclusion. As opinion will not concur on this without unpleasantness, I shall, for the sake of harmony, refer to the deductive remonstrance sent over on the latest ships to the high and subordinate authorities of our fatherland, in which their help and assistance as well as their advice and council was requested concerning the legality of the war with the Indians. For this reason we are presently unqualified to engage in an offensive war, unless we want to subject ourselves to censure for negligence by requesting both advice and assistance and then in the meanwhile, before it arrives, to follow our own course with unadvised authority. Therefore, although no other reasons could be presented, an offensive war cannot be justified for the present time.
Concerning the fourth point, omitted in the regular order, and for this reason the last of the propositions: what to do with the Indians for the present time regarding the losses suffered and the prisoners, I offer this advice:
First, to begin at the source; it is evident that general sins are the cause of general punishments. Therefore, in my opinion it is our duty and also necessary that common and public sins such as drunkenness, profanation of the Lord’s name and Sabbath, the public and common cursing even by children along the streets, the gatherings of sectarians and other disorderly groups, be countered and promptly prosecuted by the renewal of good regulations and laws, and then furthermore, so as to prevent such like occurrences as much as possible, to order and strictly observe the following:
That from now on no more separate farms or plantations be established, but that the country people be constrained to draw together their abandoned houses and from now on not to reside in the countryside except in settlements of at least 10,12 to 16 households, close by one another, in a form to be determined by the director general and councilors or their deputies, according to the situation of the land and places, and that from now on it is publicized that no one shall go live at the separate places, whether abandoned, or burned;
Third, that, as is appropriate, wherever the new villages and settlements shall be formed, a blockhouse of beams be built for the refuge and security of the inhabitants;
Fourth, in my opinion it would be of service, at the first opportunity, to build such blockhouses in sight of the Indians themselves: one near Achkinckeshacky and the other near Wiequaeskeck, where the best and most suitable land lies, in order to displace them from there or the better to maintain their devotion, and in time of war to be able to get at them all the quicker and better;
Fifth, by strict regulations and laws to prohibit, observe, and act against violators thereof:
That no Indians coming into any settlements, village or hamlet, shall be allowed to spend the night except in a separate place to be determined by the situation of the village;
That no Indian with any weapons shall be allowed to come into a place or settlement on penalty of apprehension and forfeiture of the weapons found on him;
That no one shall be allowed to sell any strong drink to the Indians on pain of corporal punishment, and in order better to discover the violators, that the drunken Indians be apprehended and remain in confinement until he tells from whom he received the drink;
Sixth, concerning the prisoners, it is my opinion that it is necessary to attempt to get them back in the most civil manner possible, even though it be for counter gifts of some contraband items. Only upon their return are the aforementioned regulations to be implemented and strictly executed, and not sooner;
Seventh, we ought to try, with all due sensitivity, to limit the Indians’ use of guns and ammunition, for which, in my opinion, it would be necessary that there be a general prohibition against trading and negotiating with the Indians except at certain places designated thereto, and furthermore prohibit gunsmiths and gunstockmakers from repairing firelocks or making new gunstocks except upon presentation of a special permit with seal, in which it is expressly stated for whom intended, and then to brand or mark the gun and keep a record of it.
The necessity and equity of drawing on the commonalty for subsidies: first, we proposed it many times; recently it has been recommended at various times by the honorable lords directors and patroons of this province. However, nothing has been received as of yet [ ] [ ] must be necessary [ ] and care and by [ ] experiencing that [ ] merchandise and salaries [ ] [ ] that the country’s [ ] has been more and more retarded [ ] necessarily required whether we judge for ourselves or whether it be done mostly by the Company’s major and minor officials; and that as a result all necessary transactions and public works needed for defense remain suspended and uncompleted, or that tolerable subsidies and taxes be found, from which the civil administration, religion, and military can be maintained and supported, and for what is required for their own maintenance and improvement. The first is a very special example and consequently unjustifiable; the other, on the contrary, is equitable and necessary, and customary in all well-administered places, even among our neighbors in these remote areas.
The counter arguments to this subject, which have been brought up many times, are that the commonalties be subject to no taxes except the recognition fees and the tenths (although the latter has never been obeyed as of yet), but that the Company must bear the expense of everything. We have been moved at various times to debate and respond to such proponents to the best of our knowledge and not without difficulty, which, to avoid displeasure, we are not inclined to repeat. In a few words the response can be: ultra posse nemo obligator. [1] It is sufficiently known and apparent that the company contributes almost more than its capacity for this country’s improvement and maintenance, and now for nearly 30 years no prince has contributed; even their honorable high mightinesses, our merciful sovereigns neither maintain nor defend their subjects [ ] [ ] subjects first [ ] [ ] object concerning the inability [ ] [ ] settlers to [ ] any taxes [ ] [ ] answers itself according to the proverb: “Where there is nothing, the emperor loses his rights.” And it is the practice in our fatherland that all of God’s houses and those who live from alms are exempt from fees and taxes; and it is unreasonable that it be requested of such in this country. Yet ostentation in clothing and consumption of drink is followed by indolence and sloth, so that one can hardly find a worker for a reasonable daily wage, inferring in no way incapacity to be able to give something to general affairs, but rather a malevolence, stemming from a dissolute or fancied or persuaded freedom in a (as some claim) new and free land. Would to God that it were free from ostentation and excess, and therefore, less excusable not to contribute to the general welfare, which is no less equitable than necessary, and notwithstanding it cannot be obtained by common consent, in my opinion there is no other recourse (unless we want to subject ourselves to the reproach of the lords patroons for being too timid) than to order and implement some taxes ourselves in the most fitting manner possible; and initially [ institute ] those taxes for which we have the aforesaid lords’ approval and order, namely:
First, to pay annually the morgen fee at 12 stivers per morgen and one guilder for each horned animal;
Second, a charge on the houses [ ] its location, size [ ];
Third, a tonnage or anchorage duty of the ships and yachts that come here to this place to trade;
Fourth, to raise the tappers’ excise on the consumption of wine and beer to 6 guilders for one tun of beer and 13 guilders, 4 stivers for one hogshead of wine, and this not only for the consumption in this city of Amsterdam but in general for all the places lying within this province;
Fifth, [ a fee on ] the consumption of some exported commodities and merchandise, such as their wine and beer, and Indian goods by which the commonalty, in my opinion, can be more beneficial than detrimental, which also, according to my understanding, is reflected in the letter from the honorable lords directors dated 23 November and despatched aboard de Groote Christoffel. However, if any other and more bearable subsidies can be devised, we shall gladly conform to them in the most suitable and facile manner possible, and submit to the general consensus.
The final point, concerning some remaining Curaçao horses, is not of any great consequence. Three or four times we have issued commands and orders that if they were still in the woods, they should be looked for. However, inasmuch as they have not appeared yet, and the winter and the lack of available fodder, because of the burning of so many farms, it is not possible that the livestock can be properly fed, as is evident from the daily slaughtering of many animals. Because the scattered settlers are greatly distressed, and especially with their horses, I have, in order to gain time, resolved to send two of my own horses and two on the Company’s account to Virginia; I have taken over those of Thomas Hal and Jan Vinge to be returned if the Company’s horses are found in the woods, otherwise used as replacements in case they [ the Company’s horses ] should be lost during the winter. (Was signed:) P. Stuyvesant.
