Conceived in Liberty Volume 2 - Ludwig von Mises Institute

Hunter Morris sailed to London to plead the proprietary cause. The Board of
Trade's report to the Privy Council was virtually copied from Morris' account.
But Belcher's representations managed to mollify the board; its final recommendations
in the summer of 1751 merely suggested an impartial investigating
commission, a reprimand to the Assembly, and an extended amnesty.
Belcner and the Assembly were greatly relieved, especially since the board had
been on the point of doing something drastic: freeing the New Jersey governor
from salary paid by the Assembly, or reuniting New Jersey with New
York, or sending in British or New York troops to quell the rioters. Meanwhile,
the riots themselves had died down as the leaders had fled the colony
to escape the expected royal reprisals.
Governor Belcher, however, was getting into dire financial straits; continual
conflict between Assembly and Council had blocked the legislature from
voting him any salary. The Assembly shrewdly decided to gain Belcher's support
and strike a stunning blow at the proprietary at the same time, by voting
to raise funds through a tax on unimproved lands. This, of course, would hit
precisely at the arbitrary monopoly of unsettled lands in the hands of the proprietors.
The Assembly tried to get Belcher to sign the bill and simply ignore
defeat in the Council, but Belcher, though sympathetic, could not take such a
revolutionary step.
By the 1752 session, no taxes had been paid in New Jersey for sixteen years
and the treasury was empty and the government heavily in debt. The Assembly
then decided to levy a tax on all land, including the unimproved, and on
this more moderate bill the Council and Assembly compromised and agreed.
The year 1752 also saw the resolution of New Jersey's great land conflict.
With the Crown out of the picture, the rebels began to take action again—
and effected a jail rescue in April. The Crown having, in effect, decided
against them, the proprietors decided to let well enough alone, to be content
with their unsettled lands, and not to stir up revolutionary ferment. Furthermore,
their Chancery suit would be decided by Belcher, who would undoubtedly
find for the tenants. The proprietors then decided to drop the whole
matter; the great counterrevolutionary attempt to impose feudal overlordship
on settlers of the land in New Jersey had finally collapsed. The rebels and the
Assembly by their determined pressure, combined with the partial assistance
of the governor, had finally triumphed.
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