6 September anno 1656.[i]
Whereas the director general and councilors of New Netherland are reliably informed, and told of general complaints about certain fees, which have been exacted up to now without their knowledge, concerning various dispatches and salaries relating to commerce, which they intend to provide, according to the orders and instructions of the honorable lords directors; therefore, the aforesaid director general and councilors do hereby order that henceforth there shall be paid for a bill of lading:
Of one to six hogsheads of tobacco 12 stivers
Of 7 to 12 hogsheads 18 ditto
Of 13 to 24 hogsheads 24 ditto
Of 25 to as many as shall be shipped 50 ditto
Of one to one hundred beavers 12 ditto
Of 100 to 200 beavers 18 ditto
Of 200 to as many as can be packed in one chest 30 ditto
Of one or more chests as many as a
merchant shall ship 50 ditto
For a passport fee to the fatherland, whether for
a household or an individual 20 stivers
And for the church 40 stivers
Concerning the laborers’ wages for bringing the goods and merchandise from the ship to the Company’s warehouse, the aforesaid director general and councilors order that the skippers shall henceforth be obliged to deliver the goods and merchandise at the landing place or on the mainland at the high water mark, in front of or near the warehouse, [ from where the sworn laborers shall bring them into the Company’s warehouse and ] receive as wages:
For one struyck or pijp of wine 6 stivers
For one hogshead 5 stivers
For one aem of wine or tun of beer 4 stivers
For one half aem 3 stivers
For one ancker 2 stivers
For one duffel’s chest or another of the same size 8 stivers For one Oosterse kist [ii] 8 stivers
For a case of axes, nails or kettle ware 5 stivers[iii]
Other and smaller containers in proportion at the discretion of the fiscal or whoever, in his position as commies, is in charge of the warehouse.
After the goods and merchandise have been delivered at the above rates to the warehouse, the merchants may negotiate with the laborers for the best rate possible, according to the remoteness and distance of the places to which they must be brought; and in the event of unreasonableness, then the fiscal shall decide the matter, or whosoever, in his place, shall have charge of the warehouse as commies. However, no one is to be hindered from having his own goods transported from the warehouse by his own workers or servants, with the consent and order as previously stated. Thus done at the session of the honorable director general and councilors held at Fort Amsterdam in New Netherland, the 6th of September 1656.
