That the President-General with the advice of the Grand Council, hold or direct all Indian treaties in which the general interest of the Colonies may be concerned; and make peace or declare war with Indian nations. That they make such laws as they judge necessary for the regulating of all Indian trade. That they make all purchases from Indians for the Crown, of lands not now within the bounds of particular Colonies, or that shall not be within their bounds when some of them are reduced to more convenient dimensions. That they make new settlements on such purchases by granting lands in the King's name, reserving a quit-rent to the Crown for the use of the General Treasury.

That they make laws for regulating and governing such new settlements, till the Crown shall think fit to form them into particular Governments.

That they raise and pay soldiers, and build forts for the defence of any of the Colonies, and equip vessels of force to guard the coasts and protect the trade on the ocean, lakes, or great rivers, but they shall not impress men in any Colonies without the consent of its Legislature. That for these purposes they have power to make laws and lay and levy such general duties, imposts or taxes, as to them shall appear most equal and just, considering the ability and other circumstances of the inhabitants in the several Colonies, and such as may be collected with the least inconvenience to the people, rather discouraging luxury, than loading industry with unnecessary burthens.

At the same time that the Plan of Union was adopted, the delegates also adopted a "Representation on the State of the Colonies."

In the Representation it was proposed:

That the bounds of these Colonies which extend to the South Sea, be contracted and limited by the Allegheny or Appalachian Mountains;

That measures be taken for settling from time to time Colonies of His Majesty's protestant subjects, westward of the

said Mountains, in convenient cantons to be assigned for that purpose; and

That the patentees or possessors of large unsettled territories be enjoined to cause them to be settled in a reasonable time on pain of forfeiture.

The plain purpose of both the Representation and the Plan of Union was that, as soon as the limits of the American General Government should be fixed by the order of the King in Council or by Act of Parliament, the American General Government should administer the settlements in the Western region as its dependencies. It is true that the Plan of Union provided that this power was to exist only until the Crown should think fit to form the new settlements into particular Governments; but the important thing is that it should have been proposed to the British Government that an American General Government should constitute the Imperial Government of the Western dependencies, even for the purposes of temporary administration.

If there is any doubt that the framers of the Plan of Union intended that the new Colonies in the transmontane region should be American, and not English Colonies, it is removed by what Franklin, the author of the plan, in his pamphlet, published in 1754, entitled Reasons and Motives on which the Plan of Union was Formed, said about the provisions which permitted the Governor in Council to make new settlements on land purchased from the Indians. His words were:

It is supposed better that there should be one purchaser than many; and that the Crown should be the purchaser, or the Union in the name of the Crown. By this means the bargains may be more easily made, the price not enhanced by numerous bidders, future disputes about private Indian purchases, and monopolies of vast tracts to particular persons, (which are prejudicial to the settlement and peopling of the

country), prevented; and the land being again granted in small tracts to settlers, the quit-rents reserved may in time become a fund for the support of government, for defence of the country, ease of taxes, etc.

Strong forts on the Lakes, the Ohio, etc., may at the same time that they secure our present frontiers, serve to defend new Colonies settled under their protection; and such Colonies would also mutually defend and support such forts, and better secure the friendship of the far Indians.

A particular Colony has scarce strength enough to extend itself by new settlements, at so great a distance from the old; but the joint force of the Union might suddenly establish a new Colony or two in these parts, or extend an old Colony to particular passes, greatly to the security of the present frontiers, increase of trade and people, breaking off the French connection between Canada and Louisiana, and the speedy settlement of the intermediate lands.

The power of settling new Colonies is, therefore, thought a valuable part of the plan.

Referring to the provision in the Plan of Union authorizing the President-General and Council" to make laws for regulating and governing such new settlements, till the Crown shall think fit to form them into particular Governments," Franklin said:

The making of laws, suitable for the new Colonies, it was thought, would be properly vested in the President-General and Grand Council, under whose protection they must, at first, necessarily be, and who would be well acquainted with their circumstances, as having settled them. When they are become sufficiently populous, they may by the Crown be formed into complete and distinct Governments.

The Plan of Union plainly provided for the establishment of an American Empire, dependent on the Imperial State of Great Britain, that is to say, for the establish

ment of an imperium in imperio, or sub-Empire. The twelve Colonies then existing (Delaware being then a dependency of Pennsylvania) were to constitute the subImperial State or the sub-metropole. As a plan for establishing an American sub-Empire, it was complete in itself," to quote the sarcastic language of the Lords of Trade in their report upon it to the Privy Council, because it gave the General Government complete powers for the administration of the dependencies in the Western country. As a plan for a General Government for all the common purposes of the Colonies, however, it was incomplete, since the General Government was given no powers to legislate for the common convenience and welfare except as regards the administration of dependencies and the common defence. Had the Plan been adopted, the separate Colonies would have had to make such arrangements regarding all other matters of common interest as could be brought about by diplomatic negotiation between them, subject to the approval of the King in Council.

The words used to describe the power which the General Government, composed of the President-General and Grand Council assembled as the Legislature of the sub-Empire, was to have in the administration and government of the dependencies of the sub-Empire, are noticeable. They were to be given power by Act of Parliament to make laws "for regulating and governing such new settlements," till the Crown should think fit to form them into particular Governments.

That they were to have this power only till the Crown acted, shows that they were to act in lieu of the Crown, and therefore, in the same way and under the same obligations as the Crown would have acted. But if the power had been granted permanently instead of temporarily, the expression "for regulating and governing such new settlements" would have made it certain that

they were to act in lieu of the Crown and under its obligations and restrictions.

The word "regulate" had, at this time, come into considerable, though not universal use in the English public law to describe the supreme power in the State, when exercised expertly. In the first English translation of Vattel's Law of Nations, made in 1760, the passage relating to the power of the State, the original of which is quoted above on page 13, is thus rendered:

The country inhabited by one nation . . . is the settlement of the nation, and it has a proper and exclusive right to it.

This right comprehends two things: 1. The domain, in virtue of which the nation alone may use this country for the supply of its necessities, and may dispose of it in such a manner and derive from it such advantages, as it thinks proper. 2. The empire, or the right of sovereign command, by which the nation ordains and regulates at its pleasure everything that passes in the country.

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By comparing this translation with the original, it will be observed that the expression disposer de is translated dispose of " when it refers to what Vattel calls " the domain" of a state, and "regulate" when it refers to what he calls" the empire." A" regulation," therefore, in the view of the translator, was evidently a disposition relating to the actions of persons, as distinguished from a disposition relating to land or things. Just how the distinction arose can only be surmised. A reason which is at least plausible is that the expression dispose of " had by process of derivation come to be used in such a way as made its meaning somewhat ambiguous, as applied to persons and their actions. One of these meanings (which the expression still has) was that of transferring control or ownership by will, by sale, or by gift. dently this meaning was derived from a supposed re

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