He was wealthy, and there he lived and entertained royally during the
remainder of his life.
Andros did many things for the general good. When he had been Governor
four years, and when the most important product of trade was flour, a
law was made by which no one was permitted to make flour outside of the
city. This was called the Bolting Act. Flour cannot be made unless it
is "bolted"--or has the bran taken from it--and so the act came by its
name. The right to grind all the grain into flour may not now seem very
important, but it really was, for it brought all the trade to the city.
So you see the Bolting Act was a very good thing for the city, and very
bad for the people who did not live in the city. The city folks became
very prosperous indeed, but the others, because they could not make or
sell flour, became poorer day by day.
This went on for sixteen years, and then the law came to an end. But by
that time all the business of the entire province had centred in the
city so firmly that it could not be drawn away.
[Illustration]
So, after this, when you look at a picture of the Seal of New York,
and see a windmill and two barrels of flour, you will remember that the
windmill sails worked the mill, and the barrels were filled with flour
which laid the foundation of the city's fortunes; and were put on the
seal so that this fact would always be remembered.
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