Quartering Acts

In 1765 Parliament pa ed an act compelling the colonies to provide the garrisons in America with fire, candles, vinegar, salt, bedding, cooking utensils and liquors. It was the first act requiring the colonies to tax themselves for imperial objects. In 1774 an act was pa ed legalizing the quartering of troops in the town of Boston. Both acts were most distasteful to the colonists. Quay, Matthew §., born in 1833, attained the rank of colonel during the Civil War. He was a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature from 1864 to 1866, Secretary of the State from 1873 to 1878 and from 1879 to 1882, and State Treasurer in 1885. He was elected to the U. S. Senate as a Republican in 1887 and re-elected in 1893. He was a candidate for re-election 1899, but a strong fight against him was made and the Legislature, unable to make a selection, Governor Stone, of Pennsylvania, appointed Mr. Quay to fill the vacancy. The right of the Governor to appoint a senator was bitterly contested, and numerous precedents were cited, which kept the case so long before the Senate that it came to be celebrated because of the acrimony displayed. His seat was finally declared vacant.