thout it, "his duties might well have raised no storm."4 The fact that the language of the Acts specifically alluded to defraying administrative charges suggests that Parliament considered the acts as quite ordinary, accepting them as a matter of course for the reason that the colonies were a part of the empire. The fact that the duties were assessed specifically to make up a shortfall in the domestic British budget aggravated the imposition of them upon the colonies. Finally, the fact that they contained taxation as a premise was a problem for the colonies because no internal colonial taxation could be levied. Only taxes levied by the Crown were considered valid. From this arose the issue of direct representation of the colonies in Parliament, which was denied to the American colonies. Sending American representatives to Parliament was, as Griswold states, was "admittedly impractical,"5 but from the American point of view, the colonists were obliged to pay taxes and duties as English citizens, while being denied the rights of such citizens in England. Further, as Tuchman points out, British administration did reach so far as to allow enforcement of the duties on unrepresented colonials:
The New York Assembly, rather than accept suspension, had
soberly complied with the Quartering Act. Friction, however,
developed soon through harassment by agents of the new
American Customs Board, created along with the Townshend Act
to administer the new duties. At the same time, Writs of
Assistance to allow search of premises had been legalized.
Eager to make their fortunes from the penalties they could
impose, the Customs agents, with infuriating zeal, halted
and inspected everything that floated, boarding ships in
every port and on every waterway down to the farmer ferrying
chickens across a river in his riverboat.6
Such enforcement activities...