[Transcriber's Note: Blank spaces within paragraphs (where apparently
figures were supposed to be) were marked with the symbols ### for clarity.]
A
DISCOURSE
ON
TRADE,
AND
Other Matters Relative to it.
VIZ.
Of Trade in general: Of the Trade of England: Of Husbandry, Feeding,
Tillage, Corn, Fruit, Fish, Minerals, Trees, Manufactures, Sheep-Wool,
Cotton-Wool, Hemp and Flax: Glass, Earthen-Ware, Silk, Distilling: The
great Advantages of a universal National Bank demonstrated: Sugar-baking,
Tobacco, Tanning, Clock-Work, Paper-Mills, Powder-Mills: Method to
improve our Manufactures, by imploying the Poor: Of Courts of Merchants,
Silver Coin: An effectual Method to prevent the Running of Wool: Of our
Trade to the East and West-Indies, Africa, the Plantations, Iceland, the
Canaries, Spain, Portugal Turkey, Italy, Holland, Hamburgh, Poland,
Russia, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, France, South-Sea, &c. What foreign
Trades are profitable, and what not. An Essay on National Credit, and the
Irish Linnen Manufacture, &c. &c. &c.
Wrote at the Request of several Members of Parliament And now Published
for universal Benefit.
By JOHN CARY, Esq; Merchant of Bristol.
LONDON:
Printed for T. OSBORNE in Gray’s-Inn,
MDCCXLV.
TO
The Right Honourable
Spencer Compton, Esq;
SPEAKER.
And to the Honourable the Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses, of this
Present Parliament of Great-Britain, Assembled.
May it Please your Honours,
THE First Edition of this little Tract, Relating to Trade, the Poor, &c.
was Humbly Dedicated to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, when
Governor of the South-Sea Company, which I then thought, as I still do,
might be of Service to the Nation, by alluring the Heir to the Crown,
into an Early liking of Trade, and Setting before him the Advantages that
Accrue from it, with the Methods whereby it may be Improved; and
therefore I Contracted it into a narrow Compass to Encourage his Reading
it.
THIS second Edition, whereto I have added some sure and practicable
Methods, for Discharging the Public Debts of the Nation, with most Ease
to the People, I humbly Present to this Honourable House; If it may be
Usefull in your Debates, I shall think myself very Happy.
’TIS the Ballance of our Trade, that supplies us with Bullion; if That
be in our Favour, it brings it to us, if otherwise, it must be carried
away.
THIS Ballance is supported by our Manufactures, which keep our People at
Work, and enable them to Maintain themselves by their own Labour, who
must else stand still, and become a Charge on our Lands; and therefore I
humbly conceive it to be our Interest, First, to encourage their being
worn at Home, and then to give a Preference to such Things, as are
Purchased for them abroad, rather than to those, which are bought for
Bullion; and if our Trade was well regulated, we should soon become the
Richest, and consequently the Greatest, People in Europe.
I have made some Essay at such Methods, as I doubt not, being Improved by
your Wisdoms, and strengthened by your Authority, may Tend very much to
the Effecting this great Work; And I humbly Offer the six Propositions
following, as so many Fundamentals, necessary, for the better Ordering of
our Trade, the Discharging of our public Debts, and Supporting the Credit
of the Kingdom, whereby His Majesty will be rendred more Glorious, both
at Home and Abroad.
THE First is, a Committee of Trade, made up of such Men as are well verst
in the true Principles whereon it is Founded, and thereby enabled to make
right Representations of such things, as shall be referred to them by the
Parliament; who, Holding their Places, according as they are thought
capable of performing them, will be careful to execute those Trusts with
Judgment, Honour and Honesty.
THE second is, a due Inspection into the Affairs of the Poor, and putting
an End to that Pernicious Trade of Begging, which I can assure this
Honourable House, from the Experience we have had in their Regulation at
Bristol, may be done, and that the Poor may be trained up to an early
Delight in Labour; the Means and Methods whereby That was Accomplished,
though at first Thought Impracticable, I have set forth in the Appendix.
pag. 167.
THE Third is, the Keeping of our own Wool at home, and preventing the
Wool of Ireland from being Transported any where else except to this
Kingdom; which I am persuaded can never be done, by any other Method, but
by a Register, and that That will effectually do it; towards which I have
made an Essay in the following Treatise.
THE Fourth is, the Encouraging the Linnen-Manufacture of Ireland; ’Tis
not easy to comprehend the Advantages that will thence arise to both
Kingdoms, when each of them shall be fully employed, on a Distinct
Manufacture: the Hands that are now kept at Work there, on the Spinning
of Wool, might be then turned to Linnen, and a great Part of their Lands
would be taken up, in raising Flax and Hemp, for which they are very
proper; and then a Stop might be put to the Importation of those great
Quantities of Worsted and Woollen Yarn thence, so pernicious to the Poor
of this Kingdom, the Spinning whereof, if Imported in Wool, would amount
to many Thousand Pounds per Annum, to be divided among them; and it is
certain, that Spinning is the most profitable Part of the Woollen
Manufacture, because it is done by Women and Children, who can no
otherwise be employed.
IN the Year 1704, I was desired by the Ministry to give my Thoughts of
such an Undertaking, which I then did, and printed some Considerations
relating thereto, adapted for that Time, which I have added in the
Appendix, pag. 158.
NOR can this be any Prejudice to the Linnens of North-Britain, being of
quite different Sorts; which should also for many Reasons be Encouraged,
by such Means and Methods, as on due Consideration may be thought proper.
THE Fifth is, the carrying on the Fishery, which deserves all the
Encouragement the Legislature can give it; and I think the readiest way
to do it, is, by incorporating such Societies, as are witting to set upon
it with joint Stocks, but not exclusive to any others, which will promote
Industry, and shut out Stock-jobbing, the Bane of so many good
Undertakings.
THE sixth, and indeed the Foundation of all the rest, is, the
establishing a substantial Credit, large enough to answer all the
Occasions of the Nation, both public and private, which is the Wheel
whereon all the rest must turn, and whereby, not only the Trade of the
Kingdom, but also the Occasions of the Government may be supplied, and
the public Debts gradually sunk, by a good Management; and This, I humbly
Conceive, cannot be settled any other way, but on a parliamentary
Foundation, any Thing less will be too narrow.
IN the Year 1696, I made some Essay towards such a Credit, which I then
presented to both Houses of Parliament, and have now incerted it in the
Appendix, pag. 174. But the Bank of England having about that time
furnished his Majesty with a considerable Sum of Money, then very much
wanted, for the present payment of the Army, which the Ministry could not
otherwise have raised, tho’ they approved of the Projection, were
unwilling to disoblige at that Juncture, by setting up any thing like
theirs, and so that Matter slept then, as it had ever done, if I had not
observed that the famous Mr. Laws had drawn a Scheme from it, for the
Service of France, as near as the Constitution of that Kingdom will
admit; not that I think it can be lasting, the Foundation being laid on
Sand; Yet it hath served the present Occasion, to pay off the Debts of
that Nation, by an incredible Stock-job, which must in all probability,
end in Confusion and Discontent.
NOTHING can support a National Credit, but a steady Government, where the
arbitrary Will of a Prince cannot withdraw, or lessen the Security at his
Pleasure; and had such a one been then establish’d here, in all
probability, we bad been several Millions less in Debt, and not felt that
heavy load of Taxes, which hath opprest our Lands, and injur’d our
Trade; nor do I think those Debts can be discharged by any other way,
private Men now carrying off those Profits, which should sink them by
degrees.
THE Advantages of a National Bank, and the good Effects it will have, in
this Free Government, towards the Lessening our national Incumbrances,
will plainly appear, when it is considered, that one hundred Pounds
borrowed, will circulate two, besides it self, and thereby reduce the
Interest, to one third Part of what is paid to the Lender; but if it
circulates three, then to a Quarter, and it may be, to much less,
according as a Bank hath Credit, and is found Useful.
BY this Rule, if the Public pays Four per Cent. for Interest, it may by
Circulation be reduced to one, and there is no doubt, but that a
Well-constituted Bank, will be soon fill’d with Money at that Rate; the
great Ground of Buying and Selling Stock being, the vast Sums of Money
which lie dead on Mens Hands, who hope thereby to make some Profit, but
would be glad to dispose of it, on a substantial Security, at a moderate
Interest; besides the Advantage it will be to Widows and Orphans, whose
Money would be safely lodged, and bring them in a certain Income, for
their Maintenance; and here will be no room left for Stock-jobbing, which
hath now got such a Footing, even into our public Affairs, that the
Parliament doth not give a Land-Tax or a Lottery, where the Subscriptions
to it are not Ingrost, by those who have not Money, in order to make an
Advantage, by selling them to such as have, besides the vast Charge in
the management of Lotteries.
AND as to Trade, the Bank of England hath been very serviceable to this
great Metropolis, by making a little Money serve the Uses of a great
deal, but the Benefit thereof hath extended no farther; and why other
Cities, and indeed the whole Kingdom, should not have the same Advantage,
(which it will, if a National Bank be established, and Chambers settled
where desired) I cannot conceive.
AND here I must refer to the Appendix, for the better Illustrating the
Benefit thereof, and the manner of its Institution, as then intended,
which must now admit of several Alterations.
IF such a Bank were settled, the Charge of managing it would be very
little, and the Kingdom might grow richer some Millions every Year, and
the Government have an Addition to its Security, by drawing the Cash of
other Nations hither, whose Interest would thereby become interwoven with
ours; and our Manufactures would be encouraged by a Flux of Money, which
is the Life of Trade; and this, with the easiness of our Government,
would bring the monied Men of Europe to settle here, which would be an
Addition to our Wealth; the Trader might hence be supplied, with such
Sums of Money as he shall want, and for so long time only, as he shall
have Occasion to use it; whereby the Fishery, and other good
Undertakings, may be encouraged, and our Wool be certainly kept at Home;
and the Gentlemen of England may be hence furnished with Money at the
common Interest, and be permitted to make their Payments by such Parts,
as they can best spare it; the want of which is now such a Clog upon
their Estates, that it destroys many good Families; who, when they are
once got into the Usurers Books, can find no way to get out, till they
have paid the whole Debt at once, so that their Estates are devoured, by
Procuration and Continuation.
NOR is it hereby intended to put a Force upon any Man; ’twill be the
Interest of the Lender to put his Money into this Bank, where he hath so
certain a Security, and of the Bank to take it in; and on the other Side,
it will be the Interest of the Bank to furnish Money on the Terms here
mentioned, and of the Borrower to receive it; and this single thing, will
in time bring so great a Profit to the Public as will very much sink the
Debts of the Nation, whilst a Common Advantage is Interwoven with it.
NEITHER will this break in on the Priviledges granted to the Bank of
England, by Act of Parliament; for though they are allowed to lend Money
to the Government, on the Terms therein mentioned, yet the Government
hath not bound up it self, from borrowing of any Others, and making their
Payments in such a manner, as shall be thought most Advantagious to the
Nation.
IF any Objections (not grounded on private Interest) shall be made to
what I have here offered, I believe a satisfactory Answer may be given to
them, if this Honourable House shall think what I have Written, worthy
their Consideration.
ALL I shall further add, is, that it can scarce be Matter of Doubt, but
that most Men will part with their Securities on private Funds, and rely
on the General Credit of the Nation, though at a lower Interest, whereby
those Funds will by degrees, become a part of the general Security, which
with what new Taxes shall be given, will be so useful in Circulation,
that it will be next to Impossible, for the most malicious Projectors, to
lessen the Credit of such a Bank, or to make a Run upon it; and those
Taxes that are heaviest on the Poor, and most Injurious to our
Manufactures, may be taken off: And there will be this farther Advantage,
that the several Offices, who are entrusted to buy for the Use of the
Public, according to such Sums of Money, as shall from time to time be
Appropriated by the Parliament, will be enabled to Purchase all things on
the lowest Terms, when their Bills on this Bank, shall be as punctually
discharged, at the time when they become due, as if they were Bills of
Exchange, and in the mean time pass from Man to Man in Payment, which
will be an Addition to the Cash of the Nation, whereby a great deal will
be saved in what they lay out; and Men of Industry, but of small Stocks,
will be enabled to deal with the Government, which now they cannot do;
and will Endeavour who shall supply it on the best Terms, when by such
Payments, they shall be Furnished, to go to Market again; and the Debts
of the Nation will be so Incorporated therewith, that it will be every
Man’s Interest to support its Credit; and the Eye of a Parliament,
which hath Power to make Examples of Offenders, who through Fraud or
Malice, shall offer Violence thereto, will be sufficient to deter any
from such Evil Practices.
I am,
With all dutiful Respect,
Your Honours,
Most Obedient
Servant.
John Cary.
ADVERTISEMENT.
THE following Sheets are the Work of a Gentleman, a very considerable
Merchant at _Bristol_, whose extensive Knowledge of, and Judgment in
Trade, induced some Gentlemen who were well acquainted with his Capacity,
to desire him to give them his Opinion on Trade in general, and ours in
particular; he did, without any Design of being an Author, or the least
Intention of printing it; but having shewn his Papers to those Gentlemen,
they desired he would publish them, which he at last consented to, and
had a small Number printed in Bristol, at his own Expence.
The Book having met with its deserved success, he re-printed it, with
some considerable Additions; but that Edition having been sold of, and
himself dying soon after, it was with much Difficulty I obtained that
Copy from which this is printed, nor should I as yet have thought of
getting it re-printed, but,
The many Prizes taken by our Ships of War, as well as Privateers, since
the Commencement of the War with _France_, being a sufficient Proof of
the Increase of her Trade, and the Decay of ours, I imagined any Work
that might tend to the promoting our Trade, would meet with due
Encouragement; and I am apt to believe no Book on the Subject deserves it
more than this.
There is annexed to it, the Act of Parliament made in the 7th and 8th of
King _William_, in favour of the City of _Bristol_, for regulating their
Poor; and by way of Appendix, the Proceedings of the Magistrates in
consequence of that Act, worthy of Imitation.
Our Streets being daily infested by swarms of Beggars, perhaps the
Publishing these Proceedings may furnish some Hints to those Gentlemen,
who are daily seeking after a Method of preventing the many Robberies,
Cruelties, and Outrages committed in our Streets every Night of late, and
no doubt but many of those who are Beggars in the Day-time, are the very
People who do so much Mischief at Night; could they therefore be brought
under proper Regulations, it would undoubtedly in some Measure be a
Remedy to that Evil, and at the same time encrease the Riches of these
Kingdoms, by keeping so many idle Persons of both Sexes employed.
I shall not trouble the Reader any further concerning this Work, whose
Merit will I hope speak for itself.
A
DISCOURSE
ON
TRADE, &c.
[Sidenote: Of Trade in general.]
IN Order to discover, whether a Nation gets or loses by its Trade, ’tis
necessary first to enquire into the Principles whereon it is built; for
Trade hath its Principles, as other Sciences have, and as difficult to be
understood; but when they are, ’tis easy to discover whether a Nation
gets or loses by its Management, and without this, we are not capable of
making any true Judgment, it being possible for the Public to grow Poor,
whilst private Persons encrease their Fortunes.
The Design of this little Treatise, is to dissect and lay open the Trade
of this Kingdom, as it is now driven, that so those Branches that shall
appear to be Profitable may be Encouraged, and those that are Otherwise
may be Amended.
The Profits of this Kingdom arise from its Product and Manufactures at
Home, and from the Growths of those several Plantations it hath settled
Abroad, and from the Fish taken on the Coasts, all which being raised by
the Industry of the People, are both its true Riches, and the Tools
whereby it Trades to other Nations, the Products coming from the Earth,
and the Manufacturing of them being an Addition to their Value by the
Labour of the People; now where we barter these Things abroad for such as
are only fit to be eat and drank, or are wasted among ourselves, though
one Man may get by the Luxury of another, yet the Wealth of the Kingdom
doth not encrease; but it is otherwise where we change them for Bullion,
or for Commodities fit to be manufactured again.
[Sidenote: Its Original.]
The first Original of Trade both Domestic and Foreign was Barter, when
one private Person, having an Overplus of such Things as his Neighbour
wanted, furnished him therewith for their Value in such whereof the other
had plenty, but he stood in need of the same, when one Nation abounding
in those Products which another wanted, supply’d it therewith, and
received for them Things equally necessary in their stead; and by how
much the Products of any Nation exceeds its Wants, by so much it grew
richer, the Remainder being sold for Bullion, or some Staple Commodity,
allowed by all to have an intrinsic Value.
And as People encreased, so did Commerce, which caused many to go off
from Husbandry to Manufactures, and other Ways of Living, for Convenience
whereof they began Communities: This was the Original of Towns, which
being found necessary for Trade, their Inhabitants encreased by
Expectation of Profit; this introduced Foreign Trade or Trafic with
neighbouring Nations; and this a Desire to settle rather on some
navigable Rivers, than in remote Inland Places, whereby they might be
more easily supply’d from the Country with Commodities fit to export,
and disperse thither those they had imported from abroad.
[Sidenote: The Trade of this Kingdom.]
I shall now take the Trade of this Kingdom, as it is divided into
Domestic and Foreign, and consider each, and how they are advantagious to
the Nation, and may be made more so.
[Sidenote: Inland Trade.]
[Sidenote: Buying and Selling.]
The Domestic or Inland Trade consists either in Husbandry, Manufactures,
or Buying and Selling; the last of which, whereby one Man lives by the
Profit he makes by another, brings no Advantage to the Public; Peoples
Occasions requiring Commodities to be retail’d to them in such small
Quantities as would fit their Necessities, they were willing to allow a
Profit to him who bought them in greater; and as this Sort of Traffic
came more in use, so the first Buyers not only sold their Commodities to
the Consumers in the Places where they dwelt, but also to others, who
being seated in the Country at a distance, made an Advantage by supplying
the Inhabitants there: This begat the Ingrossing Commodities, and thence
arose Skill and Cunning to foresee their Rise and Falls, according to
their Consumption and prospect of Supply. Hence came the Viciating our
Manufactures, every one endeavouring to underbuy, that he might undersell
his Neighbour; which Way of Living being found in Time to have less
Labour and more Profit than Husbandry and Manufactures, was the Reason so
many fell into it.
From these Bargains Differencies arising, encouraged another Sort of
People, whose Business it was, either by their Wisdoms to persuade, or by
their Knowledge in the Laws to compel, the unjust Persons to do Right to
their Fellow-Traders (an Honourable Employment at the first, and is still
so in those who keep to the strict Rules of its Institution.) Hence arose
Attorneys, Sollicitors, and other Officers, which were found necessary to
attend on those Suits, and other Services of the Law.
Trade brought Riches, and Riches Luxury; Luxury brought Sickness, and
Sickness wanted Physic; which required some to separate themselves to
study the Nature of Plants and Simples, as also of those several Diseases
which bring Men to their Ends, who for their Advice received Gratuities
from their Patients: These brought in Apothecaries and Surgeons, as
necessary Attendants to their Employments; all which were maintained by
keeping People in their Healths. Many also of ripe Parts were fitted for
the Service of the Church, others of the State; great Numbers were
employed in providing Necessaries of Meat, Drink, and Apparel, others in
fitting Things for Delights and Pleasure, and by this Means leaving
Husbandry and Manufactures, flock’d off daily to Livelihoods, which
though useful and convenient in their respective Stations, yet cannot be
said to encrease the Riches of this Nation, but to live by getting from
one another; Husbandry and Manufactures being the profitable Employments,
out of which it gathers its Wealth.
[Sidenote: Husbandry.]
The next Part of the Inland Trade of this Kingdom is Husbandry, which
anteceded Buying and Selling in point of Time, though the other is
treated of first in this Discourse; and this consists either in Feeding
or Tillage, by both which we raise great Store of Cattle, Corn, and
Fruits, fit for the Food, Service, and Trade of the Inhabitants.
[Sidenote: Feeding.]
To begin with Feeding: And here I might enumerate the various Sorts of
Cattle raised and bred by the Care of the Husbandman; but those of most
Note with respect to our Trade, are,
1. The Beef; which besides the Excellency of its Flesh for Food, affords
many Necessaries for our Trade, and is very serviceable in Tillage; with
this we both nourish our Inhabitants at home, victual our Ships for
Foreign Voyages, and load them with the several Manufactures wherewith it
doth supply us; from the Milk we make Butter and Cheese, from the Flesh,
Beef, from the Skin, Leather, from the Fat, Tallow, and of the Horns
several useful Necessaries; the Overplus whereof, above our own
Consumption, we export, and sell in Foreign Markets.
2. The Sheep; whose Golden Fleece being the _Primum_ of our
Woollen-Manufactures, does thereby employ Multitudes of our People; which
being of different Lengths and Fineness, makes them of various Sorts;
whereof they afford us a yearly Crop whilst living, and at their Deaths
we have their Flesh and Skins; the first serves for our Food, and of the
last we make Things, fit to be used at Home, and traded with Abroad.
3. Horses; whose Labour is so necessary, that we can neither carry on our
Husbandry or Trade without them; besides their Fitness for War, being
accounted the boldest in the World; and for all these Uses are
transported abroad; for the first, to our Plantations in _America_; and
for the last, to some of our Neighbouring Nations: But their Flesh is of
no Use, their Skins of little, the Leather made of them being very
ordinary, only the longest of their Hair is used in Weaving.
There are sundry other Sorts of Beasts, some whereof require no Care in
Raising, others little, such as the Stag, the Deer, the Rabbet, the Hare,
the Badger, the Goat, and many others, whose Skins are necessary for our
Trade, and useful in our Manufactures.
[Sidenote: Tillage.]
Tillage is that whereby we raise our Corn by turning up the Earth; the
several Sorts whereof are Wheat, Rye, Barley, Pease, Beans, Vetches,
Oats, &c. which not only afford Nourishment to ourselves, and the Beasts
we use in Labour, but serve also for Trade; as they give Employment to
our People at home, and are transported abroad, more or less, according
to the Overplus of our Expence, and the Want of our Neighbours, besides
the great Quantities us’d in our Navigation.
These Products are all clear Profit to the Nation, being raised from
Earth and Labour; but their chief Advantages arise from their being
exported, either in their own Kinds, or when wrought up, the Remainder,
which is spent at home, tending rather to supply our Wants, than to
advance our Wealth: Which Exports being more or less, according to the
Price they bear in other Countries, and those arising from the Proportion
their Lands holds with ours in their Yearly Rents, are not so great in
Specie, as when wrought up. Butter is the chiefest, wherewith we supply
several Foreign Markets, and did formerly more, till by making it bad,
and using Tricks to encrease its Weight, we lost much of that Trade, and
are now almost beaten out of it by _Ireland_, which every Year makes
theirs better; besides, they undersell us in the Price, as they do also
in Beef, occasioned by the low Rents of their Lands.
’Twas the Act of Prohibition made formerly in _England_, that first
ushered them into a Foreign Trade, their sole Dependance before that Time
being on our Markets, and from hence they were supplied with what they
wanted; but being thereby prohibited from bringing hither their Cattle
and other Provisions, they endeavoured to find a Vent for them in other
Markets, which they did with good Success, and to more Advantage; the
Sweetness whereof gave a Spring to their Industry, and put them on the
Woollen-Manufactures, which they also vended where they exported their
Provisions, till in time it became so great and flourishing, as to give
us Apprehensions it would endanger ours.
[Sidenote: Corn.]
As for Corn; foreign Markets are supplied therewith, both from thence,
and from the Islands of the _Azores_, cheaper than the Rents of our Lands
will admit; but our Plantations have still some Dependance on us for our
Product, and as the Lands of _Ireland_ rise in their yearly Value, they
will have more. We also raise considerable Quantities of Hemp and Flax,
both which are useful in our Trade.
[Sidenote: Fruits.]
The other Fruits of the Earth, such as Apples, Pears, Cherries, Plumbs,
together with the Herbs and Plants, serve rather for Food and Delight
than for Trade: Some Cider we do export; also Spirits raised by the
Distillers, both from some of these, and from Barly.
[Sidenote: Fish.]
On the Sea-Coast both of this Kingdom, and also of _Newfoundland_, and
_New-England_, are caught great Store of Cod-Fish, Herrings, and
Pilchards, which are saved, and sold in foreign Markets.
[Sidenote: Minerals.]
Nor is this all the Product of our Earth, whose Womb being big with
Treasure, brings forth Lead, Tin, Copper, Calamy, Coal, Culm, Iron,
Allom, Copperas, and sundry other Minerals, which are sold in foreign
Markets, whither we send them: Besides a great Expectation we have from a
much richer and more valuable Discovery, lately made in that Part of
_Great-Britain_ called _Scotland_.
[Sidenote: Trees.]
Among the several Trees that adorn our Fields, the Oak, the Elm, and the
Ash, are the chiefest; these not only serve in Building our Ships and
Houses, but also furnish us with materials, wherewith our Artificers make
many things fit for Commerce: And it were much to be wish’d, that
better Care was taken to preserve our Timber, for the Benefit of
Posterity.
[Sidenote: Manufactures.]
The third Part of our Inland Trade is our Manufactures, whereby our
Products are improv’d in their Values and made useful in sundry
Manners, both for our selves and others, by the labour of our People; and
fitted for such Services, as of their own Natures, without the help of
Art, they could not have been proper; and those to suit the Necessities
and Fancies, both of our own, and also of foreign Countries to which we
export them; where they yield a Price, not only according to the true
value of the Materials and Labour, but an Overplus according to the
Necessity and Humour of the Buyers: And this adds to the Profit, and
encreases the Wealth of the Kingdom.
These Manufactures, as they employ Multitudes of our People in their
Making, so also in Exporting them, and importing foreign Materials to be
used with our own, such as Oyl, Dye-stuff, Silk, Wooll, Cotton, Barillia
and many others, which are either manufactured here by themselves, or
workt up with our own Product.
[Sidenote: Sheep's-Wool.]
And first to begin with Sheep’s-Wooll, whereof either by it self, or
mixt with Silk or Linnen, we make Variety of pretty Things, fit for all
Climates, and proper for the Wearing of both Sexes; wherein the Invention
and Imitation of our Workmen have been so great, that they have out-done
all that went before them. From a strong Cloth, fit to keep out Cold in
Winter, they have turn’d their hands to a fine thin sort, which will
scarce keep warm in Summer; from hence they fell on Perpets, Serges,
Crapes, Stuffs, Sayes, Ratoons, Antherines, and many other Things, fit
both for outward Garments, and inward Linings; of various Colours,
Stripes, and Flowers, some of them so fine and pleasant, as scarce to be
known from Silk: Besides those Multitudes of coarser Cloth for the Poor;
also Rugs, Blankets, and all sorts of Furniture for Houses. And such a
Progress have they made in these Manufactures, that a Man may have his
Picture wrought at the Loom, with the same Exactness as if drawn with a
Pencil; one Work-man vying to excell another, they make Things to answer
all Occasions. And as for Arras and Tapestry, I believe it will be
allowed, that they do not fall short of those from whom they first had
the Art: Add to these, Hats, Stockings, and many other things, which are
both worn at home, and exported abroad.
[Sidenote: Cotton-Wool.]
The next material for the Manufactures is Cotton Wool, which is now
become a great Imployment for the poor, and so adds to the Wealth of the
Kingdom; This being curiously pickt and spun, makes Dimities, Tapes,
Stockings, Gloves, besides several things Wove fit for use, as Wastcoats,
Pettycoats, and Drawers, of different Stripes and Finenss; and I doubt
not the Workmen would equal the _East Indies_ for Callicoes, had they
Encouragement; with all which we supply our Plantations and other foreign
Markets, besides what serves for our Consumption at Home.
[Sidenote: Hemp and Flax.]
Hemp and Flax are the Grounds for another Manufacture; for tho’ Weaving
of Linnen is not so much used in _South Britain_, as of Woollen, yet in
_North Britain_ it is, and may be farther improved, not so much by Laws
to direct the Workmen in their making it, as by apt Methods to encourage
them; and even in _South Britain_ several Counties are imployed thereon,
who not only supply themselves, but furnish those bordering on them, with
such Cloth as answers the ends of _French_ Linnens: Besides which great
Quantities of Ticking, of all Finesses, Incle, Tapes, Sacking, Girtwhip,
and many other Things are made thereof; also Cordage, Twine, Netts, with
Multitudes of other Manufactures, which imploy the Poor, and bring by
their Exports Profit to the Nation; and I can not here omit Sail-cloth,
wherein we have made a wonderful Progress in a little time, at the Charge
and Expence of private Stocks, who deserve to be encouraged.
[Sidenote: Glass.]
Glass is a Manufacture brought to so great a Perfection, that it keeps
many of our People at Work; and the Materials whereof it is made being
generally our own, and in themselves of small Value, costs the Nation
little, in comparison of what it formerly did, when we fetch’d it from
_Venice_; the Noble Plate Glasses which we now make of all sorts, both
for Houses and Coaches, do greatly set forth the Genius of our Workmen;
besides the various Sorts of Utensils made for common use, fit for all
the Occasions of a Family, which look almost as well as Silver, and it
would be better for the Nation that they were more used in its stead;
also the Glass for Windows, of different Beauties; and Glass Bottles; all
which find a greater Vent both at Home and Abroad by their Cheapness.
[Sidenote: Earthen-Ware.]
And as for earthen Ware, the Progress we have made therein is such, as
may give us Hopes, that Time will bring it to such a Perfection, as to
equal if not exceed the _Dutch_.
[Sidenote: Silk.]
Silk is another Material for a great Manufacture; which being brought
from abroad Raw, we here Twist, Dye, and Weave into different Goodnesses,
both Plain, Striped, and Flowered, either by itself, or mixt with Gold
and Silver; so Richly Brocaded, that we exceed those from whom we first
had the Art; besides great Quantities of Ribbons, Silk Stockings, and
other Things, not only to serve ourselves, but also to Export.
[Sidenote: Distilling.]
Distilling is an Art so exceedingly improved, that had it not met with
discouraging Laws, ’twould by this Time have attained to a very great
Heigth, and brings great Profit to the Nation; for next to making
something out of nothing, is the making something that is Valuable out of
what would otherwise be worth nothing; therefore this Art ought to have
been handled charily, to have been trained up with a great deal of
Gentleness, and not loaded with Taxes in its Infancy, by which Means we
were like to discourage it in the beginning; however it hath still bore
up under all the Weight laid upon it; ’twas a great mistake to appoint
Measures by Act of Parliament to the Distillers in their Workings; Mens
Knowledge encreases by Observation, and this is the Reason why one Age
exceeds another in any Sort of Mistery, because they improve the Notions
of those who went before them; Therefore confining the Distillers to Corn
only, was an Error, (’Tis true, other Things were allowed to be used,
but on such Terms and Restrictions, as were next to a Prohibition) who by
degrees would have made Experiments on that themselves, using it with
other Mixtures, and thereby drawing from it a cleaner Spirit than it doth
of itself afford, which they might in Time have rectified to such a
Fineness, as to have encreased very much its Use; no Kingdom can give
more Encouragement to Distilling than this, whose Plantations being many,
and well Peopled, where those Spirits are so necessary, and useful for
the Inhabitants, and these depending wholly on us for all things, would
have caused a Consumption of very great Quantities, besides what is used
in our Navigation; we have many Materials of our own to work on, such as
are Molosses, Cyder, Perry, Barley, and others, all which in Time they
would have used; for as they found their Sales increased, they would have
made new Essays; it was a very wrong Step, to discourage Distilling from
Molosses, Scum, Tilts and Wash; an Error the _Dutch_, nor no Trading
Nation, would have been guilty of, and proceeded from ill Advice given
the Parliament, by those, who under Pretence of advancing Corn,
design’d to discourage Distilling, only offered it by that handle they
thought it would be best received in the House; Trade and Lands go hand
in hand as to their Interest, if one Flourishes so will the other;
Incourage Distilling, and it will spend Hundreds of Things now thrown
away.
[Sidenote: Sugar-Baking.]
Refining of Sugars have given Imployment to our People, and added to
their Value in foreign Markets, where we found great and profitable
Sales, till the _Dutch_ and _French_ beat us out, occasioned by the Duty
of 2 s. 4 d. _per Cent._ laid on Muscovado Sugars, 1 Jac. 2d. to be drawn
back at Exportation, whereby they were wrought up abroad cheaper then
they could be at home; but that Law being now expired, and the Parliament
have since granted a draw back on refined Sugars when shipt out, hath
very much helpt that Manufacture.
[Sidenote: Tobacco.]
Tobacco also hath imployed our Poor by cutting and Rowling it, both for a
home Consumption, and also for Exportation; but the latter is lessen’d,
as the Places, to which we used to export it, work it up themselves.
[Sidenote: Tanning.]
Tanning of Leather is an Employment which deserves to be encouraged,
because it furnishes us with a Commodity, fit to be farther Manufactured
at home, and also to be transported abroad; I know the Exportation of
Leather hath been much opposed by the Shoemakers, and others who cut it
at home, and represented as attended with ill Consequences, one whereof
is the making it dear; but, would it not be of much worse to confine and
limit that Employment to an Inland Expence? On the other side, would it
not naturally follow, that when Leather rises to a great Price, the
Exportation must cease, because _Ireland_ will undersell us? And would it
not seem an unreasonable discouragement to Trade, if Tobacco, Sugar, and
the Woollen Manufactures, were debarred from being exported, only because
they should be sold cheaper at home? For suppose the Occasions of the
Nation could not consume all the Leather that is made, to what a low
Price must Hides be reduced, for no other Reason, but that the Shoemakers
may get more by their Shoes; ’Tis true, if they could make out, that
those Countries must then have their Shoes from us, where we now sell our
Leather, I should be of their Minds; but it must needs be otherwise,
seeing _Ireland_ is able to supply them; this proceeds from a very narrow
Spirit, and such as ought not to be encouraged in a trading Nation; a
good export for Leather, will cause a great Import of Raw-Hides, which
will be more Advantage to the Nation, then if they were tann’d in
_Ireland_, and sent abroad thence.
[Sidenote: Minerals.]
Nor can I omit the several Manufactures made of the sundry Mineral we
dig, and render malleable, which would be endless to enumerate, _viz._ of
Tin, Lead, Iron and Copper, wherewith we not only furnish enough for our
own use, but supply our Plantations, and other Places Abroad, the
Workmanship whereof adds much to their Value; and from the last of these
we have of late made Brass and Battery; an undertaking begun by private
Stocks, and carryed on without the help of a Patent for fourteen Years,
and I am of Opinion, it would be much better for the Nation, if good
Projections were rewarded some other way, and left open, to be improved
by all who were willing to make Experiments at their own Charge; this in
all Probability would be a more likely way to bring them to perfection,
and in less Time, then to tye Men down like the Motions of a Clock, to be
directed only by one leaden Weight; of this we have a late Instance in
the Project of _Beech Oyl_, for if but one half of the Profit can be made
thereby, that is set forth by the ingenious Patentee, in his Book written
on that Subject, against which I see no Objection, if the Computations
are rightly stated, I make no manner of doubt, but that private Stocks
would before this Time have made a greater Progress therein, than hath
been done by the present Undertakers, on the joint Stock; and therefore I
think it would be very proper, where such Patents are granted, after some
reasonable Time, to enquire into the Proceedings of the Patentees, least
the Nation be deprived of the Advantages it expected to receive, by the
granting those Patents.
[Sidenote: Clock-work.]
There are many other Things which may be, and daily are improved amongst
us; as Clock-work, wherein we sell little but Art and Labour, the
Materials whereof they are made being but of small Value; Watches and
Clocks of great Prices being sold for the Courts of foreign Princes.
[Sidenote: Paper-Mills.]
[Sidenote: Powder-Mills.]
[Sidenote: Artificers.]
[Sidenote: Methods to improve our Manufactures.]
Paper Mills are a Benefit to the Nation, as they make that Commodity from
things of themselves worth little; so are Powder-Mills; also Handicrafts,
who supply us with things for our own use, which must otherwise be had
from abroad, and also with others, which when exported, are more or less
profitable, as the Labour of our People adds to their Value, Things being
cheaper to us when we pay only for the first Materials whereof they are
made, the rest being Work done at Home, is divided amongst our selves; so
that on the whole it appears to be the great Interest of this Kingdom to
advance its Manufactures; and this I humbly conceive may be done these
several Ways.
[Sidenote: By imploying the Poor.]
1. By providing Work-Houses for the Poor, and making good Laws, both to
force and incourage them to work; But designing to speak larger to this
in the Close of this Tract, I shall refer the Reader thereto.
[Sidenote: By freeing our Manufactures from Customs.]
2. By discharging all Customs payable on our Manufactures at their
Exportation, and also in the Materials used in making them at their
Importation; for as one would encourage the Merchants to send more
abroad, so the other would enable the Manufacturers to afford them
cheaper at home; and ’tis strange that a Nation, whose Wealth depends
so much on its Manufactures, and whose Interest it is to out do all
others, by underselling them in foreign Markets, should load either with
Taxes; but there having been something done in this since my offering it
to the Consideration of the Parliament in a former Discourse, both as to
the woollen manufacture exported, and also to dye Stuffs imported, which
hath evidently appeared to be an Advantage to our Trade, it may be
reasonably hoped, that great Council of the Nation will make a farther
Progress therein, when it shall come regularly before them; because the
Exportation of all our Manufacturers ought to be encouraged, and not
receive a check by any _Modus_ of raising Money, that so they may be
rendred abroad on such Terms, as no other Nation may undersell us; this
whole Kingdom being as one great Work-house, wherein if we keep our Poor
imployed, they will advance the Value of our Lands, but if we do not,
they will become a Load upon them.
[Sidenote: Logwood.]
And here I cannot but mention that of Logwood, a Commodity much used in
Dying, which pays five Pounds _per_ Tun Custom when imported, and draws
back three Pounds fifteen Shillings when shipt out again, by which means
the dyers in _Holland_ use it so much cheaper then ours do here; now if
it was imported Custom Free, and paid twenty five Shillings _per_ Tun at
its Exportation, the Dyers there would use it so much dearer than ours;
and I think it would be well worth Inquiry, whether a Prohibition, either
total or in Part, of Shipping out our Manufacturers thither, and to the
northern Kingdom, undy’d and undrest, might not be made, I am sure it
would be a great Advantage to this Kingdom if it could be done, without
running into greater Inconveniences; the _Dutch_ discourage their being
brought in dyed or drest, that they may thereby give imployment to their
own People, and encrease their Navigation by the Consumption of
Dye-Stuff; the same Reason should prevail with us to dye and dress them
at home; but this requires the due Consideration of a Committee of Trade,
to hear what may be said both for and against it, before it be offered to
the Parliament.
[Sidenote: By not importing things manufactur'd.]
3. By discouraging the Importation of Commodities already manufactured
(unless purchased by our own, or by our Product) such as wrought Silks,
Callicoes, Brandy, Glass, &c. and encouraging the bringing in the
Materials whereof they are made, to be wrought up here; by which Means
more Ships will be freighted, and more Sailors imploy’d, besides the
great Advantage to the Nation in the Ballance of its Trade, which must be
returned in Bullion, as those cost less abroad than the other; and this
will enable us to afford a greater Consumption of foreign Commodities to
please our Palates, such as Wine, Fruit, and the like, all which fill our
Ships, and are fit Subjects for Trade, when they are purchased by our
Product and Manufactures, and that the Profit of our Trade will enable
the Nation to bear the Expence.
[Sidenote: By freeing our Manufactures from Excices.]
4. By freeing the Manufactures from burthensome Excises, which do much
discourage small Stocks, who are not able to carry on their Trades, and
make Provision for such great Payments, besides the Swarms of Officers,
to whom We lay open the Houses of those Men, who deserve all the
Encouragement we can give them, and ought to have things made as easy to
them as may be; had they been laid on our Woollen Manufactures, as was
once hastily proposed, we might have repented it at Leisure; Trade ought
to be handled gently, we may tax the Trader without medling with his
Trade; and he that considers the Expence of this Nation at Five Pounds
_per_ Head (accounting only Eight Millions of People) comes to Forty
Millions _per Annum_, and the Lands only to Twelve or Thirteen, which is
more than they can be computed at by the Act of Four Shillings in the
Pound, may see how much we are beholding to Trade.
[Sidenote: By rendring our foreign Trade safe and easy.]
[Sidenote: Customs.]
[Sidenote: Courts of Merchants.]
5. By securing the Merchants in their Trades, who export our Product and
Manufactures, and making their Business, in relation to the Payment of
their Customs, as easy to them as may be: To this End good Convoys should
be provided in Time of War, and good Cruizers maintained to preserve
their Ships, it being certain, that whatever is diminished out of the
Merchants Stocks, doth so far disable them in their Trades, and
consequently lessen their Exports; great Care should be taken, that the
_Modus_ of their Entries at the Custom-House made as easy to them as
might be, and a due Attendance given at the loading and discharging their
Goods when the Customs are paid, so that they may be dispatched without
Delay, and no unnecessary Remoras put in their Way, the Loss of one Tide
being many times the overthrow of a Voyage; Courts of Merchants should be
erected for the speedy deciding all Differences relating to Sea-Affairs,
which are better ended by those who understand them, than they are in
_Westminster-Hall_, where all things are tried by the nice Rules of Law,
and therefore after much Attendance and Expence, are often referred by
the Judges to such as are conversant in Trade; by this Means the
Merchants would see short Ends to their Differences; but no General Rules
can be given for these Courts, which must be settled, as they suit the
Conveniencies of Trading Cities.
[Sidenote: By making the Banks more useful.]
6. By rendering the Bank of _England_ more applicable to the
Encouragement of our Trade than now it is, which I cannot believe the
Members of that Corporation will oppose, when it shall manifestly appear,
not only to be the Interest of the Nation in General, but also their own.
And I humbly conceive that it may be so directed, that every Subject in
his particular Station, may receive a Benefit by it.
[Sidenote: Widows and Orphans.]