other our Product, and many sorts of Woollen Manufactures, but
chiefly those made of Worsted; also Fish, and Sugars, both White and
Brown, the last principally to _Venice_; We bring thence Raw and
Thrown Silk, and Red-Wool; also Oyl and Soap, (of the latter we now
make a great deal in _England_,) both used in Working up our Wool,
some Paper, Currants, and other things.
Both _Venice_ and _Genoa_ have made some attempts on a Woollen
Manufacture, being furnisht with Wool from _Alicant_, and those
_Eastern_ Parts of _Spain_; Wrought Silks and Glass are not so much
Imported thence as the formerly were, since we have fallen on making
them here.
[Sidenote: Holland.]
The _Dutch_ do likewise Buy many of our Manufactures, and much of our
Product, as Coals, Butter, Lead, Tin, besides things of smaller
Value, such as Clay, Redding, &c. which are Exported to _Holland_,
not only for their own use, but being a Mart of Trade for _Germany_,
they disperse them for the Expence of those Countries; among whom
they also Vend our _West-India_ Commodities, such as Sugar, Tobacco,
Indigo, Logwood, Fustick, Ginger, Cotton-Wool, besides what they use
themselves; These are an Industrious People, but having little Land,
do want Product of their own to Trade on, except what they raise by
their Fisheries, or bring from the _East-Indies_, whereof Spices and
Salt-Petre are many times admitted to be brought hither, tho’
contrary to the Act of Navigation; Indeed the Trade of the _Dutch_
consists rather in Buying and Selling than Manufactures, most of
their Profits arising from That, and the Freights they make of their
Ships; which being Built for Burthen, are Imployed generally in a
Home-Trade, for Bulky Commodities, such as Salt from St. _Ubes_ to
the _Baltick_, Timber, Hemp, Corn, Pitch, and such sorts of Goods
thence to their own Country, which Ships they Sail with few Hands;
And This, together with Lowness of Interest, enables them to afford
those Commodities at such Rates, that they are often fetcht from them
by other Nations, cheaper then they could do it from the Places of
their Growth, all charges considered; ’Tis strange to see how these
People Buz up and down among themselves, the Vastness of whose
Numbers causes a Vast Expence, and that Expence must be supplied from
Abroad, so one Man gets by another, and they find by Experience, that
as a Multitude of People brings Profit to the Government, so it
creates Imployment to each other; Besides, they Invent new ways of
Trade, by Selling, not only Things they have, but those they have
not, great Quantities of Brandy and other Commodities being disposed
of every Year, which are never intended to be delivered, only the
Buyer and Seller get or loose, according to the Rates it bears at the
time agreed on to make good the Bargain; such a Commerce to this
Kingdom would be of little Advantage, and would not advance its
Wealth more than Stock-jobbing, our Profits depending on the
improving our Product and Manufactures; But That Government raising
its Income by the Multitude of its Inhabitants, who pay on all they
eat, drink and wear, and almost on every thing they do, cares not so
much by what Methods each Person gets, as that they have People to
pay; which are never wanting from all Nations, for as one goes away
another comes, and every Temporary Resident advances their Revenue;
Therefore to encrease their Numbers, they make the Terms of Trade
easy; Contrary to the Customs of Cities and private Corporations with
us, the Narrowness of whose Charters discourages Industry, and
hinders Improvements both in Handicrafts and Manufactures, because
they exclude better Artists from their Societies, unless they
purchase their Freedoms at unreasonable Rates.
[Sidenote: Hamburgh.]
_Hamburgh_ is another Market for our Manufactures; This City vends
great Quantities of our Cloth, as also Tobacco, Sugars, and other
Plantation Commodities, together with several of our Products, which
are also thence sent into _Germany_; from whence we have in Returns
Linnens, Linnen-yarn, and other Commodities, very necessary both for
the Use of our selves and of our Plantations, and little interfering
with our own Manufactures.
[Sidenote: Poland.]
_Poland_ also takes off many of our Manufacturers, wherewith it is
supplied chiefly from _Dantzick_, whither they are first carried, and
thence disperst into all Parts of that Kingdom, which hath but little
Wool of its own, and that chiefly in _Ukrania_; But the Expence of
our Cloth hath been lessened there, since _Silesia_, and the
adjoining Parts of _Germany_, have turn’d their Looms to that
Commodity, occasion’d by our disusing their Linnens, and wearing
Callicoes in their Room; we have thence some Linnens, also Potashes.
[Sidenote: Russia.]
_Russia_ is likewise supplied by way of St _Angelo_ with our Woollen
Manufactures, and other Things, also with some Tobacco; But the Sale
of the latter is decreased, occasioned (as I am inform’d) by the
Indiscretion of our Merchants that imported it; who putting an
excessive Price thereon, caused the Czar to encourage the Planting it
in his own Dominions, which being very large, and reaching from the
_Mare Album_ Northward, to the _Caspian_ Sea Southward, besides its
vast Extent from East to West, affords Climates enough proper for it;
By which Means, we are in danger of losing the Sale of that
Commodity, so profitable to the Nation, which we might have
continued, if they had not been too Covetous at first: We have in
Returns from thence, Hemp, Potashes, _Russia_ Hides, with some
Linnen, and other Commodities, both useful at home, and fit to be
carry’d abroad.
[Sidenote: Sweden.]
_Sweden_ and its Territories takes off great Quantities of our
Manufactures, both fine and coarse, and some of our Product, besides
Tobacco and Sugars, and other Plantation Goods; But the Sales of our
Cloth hath been lessen’d there, occasion’d by their loading it
with great Duties, on purpose to encourage a Manufacture of their
own; their Wool is coarse, so consequently the Cloth made thereof
must be ordinary; however, the late King encourag’d the Wearing it
by his own Example, and thought it the Interest of his Kingdom so to
do: Yet all sorts of Serges, Stuffs, and Perpets are carry’d
thither, and I think as freely as before; From thence we have Copper,
Iron, and some other Things.
[Sidenote: Denmark and Norway.]
_Denmark_ is supply’d from us with Woollen Manufactures, yet takes
no great Quantities, and _Norway_ less, the People of the latter
being generally poor; some Tobacco and Sugar is also shipp’d hence
and spent amongst them.
From these three last Northern Kingdoms we are furnished with Pitch,
Tar, Hemp, Masts, Baulks, and Deal-boards, all very useful to us, and
without which we can’t carry on our Navigation, and therefore we
must have them, though purchas’d with Money; but the Parliament
having encouraged the Importation of some of them from our
Plantations on the Continent of _America_, our Dependence on them for
those things, will in all probability be lessen’d every Year: I
look on any thing that saves our Timber, to be an Advantage to the
Nation, which Baulks and Boards do.
[Sidenote: France.]
The _French_ Trade hath every Age grown less profitable to our
Woollen Manufacturers, as the Inhabitants make wherewith to supply,
both themselves, and other Nations, which they could not do, were
they not furnished with Wool from hence and _Ireland_, their own
being unfit to Work by it self: Nor doth _France_ spend much of the
Growth and Product, either of this Kingdom, or of our Plantations,
and furnishes us with nothing to be manufactured here, so that the
Trade we drive thither turns only to their Advantage; which being
generally for Things consumed among our selves, and our Imports
exceeding our Exports, must needs be Loss to the Kingdom; But if the
Linnen Manufacture can be settled in _Scotland_ and _Ireland_, Paper,
Distilling, and Silk Manufactures, encouraged here, the Ballance will
soon be altered, especially since the _Portuguese_ have made such
Improvements in their Wines; only their Salt we shall still want for
our Fisheries.
[Sidenote: South Sea.]
As to the _South-Sea_ Trade, I cannot undertake to say much to it,
being but lately enter’d upon, and limitted by Act of Parliament to
an exclusive Company, according to whose Management it may prove more
or less advantageous to the Nation; only in this I believe we may be
certain, That they will never carry away our Bullion, as the
_East-India_ Company does, but in all Probability will bring us more.
[Sidenote: What Foreign Trades are profitable to our Manufactures,
and what are not.]
And thus I have run through the Foreign Trades driven from this
Kingdom, and shew’d how they advance its Interest, by taking off
our Product and Manufactures, and supplying us with Materials to be
manufactured again; wherein ’tis a certain Rule, that so far as any
Nation furnishes us with things already manufactured, or only to be
spent amongst our selves, so much less is our Advantage by the Trade
we drive with them; especially if those Manufactures interfere with
our own, and are purchased with Bullion. Therefore I think the
_East-India_ Trade to be unprofitable to us, hindering by its Silks,
Muslins, and Callicoes, the Consumption of more of our Manufactures
in _Europe_, than it doth take from us. The _Spanish_, _Turkey_, and
_Portugal_ Trades, are very advantageous, as they vend great
Quantities of our Manufactures, and furnish us with Materials to be
wrought up here, and disperse our Commodities to other Places, where
we could not so well send them our selves; This _Spain_ doth to its
Settlements in _America_; _Turkey_ to all its Territories, both in
_Europe_ and _Asia_, and also to _Persia_; _Portugal_ doth the same
to _Brazil_. The _Dutch_, _Hamburgh_, and _Dantzick_ Trades are very
useful, as they supply _Germany_, _Poland_, and some Parts of
_Russia_, with our Manufactures, and little interfere with us in
theirs. _Sweden_ and _Denmark_ are profitable, both in what they take
from us, and in what we have from them again. _Italy_ takes off much
of our Worsted Manufactures, and sends us little of its own, save
wrought Silks, whereof we shall every Year import less, as we
increase that Manufacture at home; But above all I esteem the
_African_ and _West-India_ Trades to be most profitable to the
Nation, as they imploy more of our People at home, and give greater
Incouragement to our Navigation by their Product; But the _French_
Trade is certainly our Loss, _France_ being like a Tavern, with whom
we spend what we get by other Nations; and ’tis strange we should
be so bewitcht to that People, as to take off their Growth, which
consists chiefly of things for Luxury, and receive a Value only for
the Esteem we put on them, whilst at the same time they prohibit our
Manufactures, in order to set up the like among themselves, which we
Encourage, by furnishing them with Wool.
[Sidenote: The Ballance of each Trade.]
The Ballance of That and the _East-India_ Trade is always against us,
from whom we have in Goods more than we Ship them, and therefore must
lessen our Bullion; The Ballance of _Spain_ and _Portugal_ is always
in our Favour, and therefore must encrease it; As for the _Dutch_,
_Germany_, and _Hamburgh_, their Ballances are not yet agreed on;
some think we Ship them most, others, that we receive most from them;
I incline to the former; The Northern Crowns supply us with more than
they take from us, but they are Commodities we can’t be without, at
least, till we can be better furnish’d with them from our
Plantations in _America_; _Turkey_ may require some Bullion, yet the
Trade we drive thither is very beneficial to us; _Italy_ will grow
more and more in its Ballance on our side, as the Importation of
wrought Silks is lessen’d, and turn’d into Raw and Thrown. Now
considering, that almost the whole World is supplied by our Labour,
and that our Plantations do daily bring us such Incomes, ’tis
strange if this Nation should not grow Rich, which doubtless it would
do above all our Neighbours, were our Trade rightly looked after.
[Sidenote: What Nations chiefly cope with us in our Manufactures.]
Those who cope with us in our Manufactures are chiefly the _French_,
but let due care be taken to prevent their being supplied with Wool
from hence and from _Ireland_, and we shall soon see an Alteration
therein; ’Tis true they have Wool of their own, but they cannot
work it without ours or _Irish_: The Commodities they make are
generally slight Stuffs, wherein they use a great deal of Combing
Wool; and these they not only wear themselves, but send them to
_Portugal_, and other Parts, with good Success; to countermine which
we have fallen on making them, by Assistance of the _French_
Refugees; I wonder at the Fancies of those Men, who are always
finding fault, that we do not make our Manufactures as strong as
formerly we did, wherein I think they are to be blamed, for we must
fit them to the Humours of the Buyers, and slight Cloth brings as
much Profit to the Nation as strong, and the same Employment to the
Poor; yet where Seals and other Marks are set, let them be certain
Evidences to the truth of what they certifie, either as to the Length
of the Piece, or that the Inside is suitable to the Outside, or that
’tis truly Wove, and without Flaws; the same with respect to the
Colour, that ’tis Woaded, or Madder’d, or the like, But there is
a great deal of Difference between this, and obliging the
Manufacturer to make his Cloth or Stuff to a certain Weight and
Thickness, without respect to the Buyer, or the Climate to which it
is sent; As for the _Dutch_, as I take them to be no good Planters,
so likewise no good Manufacturers, their Heads are not turned that
way, but rather to Traffick and Navigation; The _Flanderkins_ were
once famous in the Art of Cloth-making, which they carried on by the
Wool they fetcht hence: But King _Edward_ the Third, by keeping our
Wool at Home, put a stop to that Manufacture; If therefore the
Prohibiting our Wool to be carry’d out had at that time so good an
Effect and Consequence against those People, why should not our Care
to prevent its being carryed out now, have the same against the
_French_? we cannot indeed hinder them from _Spanish_, but we may
from our own and _Irish_; As for _Sweden_, I am apt to think their
Manufactures will come to little; And as for _Germany_, the Woollen
Manufacture is not so Natural to them as the Linnen, which they would
keep close to, if we gave them Encouragement, by wearing it here, and
sending it to our Plantations, which would be more advantagious to
us, than by the use of Muslins and Callicoes, to put them on Fencing
with us at our own Weapons, which they very unwillingly undertake;
The Woollen Manufactures in _Italy_ are but small, and those chiefly
among the _Venetians_, something among the _Genoese_, these we cannot
hinder, being supply’d with Wool from those Parts of _Spain_ which
are near them, except we could promote a Contract with the _Spaniard_
for all he hath, and if it should be objected, that we should then
have too much, ’tis better to burn the Overplus at the Charge of
the Publick, (as the _Dutch_ do their Spices) than to have it wrought
up abroad, which we can’t otherwise prevent, seeing all the Wool of
_Europe_ is Manufactured somewhere; and if the Act for Burying in
Woollen did extend to our Plantations in _America_, ’twould be of
great use towards the Consumption of our Wooll; Thus, when the Nation
comes to see, that the Labour of its People is its Wealth, ’twill
put us on finding out Methods to make every one work that is able;
which must be done, by hindring such swarms from going off to Idle
and useless Employments, and by preventing such Multitudes of lazy
People from being Maintained by Begging.
[Sidenote: Difference in Employing our own Ships and those of other
Nations.]
And this is farther to be noted in our Trade with Foreign Nations,
that where they fetch from us our Product and Manufactures, and make
their Imports to us, in their own Ships, we get less by the Trade we
drive with them, than if we did it in ours, because That doth also
Encourage our Navigation; and Freights are a great and profitable
Article in Trade; Therefore we get more by the _Spanish_ Trade,
because we generally drive it in our own Bottoms; and we lose more by
the _French_ Trade when they bring us their Wines and Brandy, than
when we fetch them ourselves; and accordingly we may take our
Measures in judging of all other Trades.
[Sidenote: Whether a true Judgment may be made of the Ballance of
Foreign Trade.]
It hath been a great Debate how the Ballance of our Foreign Trade
shall be computed, and what Methods we should take whereby to know
it, and it has been thought, that the most proper way to make a true
Judgment therein is, by taking an Account from the Custom-House Books
of our Exports and Imports; But if this Method would do, yet I do not
think there can be any certainty, either of the one or the other,
drawn from thence; for, as for our Imports, the Bullion, and such
things of Value, are not entered there, and seldom presented; and as
to the Exports, seeing our Woollen Manufactures go out Custom-Free,
the Entries there made of them cannot be depended on; But suppose a
more exact account of our Exports and Imports could be had, yet since
so great a part of the Trade of this Kingdom is driven by Exchange,
and such vast Quantities of Commodities are Imported from our
Plantations for account of the Inhabitants there, the Produce whereof
they leave here as a stock at Home, and that they are supply’d
hence with so many things for their own Consumption, I cannot see how
any Moderate Computation can be this way made of our general Trade,
much less of that we drive with any particular Nation, the
Commodities which we receive at one place, being often carried to an
another; Thus we transport to _Italy_ the Sugars we receive for our
Manufactures in _Portugal_, and bring thence Silk and other things to
be manufactured here, and yet we must not conclude we lose by the
_Portugal_ Trade, because the Returns thence fall short by the
Custom-House Books, or that we get more by the _Italian_ Trade,
because it doth not appear by those Books how we Exported Commodities
to pay for what we Import thence; And as to the Profits we make by
the Freights of our Ships, it doth not at all appear from them, nor
at what Rates our Product and Manufactures are sold abroad, or our
Plantation Goods to Foreigners at home; so the thing must still
remain doubtful; and I know no more certain way to Judge of it, than
by the Increase the Nation makes in its Bullion, which always arises
from the over Ballance of our Foreign Barter and Commerce.
[Sidenote: Committee of Trade.]
And for the better Encouraging the Trade of this Kingdom, I think it
well worthy the Thoughts of a Parliament, whether a standing
Committee, made up of Men well verst therein, should not be
appointed; whose sole Business it should be to consider the state
thereof, and to find out Ways to Improve it; to see how the Trades we
drive with Foreign Kingdoms, grow more or less profitable to us; How
and by what Means we are out done by others in the Trades we drive,
or hindered from Emlarging them; what is necessary to be prohibited,
both in our Exports and Imports, and for how long time; to hear
Complaints from our Factories abroad, and to Correspond with our
Ministers there, in affairs relating to our Trade, and to represent
all things rightly to the Government, with their Advice, what Courses
are proper to be taken for its Encouragement; and generally to study
by what means and Methods the Trade of this Kingdom may be Improved,
both abroad and at home.
If this was well settled, the good Effects thereof would soon be
seen; But then great Care must be taken, that these Places be not
fill’d up with such who know nothing of the Business, and thereby
this Excellent Constitution become only a Matter of Form and Expence.
In the Management of things of much less moment, we employ such who
are supposed to understand what they undertake, and believe they
cannot be carryed on without them; Whilst the general Trade of the
Nation (which is the support of all) lies neglected, as if the Coggs
that direct its Wheels did not need skill to keep them true; Trade
requires as much Policy as matters of State, and can never be kept in
a regular Motion by Accident; when the Frame of our Trade is out of
Order, we know not where to begin to mend it, for want of a set of
Experienced Builders, ready to receive Applications, and able to
judge where the Defect lies.
Such a Committee as this will soon appear to be of great Use and
Service, both to the Parliament in Framing Laws relating to Trade,
and also to the Government in the Treaties they make with Foreign
Nations.
As to the First, It hath sometimes been thought, that when That Great
and Glorious Assembly hath medled with Trade, they have left it worse
than they found it; And the Reason is, because the Laws relating to
Trade, require more time to look into their distant Consequences,
than a Session will admit; whereof we have had many Instances.
To begin with the _French_ Trade; in the 22d _Car._ II. a new Import
was laid on Wines, _viz._ Eight Pounds _per_ Tun on the _French_, and
Twelve Pounds _per_ Tun on _Spanish_ and _Portuguese_; This
Difference (with the low Subsidies put on their Linnens by former
Acts, in respect to those of other Places) was a great Means of
bringing the Ballance of That Trade so much against us, that the
Parliament in the 7th and 8th of _Gul._ III. thought fit to make an
Act, (and is continued by this present Parliament for a longer time)
which in Effect prohibited all Trade with that Nation for One and
Twenty Years, by laying a great Duty on the Importations thence, in
order to prevent a Correspondence, till the Trade should be better
regulated.
In the 14th _Car._ II. Logwood was permitted by Act of Parliament to
be imported, paying Five Pounds _per_ Tun Duty; The same Act repeals
two Statutes of Queen _Elizabeth_ against Importing and Using it in
Dying here, and sets forth the Ingenuity of our Dyers, in finding out
ways to fix the Colours made with it; and yet at the same time gave a
Draw-back of Three Pounds Fifteen Shillings _per_ Tun on all that
should be Exported, whereby Foreigners use it so much cheaper in
their Manufactures than ours can here; which proceeded from a too
hasty making that Law, and being advised, or rather abused, by those,
who regarded more their own Interest, then That of the Nation.
By an Act made 1 _Ja._ II. an Impost of Two Shillings and Four Pence
_per Ct._ was laid on Muscovado Sugars imported from the Plantations,
to be drawn back at Exportation; the Traders to the Plantations
stir’d in this Matter, and set forth, That such a Duty would
discourage the Refining them here, by hindering the Exportation of
Refined Sugars, which was then considerable, and carry that
Manufacture to _Holland_ and _Flanders_; But the Commissioners of the
Customs prevailed against them, and the Bill past; the Fatal
Consequences whereof soon appear’d, for the Exporters of Muscavado
Sugars, drawing back Two Shillings and Four Pence _per Cent._ by that
Act, and nine Pence _per Cent._ by the Act of Tunnage and Poundage,
Foreign Markets were supply’d with Refined Sugars from other places
cheaper, by about Twelve _per Cent_, than we could furnish them
hence, by which means we were beat out of that Trade; And tho’ the
Duty of Two Shillings and Four Pence _per Ct._ was not continued on
the Expiration of That Act by the Parliament 2d W. and M. (as they
did the Threepence _per_ Pound on Tobacco) the bad Effects thereof
being then apparent, yet ’tis difficult to retrieve a Lost Trade,
Trading Nations being like Expert Generals, who make Advantages of
the Mistakes of each other, and take care to hold what they get.