which is not better, or at least so good as Money; and this is not to
be found in the Bank of _England_, whose Notes whilst they are One
_per Cent._ worse than Specie, will always keep their Coffers Empty,
because no Man will put into it a Hundred Pounds in Money, when he
can purchase a Note of the same Value for Ninety Nine; and the
Consequence will be this, that the Lender, or rather the Jobber, will
never rest till he is repaid, that so he may be making advantage by a
New Purchase; And if this will be the effect of a Credit worse only
by one _per Cent._ than Money, what will it be when ’tis sunk to
Sixteen; Whereas, on the other side, when a Credit is better than
Money, the Coffers will ever be full, because all Men will endeavour
to put in their Money, and be impatient till ’tis done; And thus it
will be, when the Lender thinks himself secure, and makes more Profit
by having his Money in the Bank then in his Chest, who will therefore
receive out no more at a time, then his necessities shall require,
and for the same Reason, those to whom he pays it, will endeavour to
return it thither again so soon as they can.
IV. As to the Fourth thing Proposed, The necessity the Nation lies
under to have its Credit setled this present Sessions, it will
appear, if we consider, how _London_ now stands in Competition with
all _England_ besides, as to the Specie of Money, and how it will
stand before another Sessions; ’Tis generally agreed, that about
One Moiety of the Money of _England_ is already Center’d in that
great City, and the rest is not enough to pay the Debts owing to it,
together with his Majesties Revenues, Bonds already entered into, and
Taxes now to be given, for Six Months longer, besides the Foreign
Bills, which are generally made payable there, all which must be
returned in Specie; for though by an Act of this present Sessions:
Intituled, _An Act for the farther Remedying the ill State of the
Coin of this Kingdom_, it is among other things Provided, That all
Money that shall be brought in upon Account of Taxes, or Revenues, or
Loans, at Five Shillings and Eight Pence _per_ Ounce, shall be
carryed to the next adjacent Mint, in order to be Recoined, yet this
will no way be Serviceable to the Country, unless a Credit be setled,
it must otherwise be sent up to _London_ after Coined, for want of
Returns, the Debts due to the Country being paid there in Bank, which
is Sixteen _per Cent._ worse than Money, and those due from the
Country demanded in Specie, so that the Money of _England_ is every
Week brought up thither; and then, if it be next considered, what
Methods are left to the Country, to draw it back again, _viz._ by
Provisions and some few other things, ’twill be reasonable to
believe, that seeing the supply made from that City to the Country is
greater than what is made from the Country thither, all the Cash of
_England_ will Center there in a short time, to the Ruining of the
other Trading Cities, and disabling of the Country to pay future
Taxes; and this will make the dependence on _London_ still greater,
till by its own Bloatiness it must at last burst, when the Estates of
the Traders shall consist only in Debts due from the Country, which
must still lye out, for want of a Specie to pay them in; so that all
the Advantage _London_ will receive is, that it will be last Ruined.
Now if a good Credit be settled out of Hand, and the Mints continued
in the Country, the Money that is now there may be still kept there,
and Methods found out to increase it, and the Trade of _England_
carryed on with an equal Circulation in all places; this will keep up
the Rents of the Lands of _England_, which must otherwise fall in
their Values, suitable to the distance they stand in from that great
Metropolis.
If it be Objected, That the Management of this Credit will be very
costly to the Nation; I humbly conceive, that the Profits thereof
will not only support its Charge, but also bring in a great Overplus,
which may be usefully Imployed to the Nations Advantage; yet were
this Objection true, nothing can be termed good Husbandry which
spoils our Trade, the stopping whereof but for one Month, will be
many Millions lost to the Kingdom.
If by Rectifying this, or any better Proposal from a more thinking
Head, the Credit of the Nation may be setled in this present
Sessions, I have Reaped the End I Aimed at, the Good and Welfare of
my Native Country; which I Humbly submit to your Honours great
Wisdom, and shall be Ready to Explain any thing that may seem
doubtful, when I am thereto Commanded.
Your Honours
Most Obedient Servant,
JOHN CARY.
January 5th, 1696.
SOME
CONSIDERATIONS
Relating to the carrying on
The Linnen Manufacture
In the KINGDOM of
IRELAND.
First Published in the Year, MDCCIV.
SOME
CONSIDERATIONS
Relating to
The Linnen Manufacture
In the Kingdom of
IRELAND.
THE Linnen Manufacture in _Ireland_, being a Subject so much
discours’d of the last Sessions of Parliament, I humbly presume to
offer some Thoughts how it may best be carried on.
But before I enter upon it, I will Consider the State of that
Kingdom, with respect to its Foreign Trade; the Ballance whereof I
take to be against them, and must therefore be Supplied, by carrying
out their Coin, which is already grown so Scarce, that ’tis to be
fear’d, in a short time there will be little left.
To explain this, I will lay down some of those steps, by which the
Ballance of Trade, daily Alters to their Prejudice.
Ist, The great fall of their Products, _viz._ Wool, Tallow, Hides,
Beef, &c. which are abated in their Prices above one Third of what
they yielded before the War; so that should the same Quantities of
those Commodities be bought up for Exportation, as formerly there
were, yet they would not amount to the Value they then did.
IIly, The Ports of _Spain_, _France_, and _Flanders_, which were
their Great Markets, being now shut against them, the Profits which
they made by their Foreign Trade in the times of Peace, over and
above the first value of the Commodities exported, are also lost to
the Kingdom.
IIIly, The Prohibiting the Exportation of their Woollen Manufactures,
whereby their People were Employed, and their Labours sold to Foreign
Nations, hath very much lessened the Ballance of their Foreign Trade.
IVly, The great Sums of Money spent in this Kingdom by the Nobility
and Gentry of _Ireland_, who come over hither for Pleasure, or
Necessary Attendances, on the Court, Parliament, or Private Affairs,
and send hither their Children for Education; the Purchases they have
lately made of the Forfeited Estates; and the yearly Remittances
thence for the Rents of Lands belonging to the Nobility and Gentry of
this Kingdom, do all make against them.
Vly, The great Consumption of Commodities among them from this
Kingdom, which, though it Encreases our Trade, and makes it our
Interest to Support that Kingdom, must be allowed to be a Prejudice
to them.
All which being laid together, it seems apparent to me, that the
Ballance of their Trade must every Year grow more against them, till
their Mony is drawn away, except some New Manufacture, fit for
Exportation, be Encouraged amongst them.
And I think none more proper than that of Linnen; which, besides the
Employment it will give to their Poor, will also take up large Tracts
of Land for Raising of Hemp and Flax; and being a Manufacture no way
Interfering with our own, we may take it from them, in Barter for
what they have hence, without any Manner of Prejudice to the Trade of
this Kingdom.
Besides, The People of _Ireland_, being Employed on the Linnen
Manufacture, would by degrees be taken off from making so much
Worsted and Woollen Yarn as they now do, which they send hither at
Cheaper Rates than we are able to make ’em; The Price of Labour in
all Places being according to the Prices of Privisions, and those
according to the Rents of Lands, the Poor can afford to work there on
lower Terms than it can be expected they shou’d do here; On the
other side, if the low Labour of the Poor of _Ireland_, was
Employ’d on Spinning of Linnen Yarn, it would be an Advantage to
the Kingdom of England, to have it sent hither, because it would
Enable us to make our Fustions, and other Manufactures, where it is
used, Cheaper than now we do; whilst our own Poor might be Employed
on Spinning of Wool; and we might Afford to give them better Wages,
without fear of being Beat out of our Manufactures by any other
Nation, provided Care was taken to keep our Wool at Home.
The next thing to be Considered is, how this Work may be best carried
on; which I am of Opinion, must be done by a Corporation, with a
Joint-Stock, Sufficient, not only to buy up what Linnens shall be
made, but also to furnish the Kingdom with Money on Easy Terms; which
will likewise Encourage the Raising of Hemp and Flax.
If the High Rates of Interest in _Ireland_ be considered, and the
present State of the Linnen Manufacture there, ’twill not be
Difficult to see, how Unlikely it is to be carried on by Private
Stocks, who can make Ten _per Cent. per Annum_, by letting out their
Money; ’tis true, the late Act hath reduced it to Eight, but that
Act, having no regard to Incumbrances entred into before the 25th of
_March_, 1704, I do not see, how it will much help the People of
_Ireland_ at this time, when the Scarcity of Money does Disable them
to Discharge Prior Engagements; so that private Men have
Opportunities enough to settle theirs at Ten _per Cent._ which in all
probability they will rather Chuse, than to lay it out in Linnens,
unless they can be Assured of a far greater Profit, than they can
make by letting it out.
Besides, as Interest is now managed, ’tis both a Clog to the
Gentlemen’s Estates, and a Discouragement to Traders and
Manufacturers, considering, that the whole Sum borrowed must be paid
in at once; by which means, being got into the Usurer’s Books, they
can scarce ever find the way out; Now if the Borrower had Liberty to
pay in the Principle, by such Parts as he is able to raise it, and
the Interest for so much to Cease from that time, this would
Encourage Industry, and Promote Improvements, both in Product and
Manufactures, which are the two things that encrease the Wealth of a
Nation.
An Infant-Manufacture must be Carried on at a Small Profit, and must
as I may say, Fight its way through; which cannot be done, where
Interest carries such a Load with it; and therefore I am of Opinion,
that Nothing less than a Joynt Stock, can make _Ireland_ Flourish;
which will in the Consequence turn likewise to the Advantage of
_England_; the Gentlemen of _Ireland_, being by these Means made more
Easy in their Circumstances, and having their Former Incumbrances
brought Lower, will Spend more of their Money here, and Wear more of
our Manufactures there.
Nor will this way of Lending out Money be any Disadvantage to a
Corporation, who will find fit Opportunities of Employing their
Stock, as fast as it is paid in; and the Profits thereof being
Returned hither in Linnens, they may Afford to sell them Cheaper,
than Private Stocks can do.
But I do not think this Work can be presently Brought about; ’twill
not be Easy to Perswade the Landlords nor Tenants of _Ireland_, to
leave off the way of Husbandry they are now upon, and to Turn their
Lands to Hemp and Flax, till they see some Encouragement; But when
they shall find this New Product bring Ready Money, they will soon
Set upon it; if the Manufacturer receives Ready Money for his Cloath,
he will be able to pay Ready Money both for Materials and Labour,
which Circulation will Encourage both the Farmer and the
Manufacturer; and by Degrees, Hemp and Flax-seed will be Sowed in all
Lands Proper for them, and the Owners will soon see the Difference,
between Raising Commodities, for which there is a Present Demand, and
such, as lye on their Hands; For though _Ireland_ may in time Produce
greater Quantities of Hemp and Flax than they can Work up, yet not
more than _England_ may Take off, without Prejudice to any Foreign
Trade we drive; and their Number of Hands, will in all probability be
Encreased by the _French_ Refugees, who will be Glad to go thither,
where they may be Employed in a Manufacture, so natural to them as
Linnen is; which will also give a Fatal Blow to the Kingdom of
_France_ in that Manufacture.
The People in the North of _Ireland_ make good Cloath, sell it at
Reasonable Rates, and wou’d every Year make much more, had they a
Vent for it; And it is to be observed, that Money is not Plentier,
nor Rents paid better, in any part of _Ireland_, than there.
The Rents of _Ireland_ grow due at two Times of Payment, _viz._ 1st
of _May_, and 1st of _November_; the first becomes payable whilst
their Cattle are Lean, which puts the Tenants under great Straits,
and forces them to sell very low, if they are prest for Money; but
the Second Payment is more easily made, their Fat Cattle being sold,
and their Harvest over; This is the State of that part of the Kingdom
that depends on Feeding and Tillage; but where the Linnen Manufacture
is, the Tenants are much easier; they Spin in the Winter Nights, and
at other leisure times, which being wove into Cloath, and whiten’d
early in the Year, provides Money for their first Payment, without
selling their Cattle before fatted for a Market.
It is necessary for a New Undertaking, to be attended with some lucky
Accident; the Linnen Manufacture can never be begun in _Ireland_ at a
more seasonable time than now, being Imported hither Custom Free,
when all the other Linnens of _Europe_ pay considerable Duties.
The Gentlemen of _Ireland_ at this time seem to be Discontented, they
find themselves Uneasy, but cannot tell where the Sore lies;
therefore, sometimes they Complain of one thing, and sometimes of
another; but the true Ground of all is this; Their Exports are
lessened, whilst their Imports encrease upon them, and the Specie of
their Money decreases every Day; by which means their Rents come in
slowly, their Products fall on their Hands, and will more, as they
encrease above their Expence; so that their Improvements rather turn
to their Disadvantage; and their Lands must fall (which ’tis our
Interest to keep up) unless some new Product be encouraged, which may
be Manufactured amongst them; If this was done, They would soon see
where their Interest lay; and tho’ I do not believe they would all
fall on sowing Hemp and Flax, nor is it necessary they should, yet
there would be so much Land turn’d that way, as might restrain
their other Products, within the compass of their Exports, and Home
Consumption, and cause a Circulation of Money through all parts of
the Kingdom.
This will give a greater Employment to the Poor of _Ireland_, and
Encourage People to settle among them, without any manner of
Prejudice to _England_; and Create a mutual Friendship, and a
profitable Correspondence, between both Kingdoms.
And as the Establishing such a Fund will be an Advantage to that
Kingdom, so it will bring a considerable Profit to the Undertakers,
besides the Benefit which may arise from it to the Government, during
the Continuance of this War.
JOHN CARY.
London, July 18th. 1704.
End of Project Gutenberg's An Essay Towards Regulating the Trade, by John Cary