Part 4

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Ease, Profit, and Security, will keep a Bank always full of Money, the first of which was formerly answered by the private Bankers, who received and paid out Money in the same Manner that the Bank now does, and their Notes generally were as current; but being founded on their own Credits, great Losses often happened, which gave great Shocks to Trade; ’tis true, this Mischief is now guarded against, by the Fund which the Bank of England hath in the Hands of the Government, yet Widows, Orphans, and others out of Trade, are not provided for; which might be done, if the Bank did take in what Money might be tendred to them, for such People who are not able to manage it themselves, and to allow an Interest of ### per Cent. per Annum, whilst it continued in their Hands; which tho’ it may be below the common Rate, yet by Reason of the Security and Readiness of Payment, ’twould be preferrable to a greater, attended with Hazard and Uncertainties; by this Means none of the Money would lie dead and useless; and on the other Hand, the Bank might have Liberty to lend any Sums at the legal Interest, on this Condition, that the Borrower may repay it by such Parts as he can spare it, and be discharged of the Interest of what he so pays in, from the Time of its Payment, and from thenceforward be chargeable with no more, than doth arise from the Money that remains unpaid.

Nor is there such a safe and settled Course of Remittances from Place to Place as Trade, and the other Occasions of the Nation do require; Men oftentimes paying their Money for Bills which are not punctually discharged, and sometimes never, tho’ they give a Præmio to the Drawer, which obliges the travelling with so much Money, and gives Encouragement to Robbers; but this also might be prevented, if the Bank of England (that is now settled in London) did appoint Chambers in other Places of the Kingdom, at such Distances as might best suit the Occasions of the Country, and that their Notes given out for Money, either at London, or in any one of those Chambers, should be demandable in any other; or by drawing Bills at one Chamber payable in another, the Receiver allowing for such Returns after the Rate of ### per Cent. in the Chamber where he receives his Money.

If the Bank was thus regulated, the Nation would soon see its good Effects; Trustees might place out Orphan’s Money with good Security, and Widows and others, whose Maintenance depends on their Interest, would have it duly paid to answer their Occasions; the whole Cash of the Kingdom would be in a continual Circulation, and not lie dead, as too much of it now does; the Gentry and Traders, who are obliged on many Occasions to take up great Sums at Interest, would have it made easy to them, when they might pay in by such Parts, as they could conveniently spare it; and on the other Hand, it would be no Inconvenience to the Bank to receive it, which will by this Means never want Borrowers, and their Notes passing in Payment, will circulate instead of Money.

These Methods will prevent many Cheats and Losses, which are often occasioned by fraudulent and insufficient Drawers, and abate the excessive Præmio’s which are demanded by Remitters, when they can take Advantages of Men’s Necessities; and the Taxes received in the Country might be quicker and safer paid into the Treasury. And if the Bank was likewise extended to Ireland, it would be an Advantage to both Kingdoms, which I shall speak farther to, when I come to discourse of the Trade we drive to that Kingdom.

7. By increasing the Silver Coin of this Kingdom, which are the Tools wherewith the Trader works: It may at first seem strange, that our Silver Coin should grow scarcer, at a Time when we are at Peace with all Nations, our Trade open, and vast Quantities of Bullion yearly imported; but he that considers how much thereof is carried away to the East-Indies, and how little Encouragement the Importer hath to send it to the Mint, when he can sell it for more to export, than it will come too when coined, will cease to wonder; and except some Care be taken in this Matter, we shall soon be reduc’d to such Straits, that the Manufacturers must stand still: for tho’ Gold may serve for large Payments, yet it can’t answer the Occasions of the Manufacturers, who are to make their Payments among the Poor.

Now if these, or such like Methods, were made use of, they might very much encrease our Silver Coin; as,

1. Let the East-India Company be Limited in the Quantity of Bullion they shall ship out yearly, whether the Number of Ships they send be few or many; and let them be oblig’d to carry to the Mint such a suitable Proportion according to what they send away, as to the Wisdom of the Parliament shall seem meet.

2. Let Encouragement be given to all Persons, who shall voluntarily bring Plate or Bullion to be coined.

3. Let the Plate of Orphans be brought into the Mint, which will tend to their Advantage as well as to the Nations, whereas now great Quantities lie dead, and grow out of Fashion before they come to use it, which will by this Means be turned into ready Money, and being put into the Bank, the Interest thereof may be employ’d for their better Maintenance, and the Trade of the Nation will also receive a Benefit thereby: If it be objected, that ’tis now sold to Goldsmiths, I think this make the Argument for sending it to the Mint much stronger, because it is much better that it were turn’d into the Coin of the Kingdom, then disposed of in any other Way.

As for Gold, there is no need to give Encouragement to bring it to the Mint, ’tis only a Commodity, and not the Standard, as Silver is; besides, ’tis generally worth more here than in any other Country; and ’tis apparent from the great Quantity thereof which is coined yearly more than of Silver, that it is every one’s Interest to send it thither.

8. By discouraging Stock-jobbing: This hath been the Bane of many good Designs, which began well, and might have been carryed on to Advantage, if the Promoters had not fallen off by selling their Parts, and slighted the first Design, winding themselves out with Advantage, and leaving the Management to those they had decoyed in, who understood nothing of the Business, whereby all fell to the Ground; which may be prevented (I mean, so far as concerns incorporated Stocks) by Laws framed for that end, or by Clauses in their Charters.

9. By strengthening the Laws against the Exportation of Wool, by such Practicable methods as may prevent its being done: For seeing the Nations Interest so much depends thereon, no Care can be too great, nor Methods laid too deep: Laws concerning Trade, whose sole Strength are Penalties, rarely reach the thing aimed at; but practicable Methods, whereby one thing may answer another, and all conspire to carry on the same Design, hanging like so many Links in a Chain, that you cannot reach the one, without stepping over the other, these are more likely to prevent Mischiefs: ’Tis one thing to punish People when a Fact is committed, and another to prevent their doing it, by putting them as it were under an Inability; Now where the Welfare of the Kingdom lies so much at Stake, certainly it cannot be thought grievous to compell submission to good Methods, tho’ they may seem troublesome at first.