Part 8

By an Act made 1 Ja. II. an Impost of Two Shillings and Four Pence per Cent. was laid on Muscovado Sugars imported from the Plantations, to be drawn back at Exportation; the Traders to the Plantations stirr’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 supplied 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 though the Duty of two Shillings and Four-pence per Cent. was not continued on the Expiration of that Act, by the Parliament 2d W. and M. (as they did the Three-pence 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.

By a Statute 4th and 5th W. and M. twenty Shillings per Ton was laid on Lapis Caliminaris dug here and Exported, on an Information given to the House of Commons, that it was not to had any where else; the Merchants concerned in exporting that Commodity, made Application, and set forth, that such a Duty would bring in nothing to the Crown, but be a total Bar to its Exportation; yet the Act past, and we were like to have made a fatal Experiment; for till the Statute of the 7th and 8th of the same King, which reduced the Duty to two Shillings per Ton, the Exportation ceased; and in the mean Time, those Places which had been discouraged from digging, and calcining it, because we undersold them, set again to work, and supplied the Markets where we vended ours.

What Injury was done by the Act made in the 9th and 10th W. III. for the more effectual preventing the Importation of Foreign Bonelace, &c. doth sufficiently appear by the Preamble of that made in the 11th and 12th of the same Reign, for repealing it three Months after the Prohibition of our Woollen Manufactures in Flanders (which was occasioned by it) should be there taken off; but I don’t understand that is yet done, and it may prove an irrecoverable Loss to the Nation.

I mention these Things with great Submission to the Judgment of that glorious Assembly, the Wisdom and Strength of the Nation; to whom I only presume with all Humility to offer my Thoughts, that it would very much tend to the putting Matters of Trade into a true Light before them, if they were first referred to a Body of Men, well versed in the true Principles thereof, and able to see through the Sophistical Arguments of contending Parties, to be by them considered, and well digested, before they received the Sanction of a Law.

And as to foreign Treaties; I do not think our Trade hath been so much bettered by them as it might have been, for want of such a Committee; the Representations made by private Merchants, (who generally differ according as their Interests clash with each other) tending rather to distract, than to inform the Government; which would not be, if their first Applications were made to an experienced Committee, who had Judgment enough to substract out of them what was proper to be offer’d; by which means, our Demands might be rendered short and comprehensive.

We have natural Advantages in Trade above other Nations, besides the Benefit of our Situation, the Foundation of our Woolen Manufactures being as it were peculiar to our own Growth, and may be retained amongst ourselves; an Advantage the French have not, whose Wealth arising chiefly from the Exportation of their Wines, Brandy, Salt, Paper, Silks, and Linnens, both we and other Nations, have made such a Progress in them all since the War began, as to render theirs less sought for; whereas, nothing but our own Neglects, and ill Managements, can let our Neighbours into our Manufactures, which we may soon put a stop to, by securing our Wool at Home.

I cannot close this Discourse without speaking something of Insurance. The first Design whereof, was to encourage the Merchants to export more of our Product and Manufactures, when they knew how to ease themselves in their Adventures, and to bear only such a Proportion thereof as they were willing and able to do; but by the Irregular Practices of some Men, this first Intention is wholly obviated; who without any Interest, have put in early Policies, and gotten large Subscriptions on Ships, only to make Advantage by selling them to others; and therefore have industriously promoted false Reports, and spread Rumours, to the Prejudice of the Ships and Masters, filling Mens Minds with Doubts, whereby the fair Trading Merchant, when he comes to insure his Interest, either can get no one to underwrite, or at such high Rates, that he finds it better to buy the others Policies at advance; by this means these Stock-Jobbers of Insurance, have, as it were, turn’d it into a Wager, to the great Prejudice of Trade: likewise many ill-designing Men, their Policies being over-valued, have (to the Abhorence of honest Traders, and to the Scandal of Trade itself) contriv’d the Loss of their own Ships: On the other Side, the Underwriters, when a Loss is ever so fairly proved, boggle in their Payments, and force the Insured to be content with less than their Agreements, for fear of engaging themselves in long and chargeable Suits.

Now, if the Parliament would please to take these Things into their Consideration, they may reduce Insurance to its first Intention, by obliging the Insured to bear such a proportionable Part of his Adventure, (the Premio included) as to them shall seem fit, and also the Insurers, when a Loss is fully made out, to pay their Subscriptions without Abatement, which will prevent both; and if any Differences should arise, to direct easy ways for adjusting them, without attending long Issues at Law, or being bound up to such nice Rules in their Proofs, as the Affairs of foreign Trade will not admit.

I know, that by a Clause in a Statute made primo Annæ, the wilful casting away, burning, or otherwise destroying a Ship, by any Captain, Master, Mariner, or other Officer belonging to it, is made Felony, without Benefit of Clergy; but that Statute is so qualify’d, that it is difficult to convict the Offender, because the Fact must be done, to the Prejudice of the Owner, or Owners, or of any Merchant or Merchants that shall load Goods thereon, else he doth not come within its Penalty, so it doth not reach the Evil I here mention, viz. the abominable Contrivance of the Owners to have their own Ships destroyed, in order to make an Advantage by their Insurances; (a Crime so black in itself, that it cannot be mentioned without Horror.) These Men, when they frame their dark Designs, will take Care, for the Security of those they employ, that none besides themselves shall load Goods on the Ships they intend shall be thus destroyed, and it cannot be supposed that they receive Prejudice thereby themselves, so the Prosecution on that Statute is evaded; but if the Insured were bound to make out their Interests, and to bear a Proportionable Part of the Loss themselves, this would, as it were, naturally prevent such scandalous Practices.

Before I enter on the Business of the Poor, I will consider of a Question that hath arrisen, and I have heard sometimes debated by Men of good Understanding, which is, Whether the Labour of the Poor being so high, does not hinder Improvements in our Product and Manufactures; which having some Relation to the Subject Matter of this Discourse, I shall offer my Thoughts thereon, with Submission to better Judgments, viz. That both our Product and Manufactures may be carried on to Advantage, without running down the Labour of the Poor.

As to the first, our Product, I am of Opinion, that the running down the Labour the Poor, is no advantage to it, nor is it the Interest of that part of the Kingdom called England to do it, nor can the People thereof live on so low Wages as they do in other Countries; for we must consider, that Wages must bear a Rate in all Nations according to the Price of Provisions; where Wheat is sold for one Shilling per Bushel, and all Things suitable, a labouring Man may afford to work for Three-pence a Day, as well as he can for Twelve-pence, where it is sold for four Shillings; and this Price of Wheat arises chiefly from the Value of the Land; for it cannot be imagined, that the Farmer who gives twenty Shillings per Acre, can afford it as low as he whose Lands cost him but five Shillings per Acre, and produces the same Crop, nor can Labour be expected to be so low in such a Country, as in the other; this is the Case of England, whose Lands yielding great Rents, require good Prices for the Product; and this is the Freeholders Advantage; for supposing Necessaries to be the Current Payment for Labour, in such Cases, whether we call a Bushel of Wheat one Shilling, or Four Shillings, it will be all one to him, for so much as he pays, but not for the Overplus of his Crop, which makes a great Difference into his Pocket; you cannot fall Wages, unless you fall Product; and if you fall Product, you must necessarily fall Lands.

And as for the second, our Manufactures, I am of Opinion, that they may be carried on to Advantage, without running down the Labour of the Poor; for which I offer,

1. Observation, or Experience of what hath been done; we have and daily do see that it is so; the Refiners of Sugars sell for Six-pence per Pound, what yielded formerly Twelve-pence; the Distillers sell their Spirits for one half of what they formerly did: Glass Bottles, Silk Stockings, and other Manufactures (too many to be here enumerated) are sold for not much more than half the Price they were some Years since, without falling the Poor.

But then the Question will be, how this is done? Truly it proceeds from the Ingenuity of the Manufacturer, and the Improvements he attains to in the Ways of his Working: Thus the Refiners of Sugars go through that Operation by easier Methods, and in less Time, than their Predecessors did: Thus the Distillers draw more Spirits from the Things they work on, than those formerly did who taught them the Art. The Glass-Maker hath found a quicker way of making it out of Things which cost him little. Silk Stockings are wove; Tobacco is cut by Engines; Books are printed; Deal Boards are sawn with Mills; Lead is smelted by Wind-Furnaces; all which save the Labour of many Hands, so the Wages of those employed need not be fallen.

Besides which, there is a Cunning crept into Trades: The Clock-Maker hath improved his Art to such a Degree, that Labour and Materials are the least Part the Buyer pays for. The Variety of our Woollen Manufactures is so pretty, that Fashion makes a Thing worth twice the Price it is sold for after, the Humour of the Buyer carrying a great Sway in its Value. Artificers, by Tools and Laves, fitted for different Uses, make such Things, as would puzzle a Stander-by to set a Price on, according to the worth of Mens Labour. The Plummer by new Inventions casts a Tun of Shot for ten Shillings, which might seem to deserve forty.

The same Art is crept into Navigation; Freights are much fallen from what they formerly were at, and yet Sailors Wages are still the same: Ships are built more for Stowage, and made strong enough to be loaden between Decks, and Voyages are performed in less Time. Wool is steved into them by such proper Instruments, that three or four Bags are put, where one would not else lye; Cranes and Blocks help to draw up more for one Shilling, than Mens Labour without them would do for Five.

New Projections are every Day set on Foot to render the making our Woollen Manufactures easy, which should be rendered cheaper by the Contrivance of the Manufacturers, not by falling the Price of Labour: Cheapness creates Expence, and gives fresh Employments, whereby the Poor will be still kept at Work.

The same for our Product; Mines and Pits are drained by Engines and Aquæducts instead of Hands: The Husbandman turns up the Ground with his Sullow, not digs it with his Spade; covers his Grain with the Harrow, not with the Rake; brings home his Harvest with Carts, not on Mens Backs; and many other easier Methods are used, both for improving of Land, and raising its Product, which lessen the Number of Labourers, and make Room for better Wages to be given those that are employed.

Nor am I of their Opinion, who think the running down the Price of our Growth and Product, that so they may buy Provisions cheap, an Advantage to the inland Trade of this Kingdom, but of the contrary.

To understand this rightly, let us begin with the Shop-keeper, or Buyer and Seller, who is the Wheel whereon the inland Trade turns, as he buys of the Importer and Manufacturer, and sells again to the Country; suppose this Man spends two hundred Pounds per Annum, in all Things necessary for himself and Family, as Provisions, Cloaths, House-Rent, and other Expences, the Question will be, what Part of this is laid out in Flesh, Corn, Butter, Cheese, &c. barely considered according to their first cost in the Market? I presume fifty or sixty Pounds per Annum to be the most, whereon the Advance to him will not be so much, by keeping up our Product to a good Rate, as the Profits which will consequently arise in his Trade will amount unto: For by this Means the Farmer will be enabled to give a better Rent to his Landlord, who may then keep a more plentiful Table, spend more Wine, Fruit, Sugar, Spices, and other Things wherewith he is furnished from the City, suit himself and his Family oftner, and carry on a great Splendor in every Thing; the Farmer according to his Condition may do the same, and give higher Wages to the Labourers imployed in Husbandry, who may then live better, and buy new Cloathes oftner, instead of patching up old ones; by this means the Manufacturers will be encouraged to give a better Price for Wool and Labour, when they shall find a Vent as fast as they can make; and a Flux of Wealth causing a Variety of Fashions, will add Wings to their Inventions, when they shall see their Manufactures advanced in their Values by the Buyer’s Fancy; this likewise will encourage the Merchants to encrease their Exports, when they shall find a quick Vent for their Imports; by which regular Circulation, Payments will be short, and all will grow rich; but when Trade deadens in the Fountain, when the Gentlemen and the Farmers are kept low, every one in his Order feels it: It being most certain, and grounded on the Observation of all Men who have lookt into it, that in those Countries where Provisions are Cheap, the People are generally Poor, both proceeding from the want of Trade; so that he who will give a right Judgment in this Matter, must not consider Things only as they offer themselves at the first Sight, but as they will be in their Consequences.

As to the other Part of Great Britain, called Scotland, I can say little with Relation to this Matter, my Knowledge of that part of the Kingdom being not sufficient to enable me to do it: But I am apt to believe, that the same general Maxim must hold good there also, viz. That the Rates of Labour must be according to the Prices of Provisions, and those according to the Rents of the Lands.

Having thus gone through the State of the Nation with respect to its Trade, I will next consider it with respect to the Poor.

And here it cannot but seem strange, that this Kingdom, which so much abounds in Product and Manufactures, besides the Imployment given in Navigation, should want work for any of its People; the Dutch, who have little of the two former, if compared with us, and do not exceed us in the latter, suffer no Beggars; whereas we, whose Wealth consists in the Labour of our Inhabitants, seem to encourage them in an idle way of Living, contrary to their own and the Nations Interest.

The Curse under which Man first fell, was Labour; That by the Sweat of his Brows he should eat his Bread: This is a state of Happiness, if compared to that which attends Idleness: He that walks the Streets of London, and observes the Fatigues used by Beggars, to make themselves seem Objects of Charity, must conclude, that they take more Pains than an honest Man doth at his Trade, and yet seem not to get Bread to eat: Beggary is now become an Art or Mystery, to which Children are brought up from their Cradles; any thing that may move Compassion is made a Livelyhood, a sore Leg or Arm, or for want thereof a pretended one; the Tricks and Devices I have observed to be used by these People, have often made me think, that those Parts, if better employed, might be made useful to the Nation.

Here I will consider,

1. What hath been the Cause of this Mischief of Idleness, and how it hath crept in upon us.

2. What must be done to restrain its going farther.

3. What Methods are proper to be used, in order to make a Provision for those who are past their Labour.