Part 1

A COMPARISON BETWEEN THE _British_ SUGAR COLONIES AND _NEW ENGLAND_,

As they relate to the INTEREST of _GREAT BRITAIN_.

WITH Some Observations on the State of the CASE of _NEW ENGLAND_.

To which is added A LETTER TO A Member of PARLIAMENT.

_LONDON_: Printed for JAMES ROBERTS at the _Oxford Arms_ in _Warwick Lane_. M.DCC.XXXII. (Price 6 _d._)

A

COMPARISON

BETWEEN THE

_British_ SUGAR COLONIES

AND

_NEW ENGLAND_, &c.

Since it appears evident from the Custom-house Books, from undoubted Evidence offered at the Bar of the House of Commons, and from several Tracts publish’d last Session of Parliament, that the Exports of the woollen, and all other Manufactures of _England_ to the _British_ Sugar Colonies, are vastly greater than the Exports of the like Manufacture to _New England_: And since it has also appeared plain, from the same Evidences, that the Imports from the _British_ Sugar Colonies into _England_ are still vastly greater than from _New England_, it will be needless to trouble the Reader with a Repetition of those Proofs, to which he may so easily recur at Pleasure.

My Task shall be of another Kind, and it is a very easy one, to prove, that the Advantage of the _British_ Sugar Colonies to _Great Britain_ must be perpetual, if they are encouraged and protected: But that the present Advantage (if there be any such) of _New England_ to _Great Britain_ must, in the Nature of things, decline; and, in all Probability, will, in a few Years, be quite lost, by the INDEPENDENCY of that Colony on _Great Britain_.

Whoever will cast an Eye on the Map of _New England_ may, at first Glance, perceive, that _Great Britain_, compared to it, is but a Mole-hill.

That Colony is a vast [1]Continent, already very populous, and capable of maintaining an infinite Number of Inhabitants more than _Great Britain_. It is situated partly in the same Climate as _England_, and a great part of it in a much more genial one. Its Soil is, by all Accounts, much more fruitful, productive of all the same sorts of Commodities as _England_, besides some peculiar to its self, such as Peltry, _&c._ plentifully stored with all kinds of Timber, and therefore in all respects adapted by Nature to be the Rival and Supplantress of its Mother Country.

That _New England_ has already made some Progress in this Work, and must continue to do so, will appear by the following Considerations.

All Traders that are acquainted with the _British_ Sugar Colonies remember, that a few Years ago, almost all the Sugar made there was brought to _England_ in _British_ built Ships; now it is as notorious that one Ship in three, which bring that Commodity, are _New England_ built, and navigated by _New England_ Sailors. From whence it follows, that _New England_ has supplanted _Britain_ in its Navigation to those Colonies one part in three.

That _New England_ has supplanted _Great Britain_ in its Fishery, by supplying the [1]Colonies, as well as the _Mediterranean_, appears by their own _State of the Case of the_ British _Northern Colonies_, as well as by the remarkable Decay of that Trade at _Pool_, and many other Ports of _Great Britain_, which, by that Loss, are sunk into the lowest State of Poverty.

But, not content with the Fishery upon its own Coast, (which is a very great one) _New England_ has rival’d, and almost supplanted, _Great Britain_ in her Fishery at _Newfoundland_. Hence arises another Cause of our Decrease in Navigation, and Diminution in the Ballance of Trade.

In the woollen Manufacture it is confess’d, that _New England_ has not made the like surprising Progress; nor is it in the Nature of things possible, that such an infant Colony can enlarge it self all at once in every respect. It has indeed made some Efforts that way (enough to prove its Ability) by the Manufacture of Hats, in which the People of _New England_ are capable, and actually have already arrived to a greater Perfection than the _British_ Manufacturers, because they have a great Quantity of [1]Beaver of their own, and can therefore sell their Hats at foreign Markets cheaper than the _English_.

If they make no great Figure as yet in the woollen Manufacture, it is not for want of Materials; for as the Traders from _New England_ can, and do export, Sheep in full Fleece, to the Sugar Colonies, for the value of ten Shillings _Sterl._ each; it is manifest they have great Plenty of Wool, at a very cheap Price, with which they will supply foreign Markets, either manufactured, or unwrought, and must therefore in time supplant _England_ in its grand Staple the woollen Manufacture. The same may be truly said of Iron, Lead, Copper, and the like Commodities (which are the Produce of _Great Britain_) of which abundant Stores have been already discovered in _New England_. If this be the Case, who can doubt that the Inhabitants of that Colony will extend their Trade to _Europe_, _America_, and to all other Parts of the known World? The Effect of this must be the Acquisition of immense Wealth: Power then will follow Property, and that Power must be ever employ’d to secure and enlarge that Property against all Restraints.

The Independency therefore of _New England_ on _Great Britain_, or any other restraining Power, must be the Consequence: A fatal Consequence to this Kingdom! out of whose Hands every Branch of Trade will be wrested by that Colony, which received its Existence from it. Thus (if I may be allow’d to use a _New England_ Simile) the Cuckow sucks the Eggs, and destroys the Offspring of that very Bird which hatch’d it first into Life.

From these, and a Multitude of other Considerations that may be offered, the future Independency of _New England_ seems highly probable: And if the Genius of that People (uneasy even now under Subjection) was to be taken into the Account, the Probability would appear more eminently.

But since a Display of that Point may lead to national Reflections, I shall forbear every thing of that kind, however just it might be, to treat them as they do other People. This nevertheless may be observed without great Offence, that a People who have forsaken the establish’d Religion of their Country only upon a Dislike of some Ceremonies, will, when Self-interest urges, abandon the civil Establishment also, and set up an absolute Independency, perhaps too, under the pompous Name of _Oceana_.

On the other Hand, the Sugar Colonies consist of Islands too [1]small to contain such a Number of Inhabitants as is necessary to form an independent Community; but if all the Inhabitants could be supposed a sufficient Number for that Purpose, yet as the Islands lie at a vast Distance from each other, a Combination, and consequently an Independency, is absolutely impracticable. Whatever Advantage therefore is derived to _Great Britain_, from the Sugar Colonies, must be perpetual, if they are supported and protected.

Nor can the Sugar Colonies ever supplant _Great Britain_ in any Branch of its Trade, since the Produce and Manufactures of the former are of a quite different kind from the Product of the latter, and _England_ it self the sole Mart of their Sugar, and Centre of all their Riches.

Since then it appears from undoubted Evidences mention’d in the Beginning of this Tract, as well as from the foregoing Arguments drawn from the Nature of things, that the _British_ Sugar Colonies are a plentiful, and must continue to be (if encouraged) a perpetual Fountain of Wealth to _Great Britain_, and that _New England_ is so far from being a present Advantage to _Britain_, in any Degree like that deriv’d from the Sugar Colonies, that, on the contrary, she is already the Rival and Supplantress of her Mother Country in [1]Navigation and the Fishery, and in time will be so, in all Probability, both in the woollen Manufactures and in every other valuable Branch of Trade. Since, I say, this plainly appears to be the Case, can it be good Policy, nay, is it Justice, to favour _New England_, by indulging her in a Trade with the _French_, which must be the Ruin of the Sugar Colonies? or would it not be more suitable to the Wisdom of a _British_ Parliament to cherish and encourage the Sugar Colonies, even tho’ such Encouragement should prove some Disadvantage to _New England_? For as the Constitution of human Affairs is such, that the wisest Legislators could never frame a Law for the publick Good, without interfering, or thwarting, in some degree, the private Interest of some Individuals, so it is to be hoped the _British_ Legislature will never think the private Advantage of a few Distillers in _New England_ is to be put in Competition with the Good of the Sugar Colonies, upon which depends the best Branch of Trade belonging to _Great Britain_.

That this is in truth the Case between the _British_ Sugar Colonies and _New England_, and that the Opposition given by the latter to a Bill depending in Parliament for the Encouragement of the former, has no better Foundation, will appear farther in the following Pages, where all the material Objections, made against the said Bill, are fully answered.

The grand and most material Objection, urged by the _New England_ Casuists against the above mentioned Bill, is that if the said Bill prohibits _New England_ Traders from taking Rum and Melasses from the _French_ Islands, their Trade of Lumber will be ruined, because the _British_ Sugar Colonies are not capable of taking off above one [2]tenth part of the Lumber which _New England_ does, and can export.

If this Argument was founded in Truth, it must follow, that the _French_ Sugar Colonies, to which _New England_ carries on the Lumber Trade, are nine parts in ten bigger than the _British_ Sugar Colonies; for if the _British_ Sugar Colonies cannot take off above one tenth part of the Lumber exported from _New England_, the _French_ Colonies must take off the other nine parts, and therefore must be in the like Proportion bigger; from thence it will also follow, that if the _British_ Colonies make one hundred thousand Hogsheads of Sugar _per Ann._ (as they certainly do) the _French_ Sugar Colonies must, by that Proportion, make nine hundred thousand Hogsheads of Sugar: But this is such a monstrous Absurdity, and so far from Fact, that no one will have the face to own it, however justly it follows from the Premises laid down by _New England_ Casuists.

But, for Argument sake, we will suppose the _French_ Sugar Colonies and _Surinam_ (belonging to the _Dutch_) do take off one half of the _New England_ Lumber (which, by the way, is more than can be proved) the Deficiency then of the Demand of Lumber, will be one Moiety. Now if it can be proved, that the _British_ Sugar Colonies, upon a proper Encouragement, might be improved sufficiently to make as much more Rum and Sugar as they now do, it will follow, that the _British_ Sugar Colonies may take off all the _New England_ Lumber.

_Barbadoes_, one of the _British_ Sugar Colonies, is allow’d to be at its Perfection, and perhaps incapable of being farther improv’d so as to increase its annual Product.

_Antigua_ (all People that know it, will acknowledge) is capable of farther Improvement, and may enlarge its Product of Sugar, according to the best Computations, at least one fifth part _per Annum_. As to the Product of Rum there, it may certainly be enlarged near one half upon proper Encouragement; for the Rum it now makes is not quite one half of its Product of Sugar, that is to say, if _Antigua_ makes twenty thousand Hogsheads of Sugar _per Annum_, its Product of Rum is not quite ten thousand: But it is evident, from the Experience of _Barbadoes_, that, out of twenty thousand Hogsheads of Sugar, there ought to be made near fourteen thousand Hogsheads of Rum; and this Increase, both of Sugar and Rum in _Antigua_, would certainly be made, if there was proper Encouragement.

_Montserrat_, _Nevis_ and St. _Christophers_, for want of Encouragement, do not make (as may appear by the Custom-house Books of each Island) one Hogshead of Rum for three Hogsheads of Sugar: Whereas it is evident, by the Experience of _Barbadoes_, that three Hogsheads of Sugar ought to produce two Hogsheads of Rum, consequently the Product of Rum in these three Islands might be, upon proper Encouragement, increased to as much more as it now is.

Add to this, the Improvement to be made in those Islands, by which the Quantity of Sugar would be increas’d, it will follow still farther, that the Quantity of Rum, which those Islands are capable of making, would be above as much more as they now make, and consequently the Demand for Lumber would be proportionate.

_Jamaica_, the largest of all the _British_ Sugar Colonies, (nay bigger than all the rest put together) is yet but in its Infancy, having now as much Land uncultivated as would produce above three times its present Product, were it cultivated as it certainly would be, upon proper Encouragement.

If all these Particulars relating to the _British_ Sugar Colonies be true (and that they are so, every unprejudic’d Person that knows them will attest) then it must follow, by the Improvements which may be made in the Leeward Islands and _Jamaica_, that the Quantity of Sugar may be increased to above one third more, and the Rum above one half more than the present Product: Thence it will also follow, that the Quantity of Lumber, supposed to be taken off by the _French_ and _Dutch_, would be taken off by the _British_ Sugar Colonies, if encouraged to be cultivated to their full Perfection, especially if it be farther observ’d (and the Remark is no less true than common among the Inhabitants of the Sugar Colonies) that _New England_ Lumber is much scarcer and dearer than formerly, and much worse in kind. The Reason given by the Lumber Traders is, that all the Timber along the Coasts and Rivers of _New England_ being cut down, they are now forced to go farther up the Country for Timber, and have by that means the Charge of Land-carriage added to the prime Cost of Lumber, and therefore the Purchasers must expect to pay dearer for it. But to make up for the Scarcity of Timber, the _New England_ Traders have found another Expedient, which is by diminishing their Lumber in Goodness, in order to increase it in Tale. Thus the Quantity of Wood that was taken up in one thousand of Staves, by dextrous Management, makes near two thousand of Staves. No wonder then that their Lumber should be worse in Quality than formerly; and indeed so bad it is, that a great part of it is fit for nothing but Fewel, which used to be apply’d to the making of Casks for Rum and Sugar.

Whatever Inferences may be drawn from these Considerations, I shall insist only upon this one; that since Timber is so scarce on the Coasts and Rivers of _New England_, it is probable that the Sugar Colonies will have more reason to fear the Want of Lumber from thence, than the People of _New England_ can have to fear the Want of Rum for their Fishery and _Indian_ Trade.

The Objection therefore, that _New England_ will not have Vend for its Lumber, if the Bill for the Encouragement of the Sugar Colonies should pass into a Law, is groundless.

The next material Objection offered against the said Bill, is, that as it prohibits the New _England_ Traders from taking _French_ and _Dutch_ Rum, and [1]Melasses to be still’d into Rum for the uses of their Fishery and _Indian_ Trade, they must suffer great Loss, because the _British_ Sugar Colonies cannot supply them with sufficient Quantities for that Purpose.

This Objection too wants Truth for its foundation; for as it appears from the undeniable Evidence of the Custom-house Books, that all the _British_ Sugar Colonies do produce about one hundred thousand Hogsheads of Sugar _per Ann._ so they ought in Proportion to make about seventy thousand Hogsheads of Rum: A Quantity more than sufficient to supply the _New England_ Fishery and _Indian_ Trade, even according to their own hyperbolical Computation. But the present Product of the Sugar Colonies, under all the incumbent Disadvantages, is more than the _New England_ Casuists can prove to be necessary for both those Trades, nay, on the contrary, they will have a Proof sooner than desired, that their Fishery and _Indian_ Trade do not take off one half of the Rum, now actually made in the Sugar Colonies.

What seems therefore the true Grounds of this vigorous Opposition to the Bill depending in Parliament, for the Encouragement of the _British_ Sugar Colonies, is the Apprehension, that the _New England_ [1]Distillers will lose the Profit of manufacturing the _French_ and _Dutch_ Melasses into Rum: A Spirit, after all their Contrivance, the most pernicious to their own Inhabitants, and resembles genuine Rum in nothing but Colour; for it wants all the balmy, salutary Qualities of the Rum made in the Sugar Colonies, and for that reason is rightly call’d by the Name of _Kill-Devil_.

These Distillers of _New England_ have, like the Craftsmen of _Ephesus_, stir’d up all their Fellow Subjects to this Opposition, on a Pretence, that they cannot be supply’d with this favourite Liquor by any other means than by their Occupation: But the contrary of this has been fully proved, and therefore need not again be repeated.

The People of _New England_ are aiming at the Ruin of the Sugar Colonies, only for the Lucre of manufacturing their kind of Product, brought from the _French_ and _Dutch_. For the same reason they will aim at the Destruction of _England_, that they may have the Advantage of manufacturing Wool, and monopolizing every Branch of her Trade. But surely the Profit of one Set of Subjects, arising from an Encroachment upon another, can never be a good Reason for establishing such an Encroachment. No, ’tis not doubted but the Wisdom of a _British_ Parliament will abolish a Trade so destructive to our own Colonies, and at the same time conducive to the Advancement of the Power and Wealth of _France_.

The last material Objection made by the People of _New England_ against the Bill for the Encouragement of the Sugar Colonies, is, that as it prohibits the Importation of _French_ and _Dutch_ Rum, and Melasses into _New England_[1]; they must be forced to go to the _British_ Sugar Colonies, and no other Market, for those Commodities, and therefore the said Colonies, like all other Monopolies, will exact an unreasonable Price for their Produce.

If the Case was just as the Objection intimates, the _British_ Sugar Colonies would be only upon a Level with _New England_; for as that Place is the only Market, from whence Lumber is imported to the Sugar Colonies, _New England_, by a Parity of Reason, is a Monopoly of the Lumber Trade, and therefore does exact an unreasonable Price for its Lumber.

But this is not, nor ever can be the Truth of the Case, either with regard to _New England_ or the Sugar Colonies; for as in a Place of such Extent as _New England_ is, where the Lumber Trade is carry’d on by a Multitude of People, with a View to each Trader’s separate Interest, a Monopoly of Lumber cannot probably be made: So in the Sugar Colonies, that lie at a vast Distance from each other, and are Rivals to each other by the Production of the same Commodities, a Monopoly is impracticable.

The _New England_ Traders have no less than six different _British_ Islands to go to for Rum and Melasses. Each of those Islands is as independent upon the other in its Polity as distant in Situation. There is little or no Intercourse, and less Commerce, between those of them which are situated the nearest to the others, and no Intercourse at all between the remotest of those Islands, because the Produce of them all being the same; there can be no Exchange of Commodities, and consequently no Commerce or Intercourse. It follows therefore, where there is no Intercourse, there can be no Combination, no Monopoly. On the contrary (as has been observed) each Island is a Rival to its Neighbour, producing the same Commodity, and will, in common Prudence, use all proper means to have its full Share of Trade, to which end nothing can be more conducive than to sell its Produce at the cheapest rate imaginable.

From the foregoing Considerations it is very plain, that the Objections made by the _New England_ People against the Bill for the Encouragement of the Sugar Colonies are of no Weight at all.

There being no more Arguments offered by the _New England_ People worthy a Reply, it is time now to give them a short Hearing of their Rhetorick in Praise of their Trade and of themselves, and in Disparagement of their Fellow Subjects of the Sugar Colonies.

They assert very roundly, that their Trade with the _French_ and _Dutch_ brings them in return Money and Silver, which they bring to _Great Britain_, and lay out for Manufactures.

That there is no Money among the _French_ and _Dutch_ Sugar Colonies, is as evident a truth, as that there are no Gold or Diamond Mines in _New England_; how therefore they can bring Money from Places where there is not enough for the common Uses of Life among the Inhabitants, is a Paradox which they must explain, before the World will take it upon their Word.

If then that Assertion be not founded in Truth, it follows that they do not lay out Money brought from those Places in the Manufactures of _Great Britain_. Their Traffick for Fish in the _Streights_ (a Trade in which they have supplanted _Great Britain_) may furnish them with Money, but I deny that such Money is laid out by them in the Manufactures of _Great Britain_. On the contrary it is to be presumed, that their Money is laid out with the _French_ and _Dutch_ in _Europe_ for _East-India_ Goods, _French_ Silks, and other foreign Commodities; for as it appeared by their own Evidence at the Bar of the House of Commons, that they import such Wares into _New England_, we must suppose they pay for them in Money or Fish, till they can prove that Lumber is a valuable Commodity in _France_ and _Holland_.

But supposing the _New England_ People do lay out their Product of Fish in _British_ Manufactures; is that a sufficient Compensation to _Great Britain_ for robbing her of the Fish Trade to the _Streights_? Does not the _New England_ People, by their Confession, acknowledge by Implication, that they reap the Profit, both in the Navigation and Trade, up the _Streights_, which us’d to be enjoy’d by _Great Britain_ it self? What Advantage is it to _Britain_ to have this Money laid out in her Manufactures? Would it not be a far greater, to be the Carrier of these Manufactures to the _Streights_, and to bring home this Money in her own Ships, navigated by her own Sailors? No doubt all this is true, and therefore the _New England_ People deprive _Britain_ of these great Advantages, and boast the Favour they do to their Mother Country by making her the Channel, thro’ which they derive Wealth to themselves. _Britain_ in this receives just the same Advantage, as that Country would do, thro’ which a rapid River passes, only to wash away its Soil, and Fertility.

Let us now observe their Encomium on their own great Qualities and Industry, and how far preferable they are, to their Fellow-subjects of the Sugar Colonies.

It is confess’d by the best Authors that Panegyrick is the most difficult Task in the World.

If the Praise of another be a matter of such Difficulty, how insuperable must the Labour be to praise one’s self with a good Grace?