Part 8

The _Dutch_ do likewise buy many of our Manufactures, and some of our Product, as Coals, Butter, Lead, Tin, besides things of smaller value, such as Clay, Redding, &c. which are all 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 Countrys, among whom also they vent our _West-India_ Commodities, as Sugars, Tobacco, Indigo, Logwood, Fustick, Ginger, Cotten 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, and bring from the _East-Indies_, whereof Spices and Salt-Peter are many times admitted to be brought hither, though 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 _Sound_, Timber, Hemp, Corn, Pitch, and such things thence to their own Country, which Ships are Sailed with few Hands, and this together with the lowness of Interest enables them to afford those Commodities at such Rates that many times they are fetch'd thence by other Nations cheaper than they could do it from the Places of their Growth, all Charges considered; 'tis strange to observe how those People buz up and down among themselves, the vastness of whose Numbers causes a vast Expence, and that Expence must be supply'd 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 being disposed of every Year, which are never intended to be delivered, only the Buyer and Seller get or lose according to the Rates it bears at the time agreed on to make good the Bargains; such a Commerce to _England_ would be of little Advantage, no more than jobbing for _Guineas_, this Nation would no way advance its Wealth thereby, whose Profits depend on our Product and Manufactures; But that Government raising its Incomes by the Inhabitants, (who pay on all they eat, drink, or wear) cares not so much by what means 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 increase their Numbers they make the Terms of Trade easie; contrary to the Customs of Cities and private Corporations with us, the narrowness of whose Charters discourages Industry and Improvements both in Handecrafts and Manufactures, because they exclude better Artists from their Societies, unless they purchase their Freedoms at unreasonable Rates.

[Sidenote: Hamburgh.]

Another great Market for our Manufactures in _Hamburgh_: This City vents great Quantities of our Cloth, Sugar, Tobacco, and other Plantation Commodities, which are thence sent into _Germany_; from whence we have Linnens, Linnen Yarn, and other Commodities, very necessary both for the use of our selves and our Plantations, and no way thwarting with our own Manufactures.

[Sidenote: Poland.]

_Poland_ also takes off many of our Manufactures, wherewith it is supply'd chiefly from _Dantzick_ within the _Sound_, whither they are first carry'd, 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 adjoyning parts of _Germany_ have turned their Looms to that Commodity, occasioned by our disusing their Linnens, and wearing Calicoes in their room; We have thence some Linnens, also Potashes.

[Sidenote: Russia.]

_Russia_ is likewise supplyed both from _Dantzick_, and also by way of St. _Angelo_ with our Woollen Manufactures, and in Returns we have Linnen, Potashes, Hemp, Leather, and many other Commodities, both useful at Home, and fit to be carry'd Abroad.

[Sidenote: Sweden.]

_Sweden_ and its Territories take off great quantities of our Manufactures both fine and course, besides Tobacco and Sugars; but the Sale of our Broad Cloth hath been much lessened there of late, occasioned by their loading it with great Duties, on purpose to encourage a Manufacture of their own, their Wool is course, but _Scotland_ sends them finer to mix with it, so consequently the Cloth made thereof must be ordinary, however the King encourages its wearing by his own Example, and thinks it his Interest so to do, as it advances his Revenue by better enabling his People to pay it, yet this Manufacture must fall, especially if _Scotland_ sets up any themselves, however all sorts of Serges, Stuffs, and Perpets, are carry'd thither as freely as before; whither we formerly sent also great Quantities of Calamy, till by a late Act its Exportation was loaden with a Duty above its value, occasioned by a wrong Information given the _House of Commons_, that it could not be supplyed from any other place, the smart whereof those concerned in the raising and calcining that Commodity have felt, none being Shipt off ever since, _Sweden_ being furnished therewith from other Countrys, who formerly sent it thither, tho' they could not do it on such reasonable Terms as we did, whereby we beat them out of the Trade, but by this means having the Market wholly to themselves will thereby receive such Encouragement as to put an end to ours, unless that Act be soon repealed.

[Sidenote: Denmark and Norway.]

_Denmark_ hath no Supply of Woollen Manufactures but from us, yet takes no great Quantities, and _Norway_ less, the People of the latter being generally very poor are content with any thing they can get to cover themselves; some Tobacco and Sugar is also Shipt hence, and spent amongst them.

From these Northern Kingdoms we are supply'd with Pitch, Tar, Hemp, Masts, Timber, Iron, all very useful in our Navigation, and without which we cannot carry it on, Commodities which we must have though purchased with Money; I look on any thing which saves our Timber at Home to be advantageous to this Nation, which the great quantities of Baulks and Boards imported thence do.

[Sidenote: France.]

The _French_ Trade hath every age grown less and less profitable to our Woollen Manufactures, not only as the Inhabitants make wherewith to supply themselves, but also 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; if the latter were reduced to the Terms of a Colony it would put a stop to it there, and then ways might be found out to prevent it here; nor doth _France_ spend much of our other Manufactures, or of the growth of this Kingdom, or Product of our Plantations, some Tobacco it doth, also Coals, Butter, Calve-Skins, Bottles, and a few other things; it also furnishes us with nothing to be manufactured here; so that the Trade we drive thither turns rather to their Advantage than ours, which being generally for things consumed amongst us, and our Imports exceeding our Exports, must needs be loss to this Kingdom; But if Linnen Manufactures can be setled in _Scotland_ and _Ireland_, Distilling, Paper, and Silk Manufactures, encouraged here, the Ballance will soon be altered, especially if the _Portuguese_ make Improvements in their Wines, for which they now receive great Encouragement, the People of _England_ being not so fond of the _French_ as they were.

[Sidenote: What Foreign Trades are profitable, and what are not to our Manufactures.]

And thus I have run thro' most of the 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 among our selves, so much less is our Advantage by the Trade we drive thither, especially if those Manufactures interfere with our own; therefore I think the _East-India_ Trade to be unprofitable to us, hindring by its Silks and Calicoes the Consumption of more of our Manufactures in _Europe_ than it doth take from us; the _Spanish_, _Turky_, and _Portugal_ Trades are very advantageous, as they vend great Quantities of our Product and Manufactures, and furnish us with Materials to be wrought up here, and disperse our Commodities to other places where we could not so conveniently send them our selves; This _Spain_ doth to all parts of its Settlements in _America_, _Turkey_ to the _Black Sea_, _Persia_, and all its Territories both in _Europe_ and _Asia_; _Portugal_ doth the same to _Brazile_; the _Dutch_, _Hamburgh_, and _Dantzick_ Trades are very useful, as they supply _Germany_, _Poland_ and _Russia_, with our Manufactures, and little interfere with us therein; _Sweden_ and _Denmark_ are profitable, both in what they take from us, and what they supply us with again; _Ireland_ as now managed is destructive to us; _Scotland_, for want of Stock is not capable of making any Advance either in Manufactures or Plantations to our Prejudice; _Italy_ takes off great Quantities of our Worsted Manufactures, and sends us little of its own save wrought Silks, whereof we shall every Year Import less as we encrease that Manufacture here; but above all I esteem the _African_ and _West-India_ Trades most profitable to the Nation, as they imploy more People at home, and encourage Navigation abroad, all their Product is our Wealth, and hath been a means to ballance our Losses this War, and yet they might be better improved to our Advantage; but the _French_ Trade is certainly our Loss, _France_ being like a Tavern, with whom we spend what we get by other Nations; 'tis strange we should be so bewitch'd to that People, as to take off their Growth which consists chiefly of things for Luxury, and receive a value only from the Esteem we put on them, whilst at the same time they prohibit our Manufactures, in order to set up the like amongst themselves, which we encourage by supplying them with Materials; and not only so, but they lay a Tax on our Ships for fetching away their Product, which must else perish on their Hands.

[Sidenote: The Ballances of Foreign Trades.]

The Ballance of that Trade is always against us, from whom we have in Goods more than we Ship them; The Ballance of _Spain_ and _Portugal_ is always in our Favour; as for the _Dutch_, _Germany_, and _Hamburgh_, their Ballances in Trade are not yet agreed on, some think we ship them most, others that we receive most from them, I encline to the former, the Exchange at all times seems to confirm me therein, and tho' a Pound in _Holland_ is now worth above a Pound sterling, yet I judge it to proceed from the great Remittances we are forced to make for our Armies, which the Exchangers know how to improve to their own Advantage; the Northern Crowns supply us with more than they take from us, but the Commodities we have from them are better than Money; _Turky_ takes Money from us, yet is very beneficial; _Italy_ will grow more and more in its Ballance on our side every year, as the Importation of Wrought Silks is lessened and turned into Raw and Thrown; Now considering that almost the whole World is supplyed 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 its Neighbours were things well managed.

[Sidenote: What Nations do chiefly cope with us in our Manufactures.]

Those who cope with us in our Manufactures are chiefly, the _French_, _Dutch_, and _Ireland_; as to the latter, it lies in our Power to give Rules to them; and for the _French_, let due care be taken to prevent their being supply'd with Wool from hence and _Ireland_, and we shall soon see an alteration therein; 'tis true they are of more danger than the _Dutch_, because they have more Wool of their own, but this they cannot work without ours or Irish; The Commodities they make are generally pretty slight Stuffs, wherein they use a great deal of Combing Wool, and these they not only wear themselves, but send to _Portugal_ and other Places with good Success, to countermine which we have fallen on the same by Assistance of the _French_ Refugees; I wonder at the fancy of those who are always finding fault that we do not make our Manufactures as good and as strong as formerly we did, wherein I think they are to blame, for we must fit them to the humours of the Buyers, and slight Cloth brings an equal Profit to the Nation with strong, and gives the same Imployment to our People; yet where Seals and other Marks are set I would have them be certain Evidences to the truth of what they certifie, either to the length of the Peece, or that the inside is suitable to the outside, or that 'tis truly wove, and without Flaws; the same in respect to the Colour, that 'tis woaded, or madder'd, or the like; and I take it to be a great deal of difference between this and obliging the Manufacturer to make his Cloth or Stuff to a certain weight and thickness, without any respect to the humour of the Buyer, or the Climate of the Country to which it is sent; As for the _Dutch_, as I take them to be no good Planters, so no good Manufacturers, their Heads are not turned that way, but rather to Navigation and Traffick, they were once famous in the Art of Cloth-making, which was maintained by the Wool they fetch'd hence, but King _Edward_ the III. considering the Advantage they made by imploying their People with our Growth whilst our own stood still, prohibited the Exportation of Wool, and the Importation of Foreign Cloth, and cunningly perswaded the _Dutch_ Manufacturers by Priviledges granted them to settle here; if then the prohibiting Wool to be carried out had so good an effect at a time when cloathing was the great Support of that People, why should not our greater Care to prevent it now have a far better, when the whole Trade of that Nation seems to be in the _United Provinces_, and they chiefly set on Buying and Selling? We cannot hinder them from _Spanish_ Wool, but we may from our own and _Irish_: As for _Scotland_ and _Sweeden_, their Manufactures will come to nothing, and it would be the great Wisdom of this Nation to encourage them to bring all their Wool hither, though at some charge to the Publick; as for _Germany_, the Woollen Manufacture is not so natural to them as the Linnen, which they would soon turn to, if we gave them Encouragement by wearing it here and in our Plantations; this would be more advantageous to _England_ than by the use of Calicoes to force a Neighbouring Nation to fence 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 _Genouese_, these we cannot hinder, being supply'd with Wool from those parts of _Spain_ which are near to them, except we could promote a Contract with the _Spaniard_ for all he hath, to which we never had a fairer Opportunity, and I do not believe the _Dutch_ would much oppose it if we gave them liberty to bring it in as Merchandize, I should be glad to see such a Barter made, tho' by relinquishing to them our part of the _East-India_ Trade; Had we once the Command of all the Wool of _Europe_, we might then set what Prices we would on our Manufactures in Foreign Markets, which now we cannot do, but must sell them cheap, lest we be undersold by other Nations who vye with us therein, and our Manufactures selling well abroad, Wool would yield a good Price at home; But if it be doubted that too much Wool will be Imported, 'twould be better to burn the Overplus at the charge of the Pub¦lick (as the _Dutch_ do their Spices) than to have it wrought up abroad, which there is no reason to fear, seeing all the Wool of _Christendom_ is manufactured some where or other; and if the _Act_ for _Burying in Woollen_ did extend to our Plantations, 'twould be of great use towards the Consumption of our Wool: 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 either by hindring such swarms from going off to Idle or Useless Imployments, or by preventing such Multitudes of lazy People from being maintained by Begging.

[Sidenote: Difference between imploying our own Ships, and those of other Nations.]

And this is farther to be noted, that where a Nation doth fetch from us our Manufactures themselves, and Imports to us Materials, we get less by that Trade than if we did it in our own Bottoms, because that doth also encourage our Navigation; thus we get more by the _Spanish_ Trade, because we both supply them with the former, and fetch their Wool, Oyl, &c. in our own Ships; and we lose more by the _French_ when they bring us their Wines and Brandy than when we fetch them our selves, and accordingly we must take our Measures in judging of all other Trades.

[Sidenote: Whither the Ballance of Foreign Trade may be truly judged.]

It hath been a great Debate how the Ballance of our Foreign Trade shall be computed, and what Methods must be taken to know whither we get or lose thereby; some have thought that if we Export more than we Import we lose by Trade, others that if we Export of substantial Commodities more in value than we Import in such we then lose by it, and this seems to be the most rational Computation, but I do not think there is any certainty in the Account we can have of either; our Exports indeed are better known than our Imports by the _Custom-House_ Books, the Bullion and such things being not entered there, and seldom presented, besides many Commodities both outward and inward are run, and never come under the Cognizance of those Officers; but suppose a more exact Account could be kept, since so great a part of the Trade of _England_ is driven by Exchange, and such vast quantities of Commodities are imported from the _West-Indies_ and others exported thither for Account of the Inhabitants of those Plantations, the Ballances whereof they design to lie here as foundations of a secure Settlement for themselves at home, which Commodities are Exported to Foreign Nations on the Accounts of its Inhabitants, who pay for them here by Bills of Exchange, I cannot see how any moderate Computation can be made thereby 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 another; Thus we transport to _Italy_ the Sugars we receive for our Manufactures in _Portugal_, and bring thence Silks and other things to be manufactured here; thus we carry to _Turky_ the Money we receive at _Cadiz_, which helps us there in the selling our Manufactures, and purchasing Materials more protable to this Nation than the Money would be if Imported in Specie; and yet we must not conclude we lose by the _Portugal_ or _Spanish_ Trades because the Returns fall short by the _Custom-House_ Books, or that we get more by the _Italian_ Trade because it doth not appear by them how we exported Commodities to pay for those we Import, so the thing must still remain doubtful.

[Sidenote: A Committee of Trade would be of great advantage to the Kingdom.]

I think it would be a consideration becoming the wisdom of the Nation if a standing Committee of Trade were appointed at the charge thereof, made up of Men both honest and discreet, and I doubt not such may be found, whose only business should be to consider the State thereof as to its Trade; to find out ways how it may be improved both in its Husbandry, Manufactures, and Navigation; to see how the Trade with Foreign Kingdoms grows more or less profitable to us; how and by what Methods we are outdone by others in the Trades we drive, or hindred from enlarging them; what is necessary to be prohibited both in Imports and Exports, and for how long time; to hear Complaints from our Factories setled in Foreign Kingdoms; to correspond with our Ministers abroad about 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 Nation may be improved both abroad and at home; if this was well setled, the good Effects thereof would soon be seen; but then great care must be taken that these Places be not fill'd up with Courtiers, who know nothing of the Business, and so this excellent Constitution become only a Matter of Form and Expence; and herein I would propose for Pattern the Members of the Bank of _England_, who wisely foresaw if that project should fall into such Hands, 'twould soon come to decay; therefore the first thing they did was by fundamental Rules to shut out all from having a share in the management, who had not a good Interest in its Profits or Losses, and next to choose out of that number such for their Officers, who being bred up in Business knew how to improve it to the best advantage: The _French_ King found this Method very useful in the Management of his War, and his Opponents soon saw that Monsieur _Colberts_ Head did them more Mischief than an Army in the Field, because the latter only put in Execution abroad what he advised at home; and I think there is not more need of Policy in War than in Trade, the curious Fibres by which it moves are so fine and thin that if strained by injudicious Hands they are soon broken, and yet our Parliaments generally handle it very coursely, and usually do more Hurt than Good when they meddle with it, not foreseeing the ill consequences of what they do will overballance the Good they intend, and that the Methods they use will not answer their ends, the reason whereof is because the Conceptions they have of it are too gross for a thing so full of Spirit as Trade is; He that will but consider the _Irish_ Prohibition Act, the Clogg put on _Distilling_ by the Barly Act, and on Navigation by the Tunnage Act, will soon see they are in Truth Hindrances to what that Honourable Assembly intended by them, the Advancement of Land.

[Sidenote: Insurance.]

I cannot close this Discourse without saying something of Insurance, the first design whereof was to encourage the Merchant to export more of our Product and Manufactures, when he knew how to ease himself in his Adventure, and to bear only such a proportion thereof as he was willing, but by the irregular Practices of some Men (especially since this War) the 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 on the _Exchange_ to the Prejudice of the Ship or Master, filling all 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 great advance; by this means these _Stockjobbers of Insurance_ have as it were turned it into a Wager, to the great Prejudice of Trade; likewise many ill-designing Men their Policies being over-valued have it's to be feared to the Disparagement of honest Traders contrived the loss of their 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, only for fear of engaging themselves in long and chargeable Sutes.