Part 1
[Transcriber’s Note: Blank spaces within paragraphs (where apparently figures were supposed to be) were marked with the symbols ### for clarity.]
AN
ESSAY
Towards
Regulating the TRADE,
AND
Employing the Poor of this
KINGDOM.
The Second Edition.
Whereunto is Added,
An ESSAY Towards
Paying off the Publick Debts.
By John Cary, Esq;
LONDON:
Printed by S. COLLINS in the Old-Baily, and Publish’d by SAM. MABBAT in Holbourn-Court in Grays-Inn. MDCCXIX.
ERRATA.
Pag. 22. line 28. between the Words (Stuffs) and the word (which) add the Word (Imported.) p. 31. i. l. 31. for the Word (If) r. (In) p. 90. l. 24. instead of (a made) r. (made a) p. 115. in the Marginal Note, instead of (Wives) r. (Widdows.) p. 131. l. 33. instead of (Engaged) r. (Enacted.) p. 160. l. 30. instead of (what is) r. (is what).
TO
The Right Honourable
Spencer Compton, Esq;
SPEAKER,
And to the Honourable the Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses, of this Present Parliament of Great-Britain, Assembled.
May it Please your Honours,
THE First Edition of this little Tract, Relating to Trade, the Poor, was Humbly Dedicated to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, when Governor of the South-Sea Company, which I then thought, as I still do, might be of Service to the Nation, by alluring the Heir to the Crown, into an Early Liking of Trade, and Setting before him the Advantages that Accrue from it, with the Methods whereby it may be Improved; and therefore I Contracted it into a Narrow Compass, to Encourage his Reading it.
THIS Second Edition, whereto I have added some Sure and Practicable Methods, for Discharging the Publick Debts of the Nation, with most Ease to the People, I humbly Present to this Honourable House; If it may be Usefull in your Debates, I shall think my self very Happy.
’TIS the Ballance of our Trade, that Supplies us with Bullion; if That be in our Favour, it brings it to us, if Otherwise, it must be Carried away.
THIS Ballance is Supported by our Manufactures, which keep our People at Work, and Enable them to Maintain themselves by their own Labour, who must else Stand still, and become a Charge on our Lands; and therefore I humbly Conceive it to be our Interest, First, to Encourage their being worn at Home, and then to give a Preference to such things, as are Purchased for them Abroad, Rather than to those, which are Bought for Bullion; And if our Trade was well Regulated, we should soon become the Richest, and consequently the Greatest, People in Europe.
I have made some Essay at such Methods, as I doubt not, being Improved by your Wisdoms, and Strengthened by your Authority, may Tend very much to the Effecting this great Work; And I humbly Offer the Six Propositions following, as so many Fundamentals, Necessary, for the better Ordering of our Trade, the Discharging of our Publick Debts, and Supporting the Credit of the Kingdom, whereby His Majesty will be Rendred more Glorious, both at Home and Abroad.
THE First is, a Committee of Trade, Made up of such Men as are well Verst in the true Principles whereon it is Founded, and thereby Enabled to make right Representations of such things, as shall be Referred to them by the Parliament; who, Holding their Places, according as they are thought Capable of Performing them, will be Carefull to Execute those Trusts with Judgment, Honour and Honesty.
THE Second is, a Due Inspection into the Affairs of the Poor, and putting an End to that Pernicious Trade of Begging, which I can Assure this Honourable House, from the Experience we have had in their Regulation at Bristol, may be done, and that the Poor may be Trained up to an Early Delight in Labour; The Means and Methods whereby That was Accomplished, though at first thought Impracticable, I have set forth in the Appendix. pag. 143.
THE Third is, the Keeping of our own Wooll at Home, and Preventing the Wooll of Ireland from being Transported any where else, save to this Kingdom only; which I am Persuaded can never be done, by any other Method, but by a Register, and that That will effectually do it; towards which I have made an Essay in the following Treatise.
THE Fourth is, the Encouraging the Linnen-Manufacture in Ireland; ’Tis not Easy to Comprehend the Advantages that will thence arise to both Kingdoms, when Each of them shall be fully Employed, on a Distinct Manufacture; The Hands that are now kept at Work there, on the Spinning of Wooll, might be then Turned to Linnen, and a great Part of their Lands would be taken up, in Raising Flax and Hemp, for which they are very Proper; and then a Stop might be put to the Importation of those Great Quantities of Worsted and Woollen Yarn thence, so Pernicious to the Poor of this Kingdom, the Spinning whereof, if Imported in Wooll, would amount to many Thousand Pounds per Annum, to be Divided amongst them; And it is Certain, that Spinning is the most Profitable Part of the Woollen-Manufacture, because it is done by Women and Children, who can no otherwise be Employed.
IN the Year 1704, I was Desired by the Ministry, to give my Thoughts of such an Undertaking, which I then did, and Printed some Considerations Relating thereto, Adapted for that time, which I have added in the Appendix, pag. 187.
NOR can This be any Prejudice to the Linnens of North-Britain, being of quite different Sorts; which should also for many Reasons be Encouraged, by such Means and Methods, as on due Consideration may be thought proper.
THE Fifth is, the Carrying on the Fishery, which Deserves all the Encouragement the Legislature can give it; and I think the Readiest way to do it, is, by Incorporating such Societies, as are willing to set upon it with Joint Stocks, but not Exclusive to any others, which will Promote Industry, and Shut out Stock-Jobbing, the Bane of so many Good Undertakings.
THE Sixth, and indeed the Foundation of all the Rest, is, the Establishing a Substantial Credit, Large enough to Answer all the Occasions of the Nation, both Publick and Private, which is the Wheel whereon all the Rest must Turn, and whereby, not only the Trade of the Kingdom, but also the Occasions of the Government, may be Supplied, and the Publick Debts gradually Sunk, by a Good Management; and This, I Humbly Conceive, cannot be Setled any other way, but on a Parliamentary Foundation, any thing less, will be too Narrow.
IN the Year 1696, I made some Essay towards such a Credit, which I then Presented to both Houses of Parliament, and have now Incerted it in the Appendix, Pag. 165. But the Bank of England, having about that time Furnished his Majesty with a Considerable Sum of Money, then very much wanted, for the present Payment of the Army, which the Ministry could not otherwise have Raised, though they Approved of the Projection, were Unwilling to Disoblige at that Juncture, by Setting up any thing like theirs, and so that Matter Slept then, as it had ever done, if I had not Observed, that the Famous Mr. Laws had drawn a Scheme from it, for the Service of France, as near as the Constitution of that Kingdom will admit; Not that I think it can be Lasting, the Foundation being laid on Sand; Yet it hath Served the Present Occasion, to Pay off the Debts of that Nation, by an Incredible Stock-Job, which must in all Probability, End in Confusion and Discontent.
NOTHING can Support a National Credit, but a Steady Government, where the Arbitrary Will of a Prince, cannot withdraw, or Lessen the Security at his Pleasure; and had such a One been then Established here, in all Probability, we bad been severall Millions less in Debt, and not felt that Heavy Load of Taxes, which hath Opprest our Lands, and Injured our Trade; Nor do I think those Debts can be Discharged by any other way, Private Men now carrying off those Profits, which should Sink them by Degrees.
THE Advantages of a National Bank, and the Good Effects it will have, in this Free Government, towards the Lessening our National Incumbrances, will plainly Appear, when it is Considered, that One Hundred Pounds Borrowed, will Circulate Two, besides it self, and thereby Reduce the Interest, to One Third Part of what is paid to the Lender, but if it Circulates Three, then to a Quarter, and it may be, to much Less, according as a Bank hath Credit, and is found Usefull.
BY this Rule, if the Publick Pays Four per Cent. for Interest, it may by Circulation be Reduced to One, and there is no Doubt, but that a Well-Constituted Bank, will be soon Fill’d with Money at that Rate; the great Ground of Buying and Selling Stocks being, the Vast Sums of Money which lye Dead on Mens Hands, who hope thereby to make some Profit, but would be Glad to Dispose of it, on a Substantial Security, at a Moderate Interest; Besides the Advantage it will be to Widdows and Orphans, whose Money would be Safely Lodged, and bring them in a Certain Income, for their Maintenance; And here will be no Room left for Stock-Jobbing, which hath now gotten such a Footing, even into our Publick Affairs, that the Parliament doth not give a Land-Tax or a Lottery, where the Subscriptions to it are not Ingrost, by those who have not Money, in Order to make an Advantage, by Selling them to such as have, besides the Vast Charge in the Management of Lotteries.
AND as to Trade, the Bank of England hath been very Serviceable to this Great Metropolis, by making a Little Money serve the Uses of a Great Deal, but the Benefit thereof hath Extended no farther; And why other Cities, and indeed the whole Kingdom, should not have the same Advantage, (which it will, if a National Bank be Established, and Chambers Setled where Desired,) I cannot Conceive.
AND here I must Refer to the Appendix, for the better Illustrating the Benefit thereof, and the Manner of its Institution, as then Intended, which must now admit of several Alterations.
IF such a Bank were Setled, the Charge of Managing it would be very little, and the Kingdom might grow Richer some Millions every Year, and the Government have an Addition to its Security, by drawing the Cash of other Nations hither, whose Interest would thereby become Interwoven with Ours; and Our Manufactures would be Encouraged, by a Flux of Money, which is the Life of Trade; and This, with the Easiness of our Government, would bring the Monied Men of Europe to Settle here, which would be an Addition to our Wealth; The Trader might hence be Supplied, with such Sums of Money, as he shall want, and for so long time only, as he shall have Occasion to use it; whereby the Fishery, and other Good Undertakings, may be Encouraged, and our Wooll be certainly kept at Home; and the Gentlemen of England may be hence Furnished with Money at the Common Interest, and be Permitted to make their Payments, by such Parts, as they can best spare it; the Want of which is now such a Clog upon their Estates, that it destroys many Good Families; who, when they are once gotten into the Usurers Books, can find no way to get out, till they have Paid the whole Debt at once, so that their Estates are devoured, by Procuration and Continuation.
NOR is it hereby Intended to put a Force upon any Man; ’twill be the Interest of the Lender to put his Money into this Bank, where he hath so certain a Security, and of the Bank to take it in; and on the other Side, it will be the Interest of the Bank to Furnish Money on the Terms here Mentioned, and of the Borrower to Receive it; and this Single thing, will in time bring so great a Profit to the Publick, as will very much Sink the Debts of the Nation, whilst a Common Advantage is Interwoven with it.
NEITHER will this break in on the Priviledges Granted to the Bank of England, by Act of Parliament; for though they are allowed to Lend Money to the Government, on the Terms therein Mentioned, yet the Government hath not bound up it self, from Borrowing of any Others, and making their Payments in such a Manner, as shall be thought most Advantagious to the Nation.
IF any Objections (not grounded on Private Interest) shall be made to what I have here Offered, I believe a Satisfactory Answer may be given to them, if this Honourable House shall think what I have Written, Worth their Consideration.
ALL I shall further add is, that it can scarce be Matter of Doubt, but that most Men will Part with their Securities on Private Funds, and Rely on the General Credit of the Nation, though at a Lower Interest, whereby those Funds will by Degrees, become a part of the General Security, which, with what New Taxes shall be given, will be so Helpfull in Circulation, that it will be next to Impossible, for the most Malicious Projectors, to Lessen the Credit of such a Bank, or to make a Run upon it; and those Taxes that are Heaviest on the Poor, and most Injurious to our Manufactures, may be taken off: And there will be this farther Advantage, that the several Offices, who are Entrusted to Buy for the Use of the Publick, according to such Sums of Money, as shall from time to time be Appropriated by the Parliament, will be Enabled to Purchase all things on the Lowest Terms, when their Bills on this Bank, shall be as Punctually Discharged, at the time when they become Due, as if they were Bills of Exchange, and in the mean time pass from Man to Man in Payment, which will be an Addition to the Cash of the Nation, whereby a great deal will be Saved in what they Lay out; and Men of Industry, but of Small Stocks, will be Enabled to deal with the Government, which now they cannot do; and will Endeavour who shall Supply it on the Best Terms, when by such Payments, they shall be Furnished, to go to Market again; And the Debts of the Nation will be so Incorporated therewith, that it will be every Man’s Interest to Support its Credit; and the Eye of a Parliament, which hath Power to make Examples of Offenders, who through Fraud or Malice, shall Offer Violence thereto, will be sufficient to Deter, from such Evil Practices.
I am,
With all Dutiful Respect,
Your Honours
Most Obedient
Servant,
John Cary.
AN
ESSAY
TOWARDS
Regulating the TRADE,
AND
Employing the POOR
OF THIS
KINGDOM.
[Sidenote: Of Trade in General.]
IN Order to discover, whether a Nation gets or loses by its Trade, ’tis necessary first to enquire into the Principles whereon it is built; for Trade hath its Principles, as other Sciences have, and as difficult to be understood: But when they are, ’tis easy to discover whether a Nation gets or loses by its Management, and without this, we are not capable of making any true Judgment, it being possible for the Publick to grow Poor, whilst private Persons encrease their Fortunes.
The Design of this little Treatise is to dissect and lay open the Trade of this Kingdom, as it is now driven, that so those Branches that shall appear to be Profitable may be Encourag’d, and those that are Otherwise may be Amended.
The Profits of this Kingdom arise from its Product and Manufactures at Home, and from the Growths of those several Plantations it hath settled Abroad, and from the Fish taken on the Coasts, all which being raised by the Industry of the People, are both its true Riches, and the Tools whereby it Trades to other Nations, the Products coming from the Earth, and the Manufacturing of them being an Addition to their Value by the Labour of the People; now where we Barter these things abroad for such as are only fit to be Eat and Drank, or are wasted among ourselves, tho’ one Man may get by the Luxury of another, yet the Wealth of the Kingdom doth not encrease: But it is otherwise where we change them for Bullion, or for Commodities fit to be manufactur’d again.
[Sidenote: Its Original.]
The first Original of Trade both Domestic and Foreign was Barter, when one private Person, having an Overplus of such Things as his Neighbour wanted, furnish’d him therewith for their Value in such whereof the Other had Plenty, but he stood in need of; the same, when one Nation abounding in those Products which another wanted, supply’d it therewith, and received for them Things equally necessary in their stead: And by how much the Products of any Nation exceeded its Wants, by so much it grew richer, the Remainder being sold for Bullion, or some Staple Commodity, allow’d by all to have an intrinsick Value.
And as People encreased, so did Commerce, which caused many to go off from Husbandry to Manufactures and other Ways of Living, for Convenience whereof they began Communities; This was the Original of Towns, which being found necessary for Trade, their Inhabitants encreased by Expectation of Profit; This introduced Foreign Trade, or Traffick with neighbouring Nations; and this a Desire to settle rather on some Navigable Rivers, than in remote Inland Places, whereby they might be more easily supply’d from the Country with Commodities fit to export, and disperse thither those they had imported from abroad.
[Sidenote: The Trade of this Kingdom.]
I shall now take the Trade of this Kingdom, as it is divided into Domestick and Foreign, and consider each, and how they are advantagious to the Nation, and may be made more so.
[Sidenote: Inland Trade.] [Sidenote: Buying & Selling.]
The Domestick or Inland Trade consists either in Husbandry, Manufactures, or Buying and Selling; the last of which, whereby one Man lives by the Profit he makes by another, brings no Advantage to the Publick; Peoples Occasions requiring Commodities to be retail’d to them in such small Quantities as would fit their Necessities, they were willing to allow a Profit to him who bought them in greater; and as this sort of Traffick came more in use, so the first Buyers, not only sold their Commodities to the Consumers in the Places where they dwelt, but also to others, who being seated in the Country at a Distance, made an Advantage by supplying the Inhabitants there: This begat the Ingrossing Commodities, and thence arose Skill and Cunning to foresee their Rise and Falls, according to their Consumption and Prospect of Supply. Hence came the Viciating our Manufactures, every one endeavouring to underbuy, that he might undersell his Neighbour; Which way of Living being found in time to have less Labour and more Profit than Husbandry and Manufactures, was the Reason so many fell into it.
From these Bargains Differencies arising, encouraged another Sort of People, whose Business it was, either by their Wisdoms to persuade, or by their Knowledge in the Laws to compel, the unjust Persons to do Right to their Fellow-Traders (an Honourable Employment at the first, and is still so in those who keep to the strict Rules of its Institution). Hence arose Attorneys, Sollicitors, and other Officers, which were found necessary to attend on those Suits, and other Services of the Law.
Trade brought Riches, and Riches Luxury; Luxury brought Sickness, and Sickness wanted Physick; which required some to separate themselves to study the Nature of Plants and Simples, as also of those several Diseases which bring Men to their Ends, who for their Advice received Gratuities from their Patients: These brought in Apothecaries and Surgeons, as necessary Attendants to their Employments; all which were maintained by keeping People in their Healths. Many also of ripe Parts were fitted for the Service of the Church, others of the State; great Numbers were employ’d in providing Necessaries of Meat, Drink, and Apparel, others in fitting things for Delights and Pleasures, and by this means, leaving Husbandry and Manufactures, flockt off daily to Livelihoods, which tho’ useful and convenient in their respective Stations, yet cannot be said to encrease the Riches of this Nation, but to live by getting from one another; Husbandry and Manufactures being the profitable Employments, out of which it gathers its Wealth.
[Sidenote: Husbandry.]
The next Part of the Inland Trade of this Kingdom is Husbandry, which anteceded Buying and Selling in point of time, tho’ the other is treated of first in this Discourse; and this consists either in Feeding or Tillage, by both which we raise great Store of Cattle, Corn and Fruits, fit for the Food, Service, and Trade of the Inhabitants.
[Sidenote: Feeding.]
To begin with Feeding: And here I might enumerate the various sorts of Cattle raised and bred by the Care of the Husbandman, but those of most Note with respect to our Trade are,
1. The Beef; which besides the Excellency of its Flesh for Food, affords many Necessaries for our Trade, and is very serviceable in Tillage; with this we both nourish our Inhabitants at home, victual our Ships for foreign Voyages, and load them with the several Manufactures wherewith it doth supply us; from the Milk we make Butter and Cheese, from the Flesh Beef, from the Skin Leather, from the Fat Tallow, and of the Horns several useful Necessaries; the Overplus whereof above our own Consumption we export, and sell in foreign Markets.
2. The Sheep; whose Golden Fleece being the _Primum_ of our Woollen-Manufactures, does thereby employ Multitudes of our People; which being of different Lengths and Fineness, makes them of various sorts; whereof they afford us a yearly Crop whilst living, and at their Deaths we have their Flesh and Skins; the first serves for our Food, and of the last we make Things, fit to be used at Home, and Traded with Abroad.
3. Horses; whose Labour is so necessary, that we can neither carry on our Husbandry or Trade without them; besides their Fitness for War, being accounted the boldest in the World; and for all these Uses are transported Abroad; for the first, to our Plantations in _America_, and for the last, to some of our Neighbouring Nations: But their Flesh is of no Use, their Skins of little, the Leather made of them being very ordinary, only the longest of their Hair is used in Weaving.
There are sundry other sorts of Beasts, some whereof require no Care in Raising, others little, such as the Stag, the Deer, the Rabbet, the Hare, the Badger, the Goat, and many others, whose Skins are necessary for our Trade, and useful in our Manufactures.
[Sidenote: Tillage.]
Tillage is that whereby we raise our Corn by turning up the Earth; the several sorts whereof are Wheat, Rye, Barley, Pease, Beans, Vetches, Oats, &c. which not only afford Nourishment to ourselves, and the Beasts we use in Labour, but serve also for Trade; as they give Employment to our People at home, and are transported Abroad, more or less, according to the Overplus of our Expence, and the Want of our Neighbours, besides the great Quantities us’d in our Navigation.
These Products are all clear Profit to the Nation, being raised from Earth and Labour; but their chief Advantages arise from their being Exported, either in their own kinds, or when wrought up, the Remainder, which is spent at Home, tending rather to supply our Wants, than to advance our Wealth: Which Exports being more or less according to the Price they bear in other Countries, and those arising from the Proportion their Lands hold with ours in their yearly Rents, are not so great in Specie, as when wrought up. Butter is the chiefest, wherewith we supply several Foreign Markets, and did formerly more, till by making it bad, and using Tricks to encrease its Weight, we lost much of that Trade, and are now almost beaten out of it by _Ireland_, which every year makes theirs better; besides, they undersell us in the Price, as they do also in Beef, occasioned by the low Rents of their Lands.