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<h2> CHAPTER VIII. CONCLUSION OF THE MERCANTILE SYSTEM. </h2>
<p>Though the encouragement of exportation, and the discouragement of
importation, are the two great engines by which the mercantile system
proposes to enrich every country, yet, with regard to some particular
commodities, it seems to follow an opposite plan: to discourage
exportation, and to encourage importation. Its ultimate object, however,
it pretends, is always the same, to enrich the country by an advantageous
balance of trade. It discourages the exportation of the materials of
manufacture, and of the instruments of trade, in order to give our own
workmen an advantage, and to enable them to undersell those of other
nations in all foreign markets; and by restraining, in this manner, the
exportation of a few commodities, of no great price, it proposes to
occasion a much greater and more valuable exportation of others. It
encourages the importation of the materials of manufacture, in order that
our own people may be enabled to work them up more cheaply, and thereby
prevent a greater and more valuable importation of the manufactured
commodities. I do not observe, at least in our statute book, any
encouragement given to the importation of the instruments of trade. When
manufactures have advanced to a certain pitch of greatness, the
fabrication of the instruments of trade becomes itself the object of a
great number of very important manufactures. To give any particular
encouragement to the importation of such instruments, would interfere too
much with the interest of those manufactures. Such importation, therefore,
instead of being encouraged, has frequently been prohibited. Thus the
importation of wool cards, except from Ireland, or when brought in as
wreck or prize goods, was prohibited by the 3rd of Edward IV.; which
prohibition was renewed by the 39th of Elizabeth, and has been continued
and rendered perpetual by subsequent laws.</p>
<p>The importation of the materials of manufacture has sometimes been
encouraged by an exemption from the duties to which other goods are
subject, and sometimes by bounties.</p>
<p>The importation of sheep's wool from several different countries, of
cotton wool from all countries, of undressed flax, of the greater part of
dyeing drugs, of the greater part of undressed hides from Ireland, or the
British colonies, of seal skins from the British Greenland fishery, of pig
and bar iron from the British colonies, as well as of several other
materials of manufacture, has been encouraged by an exemption from all
duties, if properly entered at the custom-house. The private interest of
our merchants and manufacturers may, perhaps, have extorted from the
legislature these exemptions, as well as the greater part of our other
commercial regulations. They are, however, perfectly just and reasonable;
and if, consistently with the necessities of the state, they could be
extended to all the other materials of manufacture, the public would
certainly be a gainer.</p>
<p>The avidity of our great manufacturers, however, has in some cases
extended these exemptions a good deal beyond what can justly be considered
as the rude materials of their work. By the 24th Geo. II. chap. 46, a
small duty of only 1d. the pound was imposed upon the importation of
foreign brown linen yarn, instead of much higher duties, to which it had
been subjected before, viz. of 6d. the pound upon sail yarn, of 1s. the
pound upon all French and Dutch yarn, and of �2:13:4 upon the hundred
weight of all spruce or Muscovia yarn. But our manufacturers were not long
satisfied with this reduction: by the 29th of the same king, chap. 15, the
same law which gave a bounty upon the exportation of British and Irish
linen, of which the price did not exceed 18d. the yard, even this small
duty upon the importation of brown linen yarn was taken away. In the
different operations, however, which are necessary for the preparation of
linen yarn, a good deal more industry is employed, than in the subsequent
operation of preparing linen cloth from linen yarn. To say nothing of the
industry of the flax-growers and flaxdressers, three or four spinners at
least are necessary in order to keep one weaver in constant employment;
and more than four-fifths of the whole quantity of labour necessary for
the preparation of linen cloth, is employed in that of linen yarn; but our
spinners are poor people; women commonly scattered about in all different
parts of the country, without support or protection. It is not by the sale
of their work, but by that of the complete work of the weavers, that our
great master manufacturers make their profits. As it is their interest to
sell the complete manufacture as dear, so it is to buy the materials as
cheap as possible. By extorting from the legislature bounties upon the
exportation of their own linen, high duties upon the importation of all
foreign linen, and a total prohibition of the home consumption of some
sorts of French linen, they endeavour to sell their own goods as dear as
possible. By encouraging the importation of foreign linen yarn, and
thereby bringing it into competition with that which is made by our own
people, they endeavour to buy the work of the poor spinners as cheap as
possible. They are as intent to keep down the wages of their own weavers,
as the earnings of the poor spinners; and it is by no means for the
benefit of the workmen that they endeavour either to raise the price of
the complete work, or to lower that of the rude materials. It is the
industry which is carried on for the benefit of the rich and the powerful,
that is principally encouraged by our mercantile system. That which is
carried on for the benefit of the poor and the indigent is too often
either neglected or oppressed.</p>
<p>Both the bounty upon the exportation of linen, and the exemption from the
duty upon the importation of foreign yarn, which were granted only for
fifteen years, but continued by two different prolongations, expire with
the end of the session of parliament which shall immediately follow the
24th of June 1786.</p>
<p>The encouragement given to the importation of the materials of manufacture
by bounties, has been principally confined to such as were imported from
our American plantations.</p>
<p>The first bounties of this kind were those granted about the beginning of
the present century, upon the importation of naval stores from America.
Under this denomination were comprehended timber fit for masts, yards, and
bowsprits; hemp, tar, pitch, and turpentine. The bounty, however, of �1
the ton upon masting-timber, and that of �6 the ton upon hemp, were
extended to such as should be imported into England from Scotland. Both
these bounties continued, without any variation, at the same rate, till
they were severally allowed to expire; that upon hemp on the 1st of
January 1741, and that upon masting-timber at the end of the session of
parliament immediately following the 24th June 1781.</p>
<p>The bounties upon the importation of tar, pitch, and turpentine,
underwent, during their continuance, several alterations. Originally, that
upon tar was �4 the ton; that upon pitch the same; and that upon
turpentine �3 the ton. The bounty of �4 the ton upon tar was afterwards
confined to such as had been prepared in a particular manner; that upon
other good, clean, and merchantable tar was reduced to �2:4s. the ton. The
bounty upon pitch was likewise reduced to �1, and that upon turpentine to
�1:10s. the ton.</p>
<p>The second bounty upon the importation of any of the materials of
manufacture, according to the order of time, was that granted by the 21st
Geo. II. chap.30, upon the importation of indigo from the British
plantations. When the plantation indigo was worth three-fourths of the
price of the best French indigo, it was, by this act, entitled to a bounty
of 6d. the pound. This bounty, which, like most others, was granted only
for a limited time, was continued by several prolongations, but was
reduced to 4d. the pound. It was allowed to expire with the end of the
session of parliament which followed the 25th March 1781.</p>
<p>The third bounty of this kind was that granted (much about the time that
we were beginning sometimes to court, and sometimes to quarrel with our
American colonies), by the 4th. Geo. III. chap. 26, upon the importation
of hemp, or undressed flax, from the British plantations. This bounty was
granted for twenty-one years, from the 24th June 1764 to the 24th June
1785. For the first seven years, it was to be at the rate of �8 the ton;
for the second at �6; and for the third at �4. It was not extended to
Scotland, of which the climate (although hemp is sometimes raised there in
small quantities, and of an inferior quality) is not very fit for that
produce. Such a bounty upon the importation of Scotch flax in England
would have been too great a discouragement to the native produce of the
southern part of the united kingdom.</p>
<p>The fourth bounty of this kind was that granted by the 5th Geo. III. chap.
45, upon the importation of wood from America. It was granted for nine
years from the 1st January 1766 to the 1st January 1775. During the first
three years, it was to be for every hundred-and-twenty good deals, at the
rate of �1, and for every load containing fifty cubic feet of other square
timber, at the rate of 12s. For the second three years, it was for deals,
to be at the rate of 15s., and for other squared timber at the rate of
8s.; and for the third three years, it was for deals, to be at the rate of
10s.; and for every other squared timber at the rate of 5s.</p>
<p>The fifth bounty of this kind was that granted by the 9th Geo. III. chap.
38, upon the importation of raw silk from the British plantations. It was
granted for twenty-one years, from the 1st January 1770, to the 1st
January 1791. For the first seven years, it was to be at the rate of �25
for every hundred pounds value; for the second, at �20; and for the third,
at �15. The management of the silk-worm, and the preparation of silk,
requires so much hand-labour, and labour is so very dear in America, that
even this great bounty, I have been informed, was not likely to produce
any considerable effect.</p>
<p>The sixth Bounty of this kind was that granted by 11th Geo. III. chap. 50,
for the importation of pipe, hogshead, and barrelstaves and leading from
the British plantations. It was granted for nine years, from 1st January
1772 to the 1st January 1781. For the first three years, it was, for a
certain quantity of each, to be at the rate of �6; for the second three
years at �4; and for the third three years at �2.</p>
<p>The seventh and last bounty of this kind was that granted by the 19th Geo.
III chap. 37, upon the importation of hemp from Ireland. It was granted in
the same manner as that for the importation of hemp and undressed flax
from America, for twenty-one years, from the 24th June 1779 to the 24th
June 1800. The term is divided likewise into three periods, of seven years
each; and in each of those periods, the rate of the Irish bounty is the
same with that of the American. It does not, however, like the American
bounty, extend to the importation of undressed flax. It would have been
too great a discouragement to the cultivation of that plant in Great
Britain. When this last bounty was granted, the British and Irish
legislatures were not in much better humour with one another, than the
British and American had been before. But this boon to Ireland, it is to
be hoped, has been granted under more fortunate auspices than all those to
America. The same commodities, upon which we thus gave bounties, when
imported from America, were subjected to considerable duties when imported
from any other country. The interest of our American colonies was regarded
as the same with that of the mother country. Their wealth was considered
as our wealth. Whatever money was sent out to them, it was said, came all
back to us by the balance of trade, and we could never become a farthing
the poorer by any expense which we could lay out upon them. They were our
own in every respect, and it was an expense laid out upon the improvement
of our own property, and for the profitable employment of our own people.
It is unnecessary, I apprehend, at present to say anything further, in
order to expose the folly of a system which fatal experience has now
sufficiently exposed. Had our American colonies really been a part of
Great Britain, those bounties might have been considered as bounties upon
production, and would still have been liable to all the objections to
which such bounties are liable, but to no other.</p>
<p>The exportation of the materials of manufacture is sometimes discouraged
by absolute prohibitions, and sometimes by high duties.</p>
<p>Our woollen manufacturers have been more successful than any other class
of workmen, in persuading the legislature that the prosperity of the
nation depended upon the success and extension of their particular
business. They have not only obtained a monopoly against the consumers, by
an absolute prohibition of importing woollen cloths from any foreign
country; but they have likewise obtained another monopoly against the
sheep farmers and growers of wool, by a similar prohibition of the
exportation of live sheep and wool. The severity of many of the laws which
have been enacted for the security of the revenue is very justly
complained of, as imposing heavy penalties upon actions which, antecedent
to the statutes that declared them to be crimes, had always been
understood to be innocent. But the cruellest of our revenue laws, I will
venture to affirm, are mild and gentle, in comparison to some of those
which the clamour of our merchants and manufacturers has extorted from the
legislature, for the support of their own absurd and oppressive
monopolies. Like the laws of Draco, these laws may be said to be all
written in blood.</p>
<p>By the 8th of Elizabeth, chap. 3, the exporter of sheep, lambs, or rams,
was for the first offence, to forfeit all his goods for ever, to suffer a
year's imprisonment, and then to have his left hand cut off in a market
town, upon a market day, to be there nailed up; and for the second
offence, to be adjudged a felon, and to suffer death accordingly. To
prevent the breed of our sheep from being propagated in foreign countries,
seems to have been the object of this law. By the 13th and 14th of Charles
II. chap. 18, the exportation of wool was made felony, and the exporter
subjected to the same penalties and forfeitures as a felon.</p>
<p>For the honour of the national humanity, it is to be hoped that neither of
these statutes was ever executed. The first of them, however, so far as I
know, has never been directly repealed, and serjeant Hawkins seems to
consider it as still in force. It may, however, perhaps be considered as
virtually repealed by the 12th of Charles II. chap. 32, sect. 3, which,
without expressly taking away the penalties imposed by former statutes,
imposes a new penalty, viz. that of 20s. for every sheep exported, or
attempted to be exported, together with the forfeiture of the sheep, and
of the owner's share of the sheep. The second of them was expressly
repealed by the 7th and 8th of William III. chap. 28, sect. 4, by which it
is declared that "Whereas the statute of the 13th and 14th of king Charles
II. made against the exportation of wool, among other things in the said
act mentioned, doth enact the same to be deemed felony, by the severity of
which penalty the prosecution of offenders hath not been so effectually
put in execution; be it therefore enacted, by the authority aforesaid,
that so much of the said act, which relates to the making the said offence
felony, be repealed and made void."</p>
<p>The penalties, however, which are either imposed by this milder statute,
or which, though imposed by former statutes, are not repealed by this one,
are still sufficiently severe. Besides the forfeiture of the goods, the
exporter incurs the penalty of 3s. for every pound weight of wool, either
exported or attempted to be exported, that is, about four or five times
the value. Any merchant, or other person convicted of this offence, is
disabled from requiring any debt or account belonging to him from any
factor or other person. Let his fortune be what it will, whether he is or
is not able to pay those heavy penalties, the law means to ruin him
completely. But, as the morals of the great body of the people are not yet
so corrupt as those of the contrivers of this statute, I have not heard
that any advantage has ever been taken of this clause. If the person
convicted of this offence is not able to pay the penalties within three
months after judgment, he is to be transported for seven years; and if he
returns before the expiration of that term, he is liable to the pains of
felony, without benefit of clergy. The owner of the ship, knowing this
offence, forfeits all his interest in the ship and furniture. The master
and mariners, knowing this offence, forfeit all their goods and chattels,
and suffer three months imprisonment. By a subsequent statute, the master
suffers six months imprisonment.</p>
<p>In order to prevent exportation, the whole inland commerce of wool is laid
under very burdensome and oppressive restrictions. It cannot be packed in
any box, barrel, cask, case, chest, or any other package, but only in
packs of leather or pack-cloth, on which must be marked on the outside the
words WOOL or YARN, in large letters, not less than three inches long, on
pain of forfeiting the same and the package, and 8s. for every pound
weight, to be paid by the owner or packer. It cannot be loaden on any
horse or cart, or carried by land within five miles of the coast, but
between sun-rising, and sun-setting, on pain of forfeiting the same, the
horses and carriages. The hundred next adjoining to the sea coast, out of,
or through which the wool is carried or exported, forfeits �20, if the
wool is under the value of �10; and if of greater value, then treble that
value, together with treble costs, to be sued for within the year. The
execution to be against any two of the inhabitants, whom the sessions must
reimburse, by an assessment on the other inhabitants, as in the cases of
robbery. And if any person compounds with the hundred for less than this
penalty, he is to be imprisoned for five years; and any other person may
prosecute. These regulations take place through the whole kingdom.</p>
<p>But in the particular counties of Kent and Sussex, the restrictions are
still more troublesome. Every owner of wool within ten miles of the sea
coast must give an account in writing, three days after shearing, to the
next officer of the customs, of the number of his fleeces, and of the
places where they are lodged. And before he removes any part of them, he
must give the like notice of the number and weight of the fleeces, and of
the name and abode of the person to whom they are sold, and of the place
to which it is intended they should be carried. No person within fifteen
miles of the sea, in the said counties, can buy any wool, before he enters
into bond to the king, that no part of the wool which he shall so buy
shall be sold by him to any other person within fifteen miles of the sea.
If any wool is found carrying towards the sea side in the said counties,
unless it has been entered and security given as aforesaid, it is
forfeited, and the offender also forfeits 3s. for every pound weight, if
any person lay any wool, not entered as aforesaid, within fifteen miles of
the sea, it must be seized and forfeited; and if, after such seizure, any
person shall claim the same, he must give security to the exchequer, that
if he is cast upon trial he shall pay treble costs, besides all other
penalties.</p>
<p>When such restrictions are imposed upon the inland trade, the coasting
trade, we may believe, cannot be left very free. Every owner of wool, who
carrieth, or causeth to be carried, any wool to any port or place on the
sea coast, in order to be from thence transported by sea to any other
place or port on the coast, must first cause an entry thereof to be made
at the port from whence it is intended to be conveyed, containing the
weight, marks, and number, of the packages, before he brings the same
within five miles of that port, on pain of forfeiting the same, and also
the horses, carts, and other carriages; and also of suffering and
forfeiting, as by the other laws in force against the exportation of wool.
This law, however (1st of William III. chap. 32), is so very indulgent as
to declare, that this shall not hinder any person from carrying his wool
home from the place of shearing, though it be within five miles of the
sea, provided that in ten days after shearing, and before he remove the
wool, he do under his hand certify to the next officer of the customs the
true number of fleeces, and where it is housed; and do not remove the
same, without certifying to such officer, under his hand, his intention so
to do, three days before. Bond must be given that the wool to be carried
coast-ways is to be landed at the particular port for which it is entered
outwards; and if my part of it is landed without the presence of an
officer, not only the forfeiture of the wool is incurred, as in other
goods, but the usual additional penalty of 3s. for every pound weight is
likewise incurred.</p>
<p>Our woollen manufacturers, in order to justify their demand of such
extraordinary restrictions and regulations, confidently asserted, that
English wool was of a peculiar quality, superior to that of any other
country; that the wool of other countries could not, without some mixture
of it, be wrought up into any tolerable manufacture; that fine cloth could
not be made without it; that England, therefore, if the exportation of it
could be totally prevented, could monopolize to herself almost the whole
woollen trade of the world; and thus, having no rivals, could sell at what
price she pleased, and in a short time acquire the most incredible degree
of wealth by the most advantageous balance of trade. This doctrine, like
most other doctrines which are confidently asserted by any considerable
number of people, was, and still continues to be, most implicitly believed
by a much greater number: by almost all those who are either unacquainted
with the woollen trade, or who have not made particular inquiries. It is,
however, so perfectly false, that English wool is in any respect necessary
for the making of fine cloth, that it is altogether unfit for it. Fine
cloth is made altogether of Spanish wool. English wool, cannot be even so
mixed with Spanish wool, as to enter into the composition without spoiling
and degrading, in some degree, the fabric of the cloth.</p>
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