A Discourse on Trade, and Other Matters Relative to it

by John Cary

TRADE,

AND

Other Matters Relative to it.

VIZ.

Of Trade in general: Of the Trade of England: Of Husbandry, Feeding, Tillage, Corn, Fruit, Fish, Minerals, Trees, Manufactures, Sheep-Wool, Cotton-Wool, Hemp and Flax: Glass, Earthen-Ware, Silk, Distilling: The great Advantages of a universal National Bank demonstrated: Sugar-baking, Tobacco, Tanning, Clock-Work, Paper-Mills, Powder-Mills: Method to improve our Manufactures, by imploying the Poor: Of Courts of Merchants, Silver Coin: An effectual Method to prevent the Running of Wool: Of our Trade to the East and West-Indies, Africa, the Plantations, Iceland, the Canaries, Spain, Portugal Turkey, Italy, Holland, Hamburgh, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, France, South-Sea, &c. What foreign Trades are profitable, and what not. An Essay on National Credit, and the Irish Linnen Manufacture, &c. &c. &c.

Wrote at the Request of several Members of Parliament And now Published for universal Benefit.

By JOHN CARY, Esq; Merchant of Bristol.

LONDON:

Printed for T. OSBORNE in Gray’s-Inn,

MDCCXLV.

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, &c. 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 Public 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 myself 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 public 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 careful 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. 167.

THE Third is, the Keeping of our own Wool at home, and preventing the Wool of Ireland from being Transported any where else except to this Kingdom; 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 of 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 Wool, 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 Wool, would amount to many Thousand Pounds per Annum, to be divided among 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. 158.

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 witting 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 public 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 public Debts gradually sunk, by a good Management; and This, I humbly Conceive, cannot be settled 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. 174. 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, tho’ 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 establish’d here, in all probability, we bad been several Millions less in Debt, and not felt that heavy load of Taxes, which hath opprest our Lands, and injur’d 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 Useful.

BY this Rule, if the Public 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 Stock being, the vast Sums of Money which lie 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 Widows 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 got such a Footing, even into our public 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 settled 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 settled, 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 Wool 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 got 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 Public 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, worthy 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 useful 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 Public, 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 any from such Evil Practices.

I am,

With all dutiful Respect,

Your Honours,

Most Obedient

Servant.

John Cary.

ADVERTISEMENT.

THE following Sheets are the Work of a Gentleman, a very considerable Merchant at Bristol, whose extensive Knowledge of, and Judgment in Trade, induced some Gentlemen who were well acquainted with his Capacity, to desire him to give them his Opinion on Trade in general, and ours in particular; he did, without any Design of being an Author, or the least Intention of printing it; but having shewn his Papers to those Gentlemen, they desired he would publish them, which he at last consented to, and had a small Number printed in Bristol, at his own Expence.

The Book having met with its deserved success, he re-printed it, with some considerable Additions; but that Edition having been sold of, and himself dying soon after, it was with much Difficulty I obtained that Copy from which this is printed, nor should I as yet have thought of getting it re-printed, but,

The many Prizes taken by our Ships of War, as well as Privateers, since the Commencement of the War with France, being a sufficient Proof of the Increase of her Trade, and the Decay of ours, I imagined any Work that might tend to the promoting our Trade, would meet with due Encouragement; and I am apt to believe no Book on the Subject deserves it more than this.

There is annexed to it, the Act of Parliament made in the 7th and 8th of King William, in favour of the City of Bristol, for regulating their Poor; and by way of Appendix, the Proceedings of the Magistrates in consequence of that Act, worthy of Imitation.

Our Streets being daily infested by swarms of Beggars, perhaps the Publishing these Proceedings may furnish some Hints to those Gentlemen, who are daily seeking after a Method of preventing the many Robberies, Cruelties, and Outrages committed in our Streets every Night of late, and no doubt but many of those who are Beggars in the Day-time, are the very People who do so much Mischief at Night; could they therefore be brought under proper Regulations, it would undoubtedly in some Measure be a Remedy to that Evil, and at the same time encrease the Riches of these Kingdoms, by keeping so many idle Persons of both Sexes employed.

I shall not trouble the Reader any further concerning this Work, whose Merit will I hope speak for itself.

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