[31] But see the end of the present chapter in regard to the character and fluctuations of the population.
[32] For example, in 1745, 1746, 1757.
[33] Rogers, op. cit., pp. 122-123, 137-138.
CHAPTER VI[ToC]
THE ENGLISH COLONIAL SYSTEM AND ITS RESULTS
The War of American Independence forms a convenient point at which to examine for a moment in passing the English colonial system, of which Newfoundland was in some sense a victim. It may then at once be stated that in the English view, as in the Spanish view, a "plantation" was expected, directly or indirectly, to contribute to the wealth of the Mother Country. If it contributed much, it was a good colony; if little, its consequence was less. Hence the English legislation throttling colonial manufacturers in the supposed interests of English merchants, and confining colonial trade to English channels. Hence the disregard, persistent and unashamed, of Adam Smith's immortal saying: "To prohibit a great people from making all that they can of every part of their own produce, or from employing their stock and industry in the way that they judge most advantageous to themselves, is a manifest violation of the most sacred rights of mankind." Long before Smith, the wisest of Englishmen had sounded a clear note of warning far in advance of his age. Bacon wrote in his essay on plantations: "Let there be freedom from custom, till the plantation be of strength: and not only freedom from custom, but freedom to carry their commodities where they make their best of them, except there be some special cause of caution."
Any stick has been thought good enough to beat those who lost America, but we must not suppress the little that may be urged on their behalf. Here again may be cited the dispassionate opinion of Adam Smith: "Though the policy of Great Britain with regard to the trade of her colonies has been dictated by the same mercantile spirit as that of other nations, it has, upon the whole, been less illiberal and oppressive than that of any of them." To the same effect Mr Lecky: "It is a gross ... misrepresentation to describe the commercial policy of England as exceptionally tyrannical." In fact, the expense of protecting Newfoundland and America against French attacks was serious and constant. That the colonies owed contribution to that defence is clear, for it would be involved in any other view that an American enjoyed a natural right to be protected against France at the charges of a Londoner. In the face of all this the colonies were conspicuously and notoriously unable to agree upon any principle of allocating grants. In this respect Newfoundland was no better than the American colonies. "We should be extremely concerned," wrote a merchant officially consulted on the point, "to see any species of taxes introduced into this island which would inevitably be burdensome and inconvenient to the trade and fishing in general, and we trust that in the wisdom of His Majesty's Ministers no such innovation will take place."