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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Now if the Parliament would please to take these things into consideration, they might reduce Insurance to its first Intention, by obliging the Insured to run a proportionable part of his Adventure the Premio included, and the Insurers to pay their full Subscriptions without abatement, and if any differences arise, to direct easie ways for adjusting them, without attending long Issues at Law, or being bound up to such nice Rules in their Proofs as the Affairs of Foreign Trade will not admit; and for the better security of the Insured it will be worth consideration whither the Subscriptions of the Insurers should not be of equal force in Law with their Bonds.
Whither the Price of Labour discourages our Manufactures, or hinders Improvements in our Product.Here I intended to have made an end; but being lately present where among other Discourses the question was put by an Ingenious and Worthy Gentleman, (a true Lover of his Country) whither the labour of our Poor in England being so high does not hinder the Improvement of our Product and Manufactures? Which having some Relation to the Subject Matter of this Discourse, I humbly make bold to offer my Thoughts thereon, viz. That both our Product and Manufactures may be carried on to advantage without running down the labour of the Poor.