English Economic History: Select Documents

by Unknown

But the third causa causarum being taken away, which is to be wished for, although not to be hoped for in haste, all the rest and all other like causes of transportation must need cease withall or at the least do little hurt; for if England would spend less of foreign commodities than the home commodities will pay for, then the remain must of necessity be returned of silver or gold; but if otherwise, then it will fare in England in short time as it doth with a man of great yearly living, that spendeth more yearly than his own revenue, and spendeth of the stock besides.

And so it is concluded, that for these reasons neither the baseing of the standards nor the raising of the values of the coin of gold is like to stay it from transportation.

[305] Quoted Schanz. op. cit., Vol. II, pp. 648-9.

6. The Italian Merchants Explain the Foreign Exchanges to Sir Thomas Gresham and Other Royal Commissioners [Ms. of Lord Calthorpe, Vol. XX, f. 68[306]], 1576.

Forasmuch as your worships have required, that we, the merchants Italians, should show present your worships with more brevity, than we have done afore, in what points doth grieve us the new imposition and order, that hath been set upon the exchange, although it is not easily utter it in few words, nevertheless we have set it forth as briefly as we can.

Therefore it may please your worships to understand, that the chiefest living and maintenance that we have is upon the commissions that are sent unto us of our friends from beyond the seas to sell foreign wares here in London and buy English wares for to send over.

The trade of the foreign wares for England will much decay because of the imposition and difficulty upon the exchange; for such our friends, that did send such commodities as alum, woad, canvas, silks, wines and other necessary things for the intent to reiterate shortly after the sending hither such commodities, so soon as they knew they were here arrived, did use to take up money by exchange for London; and if the said wares were not sold or money not due, they gave here commission to their factors to take it up by rechange again; and so in time of an usage or double usage of Antwerp, an usage or a fair at Lyons, this matter might be well compassed without any great loss, and by this mean they might help themselves with their money of their wares a great while before that it were money in deed; but now that they shall know, that the exchange will give them such loss by the payment of this fee besides the ordinary interest that is used to come upon the exchange, they shall not be able to continue this trade nor to reiterate so often the same. Therefore there shall ensue a great diminishing of the Queen's custom inwards, and that the English people shall pay the dearer for the necessary foreign commodities, and we particularly shall remain destitute of these commissions and factories.

We say likewise of the trade of others our commissioners, that did use to send for English commodities as cloths and others being not forbidden and inward, they send nothing or very little; for those, that ought here to buy for themselves, might in two manners furnish the money, the one causing money to be remitted unto them from beyond the seas, and the other in taking money here in London by exchange. Touching the first manner they shall lack much of that help; for money shall not be remitted unto them, for because in foreign places there shall be found no man that will take up money by exchange for London, knowing that it shall be more damageable unto them than other places as much as this fee doth import, which will always fall upon the debtor, and he shall scarcely find money here in London to take up by exchange; so little will be exchange that hereafter will be made, therefore our commission outward will fail unto us, as we have said above of these inward, and the Queen's customs outwards also will much decay, and the English people, that did utter at good prices the commodities and handicrafts, shall not be able to do it as afore they were, they shall suffer much damage and discommodity. Besides this the free exchange hath been an instrument whereby the merchants might pay honourably their debts at their day; for if one ought, for a manner of an example, this day a sum of money, it should be a dishonour unto him to desire his creditors to tarry a seven night, a fortnight or 20 days, until he should retain money for debts due unto him. But to pay his said debt, he might presently take up money by exchange to Lyons, Antwerp and then, after he had received his money, he might remit there for the same time that he took it up, and so with little loss compass his business. But now in such case considering that he shall be forced to pay two times this imposition one in the taking and the other in the delivering so shortly after, the interest of few days will cost him too much; therefore he shall be fain to restrain his trade and shall not be able to accept his friends' debts and changes he did before.

Likewise those of us shall find too much charges, that made double exchanges for service of the English merchants, as for example they took money of your vintners for Bordeaux, and to the intent that the said money might be ready there, they did exchange it for Lyons or other places being content of any small profit; now that they must pay two times this imposition and that the ordinary brokerage, that often times they did save, they now shall not save, they shall need to make their reckoning and ask greater price of the vintners, the which peradventure will find it so heavy beside his part of the fee which he must pay, that he might take an evil occasion to send over the money.

We made also oftentimes amongst us double exchanges without any broker, which was, for a manner of example, that one of us had money in Venice and would bring into this realm French wares, and another hath money in Lyons and would bring wares out of Italy, and so they did agree together to give one to another mutual letters of exchange the one for Lyons and the other for Venice; and whereas such double exchange of the value of 100li. had no charge at all, now it shall have charge 35s., for the fee shall be paid for every one of the 2 bills of exchange, which is 25s. and 10s. brokerage, that now is not to be escaped, maketh up the 35s., so that we shall be fain utterly to leave of these double exchanges, that we made as well for the commodity of the merchants of your nation as of ourselves to the intent still to serve to the ease and trade of merchandise.