Answer.—The same reason doth justify all the monopolies that ever were. It is no touch to the State if abuses creep in, but if reformation, desired by parliament, be denied. But surely this taint doth no ways attaint his Majesty, who hath declared himself a just enemy to all these unjust monopolies.
Not Monopolies.—These Companies are not monopolies; for a monopoly is, when liberty of selling, due to all men by right, is restrained to one, with prejudice of all others.
Answer.—The name of monopoly, though taken originally for personal unity, yet is fitly extended to all improportionable paucity of the sellers in regard of the ware which is sold. If ten men had the only sale of all the horses in England, this were a monopoly; much more the Company of Merchant Adventurers, which, in effect not above two hundred, have the managing of the two third parts of the clothing of this realm, which might well maintain many thousand merchants more. And with how great prejudice this is sundry ways to all the land, let example suffice; let the cry of all the clothiers of England testify, and the utter overthrow of infinite poor persons, which live by them and their works. For the clothiers having no utterance of their cloth but to the merchant adventurers, they, by complot among themselves, will buy but at what time, what quality, and what price themselves list; whereby the clothiers are fain often to return with loss, to lay their cloths to pawn, to slack their trade, to the utter ruin of their poor workmen, with their wives and children.
Keeping up our Commodities.—These Companies keep up the price of our commodities abroad, by avoiding an over-glut of our commodities in places whereto they trade. And this experience doth witness; for our cloth is of late years much dearer than in former times; whereas contrarywise, when trade is free, many sellers will make ware cheap and of less estimation.
Answer.—It is true that all monopolies keep up their commodities for their own private lucre; but they do it unjustly, and to the discontent of all other men; which hath been the cause of so many edicts of the Empire against the Company of Merchant Adventurers, which hath driven them so often to shift their marts; and is the cause, that our merchants are so generally hated, no other nation Christian either using or enduring such restrained Companies in matter of merchandizes. Howbeit both by reason and experience we may conjecture that there is no greater [blank] that if trade be made free, our commodities will much abate their price abroad; for the merchants must first buy their commodities at home; and where many buyers are, wares will grow dearer; and buying dear at home, he must sell dear abroad. For it is not true that there will be a greater glut of our commodities in foreign parts; the sellers will be more, but the wares sold will be much the same, especially in those principal commodities, which grow out of the land. It is the store of the merchandize, not the multitude of merchants, which doth make things cheaper. Besides, when trade is free, it is likely that many young men will seek out new places, and trade further for great benefit; whereby the glut in the former places will be less.
The weakness of their argument of experience is plain; for not cloth only, but all other things in the world are risen greatly in price; and in France, where there is no Companies, our kerseys are sold at exceeding good price, and as dear, in proportion, as broad cloths by the Merchant Adventurers. But if it were so, that they kept up our commodities abroad, so do they, by the same skill, foreign commodities at home: so a few rich men do gain by their out-going, and the whole land doth lose much more by their return. They say that they gain little by return of foreign commodities. There lieth a mystery, for it is true, and will be avowed upon certain knowledge, that upon the arrival of the Merchant Adventurers' fleet, the commodities, on the other side, are ordinarily raised at least twenty in the hundred; for so do they quit one wrong with another. But hereby the loss still falls heavy on the subject, who is damnified now again in the commodities returned, as he was before in the engrossing of those which were issued.
Venting all Now.—The Companies that now are, do vent all the commodities of the land, and yet are they hardly able to live one by another.
Answer.—It is not all vented, which the land might spare; and that by reason of the courses held by these Companies, to their own excessive gain, and certain loss of all other men: besides, when traffic shall flourish with us, as doth in other countries, where trade is free, and namely in the Low Countries, who thereby have supported the huge charge of their long wars, things merchantable will increase daily by this encouragement to the subjects' industry, even as there they do; for natural commodities are more than trebled by access of art and industry; and howsoever, yet the division of wealth will be more equal; for now, by the plotting of the governor of these Companies, some few overgrown men devour the wealth, and make merry, whilst the rest, even of their own Companies, do want and weep.
Prenticeship Necessary.—This Act makes it lawful to become merchants without prenticeship; which is an injury to them which have served, and hurt to them that serve not; who, venturing unskilfully, shall be sure of loss.
Answer.—The loss of new merchants, it may be, is as much the desire, as fear of the objectors; but they that have served, have their skill for their labour; and they that serve not, must be at charge of a factor, or join with their friends, and learn skill by them; or at least wise men adventure their stocks with other men, after the fashion of the Low Countries, and other places, where trade doth flourish. By the same reason young gentlemen might be kept from their lands, for want of skill to govern them.