At the same Time, we export so liberally the Growth of our Country, and so little of our Manufactures, we may observe all our Importations are of such Commodities, as are not capable of farther Improvement; such as East-Indian and West-Indian Goods, Druggs, Wines, Spirits, Manufactures of Wool, Silk, Linnen, Iron, Brass, Glass, &c. Nay, the common Produce of almost all Countries, as Corn, Timber, and Fireing, are imported in great Quantities to supply our Necessities.
By this Management of our Trade, we maintain many Thousands in foreign Countries, and drive Numbers of our own People from us, or leave them to starve at home, for Want of Imployment.
If to this View, we add that mighty Drain of our Bullion, made by those Gentlemen, who, having great Estates in this Kingdom, choose to spend them any where, rather than at home: We can not be at a Loss, how to account for the Ballance of Trade, running against us, for so many Years past.
The most certain Way left to retrieve our Affairs, is to lessen our Imports, and to encrease our Exports, especially of Manufactures.
The Commissioners of the Linnen Manufacture, by an unwearied Application and uncommon Skill, have contributed greatly to the Value of our Exports, by the Advancement of the Linnen Manufactury. And I don’t doubt but that in several other Articles, divers Expedients and Means, may be thought of, for promoting a greater Consumption of our Own, and lessening that or foreign Commodities; and as one Instance, I shall beg Leave to propose an Improvement in our Tannage, by which I apprehend, we shall be enabled to Tan with the Produce of our own Country all the Hydes that now are Exported Raw; and thereby increase the Value of our Exports, employ many Thousands of our People, and avoid the Necessity of Importing Bark.
To set this Matter in a clear Light, I shall lay down, in the first Place, the Export of Green Hydes, and the Import of Bark, in the seven following Years, for the Whole Kingdom, as the same has been extracted out of the Custom-House Books.
| Years. | Gr. Hydes. | Bark B’s. |
|---|---|---|
| 1721 | 46,847 | 46,556 |
| 1722 | 86,004 | 45,794½ |
| 1723 | 123,514 | 47,824½ |
| 1724 | 103,477 | 60,740½ |
| 1725 | 69,858 | 48,407 |
| 1726 | 60,441 | 45,279 |
| 1727 | 57,373 | 50,598 |
In the next Place it is to be observ’d,
That Bark, according to its Goodness, is sold from 6 to 10, and in some Years, 11 Shillings, the Barrel.