of the Kingdom by the manufacturing whereof great profit doth arise to the Publick Yet of these if occasion require it will be made appear above 100000 with their Families are in great measure ruined by them And I pray you who are advantaged thereby what persons are imployed or set at work by them save only a few Servant-Coachmen Postilions and Hostlers whom they pretend they breed up and make fit for the service of the Nobility and Gentry of the Land a most incomparable School to train men up in and to fit them for the Gallows more likely than to live in sober Families but in the mean time while these are breeding up the Price and Rents of Lands are so brought down by hindrance these Coaches do make of the Consumption of Provisions and Manufactures that in a short time few Gentlemen will be in a capacity to keep Coaches so that if all Running Stage-Coaches and Caravans were supprest it would do well But if some few Coaches were continued to wit one to every Shire-Town in England to go once a week backwards and forwards and to go through with the same Horses they set forth with and not travel above 30 miles a day in the Summer and 25 miles in the Winter and to shift Inns every Journey that so Trade might be diffused these would be sufficient to carry the Sick and the Lame that they pretend cannot travel on Horseback and being thus regulated they would do little or no harm especially if all be suppressed within 40 or 50 miles of London where they are no way necessary and yet so highly destructive But this as well as the rest I submit to judgment VIII THe Eight Thing Proposed is That the Act for Transportation of Leather unmanufactured may be repealed or at least not renewed after the expiration thereof There would never have been any necessity for this Act had it not been that vast quantities of Hides are Iimported from Ireland which brings down the price of our English Hides And for the Stage-Coaches their hindering the Consumption of that Leather in England which before they set up was used for Boots Saddles Portmantues Hat-eases Holsters Belts Girts Reins Stirrup Leathers and many other things now become almost useless The making whereof for Home-service and Foreign-Consumption employed about 100000 Families whose Livelihood depended upon the manufacturing of Leather whereby they got Money with which they maintained their Families spent five or six good Joints of Meat in a week in their Houses and wore good Clothes thereby occasioning the Consumption of great quantities of the Provisions and Manufactures of the Kingdom more than now are consumed Till this Act passed it was felony to transport Leather unmanufactured and then France Spain Germany and other parts who could not be without our Leather had vast quantities of Boots Shoes and Saddles with their Appurtenances Portmantues Hat-Cases Holsters Trunks c. from England by the making whereof many thousands of Families got a handsom subsistance and grew rich but Stage-Coaches hindring the Consumption at home as aforesaid and Irish Hides being Imported into England and also great quantities from Ireland exported to Foreign Parts our Hides fell in their price in England The Question then arose how to raise them to their ancient value and it was by the Parliament conceived that giving a liberty to transport the same unmanufactured might answer the end proposed therefore an Act for that purpose was passed But sad hath been and yet is the consequence thereof for ever since that liberty given the best of our Leather is constantly bought up and transported beyond Seas unmanufactured Foreigners who formerly were supplyed with Leather wrought here will not buy or carry over a penny-worth that is manufactured so that all those poor people who served Apprentiships to learn their Trades and whose Trade depended upon manufacturing for Foreign Consumption are undone they that kept 20 or 30 Journey-men at work every day cannot now though eminent men of their own Trades keep two by means whereof upon computation at least 50000 Men and their Families Livelyhoods are wholly taken away and they so impoverished that they are ready to receive Alms of the several parishes wherein they live whilst in the mean time Foreigners grow rich by manufacturing one of the Staple Commodities of this Kingdom and whereas till this Act passed all our old Boots and Shoes were bought up mended here and then sent beyond the Seas and there worn The case is now otherwise for the best of our Leather is not onely bought up and transported unmanufactured and wrought beyond Seas but when it is wrought it is then imported back and vended here to the great prejudice and discouragement of Manufacturers in England who have many of them been forced as great a want of People as there is in England to transport themselves beyond the Seas for want of work at home and there have taught their Art to Foreigners What then doth naturally follow all these things What Consequence can be drawn from hence but this that instead of 500 ls worth of Leather formerly sent beyond Seas manufactured we send now as much Leather but it is not worth above 100 l. because the same is carried over unwrought by which means our Manufacturers lose 400 l. which they should have gotten if the Leather had been Cut and Wrought in England and so thereby we grow poor and Foreigners grow rich by gaining that 400 l. which our Manufacturers lose But this is not all for most of our Leather that is exported goes into France with whom we never were able to keep up a Ballance of Trade but have traded with them for ready Money they taking little or none of the Manufactures of England in exchange for their Commodities By a moderate computation from the best intelligence I can get France receives from England 30000 ls worth of our Leather every year which they cannot be without for our Leather-Manufacture was the only Manufacture that they were forced to be holden unto us for 30000 ls worth of our Leather manufactured was worth in France 120000 l. then at least 70000 l. of that went into our Manufacturers Pockets the rest to the Merchants and what our Manufucturers got was spent in the Provisions and Manufactures of the Kingdom which being consumed bare a better rate than now and helpt to keep up the Rents of Lands This Money we not only now lose to our Impoverishment and the French get to their Inriching but considering that we now import as much nay far more of French Goods into England than we did formerly and taking it for granted that when we transported the most that ever we did yet could not a ballance of Trade be kept up between the two Kingdoms but our ready Money went for a great part of the Goods imported then must it naturally follow that by sending our Leather unmanufactured which formerly was mannfactured we must send over nigh 100000 l.
forced to beat down the price of them in the Market yet must let the Coachman have them for what he pleaseth otherwise he carries his Passengers to other Inns by which means the Inholders get little or nothing cannot pay their Rent nor hold their Inns without great Abatements Two third parts of what they formerly paid is in some places abated Upon such accounts as these Innholders where these Coaches do come are undone And if so since most Travellers travel in Coaches what must become of all the rest of the Inns on the Roads where these Coaches stay not Believe it they are a considerable number take all the grand Roads in England as York Exeter Chester c. There are about 500 Inns on each Road and these Coaches do not call at fifteen or sixteen of them then what can follow but that the rest be undone and their Landlords lose their Rents But were these Coaches and Caravans down and travelling on Horseback again come into fashion first every Passenger that now travels in Coach would have one Horse at least many of them one two or three Servants with them who now ride sneaking without any Attendants at all whereby in all probability according to moderate Computation there would be at least forty or fifty horses upon the Road instead of nine or ten that draw the Coach and Caravan 2ly These Travellers would disperse themselves into the several Inns upon the Road each man where he could find the best Entertainment whereby Trade would be diffused Innholders be enabled to pay their Rents and encouraged to provide accommodations fit for the reception of Gentlemen 3. Most Horses go to grass in the Summer time which would raise the Rents of Pasture-Lands about Cities and Corporations and other Towns upon the Roads above what formerly they were which of late years by means of those Coaches have fallen half in half even in Middlesex and other places adjoyning to London it self And nâ— other reason for it can be given but this That Citizens and Gentlemen about the City do not keep Horses as formerly they did Neither doth there now come a fixth part of the Horses to London that used to do but if Stage Coaches be supprest there will be a necessity for men to apply themselves to the breeding keeping and using Horses as formerly they did and it will necessarily occasion the Consumption of five times the quantity of Hay Straw and Horse-Corn that now is consumed whereby Farmers will have a vent for their Commodities and be enabled to pay their Rents for not only will there then be four times the number of Horses travelling upon the Roads as there are now but in the City of London and all the great Towns in England there would be great numbers of good Horses kept by Gentlemen Merchants and Tradesmen for their own uses and by others also to let out to hire to such as shall have occasion to ride and keep not Horses of their own It is very observeable that before these Coaches were set up what with the Horses kept by Merchants and other Tradesmen and Gentlemen in or near London and the Travellers Horses that came to London That City spent all the Hay Straw Beans Pease and Oats that could be spared within twenty or thirty miles thereof And for a further supply had vast quantities from Henly and other Western parts and from below Graves-end by Water besides many Ships Lading of Beans from Hull and of Oats from Lynn and Boston and then Oats and Hay and other Horse-Meat would bear a good price in that Market which was the Standard for all the Markets in England But now since these Coaches set up especially in such multitudes and those so nigh London London cannot consume what grows within twenty miles of it But if they were down the Consumption in London would quickly be as great as ever and that would raise the price of the Commodities advance the price of Lands and cause Rents to be well paid again Not only would every Traveller that now rides in a Coach travel on Horseback if Coaches were down and some of them with two or three Servants and so occasion a greater Consumption of the Provisions for Cattel But further every of these several Travellers who before clubbed together for a Dish or two of Meat would have one two or three Dishes of Meat for himself and his Servants which would occasion the Consumption of six times as much Beef Veal Mutton Lamb and all sorts of Fish Fowl Poultry and other Provisions as is now consumed on the Roads And such Consumption would raise the price of Lands and cause better payment of Rents especially if it be considered That not only will the Consumption be increased by those that travel the Roads but ten-times more would be spent by those who would be imployed in the making those things that Travellers must have when they ride who if they have work and can earn Money will Eat and Drink of the best as formerly they did when several Handicraft Tradesmen in London kept 20 30 or 40 Journeymen at work spent a quarter of Beef and a Carcass of Mutton in a week in their Houses who since these Coaches set up have fallen to a couple of Apprentices and though as eminent of their Trade as any about London yet can hardly earn Bread to put into their heads If it be so then that Running Stage-Coaches and Caravans are so injurious to the Publick destructive to Trade and the occasion of the fall of Rents it would be worth time to consider what is in them worthy of their being countenanced and desired And whether the Inconveniencies be not much greater than the Conveniencies men receive by them If this way of travelling were the way that of all wayes appeared most beneficial least expensive conducing to Health advantagious to men in their business absolutely necessary to some useful to others and imposed upon none There were some reason for mens being in love with them but if the contrary be apparent then what madness possesseth men to court their Inconveniencies and Mischiefs Let us examine these things Men receive not the greatest benefit by travelling in these Coaches For can that way be beneficial to any that hinders and destroyes Trade prevents the Consumption of the Provisions and Manufactures of the Kingdom and thereby lowers the Rents of Landlords For First Can a Gentleman receive benefit or advantage by saving 5 l. per Ann. in a journey when by his manner of travelling he lowers his own Rents three times as much in a year as he saves by his Journeys by countenancing that kind of conveyance that hinders the Consumption of the products of his own Estate and thereby makes his Tenants unable to pay their Rents 2ly Is it to be believed That a Tradesman arrives at any profit by these Coaches though he should save a little Money when he rides in them that he must necessarily expend if he
last are brought to sell their Estates and being reduced to such necessities by the Subtilties of these persons are forced to be beholden to them to procure purchasers which when they perceive they usually play their game as followeth the seller is by them perswaded that they can get no purchaser but such as doth object against their Title or their persons using many frivolous delayes till they drive them to such distress that they must sell at any rate And then their living remote in the Country or being under protections as Parliament-Men or Courtiers or their Estates lying far from London or the uncertainty of what Incumbrances may be thereupon are Objections which they raise pretending that all Men they propose their Estates unto upon these or such-like accounts are afraid to deal with them unless such as wait for good bargains and will not purchase except they can buy below the Market-price By which means they so contrive the matter with the Venders that they enforce them to sell that for thirteen fourteen or fifteen years purchase which really is worth twenty And out of that Contract their manner is to bargain for a good Gratuity for themselves although they at the same time have agreed with the Purchaser that is to have the Land for one or two years purchase more than they are to pay to the Sellers And the better to manage their Designs the Buyers are concealed and the Land-Brokers and Jobbers of Land find other persons to personate the Purchaser so that the Vender is never suffered to know or see them till the Writings be drawn wherein the Considerations are frequently exprest to be a year or two's Purchase more than the Vender is to receive for the same Which when they question the Reason of they are informed that it is done only to enable the Purchasers to demand better prices when they sell the same and to keep up the reputed value thereof Thus do they enrich themselves by imposing upon Gentlemen in extremity through an artificial debasing the value of their Estates exacting great Gratuities from the Purchasers also This is the common Practice of your Land-Brokers and Jobbers and their Confederates But if Registers were setled and all Incumbrances registred so that men might be secure no dormant Securities after they have lent their Money upon Mortgages or purchased for valuable Considerations could be started up to defeat them of their Interests and then Gentlemen that have Money lying dead by them would be as glad to lend it at easie rates to honest Gentlemen upon good Security as those that want it would be to be supplied therewith And Lands undoubtedly would come to be worth as formerly twenty years purchase if Men could but be secured in their Titles So that all persons that either have or suppose they ever may have any Estate to sell or Money to borrow understand not their own Interest if they oppose the setling of the Registers proposed The last sort of people that I presume may be agriev'd at this Registry are such who having lived high and spent their Estates extravagantly and perhaps entred into Judgments Statutes and Recognizances to double the value thereof and have mortgaged their Lands over and over and then get Protections whereby they keep off Suits or abscond themselves so that they cannot be found by their Creditors and are wont thereby to keep their Estates in possession and can no way for the future live but by doing further acts of dishonesty which whilst their Estates remain in their possession they have opportunity to do Such unrighteous Actions will for the future be prevented and the present Designs of this nature be defeated if Registers be setled So that such persons are concerned to oppose the same But I hope such Creatures as these are and their Designs will easily be seen through and have little respect given them by Parliament In short Were the Registry as desired setled and the Profit arising thereby brought into the Exchequer the Work may be done good Allowances appointed for those that shall be imployed therein and but a small sum would be imposed upon the Subjects for Registring their Claim and yet by computation at least 50000 l. per annum be brought into the Treasury which would be an additional help towards payment of the Publick Debts IV. THe Fourth Thing Proposed is That an Act be passed for a general Naturalization of all Foreign Protestants and for granting Liberty of Conscience to such of them as shall come over and Inhabit amongst us and that the like Liberty be given to his Majesties Subjects at home There is nothing so much wanting in England as People and of all sorts of People the Industrious and Laborious sort and Handycraft-men are wanted to Till and Improve our Land and help to Manufacture the Staple-Commodities of the Kingdom which would add greatly to the Riches thereof The two last great Plagues the Civil Wars at Home and the several Wars with Holland Spain and France have destroyed several hundred thousands of Men which lived amongst us besides vast numbers have Transported themselves or been Transported into Ireland and other our Foreign Plantations who when they were living amongst us did Eat our Provisions Wore off our Manufacturies imployed themselves in some Calling or other beneficial to the Nation the want of which calls for a supply of People from some place or other and it is in my judgment worthy our Observation That the Men thus lost from amongst us are of greater consideration and the loss more mischievous to the Kingdom than meerly the death or removal of so many Persons considering that they were Men in the prime of their years in perfect strength such who had they not dyed or been killed or removed might every year have begotten Children and thereby encreased the World So that three times the number of Children might have been better spared than they For instance Say there be but 100000 Men by these means gone from amongst us and instead of them 300000 Children had been taken away and the Men left it would have been much better for they in two years and a half or three years time might have gotten so many Children again but the Men dying or being gone and the Children living it may be ten or twenty years before they come to Marry and beget Children And notwithstanding the great mischief this Nation hath sustained by the loss of these Men yet so inconsiderate are the Inhabitants thereof concerning their own Interest which if possible is to have the Kingdom full of People that they are taking up another way to prevent the peopling thereof for the future there being almost all over England a Spirit of Madness running abroad and possessing Men against Marrying rather chusing to have Mistresses by whom very few ever have any Children And many Marryed Women by their lewd Conversations prevent the bringing forth many Children which otherwise they might have had These Humours and
Practices if continued will prove so mischievous that unless Foreigners come in amongst us in few years there will not be People to Manure our Lands Eat our Provisions Wear our Manufactures or Manufacture the Staple-Commodities that are of the growth of the Kingdom without which it is no wonder if Lands yield little Rent or Sell not for above 14 or 15 years Purchase And if Foreigners must come over or our Estates here grow worse there must then Encouragement be given them so to do else they will think themselves Well-Seated where they are following their Trades encreasing their Estates Enjoying all the Liberties and Priviledges of Free-born Subjects know how and have Liberty and Encouragement to improve their Estates and when they have got them can keep them therefore will never come themselves nor bring over their Families or Estates amongst us here to be accounted of as Aliens and Strangers such as may not purchase Estates amongst us and if they do shall not enjoy the same nor their Children after them That sort of people which we most want are such who though they would come over and dwell amongst us yet cannot spare 50 or 60 l. out of their Stock to procure themselves naturalized by Act of Parliament especially if they bring over Wife and Children with them which would be more advantageous for us than for them to come over alone Or if they should spare Money to Naturalize themselves yet perhaps they may not have so much as to pay for the naturalizing of their Wives and Children who as our laws are cannot be permitted to Inherit what their Fathers purchase unless they be naturalized also So that an Act for a General Naturalization is absolutely necessary if we will be supplyed with People from Foreign parts But the passing such Act alone will not be sufficient to encourage Foreigners to come and dwell amongst us there must be Liberty of Conscience also granted unto them and they must be assured that they shall not be Imprisoned Banished or have their Estates seized and taken from them and sold only for differing from the Church of England in the way of their Discipline whilst they agree in the Fundamentals of Religion live peaceably under the Civil Government and disturbe not the Government of the Church established for they having such liberty abroad where they are will not without assureance of the same here be induced to come amongst us How many thousands have left England and gone to seek shelter in Forreign parts for the persecution they were under for their Consciences who otherwise with their Families would have Continued amongst us How many have been forced to leave their Trades by being kept in Prison and having their Goods and Estates taken from them How many for fear of being undone not knowing but that so soon as their Goods come into their Shops they may be seized for their having been at Conventicles have left their Trades drawn off their Stocks and keep up their Money not knowing how soon they may have occasion to make use of it in the time of their distresses which otherwise would have been imployed in Trade to the benefit of the Kingdom How many thousands of Farmers have been necessitated to leave their Farms and come to dwell in London or to live obscurely in the Country for fear lest when they should have imployed their Stocks Plowed and Sowed their Land Reaped their Corn and Stocked their Pasture-Land all should be taken from them and they imprisoned and forced from their Families for their Religion Are not these great mischiefs to the Kingdom and great reasons of the decay of Trade and of Gentlemen their wanting Tenants for their Lands a thing so generally complained of all over England that men are not suffered to live as they would do quietly and employ and improve their Stocks as they might do to the advantage of Trade and the Kingdom in General which if they were permitted would occasion the Consumption of more of the provisions and Manufactures of the Kingdom Imploy more poor people at Work and thereby Improve the Rent of Lands and would send many of the Gentry and Farmers who left the Country for the Reasons aforesaid and now live obscure in London and some other places back to their Country-houses or to their Farms again it would remove their Fears quiet their Minds and cause their Purses again to be opened and every one would be putting himself upon some way of Improving his Estate and not live upon the main Stock as now they are forced to do It were greatly to be wished that there were more love and Charity amongst us And that all men would Consider seriously what they do when they take upon themselves thus to impose their own Principles upon all others as such that are only right and Condemn all others as Erroneous this is to magnifie themselves as Infallible and despise all others Upon all these Reasons I humbly submit to Judgment whether an Act for a general Naturalization and Liberty of Conscience be not absolutely necessary at this time And whether the Passing thereof may not be of great advantage to the Kingdom since it would increase Trade Promote a vast Consumption of the Manufactures and Provisions of the Kingdom make us more Industrious Imploy more of our Poor Increase his Majesties Revenue of Customs and bring our Lands to let for greater Rents and to sell for more years Purchase than ever heretofore they would have done V. THe Fifth Thing Proposed is That the Act for Prohibition of the Importation of Foreign Cattle so far as it relates to Ireland and Westphalia-Hams may be Repealed This Act hath no way answered the end designed by the passing thereof but on the contrary proved First Very prejudicial to his Majesty in his Revenue of Customs Secondly To all or most of the Land-Owners in England Thirdly To the Navigation and Trade of the Kingdoms 1. To his Majesty for before this Act passed there were so many great Cattle and Sheep Imported from Ireland as Computing the Custom paid for them and for the other Commodities exported out of England into Ireland in lieu of them amounted yearly to 80000 l. besides the Customs of all Norway Spanish and Westphalia Hams which sum the King loseth every year and the Kingdom to their Vast prejudice have lost that Trade 2. To Land-Owners this prohibition must necessarily be a great prejudice If it be considered 1. That the Breeding-Lands of England are not able to raise a sufficient Stock for the feeding six months feeding being as much as four years Breeding 2. That by reason of the scarcity of such Stock the Breeders Impose a greater price on Lean Cattle then they will yield when fatted whereby Feeding-Land becomes worth little or nothing 3. That for want of Irish Cattle the Victualling both for Home-Consumption and Foreign Trade and Naval Provisions most of it is transferred from England into Ireland which is a great prejudice
to the Consumption in England So that Lean Cattle though they be dearer because of the scarcity of them yet fatted Cattel are cheaper for want of the Consumption we formerly had The Consequence whereof is That the Ends of the prohibition are not answered Rents of Lands are not Raised but on the Contrary Feeding-Lands must and do fall for want of a Cheap Stock and our former Consumption and Breeding-Lands through the decay of Trade which this prohibition hath occasioned 3ly This Prohibition is prejudicial to Trade and Navigation 1. Because those Foreigners who formerly Victualled here do Victuall themselves in Ireland 2. And they have their Provisions for the fourth part of what we pay for ours whereby they have a great advantage in point of Trade and can Sayl Cheaper than we which forceth the English to Victual there also 3. All Irish Cattle which formerly came unto England and for which they carryed out no Money but took of our Manufactures in return are carryed to other places beyond Seas and from thence fetch the Commodities wherewith we before the prohibition supplyed them So that the Traders in Lancashire Cheshire and other Northen parts where the Breeding-Lands lie their Loss is greater for want of a Consumption of the Manufactures of those Countries which formerly were sent into Ireland than the Advantage they receive by advanceing the price of Lean-cattel doth amount unto 4. It hath enforced the Irish for to lessen their Heards of Cattel and increase their breed of Sheep having gotten of our largest and best Breeders So that they have now Vast Flocks and prodigious quantities of Wooll besides Hides and Tallow which proves mischeivous to England three wayes 1. By their sending Wooll beyond Seas unmanufactured which notwithstanding the Prohibition every day they do which being manufactured by Foreigners they grow rich thereby whilst our poor in England starve for want of the work they had when they were Imployed in manufacturing for a Foreign Consumption 2. By sending their Hides Tallow and Wooll in great quantities into England which for want of a Consumption here bring down the price of our own growth 3. By setting up the Woollen Manufacturies in Ireland where having the Wooll Land and all Provisions cheaper than in England they must necessarily have their Workmen cheaper and if so they will be able to make enough not only for their own use but to supply Foreigners also with that which England used to supply them with heretofore which in a short time if not prevented will undermine the Staple and most Advantagious Trade of this Kingdom It is the Interest of England being the Seat of Government to maintain a preeminence in the Trade and to see that the Manufacturies thereof be preserved intire within it self Otherwise by how much the more Ireland is Improved by so much the more England will be Impaired therein For they working cheaper lying nearer Foreign Markets and their freight being less do what we can will underfell us where ever they come whereby our Manufacturies will be destroyed and Manufacturers with their Families be Ruined It is observable 1. That the Trade with Ireland kept three or four hundred ships in full imploy which were paid by the Irish Freighters there and occasioned the breeding many Seamen yearly but now all those ships are laid aside the breed of Scamen neglected and that Trade managed in Foreign Bottomes 2. That the Cattel and Sheep formerly imported by Computation amounted unto a Million of Money per Annum 3. That they carryed no Money out of England but the effect of their Cattel was all laid out in our Manufacturies or other Commodities Imported into England and from thence sent to Ireland and the King had a Custom paid both upon the Importation and Exportation and also for every head of Cattle brought over The Irish being now Prohibited this Trade are necessitated to send all their Victuals to Forreign parts where they sell them for more than we paid for them and buy what ever they want Cheaper than they had them from us by which means they will be concerned to take no Commodities from England Nor can they Trade with us if they would because they have no way to pay for what they buy unless they bring over Money in Specie to the mischeife of that Kingdom or by Bills of Fxchange which cannot be had under 15 or 16 per Cens. which is double the profit gotten by those that Trade with them That Exchange of monies thence is very high Gentlemen whose Estates are Returned over do find and by reason thereof are forced to retrench a fixth part of their Expences here which is a further lessening to the Consumption of the Manufacturies Provisions of this Kingdom and of Trade with them which is further dangerous for if we send Goods they having a new Trade to Forreign parts we must send our Stocks thither So that if any loss happen it is the English that undergoe it Irelands being peopled from England was at first a hurt to us because it lessened the Consumption of our Provisions here But to prohibit them Trade with us is ten times worse for that not only takes off the Consumption they used to make of our Manufactures but destroyes all those Families in England that used to be Imployed for their supply So that they can neither spend of the Provisions nor Manufacturies of this Kingdom as formerly they did And besides these Handicraft-men there are many Eminent Trades in London as Mercers Milliners Haberdashers c suffer greatly for when Fashions were out here they used to send them into Ireland in return for their Cattle and they went off as new there for want of which utterance many of those Tradesmen by reason of the often changing of Fashions amongst us have been and are daily undone There is one other high Inconveniency like to fall upon England by this Prohibition which hath put Ireland upon Industry For some part of Ireland lying nearer to France Italy and Spain than England doth and so the Irish having Salt from France and Cask and Mens Labour and all Tackle for Fishing being cheaper there than we have here do set up the Fishing Trade there from whence they need but one Wind to carry them to their Markets and they catch the Fish six weeks before they come into England If so then what hinders but that they may cure them and supply Foreign Markets sooner and cheaper than we can which in time will destroy the Fisheries of this Kingdom Not but that Ireland should have its proper Advantages and may if they please there being many additional Manufactures that both they and we want to which the nature of that Soyl and the inclination of the People gives encouragement particularly that of Linnen the greatest part of the Countrey being Turf-Land and naturally proper for Hemp and Flax and being employed to that use with due regulations those Commodities may be had cheaper there and
from thence than from any other part of the World which would be a great encouragement to the setting up of the Manufactures thereof It must necessarily be cheaper because Land is far cheaper there than in those Parts from whence we have our Hemp and Flax and what we fetch comes charged with great Freight and Customs Which might be saved if the Commodity were fetcht from Ireland What then would there be wanting but a method to manufacture this Commodity cheaper Which done that place may supply not only England but all Europe with Linnen-Cloth at easier rates than now they pay for the same And if so what hinders but that they may ingross the whole Linnen-Trade and quickly grow rich And that they may manufacture cheaper there consider that in this part of the World there cannot be found a place where people may live cheaper have Lands at easier Rates than in Ireland so then consequently no place in the World where people work for less than there If then the Commodity to be wrought and the working of that Commodity be cheaper in Ireland than in any other Part the Manufacturies when wrought may be sold from thence cheaper than from any other part and this would bring Trade thither take away no more of the Stock of this Nation than is absolutely necessary for the supply of our Necessities And it would be a great advantage to the Kingdom to be furnished with that within our selves which we necessarily want and are enforced to depend upon Foreigners for In short the Prohibition of Irish Cattel puts them on a necessity for something they must do with their Cattel and the product of their Lands or be utterly destroyed that necessity forceth them to Industry which Industry if not determined with us but continued or encouraged with Foreigners the more industrious they are the more pernicious it will be to England in all its concerns For if the Irish by reason of their Religion and the sense of our conquering them have as some affirm and I and all English-men have good reason to believe a natural antipathy against us English-men and as natural an Affection and Sympathy to and with Foreigners who are of their own Perswasion and Religion And if Nations grow Intimate espouse Interest and mix by Trade and Commerce it is humbly submitted whether for the security of England both in its Government and Trade it be not adviseable to annex Ireland as a Province to England as our Islands abroad are annexed whereby his Majesties Revenue of Customs would be advanced at least 80000 l. per annum which would help to pay the Publick Debts and do a publick good to the Nation Concerning the Importation of Westphalia-Hams I have onely this to say That though Prohibited yet they are Imported the King loseth the Custom of them which formerly he had the Merchants buy them far cheaper beyond Seas than ever they did in England the Subjects pay twice as much as they might have bought them for before the Prohibition and not any good is done to the Kingdom thereby VI. THe Sixth thing proposed is the Prohibition of Brandy Mum Coffee Chocoletta and Tea and the suppressing Coffe-Houses These greatly hinder the Consumption of Barley Malt and Wheat the Product of our Land and thereby bring down the prices of these Grains consequently the Rents of Land to the ruine of Tenants who cannot sell their Corn when they have it and of Landlords whose Rents Tenants are not able to pay because they have no vent for the Product of their Farms There is as I am upon strict Enquiry of the most knowing persons informed so vast a quantity of Brandy Mum Coffee Tea and Spanish Chocoletta every year imported into England and consumed here that reckoning the Brandy to be sold at two pence the Quartern and no more whereas most of it by retail is sold for three pence the Mum at six pence a Quart and the Coffee Tea Chocoletta at the rates they are usually sold for yet is there expended by the Subjects yearly in these drinks above 400000 l. If these Liquors were prohibited then would there be made in England with our Wheat or Malt such quantities of Brandy or a Spirit equal to it and of Mum also as would in all probability occasion the Consumption of at least two or three hundred thousand Quarters of Wheat and Malt every year more than now is consumed and that would raise the price of the Commodity and thereby keep up the Rent of Lands which every year falls for want of a Consumption of the Product thereof And the Prohibition of Brandy would be otherwise advantageous to the Kingdom and prevent the destruction of His Majesties Subjects many of whom have been kill'd by drinking thereof it not agreeing with their Constitutions How many instances have we had yearly of mens dying suddenly after drinking of Brandy How many after over-drinking themselves with this Liquour have lain languishing till they have dyed thereof Before Brandy which is now become common and sold in every little Alehouse came over into England in such quanties as now it doth we drank good Strong Beer and Ale and all laborious people which are the far greatest part of the Kingdom their bodies requiring after hard labour some strong drink to refresh them did therefore every morning and evening use to drink a pot of Ale or a flagon of strong Beer which greatly promoted the Consumption of our own Grain and did them no great prejudice it hindred not their work neither did it take away their senses nor cost them much money But now this sort of people since Brandy is become so common and fold in every little house a small quantity costing them three pence do sometimes spend their days wages in this sort of Liquor before they get home in an evening and thereby impoverish their Families and not only so but frequently by their drinking to excess they are bereft of their senses for two or three days together so that they cannot work In short Brandy burns the hearts of His Majesties Subjects out in few years it hath been the destruction and death of some thousands who if they had kept to Beer and Ale might have received better refreshment therefrom and now been living to have served the King and their Countrey and might have help'd to consume the Manufactures and Provisions of the Kingdom And if so then what reason can any man give for the Importation thereof For my own part I declare I know of none unless it he because it pays a great Custom or Excise to the King And as to that I answer and affirm That if Brandy be prohibited the Excise of the Beer and Ale that would be then consumed more than is now will more than answer the duty of Brandy that the King shall lose by such Prohibition as is desired admitting that all the Brandy imported paid the duty imposed when as not one half thereof is paid for
the same being stolm insomuch that when the duty to the King was four shillings per Gallon Brandy was sold for three shillings which was twelve pence less than the Kings Duty But admitting that if Brandy should be prohibited the additional Excise of Ale and Beer would not answer the Kings lose he shall sustain thereby and taking it for granted that our English Constitutions are now so accustomed to Brandy that it is become absolutely necessary for them to use the same or some Liquor like it If it be so then from our Malt and Wheat may be extracted a Spirit equally as good if not for our Constitutions much better than Brandy And then laying a small duty as a penny a Gallon upon low Wines will more than answer what the additional Excise shall fall short of to the King yea and very much exceed what he shall lose by the Prohibition desired And in as much as nothing is so much wanting in England as people Therefore all means possible in point of Prudence and Policy ought to be used to preserve the lives and healths of those we have But the Importing of Brandy hath destroyed many is like to destroy more ergo it ought to be prohibited And the rather in regard that Brandy comes from France and whatever we import from France ready money is paid for the same or for the greatest part thereof For although we impose but between Four and Ten pound per cent upon any of the Manufacturies or Commodities of the growth of France except the duty upon Wine and Brandy yet the French King either prohibites the Importation of the Manufactures of England into his Dominions or the selling them there unless they be sealed for which Seal a great duty is paid or else he burns them if they are imported and sold without such Seal as he did the Silk Stockings or imposeth upon the Importation thereof a duty of 30 40 or 50 l. per cent which is double as muchas was imposed till within these few years last past and is in effect a Prohibition For when we do Transport any thing thither of our Growth or Manufacturies the French by reason of the high duty imposed upon them undersel us whereby we are necessitated to keep our goods till spoiled or bring them back And if so them plain it is that whatsoever we have from France ready money goes for the same So that by a moderate computation they have at least 400000 l. per annum in money from us which is a vast prejudice to England and a great enriching to France who impose upon us not only vast proportions of their Brandy and Wines but also of their Silks Stuffs Ribbons Laces Points and divers other things whereby our Manufacturers in England are ruined and the Treasure of the Nation exhausted I know it will be said that we lay far greater Impositions upon their Wines and Brandy than they do upon any of our Manufactures and it is true that we do so But consider that whatever duty we lay upon Wines is laid upon the King of Englands own Subjects they pay it and such duty doth not hinder the Importation thereof for more comes in now then ever there did when the duty was not half so high and the French force the English to pay more for their Wines than ever they paid before But the Impositions laid by the King of France upon our Manufactures have stopt us from sending any thing considerable thither whereas before such duties imposed we sent great quantities So that in a few years if not prevented the very Commerce with France is like to destroy England As for Brunswick Mum I am sure we brew as strong in England as they do there and yet afford to sell it for half the price they sell theirs for therefore there is no necessity of the Importation thereof to supply any defect we have here consequently 't is not fit to be encouraged because it hinders the Consumption of the Grain of this Kingdom And for Coffee Tea and Chocoletta I know no good they do only the places where they are sold are convenient for persons to meet in sit half a day and discourse with all Companies that come in of State-matters talking of news and broaching of lyes arraigning the judgements and discretions of their Governors censuring all their Councels and insinuating into the people a prejudice against them extolling and magnifying their own parts knowledge and wisdom and decrying that of their Rulers which if suffered too long may prove pernicious and destructive But say there were nothing of this in the case yet have these Coffee Houses done great mischiefs to the Nation undone many of the Kings Subjects for they being very great Enemies to Diligence and Industry have been the ruine of many serious and hopeful young Gentlemen and Tradesmen who before they frequented these places were diligent Students or Shopkeepers extraordinary husbands of their time as well as money but since these Houses have been set up under pretence of good husbandry to avoid spending above one peny or two pence at a time have got to these Coffee Houses where meeting Friends they have sate talking three or four hours after which a fresh acquaintance appearing and so one after another all day long hath begotten fresh discourse So that frequently they have staid five or six hours together in one of them All which time their Studies or Shops have been neglected their Business left undone their Servants been trusted and an opportunity given them thereby to be idle and deceitful the taking of money in many of these mens shops hath been hindred and their Customers gone away displeased How many by these means have received great losses and disadvantages in their Trade and by accustoming themselves to these houses have made it so habitual to them that they cannot forbear them though together with their Familes they are ruined thereby These Houses being very many of them professed Bawdy Houses more expensive than other houses are become scandalous for a man to be seen in them which Gentlemen not knowing do frequently fall into them by chance and so their Reputation is drawn into question thereby VII THe Seventh Proposal That the multitude of Stage-Coaches and Caravans now travelling upon the Roads may all or most of them be suppressed especially these within 40 50 or 60 Miles of London where they are no way necessary And that a due Regulation be made of such as shall be thought fit to be continued These Coaches and Caravans are one of the greatest mischiefs that hath hapned of late years to the Kingdom mischievous to the Publick destructive to Trade and prejudicial to Lands First By destroying the Breed of good Horses the Strength of the Nation and making Men careless of attaining to good Horsemanship a thing so useful and commendable in a Gentleman Secondly By hindring the Breed of Watermen who are the Nursery for Seamen and they the Bulwark of the
travels on Horseback No for this manner of travelling hinders the Sale of those Commodities they deal in of which much more would be consumed than is if such Coaches were down and by the Sale whereof they would get much more than they save by confining themselves to travelling as aforesaid so that plainly it is their interest to promote that way of travelling that tends to the greatest Consumption of the Manufacturies or Commodities wherein they deal 3ly The Husbandmen who live by the sweat of their Brows in manuring the Estates of the Gentry they are undone by this easie carriage for it hinders their selling their Corn Hay and Straw and other the products of their Farms and brings down the price of what they sell thereby rendring them unable to pay their Rents or to hold their Farms without considerable abatements which if not given them their Lands are thrown up into the Landlords hands and little or no benefit made by them 4ly The Grasiers they complain for want of a Vent for their Cattel which they had before these Coaches were erected Not that I do imagine Coaches to be the only reason of the want of that Consumption though it be evident they go far in the promoting that mischief for the want of People in England the loss of many thousands from amongst us of late years and the leaving of eating off Suppers by those that are left alive go a great way therein But these two may be easily remedied The former by the General Act of Naturalization and Liberty of Conscience proposed before which would bring all Foreigners in amongst us The latter by mens spending less in Taverns Playes and Balls and keeping up in lieu thereof the ancient laudable Customes of England of good House-keeping and thereby relieving the Poor Half the Money that Gentlemen idly spend in Taverns upon French Wines for which the Coin of the Kingdom is exhausted or upon Playes Bills treating Mistresses fine Clothes Toyes from France or other Foreign parts would defray the charges of having good Suppers every night whereby the product of our own Lands would be consumed and that would raise Rents Nay I am verily perswaded if it were duly considered and that all men as formerly would fall to eating of Suppers at least to dressing of them and when drest if they eat not themselves would give them to the Poor the increase of the Consumption would raise the Rents of Lands as much above what now they do go at at least in most places of England as would defray the charges of those Suppers If so would it not then be of great advantage to Men in their Estates and to the Kingdom in general But to proceed If the Gentlement the Tradesmen the Husbandmen the Grasier be not benefited by this travelling I am sure the last sort of Travellers To wit The Poor they cannot be profited thereby For Waggons or the Long Coaches first invented and still in use would be most for their interest to travel in being far less expensive than the other so that these Running Coaches are not most beneficial to every sort of Travellers Secondly Men do not travel in these Coaches with less expence of Money or Time than on Horseback For on Horseback they may travel faster and if they please all things duly considered with as little if not less charges For instance From London to Exeter Chester or York you pay 40 shillings apiece in Summer time 45 shillings in Winter for your Passage and as much from those places back to London besides in the Journey they change Coachmen four times and there are few Passengers but gives 12 pence to each Coachman at the end of his Stage which comes to 8 shillings in the Journey backward and forward and at least 3 shillings comes to each Passengers share to pay for the Coachmens Drink on the Road so that in Summer time the Passage backward and forward to any of these places costs 4 l. 11 s. in the Winter 5 l 1 s. and this only for eight dayes riding in the Summer and 12 in the Winter Then when the Passengers come to London they must have Lodgings which perhaps may cost them five or six shillings a week and that in fourteen dayes amounts unto 10 or 12 s. which makes the 4 l. 11 s. either 5 l. 1 s. or 5 l. 3 s. or the 5 l. 1 s. 5 l. 11 s. or 5 l. 13 s. besides the inconveniency of having Meat from the Cooks at double the price they might have it for in Inns. But if Stage-Coaches were down and men travelled again as formerly on Horseback then when they came into their Inns they would pay nothing for Lodgings And as there would excellent Horses be bred and kept by Gentlement for their own use so would there be by others that would keep them on purpose to Lett which would as formerly be let at 10 or 12 s. per week and in many places for 6 8 or 9 s. per week but admitting the lowest price to be 12 s. if a Man comes from York Exeter or Chester to London be five dayes a coming five dayes going and stay twelve dayes in London to dispatch his business which is the most that Countrey Chapmen usually to stay all this would be but three weeks so that his Horse-hire would come but to 1 l. 16 s. his Horse-meat at 1 s. 2 d. a day one with another which is the highest that can be reckoned upon and will come but to 1 l. 5 s. in all 3 l. 1 s. so that there would be at least 40 or 50 s. saved of what Coach-hire and Lodgings will cost him which would go a great way in paying for Riding-Clothes Stockings Hats Boots Spurs and other Accoutrements for riding and in my poor opinion would be far better spent in the buying of these things by the making whereof the poor would be set at work and kept from being burthensom to the Parish than to give it to those Stage-Coachmen to indulge that lazy idle habit of Body that men by constant riding in these Coaches have brought upon themselves Besides if thus their Money were spent they would save a great deal which now if Men of any Estates they pay for relief of those poor who for want of the work they had before those Coaches were set up and might have again if they were put down are fallen upon the several Parishes wherein they live for maintenance which charge would be quickly taken off if they were restored to their work Thus in proportion may a Man save from all longer or shorter Stages For instance from Northampton men pay for passage in Coach to London 16 s. and so much back from Bristol 25 s. from Bath 20 s. from Salisbury 20 or 25 s. from Redding 7 s. the like sums back and so in proportion for longer or shorter Stages Judge them whether men may not hire Horses cheaper than 5 s. a day I am sure they
be continued up for they travel not such long journeys go not out so early in the morning neither come they in so late at night but stay by the way travel easily without jolting mens bodies or hurrying them along as the running Coaches do 5ly Neither are these running Coaches useful to any for those that are fit to ride or ought to be suffered to ride in them are such that if they have business requiring a Coach may either keep one themselves or hire one 6ly But though these Coaches are neither absolutely necessary to some nor useful to others yet they are imposed upon many for since they set up in such multitudes especially about London men careless of keeping horses knowing the certainty of passage in them have sold them and must therefore when they travel either ride in these Coaches or not at all there being few or no Horses kept now to let out to hire If by what hath been said upon this point it happen Gentlemen may travel on horseback more to the advantage and benefit of Trade and so to the publick good with more advantage to their healths and business and less expence of money and time than they can in Stage-Coaches If these Stage-Coaches be not absolutely necessary to some useful to what other Coaches may be made to others and yet this imposed upon many what reason can be given why they should not all or most of them be supprest If they were not destructive to Trade why should Petitions from almost all sorts of Tradesmen come up from most Cities and Towns in England against them as there hath been lately presented to His Majesty and the Council Why should the Justices of Peace at their General Quarter Sessions certifie to His Majestie and his honorable Privy Council under their hands as they have done that the great Mischiefs aforementioned under which the Kingdom now suffers have been greatly occasioned by these Coaches and that many thousands of Families are ruined by them as from London Westminster Salisbury Middlesex and divers other Cities Counties and Towns Certificates have come Why should the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London at their Court at Guildhal upon serious consideration and debate of the Petition of the several Companies of London against the said Coaches wherein most of these grievances are mentioned allow of the same and give leave that it should be presented if they were not convinced that they are destructive to Trade For surely they understand Trade and were not so weak as to be cheated into their consent and approbation neither have they any time since repented of or disowned the same as the Stage-Coachmen in false and scandalous Pamphlets have presumed to print notwithstanding which they are ready to own the said Petition and make good the Contents thereof And the Drapers Haberdashers and Milliners who they pretend would be prejudiced by their being superseded are ready with the other Tradesmen mentioned in that Pamphlet to evince to the World they are injured by their being kept up so that the very Coach and Harness-Makers themselves petition against them as being mischievous to their Trades in regard they prevent the making of great Numbers of Coaches every year which must have been made if Gentlemen had travelled in their own Coaches and thereby they hinder the Consumption of great quantities of Leather If all these things be true what can be said against their being supprest It is Objected The Owners of these Coaches set them up for the conveniency of the Subjects have betaken themselves to this painful way of living and laid out their whole Stocks meerly to accommodate Gentlemen and have now no other way to live what shall become of them if they be put down Ans It is the case but of very few that the suppressing of them would hurt for if all Stage-Coaches were to be supprest I dare say five for one of those that keep them would receive advantage thereby as clearly will be evinced if it be considered that when this business was before His Majestie in Council where it depends undetermined none of the Stagers opposed the being put down except Exeter Salisbury Dorchester Bristol Southampton Dover Norwich Lincoln York Westchester Worcester and Shrewsbury who call themselves Stage-Coachmen upon the grand Roads of England and there is not one Owner of any of these Coaches but hath otherways to live if he were prohibited driving them for they are all of them either Innholders or Coach or Harness-makers following those Trades or Carriers or licensed Coachmen in London and may live as well as the Hackney Coachmen in London The other Stage-Coaches are all or most of them kept either by Innholders first who one in a Town did set up a Coach and so carried all the Guests to his own house Then a second sets up another and so a third and fourth in a Town Which done they run one against another purposely to get the Guests from each other houses whereby they not only destroy multitudes of horses but are great losers themselves so that themselves would be thankful to have them put down and yet are forced to keep them up until there shall be a general suppression because otherwise they shall lose their whole Trades Or else the said Stage-Coaches are kept by such as before the late Act for reducing the number of Hackney Coaches in London to 400 were Owners of Coaches and drove Hackney there But when the number of 400 was full and they not licensed then to avoid the penalties of the Act they removed out of the City dispersing themselves into every little Town within twenty miles of London where they set up for Stagers and Drive every Day to London and in the night time they drive about the City pay no 5 l. per annum yet take away both the Town and Country work from those that do pay it and break and annoy the streets in the Cities and Suburbs thereof hinder the 400 from the Jobs and small Journeys they depended upon when they agreed to pay 5 l. a peice per annum for their Licences whereby they are many of them ruined But take it for granted it were so that these Stage-Coachmen had laid out all their Stocks for the use aforesaid and must be undone if put down and there were at least 2000 of them what is that of two evils the lesser is to be chosen Have they not already destroyed very many Thousands of Families will not the continuing of them in very short time be the undoing of many Thousands more is the interest of these snrley rude debauch'd Coachmen to be put into the Ballance with the many Thousands of Curriers Shoemakers Sadlers Girdlers Spurriers Cutlers Lorainers Cloathiers Cloath-workers Cloath-drawers Drapers Taylors and an hundred Trades more to which men were bound seven years Apprentiship to learn their Trades and are of great advantage to the publick Surely they ought to be encouraged being the Manufacturers of the Staple-Commodities
and o their own ruine thereby for nothing will serve them but to live at this rate keep their Wives thus fine expose them to Temptations by setting them in their Shops in tempting Dresses thinking to invite Customers and thereby very often they have that effect but sometimes those Customers make bold with the Ware that should not be sold or lent and once having attained that liberty if both Parries agree it is ten to one if that poor Man be not presently blown up either by the charge his Wife will put him to in maintaining that Gallant or by the Credit that good Gentleman shall have in the Shop to take up what he pleases And then when gone as far as the Owner can give credit for he leaves the Shop and his Mistress to his care Nevertheless sometimes men are undone and yet their Wives are vertuous as without doubt many thousands are and more would be were it not the Husbands fault That is when after their being a while set up and a little Estate gotten they grow high keep their Coaches must have their Countrey-Houses the Candles burning at both ends never thinking they shall see an end of their Gains And their Wives forsooth must not be Nurses but send their Children abroad so that reckoning the charge of keeping there and frequent going to see them and the Guifts and good things that are unknown carried to the Nurses these high Expences accompanied with a decay and declination of Trade occasioned by the multiplicity of Traders as aforesaid go far in destroying young Beginners Moreover the keeping unnecessary Maid-Servants giving them great Wages and maintaining them idle in fine Habits and Dresses who with their vain and wanton carriages oftentimes become snares to young men this finisheth the work and both Masters Mistresses and Servants come all to ruine thereby One other great mischief to the young Tradesmen who are industrious close husbands and sober in their habits and expences is the great Rents they in the City when the Trade is gone to the other end of the Town where Rents are low Were all men of my mind those who lived in London before the fire and are Freemen and now to the destruction of the City live in the Suburbs meerly to enrich themselves they should starve before a peny should be laid out amongst them Why should they not come into the City again and make that the seat of Trade which is the Metropolitan of England and at such vast charge in Complyance with the Kings pleasure is nobly rebuilt and so many thousands are undone by the building thereof by having their houses stand empty on their hands such base treacherous men to the City who no more value their Oaths they took when bound Apprentices and made free ought not to be countenanced where they are by buying any thing of them there is not one of them but is forsworn if he duly weigh and consider the purport of his Oath And he that will make no Conscience of forswearing himself meerly to gain a little advantage in his Trade I am sure will make no Conscience of cheating of me therefore shall never have any of my custom One other great mischief to young Tradesmen is that they being but beginners are forced to keep Shops in order to gain a custom and thereby are constrained to pay great Rents and Taxes which are very hard upon London treeble as much in proportion as upon any one County of England and paid by these young men whilst your cunning rich ancient Tradesmen having a large Acquaintance great Stock and a full Trade give over their Shops and take a Country-house where they live for a small Rent pay not the sixth part of Taxes that are paid in London and so carry on their Trade in London privately in Warehouses I could name several of the Chief Magistrates that do so but will not at present though they deserve it Have they through Gods blessing arrived by their Trades in the City to great Estates and to be the chief Magistrates thereof only to be covetous and sordid seeking to save a little money when they have so much that they know not what to do with it and thereby put all the Charges upon those young Shop-keepers through their Avarice And thus many of these young men fall to ruine whilst the elder run away with all the Trade and Engross the same into their own hands It is a great shame this should be suffered and such men ought not to have any manner of Government or Power in or over the City who make use of it only to enrich themselves by destroying those they govern Moreover Handicraft Tradesmens high wages which they exact for their work is greatly mischievous not only to every man that hath occasion to use them whose particular occasion cannot be served but at far greater rates than formerly which if that were all would be little but it is destructive to Trade hinders the consumption of our Manufactures by Foreigners and the exportation of those vast quantities that used to be transported when the manufacturing of them was so cheap as formerly for now Wool and Leather being cheaper manufactured beyond the Seas than here we are undersold in Foreign Markets to our great prejudice which if not prevented in few years will tend to the total ruine and destruction of our Woollen and Leather Manufacturies I can give no better account for this advancement of their wages than our English peoples foolishness in encouraging Foreigners beyond their own Neighbours wearing their Manufacturies and neglecting the use of our own by means whereof our Manufacturers work is carried away from them so that whereas they had six days work formerly they have not above three now and having the same families must either have double the wages they had when they had full Employ which enhaunceth the price of the Commodities or let their families want bread three days in the week So the Case thus stands in short As for the loss of the Foreign Trade we had and the want of the consumption that used to be of our Manufacturies in Foreign parts no other reason can be given but that Foreigners are able to make their work cheaper than we do and thereby are able to undersel us where-ever we come and the reason of their working cheaper is because they live not so high neither are their expences in wages and working so great as ours If they were how could Foreigners fetch our Wool and Leaher pay Freight and Custom outward manufacture it abroad and then Import it back again paying a second Custom and yet sell it cheaper here than we do ours If this be true and thereby the Foreign Consumption of our Manufacturies be lost the more reason there is then in my poor judgement to endeavour the reducing the wages of our Manufacturers and themselves to a more sober and less expensive way of living that thereby if possible we may regain that Trade Which
for the same and the Plaintiffe hath recovered against him meerly because such a Debt hath been found standing in the Book and the delivering of the Goods proved and so a Verdict hath pass'd against the Executor of the Debtor because he hath not been able to prove payment for the same How many by letting Debts stand long in Shop-keepers Books have when they came to accompt with them found Entries made of Goods never bought by them or of greater quantities than they had of such Goods as they did buy But if no Book-Debt shall be sued for after three years standing it will oblige the Shop-keepers to come to accompt once in three years and get Bill or Bond for their Moneys whilst things are fresh in memory or else to sue for the same when if any thing be found unjust in their Books the Creditor will be able by his memory to discover the same and prevent payment thereof Besides it will prevent Perjury and other foul practices 3ly This Act desired would be of great advantage to the Nation in general for when passed all Bills Bonds and other good Securities will be Tanta-mount to ready Money so that there will be 20000 l. or as good as 20000 l. in England instead of every 1000 l. that now is passing in Trade which must necessarily be a great advantage to the publick This Course is practised in other Foreign Parts and found of as great importance and benefit to Trade as can be imagined And for preventing the Mischiefs arising to Traders by the Knaveries of persons pretending to be Bankrupts and who break with design only to defraud their Creditors some further and stricter Act must be made than hitherto there hath been otherwise there will be no trusting any man it being frequent for men of wicked and cheating Principles when they design to break knowing themselves to be persons not suspected to fail but of a good Credit to take up great Parcels of Goods or Sums of Money of several other Tradesmen which so soon as they get into their hands they dispose unto Friends in trust for them and their Wives and Children which done then they presently do some Act whereby they become Bankrupts as such are prosecuted Commissions taken out to declare them Bankrupts whereupon they withdraw and abscond themselves in the Countrey till they can get Releases from their Creditors or compound for some small matter or otherwise they take the King's Bench lie within the Rules and frequently go abroad and all that time have the Money they break for going in Trade in other Names and from such their Trustees they receive the benefit thereof wherewith they live high whilst their Creditors are undone by them and if they cannot bring their Creditors to Composition they will continue all their life-time in the King's-Bench and the Creditors get nothing so that their Creditors are frequently brought to small Composition Which done then these Bankrupts immediately appear in their Shops again richer than ever they were when first set up and this with other honest mens Stocks who with their Families are undone through the Losses sustained by those mens knavish breaking And this Trick some men have plaid several times over therefore it 's fit for the future if possible to be prevented XII THe Twelfth Proposal is that the Newcastle-Trade for Coals be managed by Commissioners for the King whereby the Subject may be supplied with Coals at easie Rates and not be exacted upon as they now are and about 200000 l. per Annum be coming to the Crown which would be a further help towards the payment of the publick Debts I need not declare how the Subjects are abused in the price of Coals How many poor have been starved for want of Fewel by reason of the horrid prices put upon them especially in time of War either by the Merchant or the Woodmonger or between them both That which I shall propose is That the whole Trade be managed by Commissioners for the benefit of the publick That those Commissioners take care to supply all parts of His Majesties Dominions with Coals That Coals be sold all the year long at 22 s. per Chaldron at which rate they may very well be afforded For at Newcastle they buy them for about 7 s. per Chaldron which rate they may very well be afforded The Newcastle-Chaldron makes five London-Chaldrons The Freight of each Chaldron is not above 6 s. The Duty to the City for each Chaldron is but 3 s. Lighterage Wharfage and Cartage may cost per Chaldron 4 s. I compute the highest Rates that can be imagined And at these Rates each Newcastle-Chaldron will lie the Commissioners but in 20 s. If then three Newcastle-Chaldron computed at 3 l. make five London-Chaldrons and they be sold for 5 l. 10 s. there is very nigh half in half gotten thereby Considering then how many hundred thousand Chaldron of Coals are spent every year and by a moderate computation it will appear that near 200000 l. per Annum advantage may arise hereby to the Publick and the Subject also receive a great benefit by the same XIII THe last Proposal is That the Fishing-Trade may be set up and encouraged all poor people set at work to make Fishing-Tackle and be paid out of the yearly Rates laid upon the Subjects for maintaining of the poor This would be of vast advantage to the Publick The Money yearly paid by the Subjects for the relief of the Poor is nigh as much as an Assessment of 70000 l. a Month to the King This is employed only to maintain idle Persons doth great hurt rather than good makes a world of poor more than otherwise there would be prevents Industry and Laboriousness Men and Women growing so idle and Proud that they will not work but lie upon the Parish wherein they dwell for Maintenance applying themselves to nothing but Begging or Pilfering and breeding up their Children accordingly never putting them upon any thing that may render them useful in their Generations or beneficial either to themselves or the Kingdom But if instead of giving them Weekly Allowances for maintaining them in their Idleness the Money collected were employed to set all of them that are able at work to some kind of Employment or other sutable to their Capacities it would be of infinite Use and Advantage to the Nation There are none except Bedridden or Blind but some Work or other may be found that they may be capable of doing which if they would not set unto when appointed them they should have Correction rather than any Encouragement which now they have by allowing them Weekly Maintenance And thus not only Men and Women would become useful and beneficial to the Kingdom but their Children should all of them be employed and set at work to do something or other that may keep them from Idleness which becoming habitual to them in their youth they are seldom broke off whilst they live Industry and
Labour ought to be countenanced and encouraged and Magistrates and Gentry would do well to give Examples thereof to those amongst whom they live If all the Poor now maintained in their Idleness were set at work and paid out of the Money raised as aforesaid those that now have two Shillings or three Shillings a Week might by their Work earn so much or suppose they could earn but one Shilling sixpence a week and nevertheless receive three Shillings it is half in half saved so that a Moyety of what now is collected from the people might be spared to them and yet the Poor be as well or better maintained than now But if Men Women and Children were set at work few Families that now receive two or three Shillings a week but in all probability would and might earn four or five Shill a week help to Manufacture the Staple-Commodities of the Kingdom at cheap Rates and thereby bring down the Wages of Handicrafts-men which now are grown so high that we have lost the Trade of Foreign Consumption because abroad Wool and Leather and the Manufactures thereof are sold at lower Rates than we can afford ours at This Mischief of high Wages to Handicrafts-men is occasioned by reason of the Idleness of so vast a number of people in England as there are so that those that are Industrious and will work make men pay what they please for their Wages but set the Poor at Work and then these men will be forced to lower their Rates whereby we shall quickly come to sell as cheap as Foreigners do and consequently engross the Trade to our selves There are many ways to set the Poor at work both old and young Women and Children by Spinning of Linnen Woollen and Woolsted Carding Combing Knitting Working Plain-Work or Points Making Bone-Lace or Thred-or Silk-Laces Brede and divers other things The Linnen-Trade if well regulated would employ some hundred thousands of People and if brought to perfection might save vast Sums of Money within the Kingdom which now are sent out for the same The Woollen and Leathern-Manufactories would employ Multitudes of Men and young youths and vast quantities of Wooll might be manufactured and consumed in England more than now is if all the Tapestry we now use were made here which is now imported from beyond the Seas Also if the Act for Burying in Flannel as ridiculous as men make it were put in Execution seeing Flannel would be as good for that use as Linnen abundance of our Poor would be employed in making these things And the Money now paid for these Foreign Manufactures would be kept in England and defray the Charge of the Manufacturing of them at home It is not to be imagined how many thousands of Men Women and Children the Fishing-Trade which is that I principally aim at would keep in employment The making of the Nets Sayls Cordage and other Materials for that use the Building of Fishing-Vessels and the Catching and Curing of the Fish when catch'd would find work for above two hundred thousand People and would encrease the number of Sea-men Ship-wrights and many Handicrafts-men A great Revenue if well managed would thereby arise to the Publick and the Fish taken would be as good to us as so much Ready-Money and be taken off beyond Seas in Exchange for such Goods as we necessarily want and have from Foreign Parts and now pay Ready Money for To conclude Were the things Proposed as aforesaid done as desired Trade would be encouraged and encreased the Provisions and Manufactures of the Kingdom be in far greater quantities consumed both at home and abroad the Price of Lands would be raised Tenants be enabled to pay their Rents the Kingdom would be greatly enriched and in a few years the Publick Debts of the Kingdom might be discharged without Imposing any considerable Tax upon the People FINIS