Hide TOC
- Book Iv
- Chapter IV: Of Drawbacks
- Chapter V: Of Bounties
- Digression Concerning the Corn Trade and Corn Laws 1
- Chapter VI: Of Treaties of Commerce
- Chapter VII: Of Colonies
- Part First: of the Motives For Establishing New Colonies
- Part Second: Causes of the Prosperity of New Colonies
- Part
Third: of the Advantages Which Europe Has Derived From the Discovery of
America, and From That of a Passage to the East Indies By the Cape of
Good Hope
- Chapter VIII: Conclusion of the Mercantile System 1
- Chapter
IX: Of the Agricultural Systems, Or of Those Systems of Political
Œconomy, Which Represent the Produce of Land As Either the Sole Or the
Principal Source of the Revenue and Wealth of Every Country
- Book V: Of the Revenue of the Sovereign Or Commonwealth
- Chapter I: Of the Expences of the Sovereign Or Commonwealth
- Part I: Of the Expence of Defence
- Part II: Of the Expence of Justice
- Part III: Of the Expence of Public Works and Public Institutions
- Article
I: Of the Public Works and Institutions For Facilitating the Commerce
of the Society And, First, of Those Which Are Necessary For
Facilitating Commerce In General 1
- Article II: Of the Expence of the Institutions For the Education of Youth 1
- Article III: Of the Expence of the Institutions For the Instruction of People of All Ages
- Part IV: Of the Expence of Supporting the Dignity of the Sovereign
- Conclusion
- Chapter II: Of the Sources of the General Or Public Revenue of the Society
- Part I: Of the Funds Or Sources of Revenue Which May Peculiarly Belong to the Sovereign Or Commonwealth
- Part II: Of Taxes
- Article I: Taxes Upon Rent. Taxes Upon the Rent of Land
- Article II: Taxes Upon Profit, Or Upon the Revenue Arising From Stock
- Appendix to Articles I and Ii Taxes Upon the Capital Value of Land, Houses, and Stock
- Article III: Taxes Upon the Wages of Labour
- Article IV: Taxes Which, It Is Intended, Should Fall Indifferently Upon Every Different Species of Revenue
- Chapter III: Of Public Debts
- Appendix 1
CHAPTER VIII
CONCLUSION OF THE MERCANTILE SYSTEM
THOUGH the encouragement of exportation, and the discouragement
The mercantile system discourages the exportation of materials of manufacture and instruments of trade
of importation, are the two great engines by which the mercantile
system proposes to enrich every country, yet with regard to some
particular commodities, it seems to follow an opposite plan: to
discourage exportation and to encourage importation. Its ultimate
object, however, it pretends, is always the same, to enrich the country
by an advantageous balance of trade. It discourages the exportation of
the materials of manufacture, and of the instruments of trade, in order
to give our own workmen an advantage, and to enable them to undersell
those of other nations in all foreign markets: and by restraining, in
this manner, the exportation of a few commodities, of no great price, it
proposes to occasion a much greater and more valuable exportation of
others. It encourages the importation of the materials
It encourages the importation of materials though not of instruments of trade.
of manufacture, in order that our own people may be enabled to work
them up more cheaply, and thereby prevent a greater and more valuable
importation of the manufactured commodities. I do not observe, at least
in our Statute Book, any encouragement given to the importation of the
instruments of trade. When manufactures have advanced to a certain pitch
of greatness, the fabrication of the instruments of trade becomes
itself the object of a great number of very important manufactures. To
give any particular encouragement to the importation of such
instruments, would interfere too much with the interest of those
manufactures. Such importation, therefore, instead of being encouraged,
has frequently been prohibited. Thus the importation of wool cards,
except from Ireland, or when brought in as wreck or prize goods, was
prohibited by the 3d of Edward IV.; which prohibition was renewed by the 39th of Elizabeth, and has been continued and rendered perpetual by subsequent laws.
The importation of the materials of
manufacture has sometimes been encouraged by an exemption from the
duties to which other goods are subject, and sometimes by bounties.
Various materials are exempt from customs duties.The importation of sheep’s wool from several different countries, of cotton wool from all countries, of undressed flax, of the greater part of dying drugs, of the greater part of undressed hides from Ireland or the British colonies, of seal skins from the British Greenland fishery, of pig and bar iron from the British colonies,
as well as of several other materials of manufacture, has been
encouraged by an exemption from all duties, if properly entered at the
customhouse. The private interest of our merchants and manufacturers
may, perhaps, have extorted from the legislature these exemptions, as
well as the greater part of our other commercial regulations. They are,
however, perfectly just and reasonable, and if, consistently with the
necessities of the state, they could be extended to all the other
materials of manufacture, the public would certainly be a gainer.
Yarn, though a manufactured article is free from duty,The
avidity of our great manufacturers, however, has in some cases extended
these exemptions a good deal beyond what can justly be considered as
the rude materials of their work. By the 24 Geo. II. chap. 46. a small
duty of only one penny the pound was imposed upon the importation of
foreign brown linen yarn, instead of much higher duties to which it had
been subjected before, viz. of sixpence the pound upon sail yarn, of one
shilling the pound upon all French and Dutch yarn, and of two pounds
thirteen shillings and fourpence upon the hundred weight of all spruce
or Muscovia yarn.
But our manufacturers were not long satisfied with this reduction. By
the 29th of the same king, chap. 15, the same law which gave a bounty
upon the exportation of British and Irish linen of which the price did
not exceed eighteen pence the yard, even this small duty upon the
importation of brown linen yarn was taken away. In the different
operations, however, which are necessary for the preparation of linen
yarn, a good deal more industry is employed, than in the subsequent
operation of preparing linen cloth from linen yarn. To say nothing of
the industry of the flax-growers and flax-dressers, three or four
spinners, at least, are necessary, in order to keep one weaver in
constant employment; and more than four-fifths of the whole quantity of
labour, necessary for the preparation of linen cloth, is employed in
that of linen yarn; but our
because the spinners are poor, unprotected people, and the master weavers are rich and powerful
spinners are poor people, women commonly, scattered about in all
different parts of the country, without support or protection. It is not
by the sale of their work, but by that of the complete work of the
weavers, that our great master manufacturers make their profits. As it
is their interest to sell the complete manufacture as dear, so is it to
buy the materials as cheap as possible. By extorting from the
legislature bounties upon the exportation of their own linen, high
duties upon the importation of all foreign linen, and a total
prohibition of the home consumption of some sorts of French linen,
they endeavour to sell their own goods as dear as possible. By
encouraging the importation of foreign linen yarn, and thereby bringing
it into competition with that which is made by our own people, they
endeavour to buy the work of the poor spinners as cheap as possible.
They are as intent to keep down the wages of their own weavers, as the
earnings of the poor spinners, and it is by no means for the benefit of
the workman, that they endeavour either to raise the price of the
complete work, or to lower that of the rude materials. It is the
industry which is carried on for the benefit of the rich and the
powerful, that is principally encouraged by our mercantile system. That
which is carried on for the benefit of the poor and the indigent, is too
often, either neglected, or oppressed.
Both the bounty upon the exportation of linen, and the exemption
This exemption and also the bounty on the exportation of linen are given by a temporary law
from duty upon the importation of foreign yarn, which were granted only
for fifteen years, but continued by two different prolongations, expire with the end of the session of parliament which shall immediately follow the 24th of June 1786.
The encouragement given to the importation of the materials of
Bounties on imported materials have been chiefly given to American produce, such as naval stores, manufacture by bounties, has been principally confined to such as were imported from our American plantations.
The first bounties of this kind were those
granted, about the beginning of the present century, upon the
importation of naval stores from America.
Under this denomination were comprehended timber fit for masts, yards,
and bowsprits; hemp; tar, pitch, and turpentine. The bounty, however, of
one pound the ton upon masting-timber, and that of six pounds the ton
upon hemp, were extended to such as should be imported into England from
Scotland.
Both these bounties continued without any variation, at the same rate,
till they were severally allowed to expire; that upon hemp on the 1st of
January 1741, and that upon masting-timber at the end of the session of
parliament immediately following the 24th June 1781.
The bounties upon the importation of tar,
pitch, and turpentine underwent, during their continuance, several
alterations. Originally that upon tar was four pounds the ton; that upon
pitch the same; and that upon turpentine, three pounds the ton. The
bounty of four pounds the ton upon tar was afterwards confined to such
as had been prepared in a particular manner; that upon other good,
clean, and merchantable tar was reduced to two pounds four shillings the
ton. The bounty upon pitch was likewise reduced to one pound; and that
upon turpentine to one pound ten shillings the ton.
colonial indigo,The
second bounty upon the importation of any of the materials of
manufacture, according to the order of time, was that granted by the 21
Geo. II. chap. 30. upon the importation of indigo from the British
plantations. When the plantation indigo was worth three-fourths of the
price of the best French indigo, it was by this act entitled to a bounty
of sixpence the pound. This bounty, which, like most others, was
granted only for a limited time, was continued by several prolongations,
but was reduced to four pence the pound. It was allowed to expire with the end of the session of parliament which followed the 25th March 1781.
colonial hemp or undressed flax,The
third bounty of this kind was that granted (much about the time that we
were beginning sometimes to court and sometimes to quarrel with our
American colonies) by the 4 Geo. III. chap. 26. upon the importation of
hemp, or undressed flax, from the British plantations. This bounty was
granted for twenty-one years, from the 24th June 1764, to the 24th June
1785. For the first seven years it was to be at the rate of eight pounds
the ton, for the second at six pounds, and for the third at four
pounds. It was not extended to Scotland, of which the climate (although
hemp is sometimes raised there, in small quantities and of an inferior
quality) is not very fit for that produce. Such a bounty upon the
importation of Scotch flax into England would have been too great a
discouragement to the native produce of the southern part of the united
kingdom.
The fourth bounty of this kind, was that granted by the 5 Geo. III.
American wood,
chap. 45. upon the importation of wood from America. It was granted for
nine years, from the 1st January 1766, to the 1st January 1775. During
the first three years, it was to be for every hundred and twenty good
deals, at the rate of one pound; and for every load containing fifty
cubic feet of other squared timber at the rate of twelve shillings. For
the second three years, it was for deals to be at the rate of fifteen
shillings, and for other squared timber, at the rate of eight shillings;
and for the third three years, it was for deals, to be at the rate of
ten shillings, and for other squared timber, at the rate of five
shillings.
The fifth bounty of this kind, was that granted by the 9 Geo. III.
colonial raw silk,
chap. 38. upon the importation of raw silk from the British
plantations. It was granted for twenty-one years, from the 1st January
1770, to the 1st January 1791. For the first seven years it was to be at
the rate of twenty-five pounds for every hundred pounds value; for the
second, at twenty pounds; and for the third at fifteen pounds. The
management of the silk-worm, and the preparation of silk, requires so
much hand labour; and labour is so very dear in America, that even this
great bounty, I have been informed, was not likely to produce any
considerable effect.
The sixth bounty of this kind, was that granted by 11 Geo. III.
colonial barrel staves,
chap. 50. for the importation of pipe, hogshead, and barrel staves and
heading from the British plantations. It was granted for nine years,
from 1st January 1772, to the 1st January 1781. For the first three
years, it was for a certain quantity of each, to be at the rate of six
pounds; for the second three years, at four pounds; and for the third
three years, at two pounds.
The seventh and last bounty of this kind, was that granted by the
Irish hemp
19 Geo. III. chap. 37. upon the importation of hemp from Ireland. It
was granted in the same manner as that for the importation of hemp and
undressed flax from America,
for twenty-one years, from the 24th June 1779, to the 24th June 1800.
This term is divided, likewise, into three periods of seven years each;
and in each of those periods, the rate of the Irish bounty is the same
with that of the American. It does not, however, like the American
bounty, extend to the importation of undressed flax. It would have been
too great a discouragement to the cultivation of that plant in Great
Britain. When this last bounty was granted, the British and Irish
legislatures were not in much better humour with one another, than the
British and American had been before. But this boon to Ireland, it is to
be hoped, has been granted under more fortunate auspices, than all
those to America.
These commodities were
subject to duties when coming from foreign countries. It was alleged
that the interest of the colonies and of the mother country was the
same.The same commodities upon which we thus gave bounties, when
imported from America, were subjected to considerable duties when
imported from any other country. The interest of our American colonies
was regarded as the same with that of the mother country. Their wealth
was considered as our wealth. Whatever money was sent out to them, it
was said, came all back to us by the balance of trade, and we could
never become a farthing the poorer, by any expence which we could lay
out upon them. They were our own in every respect, and it was an expence
laid out upon the improvement of our own property, and for the
profitable employment of our own people. It is unnecessary, I apprehend,
at present to say any thing further, in order to expose the folly of a
system, which fatal experience has now sufficiently exposed. Had our
American colonies really been a part of Great Britain, those bounties
might have been considered as bounties upon production, and would still
have been liable to all the objections to which such bounties are
liable, but to no other.
The exportation of the materials of manufacture is sometimes discouraged by absolute prohibitions, and sometimes by high duties.
The exportation of wool and live sheep is forbidden under heavy penalties,Our
woollen manufacturers have been more successful than any other class of
workmen, in persuading the legislature that the prosperity of the
nation depended upon the success and extension of their particular
business. They have not only obtained a monopoly against the consumers
by an absolute prohibition of importing woollen cloths from any foreign
country; but they have likewise obtained another monopoly against the
sheep farmers and growers of wool, by a similar prohibition of the
exportation of live sheep and wool. The severity of many of the laws
which have been enacted for the security of the revenue is very justly
complained of, as imposing heavy penalties upon actions which,
antecedent to the statutes that declared them to be crimes, had always
been understood to be innocent. But the cruellest of our revenue laws, I
will venture to affirm, are mild and gentle, in comparison of some of
those which the clamour of our merchants and manufacturers has extorted
from the legislature, for the support of their own absurd and oppressive
monopolies. Like the laws of Draco, these laws may be said to be all
written in blood.
at one time mutilation and death,By
the 8th of Elizabeth, chap. 3. the exporter of sheep, lambs or rams,
was for the first offence to forfeit all his goods for ever, to suffer a
year’s imprisonment, and then to have his left hand cut off in a market
town upon a market day, to be there nailed up; and for the second
offence to be adjudged a felon, and to suffer death accordingly. To
prevent the breed of our sheep from being propagated in foreign
countries, seems to have been the object of this law. By the 13th and
14th of Charles II. chap. 18. the exportation of wool was made felony,
and the exporter subjected to the same penalties and forfeitures as a
felon.
For the honour of the national humanity, it is to be hoped that
but now twenty shillings for every sheep with forfeiture of the sheep and the owner’s share in the ship,
neither of these statutes were ever executed. The first of them,
however, so far as I know, has never been directly repealed, and
Serjeant Hawkins seems to consider it as still in force.
It may however, perhaps, be considered as virtually repealed by the
12th of Charles II. chap. 32. sect. 3. which, without expressly taking
away the penalties imposed by former statutes,
imposes a new penalty, viz. That of twenty shillings for every sheep
exported, or attempted to be exported, together with the forfeiture of
the sheep and of the owner’s share of the ship. The second of them was
expressly repealed by the 7th and 8th of William III. chap. 28. sect. 4.
By which it is declared that, “Whereas the statute of the 13th and 14th
of King Charles II. made against the exportation of wool, among other
things in the said act mentioned, doth enact the same to be deemed
felony; by the severity of which penalty the prosecution of offenders
hath not been so effectually put in execution: Be it, therefore, enacted
by the authority foresaid, that so much of the said act, which relates
to the making the said offence felony, be repealed and made void.”
The penalties, however, which are either imposed by this milder
and three shillings for every pound of wool, with other pains and penalties.
statute, or which, though imposed by former statutes, are not repealed
by this one, are still sufficiently severe. Besides the forfeiture of
the goods, the exporter incurs the penalty of three shillings for every
pound weight of wool either exported or attempted to be exported, that
is about four or five times the value. Any merchant or other person
convicted of this offence is disabled from requiring any debt or account
belonging to him from any factor or other person.
Let his fortune be what it will, whether he is, or is not able to pay
those heavy penalties, the law means to ruin him completely. But as the
morals of the great body of the people are not yet so corrupt as those
of the contrivers of this statute, I have not heard that any advantage
has ever been taken of this clause. If the person convicted of this
offence is not able to pay the penalties within three months after
judgment, he is to be transported for seven years, and if he returns
before the expiration of that term, he is liable to the pains of felony,
without benefit of clergy.
The owner of the ship knowing this offence forfeits all his interest in
the ship and furniture. The master and mariners knowing this offence
forfeit all their goods and chattels, and suffer three months
imprisonment. By a subsequent statute the master suffers six months
imprisonment.
To prevent clandestine exportation the inland commerce of wool is much hampered by restrictions,In
order to prevent exportation, the whole inland commerce of wool is laid
under very burdensome and oppressive restrictions. It cannot be packed
in any box, barrel, cask, case, chest, or any other package, but only in
packs of leather or pack-cloth, on which must be marked on the outside
the words
wool or
yarn, in large letters not less than
three inches long, on pain of forfeiting the same and the package, and
three shillings for every pound weight, to be paid by the owner or
packer.
It cannot be loaden on any horse or cart, or carried by land within
five miles of the coast, but between sun-rising and sun-setting, on pain
of forfeiting the same, the horses and carriages.
The hundred next adjoining to the sea coast, out of or through which
the wool is carried or exported, forfeits twenty pounds, if the wool is
under the value of ten pounds; and if of greater value, then treble that
value, together with treble costs, to be sued for within the year. The
execution to be against any two of the inhabitants, whom the sessions
must reimburse, by an assessment on the other inhabitants, as in the
cases of robbery. And if any person compounds with the hundred for less
than this penalty, he is to be imprisoned for five years; and any other
person may prosecute. These regulations take place through the whole
kingdom.
especially in Kent and Sussex,But
in the particular counties of Kent and Sussex the restrictions are
still more troublesome. Every owner of wool within ten miles of the
sea-coast must give an account in writing, three days after shearing, to
the next officer of the customs, of the number of his fleeces, and of
the places where they are lodged. And before he removes any part of them
he must give the like notice of the number and weight of the fleeces,
and of the name and abode of the person to whom they are sold, and of
the place to which it is intended they should be carried. No person
within fifteen miles of the sea, in the said counties, can buy any wool,
before he enters into bond to the king, that no part of the wool which
he shall so buy shall be sold by him to any other person within fifteen
miles of the sea. If any wool is found carrying towards the sea-side in
the said counties, unless it has been entered and security given as
aforesaid, it is forfeited, and the offender also forfeits three
shillings for every pound weight. If any person lays any wool, not
entered as aforesaid, within fifteen miles of the sea, it must be seized
and forfeited; and if, after such seizure, any person shall claim the
same, he must give security to the Exchequer, that if he is cast upon
trial he shall pay treble costs, besides all other penalties.
When such restrictions are imposed upon the inland trade, the
and so also is the coasting trade.
coasting trade, we may believe, cannot be left very free. Every owner
of wool who carrieth or causeth to be carried any wool to any port or
place on the sea-coast, in order to be from thence transported by sea to
any other place or port on the coast, must first cause an entry thereof
to be made at the port from whence it is intended to be conveyed,
containing the weight, marks, and number of the packages before he
brings the same within five miles of that port; on pain of forfeiting
the same, and also the horses, carts, and other carriages; and also of
suffering and forfeiting, as by the other laws in force against the
exportation of wool. This law, however, (1 Will. III. chap. 32.) is so
very indulgent as to declare, that “this shall not hinder any person
from carrying his wool home from the place of shearing, though it be
within five miles of the sea, provided that in ten days after shearing,
and before he remove the wool, he do under his hand certify to the next
officer of the customs, the true number of fleeces, and where it is
housed; and do not remove the same, without certifying to such officer,
under his hand, his intention so to do, three days before.”
Bond must be given that the wool to be carried coastways is to be
landed at the particular port for which it is entered outwards; and if
any part of it is landed without the presence of an officer, not only
the forfeiture of the wool is incurred as in other goods, but the usual
additional penalty of three shillings for every pound weight is likewise
incurred.
Our woollen manufacturers, in order to justify their demand of such
The manufacturers alleged that English wool was superior to all others, which is entirely false.
extraordinary restrictions and regulations, confidently asserted, that
English wool was of a peculiar quality, superior to that of any other
country; that the wool of other countries could not, without some
mixture of it, be wrought up into any tolerable manufacture; that fine
cloth could not be made without it; that England, therefore, if the
exportation of it could be totally prevented, could monopolize to
herself almost the whole woollen trade of the world; and thus, having no
rivals, could sell at what price she pleased, and in a short time
acquire the most incredible degree of wealth by the most advantageous
balance of trade. This doctrine, like most other doctrines which are
confidently asserted by any considerable number of people, was, and
still continues to be, most implicitly believed by a much greater
number; by almost all those who are either unacquainted with the woollen
trade, or who have not made particular enquiries. It is, however, so
perfectly false, that English wool is in any respect necessary for the
making of fine cloth, that it is altogether unfit for it. Fine cloth is
made altogether of Spanish wool. English wool cannot be even so mixed
with Spanish wool as to enter into the composition without spoiling and
degrading, in some degree, the fabric of the cloth.
These regulations have depressed the price of wool, as was desired,It has been shown in the foregoing part of this work,
that the effect of these regulations has been to depress the price of
English wool, not only below what it naturally would be in the present
times, but very much below what it actually was in the time of Edward
III. The price of Scots wool, when in consequence of the union it became
subject to the same regulations, is said to have fallen about one half.
It is observed by the very accurate and intelligent author of the
Memoirs of Wool, the Reverend Mr. John Smith, that the price of the best
English wool in England is generally below what wool of a very inferior
quality commonly sells for in the market of Amsterdam.
To depress the price of this commodity below what may be called its
natural and proper price, was the avowed purpose of those regulations;
and there seems to be no doubt of their having produced the effect that
was expected from them.
but this has not much reduced the quantity of wool grown,This
reduction of price, it may perhaps be thought, by discouraging the
growing of wool, must have reduced very much the annual produce of that
commodity, though not below what it formerly was, yet below what, in the
present state of things, it probably would have been, had it, in
consequence of an open and free market, been allowed to rise to the
natural and proper price. I am, however, disposed to believe, that the
quantity of the annual produce cannot have been much, though it may
perhaps have been a little, affected by these regulations. The growing
of wool is not the chief purpose for which the sheep farmer employs his
industry and stock. He expects his profit, not so much from the price of
the fleece, as from that of the carcase; and the average or ordinary
price of the latter, must even, in many cases, make up to him whatever
deficiency there may be in the average or ordinary price of the former.
It has been observed in the foregoing part of this work, that “Whatever
regulations tend to sink the price, either of wool or of raw hides,
below what it naturally would be, must, in an improved and cultivated
country, have some tendency to raise the price of butchers meat. The
price both of the great and small cattle which are fed on improved and
cultivated land, must be sufficient to pay the rent which the landlord,
and the profit which the farmer has reason to expect from improved and
cultivated land. If it is not, they will soon cease to feed them.
Whatever part of this price, therefore, is not paid by the wool and the
hide, must be paid by the carcase. The less there is paid for the one,
the more must be paid for the other. In what manner this price is to be
divided upon the different parts of the beast, is indifferent to the
landlords and farmers, provided it is all paid to them. In an improved
and cultivated country, therefore, their interest as landlords and
farmers cannot be much affected by such regulations, though their
interest as consumers may, by the rise in the price of provisions.”
According to this reasoning, therefore, this degradation in the price
of wool is not likely, in an improved and cultivated country, to
occasion any diminution in the annual produce of that commodity; except
so far as, by raising the price of mutton, it may somewhat diminish the
demand for, and consequently the production of, that particular species
of butchers meat. Its effect, however, even in this way, it is probable,
is not very considerable.
But though its effect upon the quantity of the annual produce may
nor its quality,
not have been very considerable, its effect upon the quality, it may
perhaps be thought, must necessarily have been very great. The
degradation in the quality of English wool, if not below what it was in
former times, yet below what it naturally would have been in the present
state of improvement and cultivation, must have been, it may perhaps be
supposed, very nearly in proportion to the degradation of price. As the
quality depends upon the breed, upon the pasture, and upon the
management and cleanliness of the sheep, during the whole progress of
the growth of the fleece, the attention to these circumstances, it may
naturally enough be imagined, can never be greater than in proportion to
the recompence which the price of the fleece is likely to make for the
labour and expence which that attention requires. It happens, however,
that the goodness of the fleece depends, in a great measure, upon the
health, growth, and bulk of the animal; the same attention which is
necessary for the improvement of the carcase, is, in some respects,
sufficient for that of the fleece. Notwithstanding the degradation of
price, English wool is said to have been improved considerably during
the course even of the present century. The improvement might perhaps
have been greater if the price had been better; but the lowness of
price, though it may have obstructed, yet certainly it has not
altogether prevented that improvement.
so that the growers of wool have been less hurt than might have been expectedThe
violence of these regulations, therefore, seems to have affected
neither the quantity nor the quality of the annual produce of wool so
much as it might have been expected to do (though I think it probable
that it may have affected the latter a good deal more than the former);
and the interest of the growers of wool, though it must have been hurt
in some degree, seems, upon the whole, to have been much less hurt than
could well have been imagined.
Though prohibition of
exportation cannot be justified, a duty on the exportation of wool might
furnish revenue with little inconvenienceThese considerations, however, will not justify the absolute prohibition of the exportation of wool. But they will fully justify the imposition of a considerable tax upon that exportation.
To hurt in any degree the interest of any one
order of citizens, for no other purpose but to promote that of some
other, is evidently contrary to that justice and equality of treatment
which the sovereign owes to all the different orders of his subjects.
But the prohibition certainly hurts, in some degree, the interest of the
growers of wool, for no other purpose but to promote that of the
manufacturers.
Every different order of citizens is bound to
contribute to the support of the sovereign or commonwealth. A tax of
five, or even of ten shillings upon the exportation of every tod of
wool, would produce a very considerable revenue to the sovereign. It
would hurt the interest of the growers somewhat less than the
prohibition, because it would not probably lower the price of wool quite
so much. It would afford a sufficient advantage to the manufacturer,
because, though he might not buy his wool altogether so cheap as under
the prohibition, he would still buy it, at least, five or ten shillings
cheaper than any foreign manufacturer could buy it, besides saving the
freight and insurance, which the other would be obliged to pay. It is
scarce possible to devise a tax which could produce any considerable
revenue to the sovereign, and at the same time occasion so little
inconveniency to any body.
The prohibition, notwithstanding all the
penalties which guard it, does not prevent the exportation of wool. It
is exported, it is well known, in great quantities. The great difference
between the price in the home and that in the foreign market, presents
such a temptation to smuggling, that all the rigour of the law cannot
prevent it. This illegal exportation is advantageous to nobody but the
smuggler. A legal exportation subject to a tax, by affording a revenue
to the sovereign, and thereby saving the imposition of some other,
perhaps, more burdensome and inconvenient taxes, might prove
advantageous to all the different subjects of the state.
The exportation of fuller’s earth, or fuller’s clay, supposed to be
The exportation of fuller’s earth has been subjected to the same penalties as the exportation of wool
necessary for preparing and cleansing the woollen manufactures, has
been subjected to nearly the same penalties as the exportation of wool.
Even tobacco-pipe clay, though acknowledged to be different from
fuller’s clay, yet, on account of their resemblance, and because
fuller’s clay might sometimes be exported as tobacco-pipe clay, has been
laid under the same prohibitions and penalties.
By the 13th and 14th of Charles II. chap. 7. the exportation, not
The exportation of raw hides is forbidden. only of raw hides, but of tanned leather, except in the shape of boots, shoes, or slippers, was prohibited;
and the law gave a monopoly to our boot-makers and shoe-makers, not
only against our graziers, but against our tanners. By subsequent
statutes, our tanners have got themselves exempted from this monopoly,
upon paying a small tax of only one shilling on the hundred weight of
tanned leather, weighing one hundred and twelve pounds.
They have obtained likewise the drawback of two-thirds of the excise
duties imposed upon their commodity, even when exported without further
manufacture. All manufactures of leather may be exported duty free; and
the exporter is besides entitled to the drawback of the whole duties of
excise.
Our graziers still continue subject to the old monopoly. Graziers
separated from one another, and dispersed through all the different
corners of the country, cannot, without great difficulty, combine
together for the purpose either of imposing monopolies upon their
fellow-citizens, or of exempting themselves from such as may have been
imposed upon them by other people. Manufacturers of all kinds, collected together
horns, in numerous bodies in all great cities, easily can. Even the horns of cattle are prohibited to be exported; and the two insignificant trades of the horner and comb-maker enjoy, in this respect, a monopoly against the graziers.
woollen yarn and worsted, white cloths, watch cases, etc., alsoRestraints,
either by prohibitions or by taxes, upon the exportation of goods which
are partially, but not completely manufactured, are not peculiar to the
manufacture of leather. As long as any thing remains to be done, in
order to fit any commodity for immediate use and consumption, our
manufacturers think that they themselves ought to have the doing of it.
Woollen yarn and worsted are prohibited to be exported under the same
penalties as wool. Even white cloths are subject to a duty upon exportation,
and our dyers have so far obtained a monopoly against our clothiers.
Our clothiers would probably have been able to defend themselves against
it, but it happens that the greater part of our principal clothiers are
themselves likewise dyers. Watch-cases, clock-cases, and dial-plates
for clocks and watches, have been prohibited to be exported.
Our clock-makers and watch-makers are, it seems, unwilling that the
price of this sort of workmanship should be raised upon them by the
competition of foreigners.
some metals.By some old statutes of Edward III., Henry VIII., and Edward VI.,
the exportation of all metals was prohibited. Lead and tin were alone
excepted; probably on account of the great abundance of those metals; in
the exportation of which, a considerable part of the trade of the
kingdom in those days consisted. For the encouragement of the mining
trade, the 5th of William and Mary, chap. 17. exempted from this
prohibition, iron, copper, and mundic metal made from British ore. The
exportation of all sorts of copper bars, foreign as well as British, was
afterwards permitted by the 9th and 10th of William III. chap. 26.
The exportation of unmanufactured brass, of what is called gun-metal,
bell-metal, and shroff-metal, still continues to be prohibited. Brass
manufactures of all sorts may be exported duty free.
The exportation of the materials of manufacture, where it is not
On various other materials of manufacture considerable export duties are imposed. altogether prohibited, is in many cases subjected to considerable duties.
By the 8th George I. chap. 15., the
exportation of all goods, the produce or manufacture of Great Britain,
upon which any duties had been imposed by former statutes, was rendered
duty free. The following goods, however, were excepted: Allum, lead,
lead ore, tin, tanned leather, copperas, coals, wool cards, white
woollen cloths, lapis calaminaris, skins of all sorts, glue, coney hair
or wool, hares wool, hair of all sorts, horses, and litharge of lead. If
you except horses, all these are either materials of manufacture, or
incomplete manufactures (which may be considered as materials for still
further manufacture), or instruments of trade. This statute leaves them
subject to all the old duties which had ever been imposed upon them, the
old subsidy and one per cent. outwards.
By the same statute a great number of foreign
drugs for dyers use, are exempted from all duties upon importation.
Each of them, however, is afterwards subjected to a certain duty, not
indeed a very heavy one, upon exportation.
Our dyers, it seems, while they thought it for their interest to
encourage the importation of those drugs, by an exemption from all
duties, thought it likewise for their interest to throw some small
discouragement upon their exportation. The avidity, however, which
suggested this notable piece of mercantile ingenuity, most probably
disappointed itself of its object. It necessarily taught the importers
to be more careful than they might otherwise have been, that their
importation should not exceed what was necessary for the supply of the
home market. The home market was at all times likely to be more scantily
supplied; the commodities were at all times likely to be somewhat
dearer there than they would have been, had the exportation been
rendered as free as the importation.
By the above-mentioned statute, gum senega, or gum arabic, being
Gum senega has a peculiar history and is subject to a large export duty,
among the enumerated dying drugs, might be imported duty free. They
were subjected, indeed, to a small poundage duty, amounting only to
three pence in the hundred weight upon their re-exportation. France
enjoyed, at that time, an exclusive trade to the country most productive
of those drugs, that which lies in the neighbourhood of the Senegal;
and the British market could not be easily supplied by the immediate
importation of them from the place of growth. By the 25th Geo. II.
therefore, gum senega was allowed to be imported (contrary to the
general dispositions of the act of navigation), from any part of Europe.
As the law, however, did not mean to encourage this species of trade,
so contrary to the general principles of the mercantile policy of
England, it imposed a duty of ten shillings the hundred weight upon such
importation, and no part of this duty was to be afterwards drawn back
upon its exportation. The successful war which began in 1755 gave Great
Britain the same exclusive trade to those countries which France had
enjoyed before.
Our manufacturers, as soon as the peace was made, endeavoured to avail
themselves of this advantage, and to establish a monopoly in their own
favour, both against the growers, and against the importers of this
commodity. By the 5th Geo. III. therefore, chap. 37. the exportation of
gum senega from his majesty’s dominions in Africa was confined to Great
Britain, and was subjected to all the same restrictions, regulations,
forfeitures and penalties, as that of the enumerated commodities of the
British colonies in America and the West Indies. Its importation,
indeed, was subjected to a small duty of six-pence the hundred weight,
but its re-exportation was subjected to the enormous duty of one pound
ten shillings the hundred weight. It was the intention of our
manufacturers that the whole produce of those countries should be
imported into Great Britain, and in order that they themselves might be
enabled to buy it at their own price, that no part of it should be
exported again, but at such an expence as would sufficiently discourage
that exportation. Their avidity, however, upon this, as well as upon
many other occasions, disappointed itself of its object. This enormous
duty presented such a temptation to smuggling, that great quantities of
this commodity were clandestinely exported, probably to all the
manufacturing countries of Europe, but particularly to Holland, not only
from Great Britain but from Africa. Upon this account, by the 14 Geo. III. chap. 10. this duty upon exportation was reduced to five shillings the hundred weight.
beaver skins exported are charged seven pence,In
the book of rates, according to which the old subsidy was levied,
beaver skins were estimated at six shillings and eight-pence a-piece,
and the different subsidies and imposts, which before the year 1722 had
been laid upon their importation, amounted to one-fifth part of the
rate, or to sixteen-pence upon each skin; all of which, except half the old subsidy, amounting only to two-pence, was drawn back upon exportation.
This duty upon the importation of so important a material of
manufacture had been thought too high, and, in the year 1722, the rate
was reduced to two shillings and six-pence, which reduced the duty upon
importation to six-pence, and of this only one half was to be drawn back
upon exportation.
The same successful war put the country most productive of beaver under
the dominion of Great Britain, and beaver skins being among the
enumerated commodities, their exportation from America was consequently
confined to the market of Great Britain. Our manufacturers soon bethought themselves of the advantage which they might make of this circumstance, and in the year 1764,
the duty upon the importation of beaverskin was reduced to one penny,
but the duty upon exportation was raised to seven-pence each skin,
without any drawback of the duty upon importation. By the same law, a
duty of eighteen pence the pound was imposed upon the exportation of
beaver-wool or wombs, without making any alteration in the duty upon the
importation of that commodity, which when imported by British and in
British shipping, amounted at that time to between four-pence and
five-pence the piece.
Coals may be considered both as a material of manufacture and as
and coals five shillings a ton.
an instrument of trade. Heavy duties, accordingly, have been imposed
upon their exportation, amounting at present (1783) to more than five
shillings the ton, or to more than fifteen shillings the chaldron,
Newcastle measure; which is in most cases more than the original value
of the commodity at the coal pit, or even at the shipping port for
exportation.
The exportation, however, of the instruments of trade, properly so
The exportation of the instruments of trade is commonly prohibited
called, is commonly restrained, not by high duties, but by absolute
prohibitions. Thus by the 7th and 8th of William III. chap. 20. sect. 8.
the exportation of frames or engines for knitting gloves or stockings
is prohibited under the penalty, not only of the forfeiture of such
frames or engines, so exported, or attempted to be exported, but of
forty pounds, one half to the king, the other to the person who shall
inform or sue for the same. In the same manner by the 14th Geo. III.
chap. 71. the exportation to foreign parts, of any utensils made use of
in the cotton, linen, woollen and silk manufactures, is prohibited under
the penalty, not only of the forfeiture of such utensils, but of two
hundred pounds, to be paid by the person who shall offend in this
manner, and likewise of two hundred pounds to be paid by the master of
the ship who shall knowingly suffer such utensils to be loaded on board
his ship.
Similarly it is a grave offence to entice an artificer abroad,When
such heavy penalties were imposed upon the exportation of the dead
instruments of trade, it could not well be expected that the living
instrument, the artificer, should be allowed to go free. Accordingly, by
the 5 Geo. I. chap. 27. the person who shall be convicted of enticing
any artificer of, or in any of the manufactures of Great Britain, to go
into any foreign parts, in order to practise or teach his trade, is
liable for the first offence to be fined in any sum not exceeding one
hundred pounds, and to three months imprisonment, and until the fine
shall be paid; and for the second offence, to be fined in any sum at the
discretion of the court, and to imprisonment for twelve months, and
until the fine shall be paid. By the 23 Geo. II. chap. 13. this penalty
is increased for the first offence to five hundred pounds for every
artificer so enticed, and to twelve months imprisonment, and until the
fine shall be paid; and for the second offence, to one thousand pounds,
and to two years imprisonment, and until the fine shall be paid.
By the former of those two statutes, upon
proof that any person has been enticing any artificer, or that any
artificer has promised or contracted to go into foreign parts for the
purposes aforesaid, such artificer may be obliged to give security at
the discretion of the court, that he shall not go beyond the seas, and
may be committed to prison until he give such security.
and the artificer who exercises or teaches his trade abroad may be ordered to return.If
any artificer has gone beyond the seas, and is exercising or teaching
his trade in any foreign country, upon warning being given to him by any
of his majesty’s ministers or consuls abroad, or by one of his
majesty’s secretaries of state for the time being, if he does not,
within six months after such warning, return into this realm, and from
thenceforth abide and inhabit continually within the same, he is from
thenceforth declared incapable of taking any legacy devised to him
within this kingdom, or of being executor or administrator to any
person, or of taking any lands within this kingdom by descent, devise,
or purchase. He likewise forfeits to the king, all his lands, goods and
chattels, is declared an alien in every respect, and is put out of the
king’s protection.
It is unnecessary, I imagine, to observe, how
contrary such regulations are to the boasted liberty of the subject, of
which we affect to be so very jealous; but which, in this case, is so
plainly sacrificed to the futile interests of our merchants and
manufacturers.
The laudable motive of all these regulations, is to extend our own
The object is to depress the manufactures of our neighbours.
manufactures, not by their own improvement, but by the depression of
those of all our neighbours, and by putting an end, as much as possible,
to the troublesome competition of such odious and disagreeable rivals.
Our master manufacturers think it reasonable, that they themselves
should have the monopoly of the ingenuity of all their countrymen.
Though by restraining, in some trades, the number of apprentices which
can be employed at one time, and by imposing the necessity of a long
apprenticeship in all trades, they endeavour, all of them, to confine
the knowledge of their respective employments to as small a number as
possible; they are unwilling, however, that any part of this small
number should go abroad to instruct foreigners.
Consumption is the sole end and purpose of all production; and the
The mercantile system absurdly considers production and not consumption to be the end of industry and commerce.
interest of the producer ought to be attended to, only so far as it may
be necessary for promoting that of the consumer. The maxim is so
perfectly self-evident, that it would be absurd to attempt to prove it.
But in the mercantile system, the interest of the consumer is almost
constantly sacrificed to that of the producer; and it seems to consider
production, and not consumption, as the ultimate end and object of all
industry and commerce.
In the restraints upon the importation of all foreign commodities
Restraints on importation of competing commodities sacrifice the interest of the consumer to the producer,
which can come into competition with those of our own growth, or
manufacture, the interest of the home-consumer is evidently sacrificed
to that of the producer. It is altogether for the benefit of the latter,
that the former is obliged to pay that enhancement of price which this
monopoly almost always occasions.
It is altogether for the benefit of the producer that bounties are
and so do bounties on exportation,
granted upon the exportation of some of his productions. The
home-consumer is obliged to pay, first, the tax which is necessary for
paying the bounty, and secondly, the still greater tax which necessarily
arises from the enhancement of the price of the commodity in the home
market.
By the famous treaty of commerce with Portugal, the consumer is
and the provisions of the Methuen treaty,
prevented by high duties from purchasing of a neighbouring country, a
commodity which our own climate does not produce, but is obliged to
purchase it of a distant country, though it is acknowledged, that the
commodity of the distant country is of a worse quality than that of the
near one. The home-consumer is obliged to submit to this inconveniency,
in order that the producer may import into the distant country some of
his productions upon more advantageous terms than he would otherwise
have been allowed to do. The consumer, too, is obliged to pay, whatever
enhancement in the price of those very productions, this forced
exportation may occasion in the home market.
but the most extravagant case of all is that of the management of the American and West Indian colonies.But
in the system of laws which has been established for the management of
our American and West Indian colonies, the interest of the home-consumer
has been sacrificed to that of the producer with a more extravagant
profusion than in all our other commercial regulations. A great empire
has been established for the sole purpose of raising up a nation of
customers who should be obliged to buy from the shops of our different
producers, all the goods with which these could supply them. For the
sake of that little enhancement of price which this monopoly might
afford our producers, the home-consumers have been burdened with the
whole expence of maintaining and defending that empire. For this
purpose, and for this purpose only, in the two last wars, more than two
hundred millions have been spent, and a new debt of more than a hundred
and seventy millions has been contracted over and above all that had
been expended for the same purpose in former wars. The interest of this
debt alone is not only greater than the whole extraordinary profit,
which, it ever could be pretended, was made by the monopoly of the
colony trade, but than the whole value of that trade, or than the whole
value of the goods, which at an average have been annually exported to
the colonies.
The contrivers of the whole mercantile system are the producers and especially the merchants and manufacturers.It
cannot be very difficult to determine who have been the contrivers of
this whole mercantile system; not the consumers, we may believe, whose
interest has been entirely neglected; but the producers, whose interest
has been so carefully attended to; and among this latter class our
merchants and manufacturers have been by far the principal architects.
In the mercantile regulations, which have been taken notice of in this
chapter, the interest of our manufacturers has been most peculiarly
attended to; and the interest, not so much of the consumers, as that of
some other sets of producers, has been sacrificed to it.
[This chapter appears first in Additions and Corrections and ed. 3.]
[C. 4.]
[C. 14.]
[3 Car. I., c. 4; 13 and 14 Car. II., c. 19.]
[From Ireland, 12 Geo. II., c. 21; 26 Geo. II., c. 8. Spanish wool for clothing and Spanish felt wool.—Saxby, British Customs, p. 263.]
[6 Geo. III., c. 52, § 20.]
[4 Geo. II., c. 27.]
[8 Geo. I., c. 15, § 10; see below, p. 155.]
[9 Geo. III., c. 39, § 1, continued by 14 Geo. III., c. 86, § 11, and 21 Geo. III., c. 29, § 3.]
[15 Geo. III., c. 31, § 10.]
[Above, p. 82.]
[Smith has here inadvertently given the rates at which the articles
were valued in the ‘Book of Rates,’ 12 Car. II., c. 4, instead of the
duties, which would be 20 per cent. on the rates. See below, pp. 363,
364.]
[Above, vol. i., p. 437.]
[10 Geo. III., c. 38, and 19 Geo. III., c. 27.]
[3 and 4 Ann, c. 10.—Anderson, Commerce,ad 1703.]
[Masting-timber (and also tar, pitch and rosin), under 12 Ann, st. 1,
c. 9, and masting-timber only under 2 Geo. II., c. 35, § 12. The
encouragement of the growth of hemp in Scotland is mentioned in the
preamble of 8 Geo. I., c. 12, and is presumably to be read into the
enacting portion.]
[8 Geo. I., c. 12; 2 Geo. II., c. 35, §§ 3, 11.]
[3 Geo. III., c. 25.]
[Additions and Corrections omits ‘that’.]
[The third bounty.]
[William Hawkins, Treatise of the Pleas of the Crown, 4th ed., 1762, bk. i., chap. 52.]
[So far from doing so, it expressly provides that any greater penalties already prescribed shall remain in force.]
[12 Car. II., c. 32.]
[4 Geo. I., c. 11, § 6.]
[Presumably the reference is to 10 and 11 W. III., c. 10, § 18, but
this applies to the commander of a king’s ship conniving at the offence,
not to the master of the offending vessel.]
[12 Geo. II., c. 21, § 10.]
[13 and 14 Car. II., c. 18, § 9, forbade removal of wool in any part of the country between 8 p.m. and 4 a.m. from March to September, and 5 p.m. and 7 a.m.
from October to February. 7 and 8 W. III., c. 28, § 8, taking no notice
of this, enacted the provision quoted in the text. The provision of 13
and 14 Car. II., c. 18, was repealed by 20 Geo. III., c. 55, which takes
no notice of 7 and 8 W. III., c. 28.]
[All these provisions are from 7 and 8 W. III., c. 28.]
[9 and 10 W. III., c. 40.]
[The quotation is not verbatim.]
[‘It is well known that the real very superfine cloth everywhere must be entirely of Spanish wool.’—Anderson, Commerce,ad 1669.]
[Above, vol. i., pp. 230, 231.]
[Chronicon Rusticum-Commerciale; or Memoirs of Wool, etc., 1767, vol. ii., p. 418, note.]
[Above, vol. i., p. 233.]
[Additions and Corrections reads ‘the wool’.]
[12 Car. II., c. 32; 13 and 14 Car. II., c. 18.]
[13 and 14 Car. II., c. 18, § 8. The preamble to the clause alleges
that ‘great quantities of fuller’s earth or fulling clay are daily
carried and exported under the colour of tobacco-pipe clay’.]
[The preamble says that ‘notwithstanding the many good laws before this
time made and still in force, prohibiting the exportation of leather . .
. by the cunning and subtlety of some persons and the neglect of others
who ought to take care thereof; there are such quantities of leather
daily exported to foreign parts that the price of leather is grown to
those excessive rates that many artificers working leather cannot
furnish themselves with sufficient store thereof for the carrying on of
their trades, and the poor sort of people are not able to buy those
things made of leather which of necessity they must make use of’.]
[20 Car. II., c. 5; 9 Ann., c. 6, § 4.]
[9 Ann., c. 11, § 39, explained by 10 Ann., c. 26, § 6, and 12 Ann., st. 2, c. 9, § 64.]
[Above, vol. i., p. 128.]
[Except under certain conditions by 4 Ed. IV., c. 8; wholly by 7 Jac. I., c. 14, § 4.]
[Under 13 and 14 Car. II., c. 18, and 7 and 8 W. III., c. 28; above, p. 147.]
[See below, next page.]
[9 and 10 W. III., c. 28, professedly to prevent frauds.]
[The preamble to the Act next quoted in the text mentions 28 Ed. III.,
c. 5 (iron); 33 Hen. VIII., c. 7 (brass, copper, etc.), and 2 and 3 Ed.
VI., c. 37 (bell-metal, etc.).]
[This Act is not printed in the ordinary collections, but the provision referred to is in Pickering’s index, s.v. Copper, and the clause is recited in a renewing Act, 12 Ann., st. 1, c. 18.]
[Under the general Act, 8 Geo. I., c. 15, mentioned immediately below.]
[12 Car. II., c. 4, § 2, and 14 Car. II., c. 11, § 35. The 1 per cent.
was due on goods exported to ports in the Mediterranean beyond Malaga,
unless the ship had sixteen guns and other warlike equipment. See Saxby,
British Customs, pp. 48, 51.]
[Sixpence in the pound on the values at which they are rated in the Act.]
[C. 32.]
[Anderson, Commerce,ad 1758.]
[As is stated in the preamble.]
[The facts are given in the preamble to 8 Geo. I., c. 15, § 13. The old
subsidy, the new, the one-third and the two-thirds subsidies account
for 1s., and the additional impost for 4d.]
[See above, p. 2.]
8 Geo. I., c. 15. [The year should be 1721.]
[I.e. the hatters.]
[4 Geo. III., c. 9.]
[Under the same statute, 5 Geo. I., c. 27.]
[Above, p. 47.]
[This chapter appears first in Additions and Corrections and ed. 3, and
is doubtless largely due to Smith’s appointment in 1778 to the
Commissionership of Customs (Rae, Life of Adam Smith, p. 320). He had in his library W. Sims and R. Frewin, The Rates of Merchandise, 1782 (see Bonar, Catalogue, p. 27), and probably had access to earlier works, such as Saxby’s British Customs, 1757, which give the duties, etc., at earlier periods as well as references to the Acts of Parliament regulating them.]
