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cannot find at home; and the home manufactures were not benefited. But the confequences were ftill more fevere. Foreign manufactures were formerly purchafed with their copper, iron, timber, pitch, tar, &c. but now, as foreigners cannot procure thefe commodities but with ready money, they refort to Ruffia and! Norway, where commodities of the fame kind are procured by barter. The Swedish government, perceiving their error, permit feveral foreign manufactures to be imported as formerly. But it is now too late; for the trade flows into another channel; and at prefent, the Swedish copper and iron works are far from flourishing as they once did. In the year 1768, an ordinance was iffued by the court of Spain, prohibiting printed or painted linen and cotton to be imported; intended for encouraging a manufacture of printed cottons, projected in Catalonia and Aragon. The Spanish ministry: have all along been fingularly unlucky in their commercial regulations. It is eafy to forefee, that fuch a prohibition will have no effect, but to raise the price on the fubjects of Spain; for the prohibited goods will be fmuggled, difcouraging as much as ever the intended manufacture. The prudent measure would have been, to lay a duty upon printed cottons and linens imported, fo fmall as not to encourage fmuggling; and to apply that duty for nurfing the infant manufacture. A foreign manufacture ought never to be totally prohi bited, till that at home be in fuch plenty, as nearly to fupply the wants of the natives. During ignorance of political principles, a new manufacture was commonly encouraged, with an exclufive privilege for a certain number of years. Thus in Scotland, an exclufive privilege of exporting woollen and linen manufactures, was given to fome private focieties (c). a monopoly is ruinous to a nation; and frequently to the manufacture itfelf (d). I know no monopoly that in found politics can be juftified, except that given to authors of books for fourteen years, by an a&t of Queen L 3 Anne.

(e) At 42. parl. 1661.

(d) See Elements du Commerce, tom. 1. p. 334.

Such

Book II. Anne. Exemption from duty, premiums to the beft workmen, a bounty on exportation, joined with a duty on goods of the fame kind imported, and at laft a total prohibition, are the proper encourage. ments to a new manufacture.

The importation of raw materials ought to be encouraged in every manufacturing country, permitting only a moderate duty for encouraging our own rude materials of the fame kind. By a French edict 1654,

for

That act is judiciously contrived, not only for the benefit of authors, but for that of learning in general. It encourages men of genius to write, and multiplies books both of inftruction and amufement; which, by concurrence of many editors after the monopoly is at an end, are fold at the cheapest rate. Many well-difpofed perfons complain, that the exclufive privilege bestowed by the ftatute upon authors is too short, and that it ought to be perpetual. Nay, it is afferted, that authors have a perpetual privilege by common law; and it was determined lately in the court of king's-bench, that by the common law of England the privilege is perpetual. Nothing more frequently happens, than by grafping at the fhadow, to lofe the fubftance; for I have no difficulty to maintain, that a perpetual monopoly of books would prove more deftructive to learning, and even to authors, than a fecond irruption of Goths and Vandals. It is the nature of monopoly to raise the price of commodities; and by a perpetual monopoly in the commerce of books, the price of good books would be raised far beyond the reach of moft readers: they would be fold like pictures of the great mafters. The works of Shakespeare, for example, or of Milton, would be feen in very few libraries. In short, the fale of good books would be confined to a few learned men, fuch as have money to fpare, and to a few rich men, who buy out of vanity, as they buy a diamond or a fine coat. Fashions at the fame time are variable; and books, even the most fplendid, would wear out of fashion with men of opulence, and be defpifed as antiquated furniture. And with respect to men of tafte, their number is fo fmall as not to afford encouragement even for the moft frugal edition. Thus bookfellers, by grafping too much, would put an end to their trade altogether; and men of genius would not write, when no price could be afforded for their works. At the fame time, our prefent authors and bookfellers would not be much benefited by such a monopoly. Not many books have fo long a run as fourteen years; and the fuccefs of a book on the first publication is fo uncertain, that a bookfeller will give little more for a perpetuity, than for the temporary privilege of the ftatute. This was foreseen by the legislature, and the privilege was wifely confined to fourteen years, equally beneficial to the public and to authors.

for encouraging fhip-building, fhip-timber imported pays no duty. But perhaps a moderate duty would have been better policy, in order to encourage fuch timber of the growth of France. Deal timber accord. ingly, and other timber, imported into Britain from any part of Europe, Ireland excepted, pays a moderate duty. And oak-bark imported pays a duty, which is an encouragement to propagate oak at home. The importation of lean cattle from Ireland, which in effect are raw materials, is, by a ftatute of Charles II. declared a public nuifance. What grofs ignorance! Is it not evident, that to feed cattle, is more profitable than to breed them? The chief promoter of that notable ftatute, was Sir John Knight, infamous for an infolent fpeech in King William's reign against naturalizing foreign Proteftants, and propofing to kick out of the kingdom thofe already fettled. Experience hath proved the benefit of importing lean cattle into England; witness the vast quantities imported yearly from Scotland. Diamonds, pearls, and jewels of every kind, paid formerly upon importation a duty of ten per cent. ad valorem; which by act 60 George II. cap. 7. was taken off, upon the following preamble: "That London is now become a great mart for diamonds and other precious ftones, from whence moft foreign countries are fupplied; "that great numbers of rough diamonds are fent here "to be cut and polished; and that a free importation "would encrease the trade."

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Sorry am I to obferve, that several of our duties on importation, are far from being conformable to the foregoing rule; many raw materials neceffary for our manufactures being loaded with a duty on importation, and fome with a heavy duty. Barilla, for example, is a raw material ufed in the glafs-manufacture the exportation from Spain is loaded with a very high duty and to raise the price ftill higher, we add another duty on importation; without having the pretext of encouraging a raw material of our own growth; for barilla grows not in this island. Hair is a raw material employed in feveral manufactures; and yet every kind of it, human hair, horse hair,

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hair, goat's hair, &c. pays a duty on importation; which confequently raises the price of our own hair, as well as of what is imported. Nor has this duty, more than the former, the pretext of being an encouragement to our own product; for furely there will not on that account be reared one child more, or foal, or kid. The fame objection lies against the duty on foreign kelp, which is very high. Rancid oil of olives, fit for foap and woollen manufactures, pays upon importation a high duty: were it free of duty, we should be able to ferve ourselves with Caftile foap of home manufacture; and likewife our colonies, which are partly fupplied by the French. Each of the following raw materials ought in found policy to be free of duty on importation; and yet they are loaded with a duty, fome with a high duty; pot-afhes, elephants teeth, raw filk from the East Indies, lamp black, briftles dressed or undress‹ d, horns of beeves. Undreffed fkins, tho' a rude material, pay a duty on importation; and French kidfkins are honoured above others with a high duty: to reject a great benefit to ourselves rather than afford a fmall benefit to a rival nation, favours more of peevishnefs than of prudence.

For encouraging our colonies, coffee is permitted to be imported from the plantations free of duty, while other coffee pays fix-pence per pound. The heavy duty on whale bone and whale-oil imported, which was laid on for encouraging our own whalefishing, is taken off with refpect to the importation from our American colonies (e). This may put an end to our own whale-fifhery: but it will enable the Americans to cope with the Dutch; and who knows whether they may not at last prevail? For encouraging the culture of hemp and flax in America, there is a bounty given upon what is imported into Britain. One would imagine, that our legiflature intended to enable the colonies to rival us in a staple manufac ture, contrary to the fundamental principles of colonization. But we did not fee fo far: we only forefaw a benefit to Britain, in being fupplied with hemp

(e) 4 George III. cap. 29.

and

and flax from our colonies, rather than from Ruffia.. and the Low Countries. But even abstracting from rivalship, was it not obvious, that a bounty for encouraging the culture of hemp and flax at home, would be more fuccefsful, than for encouraging the culture in America, where the price of labour is exceffively high, not to talk of the freight*?

The encouragement given to foreign linen-yarn, by taking off the duty on importation, is a measure that greatly concerns Britain; and how far falutary fhall be triatly examined, after ftating fome preliminary obfervations. The first is, That as the price of our own commodities can never rife above that of fo. reign commodities fold here, the price of imported linen must regulate the price of home made linen. The next is, That though the duty on importation is paid by the merchant at the first inftance, he relieves himself of it, by raising the price on the purchaser; which

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*Between the mother-country and her colonies the following rule ought to be facred: That with refpect to commodities wanted, each of them should prefer the other before all other nations.. Britain fhould take from her colonies whatever they can furnish for her ufe; and they fhould take from Britain whatever the can furnish for their ufe. In a word, every thing regarding commerce ought to be reciprocal, and equal between them. To bar a colony from access to the fountain-head for commodities that cannot be furnished by the mother-country but at fecond-hand, is oppreffion; it is fo far degrading the colonists from being free fubjects to be flaves. What right, for example, has Britain to prohibit her colonies from purchasing tea or porcelane at Canton, if they can procure it cheaper there than in London? No connection between two nations can be fo intimate, as to make fuch reftraint an act of justice. Our legiflature however have acted like a step-mother to her American colonies, by prohibiting them to have any commerce but with Britain only. They muft land firft in Britain all their commodities, even what are not intended to be fold there; and they must take from Britain, not only its own product, but every foreign commodity that is wanted. This regulation is not only unjuft but impolitic; as by it the intereft of the colonies in general is facrificed to that of a few London merchants. Our legiflature have at last fo far opened their eyes, as to give a partial relief. Some articles are permitted to be carried directly to the place of deftination, without being first entered in Britain, wheat for example, rice, &c..