[PDF]General maxims in trade, particularly applied to the commerce between Great Britain and France

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Robert E. Gross
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General MAXIMS

TRADE,

Particularly applied to the

COMMERCE

BETWEEN

GREAT BRITAIN

AND

FRANCE.


LONDON:

Printed for S a m. B u c k l e y , at the Dolphin ia
Little-Britain. 17 ij. [ Price \A. ]


C5l


.■ ■■. m .■•


General MAXIMS in

TRADE, particularly ap-
plied to the COMMERCE
between Great Britain and
France.


THERE are general Maxims in Trade
\*hich are affented to by every Bo-
dy.

That a Trade may be of Benefit to the Mer-
chant and injurious to the Body of the Nation,
is one of thefe Maxims.

I ftall confine my felf to fpeak of Trade,
only as it is Nationally Good or Bad.

I rTPf HAT Trade which exports Manu*

J[ faftures made of the fole Produfr or

Growth of the Country, is undoubtedly Good ;

fuch


[-5]

fuch is the fending abroad our Torkfiire Cloth,
Cofchefter Bays Exeter Serges, Norwich Stuffs
&c. Which being made purely of Britifb
Wooll, as much as thofe Exports amount to,
fo much is the clear Gain of the Nation

II. That Trade which helps off the Con-
iumption ot our Superfluities, is a!fo vifibly
advantageous; as the exporting of Allum
Copperas, Leather, Tin, Lead, Coals, &c. So
much as the exported Superfluities amount
unto, fo much alio is the clear National Pro-
fit.

III. The importing of foreign Materials
to be manufactured at home, efpecially when
the Goods, after they are manufactured, are
moftly fent abroad, is alfo, without Difpute,
very beneficial ; as for Inftance Spamfh Wooll,
which for that Reafon is exempted from pay-
ingany Duties.

IV. The Importation of foreign Materials
to be manufactured here, although the ma-
nufactured Goods are chiefly confumed by us,
may alfo be beneficial ; efpecially when the
laid Materials are procured in Exchange for
our Commodities; as Raw-Silk, Grogram-
Yarn, and other Goods brought from Turkey.

V. Foreign Materials, wrought up here
into fuch Gcods as would otherwife be im-
ported ready manufactured, is a Means of fa-
ving Money to the Nation ; and if faving is
getting, that Trade which procures fuch Ma-
teriate ought to be look'd upon as profitable:
Such is the Importation of Hemp, Flax, and

Raw-


em

Raw-Silk ; 'tis therefore to be wondered at that
theie Commodities are not exempt from all
Duties, as well as Spam/b Wool!.

VI. A Trade may be call'd good which
exchanges Manufaftures for Manufaftures and
Commodities for Commodities. Germany wfees
as much m Value of our Woollen and other
Goods, as we do of their Linnen : By this
Means Numbers of People are imploy'd on
both Sides, to their mutual Advantage.

VII. An Importation of Commodities '
bought partly for Money and partly for gSV
nmybeo National AdvantagPe; £ Je^S
eft Part of the Commodities thus'imported a"

£Z CTried' as in the Cafe ohJ)„dU
Goods: And generally all Imports of Goods
which are re-exported, are- beneficial toa Na-

rJillh The can7ing of Goods from one fo-
reign Country to another, is a profitable Ar
tl,cle'n Trade: Our Ships are often thus fm
ploy'd between Portugal, hi ^dZ V

IX. When there is a Neeeflm, ^ •
rials for Building St0res and Matc"


But


to

But a Trade is difadvantageous to a Nation,
i. Which brings in Things of meer Lux*
uryandPleafure, which are intirely, or for the
moft Part, confumed among us ; and fuch I
reckon the Wine Trade to be, efpecialljr
when the Wine is purchafed with Money
and not in Exchange for our Commodi-

2. Much worfe is that Trade which brings
In a Commodity that is not only confumed
amongft us, but hinders the Confumption of
the like Quantity of ours : As is the Importa-
tion of Brandy, which hinders the fpending ol
our ExtraQs of Malt and Molaffes ; there-
fore very prudently charged with exceffive

? ' That Trade is imminently bad, which
fuppliesthe fame Goods as we manufaaure^our.
felves, efpecially if we can make enough tof
our Confumption : And I take this to be the
Cafe of the Silk Manufaaure ; which, with
great Labour and Induftry, is brought to Per-
laion in London, Canterbury, and other Places.

4. The Importation upon eafy Terms ot
fuch Manufaaures as are already introducd
in a Country, muft be of bad COnfequence, and
check their Progrefs ; as it would undoubtedly
be the Cafe of the Linnen and Paper Manu-
faaures in Great Britain, (which are ot WW
very much improved) if thofe Comroodit.es
werefufferedto be brought in without paying
very high Duties.

Wife


[p]

Wife Nations are fo fond of encouraging
^Manufactures in their Infancy, that they not
only burthen foreign Manufactures of the like
Kind with high Impofitions, but often total-
ly condemn and prohibit the Confumption of
them.

To bring what hath been already faid into
a narrower Compafs, it may be reduced to this,
viz.

That the Exportation of Manufactures, is
in the higheft Degree beneficial to a Nation.

That the Exportation of Superfluities, is fo
much clear Gain.

That the Importation of foreign Materials
to be manufactured by us, inftead of import*
ing manufactured Goods, is the faving a great
deal of Money.

That the exchanging Commodities for Com-
modities, is generally an Advantage.

That all Imports of Goods which are re-
exported, leave a real Benefit.

That the letting Ships to freight to other Na-
tions, is profitable.

That the Imports of Things of abfolute Ne-
ceflity, cannot be efteemed bad.

That the importing Commodities of meer
Luxury, is fo much real Lofs as they amount to.

That the Importation of fuch Goods as hin-
der the Confumption of our own, or check
the Progrefs of any of our Manufactures, is a
vifible Difa dvantage, and neceflarily tends to
the Ruin of Multitudes of People.

B Having


Having premifed thus far in Relation to
T«*ade in general, and made it evident that
there are feveral Ways of Trading advantage-
ous to a Nation, and others which are not fo.
I fhali now examine which of thefe beneficial
or hurtful Ways to us the French Trade doth
anfwer, and then draw the Ballance at the Foot
of the Account.

I. The Exportation of our Woollen Goods
to France, is fo well barr'd againft, that there is
not the Ieaft Hope of reaping any Benefit by
this Article.

The French did always out-do us in Price of
Labour : Their common People live upon
Roots, Cabbage, and other Herbage ; four of
their lareje.- Provinces fubfift intirely upon Chef-
nuts; and the beft of them eat Bread made
of Barley, Millet, Turkey and black Corn ;
fo that their Wages ufed to be fmall in Compa-
rifon with ours.

But of late Years their Crown-Pieces being
made of the fame Value as ours, and raised
from fixty to one hundred Sols ; and the Ma-
nufacturers, Servants, Soldiers, Day-Labourers,
and other working-People, earning no more
Sols or Pence by the Day than they did former-
ly, the Price of Labour is thereby fo much
leifen'd, that one may affirm for Truth, they
have generally their Work done for half the
Price we pay for ours. For although Provi-
fions be as dear at Paris as they are at Lon-
don,


Cm ]

don, 'tis certain that in moll: of their Provinces
they are very cheap ; and that they buy Beef
and Mutton for half the Price we pay for it
here.

But the Price of Meat and Wheat doth
little concern the poor Manufacturers ; as they
generally drink nothing but Water, and at beft
a fort of Liquor they call Beuverage (which
is Water pafs'd through the Husks of Grapes
after the Wine is drawn off) they fave a great
deal upon that Account : For 'tis well known
that our People fpend Half of their Money in
Drink.

The Army is a notorious Inftance how cheap
the French can live : It enables their King to
maintain jcoooo Men with the fame Money
we maintain 112500. Their Pay being five
Sols a Day (which is exaflly three Pence En-
glifh) and our Soldiers Pay is eight Pence.

However, they fubfift upon that fmall Al-
lowance ; and if there be the fame Difpropoiv
tion between our Manufacturers and theirs, as
there is betwixt our Soldiers and their Soldiers
as to Pay, 'tis plain that the Work in France
is done for little more than a third Part of what
it is done for in England : And I am confident
'tis fo in raofl: Part of their Manufactures, of
which I could give many Inftances if it were
needful ; but let thefe two following atprefent
fuffice.

At Lyons, which next to Paris is the beft
City in France^ they pay nine Sols an Ell for

B 2 making


t m 3.

making of Luftrings, which is little more than
five Pence English Money ; and the Price paid
here for making Luftrings is twelve Pence per
Ell.

In the Paper Manufacture abundance of
People are imploy'd for forting Rags in the
Mills, who earn in France but two Sols a Day*
which is lefs than five Farthings of our Mo-
ney ; and the Price paid here for fuch Work, is
four Pence a Day.

The French working thus cheap, 'tis no
Wonder if they afford their Manufactures at
lower Rates than their Neighbours.

But to leave no Room for Doubt in a Mat-
ter of fo great Importance, feveral Merchants
have brought over from France Patterns of
their Woollen Goods, with the Prices they are
fold at ; and it appears that in general they are,
Goodnefs for Goodnefs, cheaper than ours i
Their Cloth made of Spanijb Wool], which is
brought to great Perfe&ion, is fold in the
Shops for fixteen to feventeen Livres the Ell,
(which is a Yard a Quarter and an Inch) and
as a French Livre is exaflly worth one of our
Shillings, they fell the Ell there as cheap as
we fell here the Yard, which is twenty five per
Cent, difference.

And if what is ownM on all Hands be true,
tljat the French do fend great Quantities of
Woollen Goods to Italy, Spain, Portugal,, Tur-
key, the Rhine, and other Places, although they
pay a Duty upon Exportation ; 'tis a Demon-

ftratioa


ftration that they have more than is fufficient
for their own Wear, and confequently no great
Occafion for any of ours.

Objection. What need the French limit the
Importation of our Cloth, &c. to three Places,
fubjeft it to ftritt Visitations, and infift to con-
tinue a high Duty upon it, if they have enough
of their own, and can afford it cheaper than
we?

Jnfiver. By the long Interruption of Com-
merce and Correfpondence between the two
Nations, the French knew as little the Price of
our Commodities as we did the Price of theirs ;
and being extreamly jealous of their Manu-
factures, they would not give way to any the
leaft thing that could prejudice them : In fhort,
they had a Mind to be fecured againft all Events.

Have not we done the like in the felf fame
Cafe ? We out-do, in our own Thoughts, all the
World in the Woollen-Manufaftures ; but not
depending upon this fingle Advantage of work-
ing better than others, we have laid very high
Duties upon all foreign Woollen-Goods, and e-
ven prohibited them. And 'tis well we did fo I
for elfe the French would have made our Hearts
ake fince the Peace, by their great Importation
of Woollen Goods upon us.

But they are fo well apprifed of the Matter
now, and know the Advantage they have over
us in Point of Cheapnefs, that I don't doubt
they will give us Leave to import into
France not only Woollen Goods, but all o-

ther


C '4]

ther Commodities whatfoever upon very eafle
Duties, provided we permit them to import in-
to Great Britain Wines, Brandies, Silks, Lin-
nen, and Paper, upon paying the fame Duties
as others do. And when that's done, you'll
fend little more to France than now you do, and
they'll import into Great Britain ten times more
than now they can.

II. As to the other Produ&s of our Land,
I mean our Superfluities, it muft be own'd the
French have Occafion for fome of them, as Lead,
Tin, Leather, Copperas, Coals, Allum, and fe-
veral other things of fmall Value, as alfo fome
few of our Plantations Commodities : But thefe
Goods they will have whether we take any of
theirs or no, becaufe they want them ; as they
were fupplied with them during the War by
Way of Italy and Flanders, and paid us a little
more Money, for them than now they do, when
they can have them at the firft Hand in Eng-
land. All thefe Commodities together that the
French want from us, may amount to about
200000/. yearly.

III. As to Materials ; I don't know of any
one fort ufeful to us that ever was imported
from France into England. They have indeed
Hemp, Flax, and Wooll, in abundance, and
fome Raw-Silk ; but they are too wife to let
us have any, efpecially as long as they enter-
tain any Hopes we fhall be fo felf-denying, as
to take thofe Materials from them after they
are manufa&ur'd-

IV. Ex-


IV. Exchanging Commodities for Commo-
dities (if for the like Value on both Sides)
might be beneficial ; but 'tis far from being the
Cafe between us and France : Our Ships Went
conftantly in Ballaft (except now and then
fome Lead) to St. Malo, Morlaix, Nantes,
Rochelle, Bourdeaux, Bayone, ejrc. and ever came
back full of Linnen, Wines, Brandy and Pa-
per : And if it was fo before the Revolution,
when one of our Pounds Sterling coft the
French but thirteen Livres, what are they like
to take from us (except what they of Neceflity
want) now that for each Pound Sterling they
muft pay us twenty Livres, which inhances
the Price of all Britifh Commodities to the
French above fifty per Cent.

V. Goods imported to be re-exported, is cer-
tainly a National Advantage ; but few or no
French Goods a-re ever exported from Great
Britain, except to our Plantations ; but are all
confumed at Home; therefore no Benefit can
be reap'd this Way by the French Trade.

VI. Letting Ships to freight cannot be but
of fome Profit to a Nation ; but 'tis very rare
if the French ever make ufe of any other Ships
than their own : They vidtualand mann cheap-
er than we, therefore nothing is to be got
from them by this Article.

VII. Things that are of abfolute Neceflity
cannot be reckon'd prejudicial to a Nation;
but France produces nothing that is nccefla-
ry, or even convenient, or but which we had
better be without, except Claret.

viii. it


VIII. If the Importation of Commodities
of meer Luxury, to be confumed amongft us,
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