Читать книгу An Essay on the State of England. In Relation to Its Trade, Its Poor, and Its Taxes, for Carrying on the Present War Against France онлайн

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I am of opinion that the Trade of this Kingdom might be secured with no greater Expence to the Government than now 'tis at, but then better Methods must be taken, and Men employed whoseInterests it is to see them put in Execution: When we first began this War the Nation had manyDifficulties to cope with, the French seemed to vye with us at Sea, whilst their Armies outnumber'd ours at Land, but now blessed be God the Scale is turned, we force their Garrisonsand storm their Castles whilst they look on unable to relieve, and at the same time ourNavy-Royal blocks up theirs, whilst our smaller Fleets Bombard their Sea-Port Towns, we not onlyride Admirals in the British Seas but also in the Mediterranean, and yet do now suffer moreLoss in our Navigation than formerly we did; The French are come to a new way of fighting,they set out no Fleet, but their Privateers swarm and cover the Sea like Locusts, they hang onour Trade like Horse-Leeches, and draw from it more Blood than it is well able to spare, whilstwe still go on as we did, without new Methods to countermine them; The French King breedsup a Nursery of Seamen at our Charge, whilst his Subjects are made Rich by our Losses; theAct for Cruisers was well design'd had it been as well put in Execution, the Parliament therebyshewed what might secure our Trade, but left things so discretionary to the Managers, that theMerchant knows not when he receives the Benefit thereof, or how to complain if he doth not,and by this means is in a worse Condition than he was before the making that Law, adventuringlarger because he thinks he Trades securer; I confess for my own part I value nothing thatcannot be reduced to a certainty in its practice, things seem difficult to those who do notunderstand them, if we are to Besiege a Town we make use of Soldiers, if to storm a Castle,Engineers, if to build a Ship, Carpenters, and so in lesser things, and yet Gentlemen are thoughtfit to sit at Helm, and steer the Ship wherein is Embarqu'd the Treasure of our Trade, who arealtogether unskill'd therein, on whose good Conduct the Nation's Weale or Woe depends; Thusthings do fall into Confusion, whilst Men undertake what they do not understand and set theNation in a flame, whilst they injudiciously guide the Chariot of the Sun; This makes ForeignCommodities dear, and advances the Prizes of Materials used in our Manufactures, so that asTrade grows worse Expences grow greater, and at the same time no Body is a Gainer, TheMerchant pays such high Fraights and Insurances, that he gets little by Trade tho' he sells hisImports for great Prizes; and yet the Insurers complain they lose by underwriting, and thereforeadvance their Premios, which is a new advance on Trade; and the Owners of Ships get nothingby their Fraights, because they pay great Wages to the Saylors, and meet with such Delays bothat home and abroad that the length of time eats up all their Profits, so that Fraights must ratherrise than fall; nor do the Saylors get, who generally brought home more Money to theirFamilies in the time of Peace at three Years end when they served for Twenty-four Shillings perMonth than they now do at Fifty, one lost Voyage bringing them more behind-hand than twogood ones put them forward; Now if Heads well verst in Trade were set at work, Methodsmight be thought on to secure all with little Charge to the Government, and hereby theKingdom might flourish, and be supplyed by the Merchant with Commodities cheaper, whilstthe Insurers underwrote for less Premio, Fraights let on lower terms, the Wages of Marinersfallen, and All got more than now they do; our Numbers of Seamen might then be increased,and every Ship that goes abroad be a Nursery for the Fleet at home; Privateering, which is nowbecome a Trade amongst the French, must then necessarily sink all concerned therein, its ownWeight and Charge would crush it did we prevent their taking Prizes; and no doubt theMerchants of England would not oppose such Regulations in their Trades as they saw were totheir Advantage, or refuse to be at some Charge when they saw those Payments saved Money intheir Pockets, and that the management of things was put into the Hands of Persons engaged inthe common Interest of Trade with themselves: This seems to me of great Importance in ourManufactures, when the foreign Materials shall be furnished cheaper to the Maker; besides ifTrade were well secured the War would scarce be felt, Losses by Sea discourage the City, andthe ill Consequences thereof reach the Country, whereby both suffer more than by all the Taxesthey pay towards carrying it on.