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<DATE>09-28-11</DATE>
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<NAME>Mona Logarbo</NAME>
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<HEAD>CONSIDERATIONS Relating to the African BILL.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Humbly Submitted to the Honourable Hou&s;e of Commons.</HEAD>
<P>THE Preamble of the Bill a&s;&s;erts Four Things:
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> That the <HI>African</HI> Trade is beneficial to this Kingdom and the Plantations.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Secondly,</HI> That Forts and Ca&s;tles are <HI>nece&s;&s;ary</HI> for &s;upport of that Trade.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Thirdly,</HI> That tho&s;e Forts and Ca&s;tles have <HI>hitherto</HI> been <HI>maintain'd</HI> by the pre&s;ent <HI>African</HI> Company.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Fourthly,</HI> That it is <HI>mo&s;t rea&s;onable</HI> all the King's Subjects trading to <HI>Africa,</HI> &s;hould <HI>contribute</HI> towards maintaining tho&s;e nece&s;&s;ary Forts and Ca&s;tles.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>This Preamble being by the Committee po&s;tpon'd; the Fir&s;t Clau&s;e of the Bill comes to be con&s;ider'd.&mdash;And by this Clau&s;e,</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, It is enacted, That the Royal <HI>African</HI> Company &s;hall maintain the Forts and Ca&s;tles they now have, or hereafter &s;hall purcha&s;e or erect for the general Benefit of that Trade. And by the</P>
<P>Second Clau&s;e, It is farther enacted, That all his Maje&s;ty's Subjects tra|ding to <HI>Africa,</HI> &s;hall pay the Company <GAP DESC="blank" EXTENT="1 span"> <HI>per Cent.</HI> towards &s;upport of that nece&s;&s;ary Charge, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Object.</HI> It hath been objected out of the Hou&s;e (and it's probable in the Committee may be &s;aid), That this Clau&s;e by a &s;ide-wind doth confirm the Company's Charter, wherein are &s;everal Privileges granted (&s;aid to be) again&s;t Law.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> With &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion, this Clau&s;e can only confirm the <HI>Incorporation-Part</HI> of the Charter, which con&s;titutes them a Company: And though &s;ome other parts of that Charter may not be ju&s;tifiable, yet I pre&s;ume &s;carce any Lawyer will &s;ay that the King could not make them a Company.&mdash;But a Provi&s;o at the la&s;t may &s;alve that Objection, if it hath any force: For there|in it may be provided, That nothing in this Bill &s;hall be con&s;trued to confirm any part of that Charter which is again&s;t Law; but as to tho&s;e they &s;hall remain as tho' this Act had never been made, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>In this fir&s;t Clau&s;e it will be con&s;ider'd, Whether Forts and Ca&s;tles are nece&s;&s;ary, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>In the Opinion of a former Se&s;&s;ions, Forts and Ca&s;tles were thought ne|ce&s;&s;ary; and that they are in Fact &s;o, appears upon &s;everal Accounts.</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> Becau&s;e tho&s;e Parts are divided into &s;everal Petty-Kingdoms, gene|rally at War among&s;t them&s;elves, and with whom no &s;ecurity can be had, but what Force maintains: And &s;hould we not have Forts and Ca&s;tles to defend our Effects that lye there for a Market, and &s;uch as we buy, and lye ready for our Ships, they would be &s;eized by the very Natives them&s;elves, or by &s;ome <HI>Europeans</HI> with whom we may have War, and who have Forts and Ca&s;tles upon tho&s;e Coa&s;ts.</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> They are nece&s;&s;ary for the Defence of tho&s;e Kings that are our Allies there, whom from time to time we &s;upply with all things nece&s;&s;ary for
<PB REF="2">their Wars, and &s;o pre&s;erve them from their Enemies, and &s;ecure them our Friends.&mdash;And it is ob&s;ervable, that all Nations, trading to tho&s;e Parts, do maintain Forts and Ca&s;tles and the <HI>African</HI> Company have been at no le&s;s than 450000 <HI>l.</HI> in the Purcha&s;e and Defence of tho&s;e Forts and Ca&s;tles, and other <HI>Europeans</HI> at a proportional Charge in theirs: Now nothing le&s;s than Di&s;traction mu&s;t po&s;&s;e&s;s us and our Neighbours, to be at &s;uch va&s;t Expence to maintain what was not nece&s;&s;ary to be done.</P>
<P>If Forts and Ca&s;tles are nece&s;&s;ary, then the next thing that &s;eems to be con|&s;idered, is, Whether a Regulated Company with a Joynt Stock (as the <HI>Afri|can</HI> Company will be, if this Bill pa&s;&s;es,) with a Liberty to all others to Trade upon as ea&s;y Terms as the Company it &s;elf, or a Regulated Company without a Joynt Stock, will carry on this Trade to the be&s;t Advantage of <HI>England</HI> and the Plantations.</P>
<P>That a Regulated Company with a Stock, and Liberty to all others to Trade upon equal Charge, will be&s;t &s;ecure and carry on the Trade, &s;eems plain for &s;everal Rea&s;ons.</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> The Company being oblig'd to employ their Stock in Trade will be con&s;equently bound in War as well as Peace, to maintain tho&s;e Forts and Ca|&s;tles for &s;ecurity of their Effects&mdash;whereas in time of War a Company without a Stock might decline their Trade, and &s;o tho&s;e Forts and Ca&s;tles would become a Prey, either to the Natives them&s;elves, or (which is mo&s;t probable) to our Enemies, who now have, and will &s;till maintain their Forts and Ca&s;tles; and then the Trade, with our Forts and Ca&s;tles, will be either lo&s;t to us, or carried on as Tributaries to tho&s;e <HI>Europeans</HI> into who&s;e hands tho&s;e Defen&s;es &s;hall fall&mdash;This mo&s;t plainly appears by that in&s;tance be|tween the <HI>Dutch</HI> and <HI>Portegue&s;e</HI>&mdash;for when <HI>Portugal</HI> had tho&s;e Forts and Ca&s;tles there the <HI>Dutch</HI> now have, <HI>Holland</HI> paid the other Tribute for Liberty to Trade: but as &s;oon as the <HI>Dutch</HI> became Ma&s;ters of the Forts and Ca&s;tles, the Tables were turn'd, and <HI>Portugal</HI> paid that Tribute to the <HI>Dutch,</HI> which they before receiv'd from them.&mdash;</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Secondly,</HI> The Plantations will be certainly &s;erv'd with Negroes in War as well as Peace, and can't be impo&s;ed upon in Price, whil&s;t them&s;elves as well as others may fetch them if they &s;hall think it proper to Trade.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Thirdly,</HI> Gentlemen, Widows, Orphans, or others, not bred to Trade, may in this Stock employ their Monies, both to their own and Nations advan|tage, whereas in a Company without a Stock this can t be done.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Fourthly,</HI> The <HI>African</HI> Company by this Bill may be obliged to make Entries of all their Exports, and to keep a true account of all their Charge in relation to tho&s;e <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">orts and Ca&s;tles, and allow incidents nece&s;&s;ary for the general &s;up|port of this Trade, and as often as &s;hall be thought nece&s;&s;ary to give this Ac|count upon Oath; &s;o that if too high a Duty be impos'd, in the next Se&s;&s;ions it may be le&s;&s;ened, or if too little, then rais'd in a due proportion, &s;o that the Company may lo&s;e if le&s;s than is nece&s;&s;ary be laid, but they can be no Gainers whil&s;t they are thus accountable and &s;ubject to the Regulations of the very next Se&s;&s;ions of Parliament, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Other Rea&s;ons may be given, but I do humbly conceive the&s;e &s;ufficient.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P><HI>Obj.</HI> Whereas it is objected by &s;ome, That a Joynt-Stock is prejudicial to Trade, and therefore this Company with a Joynt-Stock de&s;erves no Encou|ragement.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> There is nothing can be &s;aid again&s;t a Joynt-Stock in a Regulated Company, with a liberty to all others to Trade upon equal Terms with the Company (as this will be, if the Bill pa&s;s) but what holds as &s;trong again&s;t a large Copartner&s;hip: And it's rea&s;onably believ'd, that &s;ome of the chief Merchants that now oppo&s;e this Bill, would (in ca&s;e this Bill be rejected) en|ter in that Copartner&s;hip, and then will endeavour to impo&s;e that <HI>Egyptian</HI> Bondage (upon Trade) which they pretend to fear from the Company upon pa&s;&s;ing this Bill: And there would be &s;ome danger from &s;uch a Copartner|&s;hip,
<PB N="3" REF="2">but there can be none from the Company under this Bill: For &s;hould the Company after this Bill, oppre&s;s their Fellow-Subjects (then in Con&s;cience as well as Law entitled to an equal liberty in the Trade,) they would de&s;er|vedly incur the ju&s;t Indignation of the next Parliament, who would not only deprive them of any Power to repeat the &s;ame, but in probability, of their very Being, and di&s;&s;olve their Charter: So that nothing le&s;s than Self-pre&s;er|vation (the greate&s;t Obligation po&s;&s;ible) binds them to a civil Treatment to|wards their Fellow Subjects. As for the former Carriage of the Company, whil&s;t they thought the Powers of their Charter Legal, that can't rea&s;ona|bly be fear'd under this Bill, when they know that others as well as them&s;elves, are legally entitled to that Trade. But a large Copartner&s;hip will receive no &s;uch Prejudice from being di&s;&s;olv'd, as a Di&s;&s;olution would prove to the Com|pany: And therefore though the Trade may be damnified by &s;uch a Copart|ner&s;hip, there can be no danger from the Company, for the Rea&s;on before|mentioned.</P>
<P>As for the <HI>Cambia</HI> Trade, which by the Bill is propo&s;ed to be &s;ecured to the Company; if this Honourable Hou&s;e &s;hall think fit to open that to all others, it's hoped &s;uch a &s;eparate Duty &s;hall be laid, as may be proportionable to the Charge of the Building the Forts and Ca&s;tles, and the Annual &s;upport of the Trade&mdash;The Fort will co&s;t the Company 20000<HI>l.</HI> and the Annual Ex|pence not le&s;s than 6000 <HI>l.</HI> and the Trade thither was never for above 10000 <HI>l. per Annum</HI></P>
<P>Ever &s;ince the Parliament Voted that it was the undoubted Right of all the Subjects of <HI>England</HI> to Trade to Foreign Parts&mdash;none of tho&s;e Free Tra|ders have ever brought to the Parliament a Bill to &s;ettle this Trade, but &s;till op|po&s;ed what was offered by the Company for &s;ettling the &s;ame.</P>
<P>The rea&s;on whereof is plain, becau&s;e tho&s;e Free Traders (as they truly call them&s;elves, having never contributed to what was nece&s;&s;ary for the gene|ral &s;upport of the Trade) had ju&s;t cau&s;e to believe that under &s;uch a Regula|tion, what&s;oever it &s;hould be, they mu&s;t Pay towards what by the Parlia|ment &s;hould be thought nece&s;&s;ary for the general Intere&s;t of that Trade&mdash;whereas if they could continue that heavy load upon the <HI>African</HI> Company only by oppo&s;ing this Bill, they &s;hould then enjoy their Trade without that Expence &mdash; So that the&s;e Free Traders have for about Nine years la&s;t pa&s;t &s;ince they have had a Liberty to Trade, continued no le&s;s burthen upon the Company than 25000 <HI>l. per Ann. communibus Annis,</HI> during this War, but would never touch this weight with one of their Fingers, though them&s;elves received great Profit thereby, and be equally protected in their Factories and Effects, with what belongs to the Company it &s;elf.</P>
<P><HI>But it's now humbly hoped, this Honourable hou&s;e will put tho&s;e Free Traders and the Company, for the future, upon a ju&s;t Ballance, by giving counte|nance to this Bill, which (with all &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion) can give no advantage to the Company above other Traders, whil&s;t their own Effects will be liable to the &s;ame charge with other Mens&mdash;And a general good ought to be &s;upported by all that have benefit thereby,</HI> (viz.) <HI>Tho&s;e Forts and Ca&s;tles, &s;o nece&s;&s;ary for the common Advantage of this Trade, the &s;upport whereof hath lain too heavy upon the pre&s;ent Company, who do therefore by this Bill humbly apply them&s;elves to this Honourable Hou&s;e for their Relief in the Premi&s;es</HI></P>
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<P>CONSIDERATIONS Relating to the AFRICAN BILL.</P>
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