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<DATE>2014-07-28</DATE>
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<NAME>TCP Staff (Michigan)</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed as part of batch B140510.pdcc.</ITEM>
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<IDG S="marc" R="UM" ID="A87261">
<STC T="W">I169B</STC>
<STC T="C">N69653</STC>
<BIBNO T="oclc">45504479</BIBNO>
<VID>171795</VID>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB REF="1">
<HEAD><HI>INFORMATION</HI> For the Town of <HI>Edinburgh,</HI> In <HI>An&s;wer</HI> to the <HI>Repre&s;entation</HI> and <HI>An&s;wers</HI> made again&s;t their <HI>Petition</HI> for a &s;mall Impo&s;t for a few Years upon their <HI>Fle&s;h-Mercat,</HI> for making up a Stock for the better Maintaining and Imploying of their Poor in Manufactories.</HEAD>
<P>THe Town of <HI>Edinburgh</HI> and its Inhabitants have obviou&s;ly the greate&s;t Intere&s;t to be di&s;&s;atisfied with any new Impo&s;t on their Fle&s;h-Mercats, but the condition of their Poor being &s;o numerous, and in effect made up for mo&s;t part of &s;uch as come to <HI>Edinburgh</HI> as the Capital, from all Corners of the Nation, and all their Fonds &s;o clearly exhau&s;ted, as that they cannot by them&s;elves follow furth the Remedy propo&s;ed: they did (with &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion) judge, that the &s;mall Impo&s;ition craved by them on their Fle&s;h-Mercats, for a few years, in order to &s;uch a nece&s;&s;ary and general Good, &s;hould not have met with &s;o clamorous an oppo&s;ition.</P>
<P>But the fore&s;aid <HI>Repre&s;entation</HI> and <HI>An&s;wers</HI> being apparently not more in|tended to cro&s;s the Towns <HI>Petition,</HI> then to reflect upon and expo&s;e its Ad|mini&s;tration, they do the more willingly lay hold on the occa&s;ion, that the Members of the high and honourable Court of Parliament may be rightly and fully informed in this Matter.</P>
<P>It is then Objected, that the Town of <HI>Edinburghs</HI> Pretences of their nu|merous Poor is plainly taken off by the known Fonds that they have for their Maintainance, <HI>viz.</HI> their Collections ordinary and extraordinary, their Marriages, Bapti&s;ms and Burials, Fines and Unlaws of Delinquents, with the Neighbourly Contributions, which are reckoned to thirty or fourty thou&s;and <HI>Merks per annum;</HI> and therefore that their Kirk-The&s;aurers Books, with the Regi&s;ters of their Poor, ought <HI>ante omnia</HI> to be in&s;pected.</P>
<P>To which it is an&s;wered for the Town, Nothing more acceptable, &s;eing thereby it would appear how widely both the Towns Charge of their Poor, and their Fonds for defraying of the &s;ame are mi&s;taken, the Collections, Mar|riages, Bapti&s;ms, Burials, and about 3000 <HI>Merks</HI> yearly laid on the Neigh|bours, is all the true Fond the Town of <HI>Edinburgh</HI> hath for their Poor; but how far &s;hort this comes of the Towns Charge of Poor, &s;hall be in&s;tanced by the la&s;t years account, which may give light to the whole.</P>
<P>The la&s;t years account then for the Poor, was briefly thus,
<TABLE>
<ROW>
<CELL>Payed by <HI>Robert Hunter</HI> Kirk-The&s;aurer</CELL>
<CELL>33745</CELL>
<CELL>00</CELL>
<CELL>00</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>Payed by The&s;aurer <HI>Fi&s;her</HI> the &s;aid year</CELL>
<CELL>10228</CELL>
<CELL>00</CELL>
<CELL>00</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>Payed by <HI>George Law&s;on</HI> Town-The&s;aurer the &s;aid year</CELL>
<CELL>7600</CELL>
<CELL>00</CELL>
<CELL>00</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>Payed by Dean of Gild <HI>Macklurg</HI> the &s;aid year</CELL>
<CELL>2400</CELL>
<CELL>00</CELL>
<CELL>00</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL ROLE="total">In all</CELL>
<CELL>53973</CELL>
<CELL>00</CELL>
<CELL>00</CELL>
</ROW>
</TABLE> Which evidently exceeds the double of all the Fonds that is received, and whereof the Parliament or their Committee may &s;ee mo&s;t di&s;tinct &amp; &s;atisfying Accompts when ever they think fit.</P>
<P>But 2. It is Objected, that the Town do multiply their poor Pen&s;ioners without nece&s;&s;ity. To which it is an&s;wered, That indeed the Towns poor
<PB REF="2"> Pen&s;ioners are very numerous, being no le&s;s than Thirteen or Fourteen Hun|dred, and mo&s;tly made up of Natives, but of Incomers from all parts of the Kingdom; yet it is certain, that there are none that receive either Weekly or Quarterly Pen&s;ions, except &s;uch as are vi&s;ited by the Kirk-Se&s;&s;ions, and their Nece&s;&s;ities atte&s;ted by the Elders and Deacons of the re&s;pective Bounds; and for the&s;e Pen&s;ioners that receive their Allowance from the Town-Council, they are but very few, and their condition &s;o notourly known as it will ea|&s;ily be granted, that all they receive is not able to make them &s;ub&s;i&s;t: And all this &s;hall be in&s;tructed by the Towns Regi&s;ters and Documents, which they are mo&s;t ready to exhibite.</P>
<P>As to what is Objected, that the Neighbourhood in the late calamitous years did contribute very liberally, which Contribution is not yet duly Compted for; Be&s;ides, that it is hoped, that that Calamity is much over. It is An&s;wered, that the Objection as to the fir&s;t part, is very Calumnious, the Con|tributions from the Nighbours being exactly compted for, in as much as every Moneth once, there was an Elder of each Paroch called with he Town Mini|&s;ters, to &s;ee the &s;aid Contribution be&s;towed upon the Poor, and the Accompts thereof are ready to be produced; And as to the le&s;&s;ening of the late Calami|ty, the Lord grant it may le&s;&s;en more and more. But upon the whole, the Town are mo&s;t de&s;irous, that the number and Condition of their Poor, with the State of their Fonds, and the great Charges they &s;u&s;tain, may be &s;trictly and thorowly examined, and that the Honourable Court of Parliament may accordingly take their Mea&s;ures.</P>
<P>It is objected in the next place, that though the Towns ordinary Fonds were not &s;ufficient, yet no rea&s;on for this extraordinary Impo&s;ition; Becau&s;e 1. The Town has a Common-good, whereof the mo&s;t proper u&s;e is the re|lief of the Poor, and if this extraordinary Impo&s;ition were granted to <HI>Edin|burgh,</HI> every Burgh might as ju&s;tly &s;eek the like.</P>
<P>To which it is an&s;wered, that for the Towns Common-good, and how the &s;ame is imployed, the Accompts are patent to all, and it is well known that the current Annualrent of the Towns Debts, with their Mini&s;ters Sti|pends, and the Towns Incidents for their publick Works, and the like &s;tat|ed with all rational &s;trictne&s;s, do more than exhau&s;t the whole Common-good.</P>
<P>As for Preparative that may be given to other Towns. 1. Other Towns have no &s;uch confluence and multitudes of Poor. 2. They have al&s;o their own impo&s;itions, which probably do an&s;wer the nece&s;&s;ity of the poor. And 3. It is obvious that art Impo&s;ition on Fle&s;h-mercats would &s;carce be worth the collecting in any Burgh except <HI>Edinburgh,</HI> and what at pre&s;ent is deman|ded in <HI>Edinburgh,</HI> is really &s;o &s;mall, that for certain it would never be inveyed or made a preparative.</P>
<P>It is objected, that there is a Propo&s;al ju&s;t now before the Parliament, to imploy the whole poor of the Kingdom in Labour and Manufactory, and that the Town of <HI>Edinburgh</HI> ought not to anticipat by this their extraordina|ry Demand.</P>
<P>To which it is an&s;wered, that the Towns extraordinary Demand doth pro|ceed upon extraordinary Rea&s;ons and Con&s;iderations, and if granted would no doubt further and facilitat the fore&s;aid general Propo&s;al, and therefore it cannot be thought an un&s;ea&s;onable Anticipation, be&s;ides that the fore&s;aid Pro|po&s;al needs be no hindrance to the due Examination of the grounds of the Towns Petition, and both may very well proceed together.</P>
<PB REF="3">
<P>But 3. It is objected, that an Impo&s;ition upon the Fle&s;h-mercats of <HI>Edin|burgh</HI> and the Suburbs, is impracticable, and of ill con&s;equence, becau&s;e Vi|vers ought to be the la&s;t things burdened with Impo&s;itions, becau&s;e they highten the Mercats, which all Governments endeavour to keep low and re|gulate.</P>
<P>To which it is an&s;wered, that no doubt no Impo&s;ition is of it &s;elf de&s;ire|able, but where there appears a nece&s;&s;ity for a publick Fond that cannot be more ea&s;ily contrived, this nece&s;&s;ity does &s;till preponderat on all the like oc|ca&s;ions.</P>
<P>And as for the particular in hand, the ca&s;e of <HI>Edinburghs</HI> Poor, and of their Fonds, is now more fully repre&s;ented, and the nece&s;&s;ity being &s;o urgent, it is humbly conceived that no Subject can bear an Impo&s;ition better than Fle&s;hes and Vivers, wherein the poor are &s;o little concerned, &s;pecially w ere the Impo&s;t is &s;o &s;mall, and craved for &s;o &s;hort a time, &s;o that it will in effect be in&s;en&s;ible, and very quicklye vani&s;h; and tho &s;ome Countreys have decli|ned &s;uch Impo&s;itions, yet others have found them to be more ea&s;ie.</P>
<P>As for what is alledged, that this Impo&s;ition will not only affect the Inha|bitants of <HI>Edinburgh,</HI> but the whole Leidges, &s;pecially &s;uch as attend the chief Courts of the Kingdom: It is an&s;wered that the Impo&s;t is &s;o &s;mall, and for &s;o &s;hort a &s;pace that it is &s;trange &s;uch an Argument &s;hould be exaggerat again&s;t it, &s;pecially when it is &s;o obvious that the poor of <HI>Edinburgh,</HI> do indeed for the mo&s;t part come from all parts of the Kingdom, and for the Apprehen&s;i|on &s;ugge&s;ted, that this may be a preparative for burdening all other Mercats, &s;uch as of Poultrie, Grain, Fi&s;h, Leather, it is not worth the an&s;wering; &s;eing fir&s;t the E&s;tates of Parliament are &s;till the Ma&s;ters of all &s;uch Impo&s;iti|ons. 2. That this Impo&s;t is not craved but for very weighty and evident Rea&s;ons. And 3. That it is craved upon the &s;ubject that may be&s;t and mo&s;t ea&s;ily bear it.</P>
<P>It is objected, that the <HI>Quota</HI> of the Impo&s;ition, <HI>viz.</HI> &s;ix pence upon the Ox, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> would amount to a great Sum, <HI>viz.</HI> of fifteen hundred pounds <HI>Ster|ling</HI> yearly, but to make &s;hort with this Objection, the Towns Petition fixes indeed upon five years, but all really de&s;igned is, the rai&s;ing of two thou&s;and <HI>lib. sterling</HI> for the u&s;e propo&s;ed, for which albeit the Town upon their be&s;t Information have demanded five years, yet they have withal &s;o intirely &s;ub|mitted the matter to the Parliament, both as to the manner of the uplifting, and the over&s;ight of the imploying, that they are content that it be al&s;o pro|vided, that &s;o &s;oon as two thou&s;and <HI>lib. &s;terling</HI> net &s;hall be by them recove|red and rai&s;ed by the &s;aid Impo&s;ition, it &s;hall immediatly cea&s;e though with|in the &s;aid five years.</P>
<P>As for what is objected in behalf of <HI>Leith</HI> and the <HI>Cannongate,</HI> that their Mercats &s;hould not be included in the Towns Demand, the &s;ame is not cra|ved, &s;ave for this Rea&s;on, that Mercats &s;o near &s;hould be kept in a rea&s;onable equality; but in recompen&s;e of it, the Town is content either to take in their poor as well as their Mercats, or otherways to give &s;uch a proportion of the Impo&s;ition as the Parliament &s;hall think fit, nor do the Town plead any thing upon the account of their Superiority, but allannerly on the account of Neighbourhood and Contingency, and that all one way or other are with|in the Towns over&s;ight and Admini&s;tration.</P>
<P>As for what is objected, that the Manufactory propo&s;ed, would only be to the profit and advantage of the Undertakers, the Town fairly offers,
<PB REF="4" MS="y"> that whatever net profit &s;hall accrew by the Manufactory, it &s;hall &s;till be ad|ded to the increa&s;e of the Poors Stock, nor is the Sugge&s;tion worth the not|ticing, that when by this Propo&s;al the poor are quite taken away, then the profit of all will redound to the Town and its Managers, for though this were indeed to be wi&s;hed, that the poor were quite taken off, yet it may be &s;aid with ten times more a&s;&s;urance than was &s;aid even of the Land of <HI>Canaan,</HI> that the poor &s;hall never be wanting out of the Town of <HI>Edinburgh.</HI></P>
<P>As for what el&s;e is &s;ugge&s;ted again&s;t the Towns ill Management, and that no Control can be made effectual in this ca&s;e more than in others where it hath been attempted without &s;ucce&s;s, the&s;e are only general and malevolent Re|flections, which cannot be better an&s;wered than by the pre&s;ent and late Ma|gi&s;trats their free and frank offer, that all their Admini&s;trations be fairly exa|mined and tryed, and that for this new Fond craved, the honourable E&s;tates of Parliament put upon them &s;uch Conjuncts for the Management and Im|ployment thereof, and with &s;uch Injunctions as they &s;hall &s;ee cau&s;e.</P>
<P REND="italic">And therefore his Grace and the right honourable Estates of Parliament, are again intreated to con&s;ider the nece&s;&s;ity and rea&s;onablene&s;s of what the good Town demands, and how ea&s;ie a Remedy is craved by this &s;mall temporary Impo&s;ition for &s;o in&s;upportable a Burden.</P>
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