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<DATE>2009-03-25</DATE>
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<NAME>Megan Marion</NAME>
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<PB N="1" REF="1">
<HEAD>SOME CONSIDERATIONS Relating to the WOOLLEN-MANUFACTORY, Humbly offered To the great Council of PARLIAMENT, BY SOME Merchants and others of the City of <HI>London,</HI> and el&s;ewhere.</HEAD>
<P>WHereas the Woollen-Manufactory is well known to be the riche&s;t Trea&s;ure in his Maje&s;ties Domi|nions, the Strength and Sinews of this Nation; and the maintaining and encouragement thereof is of &s;uch ab&s;olute nece&s;&s;ity, that it cannot be rea&s;on|ably expected the Nation &s;hould flouri&s;h or pro&s;per without the &s;ame:</P>
<P>There is hereby humbly offered to the con&s;ideration of this honourable Hou&s;e, the great ruine and decay of the &s;aid Manufa|ctory, e&s;pecially as relating to the forrain Exportation thereof, for <HI>France, Flanders, Holland,</HI> and other neighbouring parts; that unle&s;s timely prevented, the &s;ame will nece&s;&s;arily more decrea&s;e, and at length be wholly de&s;troyed.</P>
<P>The chief and greate&s;t cau&s;e of &s;uch decay, being the private Exportation of our own and Iri&s;h Wooll to the afore&s;aid forreign parts, in &s;uch great and con&s;iderable quantities, that the &s;ame may be purcha&s;ed there near as cheap as we can have it brought to &s;eve|ral of our own Markets: the Exporter, according to computation, not gaining thereby (after running all the hazard) above 6 or 7 <HI>per Cent.</HI> By which plentiful &s;upply, together with tho&s;e excellent me|thods practicable among&s;t them, e&s;pecially in <HI>Holland</HI> and <HI>Zealand,</HI> for &s;etting their Poor on work, they have their Goods made much the cheaper. And al&s;o the great Duties they impo&s;e on the Importation of our Woollen Manufactories, ep&s;ecially in the French Dominions, thereby they not onely beat us out of trade in mo&s;t of their own Markets which before we &s;upply'd, but may al&s;o be &s;u&s;pected in &s;hort time (if they continue to improve them|&s;elves &s;o much as of late years, and having &s;uch plentiful &s;upplies of our Wooll) to be able to di&s;pute with us for great part of our other forrain Trade in the &s;aid Manufactory.</P>
<PB N="2" REF="2">
<P>It being undeniable that the French take off few or none of our middle and low-pric'd Clothes, Stuffs, or Druggets, be|cau&s;e with the ea&s;ie &s;upply of our Engli&s;h and Iri&s;h Wooll, they them&s;elves make the &s;ame or other &s;orts an&s;werable thereto, which without the &s;aid Wooll they cannot rea&s;onably effect to the lea&s;t of their own advantage, or prejudice to ours; and albeit they take from us &s;ome &s;mall quantity of our finer &s;ort of Broad Cloath, yet that is the le&s;s con&s;iderable, the &s;ame Cloath being compo&s;ed the mo&s;t of Spani&s;h, and the lea&s;t part of our own Wooll.</P>
<P>And as for the French Conque&s;ts, as <HI>Lille, Armentiers, Valen|ciennes,</HI> and other parts adjacent, it's well known that of late years they are &s;o much improved in the Woollen-Manufactory, being chiefly encouraged thereto by the frequent &s;upplies of our Engli&s;h and I|ri&s;h Wooll, that they not alone &s;upply their own and neighbou|ring Markets with the &s;ame, but others al&s;o at a con&s;iderable di|&s;tance.</P>
<P>The like proves al&s;o true of the Inhabitants in and about <HI>Liege,</HI> whom being plentifully &s;upplied with Iri&s;h Wooll from <HI>Holland</HI> and <HI>Zealand,</HI> have of late years &s;o much increa&s;ed in the manufacturing of Woollen, e&s;pecially of a &s;ort of low-pric'd Cloath in imitation of our Northern Dozens, that they maintain their Factors in many other parts for vending the &s;ame, which they al&s;o do at as (if not more) rea&s;onable rates than can be afforded from hence.</P>
<P>And as for <HI>Holland</HI> and <HI>Zealand,</HI> &amp;c. we are under much the &s;ame cimcum&s;tances with them as relating to the Woollen-Manufactory; it being ob&s;ervable, that what they take from us is chiefly &s;ome Stuffs, together with &s;ome few Northern Dozens, Ker&s;eys, and other low-pric'd goods, whereon is the lea&s;t advantage, and wherewith they can be furni&s;hed from <HI>Hull</HI> and other out-Ports at &s;uch low rates, that they think it not worth their while to make the &s;ame, as finding a greater advantage to them&s;elves in the finer &s;ort of Woollen-Manufactories, with which they not onely &s;upply their own, but al&s;o many forrain Markets, to our great detriment, there being nothing that can make them capable of &s;o doing, but their indu&s;try, and methods of keeping their Poor at work, together with their frequent &s;upplies of our Engli&s;h, Scotch, and Iri&s;h Wooll, and Fullers-earth.</P>
<P>Much more might be offered to con&s;ideration, not onely in re&s;pect of the forementioned parts, but al&s;o of &s;everal others which lie under the &s;ame circum&s;tances; as al&s;o there might without much digre&s;&s;ion be &s;ufficiently demon&s;trated, the great lo&s;s that accrews to our Nation through the Exportation of Wooll, &s;o that each Pack to the value of about Ten Pound, hath been computed at near two Hundred Pound damage to the King and Kingdom, but the chief intent here|of is, by making evident in &s;ome degree the declining condition of the &s;aid Manufactory, thereby to enforce the great nece&s;&s;ity of &s;ome convenient method for the Re-e&s;tabli&s;hment and encouraging of the &s;ame; to which end the following Attempt is humbly propo&s;ed, al|ways with &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion to better Judgments.</P>
<PB N="3" REF="2">
<P>It being very ob&s;ervable that the former Act of Parliament where|by the Exportation of Wooll is made Felony, hath very little con|tributed to the preventing the &s;ame, for that no provi&s;ion is made thereby for the encouragement of the Informer; which if it were, yet few or none would be willing to inform again&s;t or pro&s;ecute a|nother (e&s;pecially in &s;uch ca&s;es) where their lives are concerned: It is therefore humbly propo&s;ed, that the &s;aid Clau&s;e in that Act may be repealed, and in &s;tead thereof &s;ome others in&s;erted which may be more effectual for its intended end.</P>
<P>The which is humbly conceived to be, by providing a &s;ufficient en|couragement for the Informer, and that no Wooll &s;hall be permitted to be lodged but at a convenient di&s;tance from the Sea-&s;hore; and that if any Wooll &s;hall be di&s;covered within that di&s;tance, e&s;pecially after Sun-&s;etting, to be carried either by Cart, Hor&s;e, or otherwi&s;e, that the &s;ame &s;hall not onely be forfeited, together with the &s;aid Cart, Hor&s;e, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> but al&s;o the Owners whole E&s;tates; and the Driver of the &s;aid Cart or Hor&s;e to endure a years Impri&s;onment. And that if any Wooll &s;hall be found in &s;mall Package, or Screw-pack'd, that the &s;ame &s;hall not onely be forfeited, but the per&s;on with whom it is found &s;hall forfeit four double the value. And if it &s;hall be proved that Wooll hath been carried by Cart, Hor&s;e, or other ways within &s;uch a di&s;tance of the Sea-coa&s;t as before propo&s;ed, or that it &s;hall be proved that any Wooll hath been conveyed on board, or Ex|ported from any of the &s;aid Coa&s;ts, if the &s;aid Carriers, Owners, or Exporters have no E&s;tate to forfeit, or are not apprehended to receive due puni&s;hment, the Divi&s;ion or Hundred (as in ca&s;es of Robberies) &s;hall have a con&s;iderable Fine laid upon them for the &s;ame. And that if any Wooll be found privately conveying or conveyed on board any Ve&s;&s;el, the &s;ame &s;hall be forfeit; the Owner or Exporter thereof, if found, &s;hall not onely forfeit his whole E&s;tate, but al&s;o be tran&s;|ported to &s;erve on board the Galleys, together with the Ma&s;ter of the &s;aid Ve&s;&s;el, and his &s;aid Company; or el&s;e to endure impri&s;onment proportionably. And that if any Wooll be prov'd to be exported, the Owner or Exporter thereof being made known within a year and a day after &s;uch Fact committed, the &s;aid Owner or Exporter &s;hall not onely forfeit their whole E&s;tates, but al&s;o be tran&s;ported, as a|fore&s;aid: which is yet more favourable than Felony. And that for the greater encouragement of the Informer, although he was a per&s;on concern'd or imployed in the exportation of Wooll, he &s;hall not onely receive his Pardon for the &s;ame, but al&s;o the propo&s;ed Reward for his &s;aid Information. And for what relates to <HI>Ireland,</HI> it's humbly propo&s;ed, That whereas it is there cu&s;tomary, when Wooll is &s;hipt off for <HI>England,</HI> to give Security it &s;hall be delivered accordingly; yet afterwards, by procuring a Certificate, in bribing of the Officers, at &s;ome of the Ports of this Nation, as if the Wooll were delivered there, they get the &s;aid &s;ecurity in <HI>Ireland</HI> to be di&s;charg'd, notwith&s;tand|ing they carry the &s;aid Wooll to forreign parts: That therefore if the Ma&s;ter of the &s;aid Ship, or any of his Company, or other per&s;ons what&s;oever, &s;hall within a year and a day after &s;uch Fact committed,
<PB N="4" REF="3">make the &s;ame appear to &s;uch Officers as &s;hall be appointed to that end, &s;o as that the &s;aid Owner, Exporter, or Officers &s;o corrupted may be &s;ecured, the Informer &s;hall be immediately paid for his &s;aid In|formation 200 <HI>l.</HI> The Owner, Exporter, or Officers &s;o corrupted, &s;hall forfeit their whole E&s;tates, be made uncapable of ever bearing after any Office; and moreover, they &s;hall (be confined to Pri&s;on for a con|&s;iderable time, or) be tran&s;ported, as before-mentioned.</P>
<P>It is al&s;o conceived to be very nece&s;&s;ary, that any Di&s;coverer, or other &s;ingle Witne&s;s, though he hath profit thereby, ought to be &s;uffi|cient Evidence; it being better for us to run the hazard that one man in &s;even years be injured by the perjury of an Informer, than that &s;o many vile Offenders e&s;cape for want of Witne&s;s, who have no benefit by the &s;eizure and evidence.</P>
<P>Now whereas it may be alleadg'd, that our Wooll &s;o prevented from exportation will increa&s;e &s;o much in quantity, and be brought &s;o low in price at home, that the Owners, Gra&s;iers, Farmers, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> will be thereby impoveri&s;hed.</P>
<P>Again&s;t which it is humbly offered, that there are two ways to pre|vent the &s;aid inconveniencie: The fir&s;t and be&s;t being to manufacture all the Wooll at home; the Method for which hath been already made publick by Mr. <HI>Richard Haines,</HI> and approved of by many Honourable Members of the Hou&s;e, as well as Merchants and others.</P>
<P>The other is, That the Wooll of the Nation increa&s;ing too much, it may be once in three or four years wholly de&s;troy'd, and the value made good by a publick Contribution: but the many and great in|conveniencies that will con&s;equently follow this latter, and can &s;uf|ficiently be demon&s;trated, will, as is humbly conceiv'd, render the &s;ame altogether unpracticable.</P>
<P>The Con&s;ideration of all which, is humbly repre&s;ented to this Ho|nourable Hou&s;e, to the intent, that when they have &s;ettled the Peace and Security of the Nation, care may be taken for its Welfare and Pro&s;perity; which (as at any time &s;hall be &s;uffi|ciently demon&s;trated) con&s;i&s;ts in nothing mroe than the Im|provement and Incouragement of the Woollen-Manufactury.</P>
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