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<DATE>2014-09-05</DATE>
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<NAME>Simon Charles</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed as part of batch Z140214.pdcc.</ITEM>
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<EEBO>
<IDG S="marc" R="OX" ID="B17163">
<STC T="W">A3429b</STC>
<STC T="G">816.m.13[136]</STC>
<BIBNO T="umi">99885967</BIBNO>
<VID>186334</VID>
</IDG><!-- alt.stc G816.m.13[136] -->
<TEXT LANG="eng">
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="answer">
<PB REF="1">
<PB N="1" REF="1" MS="y">
<HEAD>AN ANSWER TO THE REASONS AGAINST The Wearing of <HI>Ea&s;t-India</HI> and <HI>Per&s;ia</HI> wrought Silks, Bengalls, Dyed and Printed Callicoes in <HI>England.</HI></HEAD>
<P>SOME <HI>Linnen Drapers</HI> in <HI>London</HI> having petitioned the <HI>Honourable Hou&s;e of Commons</HI> again&s;t the Bill for Re&s;training the wearing <HI>East-India</HI> and <HI>Per&s;ia</HI> wrought Silks, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Which not meeting with the de&s;ired Effect, have there|fore publi&s;hed the Rea&s;ons that incouraged the pre&s;enting the &s;aid Petition, which they have u&s;hered in with a &s;pecious Preamble, wherein they de|clare, <HI>That they are induced to believe that it would be no incon&s;iderable Service to the whole Kingdom in general, as well as to the particular Satisfaction of that</HI> Honoura|ble Hou&s;e <HI>to publi&s;h them, where, upon an equal &s;tate of the Matters controverted, it will</HI> inconte&s;tably <HI>appear, how fatal and</HI> univer&s;ally <HI>detrimental the Con&s;equences of &s;uch a Prohibition mu&s;t of Nece&s;&s;ity prove, which upon a &s;erious Con&s;ideration of the few Rea&s;ons,</HI> which they have given, <HI>The utter improbability of &s;uch a Prohibition ever being able to An&s;wer the great End thereby propo&s;ed, will be fully and &s;atisfactorily demon&s;trated.</HI></P>
<P>By this <HI>Preamble</HI> many may be be apt to conclude, That their Rea&s;ons mu&s;t be very <HI>Sub&s;tantial</HI> and <HI>Unan&s;werable;</HI> but upon Examination they are found not &s;o, and will admit of plain and ea&s;ie An&s;wers, which are thought proper to be made publick, with &s;ome Remarks thereupon. And are as follows:</P>
<P>They &s;ay, <HI>That Trade in general is always free, and will never endure to be &s;hackled and compelled; That when it is &s;o, it will endeavour to remove into better quarters.</HI> But at the &s;ame time, they &s;hould have done well to have Recollected and Con&s;idered to whom they were Addre&s;&s;ing them&s;elves, which if they had done, they would &s;ure|ly have been more mode&s;t: For have not &s;everal good Laws been made by former Parliaments for Re&s;training Trade, by Prohibiting the Importation and Con&s;ump|tion of Forreign Commodities, and preventing the Exportation of our own, as Wooll, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> which had been very ill done, and to no purpo&s;e, if their A&s;&s;ertion were true: And are not &s;everal Bills now depending to Re&s;train Trade; As the Bills to Regulate and Settle <HI>India</HI> and <HI>Affrica</HI> Trades, and for the more effectual prevent|ing the Exportation of Wooll.</P>
<P>They &s;ay in An&s;wer to the <HI>Canterbury</HI>-men, <HI>That it was not they that beat the</HI> French, Dutch, <HI>and</HI> Italians <HI>out of their Silk Trade, but the</HI> Ea&s;t-India <HI>Goods which were Im|ported from the Year</HI> 82 <HI>to</HI> 89, <HI>and &s;old very cheap that did it.</HI> Now &s;uppo&s;ing this were really true, 'tis hard to imagine what Service this A&s;&s;ertion can do them, but
<PB N="2" REF="2">very ea&s;ie to fore&s;ee the contrary: For if the Cheapne&s;s of <HI>Ea&s;t-India</HI> Goods beat both <HI>Dutch, French,</HI> and <HI>Italians</HI> out of their Trade, mu&s;t it not naturally follow, that they can and will, with as great ea&s;e, beat us out al&s;o.</P>
<P>They own a great Increa&s;e of Trade, but &s;ay, <HI>It only proceeds from the Ri&s;e of</HI> Guinea<HI>'s; The mi&s;carriage of the War, and the Continual Demands and Exactions from abroad, and not from the Scarcity of printed</HI> Calicoes, Bengalls, and Per&s;ian Silks, <HI>there being more</HI> India <HI>Goods &s;old and printed the&s;e la&s;t four years, than in twenty before.</HI> But this is &s;o contrary to the ob&s;ervation and knowledge of almo&s;t all &s;orts of People, that it requires a more than ordinary Confidence for &s;uch an A&s;&s;ertion. It mu&s;t be allowed that the Trade in the Woollen Manufactures for cour&s;e Clothes, Bays, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> have been greatly Increa&s;ed by rea&s;on of the War: But the Trade in <HI>Silks, Half Silks,</HI> and <HI>Wor&s;ted Stuffs,</HI> have gradually increa&s;ed for &s;everal years la&s;t pa&s;t, as the <HI>Ea&s;t-India</HI> Goods grew &s;carcer and dearer, the&s;e Manufactures &s;upplied their u&s;e (in great mea&s;ure) which has been the great Occa&s;ion of that Increa&s;e, as is evident beyond Contradiction. It's true, that the late <HI>extraordinary</HI> and &s;udden Ri&s;e of all &s;orts of Commodities was occa&s;ioned by the Ri&s;e of Guineas; but now, notwith&s;tanding Guineas are fallen, and the <HI>Dutch</HI> take off but few of our <HI>Silks, Half-Silks,</HI> or <HI>Wor&s;ted Stuffs,</HI> yet their Price is not abated, which can proceed from no other Rea&s;on but the want of them in <HI>England</HI> and the <HI>Plantations,</HI> which want would &s;oon be &s;upplied, if the <HI>Ea&s;t-India</HI> Goods were brought in as plentifully as formerly.</P>
<P>They own <HI>That Raw Silk is the Produce of our Woollen Manufactures Exported:</HI> But pretend to foretel the Con&s;equences of Prohibiting the <HI>Per&s;ian</HI> Silks, <HI>That it will oc|ca&s;ion a Prohibition of our Woollen Manufactures there.</HI> But they may plea&s;e to remem|ber, that when the Trade to <HI>Per&s;ia</HI> was carried on by our <HI>Turkey</HI> Company, the <HI>Per&s;ians</HI> were well content to take our Cloath, and pay us in <HI>Raw Silks;</HI> and we conceive it rational to believe, that they may be content to do &s;o again if the Trade were turned into its old Channel.</P>
<P>They a&s;&s;ert, <HI>That the Prohibition de&s;ired will undeniably be the lo&s;s of three parts in four of the</HI> Ea&s;t-India <HI>Trade, to the</HI> Ruine <HI>of many of his</HI> Maje&s;ty's <HI>Subjects, and the</HI> un|&s;peakable <HI>Benefit of the</HI> Dutch <HI>and</HI> Scots. But herein they mightily contradict the <HI>Ea&s;t-India</HI> Company, who oft-times in print, and otherwi&s;e have affirmed, That <HI>three parts in four,</HI> and lately to a Committee of <HI>Lords,</HI> that <HI>two parts in three</HI> in value of their whole Trade, is Exported to Forreign Markets; And this Prohibition will leave them a great part of their home Con&s;umption, as <HI>Druggs, Salt-petre, Indi|co, Raw Silks, White Calicoes, Mu&s;lins,</HI> and abundance of other Commodities, and in&s;tead of <HI>Wrought,</HI> they may bring in greater quantities of <HI>Raw Silk.</HI> But if it be true what they a&s;&s;ert, That three parts in four of the <HI>Ea&s;t-India</HI> Trade depend up|on our home Con&s;umption, they have made a con&s;iderable Di&s;covery, by which the Nation may &s;ee how much they have been impo&s;ed upon by the <HI>Ea&s;t-India</HI> Company, and how much more prejudicial that Tade is than mo&s;t People ima|gined. And as to the <HI>Scotch,</HI> nothing (as is conceived) can be a greater Morti|fication to them than this Prohibition: For thereby the great Expectation of run|ning their Goods (which will be Cu&s;tom-free) upon us will be wholly cut off, and they left to find out Trade in Forreign Markets, which will be very difficult for them to accompli&s;h.</P>
<P>Neither can we apprehend this Prohibition will be of any Service to the <HI>Dutch,</HI> but the contrary; for thereby their profitable Trade of Running <HI>India</HI> Goods upon us, will in a great mea&s;ure be cut off.</P>
<P>They &s;ay, <HI>That this Prohibition will exceedingly dimini&s;h the</HI> King's Cu&s;toms, <HI>and di&s;courage the Loan upon that Branch of the Cu&s;toms.</HI> This in great mea&s;ure mu&s;t be allowed; but at the &s;ame time it ought to be con&s;idered, that if the <HI>Cu&s;toms</HI> ari&s;e by the bringing in of Manufactured Goods (which are the Purcha&s;e of our Bul|lion) to be con&s;umed at home, to the hinderance of our own Manufactures, and the imployment of our People, that this may &s;ink the <HI>King's Revenues</HI> in its other Branches, as much, if not more: For how can the <HI>Exci&s;e</HI> for <HI>Bear,</HI> and <HI>Cu&s;tom</HI> of <HI>Tobacco,</HI> and other Commodities, be as great as now it is, if the <HI>Labour</HI> and <HI>Wages</HI> of the Poor be taken away, or can the <HI>Tenants</HI> pay Rent if they want good Mar|kets for their Commodities? Or how can <HI>Landlords</HI> live comfortably and pay Taxes, if Tenants fail to pay their Rents? And when any Branch an&s;wers not
<PB N="3" REF="2">the Loans that are ordered upon it, it has and will no doubt be made good &s;ome other way.</P>
<P>They a&s;&s;ert, <HI>That the Prohibition de&s;ired will not incourage the making Silks in</HI> Eng|land, <HI>except the</HI> Dutch <HI>and</HI> Italian <HI>Silks be prohibited al&s;o.</HI> And the Rea&s;on they give us is, <HI>That the</HI> Dutch <HI>and</HI> Italians <HI>can have as much work done for one &s;hilling, as we can have for three:</HI> Which is not true in fact. It's very well known that our <HI>Eng|li&s;h</HI> Silk-Manufactures have been greatly increa&s;ed &s;ince the <HI>India</HI> Goods have been &s;carce and dear; and that notwith&s;tanding that Scarcity, neither the <HI>Dutch</HI> or <HI>Italians</HI> have advanced their Trade thereby: For it is plain and evident, that the Ingenuity of our <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Workmen outdoes them; and the difference in Wages is nothing &s;o con&s;iderable as they a&s;&s;ert, which is ballanc'd by the <HI>Cu&s;toms</HI> paid up|on tho&s;e Forreign Commodities. But if it &s;hall appear that either the <HI>Dutch</HI> or <HI>Italian</HI> Trade be found prejudicial to the Intere&s;t of this Nation, it's hoped tho&s;e Trades may be al&s;o Re&s;trained in due time.</P>
<P>They own, <HI>That the Prohibition will open a way for the Imployment of a great many</HI> Weavers <HI>and other Workmen.</HI> But to an&s;wer this, they &s;ay, <HI>It will take away the Im|ployment of many thou&s;and</HI> Dyers, Callenders, Stiffners, Printers, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> But this is &s;o poor an Argument, that one would think they &s;hould be a&s;hamed to offer it: For are the number of <HI>Printers,</HI> and other Workmen imployed upon <HI>Callicoes,</HI> &amp;c. to be compared with the number of <HI>Spin&s;ters, Combers, Weavers,</HI> and many other Artificers imployed in the <HI>Silk</HI> and <HI>Woollen</HI> Manufactures; and may not the&s;e <HI>Prin|ters,</HI> &amp;c. as well be imployed in printing our own Manufactures, &s;ince Printing is or may be as well done upon them as upon <HI>Callicoes</HI> or <HI>India</HI> Silks.</P>
<P>They &s;ay, <HI>That the Nature of Trade is to Exchange one Commodity for another.</HI> But what Service this can do them in this Ca&s;e, is not ea&s;ily to be imagined; becau&s;e the Trade in Controver&s;ie is not Exchanging Commodity for Commodity, but chiefly Money for Commodities.</P>
<P>They tell us, <HI>That this Prohibition will turn to no better account than to make our own Manufactures dearer at home, and</HI> India <HI>Goods cheaper to our Neighbours, which will make our Manufactures wholly u&s;ele&s;s to them.</HI> And yet notwith&s;tanding they &s;ay, <HI>That our Manufacturers will &s;et higher Rates upon their Goods;</HI> which &s;eems to be a Contradiction. We are very &s;en&s;ible that whenever the <HI>Ea&s;t-India</HI> Trade flouri&s;h, they will bring in Goods enough to &s;upply all Markets, which will unavoidably bring down the Price of our own Manufactures: And for this very Rea&s;on it is that this Prohibition is de&s;ired, That &s;eeing we cannot prevent the Mi&s;chiefs which that Trade will do us in <HI>Forreign</HI> Markets, we may in &s;ome mea&s;ure help our &s;elves by preventing our falling under the &s;ame Evils at home.</P>
<P>The&s;e are all, or the mo&s;t material Rea&s;ons that they have offered, which with the An&s;wers and Ob&s;ervations thereupon, are with great Submi&s;&s;ion hum|bly offered to the Con&s;ideration of the Parliament.</P>
</DIV1>
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<BACK>
<DIV1 TYPE="half title">
<PB REF="3">
<P>An ANSWER TO THE REASONS AGAINST Prohibiting the Wearing of <HI>East-India</HI> and <HI>Per&s;ia</HI> wrought Silks, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<PB REF="3">
</DIV1>
</BACK>
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