<!DOCTYPE ETS PUBLIC "-//UMDLPS//DTD EEBOPROOF 2.0//EN">
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<CHANGE>
<DATE>2014-04-23</DATE>
<RESPSTMT>
<NAME>TCP Staff (Michigan)</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
</RESPSTMT>
<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed as part of batch B140226.pdcc.</ITEM>
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<EEBO>
<IDG S="marc" R="UM" ID="B17162">
<STC T="W">A3429a</STC>
<STC T="G">1888.c.11[52]</STC>
<STC T="C">T146834</STC>
<BIBNO T="umi">99893672</BIBNO>
<VID>189478</VID>
</IDG><!-- alt.stc G1888.c.11[52] --><!-- alt.stc Ct146834 -->
<TEXT LANG="eng">
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="response">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<HEAD><HI>An An&s;wer to the Paper, entituled,</HI> The Ca&s;e of the Proprietors and Refiners of Rock-Salt.</HEAD>
<P>THE &s;aid Paper complains, That if the Clau&s;e &s;hall pa&s;s for prohibiting the refining of Rock-Salt, at any Place but near the Rock-Pits, all the Refinerys of Rock Salt will be de&s;troy'd.</P>
<P>To which it is an&s;wered, That if the Rock-Salt &s;hall be permitted to go from the Pits, not only all the Makers of Salt from Brine, and the Makers of Salt from Sea-water will be ruined, but the Duty upon Salt, which is to pay the Intere&s;t of three Millions of Money lent to the Government, will be lo&s;t al&s;o; and all the People of <HI>England</HI> mu&s;t then pay and make good that deficiency: For the Weight and various Drawbacks allowed to the Rock-Salt, are &s;uch and &s;o many that it is not po&s;&s;ible to prevent the Frauds any other way than by the method pre&s;cribed in the Bill. For in&s;tance, 75 <HI>l.</HI> of Rock-Salt is reckon'd a Bu&s;hel, and pays 3 <HI>s.</HI> 4 <HI>d.</HI> at the Pit. 56 <HI>l.</HI> only is allow'd to a Bu&s;hel of Brine-Salt, and pays 3 <HI>s.</HI> 4 <HI>d.</HI> at the Works: and 56 <HI>l.</HI> of Rock-Salt melted in fre&s;h Water, as hath been actually done at the Exci&s;e Office in <HI>London,</HI> will produce its own weight in white Salt; &s;o that the Rock-Refiner has in weight 19 <HI>l.</HI> more for 3 <HI>s.</HI> 4 <HI>d.</HI> than the Brine Salt-Maker hath; and he ac|cordingly &s;ells it, and it is u&s;ed in <HI>&s;pecie</HI> without refining, and by doing &s;o he reimbur&s;es him&s;elf one third of the Duty paid at the Pits, and &s;o much is lo&s;t to the Revenue: Then he &s;ets to refine &s;ome part of the &s;aid Salt-Rock, and that he may appear like a very hone&s;t Man, he calls for the Officer, and as the Act directs, in his Pre&s;ence weighs out 20 Bu&s;hels, more or le&s;s, at 75 <HI>l.</HI> to the Bu&s;hel, and puts it into large Ce&s;terns of Water for melting the &s;ame; and the Officer allows him a Drawback for it. But it requiring a very long time (<HI>viz.</HI>) 2 or 3 days to be di&s;&s;olved when the Officer is in Bed, or otherwi&s;e ab&s;ent, one half of the &s;aid Rock is taken out of the Ce&s;terns, and conveyed back to the Warehou&s;e; and this practi&s;e is repeated till double the Duty paid at the Pits is drawn back upon the melting, which advantage the Brine Salt Maker hath no opportunity for, there not being any Draw|back allowed to that Salt, but upon Exportation only; and the Bill does &s;ufficiently provide again&s;t the Cheats that have been too much practi&s;ed therein, to the lo&s;s of the Revenue, and derriment to the fair Trader. But if what's propos'd by the Author of the &s;aid Paper was allow'd of (<HI>viz.</HI>) That the Brine as well as the Rock &s;hould be charged with the Duty at the Pits, there mu&s;t be a Drawback allow'd upon the boyling thereof; and then indeed the Brine Salt-Makers will ea&s;ily find ways and means to defeat the Duty as well as the Rock Refiners.</P>
<P>The &s;aid Paper a&s;tirms, that the Rock is not refined in any Creeks or &s;ecret Places, but in great Towns, and the Exci&s;e Officer there employ'd, may Collect the Duty without any additional Charge in Collecting thereof; that this is not true the Margin of the Paper does &s;ufficiently di&s;cover, where <HI>Helbre</HI> and <HI>Hyde</HI> in <HI>Che&s;hire, Peel&s;touder</HI> in <HI>Lanca&s;hire,</HI> and <HI>Grane</HI> in <HI>Kent</HI> are mentioned as Refinerys of Rock-Salt, and a Thou&s;and &s;uch will be &s;et up if it is not limited to be Refined only at the Pits; for if it once goes from thence it is impo&s;&s;ible to confine it to any bounds.</P>
<P>The &s;aid Paper &s;ugge&s;ts further, that if the Rock-Salt is limited only to the Pits it will be unprofitable to Refine it, which is al&s;o not true; for the Rock is Refined by making a Brine from it, and by letting Water &s;tay in the Pit, it will produce the &s;tronger Brine, which will be brought up by a &s;mall labour of pumping, and &s;ave the Charge of digging the Rock and winding it up. And moreover, even according to the A&s;&s;ertion laid down in the &s;aid Paper, Salt refined from Rock Salt &s;ells dearer by Six-pence <HI>per</HI> Bu&s;hel than <HI>Newca&s;tle</HI> Salt, whereas Salt made from Brine is never &s;old for more than 5 <HI>d. per</HI> Bu&s;hel at the Works.</P>
<P>The Paper al&s;o alledges, That if the Rock-Salt is limited only to the Pits, the Brine Propietors will be the only Manufacturers of Salt, and will then have it in their Power to &s;et what Rates they plea&s;e thereon, which is totally impo&s;&s;ible. For in the fir&s;t place, the Rock-Pits will become Brine-Pits (as &s;ome of them have done) and even they will afford &s;uch plenty of Salt as would &s;upply more then half the Kingdom. But in the next place, there are now &s;o very many Brine-Pits in <HI>Che&s;hire,</HI> in <HI>Stafford&s;hire,</HI> and in <HI>Worce&s;ter&s;hire,</HI> be&s;ides the very many Salt-Works which are in the Bi&s;hoprick of <HI>Durham</HI> and <HI>Northumberland,</HI> and &s;ome al&s;o at <HI>Port-Sea</HI> and <HI>Limington,</HI> that the only contention is, and always will be, who &s;hall gain mo&s;t Cu&s;tomers by &s;elling cheape&s;t; but be&s;ides that, the Ju&s;tices of Peace have a Controuling Power over them to &s;et what Prices they plea&s;e upon Salt.</P>
<P>The Author of the Paper goes on in commendation of his Salt made from Rock Salt, above all other Salt what|&s;oever, but it will appear that the Swans in his own Eyes, are meer Gee&s;e in others.</P>
<P>For the Brine being impregnated with the mo&s;t acute &s;aline &s;piritual part of the Rock, partakes not of that noxious cra&s;&s;id part which always &s;ub&s;ides and remains with the Rock, and is of a reddi&s;h Colour, and in which great quantity of Bittern is contained; and therefore the Author is very much out in that part of his Philo&s;ophy, for the whole body of the Rock being taken up, and the Sand and Bittern contained therein being all ma&s;h'd together, the Salt made thereof mu&s;t of nece&s;&s;ity, and does abundantly partake of tho&s;e hurtful qualitys, as &s;everal Merchants who have had their Fi&s;h and Provi&s;ions &s;poiled therewith do te&s;tify: but the Author of the &s;aid Paper &s;hews him|&s;elf to be very little skilled in the true nature of Salt, by his two la&s;t Paragraphs, for fir&s;t he &s;ays the Dutch have by &s;everal Laws &s;trictly injoyn'd the u&s;e of Re&s;ined Salt, (which Refined Salt he may ea&s;ily inform him&s;elf is always made of Salt from Sea-Water) and yet in the very next Paragraph di&s;commends all Salt (and in particular <HI>Newca&s;tle</HI>) which is made of Sea-water; but to give him a little better In&s;truction in the nature of Brine-Salt, <HI>Newca&s;tle</HI>-Salt, <HI>Port-Sea, Limington</HI> and <HI>Dutch</HI>-Salt, he is referr'd to the Book writ by Mr. <HI>Collins,</HI> entituled, <HI>Salt and Fi&s;hery,</HI> and there he will find that the Salt di&s;commended as the wor&s;t Salt, and as having the mo&s;t noxious quality of Sand and Bittern, is that Salt which is made from the Sea-water, and granulated by the heat of the Sun, and &s;o u&s;ed without boyling it up with Fire; and that's the Salt which the Dutch mu&s;t not u&s;e for their Herrings: but the Salt made from the Brine-Springs, and Salt made with Fire from Sea-water, are by that Author (who was a good judge of that Matter) recommended as the be&s;t for all u&s;es.</P>
<P>The Author's Conclu&s;ion is a wild random E&s;timate of what the Refinerys have co&s;t; and hopes the Honourable Hou&s;e will not pa&s;s that Clau&s;e which de&s;troys the u&s;e of them, without giving &s;ome &s;atisfaction: By which 'tis plain they are &s;o hurtful to the Duty on Salt, that him&s;elf thinks they will not be longer allow'd of.</P>
<P>The An&s;wer therefore to him is, That the Rock-Refiners having cheated the Nation of ten times more Money than all their Co&s;t about their Refinerys amount to, they are too well paid if they are allow'd to go away unpuni&s;hed.</P>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
<BACK>
<DIV1 TYPE="docket title">
<PB REF="2">
<P><HI>An An&s;wer to the Paper Entituled,</HI> The Ca&s;e of the Proprietors and Re|finers of Rock-Salt.</P>
</DIV1>
</BACK>
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