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<DATE>2014-11-19</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 B140736.pdcc.</ITEM>
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<EEBO>
<IDG S="marc" R="UM" ID="B28150">
<STC T="W">P2370</STC>
<STC T="G">816.m.10[36]</STC>
<STC T="C">R224681</STC>
<BIBNO T="umi">99885587</BIBNO>
<VID>185359</VID>
</IDG><!-- alt.stc G816.m.10[36] --><!-- alt.stc CR224681 -->
<TEXT LANG="eng">
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<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB N="1" REF="1" MS="y">
<HEAD><HI>Plain Truth:</HI> OR, ARGUMENTS Humbly Offer'd to prove, That nothing Inferiour to <HI>A Total Prohibition</HI> OF ALL GOLD and SILVER ONCE Melted in England, Will prevent its Exportation.</HEAD>
<P>THE Melting down of almo&s;t all our Mill'd Money, <HI>The</HI> pre&s;ent great want of Trea&s;ure to defray the Expence of the War, <HI>The</HI> deadne&s;s of our Manufactures (e&s;pecially Woollen) <HI>The</HI> unpa|rallell'd abu&s;e of Clipping and Counterfeiting; <HI>The</HI> rai&s;ing of <HI>Guinea</HI>'s above their Intrin&s;ick Value; <HI>The</HI> turning the &s;mall remains of our Mill'd and Broad Money into a &s;ort of Ware, &s;o that 'tis bought and &s;old, at Prices far beyond its Original Value, <HI>With the</HI> extravagant price of Sil|ver and Gold Bullion, are <HI>All</HI> &s;o plainly the Mi&s;chievous Con&s;equences of the <HI>Exportation</HI> of the Trea&s;ure of the Land, that it has pleas'd the <HI>Great Council</HI> of Our Nation to take the Matter into their Con&s;ideration, in order to apply a Remedy to the&s;e <HI>Growing Evils.</HI></P>
<P>But <HI>the Men</HI> who have brought the&s;e Mi&s;chiefs upon us, being &s;en|&s;ible, That if <HI>An Effectual Means</HI> were us'd to <HI>Prevent Expor|tation,</HI> it would &s;top the Current of their Profit; have therefore us'd all their <HI>Power</HI> and <HI>Intere&s;t</HI> (and do &s;till u&s;e it) to hinder &s;uch a <HI>Good Law,</HI> Or if <HI>They</HI> cannot altogether hinder a <HI>Law,</HI> then to procure <HI>&s;uch an one</HI> as may put the whole Power into their <HI>Own hands.</HI></P>
<PB N="2" REF="2">
<P>And here &s;ince the <HI>Open and Bare-faced Truth</HI> mu&s;t be &s;poken (<HI>Loqui Volumus, nam &s;cimus</HI> Amyclas <HI>tacendo perii&s;&s;e) Some</HI> of the mo&s;t power|ful <HI>Gold&s;miths</HI> and <HI>Refiners,</HI> &amp;c. of <HI>London</HI> have been the <HI>Great Exporters</HI> of our Trea&s;ure, if not wor&s;e&mdash; <HI>Clippings and Ingots of Mill'd Money are not di&s;tingui&s;h'd by <HI>Smell,</HI> from Forreign Silver.</HI></P>
<P>The&s;e are <HI>The Men</HI> that have been the great <HI>Remora's</HI> of this mo&s;t <HI>Nece&s;&s;ary and Profitable Law;</HI> And therefore when the <HI>Hou&s;e of Lords</HI> were plea&s;ed to intimate to the <HI>Gold&s;miths,</HI> that they &s;hould prepare a Bill to prevent the&s;e Mi&s;chiefs; 'Twas de&s;canted (agreeable to the &s;incerity of <HI>the&s;e Men</HI>) in the&s;e Words, <HI>Since they Will have a Rattle, they mu&s;t have a Rattle.</HI></P>
<P>'Tis Natural to All Men, to remove the <HI>Scandal</HI> to their Neighbours Door which &s;hould lie at their Own, and therefore &s;ay <HI>the&s;e Men</HI> (with a &s;eeming Concern) <HI>Tho&s;e Rogues the Iews carry away all the Silver out of the Nation</HI> (&s;o &s;en&s;ible are they that <HI>Exportation of our Trea&s;ure</HI> is <HI>Odious</HI> and <HI>De&s;tructive</HI>) Tho' at the &s;ame time they are careful that the <HI>Guilt</HI> of <HI>the Nations Ruine</HI> &s;hall not lie <HI>altogether</HI> on the <HI>Iews,</HI> by Eporting <HI>Them&s;elves</HI> as much as they can.</P>
<P>If therefore the <HI>Power</HI> of determining whether Silver be <HI>Lawful, <HI>i. e.</HI></HI> Forreign Bullion, be left to <HI>The&s;e Men,</HI> 'Twill be, in plain Words (&s;ince we mu&s;t &s;peak plain) <HI>To make Criminals Judges of their own Of|fence.</HI></P>
<P>That an Oath of the <HI>Lawfulne&s;s of Bullion to be Tran&s;ported,</HI> will not &s;top the Mi&s;chief, is apparent; &s;ince if the <HI>Exporter&punc; him&s;elf</HI> Melt either Clippings, Money, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> (which is neither difficult, tedious, or laborious) privately fir&s;t into &s;mall Ingots, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and his Servant afterwards melt the &s;ame Numerical Ingots, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> into larger, for <HI>Exportation,</HI> The Ser|vant will become capable of Swearing, that what he Melted was nei|ther <HI>Clippings, Plate,</HI> nor the <HI>Coin of the Kingdom.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Tho&s;e</HI> who have evaded the Law in Melting down our <HI>Mill'd Money,</HI> and Clipping the <HI>Broad; Tho&s;e</HI> who rai&s;e to them&s;elves <HI>E&s;tates</HI> by <HI>&s;e|cret Gainful</HI> ways, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Will never want Men to Swear (if they boggle them&s;elves) to evade a <HI>New Law,</HI> which leaves 'em the liberty of Ex|porting what they plea&s;e, at the Expence of an Oath.</P>
<P>It's from a due Regard to the <HI>Honour</HI> which a Bill that has pa&s;t thro <HI>The mo&s;t Honourable Hou&s;e of Lords,</HI> and has been twice read in the <HI>Ho|nourable Hou&s;e of Commons,</HI> has thence obtain'd (and not as it came from <HI>Tho&s;e</HI> who call'd it a <HI>Rattle</HI>) that we do not pre&s;ume to &s;hew the Invalidity of That Bill, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> But &s;urely there can be no <HI>Material Objection</HI> again&s;t the Prohibiting <HI>All Gold and Silver once Melted in England,</HI> but &s;uch as carries with it &s;ome dark-&s;ide to hide <HI>&s;ome Mens</HI> particular Profits, at the damage of the Nation, and the Encou|ragement of Perjury.</P>
<P><HI>It's therefore humbly Pray'd,</HI></P>
<P>That a Law be made to Prohibit <HI>All Gold and Silver once Melted in England,</HI> and the Proof to lie on the Exporter, that
<PB N="3" REF="2"> what he Exports is Forreign Bullion (according to that mo&s;t ju&s;t and provident Re&s;olution of the <HI>Committee,</HI> &amp;c.) to facilitate which (if the <HI>Parliament</HI> think fit) it may be Enacted,</P>
<P>That All Forreign Bullion Imported in Ingots for the future (For|reign Coins by their Stamp and Character will &s;peak for them&s;elves, and may be exempted) be enter'd at the <HI>Cu&s;tom-Hou&s;e,</HI> Cu&s;tom free, and there to receive &s;ome Stamp, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Gratis, <HI>On Oath fir&s;t made, that <HI>That Bullion</HI> was received on board from &s;ome parts beyond the Seas, in the &s;ame form which now it bears,</HI> &amp;c. Which Entrance will (if it comes to be Exported) help the Exporter in his Proof: And that <HI>no Bullion</HI> be Exported, but what is found &s;o enter'd.</P>
<P>That <HI>All Gold</HI> Imported, not in Ingots (if Exported) be not Melted here in this Nation.</P>
<P><HI>Such a Law</HI> can be detrimental to <HI>None,</HI> but <HI>Such</HI> as de&s;ire to increa&s;e their private Wealth, by ways de&s;tructive to the National Intere&s;t.</P>
<P>This will give Liberty to no &s;ort of Men to u&s;e the Law to in&s;ult on their Neighbours, or rai&s;e Objections where there are none, or to find none where they ought to be rais'd.</P>
<P>'Twill e&s;tabli&s;h no new Office, or harras the <HI>Subject</HI> by new <HI>Directors</HI> of what is, or is not fit to be Exported.</P>
<P>'Twill lay no Men under the Temptation of Perjury, by Profit to them&s;elves, or fear of a Ma&s;ter, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> And as to what relates to the Prevention of Clipping, if our Money be new Mill'd (which is the <HI>only <HI>Effectual</HI> Way</HI> to prevent it) nothing need be added on that Head.</P>
<P>And for Preventing the Melting of our Money for the future, if the Law Provide that the Money be rai&s;ed&punc; (according to the Re&s;olution of the <HI>Committee</HI>) and whatever is rai&s;ed, to go towards the Fund for making good the Clipt Money, <HI>This</HI> will prevent Melting down at <HI>Home,</HI> and will al&s;o return it, if carried <HI>Abroad,</HI> and al&s;o pefectly Cure a Pernicious Pra|ctice u&s;ed by &s;ome Men, of <HI>Culling <HI>the Weightie&s;t Money</HI></HI> to Melt down, in order to be Recoin'd; which practice will &s;till continue, if the Profits of Coinage be not diverted to &s;ome &s;uch good Purpo&s;e, as making good the dificiency of our light Money, &amp;c.</P>
<P>This <HI>Honourable Hou&s;e</HI> will &s;oon di&s;tingui&s;h betwixt this Pa|per and that <HI>Shoal of Propo&s;als, Projects &amp;c.</HI> offer'd with intimations of private Advantages to particular Men, Since here's no other <HI>Good</HI> but the <HI>Publick,</HI> de&s;ign'd: No New Offices propo&s;ed to gratifie <HI>Projecters, &amp;c.</HI> No dangerous and tempting Profits to be put into the Power of a <HI>few Men</HI> who have already given no very good proofs of their preferring the <HI>Publick</HI> before <HI>Private</HI> Intere&s;t.</P>
<P>The Hone&s;ty of this Paper will therefore (it's hop'd) car|ry with it it's own Recommendation to this <HI>Augu&s;t A&s;&s;embly;</HI> Whom the <HI>Great God</HI> ble&s;s and make truly Honourable, in becoming the <HI>Healers</HI> of the Wounds of this Nation.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="docket title">
<PB REF="3">
<P><HI>Plain Truth:</HI> OR, ARGUMENTS Humbly Offer'd to Prove, That nothing Inferiour to <HI>A Total Prohibition</HI> OF ALL GOLD and SILVER ONCE Melted in <HI>England,</HI> Will prevent its Exportation.</P>
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