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<DATE>2014-10-09</DATE>
<RESPSTMT>
<NAME>TCP Staff (Michigan)</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed as part of batch B140632.pdcc.</ITEM>
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<EEBO>
<IDG S="marc" R="UM" ID="B28720">
<STC T="W">R519d</STC>
<STC T="G">816.m.12[89]</STC>
<STC T="C">T215550</STC>
<BIBNO T="umi">99894194</BIBNO>
<VID>190240</VID>
</IDG><!-- alt.stc G816.m.12[89] --><!-- alt.stc Ct215550 -->
<TEXT LANG="eng">
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<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<HEAD>Rea&s;ons for the Taking off the Tax of <HI>5s per</HI> Chaldron on Coals.</HEAD>
<P>AS the Tax is laid, <HI>To carry on a War against</HI> France, and all in this Kingdom receive Protection thereby, it is but rea&s;onable they &s;hould contribute thereto; but in&s;tead therereof about Nine Tenths of the People are Excu&s;ed, they burning &s;uch Coals, Wood, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> as are not by it affected: Which layeth the Burthen upon &s;o &s;mall a part of the Trading People, that one Trade&s;man payeth more to this Tax than an hundred Gentlemen of ten times his E&s;tate, living in In-land Counties; which hath cau&s;ed &s;uch continual Complaints: Some of which are as followeth.</P>
<P N="1">I. The Owners of Shipping, many of which are Trade&s;men, being di&s;cou|raged through the great Taxes that are laid on Coals, Ships, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> with other Charges belonging thereto, Coals amounts to 1 <HI>l</HI> 14 <HI>s</HI> 5 <HI>d per London</HI> Chaldron, before deliver'd in the Pool, as appears by a Printed Ca&s;e, delivered the la&s;t Se&s;&s;i|ons of Parliament: And they finding by the&s;e Di&s;couragements that People in the adjacent Counties to the River of <HI>Thames,</HI> and other Navigable Rivers, fall upon Burning Wood, Turff, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> in great Quantities, which formerly burnt Coals. And likewi&s;e there being in a great Storm about Two hundred Sail of their Ships lo&s;t, di&s;courageth the Owners from Venturing to Sea. So that tho&s;e Ma&s;ters that lo&s;t their Ships, by Rea&s;on of the Di&s;couragement afore&s;aid, want Employment, and many of the Coal-Ships are &s;ent to other Places; which has been chiefly occa&s;ioned by this &s;aid Tax. All this will much le&s;&s;en the Importation of Coals, and prevent the Breeding of Seamen, for want of Building Ships, to make the afore&s;aid great Lo&s;s, and other Lo&s;&s;es, both before and &s;ince, Good.</P>
<P N="2">II. The poor Seamen, Watermen, Fi&s;hermen, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> that burn Coals, though it &s;hould be but one Chaldron each Family <HI>per</HI> Year; yet they being Impre&s;&s;ed to Man the Navy Royal, there Wages being 23 <HI>s per</HI> Month, which is but 14 <HI>l,</HI> 19 <HI>s. per</HI> Year, out of which 40 <HI>s</HI> for Coals, and 3 <HI>l</HI> or 4 <HI>l per</HI> Year for Hou&s;e-Rent, the remainder cannot maintain their Families they leave behind them, but they mu&s;t want; which proveth an Addition to their Hard&s;hip, and is a great Di&s;couragement to &s;ome of the mo&s;t Serviceable People of the Kingdom, who are &s;o con&s;tantly expo&s;ed for its Defence at Sea.</P>
<P N="3">III. The Brewers; Some of them burn Four or Five hundred Chaldron of Coals a Year: Which &s;aid Tax will lye hard upon them, together with the great Duty of Exci&s;e, and they paying to other Taxes their <HI>Quota,</HI> as well as others which pay nothing to this, &s;eemeth exceeding hard, and, its feared, hath and will be, if not prevented, a means to cau&s;e them &s;o little to boil their Drink, &s;old about this City and Suburbs, that it may cau&s;e Di&s;tempers among the People.</P>
<P N="4">IV. Likewi&s;e the Gla&s;smen of <HI>London,</HI> who have by their Ingenuity arrived to &s;uch a degree of Perfection in their Art, that <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Gla&s;s hath the Preference: But by this Tax both upon Coals and Gla&s;s, it's fear'd, will prove not only a Di&s;couraging their Market at home, but al&s;o to its Vent in Foreign Markets, and prove hurtful to the Endeavours of other of aur <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Mechanicks hereaf|ter, to out-vie other Nations in their re&s;pective Arts al&s;o.</P>
<P N="5">V. The Dyers, burn great Quantities of Coals, and cannot dye the Wool|len Manufacture of this Kingdom &s;o cheap as they might if the Tax were off; which will be a means to hinder our Merchants from Selling at other Markets as cheap as other Merchants; and thereby will give the <HI>Dutch</HI> Opportunity to under|&s;ell us, they having their Coals from <HI>Newca&s;tle,</HI> &amp;c. and pay, if carried in our <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Ships, but 3 <HI>s per</HI> Chaldron for the &s;ame we pay 10 <HI>s,</HI> or thereabouts to this very Tax, be&s;ides other Charges: All which tendeth to the Di&s;courage|ment of our <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Woollen Manifacture, as well as to the Trades, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> afore&s;aid.</P>
<P><HI>And therefore it is hoped this Hou&s;e will take the multitude of Complaints, of this Tax, in|to their &s;erious Con&s;ideration, and ea&s;e the Traders and Poor of this great City and Suburbs from this Hard&s;hip.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
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<BACK>
<DIV1 TYPE="half title">
<PB REF="2">
<P>Rea&s;ons for Taking off the Tax of Five Shillings <HI>per</HI> Chaldron on Coals.</P>
</DIV1>
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