The Online Library of Liberty

A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.

• Preface.
• A Select Collection of Early English Tracts On Commerce
• Thomas Mun, a Discoverse of Trade From England Vnto the East-indies: Answering to Diuerse Obiections Which Are Vsually Made Against the Same.
• Lewes Roberts, the Treasure of Traffike, Or a Discoourse of Forraigne Trade.
• Thomas Mun, England’s Treasure By Forraign Trade. Or. the Ballance of Our Forraign Trade Is the Rule of Our Treasure.
• Chap. I.: The Qualities Which Are Required In a Perfect Merchant of Forraign Trade.
• Chap. II.: The Means to Enrich This Kingdom, and to Encrease Our Treasure.
• Chap. III.: The Particular Ways and Means to Encrease the Exportation of Our Commodities, and to Decrease Our Consumption of Forraign Wares.
• Chap. IV.: The Exportation of Our Moneys In Trade of Merchandize Is a Means to Encrease Our Treasure.
• Chap. V.: Forraign Trade Is the Only Means to Improve the Price of Our Lands.
• Chap. VI.: The Spanish Treasure Cannot Be Kept From Other Kingdoms By Any Prohibition Made In Spain.
• Chap. VII.: The Diversity of Gain By Forraign Trade.
• Chap. VIII.: The Enhansing Or Debasing Our Moneys Cannot Enrich the Kingdom With Treasure, Nor Hinder the Exportation Thereof.
• Chap. IX.: A Toleration For Forraign Coins to Pass Currant Here At Higher Rates Then Their Value With Our Standard, Will Not Encrease Our Treasure.
• Chap. X.: The Observation of the Statute of Imployments to Be Made By Strangers, Cannot Encrease, Nor Yet Preserve Our Treasure.
• Chap. XI.: It Will Not Increase Our Treasure to Enjoyn the Merchant That Exporteth Fish, Corn Or Munition, to Return All Or Part of the Value In Money.
• Chap. XII.: The Undervaluing of Our Money Which Is Delivered Or Received By Bills of Exchange Here Or Beyond the Seas, Cannot Decrease Our Treasure.
• Chap. XIII.: The Merchant Who Is a Mere Exchanger of Money By Bills Cannot Increase Or Decrease Our Treasure.
• Chap. XIV.: The Admirable Feats Supposed to Be Done By Bankers and the Merchants Exchange.
• Chap. XV.: Of Some Excesses and Evils In the Commonwealth, Which Notwithstanding Decay Not Our Trade Nor Treasure.
• Chap. XVI.: How the Revenues and Incomes of Princes May Justly Be Raised.
• Chap. XVII.: Whether It Be Necessary For Great Princes to Lay Up Store of Treasure.
• Chap. XVIII.: How Much Treasure a Prince May Conveniently Lay Up Yearly.
• Chap. XIX.: Of Some Different Effects, Which Proceed From Naturall and Artificiall Wealth.
• Chap. XX.: The Order and Means Whereby We May Draw Up the Ballance of Our Forraign Trade.
• Chap. XXI.: The Conclusion Upon All That Hath Been Said, Concerning the Exportation Or Importation of Treasure.
• Samuel Fortrey, Englands Interest and Improvement.
• England’s Great Happiness; Or, a Dialogue Between Content and Complaint.
• Britannia Languens, Or a Discourse of Trade
• The Preface.
• The Introduction.
• Section I.: Trade National Or Private, Home Or Forreign Treasures Imported By Trade, Thence Land-rents, Populacy Increased, the Revenues of All Ranks of Men Depend Upon Trade, People and Treasure Make National Strength, Particular Advantages In Treasure,
• Sect. II.: The Several Kinds of Forreign Trade, of Trading With Home Or Forreign Navigation, Some General Application.
• Sect. III.: Of Forreign Trade Consisting In Exportation, of the Advantages of Home Manufactures, and Manufactures, Incidently Other Home Trades, and Imployments Are Considered; and Which of Them Enrich a Nation; of the Fishing-trade, and the Annual Export
• Sect. IV.: Of Forreign Trade From Port to Port, the Nature and Advantage of It, Differs From Meer Carriage, and Meer Importation; the Necessity of a Home Storehouse: the Ordinary Exporting of Money Or Bullion, of Dangerous Consequence; How to Be Avoided:
• Sect. V.: That Our Home and Forreign Market Is Incumbered, and Prejudiced By Extraordinary and Unequal Charges, and Cloggs In Our Merchandize Above What Are In Our Neighbour-nations, Viz. In the Building and Furniture of Our Ships, Victuals, Sea-mens Wa
• Sect. VI.: Other Cloggs On Our Trade, Viz. the Late Acts of Navigation, Which, With the Other Difficulties, Have Begot Monopolies; Made Our Navigation Yet Dearer, So Forreign Materials of Manufacture Cause Meer Importations, Hinder Our Forreign Vent of
• Sect. VII.: Forreigners Eased In Trade; Other Clogs and Difficulties Upon Ours; Want of Populacy, Incidently of Extream Prizes of Victuals, and How the Duration of Land-rents May Be Secured, Our People Restrained From Manufactures; the Abuse of the Act
• Sect. VIII.: That a Nation May Grow Poor By Forreign Trade, Viz. By an Excess of Meer Importations, Illustrated By Some Observations: This Facilitated By Exporting Money Or Bullion; the Fatal Consequences and Symptoms of a Consumptive Trade, Decay of Ma
• Sect. IX.: That a Consumptive Trade Must Render a Nation Still Weaker and Weaker: How Far the Meer Establishment of Absolute Power, Or Meer Liberty and Property, May Alter the Case.
• Sect. X.: Further Presumptions of Our Late National Overballance In Trade; an Account From the Mint In November 75. and Thence Our Former Ballance of Trade Estimated.
• Sect. XI.: Particular Decays In Our Exportations, and the Beneficial Parts of Our Trade; Instances In the Decay of Our Foreign-trade For Woollen Clothing, In the Several Countries and Ports We Traded To, In the Sinking of the Foreign Price of This Manufac
• Sect. XII.: Instances In Late Increases and Excesses of Our Forreign Importations, and Therein of the Decay of Some Other of Our Own Manufactures Which Supplyed Our Home Uses, Viz. In Linnens of All Sorts, More Dear Fine Linnens Used; Incidently of the
• Sect. XIII.: That a Considerable Part of Our Late Treasure Is Exhausted: Application to Our Publick and Private Revenues: Objections Answered, Viz. the Plenty of Money to Be Let On Securities, Stores of Money In London, Stocks In Merchandize, the Over
• Sect. XIV.: People and Treasure the True Pillars of the National Strength: the Odds In the Different Vse and Imployment of People. the Absoluteness of the French Monarchy No Cause of the Present French Grandure: the Late Application of the French Co
• Dudley North, Discourses Upon Trade
• The Preface.
• A Discourse Concerning the Abatement of Interest.
• A Discourse of Coyned Money.
• Postscript. Upon Farther Consideration of the Foregoing Matters, I Think Fit to Add the Following Notes.
• Considerations On the East-india Trade
• To the Reader.
• Chap. I.: The Objections Against the East-india Trade; Viz. the Exportation of Bullion For Manufactures to Be Consum’d In England; the Loss of the Labourer’s Employment; the Abatement of Rents Are Enforc’d.
• Chap. II.: The Exportation of Bullion For Indian Manufactures, Is an Exchange of Less For Greater Value.
• Chap. III.: A More Open East-india- Trade, Is More Profitable to the Kingdom.
• Chap. IV.: The East-india Trade Does Not So Much Diminish the Riches of Some Private Persons, As It Increases the Riches of the Kingdom.
• Chap. V.: The East-india Trade Is the Way to Increase Our Bullion.
• Chap. VI.: The East-india Trade Must Increase Our Exportations.
• Chap. VII.: Notwithstanding the Idleness of the Mint, the Money and the Bullion Are Increas’d.
• Chap. VIII.: The Increase of Paper Money Is to Be Ascrib’d to the Increase of Real Money, Rather Than the Apparent Plenty of Money to the Increase of Current Paper.
• Chap. IX.: The Kingdom Is Not More Impoverish’d By the Consumption of Indian Than of English Manufactures.
• Chap. X.: The East-india Trade Destroys No Imployment of the People Which Is Profitable to the Kingdom.
• Chap. XI.: The East-india Trade Is the Most Likely Way to Inlarge the Business In the Present Manufactures.
• Chap. XII.: By Being the Cause of the Invention of Arts and Engines, of Order and Regularity In Our Manufactures, the East-india Trade, Without Abating the Wages of Labourers, Abates the Price of Manufactures.
• Chap. XIII.: The East-india Trade Is the Most Likely Way to Set On Foot New Manufactures For Imployment of the People.
• Chap. XIV.: The East-india Trade Does Not Abate the Rents, By the Exportation of Bullion, By the Diminution of Consumers, By the Abatement of Wages; the Importation of Indian Manufactures Is Less Likely to Abate Rents Than the Importation of the Unwro
• Chap. XV.: The Importation of Indian Manufactures Abates Only the Price of Labour, But Raises the Price of the Produce of the Estate.
• Chap. XVI.: And This Is Confirm’d By Examples.
• Chap. XVII.: The East-india Trade Does Not Abate the Rents of the Landholder By Destroying His Monopoly.
• Chap. XVIII.: The Fishing-trade Is Not So Profitable As the Importation of Irish Cattel, Or of Indian Manufactures; and Is More Likely Than Either to Abate the Rents of England.
• Chap. XIX.: The Herring-fishery Not Practicable In the Present Circumstances of England; the Dutch Can Sell Cheaper.
• Chap. XX.: The Way to Bring England to Be Contented With As Little Profit In the Fishing-trade As Holland.
• Chap. XXI.: That the Way to Enable England to Catch and Cure Their Herrings As Cheap As Holland, Is, First to Have Materials For That Trade As Cheap: and That This Is Most Likely to Be Done, By Discharging the Customs Upon Such Things, By Making the T
• Chap. XXII.: The Way to Make English Labour In the Fishing-trade As Cheap As That of Holland; That the People Here Must Cohabit As Close Together; and the Most Probable Methods For Effecting This, Are to Erect a Free-port, to Impower Parishes to Send

CHAP. XIV.

The East-India Trade does not abate the Rents, by the exportation of Bullion, by the diminution of Consumers, by the abatement of Wages; the importation of Indian Manufactures is less likely to abate Rents than the importation of the unwrought Produce of India.

THE last Complaint is of the Landholder, that his Rents must be abated by the East-India Trade; that the value of the Produce of the Estate must needs be lessen’d by the exportation of Bullion, by the diminution of Consumers, by the abatement of Wages, by letting the Produce of India into all the English Markets.

To the exportation of Bullion,Rents not abated by the exportation of Bullion; it has been already answer’d, That there is never the less Bullion in the Kingdom; that the Carriage of it into India is the way to increase our Exportations, to make Returns of more Bullion. Then there will be still as much in England to be given for the Produce of the Estate; the price of this is not likely to be abated for want of Bullion.

To the diminution of Consumers,nor by diminution of Consumers; may be answer’d, That the East-India Trade reduces the price of Labour, by which the Produce of the Estate is manufactur’d; then more will be enabled at home, more will be invited from abroad to buy it: This Trade does not lessen the number of Buyers, it does not abate the value of the produce of the Estate.

To the abatement of Wages,nor by abatement of Wages. may be answer’d, That the Matter of Fact has been deny’d; the East-India Trade indeed may have abated the price of Labour, by shortning every Work, by introducing Arts and Engines, Order and Regularity into every Manufacture, by which the same may be done with less labour and greater expedition; yet no Man’s Wages are abated; every Labourer has still as much to give the Landholder for the Produce of his Estate.

To the Argument, That the value of the Produce of English Estates must be abated, by letting the Produce of India into all the English Markets, by destroying the Monopoly of the Gentleman, by increasing the number of Sellers and of like Things, for Sale, beyond the former proportion of Money and Buyers, may be answer’d, That Landholders think the Produce of their Estates is in no danger from the unwrought Things of India, they have less reason to be afraid of Indian Manufactures; the importation of these can reduce only the price of Labour, and therefore the price of the Produce of the Estate cannot be abated by it; indeed, there is very good reason that the value of that shou’d be advanc’d by it; and this is also confirm’d by the experience of many Countries in like cases; upon all which, it must be deny’d, That the East-India Trade increases the Sellers and like Things for Sale, against the Landholder and the Produce of his Estate, beyond the former proportion of Money and Buyers: And thus the Landholder is not at all the worse for the loss of his Monopoly.

Indian Manufactures cannot hurt the Rents of England;The unwrought Things of India are more likely to abate Rents than the Manufactures. for, ’tis the sense of People, that the unwrought Things of India cannot do it; Men are very careful to preserve their Rents; for this reason they keep every thing out of England from whence any danger may be apprehended; Irish Cattel are prohibited, and so are the Manufactures of many Countries; we must rather want plenty at home, than import the same from abroad; and all this is done, that the value of the Produce of English Estates may be preserv’d. But above all, Gentlemen are in the greatest disquiets for their Wool; this is watch’d with as much care and jealousie as the Golden Apples of the Hesperides; a poor Man must not have leave to carry an old Sheet to his Grave; both the Living and the Dead must be wrapt in Woollen; indeed, no other Law is wanted to complete the business, but only one, That our Perukes shou’d be made of Wool. This demonstrates the great care of the Gentleman, to suffer nothing that may be dangerous to his Rents. Nevertheless, the unwrought Things of India are let alone; these are neither directly, nor by high customs prohibited; these therefore, in the opinion of Gentlemen, are not dangerous to the Rents, are not likely to abate the price of the Produce of the Estate.

But certainly, the importation of Indian Manufactures is not so likely to abate the value of the meer Produce of English Estates, as the unwrought Things of India: To import Irish Cattel, does not take up so many Hands, does not draw so many Labourers from the Plough, from the Loom, from the Manufacture of the rest of the Produce of English Estates, as the Fishing-Trade, which requires as many Hands to import so much value of Fish, and many more to build Busses, make Netts, and to work in all the Appendages of this Trade. In like manner, to import Callicoes, Stuffs, wrought Silks, and other Indian Manufactures, does not require so many Hands, does not draw so many from the Manufacture of the meer Produce of the Estate, as to import Cotton, Wool, Raw-silk, and the other unwrought Produce of India, which requires as many Hands to import them, and many more to perfect them: So in all cases, Foreign Manufactures are not likely to spend so much of our Labour as the unwrought Things of Foreign Countries; they are less likely to make a scarcity of Labourers to work up the Produce of the Estate, less likely to obstruct the demand of this, by raising the price of Labour that must be bestow’d upon it. And thus the importation of Indian Manufactures is not so like to abate the value of the meer Produce of the Estate, as the unwrought Things of India; these, as is already shewn in the judgment of Gentlemen, are not like to do it; wherefore, they ought not to apprehend any danger to the Produce of their Estates from the importation of Indian Manufactures.