Selected quad for the lemma: england_n
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A58254
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Reasons humbly offered by the governour, assistants, and fellowship of Eastland-Merchants against the giving of a general liberty to all persons whatsoever to export the English vvoollen-manufacture whither they please.
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Eastland Company.
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1689
(1689)
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Wing R532; ESTC R184948
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7,709
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17
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passed betwixt them on that Account the Result of which in short was this that the said King Henry the 4 th finding by the said Priviledges granted to Forreigners his own Subjects to the great Prejudice of the Realm very much crippled in their Trade did revoke such parts of the Priviledges of the aforesaid Dutch Company as were inconsistent with the carryeing on of a Trade by the Natives of this Realm and for the better Encouragement of his owne Subjects did in the 5th Year of His Reign grant his first Charter to the Merchants Trading into the Eastland containing many great Priviledges and Immunities as by the said Charter may appear which having a good effect to the bringing of the Trade much more into the hands of the Natives of this Realm than was before King Edward the 4th for their more Ample Encouragement did in the Second Year of His Reign grant another Large Charter to the Merchants of England especially to those Residing in the Nether-Lands with several additional Immunities and Priviledges as by the Charter at Large may appear In the 1st and 2d of Philip and Mary was granted the Charter to the Russia Company afterwards confirmed by Act of Parliament in the 8th Year of Queen Elizabeth Until whose time tho' the Trade of this Nation was driven much more by the Natives thereof than had been formerly yet had the Society of the Dutch-Hans at the Steele-Yard much the advantage of them by means of their well regulated Societies and the priviledges they enjoyed insomuch that almost the whole Trade was driven by them to that degree that Queen Elizabeth Her Self when She came to have a War was forced to buy the Hemp Pitch Tarr Powder and other Naval Provisions which She wanted of Forreigners and that too at their own Rates nor was there any Stores of either in the Land to supply her occasions on a suddain but what at great Rates She prevailed with them to fetch for Her even in time of War they being strangers not regarding the Interest of the Nation and Her own Subjects being as then but very little Traders To remedy which She fell upon the consideration how She might at home have a well-grounded dependance to have those necessary Commodities by Her that so She might not want them when She most needed them and after great deliberation no better Expedient could be found by the said Queen and Her Council than by encouraging her own Subjects to be the Merchants which She did by erecting out of them several Societies of Merchants as that of the East-Land Company and other Companies by which means and by cancelling many of the Priviledges of the forementioned Dutch-Hans Society the Trade in General by degrees came to be managed by the Natives of this Realm and consequently the Profit of all those Trades accrewed to the English Nation Trade in general and English Shipping was encreased Her own Customes vastly augmented and what was at first the great End of all obtained viz. That She had constantly lying at home in the hands of Her own Subjects all sorts of Naval Provisions and Stores which She could make use of as Her occasions required them without any dependance on Her Neighbours for the same And thus by the means of the Erecting the forementioned Societies and Preserving and Encouraging that of the Merchant-Adventurers was the Trade at first gained from Forreigners to the Natives of this Realme to its Inestimable Advantage and by the same means hath been hitherto in great measure preserved but if these Societies should be overthrown as they will certainly be by a general Liberty granted to all Persons both Strangers and others to carry our Woollen-Manufactures to the places of their respective Priviledges the Trade will again by degrees be lost to the English and fall into the hands of Forreigners since it is clearly evident that the Trade of England to the Natives of this Realm can by no other ways be preserved than by the same method it was at first obtained viz. the Supporting the several and respective Societies of Merchants in their Priviledges and Immunities 2dly The next Mischeif that will follow upon the overthrow of the respective Companies consequential upon a General Permission is this that all the beneficial Priviledges obtained at the hands of the Princes and Governours of the respective Places of their Residences will be utterly Lost to the very great disadvantage of the Vending of our English Manufacture and this is so apparent that it needeth no enlargement for if the Companies fall their Priviledges must necessarily fall with them and tho' obtained at the Intercession of our Princes and at the great expence and sollicitations of the said Companies yet if a General permission be granted to all persons to Trade to the places of their Priviledges they will be forthwith looked upon but under the notion of general Traders and their Priviledges which in some Places are greater than those Princes own Subjects enjoy will be by them gladly celled and re-assumed which is so apparent to every Mans reason that we shall add no more about it 3. The last mischief mentioned arising by the over tbrow of the Companies of which a General Permission to trade to the places of the Priviledges is a necessary consequence is this That the Navigation of England will by degrees be thereby much impaired and this is almost as apparent as the former for it is a certain Maxim that the encrease of Navigation followeth the encrease of Trade and if the Trade of England fall into the Hands of Forreigners as it will in a little time do by the discouragement of English Merchants the Navigation of England must likewise in time decay for it has been always observed that the Forreigner will not make use of English Shipping if he can have any other for besides his National his Personal Interest leadeth him to the contrary in as much as he can have his Goods carried at cheaper Rates in forreign Shipping who can and do Sail at much easier Charge than our English and so our Navigation by degrees will be much impaired 3. We come now to the third and last reason that a General Permission will be so far from gaining the end proposed by it that in all Probability it will in the event prove the contrary which if we make out as we hope we shall by reason and that backed by the experience of former and latter times It will then we presume be satisfactory to all disinterested Persons that a General Permission will be no ways for the good but much to the prejudice of this Nation In order to the proof of which we shall lay down this as a sure Maxim that it is not the quantity of Woollen-Manufacture exported but what the Markets abroad are able to take off and those Nations expend which is the true Rule by which our measures must be taken as to the expence of our English Manufacture For instance If in one
REASONS Humbly Offered by the GOVERNOUR Assistants And FELLOWSHIP of Eastland-Merchants Against the giving of a General LIBERTY to all Persons whatsoever to Export the ENGLISH VVoollen-MANUFACTURE Whither they PLEASE LONDON Printed Anno. Dom. MDCLXXXIX REASONS humbly offered by the Governour Assistants and Fellowship of Eastland Merchants against the giving of a general Liberty to all Persons whatsoever to export the English Woollen-Manufacture whither they please IT was the observation of a great Man in his time that the ill Success which did attend Princes and States in their great Affairs did generally arise through the mistake of that which was their true Interest and certainly of all Errors in Judgment that which relates to a Man's Interest where it has been mistaken has been ever observed to be of a most fatal Consequence for as it is natural for every thing to tend to its proper Centre so it is as natural for every Man to persue tho' by different ways and means that which he apprehends to be his proper Interest wherein if he happen to be mistaken what can follow But instead of applying himself to that which is his real advantage he manytimes persueth with his utmost Endeavours that which in the issue proveth the direct contrary That they are under a mis-apprehension of this nature who do assert that a general Liberty to all Persons to export our Woollen-Manufacture where they please will conduce much to the interest of the Nation under a supposition that it will encrease the vent thereof we humbly apprehend will be clearly evident upon the following considerations which as in duty bound we submit to the Judgment of our Superiours 1st We affirm That a General Permission of Exportation as before mentioned will be a means to debase the Reputation of our English-Manufacture and consequently render it less desireable and sought after abroad 2ly It will overthrow all the Incorporated Companies of Merchants in England as the Hamburgh the Russia though established by Act of Parliament the East-Land the Turkey the East-India and the Affrican the Mischiefs consequential upon which will be as followeth viz. 1. The Trade of England will thereby be lost as to the English and come to be all or at least wise the greatest part in the hands of Forreigners as it formerly was before the said Companies were erected 2ly All the Priviledges obtained by the said Companies from the Princes States and Governours of the places of their respective Residences which are of great advantage to the vending of our English-Manufacture will be utterly lost 3. The Navigation of England by degrees will be very much impaired and discouraged 3. Lastly to name no more a general Permission will be so far from answering the End proposed by it of vending a greater quantity of our Woollen-Manufacture than was before that in all probability it will in the end prove the contrary and be the occasion of vending a great deal less The proving of which several Particulars we shall undertake in Order viz. 1. For the first that a general Permission will be a means to debase the reputation of our Manufactures abroad and render them less desireable will appear as followeth viz. The trade of the Manufacture being now chiefly in the management of Regulated Companies it is both their Care and their Interest that the said Manufacture be not debased in its worth whereby it may come to a dis-esteem abroad which general Traders will never be mindful of The appointing set times of Shipping will be prevented which tho' now dis-used yet hath sometimes been found necessary by regulated Companies in order to bring the Manufacture into an esteem again when by an Exportation of much more than the Market could take off it became unvendible and a Drugg A General Permission letteth in all sorts of ignorant Traders who for want of Judgment in the said Manufacture know not how to make choice of such which are proper for the Market and when they have them there are forced many times by their necessities to sell them to loss whereby our Manufacture cometh to be undervalued and our Nation greatly prejudiced an instance of which we find recorded as followeth viz. The English in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth had for a good while together a profitable Trade and good Sales for their English Manufactures at Narve in the Baltick Sea until at length in the year 1565 a number of stragling Merchants and unskillful Traders resorted thither out of this Realm with their Commodities by which means in a little while the Trade which before was good was utterly spoiled insomuch that many of them went about the Town with Cloth upon their Arms and a Measure in their Hands and sold the same by the Arsine a Measure of that Country to the great embasing of that excellent Commodity the discredit of our Nation and the final impoverishment and utter undoing of the said stragling Merchants all which being made known to her Majesty and her Privy-Council Order was taken at the next Parliament that the Town of Narve then under the jurisdiction of the Muscovite should be comprized within the Charter of the Russia Company to prevent the like evil kind of dealing for the future and making vile the principal Commodity of the Nation And it was so done accordingly by Act of Parliament which one instance amongst others is sufficient to evidence that a general permission of Exportation to all Persons will be an occasion of bringing our Manufacture into a dis-esteem which was our first Reason 2. A General Permission will overthrow all the incorporated Companies of Merchants of England the evil Consequences of which will be 1. That the trade of England will thereby in time be lost as to the English and come by degrees into the hands of Forreigners The Trade of this Nation was formerly as it were intirely in the Forreigners Hands viz. The Members of the Haus-Towns who were incorporated into a Society by the name of the Merchants of the Dutch-Hans and had many Priviledges and Immunities granted them by the Kings and Princes of this Realm and amongst others a Guildhall afterwards called the Steel-yard for the better carrying on their said Government as appeareth by a Charter granted to them in the twenty third year of Henry the Third but more especially by another Charter granted to them in the forty fourth year of the said King Henry the third and that General Charter to forreign Merchants granted by King Edward the First in the 31 st Year of His Reign About the time of King Henry the 4th the English began to Trade themselves into the East-parts at which the Easterlings or Merchants of the Dutch-Hans were so offended that they took several of their Ships and Goods and offered them several other Injuries which occasioned great Complaints and Differences between the said King Henry the 5th and Couradus de Junigen then Master General of the Dutch Order in Prussia with the Hans Townes And divers Embassies