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A33687
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A discourse of trade in tvvo parts : the first treats of the reason of the decay of the strength, wealth, and trade of England, the latter, of the growth and increase of the Dutch trade above the English / by Roger Coke.
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Coke, Roger, fl. 1696.
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1670
(1670)
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Wing C4976; ESTC R23282
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53,037
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94
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But the Timber of England was wanting and decayed before the Act of Navigation Pet. 17. And the means of supplying the Timber of England is interrupted by the Act of Navigation Therefore the Timber of England is diminished by the Act of Navigation Which was to be demonstrated Annotations upon this Proposition It is now above 120 years since the making of the Act of 35. of H. 8. 17. when without all question the Timber of England was above five times more than now it is yet notwithstanding the heat and distemper of those times so vigilant were our Ancestors in the preservation of the Timber of this Nation the best For Shipping in the world that though they did not foresee all ways for preserving and encreasing it yet they saw that the great decay of it was universally such in England that unless speedy remedy in that behalf were provided great and manifest likelyhood of scarcity and lack of Timber for building making repairing and maintaining Houses and Ships would be for prevention whereof several provisions were made but never put or at least not in my memory in execution Which is the fate in many of the Laws of these times Queen Elizabeth a Lady of incomparable Prudence and Foresight and more jealous of the Honour and Safety of this Nation than any of her Ancestors or predecessors as one of her chiefest cares in the first year of her Reign for the Preservation of the Timber of England gave free liberty to all men as well Subjects as Strangers freely to Import Masts and Raff Notwithstanding this provision this vigilant Queen taking notice of the great decay of Timber occasioned by converting the same into cloven board did in the 35. of her Reign cap. 11. Ordain that every stranger which should ship carry or Transport Bere or Fish except Herrings in Cask should before such Transportation and every Subject which should Transport Beer or Fish before or within four months aster for every six tuns of Beer or Fish should import from parts beyond the Sees 200 of clapboard fit to make Cisk to contain three foot and two inches in length at least upon penalty of forfeiture of such Fish Beer and Cask Yet though both these laws stand now in force and the good and safety of the Nation be so much concerned in them the Act of Navigation makes it forfeiture of Ship Goods and Guns to import any Raff Masts Timber or Clapboard unless by English ships though the English since the Rumps first institution of the Law have not built one ship for this Trade nor ever will so long as it stands in force and sayled by ¾ English and the Natives of the place whether the Natives have ships or not So that if an English man Dutch man Hamburger or any Easterling Trade for beer or fish and doe not import the clapboard prescribed by the 35 Eliz. 11. the goods and cask are forfeit But if they do import clapboard the ship and goods and guns are forfeit by the Act of Navigation I have often heard my Father complain of the vast destruction of our Timber by converting the same into Clapboard whereby all the best of our Timber is consumed for when any Oak will rend or so far as the ground end will rend Rift bearing about a third penny more price then if it were sawn into planck the converter intending his profit converts it into Rift and that if he could ever see a Parliament wherein he could ever hope to do any good he would bring in a Bill to prevent the destruction of our Timber hereby Old Oliver entertain'd this Law but coldly but however he were otherwise more careful of his own Interest than of the Nations yet he permitted the English Merchants to trade in Forein Bottoms for Timber whereby he was not only better and cheaper supplied than the Nation hath since been but he enforced the King of Denmarks Subjects to sell their ships built for that Trade and wherewith they used to impose what terms they pleased upon the English being better and cheaper supplyed than they could Consequences of this Proposition Besides the mischiefs and inconveniences which have come upon this Nation by not observing the Law made the 35 of Eliz. 11. these inconveniences have ensued the Act of Navigation in reference to the Trade of Timber which were proved before a Committee of the House of Commons last Session of Parliament 1. Before the Rump made this Law the Trade to Norway for Timber was generally driven by the English in better of our growths and Manufactures whereas now it is driven in Dollars and the Treasure of the Nation and those Growths and Manufactures of England which are exported into Norway are rarely exported but by Norwegians 2. That the prizes of Norway timber were become near double 3. That our own Timber was much wasted by reason of the dearness of Norway 4. That we had not built one ship for that Trade since the Law nor could ever hope to do so long as it stood in force because a forein ship may be built for half the price and be more free for Trade whereas the Norwegians had doubled their shipping and built them twice as bigg and from 600 Mariners encreased them to 6000 whereby the English in a short time must necessarily be excluded the Trade of Norway unless he drive it by Norwegians and in Norway bottoms 5. That the English are now almost wholly laid aside the Trade of Norway being generally driven in Norway bottoms and those sayled by Norwegians 6. That the English are wholly left to the King of Denmarkes disposing whenever he pleases to impose any further abuses upon them than were complained of which were that the English ever since 1646. and by the treaty made with his Majesty 1660. paid ⅘ of a Rixdollar per Last for the growths of Norway except the Town of Bergen but since the late War with them they paid custome for Timber a Rixdollar and half per Last for other growth a Rixdollar and ⅘ others 2 Rixdollars and ⅕ and others 3 Rixdollars and in measuring the Lastage the same ships which before the War had their measures adjusted were raised some 35 others 40 Lasts 7. That it was the Interest of the King of Denmark to make the Trade of Norway insupportable to the English for thereby as the case stood his Subjects would monopolize the Trade yet could no redress hereof be had untill in the years 1667 1668. his Majesty permitted his Subjects to Trade in Forein Vessels and strangers to import Timber and this reduced the Exorbitant Impositions of the King of Denmark to the Treaty of 1660 or otherwise he would have undone his own Subjects in that Trade as they were in the time of Oliver I insist more particularly hereon because that by the scarcity and waste of our Timber by reason of this Law and which must be in a vast measure increased in rebuilding the City of London the French
this Monarchy by reason hereof hath lost the Trade to a Common-wealth so by reason hereof a Commonwealth in Italy hath lost their Trade to a Monarchy For the State of Genoa imposing Customs upon 16 per cent upon all Commodities imported the Duke of Florence takes the advantage thereof by making Legorn a Free Port whereby it is become one of the most famous and flourishing Towns in Europe And the Genoans are forced to turn Usurers upon what they had got before And this year the King of France in probability hath laid a foundation to undo Legorn by making Marselles a free Port. The King of Sweden within the memory of man made Gottenburg a Free Port for 7 years which at this day hath established such a Trade there that of a poor and unregarded Village it is become the most flourishing Town of Trade in the North or North-East Here Reader let me desire thee to partake some part of my Grief in beholding such unsafe and barred Ports as Gottenburg and all those of the Vnited Netherlands to be by means of their freedom so Rich and Flourishing whereas our most excellent noble and safe Harbours but especially Falmouth which Cambden prefers before Brundusinus or any other and for its excellency and convenience deserves to be the Store house of Christendom yet hath scarce a Cock-boat belonging to it are all neglecte and passed by by reason of the height of our Customs the Laws of Naturalization and Navigation Pay less Interest for mony By reason whereof the Dutch may preserve stores of all sorts of Commodities and at any time sell them cheaper than the English who pay more Interest for mony Sir Walter Rawleigh affirms that Amsterdam is never without 700000 Quarters of Corn besides the Plenty they daily vent and that a Dearth of Corn in England France Spain Italy Portugal or other places enriches Holland 7 years after whereas we are only permitted to sell it when cheap to the no benefit of England and to buy it when dear to the impoverishing of us Besides it is impossible when two or more Ships are imployed in any voyage the one paying after the rate of 4 per cent the other 6 if otherwise their charge be equal that upon equal terms they can sell their Commodities upon equal profit So that though the height of Customs and Interest of mony do both prejudice Trade where it relates to any other place where either are less or lower yet the height of Interest is more insupportable in that it every day increases whether it be in preserving Stores or in reference to the length of Voyages in Forein Trade And whereas the publick Revenue is augmented by the height of Customs yet to the prejudice of Trade so Trade is more prejudiced by the height of Interest without any advantage to the publick Revenue Nor does the mischief of height of Interest mony end here but it hath a like bad influence upon building and fitting out Ships where no Custom is paid So as a Dutch Ship of equal Dimensions may be built and fitted out to Sea for half the terms an English Ship can and this Ship thus built and fitted up for half the terms is sailed with half the hands so as this charge being both ways double to the English and the English paying â…“ Interest more the English Merchant labours from hence in a three-fold charge more than the Dutch Merchant does and this not to be at one time discharged as Customs are but ever to be imposed upon the Ship so long as she lasts from whence a will necessarily follow that if our Customs were lower than the Dutch yet if the Interest of mony be in proportion higher the Dutch may and will hereby only maintain the Trade of the world exclusive to the English Corollary By the same reason the Dutch may sell more Domestick Manufactures at home and in Forein Trade cheaper and more conveniently than the English and with much more gain For by the 2 Prop. lib. 2. Trade is cheaper managed in the United Netherlands than in England and Prop. 1. lib. 2. It is more managed there than in England And 18 Pet. 2. The Dutch pay less Customs for their Domestick Commodities in Forein Trade Prop. 8. Theorem 3. The Dutch may sell more Commodities in Trade than the English cheaper more conveniently and with much more gain Subjects Are the Dutch and English Question Whether the Dutch may and do sell ut supra I say they may Ax. 13. For all things are either Forein or Domestick Proposition 7. 2. But the Dutch may sell more Forein Commodities at home and abroad cheaper more conveniently and with much more gain than the English Corollary And may sell more Domestick Manufactures at home and in Forein Trade cheaper more conveniently and with much more gain Therefore the Dutch may and do sell more Commodities in Trade cheaper more conveniently and with much more gain than the English Which was to be demonstrated Annotations They do it and have done it and are thereby become the greatest Prodigy that ever the world brought forth For let any consider them in their first principles being inconsiderable either for Number or Quality from their first rise to be opposed by the most powerful Monarch in Christendom for near 80 years together and from no principles of Trade from within themselves nor having scarce a piece of Ground to build one house upon nor one stick of Timber or scarce one handful of Hemp Pitch Tar or Iron to build or fit out a Ship and notwithstanding their constant Wars with Spain to ingage and undertake so many Wars against the Swede Dane Portugal and in the East and West-Indies To build so many fair and stately Cities beyond any other part of the World and all this in less than 100 years and at this day to manage a greater and more gainful Trade than all the world whereby their Wealth is inestimable and all this in contradiction to seeming impossibilities Nor is their strength and power at Sea less terrible than their wealth inestimable and at this day all the Affairs almost of Christendom are transacted at the Hague Queen Eliz. a Princess of most excellent Prudence and foresight though she were careless in hindering them in the progress of their Trade yet was very vigilant in restraining their strength by Sea nor would she permit them to build many Men of War and those not considerable whereby without any controul she kept them in perfect subjection at Sea After King James loved peace and his Book so well that he did not restrain their rising power by Sea K. Charles of Sacred memory foresaw the danger of it and would have restrained it but it pleased God he reigned in such perverse times that he either was not or which was worse could not be understood by his Subjects so as now their power at Sea is swelled to such a prodigious greatness as it is a question whether it