It was by these means that the woollen manufacture was first established in England. Edward III. a most sagacious prince, held out great inducements to the manufacturers in that branch to remove from Flanders to England. "Very great privileges were granted, and pensions were allowed to them from the crown, till they should be able to gain a comfortable livelihood by their ingenuity and industry." Further to favour and foster this infant manufacture, the exportation of wool, and the importation of foreign cloth were prohibited.† Such was the degree of care and attention undeviatingly bestowed on it, that "in the short and turbulent reign of Henry IV." who reigned but fourteen years, and was almost constantly at war," there were no fewer than twelve acts of parliament made for the regulation and encouragement of that manufacture; for preventing the exportation of wool and importation of cloth; and for guarding against frauds in the fabrication of it at home." It is obvious that the continuance of bounties beyond the infancy of manufactures, would be oppressive to a nation, and waste its treasures. And therefore as soon as they are fully established, the English government usually adopts a cheaper and equally effectual mode of fostering them, by the prohibition of the rival articles, or by the imposition of such heavy duties as nearly amount to prohibition, and thus securing to its own subjects the whole or principal part of the domestic market. In the year 1463, under Edward IV. the wisdom and policy of fostering domestic industry having become generally understood, the prohibition of importation, which had previously been confined chiefly to woollens, was extended to a very great variety of articles, viz: Woollen caps Woollen cloths Rings of copper, Chaffing dishes Andirons Gridirons Locks Dice Tennice-balls Buskins Galoches Combs Pattens Pack-needles * Mortimer's Elements of Commerce, p. 16. Painted ware Forcers Caskets Chaffing balls Rings for curtains Hat brushes If detected in the importation, they were to be forfeited, one half to the king, and the other to the informer.* Under Charles II. the prohibition was extended to Cut-work Embroidery Fringe Buttons Button or needle workt The list of articles at present prohibited to be imported into Great Britain, is not quite so extensive as that of Edward IV. They are as follow: * Anderson's History of Commerce, I. 636. † Postlethwaite's Dictionary of Commerce, I. 975. Pope's Practical Abridgment of the Laws of Customs and Excise. Title 284. The penalties for the importation of some of those articles are very severe. For example, besides the confiscation of the goods, there is a forfeiture of two hundred pounds sterling for every offence in the case of leather gloves. The most general mode, however, of encouraging domestic industry in Great Britain, at present, is by the imposition of such heavy duties, as in most cases amount to prohibition; or if the rival articles will still admit of importation, they cannot, from the necessary advance of price, materially affect the native manufacturer. We annex a list of some of the articles, with the amount of the duties imposed on them. Extracts from the British Tariff of 1818. Articles subject to duty of 597. 78. 6d. per 1007. value Almond paste Dressing-boxes Snuff-boxes Manufactures of brass worsted Carriages Clocks Open tapes Tubs Watches To 31. 138. 4d. per. 100l. Chalk Copper in pigs Worsted tapes Tapestry, not of silk Hoofs of cattle Horns Silk laces China ware Cast iron Minerals not otherwise Polishing rushes Ships with their tac kle Lime-stone Polishing stones Tanners' waste Tare Touch stone To 63l. 68. 8d. per 100l. Linen, not being chequered or striped Tobacco pipes Gause of thread Cotton stockings To 851. 10s. per 1007. Cotton caps To 114. per 1007. Linen sails. Glass bottles, rough plate glass, German sheet glass, glass manufactures. Leather fan mounts Linens chequered or striped, painted, or stained To 1421. 10s. per 1007. Articles whereof leather is the most valuable part Hides, or pieces of hides, tanned, tawed, or in any way dressed. An idea has been long entertained, by many well meaning people, that to secure the home market to our own manufacturers, operates merely to enable them to prey on and oppress their fellow-citizens, by extorting extravagant and exorbitant prices for their productions. And hence many of our planters and farmers in congress have uniformly opposed duties for the mere purpose of protecting manufactures. There are some who have openly avowed, that their sole view in laying impost duties, is to provide a revenue for the expenses of the government. And a writer of considerable celebrity, John Taylor, esq. of Caroline county, Virginia, has devoted a number of chapters of his Arator, to prove that every dollar given by a nation as bounty, or imposed as duty, to protect domestic manufactures, is a dollar robbed from the pockets of the farmers and planters! It is a trite but indisputable truth, that one solid, wellestablished fact, bearing upon any particular point, will countervail a long train of arguments, however plausible, which militate against that fact. Behold a case, which must operate to open the eyes of every man accessible to conviction. There is probably no country in the world, where the system of heavy prohibitory duties is carried farther than in England: and yet, notwithstanding this circumstance, and the enormous burden of taxation which she sustains, as well as the boundless extent of her paper money, which must enhance the expenses of living, she is able to meet in their own markets, and undersell, a large portion of the manufacturers of all the other nations of Christendom. This fact sets the question at rest forever; and establishes, on the firmest basis, the luminous maxim of Alexander Hamilton, a maxim that ought to be written in letters of gold, and affixed in a conspicuous place in the hall of congress, that powerful body, on whose wisdom D or errors depends the prosperity or decay of a mighty empire: "Though it were true, that the immediate and certain effect of regulations controlling the competition of foreign with domestic fabrics was an increase of price, it is universally true, that THE CONTRARY IS THE ULTIMATE EFFECT WITH EVERY SUCCESSFUL MANUFACTURE. When a domestic manufacture has attained to perfection, and has engaged in the prosecution of it a competent number of persons, IT INVARIABLY BECOMES CHEAPER. Being free from the heavy charges which attend the importation of foreign commodities, it can be afforded cheaper, and accordingly seldom or never fails to be sold cheaper, in process of time, than was the foreign article for which it is a substitute. The internal competition which takes place, soon does away every thing like monopoly; and by degress REDUCES THE PRICE OF THE ARTICLE TO THE MINIMUM OF A REASONABLE PROFIT ON THE CAPITAL EMPLOYED. This accords with the reason of the thing, and with experience."* The true tests of the excellence or folly of any system, are its results, when carried fully into operation. These confirm sound theories, however unpopular they may appear on a superficial view; and set the seal of reprobation on pernicious ones, how plausible soever an aspect they wear on paper. By this touchstone, let us judge the political economy of England, respecting national industry; and, on a fair examination, we shall unhesitatingly bestow the most unqualified plaudit on her parliament, for the admirable and incomparable system it has devised. We may fairly assert, without the least danger of contradiction, that there never existed a legislative body which bestowed more attention on the solid, substantial, and vital interests of its constituents, so far as respects national industry in all its various forms. We might extend the consideration of the wonderful excellence, and immense advantages of the policy of Great Britain respecting manufactures, trade, and commerce, to volumes. The subject appears inexhaustible. But our limits forbid much detail, and constrain us to confine ourselves to two points: * Hamilton's work, I. 212. |