Money and Trade Considered [4]
as he can afford to trade at 10 per cent Profit: Or Money being in greater Quantity in Holland, whereby it is easier borrowed, and at less use; He gets Credit for more a 3 or 4 per cent, by which he gains 6 or 7. And unless Money be in greater Quantity in Scotland, or Expense retrench'd, we cannot trade so cheap as the Dutch; Tho' we have Advantages for Trade that they have not, and tho' they be under Disadvantages we are not lyable to. By a greater quantity of Money and Oeconomy, the Dutch monopolize the Trades of Carriage even from the English. The 4th Branch of Forreign Trade, Bringing home the Product of other Countries, and Exporting it in Manufacture, depends on the Quantity of Money. We are so far from Competing with the Dutch in this Trade, that our Wooll was sent to Holland, and imported from thence in manufacture; under the difficulty of a Prohibition on the Export of the Wooll, and on the Import of the Manufacture. Yet besides the Advantages already named, which we have for Trade over the Dutch, the Material is the Product of our Country, and greater Priviledges are granted to Manufacturers here, than in Holland.
'Tis alledged, if the Prohibition had continued, Manufactures might have come to Perfection. The Advantage some Men made by Manufacture, may have occasion'd the setting up of more, while the Money has been diminishing; But that Money so employ'd, has been taken from some other use it was before imploy'd in: For Money cannot serve in two Places at one time.
'Tis alledg'd, That the allowing the Wooll to be exported, occasioned the Exportation of the Money. That at one time 5000 lib. was sent to England to buy Wooll. 'Tis askt what became of that Wooll? They Answer, it was sent to France for Wine. Then, as 5000 lib. of English Wooll may be worth 8 or 10 Thousand Pound in France; So the 5000 lib. sent to England, saved the sending out of 8 or 10000 lib. to France. To these who don't throughly Examine the State of this Country, it may seem odd that Wooll should be allowed by Law to be Exported: But if the Product of Scotland cannot be Manufactur'd with less than 50000 People, and the Money that can be spar'd to Manufacture, be only capable to employ 25000, one half of the Product will be lost if it is not allowed to be Exported. The 5th Branch, the Freighting of Hireing out of Ships, depends on the Money, and the other Branches of Trade. Where Ships are in use to be Freighted by Strangers, and supported by a great Demand for their own Trade; There are all sorts of Ships are to be hired Cheaper than in other places; And Merchants are sure of such Ships as are proper for the Goods they Load with, and the Countries they Trade to. This Trade of Freighting brings the Goods of other Countries to Holland, tho design'd for Sale else where. If Woollen Manufacture from England to Portugal yields 25 per cent Profit, and to Holland 15; The English Merchant will choose to send such Goods to Holland for 15 per cent, rather than to Portugal for 25: And the Dutch Merchant who is able to Trade cheaper, from the Cheapness of Freight, etc. is satisfied for the other 10 to carry to Portugal.
Most Authors who have Wrote on Trade divide it into National and Privat. They say, A Merchant may gain where the Nation loses. If a 1000 Lib. is Exported to the Indies in Money or Bullion, and a 1000 Lib. in Goods or Provisions; The return worth 8000 Lib. the Merchant gains 6000; But as these Goods are all consum'd in the Country, the Nation loses the 1000 Lib. Money or Bullion Exported. They don't consider whether the 8000 Lib. of Goods imported (all suppos'd to be consum'd in the Country) does not lessen the Consumption of the Product or Manufacture of the Country, so as to occasion an addition to the Export, at least equal to the 1000 lib. Money or Bullion Exported. But allowing they do not lessen the Consumption of the Goods of the Country, and the Use of them be not at all necessary; Yet these Goods being worth 8000 lib. at Home or
'Tis alledged, if the Prohibition had continued, Manufactures might have come to Perfection. The Advantage some Men made by Manufacture, may have occasion'd the setting up of more, while the Money has been diminishing; But that Money so employ'd, has been taken from some other use it was before imploy'd in: For Money cannot serve in two Places at one time.
'Tis alledg'd, That the allowing the Wooll to be exported, occasioned the Exportation of the Money. That at one time 5000 lib. was sent to England to buy Wooll. 'Tis askt what became of that Wooll? They Answer, it was sent to France for Wine. Then, as 5000 lib. of English Wooll may be worth 8 or 10 Thousand Pound in France; So the 5000 lib. sent to England, saved the sending out of 8 or 10000 lib. to France. To these who don't throughly Examine the State of this Country, it may seem odd that Wooll should be allowed by Law to be Exported: But if the Product of Scotland cannot be Manufactur'd with less than 50000 People, and the Money that can be spar'd to Manufacture, be only capable to employ 25000, one half of the Product will be lost if it is not allowed to be Exported. The 5th Branch, the Freighting of Hireing out of Ships, depends on the Money, and the other Branches of Trade. Where Ships are in use to be Freighted by Strangers, and supported by a great Demand for their own Trade; There are all sorts of Ships are to be hired Cheaper than in other places; And Merchants are sure of such Ships as are proper for the Goods they Load with, and the Countries they Trade to. This Trade of Freighting brings the Goods of other Countries to Holland, tho design'd for Sale else where. If Woollen Manufacture from England to Portugal yields 25 per cent Profit, and to Holland 15; The English Merchant will choose to send such Goods to Holland for 15 per cent, rather than to Portugal for 25: And the Dutch Merchant who is able to Trade cheaper, from the Cheapness of Freight, etc. is satisfied for the other 10 to carry to Portugal.
Most Authors who have Wrote on Trade divide it into National and Privat. They say, A Merchant may gain where the Nation loses. If a 1000 Lib. is Exported to the Indies in Money or Bullion, and a 1000 Lib. in Goods or Provisions; The return worth 8000 Lib. the Merchant gains 6000; But as these Goods are all consum'd in the Country, the Nation loses the 1000 Lib. Money or Bullion Exported. They don't consider whether the 8000 Lib. of Goods imported (all suppos'd to be consum'd in the Country) does not lessen the Consumption of the Product or Manufacture of the Country, so as to occasion an addition to the Export, at least equal to the 1000 lib. Money or Bullion Exported. But allowing they do not lessen the Consumption of the Goods of the Country, and the Use of them be not at all necessary; Yet these Goods being worth 8000 lib. at Home or