A Discourse on Trade, and Other Matters Relative to it — John Shaqi
A Discourse on Trade, and Other Matters Relative to itCary, John
History
A Discourse on Trade, and Other Matters Relative to it
Cary, John
Great Britain -- Commerce -- Early works to 1800; Great Britain -- Commercial policy -- Early works to 1800
And thus I have run through the Foreign Trades driven from this Kingdom,
and shew’d how they advance its Interest, by taking off our Product and
Manufactures, and supplying us with Materials to be manufactured again;
wherein ’tis a certain Rule, that so far as any Nation furnishes us
with things already manufactured, or only to be spent amongst our selves,
so much less is our Advantage by the Trade we drive with them; especially
if those Manufactures interfere with our own, and are purchased with
Bullion. Therefore I think the _East-India_ Trade to be unprofitable to
us, hindering by its Silks, Muslins, and Callicoes, the Consumption of
more of our Manufactures in _Europe_, than it takes from us. The
_Spanish_, _Turkey_, and _Portugal_ Trades, are very advantagious, as
they vend great Quantities of our Manufactures, and furnish us with
Materials to be wrought up here, and disperse our Commodities to other
Places, where we could not so well send them ourselves; this _Spain_ doth
to its Settlements in _America_; _Turkey_ to all its Territories, both in
_Europe_ and _Asia_, and also to _Persia_; _Portugal_ doth the same to
_Brazil_. The _Dutch_, _Hamburgh_, and _Dantzick_ Trades are very useful,
as they supply _Germany_, _Poland_, and some Parts of _Russia_, with our
Manufactures, and little interfere with us in theirs. _Sweden_ and
_Denmark_ are profitable, both in what they take from us, and in what we
have from them again. _Italy_ takes off much of our Worsted Manufactures,
and sends us little of its own, save wrought Silks, whereof we shall
every Year import less, as we increase that Manufacture at home; but
above all, I esteem the _African_ and _West-India_ Trades to be most
profitable to the Nation, as they imploy more of our People at Home, and
give greater Incouragement to our Navigation by their Product; but the
_French_ Trade is certainly our Loss, _France_ being like a Tavern, with
whom we spend what we get by other Nations; and ’tis strange, we should
be so bewitcht to that People, as to take off their Growth, which
consists chiefly of things for Luxury, and receive a Value only for the
Esteem we put on them, whilst at the same Time, they prohibit our
Manufactures, in order to set up the like among themselves, which we
encourage, by furnishing them with Wool.
[Sidenote: The Ballance of each Trade.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account