Chapter VIII: Part 8

Eighteenthly, Is it not even probable that every wise nation will be sensible that there is but one way to carry on, without being constantly duped, a commerce with another nation, obliged to raise the price of her goods; _viz._ to raise, in the same proportion, those which are given in exchange?—This, some will say, is an indirect advice which I take upon me to give to industry; nothing more useless, will they add; industry in all countries never fails making that calculation.—I do not assume the liberty of advising industry;—Industry is far better acquainted, than I am, with her own interest: it is to agriculture I presume to give advice; and this I have an incontestable right to do, since I myself am a cultivator, an _American_ cultivator, and that my fortune cannot increase, nor even stand as it is, but with that of my brethren, the cultivators throughout all _Europe_, whose consumption is as essential to me, in regard to sugars, cottons, coffee, indigo, &c. as mine is essential to them, with respect to wines, flour, oils, hemp, iron, &c. How is it possible to charge them with an advanced price on the goods they purchase, without diminishing their means of buying, _unless they raise their own commodities equally with the above goods_?—How can one diminish their power of buying, without diminishing also my resources for a sale?—How can one diminish my resources for a sale, without diminishing my means of production?—And how is it possible to put a stop to the productions of _America_, without crushing in the very bud all the _European_ productions, _which are to pay for them_?—There is not the least doubt, but that, between merchant and merchant, alien or native, there never is any difficulty: nothing more candid than their respective conduct; never a word about prices; each fixes his own, and it often happens that a bale of goods has been sold ten times upon the invoice, and never opened:—But when a merchant, no matter of what nation, says to his customer, no matter of what country; _English goods have increased in price from 20 to 22, I cannot have them for less_; it is essential for every land proprietor, from Pole to Pole, to know that he must not hesitate to answer: _You cannot come down to me, give me leave to get up to you_; or, in other words, _I also advance my prices from 20 to 22, so that every thing is in its due order, and the cock of the balance stands still in its place_. On this principle, clearly evident and of an irrefragable necessity, I maintain that it is _England_, successively compelled, as well by her wealth, as by her taxes and monopoly, to increase her prices at home,—_England_, trading to all parts of _Europe_, more largely than any other country,—it is _England_, I say, who, to this day, has raised the prices of every thing all over _Europe_; and I insist, that _England_, once more obliged to carry those prices still higher, once more will compel _Europe_ to follow her example, and that all _Europe_ will grow richer by her means, (as has been the case hitherto) on account of the encouragement which this increase will give in all countries, where _England_ may think fit to continue or extend her trade on fair and equitable principles.

It is certain, that one cannot, without some reflexion, comprehend that chain composed of so many incoherent, so widely distant links, that union, that mutual dependance of interests, in appearance so opposite to each other; and that, even with the assistance of a few _hypotheses_ sufficient to give an idea of the whole, the only confession subscribed to by the reader, will be, that they imply no palpable contradiction, but that they are nevertheless the mere offspring of imagination, and ought to be ranked amongst non-entities. Yet the two _hypotheses_ of which _Rome_ seemed to be the subject, were no more, if we except the paper-currency, than the type of the revolution which took place in _France_ at the time of the regulation I have spoken of,—a regulation, which in less than two years increased the wealth of that nation from 16 to 24, 50 _per cent._; as if the _French_ had been at last made sensible, that _England_ could not work for herself without working for them, and that consequently they had a right to say with my _Roman_: _~England~ is rich to the amount of 24, only because she denominates 24 that same quantity of wheat which our barricadoes and barriers have obliged us to call only 16 in our country; the only thing to be done therefore, is to set fire to our barricadoes, and break down our barriers, that henceforth the same 16 may be denominated 24, and all at once we shall be in fact as rich as ~England~, without having been so judiciously at work._

Another advantage that would accrue from that uniformity, nearly general, in all prices, if one would lend an helping hand to Nature, after having been convinced of the impossibility of reaping any other benefit from the obstacles thrown in her way, but the sad advantage of retarding her progress;—another advantage, I say, that would accrue from that kind of uniformity in prices, which undergoes no alteration, but from the wants and demands, is, that all that monstrous system of prohibitions or equivalent restrictions, must crumble of itself: for, with what face could a national manufacturer solicit the means and privilege of making his own countrymen pay 10 _per cent._ dearer for those goods, which another nation tenders to them at 10 _per cent._ cheaper, notwithstanding the expence of exportation? What reasons could he urge when, instead of answering, a cultivator should rise in the national council, and ask, for the exportation of corn, an absurd premium which would instantly enhance its price 25 _per cent._?—But the game of imports and exports to which this last observation alludes, requires to be treated in a separate article which it is not yet time to enter upon; all we have now to do is to think on the means of giving a free circulation to the revenue of all _Europe_, supposed to be increased in the proportion of 20 to 22, on account of the same increase necessary in _England_ to pay three millions interest, without any one being the poorer for it. I shall say nothing of the facility of paper-currency, when the inutility of a national robbery shall be once generally acknowledged.

Nineteenthly and lastly, If we are frightened by the necessity of a balance in money, every where more considerable, in order to circulate every where, a revenue increased from 20 to 22, to face the indispensable rise in the prices of _England_, who trades to all parts of the globe; (when we consider besides, that _France_ and _England_ are by the same reason obliged to add to their respective balance already so loaded,) it appears to me, that, after a retrospective view of what has passed, one may readily be convinced, that whenever money becomes necessary for circulation, wherever nothing more is required to circulate and balance objects really existing, and equal to each other, there are always people enough ready to carry money thither; and that this operation, _as all those that are beneficial to society_, is generally effected when it is neither counteracted nor encouraged, _without any one perceiving it_.—Nevertheless it must be confessed, that the pretentions set up by _France_, in regard to a balance, are as terrible, as formidable, as those of _England_, due regard being paid to the difference between the exports of both; I shall examine these pretensions as I have done those of _England_, and bring them besides closer to each other, that they may be more properly estimated.

_The pretended Balance of ~France~ in point of Trade._

The Work of Mr. _Necker_ on the _French_ finances, is in my judgement, for that nation, the most precious work that this age has produced; it is a sword hanging over the head of whoever shall fill up that department during the reign of the present King, and of all those of his successors whom God shall bless with a soul like his. That work would still be precious, though it should serve only to expose the knavery or the incapacity of those who pretended that _France_, preparing for a war which required the creation of a navy, without which she could not carry it on, forced to have recourse to new loans proportionate to such an undertaking, and weighed down, as it was said, by the load of the old taxes imposed for discharging the interest of her former debts, was again on the eve of laying new imposts, in spite of herself, and perhaps of having recourse to those degrading reductions, so lightly, yet so often practised before. The first public operation of Mr. _Necker_ (his _Compte rendu_) inspired every one with the enthusiastic spirit of an unbounded confidence, wherever nothing was foreseen but the discouragement arising from discredit. He did not create anything, it is true; but he dispelled the clouds which had hitherto concealed what really existed; he restored order where confusion reigned before, and treated the mechanical part of the finances, like a merchant willing at all times to have it in his power to compare his undertakings with his means, his plans with his resources. No other step could be taken at first. I have no kind of connexion with Mr. _Necker_, neither direct nor indirect; nor am I bound to him by the ties of friendship, interest, or gratitude; and, besides, it is not my intention either to praise, or to censure; yet I cannot forbear to observe, that Mr. _Necker_, entirely circumscribed by the circumstances of the time, charged with the triple load of clearing up what was passed, supplying present wants, and guarding against future events, could only loosely survey, regret, and prepare, what a situation so critical did not permit him to undertake. His being displaced, left him no other advantage than that of informing the public of what he intended to do; and the manner in which the nation has received the work wherein he recorded his projects, is at the same time a tribute of the national esteem for the man who planned them, and a pledge of the national gratitude, even for any one of his successors, who should confine himself to carry them into execution.

Whatever I have hitherto said, whatever may drop from my pen in the sequel, in contradiction to some of Mr. _Necker_’s opinions, was written long before the publication of his work, and in no degree detracts from the solidity of his views. What he devised was perhaps the best that could possibly be imagined in the actual state of things, and according to the received system:—But is that system the best?—I subscribe to his principle concerning the precautions to be taken, and the slowness of the march necessary even through all the paths that may lead to _the best_; but that best, what is it? _France_ cannot boast of having found it—read the work of Mr. _Necker_; _England_ cannot boast of having found it—read the debates of both Houses of Parliament:—And do I dare to offer my thoughts!—Yes:—two children, it is said, found what it was necessary to find, in order to the discovery of immense bodies of light, at a distance where nothing was suspected but the limits of creation.—Were my thoughts only plausible, they ought to be thoroughly investigated; they concern the State, they concern mankind at large:—if they prove just, to say that they are impracticable on account of the shackles with which our forefathers have loaded us, is to say nothing but with regard to the fleeting moment in which I speak, _already so far off from us_; but to feel then that we should not add new shackles to those we endure already, would be a great point gained; to scrutinise afterwards the ancient opinions, without exception; to analyse the principles on which pretended impossibilities are founded; to expect nothing from seduction or from authority; to desire nothing but from general conviction; to spare no pains to make the people sensible of, and familiar with the truths that might be discovered, would perhaps be a second step towards that very mark to which we should probably direct our course, were it not for the pretended impossibility, the mere supposition of which casts a ridicule upon the very thought of looking up to it.

It is upon this plan, and under this point of view, that I purpose to examine the supposed balance of _France_, in regard to trade:—and I begin by asking, whether there exists a nation in _Europe_, which, upon perusing what Mr. _Necker_ says to the present purpose, and the use made almost generally in _England_ of the work of Sir _Charles Whitworth_, much more explicit with regard to the balance of _Great Britain_, would hesitate an instant to break off all commercial connexions with _England_ and _France_, if only one half should prove real in the prejudices of the two nations, on the object, which at present seems to determine all the others?

I would, in the next place, propose, for examination, whether those two nations are not indebted to these prejudices, for the greatest part of their mistakes, and of the obstacles which they have found, which they still find, and which they will ever find, in the measures that other nations think themselves obliged to adopt, in order to guard against the effects of those prejudices, till their fallacy is universally acknowledged, as well as their insufficiency to produce their boasted effect, _even in favour of those who would obstinately refuse to give them up_.

Every year, say the prejudices of both nations, more than seven millions sterling are required for their two _terrible_ balances;—but not above six millions are brought over from _America_:—if _Spain_ and _Portugal_ be allowed to come in for one sixth (indeed it would be but just), the other parts of _Europe_ must settle it amongst themselves to find the two millions sterling, which without that assessment would be deficient in the balances necessary to _France_ and _England_.—Whence does _Europe_ take those two millions? Whence have they been taken hitherto? I know not: but it is a stubborn fact: you may consult the work of Mr. _Necker_ for the balance of _France_, and for that of _England_ the statements of Sir _Charles Whitworth_; the former amounts annually to 70 millions of _livres_, about 3 millions sterling; and the latter to 83,678,818_l._ in the space of 20 years, from 1754 to 1773; it is, one year with another, more than 4,180,000_l._ _per annum_. But above all, let it not escape your observation, what is said in _France_, that the decline of that Empire will begin, when this balance of 70 millions of _livres_ shall begin to decline, and that it is the opinion in _England_, that, were the _favourable balance_ to be below 2 or 3 millions sterling, a national bankruptcy must indispensably follow. What is most _miraculous_ (and indeed consolatory for those who are obliged to think of their elevation, before they dream of a bankruptcy, or even of their decline) is, that whilst _France_ and _England_ have received annually, the one 4, the other 3 millions sterling, that is to say, one sixth more than _America_ has to share amongst all the _European_ nations, the other countries in _Europe_ have nevertheless increased their mass of money, by all that was necessary to keep up their luxury, and the circulation of a revenue which has almost doubled in the course of a century. These are prodigies which will cease to be so, even if we admit the facts on which they are founded, if we take the trouble of adding thereto a few other facts rather less questionable; and if it be acknowledged at last, that there are yet others, concerning which the most expert calculator cannot flatter himself that he shall even come near the truth, and which give to those who will be at the trouble of reflecting, all the latitude they may want, to conclude that the two supposed balances are as inadmissible when subjected to the discussion of reason alone, as they are afterwards demonstrated to be false, by facts which cannot be controverted.

The quantity of money required for circulation, depends neither on the speculations of a Minister of finances, nor on the blind cupidity of trade, which, luckily, is always counteracted by the clear-sighted cupidity of every trader: it depends on the quantity of articles to be circulated, on their price, and on the method adopted for circulation:—it is evident that less cash is required in _England_ than in _France_ to circulate the same mass of revenue, trade, and transactions of all kinds; the reasons are obvious: but the sum wanted for the circulation being once found, every addition thereto is soon, notwithstanding all ministerial machinations, transferred to some hundred leagues distance, if that surplus should be wanted there: now, when this necessary sum for circulation is once ascertained, we shall see how useless it is to despoil, how absurd it is to suppose that they do despoil the rest of _Europe_ of her money, in order to keep up that circulation.

What is the real amount of the cash circulating in _England_? Some say 25, others 30 millions sterling. It is probable that 25 millions are sufficient, with the help of credit and paper-currency, even in the supposition that _France_ should stand in want of 2 _milliards_ of _livres_ in hard cash to give circulation to a revenue, double to that of _England_, because there is in _France_ no paper-money, and much less credit than would be obtained, were it not, _too often yet_, so easy to avoid, by another kind of credit, the payment of the most lawful debts: but we must argue from an incontrovertible fact, and assent, in their fullest scope, to the consequences that may be deduced therefrom. The following is the fact:

Of all the coin circulating in _England_, 18 months ago there was only a sixth, and there is now much less than a sixth part, in pieces struck before the present reign. Now, in 1780, it appears that the money coined at the Mint, in the present reign, amounted only to 30,457,805_l._

It is impossible to suppose, that in the space of 18 years there should have been carried out of the kingdom, either to _Ireland_, or in support of the smuggling trade, or for other purposes, less than the amount of the coin struck since that period. Let us add to the 30 millions coined from the beginning of this reign down to the year 1780, the 5 millions for the sixth part in old specie remaining of the former reigns (that sixth supposed, rather than acknowledged, to be actually in circulation), the total will be 35 millions; to which must be added, the value of silver plate, toys, &c. Admit, that all these articles together, circulation and silver wrought, amount to 50 millions sterling;—to those who may think that the sum of 15 millions, at which I rate the wrought silver of all kinds, is too trifling, I would recommend to observe, first, that these 15 millions constitute nearly the tenth part of the general revenue, both of the land and industry; secondly, that the third part of that revenue belongs to the peasants and mechanics, who have no such costly furniture; and thirdly, that as to the rest of the nation, if there exist a man who possesses the equivalent of one half of his revenue in plate, there are scores who are not possessed of so much as one tenth part.—Shall it be insisted upon, however, that, by adding the amount of plate and the mass in circulation to that which _must_ correspond with the demands that may be made upon the Bank, the whole amounts to 60 millions sterling?—Be it so;—but _England_ was certainly in possession of 20 millions at least, in cash and wrought silver, before the time at which Sir _Charles Whitworth_ began his Statements; for there existed then much less credit, and no paper to answer the purposes of cash:—forty millions, then, constitute the whole of what _England_ chose (I call it strictly a choice) to reserve, out of so many millions imported from _America_, which really went through her hands, in the space of 90 years.—I am fully persuaded that I could meet with some thousands of persons, even in _England_, who, from the sketch I have given, would think that I make a present to _England_ of 10 millions. It matters not, I shall be equally generous in regard to _France_, whose accounts I am about to lay open; and yet I shall have gold and silver enough left to extend my liberality all over _Europe_.

Mr. _Necker_ has but two reasons to suppose that there exists in the _French_ circulation a sum of 2,200,000,000 livres _tournois_. The first is the indubitable fact, that since, and including the general re-coining of the _French_ specie in 1726 to 1783, there have been struck, in the different mints of that kingdom, 2,500,000,000 of the same specie (the only one that is current in that country:) and, in the next place, the very questionable fact, that _France_ has preserved the whole, except 3 or 400 millions _tournois_, which may have passed into foreign hands, from the quantity of _French_ specie which must have been carried abroad, to answer her commercial and political purposes.

Say only 2000 millions of livres in the _French_ circulation, that I may not be troubled with 100 millions, which can neither weaken nor strengthen my reasonings.

When that general re-coinage of the year 1726 took place in _France_, there must have existed, at that time, 1000 millions _tournois_, to impart a proper circulation to a revenue, which, we may suppose, was less by one half than what it is at this time. _France_, therefore, had occasion to increase her specie, only by the additional thousand of millions, of which she is now in possession, even upon a supposition that she has now 2000 millions; and this want has been supplied in the space of 57 years, at the rate of 18 millions only, one year with another.

Let it be granted, now, that the annual wants, the personal wants of _France_, in articles of luxury, plate, gold and silver lace, trinkets, &c. amounted to 7 millions _tournois_, upon an average, in the course of the above 57 years.—By adding thereto the 18 millions I have spoken of, I can find but 25 millions overplus, one year with another, saved by _France_ upon all the treasures of _America_, which certainly must have passed through her hands from 1726 to 1783.

The reader must be sensible, that there is no occasion to speak of the sums annually exported to _India_, it matters not by whom; they no longer exist for _Europe_; and I have proved nothing hitherto, if it be still doubted that _Europe_ has lost nothing in that respect but the trifling advance in her prices, which 100 or 150 thousand pounds sterling, added annually to her general specie, would have given to all the productions, both of agriculture and industry. The return of those 150,000_l._ in _India_ goods has produced yearly to _Europe_ all the labour necessary to repay them; for it must be observed, that _labour pays every thing_, and that nothing is paid but by _labour_. The 150,000_l._ exported to _India_, are not lost therefore, as to their essential effect, as would be the case of sums laid up in the coffers of a Sovereign, who might be unacquainted, even at this day, with what was known to Queen _Elizabeth_ above 200 years ago, that _the Prince’s treasures are well placed no where, but in the hands of his subjects_, that is, of _such_ amongst his subjects _who do not lock them up in their own chests_.

I join together the two balances of _France_ and _England_, which probably fall much below, and which cannot be above, what I have stated them to be; and I see that those two formidable bugbears, after having annually devoured, according to their own account, 7 millions sterling, have, in the end, and very fortunately too, only digested something less than 2 millions, viz. the bugbear of _France_, 12 or 1300 thousand pounds sterling; and the bugbear of _England_, about 5, 6, or 700 thousand.

Thank Heaven then, there remains, after _England_ and _France_ have been fully saturated, (including the general exportation to _India_) about 4 millions sterling, which the other States of _Europe_ have received, one year with another, partly in plate, partly in gold and silver-lace, partly in ingots, partly in guineas, and partly in louis-d’ors, of which those who gave them still think themselves in possession, and which those who received them do not think they possess.

But, it will be said, the louis d’ors, which are spent in _Germany_ during a war, revert to _France_ soon after a peace; the plenty in which they flow back, is known to every one who has the least concern in trade.—No doubt of it; when the _German_ circulation is overloaded, it must re-flow where it is beneath its level: the coin carried by the _French_ into _Germany_, in the time of war, was then indispensable there to supply the wants of those who carried the money into that country, and to increase the means of the ordinary circulation, _an increase occasioned by a circumstance that tertiated the price of every thing_. The circumstance subsiding, every thing takes its usual course; prices are reduced; the greatest part of the money which had been carried there, becomes useless on account of that reduction:—it is sent back; and why is it taken then by _France_? Because it is become necessary there;—for you must observe, that the money in question was useless in _France_, as soon as it was wanted in _Germany_.—During the war the commerce of _France_ was at a stand; her granaries overstocked with corn, her cellars with wine, her warehouses with goods, waited only for peace, to set a value on that corn, that wine, those goods, and of course, on that idol Money, which, during the war, could not, in regard to the _French_, be of any value, but on the very spot where the _French_ had themselves carried it.

Observe, above all, that _England_, who pretends to have the largest balance in money, is the very nation who, with respect to the extensiveness of her commerce and the mass of her industry, keeps the least part of that balance at home, and constantly preserves as little of it, as if she had been no less convinced than I am myself, of the futility of any other balance in bullion, but that which is necessary for the five articles above mentioned. What results now from the reduction of those two frightful _colossi_ to their proper dimensions?

It results, First, that every system of balance, founded on the supposition which served as a basis to the two balances I have spoken of, is as chimerical, as it would be pernicious to the nation who should regulate herself by it, and to such other nations as might be unfortunate enough to correspond with her:

Secondly, That the private interest of every merchant always militates, in this respect, against the pernicious dreams of trade in general:

Thirdly, That the case between nation and nation trading together, is similar to that which subsists between citizen and citizen; as there is but one way for a man to prevent the last penny of his wealth from being useful to some other member of his community; and that way is, _to bury under ground (as soon as he has received it) that last penny, the utility of which he grudges to share with other men_: in like manner, a nation can no otherwise prevent the surplus of her money being carried into another country when this latter is in want of it, than _by burying her balance as soon as she has received it_:

Fourthly, That the superiority of industry, activity, and _capitals_, in a nation, gives her no other advantage, than that of supplying those countries with which she trades, with further means of increasing their own industry and activity: Now,

Fifthly, The more you increase industry and activity amongst other nations, the more you increase their want of those signs which are to represent the products; the more you increase their want of those signs which you long to possess exclusively, if it were possible: Therefore,

Sixthly, If it be true, that money ought to be the only aim of commerce and exportation, all the favourite ideas on the pretended balance, being entirely destroyed by facts, even at the time when the world was more fully persuaded of the truth of those ideas, and of the wisdom of the measures which were to have perpetuated that balance, it would be necessary henceforth to resolve to hide money under ground, as fast as it comes in.—Would it not be better to question the principle itself, and seek for fresh information on the utility as well as the object of exportation?

_Exportations and Importations considered as a Game. Such a Game is as rational as any other, to whosoever will not content himself with playing at Cards, or with his own ~Thoughts~._

A world of unanswerable arguments start up at once, tending to demonstrate the superiority of civilization over the wild state of nature. Yet, methinks, a savage may overturn them all by these few words: _I know nothing of what you say, and I am not inquisitive_.—I readily confess at least, that I do not see what reply can be made to such an answer, more than I did with regard to the four questions put in the Upper House to the manufacturer of whom I have spoken; yet this manufacturer was not stronger in argument on all that was foreign to the essential point of the four questions, than I might be to convince my savage of that delight, which a man fully persuaded of the excellence of his own conceits, and of the happiness there is in making them known to all the world, feels, without allay, without interruption, in staining some reams of paper, scribbling sometimes an hypothesis, sometimes a comedy, a romance, a ballad, &c.; for it is very true, that the work I now lay before the public, has, in the space of 12 or 15 years, undergone all those metamorphoses in my hands, and that during that time my heart rankled with the ambition of being read in antichambers, given for premiums in colleges, tolerated in nunneries, mentioned in the _boudoirs_ of the fair, noticed in the memory of Ministers, revolved in the hearts of Sovereigns, and every day sung about the streets and in cottages, through which all princes must sometimes pass, if they wish to discover some decisive difference between the interesting illusions of humanity and the deep speculations of politics. Yet with all that stock of words, if not of reasons, that I must have acquired beforehand, to justify, in some measure, the extravagance of such an ambition, I own that I should be confounded by the answer of my savage.—But this could not be the case, if a civilised man, after having convinced me, that the advantage of commerce between man and man, as well as between nation and nation, consists in supplying each other’s wants, when it is possible to effect it by an exchange of surplusses, would next undertake to prove to me, that the advantage of a State, which is nothing else but a nation, an aggregation of men, consists in keeping as much as possible of that money which they have in too great abundance, though the inevitable consequence would be, that they would procure to themselves so much less of some article in which they might be deficient, but which it would at the same time be very convenient to them to possess.—It is hard that the compendium of prohibitions, restrictions, &c. so much commended, and which have kept so many great men so long on the watch, dwindles finally into the assertion of the two contradictory propositions which I have just now dated.

Two articles are necessary and sufficient to man—bread and water; let not meat be called in as a third; it is too well known, that three fourths of _Europe_ seldom eat any, and doubtless no one will contend that three fourths of a whole are less valuable than the fourth remaining, in the eyes of Him who created that whole, and who probably takes some concern in its preservation. Exchanges of any other articles besides bread and water, are therefore, strictly speaking, _exchanges of mere superfluities_. Now, what inconvenience can there be in bartering one superfluity against another?

I shall first of all, display in their full force, the most solid reasonings that can possibly be adduced, in order to demonstrate, that _the choice and price of all superfluities must be left to the discretion of one set of men only_. The chymist is not to blame if he can extract nothing but a fetid oil from the matter which he undertakes to decompound.

That set of men, as estimable, as worthy as any in the world, will perhaps wonder when they see the analysis of those ideas, which, probably, they never submitted but to a superficial examination.

_Prohibitory Laws against Exportation._

_Query._ Why do you solicit a prohibitory law against the exporting of such an article of national product?

_Answer._ That I may get it _cheaper_.

_Q._ Can you buy it _cheaper_, without wronging the man who might sell it _dearer_?

_A._ No.

_Q._ As it is impossible to prove that such a conduct is equitable, how will you be able to prove it to be advantageous to the State?

_A._ It is advantageous to the State, that all its internal productions should receive at home, all such forms and preparations as may increase their value.

_Q._ Is the quantity of productions useful to the State?

_A._ The question is almost ridiculous.

_Q._ If the _productor_ be discouraged by the low price set upon his productions, and take proper measures to produce _less_, in order to save the expence attending a _greater_ production, and in the mean time to gain by producing _less_ as much as he could gain by producing _more_, will you not then be guilty of having wronged the State of all the productions which you crush in the very bud, by the prohibition you sue for?

_A._ No; Smuggling will give to the parties injured by the prohibitory law, a fully sufficient means of extricating themselves.

_Q._ Your hopes then are, that Smuggling will make up for the injuries you propose to do to the _productors_; but how will you compensate to the State for the loss it sustains by a clandestine exportation?

_A._ Our only business is to mind our own interest; besides, the State may easily procure, by means of a land-tax, what it may lose by the clandestine exportation: and we are so far from expecting that Smuggling should turn out to our advantage, that we petition it may be made a capital offence, and prohibited under pain of mutilation, the galleys, or at least the entire ruin of the smuggler.

_Q._ But the law will either succeed, or fail in its effect. If the law succeed, will you not be the author of that diminution of the products, which the low price you intend to set upon those products must unavoidably occasion? And if the law fail in its effect, do you not uselessly deprive the State, 1st, of the produce of the smuggler’s labour, whom you hope to see hanged, or at best, mutilated; and, 2dly, of the produce of that labour which would have been performed by that army, partly composed of rogues, partly of idle fellows, now to be set upon the watch to detect and apprehend the smuggler, keep him in close confinement, and lead him finally to the _gallows_, or to the _galleys_?—Who is to pay those rogues and idle fellows?

_A._ The State, to be sure.

_Q._ What are the essential parts of the State?

_A._ Industry that goes in search of money, and Agriculture in as much as she feeds Industry _at the cheapest rate_.

Agriculture, impoverished by your prohibitory law, will then lose, not only what she should get by being at liberty to export, but also what she must find to assist you in procuring her impoverishment, by paying the land-tax necessary to pay those very rogues and idle fellows, whose business it is to destroy her only remaining resource against your cupidity—SMUGGLING.

_Prohibitory Laws against, or excessive Duties imposed upon Importation._

_Q._ Why do you petition against the liberty of importing such or such another article?

_A._ Because we manufacture it, and wish to sell it dearer to the national consumers.

_Q._ Of how many orders of men is the class of national consumers composed?

_A._ Of two, the land proprietor, and all persons not wholly destitute of money.

_Q._ That is to say, _in all cases_, of the whole kingdom, against the small number of individuals who humbly petition for the prohibition of an article;—be it so. Have you devised any means to increase in the consumer the ability of purchasing, whilst you advance the price of your goods?

_A._ Not we;—on the contrary, it is our intention to have as much as we can of his commodities and money, for as little of our goods as possible.

_Q._ How can men of probity and knowledge be blind to the iniquity of such a scheme?—Will not at least its execution be somewhat impeded by the greatest part of those who follow the same trade?

_A._ No—that is impossible: our _corporations_ have already provided against the inconvenience you allude to: not one of their members would dare to sell his merchandise below the price fixed by his _corporation_: and we have made, as it were, the _impossibility_ of any such measure, _doubly_ so, by the difficulties we have devised to prevent a ready admittance into our _corporations_; all our bye-laws tend to reduce our associates to the smallest number possible. But one single expedient is now wanted to put the finishing hand to that grand work; it is the absolute prohibition of importing all those commodities which foreign nations might offer at a cheaper rate, than we are determined to sell them at.

_Q._ So then, if you succeed in your plan—if by means of the solicited prohibition, the legislature enable you to extort, with your 16 in merchandise, the goods and money, which, in the case of a foreign competition, you could not have procured with less than 20, what do you intend to do with the remaining part of what you shall have extorted?

_A._ We shall send it abroad.

_Q._ With what view?

_A._ Of increasing the balance in money.

_Q._ Have you hitherto acted confidently with that idea?

_A._ We have—and it is known to all the world that it is the dearest idea of an _Englishman_—an idea which the nation holds (if properly attended to) as the only bulwark against a national bankruptcy.

_Q._ What have you got by that idea, if it be probable that there is not above 25 or 30 millions in specie within the kingdom, and if it be proved evidently that it is impossible you should have more than 35?

_A._ The reason is, no doubt, that foreign importation has been too freely permitted; a criminal, a traiterous indulgence which we are incessantly at work to remove: and it is on that account, that besides the absolute prohibition we now pray for in regard to such and such articles, we also petition that the duties be laid double and treble on all other foreign articles which are not yet totally prohibited.

_Q._ Do you not fear that foreigners, whose merchandise you would cause to be prohibited, should play the same trick with yours? Do you not fear that those on whose goods you mean to increase the duties, should in their turn overload those which they will receive from you?—For this is all the conjuration requisite to counteract and balance the effect of those sublime regulations which you petition for.

_A._ We shall carry on a smuggling trade in their country, and they will pay dearer for our goods; they cannot do without them.

_Q._ They will, no doubt, follow your example: therefore new recruits will be wanted for that army of rogues and idlers, designed to lay hold of, and ruin whoever should dare to oppose your ransoming the owners of lands, and proprietors of some money; but be it so:—you will besides be equally successful in obliging the poor ransomed individuals, to pay for the additional and necessary reinforcement of your standing army of rogues and idlers, and for those light troops of informers so well fitted for the noble purpose you are carrying on;—be it so again.—But, after all, what are you to do with that immense balance in money?—Shall you bury it under ground?

_A._ Aye—and with all our hearts and souls, if, when thus buried, it could bring to us the same benefit as when it is rendered useful to some one else; but alas! that secret is not yet found out: it might be possible, however, to pray for an Act of Parliament, compelling the nation to pay the interest of all the sums thus interred by us; and the wisdom of such an Act would be the more conspicuous, as it would keep within the reach, under the very hand of the nation, all the money she might have occasion for, whenever she should think it expedient to declare war against _France, our natural enemy_. Till such an Act is framed, we shall follow the example of _Holland_; we shall keep on the carrying trade, by which the _Dutch_ have gained so much money notwithstanding our Navigation Act, which we fondly hoped was calculated to effect their ruin: we shall carry from _Russia_ to _Sicily_, from _Constantinople_ to _Poland_, from _Stockholm_ to _Cadiz_, from _Lisbon_ to _Venice_, whatever may be carried from one place to the other, and this we shall do at the lowest prices, in order to get the preference of the _Dutch_. It is a great pity that this cannot be effected without benefiting the land-owners, and the proprietors of some money, in all the countries where we may stand in competition for that carrying trade, not only with the _Dutch_, but with all the national monopolists who shall not have as yet been dexterous enough to force from their legislature, laws as _favourable to commerce_ as those we have obtained; but in fact, what matters it to us whom we serve, provided we get a good profit from the service?

_Q._ Will you add further: _And provided also that the service done, falls not on the land-owner, or on the proprietor of some money within your nation_?—Yet thus far would you finally be led by that system of prohibitions and restrictions, almost equally extravagant, to which you are so devoutly attached.—But such a plan can succeed only to a certain degree: be pleased to observe, that hitherto you can boast of no other advantage but that of the first attack.—Sole and absolute arbiters as you are of your own prices by the monopoly you have obtained, if agriculture had not advanced those of her products in the same proportion, would not your land-owners be compelled to seek abroad for a country where monopoly should not be so obligingly countenanced? For you do not, I presume, flatter yourselves that you shall be able to induce your Parliament, in the age we live in, doubly to tax the property of those who might look abroad for a remedy against your extortions:—the many laws of that kind consigned to your annals, (and which you would not fail to quote as a precedent,) must seek in the ignorance and barbarity of the age that gave them birth, an apology for their establishment; but at this present time!—Such shades in the picture of the Land of Liberty, instead of setting off the beauties of its other parts, would annihilate the very idea of that liberty. _It is by justice and freedom that we are attracted and retained; it is by injustice and restraint that we are expelled, and kept at a distance._ Be pleased then, in fine, to observe that nothing can result from those plans, the iniquity of which you have no more searched into than you have thoroughly examined their consequences,—from those prohibitions and restrictions, the effects of which must be counterbalanced by contradictory regulations,—except the pitiful advantage of having perverted the nature of the prices on every article. _What is necessary to counteract the effect of an injury done to the generality, will always mechanically be brought about by that very generality._ Would it not be more advantageous for men, to agree amongst themselves, like intelligent beings, on some plans accounted equitable by all,—on plans the analysis of which the projector might bear without a blush?—Were a few points agreed upon, it would not perhaps be difficult to settle all the others.

Let the dead bodies be wrapped up in woollen instead of linen cloth; linen coming from abroad, wool being a staple commodity, and the dead caring little whether their winding-sheet be made of woollen or linen: it is a point of economy which it would be rather too severe to condemn, although it is probable enough that in the North they would exchange with pleasure, for your _buried woollen_, linen cloth in sufficient quantity to wrap up your dead; a circumstance which might prove very beneficial to some of the living, both in _England_ and _Silesia_. But will you attempt to persuade, that it is advantageous to the State, under any aspect, to compel a man who calls himself free, to wear manufactured buttons, when his inclination would lead him to have them made of remnants of stuff? Will you attempt to persuade, that it is advantageous to the State, to make him pay a penalty of 3 or 4 pounds, besides cost, if he is surprised _flagrante delicto_? Will you attempt to persuade, that it is advantageous to the State, to encourage the infamous trade of informing, by a reward in favour of an informer, against a man guilty of _such a crime_? Will you attempt to persuade, that it is advantageous to the State, to withdraw from their useful occupations a swarm of fellows, _become capable of any dirty work_, by having turned informers on account of the stipulated recompense, and who, waiting for an opportunity of doing worse, leave their work-shops as soon as such a law is passed, in search of a prey the seisure of which will enable them to live in riot and intoxication for a whole week together, without being obliged to return to their work? This is not all; for, in fine, if all the branches of industry have the same right to the protection of Government, does not a law, the immediate effect of which is to enhance the price of buttons by occasioning a greater demand for that article, destroy all idea of that protection equally due to the other branches of industry, by infallibly depriving some of them, both of the amount of the cash they might have received from those who will now be forced, against their inclination, to purchase manufactured buttons, and of the amount of cash which the advanced price of manufactured buttons, will unjustly wrest from those who, by the effect of the law, are obliged to pay dearer for what they might have procured at a cheaper rate? Would not the least facility granted for the importation of some foreign merchandise, have occasioned abroad a greater consumption, either of buttons, or of some other _English_ goods, than such a law can procure at home in the manufactory unjustly favoured? But, above all, will you attempt to persuade, that it is advantageous for the State, to acquire a thousand more button-makers, when that acquisition is obtained by the loss of a thousand artificers employed in manufacturing some other articles, the consumption of which would have been _free_, that is, analogous to the situation of those who boast of their being so?

Let us seek for such points, as it may be possible to agree upon.

The State is composed of three orders of men, all equally precious, and whose rights are equally sacred; _viz._ the landed _capitalist_, the _capitalist_ of industry, and the proprietor of money, whether he be considered as a _capitalist_ in this last respect, or only as a dependent on either of the two former _capitalists_. Each of these three orders has its interest.

First, It is the highest interest of the landed _capitalist_, that there be the greatest plenty and variety of the best products of industry, and the greatest consumption of the productions of the earth.

Secondly, It is the highest interest of the _capitalist_ of industry, that there be the greatest plenty and variety of the best productions of the earth, and the greatest consumption of the products of industry.

Thirdly, It is the highest interest of the money proprietor, that there be the largest quantity and variety of the best products both of industry and agriculture, in order that he may be able to support the value of his capital by the quantity of objects on which he will have it in his power to lay it out, and the value of his interest by the greatest possible consumption, not at the lowest price, which, supposed lasting, is as chimerical as the pretended balance, _constantly favourable_, but at the most equitable rate, that is to say, the highest the seller can hope for, and the lowest to which the purchaser can pretend.

But if it be true, that the combined interest of the three orders be centered within the three points I have stated, namely, the greatest possible quantity and variety of the best productions of the earth, the greatest quantity and variety of the best products of industry, and the greatest as well as most unconfined consumption of both at an equitable price; it is equally true, that it must be a matter of perfect indifference to agriculture, in what part of the world, and by whom her productions are consumed, provided they be paid to her in any products whatever, at her option equivalent to those she has parted with. It is no less true, that it is a matter of perfect indifference to industry, in what part of the world, and by whom, her products are consumed, provided she be paid for them in any products whatever, at her option, equivalent to those she gives. It is equally true, that the money-proprietor must view, with the same indifference, his property giving life to this or that branch of industry or agriculture, provided, that in the hour of need or fancy, he finds at hand, on the most equitable terms, the greatest quantity and variety of the best products of agriculture and industry, which the interest of his money, or the amount of the salaries he enjoys, gives him A RIGHT to expect.

There remains, it is true, a fourth interest, that of the _Fisc_, or public revenue; but if this revenue be nothing more than the produce of the taxes, this fourth interest consists of course, as the three former, in the largest quantity of products, and the greatest consumption. Now are there any other means to obtain those two objects, besides the freest and most extensive exchange, not of goods for money, but of goods for goods? Is it not perceivable, that all the four interests united, as well as each of them separately, require that no more be imported in bullion or money than the quantity necessary to facilitate those exchanges? Is not a surplus of money not only useless, but even detrimental, in diminishing our enjoyments, our possible profits, and _that consumption which produces the public revenue_?