The case fairly stated between the Turky Company and the Italian merchants: By a merchant.

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- ERRATA.

THE CASE Fairly Stated between the TURKY Company AND THE Italian Merchants.

THE Turky Company wou'd be but ill Charg'd with so much Art in the Conduct of their Trade, if they were capable of using no Art in the Defence of it.

No Man can charge them with want of Cunning in what they now push at, and had they us'd as much Honesty in their Argument as they shew Art in their Design, some plain Questions and Answers wou'd bring us all to the End of the Dispute; and the House of Lords had not had the Trouble of this Act.

The Papers they have hitherto publish'd, have generally aim'd at two Things, and both of them seem to be unfair, and something sophistical: I am loth to call it Shuffling, with respect to the Persons of the Gentlemen concern'd; but Necessity obliges me to say, That what they offer, evidently looks one Way but means another; the specious Pretences they make for the publick Good of Trade, Encouragement of Manufactures, and the like, are only Covers to conceal the grand End of separate Interest; which, 'tis manifest, is the Thing they aim at.

- 1. They pretend in their Papers, to advocate for the Good of their Country, against the Encouragement given by the Italian Merchant to the French, to sell their Cloth in Turky, by taking off the Raw Silk, which is the Return; whereas really, they are in their Capacity as a Company, the Reason of all the Encouragement the French meet with in the Turky Trade; and if it were not for the ill Conduct of the Turky Company, the French wou'd have no Silk to sell, nor vend any Cloth in Turky worth naming.

- 2. They pretend, that the supporting the Turky Company is the Interest of the Trade; whereas their being a Company, in the Sense of their present Management, is the great Obstruction of the Trade; and will, if not restrain'd, be the Ruin of it.

In their Papers, therefore, it is evident, they aim (1.) at suppressing the Italian Merchant's Trade to Turky; and (2.) at engrossing the Trade of selling Cloth in Turky, and of Silk in England, in order to imposing their own Price upon the Buyers of Cloth Abroad, and the Manufacturers of Silk at Home. Both which would, if obtain'd, effectually declare them a Monopoly, in the grossest Sense of that Word.

Their Oppressions Abroad, their unfair Dealings with the Merchants, who from Leghorn interfere, as they call it, with their Trade; their By-Laws, their arbitrary Proceedings upon them, and all the rest of their ill Conduct, they give up, and seem to plead Guilty to them all, so they can but get this Bill.

With so much Eagerness they push for this Bill, that they not only manag'd their Introduction into it with the utmost Art, and push'd it on with unweary'd Application, to hinder their Books being look'd into, but they said they were willing to consent to any future Laws, to limit, nay, even to punish their Exorbitance, so they may but be indulg'd with the Advantages they drive at in this Bill.

In a Word, they were in such a Passion for this darling Bill, that they are willing to give up their Reputation as a Company, submit to all the Parliament may think fit to do with them, or all the Punishment that may be inflicted upon them, provided they may but save THIS BILL.

It is their own Expression in one of their Cases: Possibly the Turky Company may have committed Faults, and made unfitting By-Laws: If they have done both, yet THIS BILL may be necessary. And in another Place, All that can be objected against the Turky Company, may be remedy'd by a BILL in another Parliament, and they may take ANOTHER TIME for the remedying of it. If a Company oppresses, the Parliament may curb and restrain it by FUTURE LAWS. And the like.

I wou'd not treat the Company with Indecency, but this seems to me to be little more than that of a Man detected of a grievous Trespass, craving Leave for an immediate Power to oppress and injure his Neighbour, and putting off the Examination and Punishment of his own Crime to another Season; as if the remedying the Grievance on one side, had not the same Justice in it, and did not call for the same Concern of the Publick to rectify, as the other. I might have illustrated this by a more severe Simily, if I were willing to carry Things to the heighth.

But let us take these Gentlemen in their own Way, and use their own Words, as above: Possibly the Company have committed Faults, and made unfitting By-Laws: It is most certain they have, (and I inter what I believe every one will grant, viz.) Therefore it is not reasonable, those that have already abus'd their Power, shou'd be now enabled to abuse it farther. And I humbly hope that the Nature of the Companies By-Laws and Orders may be inspected.

What they now ask, is neither more or less, than to have a Power granted them to oppress and injure the Traders to Turky by way of Italy; who, they grant already, they have injur'd and oppress'd. As to the Bill they demand, the Nature of it shall presently appear, when the Fraud of the Design is more effectually laid open. Something extraordinary must sure be the Case, that these Men are so very earnest to have the Examination of the Conduct of the Turky Company put off; it is a shrewd Suspicion of Guilt, when Men are so extraordinary shy of coming to an Examination; see how it runs thro' all their Arguings: If the Bill passes, say they again, the Conduct of the Turky Company, all their By-Laws, and even their Charter, if lyable to any just Exceptions, may be examin'd afterwards by Parliament. Very good, and why not now? Why must not the Parliament be allow'd to examine Now into their Conduct, their By-Laws, their Oppressions, their arbitrary Proceedings, and their Charter, if lyable to Exceptions, as there is some Reason to believe they all are?

Nor is the examining into these Things so incongruous to the Bill depending as they would insinuate: I alledge, and undertake to make it appear, that the Bill they seek cannot be rational, if the other Conduct of the Company is fully examin'd into; and therefore it is not at all unreasonable to demand, that both be enter'd into together; 'tis a great Mistake to say, that the Conduct of the Company has no Relation to this Bill. On the contrary, if the Company have misbehav'd, if they have oppress'd and injur'd the Fair-Traders, if their by-Laws are unjust, and they are a real Monopoly, and ablove all, if they seek to be able to act as a Monopoly by Virtue of this Bill, then 'tis absolutely necessary to examine their Conduct before this Bill should pass. As for Example.

If this Bill in its Nature tends to making the Company a Monopoly; if it is evident, that in soliciting this Bill, they aim at a Power to monopolize; if it appears, that this Bill, if pass'd, will put that Power into their Hands: Then, with humble Submission to the House, it is absolutely necessary to examine into the Abuse of the Power they have, and the Reason of the Power they seek, and of their seeking it, and all before this Bill be suffer'd to pass.

And what can it be, but this plain Dependance of these Things, one upon another, that makes these Men so backward to have their Conduct examin'd? But that they are sensible, that if the House should ransack their Behaviour and the Use they have made of the Powers and Privileges which they have been entrusted with, they would see very good Reason to consider well of it before they entrusted them any farther.

Nor is this an unjust or an unfair Reflection, because we that are oppress'd by the Company, and have Reason, feelingly, to mention the Abuse of the Powers they have been entrusted with, have much more Reason than other Men to conclude what Use they would make of it, if farther Powers were committed to them as a Company.

And here, because I am necessarily to enter with Plainness and Freedom upon the Detecting a general Scheme of Fraud and Injustice, which evidently seems to run thro' the whole Course of this Matter, and that, as above, much less Honesty than Art shews itself in the earnest Solicitations which are and have been made for this Bill, I must be allow'd to distinguish between the Gentlemen concern'd in their personal and private Capacities, and in their Capacities as a Company.

In their former Capacities, I have nothing in the least to say; here is no personal Satyr intended, nor do I direct any Reflection, in this Affair, to this or that particular Man. There are, without Doubt, many worthy and honourable Persons in the Turky Company.

But their Conduct, as a Company, is another Thing; and no Man's private Reputation is concern'd in it; and yet I must acknowledge my self to be of the same Mind which King Charles IId gave as his Opinion to a certain Lord Mayor of London, (viz.) That it was not possible for a Man to act in a Society with the same Honesty and Jussice as in their separate and private Capacities; but that all Societies and Companies were Tyrants and Oppressors by the Nature of the Thing.

Having made these Postulata with the Gentlemen-Members of the Company, as private Persons, I shall, with the more Freedom, speak to their Behaviour as a Company.

I have mention'd how strange it is that these Gentlemen should be so very Earnest for this Bill, and for its passing, without enquring into their Conduct. I shall now unravel this Mystery, and lay it open to the World; and when I have done so, the Wonder will cease.

- 1. The first Reason is, because enquiring into their past Conduct, will necessarily discover the True, but conceal'd Design of the Bill.

- 2. It will discover the Reason for endeavouring to obtain it.

- 3. It will discover the Consequences of it, if obtain'd.

That the Discovery of any, or of all these Things, would most effectually overthrow the Bill, seems reasonable for me to conclude, from the Knowledge I have of the certain Application of the House of Peers, to detecting all clandestine Measures, Projects, and Attempts, couch'd under the specious Pretence of Right, Property, Publick Good, and the like; by which the Subjects are frequently impos'd upon, the Publick abus'd, and private Persons injur'd.

It will be impossible the House can see the exact Connection that there is between the former Conduct of that Company and the Attempt couch'd under the Cover of this Bill, and not see how artfully they seek to protect their past ill Conduct, by obtaining an Authority for worse; and to support the Oppressions of their former Measures, by enlarging them in those they should now get Power to act by. To bring this Home to the Point in Discute, that is to say, the Bill.

The Pretences of the Bill are specious, (viz.)

- 1. That the Raw Silk which the Italian Merchants import from Leghorn, is French, and the Return for their French Cloths sold in Turky.

- 2. That the Quantity of the said Silk imported into England is very great.

- 3. That it is injurious to the Turky Trade.

If these Things were really so, every Man should grant the Consequence at the first Word, (viz.) that the Bill was necessary, which is what they alledge.

But, as was said in one of the Italian Merchant's Cases, These Things would go a great Way in the Charge; but for one Misfortune attending them, which is, that they happen not to be TRUE.

The chiefest Evidence they bring of it, is, That in the Years 1714 and 1715, a very great Quantity of Raw Silk was bought in France, brought to Leghorn, and shipp'd to England. Now, tho' I should grant this, that in those two Years a great deal of French Raw Silk was brought from Marseilles, yet that will neither prove that it has been so in other Years, or that it can ever happen so again: Nor if it were to happen again, can they argue from it any Advantage to the French Trade, or Disadvantage to the English, but just the contrary, as will appear in the following Heads:

- 1. From the Reason and Occasion of the French Merchants having that great Quantity of Raw Silk upon their Hands at that Time (viz.) That they had a Prospect of an open Trade with England for their Wrought Silks, the Treaty of Commerce being then on foot here; Which failing, and the Alteration of their Coin happening at the same Time, they were oblig'd to sell off the Silk Raw at a very great Loss; so that half the Banquiers of Paris, half the Banquiers of Lions, and almost all the Merchants at Marseilles were ruin'd by it, and became Bankrupt, having lost above one third of the Value of their Capital Stock. If this be the Way that the Italian Merchants shall always encourage the French Trade, the French will have little to boast of, and the Levant Company little to complain of.

- 2. It is well known that the French did not receive that great Quantity of Silk, which was then upon their Hands, in Return for Cloth, or any Manufactures; all the Cloth that cou'd have been in France cou'd not have purchas'd it; but they sent away Ready Money, and bought up such a Quantity, upon the Prospect of Advantage by the Treaty of Commerce in England, as above; the Disappointment of which was the Ruin of so many Merchants there.

- 3. When the Raw Silk in France was thus cheap, and bought by us so much to their Loss, it was greatly wanted in England; and the Price in January 17 14/15, refus'd by Turky Merchants here was 30s. and 32s. per lb. and there was not Silk enough to be had in England to employ our Weavers, or to carry on our own Silk Manufacture; so that at this Time, which these Men dwell so much upon, the Importation of French Turky Silk, was infinitely the Advantage of our Trade, and in Proportion ruinous to France. And the Silk so Imported was about June 1715 sold to our Manufacturers in London, at 23 s. And the Price will be always kept low, so long as there can be two Importations.

This sufficiently answers the great Importation in the Years 1714, 1715, on which these Men insist so much; and proves that it was a Circumstance of Trade which can never happen again; and if ever it shou'd, wou'd, every Bale of it, be an incredible Advantage to England, and a Disadvantage to France. And 'tis hop'd that an extraordinary Case, which can never in the ordinary Course of Trade happen again, will not be look'd upon a sufficient Reason to break into an Act, which is the support of our Navigation.

That it cannot be thus now, is plain, and the Italian Merchants have made it appear so, by the Calculation of the Price of Silk at Leghorn and at London; which generally is, and for the last three Years has been, from 1 s. 6 d. to 2 s. 6 d. per lb. cheaper in London than at Leghorn; which is a sure Rule to judge by, why this Importation cannot be considerable; for that Merchants never extend or continue a Trade that they cannot carry on but to Loss. Nor, indeed, can there ever be any considerable Importation of Raw Silk from Leghorn, but when the Turky Company, by their oppressive Limitations, and other monopolizing Arts, restrain or with-hold the Importation of a Quantity sufficient for the Market, on purpose to advance the Price for their private Gain. And this Engrossing is so easy to them, such a Grievance to Trade, and so injurious to our Manufactures in England, that even the Possibility of their doing so is an unanswerable Reason against their Bill, and proves, that it not only is not NECESSARY, as they pretend, but that it is absolutely necessary their Power of imposing upon the Market, as above, should be restrain'd.

The second Head, is the Quantity which they pretend is Imported, to which the Turky Merchants have annex'd no Evidence, expecting to be taken upon their Words. This Quantity they alledge to be about an hundred Bales a Year; but this the Italian Merchants deny, and appeal to the Custom-House Books for their Proof: Also they have prov'd, at the House of Commons, that in the current Year, all the Raw Silk imported at Leghorn from France, amounts to no more than thirty six Bales: And that Italy, for expence of their own Silk Manufacture, annually uses two or three hundred Bales of Turky Raw Silk.

The last is, That this is injurious to the Turky Trade; and this they explain two Ways:

- 1. That it is the Return of the French Cloths sold in Turky, and consequently assists the French in their Sale of Cloth in Turky.

- 2. That it ruins the Market for the Turky Raw Silk here at London, by sinking the Price of it so, as to make the Merchant lose by his Goods, or keep them on his Hands unsold.

The first is incumbent on the Levant Company to prove, which they only barely asserted; when, on the contrary, the Italian Merchants prov'd, that from Leghorn, according to the constant course of Trade, all the Turky Raw Silk imported from Italy, was the Return of English Manufactures: And to this they offer'd to call Merchants who had resided there for these Forty Years last past.

To the second, the Italian Merchants say, That the affording all Commodities to our Manufactures cheap, is a General Benefit; and the Importing them dear, will make our Neighbours under-sell us.

Now, neither of these being true, as above, how will it appear that this Trade is injurious to the Turky Trade from and to England.

The Appearance of these Things being thus, and all these Pretences for the Bill being thus repeal'd and expos'd, it leads me to the original Design of the Turky Merchant's pushing this Affair so warmly, and to enquire what must be the true Reasons for their desiring the Bill to stop the Importation of so small a Quantity of Raw Silk, as, communibus annis, is brought into England from Leghorn.

And this Question necessarily carries me back to view the State of the Turky Trade, which I shall study to do as clearly and with as much Brevity as I have done the French.

The Trade to Turky is carry'd on in a Company; their Charter, their Privileges, their Manner of carrying on their Trade is known. The Number of Persons concern'd in their Trade, or Free of their Company, is great; they tell us, they are above Two Hundred; and others may, and indeed all, even the Italian Merchants themselves, may be Free of this Company, paying the usual Fine at their Admission, and taking the Freedom of the City also.

But, I suppose, it will not be contended, that the Gross of the Trade to Turky is carry'd on by a very few Men, and even of those few, a yet fewer Number have the governing Influence of the Trade, and can go far, very far, to limit the rest by their Interest, to Ship or not to Ship, Trade or not to Trade, as their Quantities of Goods, Abroad or at Home, want a Market, or want a Price.

And as this is an Article which renders the Company a most effectual Monopoly, when they make Use of it; so it is evident, that it is but a little while since they did effectually make Use of it, to the great Injury of the Trade; and this Power, together with an Oath every Merchant must take, if he will come in to be Free of this Company, and which subjects him to be subject to such monopolizing Arts as those, is the Reason why the Italian Merchants have always declin'd the Company, and carry'd on their Trade to Turky by the Way of Leghorn.

In Favour of this Trade, which, as it is a fair and just Branch of Commerce, and was found to be very considerable; but above all, as it was found to be a just Check upon the Turky Company, and calculated to prevent the Encroachment they were always apt to run into for their private Ends, to the Injury of the English Trade and Art of Navigation, a Law particularly calculated for the Encouragement of Trade, and the Encrease of our Shipping, thought fit, by a Clause on Purpose, to make Provision for the Trade of the said Italian Merchants, and that they shou'd be allow'd to import the Asiatick Goods by Way of Leghorn.

And here, I must say, lies the whole Stress of the Bill now depending: It is this Trade to Turky, by the Way of Leghorn, that the Turky Merchants push at. The bringing some French Raw Silk by Accident, and on an extraordinary Occasion, when it may be very cheap in France, and very dear in England; this is made the specious Pretence, but is nothing in the Case; it is the Italian Merchant's Trading to Turky, Viâ Leghorn, that is the Grievance. This is that they shoot at, tho' they set up the other as a Blind.

To clear themselves of this, and if they would have the House believe them to be as good Patriots as they pretend, why do they not declare openly, that they desire nothing but to prevent the bringing in Turky Raw Silk bought of the French, that the French may not be encourag'd to carry on the Turky Trade to their Disadvantage, and to send greater Quantities of French Cloth to Turky, and the like?

Had this been the real and only Thing they had sought, what Need had they to strike at the Root of the Italian Trade, which is so much more considerable and advantageous than their own? Why Petition for the Repeal of a Clause, which admits them to bring Home the Returns of their Trade to Turky? Why had they not only pray'd, that an ACT might pass to prohibit Raw Silk from France being imported by Way of Leghorn? in which all the Italian Merchants would readily have concurr'd, and are still ready to do it.

Or, on the other hand, if they were not asham'd at thus publickly aiming to monopolize both the Cloth Trade in Turky, and the Silk Trade in England; I say, if they were not asham'd of such an open Attempt to engross an exclusive Trade, and that they could think a House of Commons, the Guardians of Liberty, could be capable of being brought into such an Invasion of the Liberties of Trade, why did they not petition fairly, That the Italian Merchants might not carry English; Cloths, and Tin into Turky Viâ Leghorn; or, in a Word, that, if they did, they should not be allow'd to bring back the Returns of it into England.

This had been, indeed, to have acted with less Cunning, but with more Honesty, than to aim and strike fairly at this Prohibition, under Pretence of prohibiting bringing in French Turky Silk; a Thing, which, as it is prov'd, is seldom done, so it is plain it can never be done, but to our Advantage, and the Loss of the French Merchants; unless it be, as above, when the Turky Merchants have put the Dice upon the Market, and rais'd the Price to an unreasonable and injurious Heighth; and then the Refuge of a French Market, or of any other Market, would be but a Justice to the Manufactures, and a just Check upon the Engrossers.

It seems necessary, in the next Place, to give a short State of this By-Trade, as they would call it, from Italy to Turky, or from England to Turky, by Way of Italy.

The Turky Merchants take much Pains to represent this Article as very small and inconsiderable; but why then do they not propose to the Parliament, that in the Bill they solicit for, a Clause be reserv'd for leaving this little, small, inconsiderable Trade entirely free, and its Returns free to be brought Home? If it be small, the Damage to them must likewise be small: Why is it so hotly oppos'd and attack'd, if it were really so small and inconsiderable, as they represent it? I can answer for the Italian Merchants, that they would not have struggled with them for the preserving it; and even the Opposition made to them by the Italian Merchants, is an Evidence to all the World, that it is very far from being a small and inconsiderable Trade.

By this very Thing the whole Quarrel may be decided: If the Turky Merchants aim only at, and desire only the preventing the bringing French Turky Silk hither, and are willing to leave the Italian Trade to Turky, and back to England, by the Way of Leghorn, open, as it always was, let them say so; ask for that, and the Italian Merchants will heartily join with them; but, while they thus push at one Thing, under Pretence of another, they most plainly discover what they endeavour to conceal.

It is meet, therefore, to put this Affair in a clear Light. The Italian Merchants Trade to Turky by Way of Leghorn, is far from being small or inconsiderable; they export and sell in Turky from 40 to 50 Thousand Pounds a Year in English Cloth, and in Tin, Lead, &c. a considerable Sum, and they bring back the Returns of it to Leghorn.

Great Part of those Returns being sold in Italy, the Produce of which must be clear Gain to the Publick Stock of Great Britain, it would be very hard, if they should be deny'd the Privilege of English Men, and of bringing Home the rest to sell in their own Country, as Markets may present.

Except in the Cases already mention'd, they bring no Silk from Marseilles, and nothing but the Exorbitances of the Turky Company imposing upon the Markets, as before, can make it practicable. If the House thinks fit, even to prevent it under those Exorbitances, they submit it wholly to the Wisdom of Parliament; but they humbly hope they have a Right of Property, in common with the rest of his Majesty's faithful Subjects, to bring back, and vend in open Market, the Returns of the English Woollen Cloths, and other Products of their own Country, which they export, and without which they cannot carry on their Trade.

While the Company oppose so just a Request, how can they take it ill, that we say they are a dangerous Monopoly? and how can they clear themselves of the Charge, while they seek to be the only Exporters of Cloth to the whole Turkish Empire, and the only Importers of Raw Silk to the King's Dominions? Is it not plain, that in this Case they would consult their own Advantages rather than the Demands or Occasions of the Manufacturers?

This is the Article the Company visibly press for; and it cannot be deny'd but it is of great Consequence to them, that is to say, to them personally, and as a Company: but the more it is so, of the more fatal Consequence would it be to the Trade in general, seeing they would, as above, put their own Price upon their Woollen Cloth at home, to the Impoverishing, if not Destruction of the Manufacturer; and their own Price upon their Silk at Home: Nor would it weigh with them, that by this Conduct they would lessen the Consumption of English Cloth in Turky; and, to hold it up to a Price, for their private Gain, keep it always scarce at Market, forbidding their Members in England to ship but in general Ships, sometimes once a Year, sometimes once in two Years, or more, as they think fit; without regarding, that by this Means there would be many Thousands of Cloths less exported than the Markets would otherwise carry off, to the irreparable Damage and Discouragement of Woollen Manufactures, and the Encouragement of the French; and the Ruin of the Clothiers, who, when they had made large Quantities of Cloth for the Turky Trade, must be oblig'd to keep them on Hand, or, perhaps, sell them under Price to two or three rich money'd Men, who make Use of the Necessities of the poor Clothiers for that very Advantage; all which still proclaims them a Sett of Monopolizers, in the worst Sense of the Word.

And this very Practice throws another Charge back upon them, which they never can get off from, and which they now endeavour to put upon the Italian Merchants, viz. That whereas they alledge, that the Italian Merchants are the Supporter of the French Trade to Turky, (the contrary of which is manifest,) the Turky Company, by not duly supplying the Markets, by laying Mulcts and Restraints upon the English Cloth which comes there by Way of Leghorn, by swearing their Factors and Servants not to sell any of their Goods, but for present Payment; whereas the French give Credit, where there is any Certainty or Security of being paid. By these, I say, and many such like Methods, they are themselves the Encouragers, and, indeed, the Supporters of the French Trade to Turky, who, on the contrary, were the Markets constantly and fully supply'd, and proper Measures for Trade pursu'd, as would be, if the Trade were open'd, as it might be, would not be able to vend one quarter Part of the Cloth which they now sell there. I do not mean by this, totally to lay open the Turky Trade, but humbly hope your Lordships, in your great Wisdom, will put it on the foot the Russia Company was, by an Act of the 11th of King William and Queen Mary; and I do believe such an Act would effectually drive the French out of the Turky Trade, and have the same effect that had, viz. That instead of six or seven Sail of Ships the then Russia Company annually employ'd, and the now Turky Company annually employs, the next Year the Russia Merchants sent 40 Sail of Ships, and do now annually employ above a hundred and twenty, and our English Manufactories are now carry'd to Places where before they were never so much as heard of: And this would be the Case of the Turky Trade, were the Levant Company regulated by a like Act of Parliament; and the Honour of the English Nation kept up with a much less Charge on our Manufactures than it now is; for the Trade being more diffusive, half per Cent. instead of two, would be sufficient to defray the necessary National Charge.

So that, in a Word, it is the Turky Company who encourage the French; and many Ways this may be made out: As for Example, the 23d of May, 1707, by laying a Mulct of five Dollars per Cloth on all English Cloth, which comes thither from Leghorn, when the French Cloth comes in Free, forbidding English Cloth from Leghorn to come in English Ships; but permitting English Ships to bring French and Dutch Cloth Free, as above. They tell us, if we stop the French Silk from coming hither, we destroy them at once. How can they impose this upon Mankind, when 'tis known, that all the Cloth the French Merchant can send to Turky, will not supply the Demand they have for Silk in France? But they buy a great deal with ready Money, as was the Case those two Years 1714 and 1715, when they lost so much Money by it, as almost ruin'd them all. And what must our poor Manufacturers have done in England in those two Years, had they not been supply'd by the Italian Merchant's buying that Silk cheap? Is it not evident their Goods must have cost them here 40 l. per Cent. more than the French and Italians cou'd have imported them at; the Consequence of which must have been, that our English Manufacturers must have been starv'd, and Wrought Silks, from all our neighbouring Manufactories, instead of Turky Raw Silks, wou'd have been run in upon us from Abroad.

It is deny'd and has already been explain'd that Turky Raw Silk ever did or ever can come from France hither, by Way of Leghorn, in the ordinary Course of Trade: 'Tis plain, it can never come but when their Markets in France are so full, and so low, as that they must sell it to great Loss; or when our Markets, starv'd by the Cunning of the Company, are so extravagantly dear, that to reduce the Price will be our Gain; so that, in short, to bring the Turky Silk in either of those two Junctures, will be always to our Gain, and to the Loss of the French. And in which of these two lies the Advantage to France, I would fain have these Gentlemen answer.

But let us examine next, what Disadvantage the Turky Company can pretend to suffer from the Italian Trade: Can any Merchants complain of the Competitors, who cannot trade under them, but at a Disadvantage of 10 or 12 per Cent. and, if they please, 20 or 30 per Cent. unless Means can be found to evade the Force of their Impositions; it cannot be, the Advantage must lie somewhere else, and it is manifest it does so, viz. in the having Power, by an exclusive Trade, to impose other Rates and Prices upon the Markets Abroad and at Home, than they have ever yet been able to do: This it is they aim at, and this they find they can come at no other Way, but by putting a Stop to the Merchants sending Cloth to Turky, by Way of Leghorn, and bringing back the Silk to London; and this they cannot expect, but by perswading the World to believe, than which nothing can be more false, that this Silk comes from France.

Again, to prove the Inconsistence of this Pretence, I would desire those Merchants to calculate the Price which this Silk costs the French Merchants in Turky, whether it be bought for Cloth or for Money; let them add to it the Charges of carrying first to Marseilles, then bringit from Marseilles to Leghorn, then shipping it again for England, Commission in all those Places, and Charges of sundry Sorts, also Insurance, and the like; and then let them take the Price in France and at London, at the same Time, and tell us if the French gain, or lose, by the Trade: If the first, let them prevent it, by such legal Methods as they shall think fit; If the last, which I affirm is true, what can be the Meaning of so warmly engaging against a Trade which the French lose Money by.

I observe, in several of the Cases given out by the Turky Company, they would be thought very popular, and claim it of the World, that they are the great Encouragers of the Woollen Manufacture, and that they not only export great Quantities, but that they take all proper Measures to encourage the Consumption of it in the Country whither they carry it.

But, were this true, how comes it, that there are so many By-Laws for the Discouraging any one to bring it thither but themselves; such as laying a Mulct, or Duty, of 25 Dollars per Bale, upon all the English Cloth that shall come by Way of Leghorn, not allowing it to be brought in English Ships, when, at the same Time, as before, the Dutch and French Cloth, as I have observ'd already, may come in English Bottoms; also forbidding their Factors there to sell any English Cloth, but for the Company, and the like.

Let any indifferent Person judge, whether this is encouraging, or whether it is not rather a visible Combination to discourage and destroy the Trade of our English Cloth in Turky.

With what Assurance can these Men bring a Rabble of Packers and Cloth-Dressers, Clothiers, and Dyers, and other Mechanicks, up to the Door of the House to solicit in their Cause, as if the whole Manufacture was concern'd? which is making the poor ignorant Clothworkers and Manufacturers so many Soliciters against themselves, and bringing them to be Parties to their own Destruction, as Manufacturers.

So also they bring the Pewterers and Dealers in Tin; insinuating, that they are great Benefactors to the Tin-mines; supposing, perhaps, that this may have some Influence on such Members as represent the Stannary Towns, and who are suppos'd to have Estates in the Mines of Tin in the Counties of Devon and Cornwal: But are they so ignorant as to imagine, that the Cornish Gentlemen do not know that the Italian Merchants are much greater Exporters of Tin than the Turky Merchants, even to above double the Quantity, and that as well to Turky as Italy? Which Things if duly known, and if the Italian Merchants were as much enclin'd to make themselves popular, and needeed it as these Men do, would presently bring the Manufacturers, Dyers, Dealers in Tin, and the like, to appear on their Side, rather than on the other.

But I leave all these little Things, as Artifices too mean to be taken Notice of, and fit only to assist a bad Cause. I come next to enter into the Merit of this Question, with Regard to the Navigation. It must be of some Concern to let the World see how many Ways this Company, who value themselves so highly, are an Obstruction and Discouragement to our Navigation, and to the employing both Shipping and Seamen, even in this very Trade, in which they would pretend to recommend themselves.

They were indeed enquir'd of at the Bar of the House, how many Ships they employ'd to Turky in a Year, and tho' I hear they answer'd falsly, and said, Ten; which is more than they employ, and in some Years send none at all; yet, at best, what Number of Ships is this to boast of, or to give them any Claim to be Encouragers of Navigation?

On the other hand, the Italian Merchants alledge, That they hinder, by their Limitations upon the Trade, ten times more Ships being employ'd than all the Trade they carry on employs. Tho' they have all the Grand Seigniors Dominions for their Trade, the others only Italy, they employ 6 or 7 Ships a Year, the Italian Trade near 150, to 200, many of which lie mouldring in Port, while the French and other foreign Vessels (Thanks to the Company's By Laws and Restrictions) run away with all the Freights to Turky, whilst our Ships, for want of Employ as usual in the Levant, are oblig'd to return home Empty.

Which Way shall these Men be discours'd with? Let impartial Men but hear their Argument: How incoherent! How inconsistent with itself! If they talk of our Importation to England, 'tis exceeding great. On the other hand, if they talk of our Exportation from England, 'tis exceeding small, tho' we vend and send 40 or 50000 l. a Year in English Cloth to Turky, by Way of Leghorn,

If we speak of our Trade to Turky, they tell us, one Ship a Year will bring all our Returns, and there is not above 500 Cloths a Year brought into Turky; and yet, at the same Time, speak of our Returns as a Thing fatal to their Trade. To avoid the Absurdity of these Things, they insist and affirm, That the Silk we import, is from France; offering nothing to prove it, but their affirming positively, that it is so; the Credit of which the Italian Merchants desire to be excus'd, as to their giving any Weight to, and as positively deny it.

But there is a Way how the Turky Merchants may obtain all that they ask'd, and which, if it may be obtain'd, no Cloth will be carry'd to Turky, Viâ Leghorn, any more; and no Raw Silk be brought from France, Viâ Leghorn, any more; no Clamour against the Turky Company's being a Monopoly, will be made any more; no Interruption to our Navigation will be made by the Company more; but the Trade will flourish, the Company will be enrich'd, and the Nation also: And this is but by laying open the Trade to all Mankind, on the foot of the Russia Company, to trade freely and unconfin'd; to send out Ships when they will, and by what Ways they will; and every body being left to push their own Trade, there is no doubt but the Grand Seignior's Dominions, and the Kingdoms and Countries of Persia, Georgia, Armenia, and the Caspian Sea, might, if Encouragement was given them, consume much more English Cloth than is now sold among them.

This, and no other, is the Way effectually to encrease the Trade, to Ruin the French Manufactories of Cloth, and to encourage both the English Manufacture and Navigation; and, in this Case, a few Years wou'd bring the Turky Trade not to employ seven Ships a Year, but seventy, and perhaps, sevenscore Ships.

For then wou'd all the Trade be encourag'd together, and those Ships that had a Hundred, and perhaps two Hundred Bales of Cloth on Board, wou'd run away, take in Freight for other Places, as for Genoa, Leghorn, Naples, Messina, and so to Smyrna, or Constantinople; and thus, instead of few Ships; there wou'd be many Sail in a Year employ'd.

And then the Trade wou'd appear, as it indeed is, very considerable; whereas now tis contracted, 'tis limited; and indeed by those Limitations 'tis almost quite lost.

The Russian Company is an Instance of this, who, while they were under the like Limitations as the Turky Company, sent usually 6 or 7 Ships a Year to Archangel, whereas they now employ above 120 Sail of large Ships a Year, one Year with another; and they export infinitely more Woollen Manufactures to that Country, than ever they did before; and thus pushing the Trade on with all the Art, and with the utmost Diligence, they have brought Infinite Numbers more of People to use the British Manufacture, than ever used it before.

The like is before us, and the like Advantages offer themselves; for by this one Act, (viz.) of laying the Trade open, Industry wou'd have her Hands at liberty, to struggle and to push the Trade into Countries, and among Inhabitants that were never heard of before. Methods wou'd then be used by the vigilant Merchant, to send his Goods, and to sell his Goods, without exacting ready Money where Payment was sure; leaving the Factor a discretionary Power to act as for himself.

As The Trade wou'd thus be better'd, so the Encouragement to Shipping, the Encrease of Seamen, and above all, the Consumption of our Manufactures wou'd be enlarg'd, and then the Mock-Complaint of the Importation of Raw Silk from Marseilles, wou'd be at an End; neither wou'd there be any Occasion of a Bill to prevent the Importation of Asiatick Goods from Leghorn; every Merchant having a Liberty, in the Course of his own Business, to bring away the Returns directly.

Likewise as a far greater Number of Ships wou'd go to Turky, having but Part of their Loading thither, from England, and having the Liberty, to take in Goods for Leghorn, Naples, and Messina, in their Way to Turky; so, in their Return, having Part of their Loading for Italy or England, there being a constant Trade to and from Turky to Italy, the Freight of which is considerable, they will be enabled to take the rest of their Loading in Italian Goods at Messina, Naples, or Leghosn, as Opportunity presents, or as their Employers direct. So that in this Case, the End of the Act of Navigation, which, as I said before, was to encrease and encourage English Seamen and English Shipping, especially Ships of Force, wou'd much better be answer'd, than by carrying on a narrow contracted Trade, as now they do, manag'd by about thirty Merchants only; and those Thirty managd again by Two or Three, by which the whole Commerce is straighten'd, the Consumption of English Cloth hinder'd, and the Dutch and French encourag'd to carry Cloth to Turky, and worm us out of the Trade.

This laying open the Trade may with Ease be so regulated, as that the Ambassadors, Consuls, and other Officers necessary to act there, may be still maintain'd, and all the necessary Expences of the Trade be supply'd, either by the Commerce itself, or by the Publick, for which suitable Provision may be made, as to the Wisdom of the Parliament shall seem meet. And for the compleat and easy Direction Whereof, a Scheme of suitable Measures shall be presented to the House, whenever such a Thing shall come upon the Stage; nor is there any Doubt to be made but that the Italian Merchants will be able to answer all the Objections that can be justly brought against such a Change of the Company's Constitution.

By the aforesaid Case (which I think I have stated impartially) it is humbly hop'd that the Italian Merchants, as Englishmen, have a natural Right to the Trade to the Grand Seignier's Dominions. I shall only give the Heads of some few restrictive Orders, and instance others, whereby they have Tax'd our Woollen Manufactures and Navigation, and prohibited even their own Members from Trading in such Manner and at such Times as they thought proper, and your Lordships may then judge, whether a Company with Power, or assuming a Power, to make restrictive Laws, be a Monopoly or not.

- The first is, A Mulct of 20 per Cent. upon all Cloth which should by Freemen be sent to Turky, other than in General Ships, laid about Ap 1718.

- 2. Resolv'd that no Ship go to Turky till October 1718, and that then they would consider when General Ships should go. That Order was continued for six Months longer, which produc'd a Motion in the House of Commons against the Exorbitant Power of the Company, to the Prejudice of the Woolleu Manufactures in general; and Sir John Eyles, Sir Peter Delmé, and others, in particular, had large Quantities of Cloth by them ready for the Turky Market.

- 3. An Oath against Trusting, which will be attested to be prejudicial to the Woollen Trade by their own Factors, who resided several Years Abroad.

- 4. Letters wrote to their Consul at Smyrna, in Case Mr. Elliot and Mr. Smith refus'd to take an Oath, ordering him to desire the Embassador's Warrant for seizing and sending the said Gentlemen home.

- 5. About the Year 1709, an Order to prevent their own Members sending Cloth by Way of Leghorn to Turky; and whereas no Penalty could be levy'd before without Conviction, the Words [whereof you shall be convicted] shall for the future be left out.

- 6. An Affirmation exacted from their own Members before they should be permitted to load their Goods on the Ships then bound to Turky, that they had not from the 26th of October, 1710, to the 24th of July, 1712, laden any Goods, or Merchandize for their own, or any others Account, during the said Time, for Turky.

- 7. To prevent their Factors, tho' for Italy, trading with Unfreemen, the Affirmation to be taken. The Penalty, if refus'd to make the Affirmation, to be depriv'd of his Trade, and pay double Duties.

- 8. About the Year 1707, an Order to their Consuls, to Levy, before it should be Landed, five Dollars upon all English Cloth, which upon any English Ship, or Ships, for Account of Foreigners, should be Imported into the Grand Seignior's Dominions, from Legborn.

- 9. The usual Consulage to be paid on all Goods and Money imported into Turky by English Ships, who come to load Corn; and over and above, the Commander, or Commanders of such Ship or Ships, to give Bond of 500 Dollars, to secure the Company from any Avania of the Turks, and upon Oath to give the Embassador or Consul, an exact Account of the Ship, and to pay one Dollar per Ton of 40 Killows of Corn, if for Account of Unfreemen.

- 10. A Broke, or Duty, of 20 per Cent. upon all English Goods or Manufactures carry'd into any Port of the Grand Seignior's Dominions, on Engglish Ships, from Italy, or any Port of Christendom, for Account of Aliens or Persons not Free of the Company, and the Lord Embassador, or Consuls, to require Payment before they suffer such English Ships to depart. This Order was made about the Year 1716.

- 11. An Order to their Factors not to load any Goods or Merchandize whatsoever, on any English Ship or Ships for England, which from Italy may or shall bring any English Cloth.

- 12. An Order made in the Year 1719, reciting, That whereas Captain Beal had by Freights in the Levant Seas gain'd a sufficient Sum to purchase a Loading of Currants, and had on the Value of the said Loading of Currants paid only the customary Consulage, it is order'd, That in Case Mr. Porten here, of whom the Company had made a Demand of double Consulage, should not pay it, that in such Case, if ever the said Captain Beal shall return to the Grand Seignior's Dominions, they desire their Embassador, and require their Consul, to Batulate both Ship and Captain. And it is further order'd, That no English Ship whatsoever, but such as belong wholly to Freemen of the Levant Company, or are Freighted by the Levant Company, shall for the future load any Fruit.

THE CASE Fairly Stated between the TURKY Company AND THE Italian Merchants.

By a MERCHANT.

LONDON. Printed in the Year 1720.

ERRATA.

PAge 24. lines 24, 25. for House of Commons read Parliament. And whereever it is called a Bill it should be Act.

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Title statement

The case fairly stated between the Turky Company and the Italian merchants: By a merchant.

Defoe, Daniel, 1661?-1731.

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ID [ota]

http://ota.ox.ac.uk/id/4500

ID [isbn10]

1106014995

ID [isbn13]

9781106014993

ID [TCP]

K059407.000

ID [BIBNO]

CW3306141301

ID [ECSS]

0665600300

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— The case fairly stated between the Turky Company and the Italian merchants: By a merchant., Defoe, Daniel, 1661?-1731.. 48p. ; 8⁰. London :: printed in the year,. 1720.. [A merchant = Daniel Defoe.] [Reproduction of original from the British Library.] [Moore, 429] [Hanson, 2687n] [Goldsmiths', 5683] [English Short Title Catalog, ESTCT69698.] [Electronic data. Farmington Hills, Mich. : Thomson Gale, 2003. Page image (PNG). Digitized image of the microfilm version produced in Woodbridge, CT by Research Publications, 1982-2002 (later known as Primary Source Microfilm, an imprint of the Gale Group).]

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