An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith (ebook reader with highlighter txt) 📖

wool, before he enters into bond to the king, that no

part of the wool which he shall so buy shall be sold by him to

any other person within fifteen miles of the sea. If any wool is

found carrying towards the sea side in the said counties, unless

it has been entered and security given as aforesaid, it is

forfeited, and the offender also forfeits 3s. for every pound

weight. if any person lay any wool, not entered as aforesaid,

within fifteen miles of the sea, it must be seized and forfeited

; and if, after such seizure, any person shall claim the same, he

must give security to the exchequer, that if he is cast upon

trial he shall pay treble costs, besides all other penalties.

 

When such restrictions are imposed upon the inland trade, the

coasting trade, we may believe, cannot be left very free. Every

owner of wool, who carrieth, or causeth to be carried, any wool

to any port or place on the sea coast, in order to be from thence

transported by sea to any other place or port on the coast, must

first cause an entry thereof to be made at the port from whence

it is intended to be conveyed, containing the weight, marks, and

number, of the packages, before he brings the same within five

miles of that port, on pain of forfeiting the same, and also the

horses, carts, and other carriages; and also of suffering and

forfeiting, as by the other laws in force against the exportation

of wool. This law, however (1st of William III. chap. 32), is so

very indulgent as to declare, that this shall not hinder any

person from carrying his wool home from the place of shearing,

though it be within five miles of the sea, provided that in ten

days after shearing, and before he remove the wool, he do under

his hand certify to the next officer of the customs the true

number of fleeces, and where it is housed; and do not remove the

same, without certifying to such officer, under his hand, his

intention so to do, three days before. Bond must be given that

the wool to be carried coastways is to be landed at the

particular port for which it is entered outwards; and if my part

of it is landed without the presence of an officer, not only the

forfeiture of the wool is incurred, as in other goods, but the

usual additional penalty of 3s. for every pound weight is

likewise incurred.

 

Our woollen manufacturers, in order to justify their demand of

such extraordinary restrictions and regulations, confidently

asserted, that English wool was of a peculiar quality, superior

to that of any other country; that the wool of other countries

could not, without some mixture of it, be wrought up into any

tolerable manufacture; that fine cloth could not be made without

it ; that England, therefore, if the exportation of it could be

totally prevented, could monopolize to herself almost the whole

woollen trade of the world; and thus, having no rivals, could

sell at what price she pleased, and in a short time acquire the

most incredible degree of wealth by the most advantageous balance

of trade. This doctrine, like most other doctrines which are

confidently asserted by any considerable number of people, was,

and still continues to be, most implicitly believed by a much

greater number: by almost all those who are either unacquainted

with the woollen trade, or who have not made particular

inquiries. It is, however, so perfectly false, that English wool

is in any respect necessary for the making of fine cloth, that it

is altogether unfit for it. Fine cloth is made altogether of

Spanish wool. English wool, cannot be even so mixed with Spanish

wool, as to enter into the composition without spoiling and

degrading, in some degree, the fabric of the cloth.

 

It has been shown in the foregoing part of this work, that the

effect of these regulations has been to depress the price of

English wool, not only below what it naturally would be in the

present times, but very much below what it actually was in the

time of Edward III. The price of Scotch wool, when, in

consequence of the Union, it became subject to the same

regulations, is said to have fallen about one half. It is

observed by the very accurate and intelligent author of the

Memoirs of Wool, the Reverend Mr. John Smith, that the price of

the best English wool in England, is generally below what wool of

a very inferior quality commonly sells for in the market of

Amsterdam. To depress the price of this commodity below what may

be called its natural and proper price, was the avowed purpose of

those regulations ; and there seems to be no doubt of their

having produced the effect that was expected from them.

 

This reduction of price, it may perhaps be thought, by

discouraging the growing of wool, must have reduced very much the

annual produce of that commodity, though not below what it

formerly was, yet below what, in the present state of things, it

would probably have been, had it, in consequence of an open and

free market, been allowed to rise to the natural and proper

price. I am, however, disposed to believe, that the quantity of

the annual produce cannot have been much, though it may, perhaps,

have been a little affected by these regulations. The growing of

wool is not the chief purpose for which the sheep farmer employs

his industry and stock. He expects his profit, not so much from

the price of the fleece, as from that of the carcase; and the

average or ordinary price of the latter must even, in many cases,

make up to him whatever deficiency there may be in the average or

ordinary price of the former. It has been observed, in the

foregoing part of this work, that ‘whatever regulations tend to

sink the price, either of wool or of raw hides, below what it

naturally would be, must, in an improved and cultivated country,

have some tendency to raise the price of butcher’s meat. The

price, both of the great and small cattle which are fed on

improved and cultivated land, must be sufficient to pay the rent

which the landlord, and the profit which the farmer, has reason

to expect from improved and cultivated land. If it is not, they

will soon cease to feed them. Whatever part of this price,

therefore, is not paid by the wool and the hide, must be paid by

the carcase. The less there is paid for the one, the more must be

paid for the other. In what manner this price is to be divided

upon the different parts of the beast, is indifferent to the

landlords and farmers, provided it is all paid to them. In an

improved and cultivated country, therefore, their interest as

landlords and farmers cannot be much affected by such

regulations, though their interest as consumers may, by the rise

in the price of provisions.’ According to this reasoning,

therefore, this degradation in the price of wool is not likely,

in an improved and cultivated country, to occasion any diminution

in the annual produce of that commodity; except so far as, by

raising the price of mutton, it may somewhat diminish the demand

for, and consequently the production of, that particular species

of butcher’s meat, Its effect, however, even in this way, it is

probable, is not very considerable.

 

But though its effect upon the quantity of the annual produce may

not have been very considerable, its effect upon the quality, it

may perhaps be thought, must necessarily have been very great.

The degradation in the quality of English wool, if not below what

it was in former times, yet below what it naturally would have

been in the present state of improvement and cultivation, must

have been, it may perhaps be supposed, very nearly in proportion

to the degradation of price. As the quality depends upon the

breed, upon the pasture, and upon the management and cleanliness

of the sheep, during the whole progress of the growth of the

fleece, the attention to these circumstances, it may naturally

enough be imagined, can never be greater than in proportion to

the recompence which the price of the fleece is likely to make

for the labour and expense which that attention requires. It

happens, however, that the goodness of the fleece depends, in a

great measure, upon the health, growth, and bulk of the animal:

the same attention which is necessary for the improvement of the

carcase is, in some respect, sufficient for that of the fleece.

Notwithstanding the degradation of price, English wool is said to

have been improved considerably during the course even of the

present century. The improvement, might, perhaps, have been

greater if the price had been better; but the lowness of price,

though it may have obstructed, yet certainly it has not

altogether prevented that improvement.

 

The violence of these regulations, therefore, seems to have

affected neither the quantity nor the quality of the annual

produce of wool, so much as it might have been expected to do

(though I think it probable that it may have affected the latter

a good deal more than the former); and the interest of the

growers of wool, though it must have been hurt in some degree,

seems upon the whole, to have been much less hurt than could well

have been imagined.

 

These considerations, however, will not justify the absolute

prohibition of the exportation of wool ; but they will fully

justify the imposition of a considerable tax upon that

exportation.

 

To hurt, in any degree, the interest of any one order of

citizens, for no other purpose but to promote that of some other,

is evidently contrary to that justice and equality of treatment

which the sovereign owes to all the different orders of his

subjects. But the prohibition certainly hurts, in some degree,

the interest of the growers of wool, for no other purpose but to

promote that of the manufacturers.

 

Every different order of citizens is bound to contribute to the

support of the sovereign or commonwealth. A tax of five, or even

of ten shillings, upon the exportation of every tod of wool,

would produce a very considerable revenue to the sovereign. It

would hurt the interest of the growers somewhat less than the

prohibition, because it would not probably lower the price of

wool quite so much. It would afford a sufficient advantage to the

manufacturer, because, though he might not buy his wool

altogether so cheap as under the prohibition, he would still buy

it at least five or ten shillings cheaper than any foreign

manufacturer could buy it, besides saving the freight and

insurance which the other would be obliged to pay. It is scarce

possible to devise a tax which could produce any considerable

revenue to the sovereign, and at the same time occasion so little

inconveniency to anybody.

 

The prohibition, notwithstanding all the penalties which guard

it, does not prevent the exportation of wool. It is exported, it

is well known. in great quantities. The great difference between

the price in the home and that in the foreign market, presents

such a temptation to smuggling, that all the rigour of the law

cannot prevent it. This illegal exportation is advantageous to

nobody but the smuggler. A legal exportation, subject to a tax,

by affording a revenue to the sovereign, and thereby saving the

imposition of some other, perhaps more burdensome and

inconvenient taxes, might prove advantageous to all the different

subjects of the state.

 

The exportation of fuller’s earth, or fuller’s clay, supposed to

be necessary for preparing and cleansing the woollen

manufactures, has been subjected to nearly the