AN ACCOUNT OF THE Duty on Tin Exported from Anno 1610. to the Year 1698.
THE Pewterers Grievance (under which they have long laboured) is, That Foreign Nations buy our Tin as cheap as our own Subjects; with which they make their adulterated Pewter, and so do undersel us in their own and all other Foreign Markets. Which (is humbly conceived) cannot be prevented any other way than by laying such an additional Duty on Tin Exported, that it may come so much the dearer to them, as may ballance their gains by Allay.
| s. | d. | ||
| 1610. | King James the first Book of Rates per hundred weight of Tin | 7 | 4 |
| And Pewter | 5 | 2 | |
| 1635. | King Charles the First, the same | 7 | 4 |
| And Pewter | 5 | 2 | |
| 1642. to 1657. | Ordinance of Parliament, Tin | 7 | 4 |
| And Pewter | 5 | 0 | |
| The Common-Wealth Parliament from 1642 to 1657, Tin paid | 7 | 4 | |
| And Pewter | 5 | 0 | |
In the Year 1657 the Pewterers then complained, as now, that Foreign Nations so Allayed the Tin bought of us, that they undersold the English in all Foreign Markets.
| s. | d. | ||
| And thereupon in that Year an additional Duty was laid on every hundred weight of Tin Exported | 12 | 8 | |
| So that Tin then paid | 20 | ||
| And Pewter but | 5 | ||
| 1660. | But Anno 1660 upon the Restoration; Tin was reduced again only to | 7 | 4 |
| And Pewter remained at | 5 | 0 | |
| And so it continued until the last Parliament, when instead of increasing the Duty on Tin, to encourage the Manufacture, there was taken off Tin | 4 | 4 | |
| And off Pewter but | 3 | 0 | |
| So that Tin now pays but | 3 | 0 | |
| And Pewter | 2 | 0 | |
Though Tin may well bear 8 or 10 s. per Cent more without any prejudice to the exportation of it.
Which will relieve the Pewterers of England, and increase the Consumption of Tin, and also augment the Kings Customs 8 or 10000 Pounds per annum.
An Answer to some Objections against Returning and Raising the Exportation Duty on TIN.
Object. 1 THAT the Act for Tonnage and Poundage laid but 12 d. in the Pound, or 5 per Cent. on all Goods according to their Value, and Tin paid 4 s. for every Hundred Weight Coynage Duty, and at, and before the Duty was taken off, 7 s. 4 d. the Hundred, Custom. In all 11 s. 4. d, which is about 20 per Cent. according to the Value of Tin, which was then but 2 l. 8 s. or 2 l. 10 s. a Hundred to the Tinner.
Answer. As to the Coynage Duty, it is by antient Custom paid to the Duke of Cornwal, and hath no relation to the Duty setled in the Book of Rates by the Act of Tonnage and Poundage, but is paid by our own Subjects as well as Foreigners, in the Country where the Tin is got.
And as to the 12 d. in the Pound by the Act of Tonnage and Poundage, it was not according to the true and real Value of the Goods, but according to such Value as was set upon them by that Act in the Book of Rates, wherein Tin is valued at 7 l. 6 s. 8 d. the Hundred; though the true Value of it, Anno 1660, when that Act was made, was not near so much.
Besides, if it be enquired what Custom other Goods Exported pay, some will be found much: to exceed 12 d. in the Pound, or 5 per. Cent. As for instance, Lead Exported, paies 10 l. Custom for every Hundred Pounds in Value: And if Lead (the Exportation whereof cannot be in Prejudice of any English Manufacture) pay 10 per Cent. 'tis hop'd it may not be thought unreasonable, that Tin (the Exportation whereof at so low a Duty as now, being plainly prejudicial to the Manufacture of Pewter) may pay 15 per Cent. which (at the Price of Tin now in London) is about 11 s. 6 d. the Hundred Weight Custom, and is 8 s. 6 d. the Hundred more than the 3 s. a Hundred it now pays, and which Tin may well bear, without lessening the Foreign Vent of it.
Object. 2 That a great Duty on Tin Exported, will so raise the Price, that it may discourage the Use, and so lessen the Consumption of it in Foreign Countries; or else encourage them to bring Tin from East-India (there being great Quantities of it in that Country, as good as the English Tin) which will much lessen the Foreign Vent of our Tin.
Answer. This is but barely alledged, and cannot be demonstrated; but the contrary may be made appear, That Tin will not only bear the return of the Duty of 4 s. 4 d. the Hundred, but yet 'tis manifest to the most experienced Men in that Trade, that the Demand for it there is so great, that it will yield in East-India and other Countries beyond the Cape of Good Hope, from 3 l. 10 s. to 5 l. the Hundred Weight; and therefore impracticable to bring it into Europe as Merchandize: Though sometimes when no better Kentilage can be got, some small quantity is brought as Ballast to stiffen the Ship, and can be neither more or less, by laying and Additional Duty of 8 or 10 s. the Hundred Weight on our Tin exported: Besides, 'tis not so good in Quality as ours, for the Dutch give 3 or 4 s. the Hundred Weight more for the English, than the East-India Tin at the same time.
And 'tis evident such an Additional Duty, will not so advance the Price of Tin, as to discourage the Foreign vent of it; either by discouraging the Use, or Consumption of it, in Foreign Countries, or by encouraging them, to bring Tin from East-India: For since the taking off the Duty the last Parliament; the Tinner hath advanced the Price of Tin, near 20 s. the Hundred to the Foreigner, as well to as our own Subjects: The Tinners Price being then but 48, or 50 s. the Hundred; and the last C [...]ristma [...] Coynage it was advanced to 3 l. 7 s. the Hundred; besides the Coynage Duty. So that 'tis plain that 8, or 10 s. the Hundred, Additional Duty, will not discourage the Foreign Vent of Tin; since that will not advance the Price to the Foreigner one half so much as the Tinner or Merchants hath advanced it, since the taking off the Duty.
And the difference only is, that the Duty is to the King and for the good of the Publick, and the 20 s. per Hundred, now advanced in Price, is to the private Gain and Advantage of the Tinner and Merchant, who make this Objection against the Return and Increase of the Duty; which is not only much to the Kings Advantage, but also the only remedy for the Pewterers Grievance.
Object. 3 If a higher Duty be laid on Tin, it will so sink the Price of it, that the Tinner must bear all that is added to the duty: And consequently greatly impoverish them, who are too Poor already.
Answer. If the Conspumptioner of any Goods bears the Duty (as is generally agreed, ) then the Duty advanced will not be born by the Tinner, nor any of our own Subjects; but by the Foreigners beyond Sea, who consume our Tin exported. But if it should any way affect the Tinner (which cannot be admitted) they may well bear it out of the 20 s. per Cent. they have advanced to themselves in Price, since the 4 s. 4 d. per Cent. was taken off the Duty.
Note. It cannot be denyed, but that there is Yearly Exported out of England, upwards of 1000 Tuns or Tin, one Year with another. And therefore every Shilling the Hundred added to the Duty, will increase the Kings Custom above 1000 l. per Annum. So that 8 or 10 s. the Hundred added to the present Duty, will increase the Kings Customs upwards 8 or 10000 per Annum.