IT is not a common Thing to meet with an Answerer with­out ill Nature or ill Manners, and that entirely confines him­self to his Subject: But the Author of The Interest of the Country, has had the good Fortune to find such a one, in the Writer of The Interest of City and Country. The Pub­lick may therefore, reasonably, expect some Information from these two Papers, by comparing them together, and following that which seems to [Page 4] carry most Reason with it. And be­cause every Body has not Leisure enough to do this, with much Atten­tion, I thought it would be of Use to take that Trouble for them: And that I may not have Occasion to repeat the whole Title at every Turn, I shall, for Brevity's sake, call the first Writer The Country-Man, and the second The Citizen. What will make my Labour still shorter, is the Agree­ment of these Writers in several Points, which I must first consider, before I take Notice of what they differ in. And if this Method was taken, in most Disputes, about which People are used to be very Warm, they would very often be ended, almost as soon as begun.

The Writers then agree, That the Government ought to be Supported; that it is for the Benefit of the Province that it should be so; and that every Body is, as they hope, of the same mind. It is the End they both propose to themselves, though they differ about some of the Means, that this should [Page 5] be effected, with the least burthen to the People, and with the least Prejudice to Trade and Industry.

The Country-Man's first Maxim, That we should avoid, as much as pos­sible, to add any Charge to the Trade, Industry or Labour of the People, is likewise the Citizen's main Assertion, which his whole Discourse is writ on purpose to prove.

The Country-Man's second Maxim, That the Support of Government should be laid on Vice, &c. would not meet with any Opposition from the Citizen, if he thought it practicable: He a­grees that Vice should be prevented, but then he thinks The Government will be but little Supported, by such a contri­vance: As for Instance, in the Duty of Rum; if the Duty is laid on to prevent Drinking, then little Duty will be paid whenever there is but little Drinking; but if there is much Duty paid, there must still be much Drin­king: So that one Way or the other, he thinks, it will not Answer. But it must be allowed That Vice cannot be [Page 6] totally suppressed at once; and where that is attempted, it often encreases out of meer Contradiction: And so it would be in Case of a total Pro­hibition of Rum, it would then be imported clandestinely, and drunk out of Spite; whereas a moderate Duty checks the Importation in some De­gree, and makes it self be felt in the Pocket of the excessive Consumer; which may be a likelier Means to reclaim him than severer Methods. There was a remarkable Instance of this Kind in England, when it was attempted to suppress the Dissenters by Penal Laws; the Effect was, That the Meetings encreased, and the Churches grew empty: But on the contrary, when the Toleration was granted, The Dissenters decreased, and the Churches filled. The meer Inconvenience of con­tributing to maintain two Ministers, insensibly brought about, in a great Measure, that Union which Severity had set at a greater Distance.

So that as to the second Maxim, I think, what the Country-Man and Citi­zen [Page 7] have said, may be easily recon­ciled.

The Country-Man's third Maxim, That Trade had better be taxed than the Labour or Manufactures of the People, seems, at first sight, to be very opposite to the Citizen's Way of Thin­king. But if we observe, on one Hand, that the Citizen is not for taxing Labour or Manufacture any more than the other; and that his chief Reason for not burdening Trade nei­ther, is, Because he thinks he has found a more equal Way of raising Money, without taxing any of them: And on the other Hand, that the Country-Man only chuses to tax Trade, rather than Labour, because he had not thought of Any probable Way to avoid them both. We shall find that these Au­thors would easily be agreed, if the Citizen's Expedient can be made prac­ticable: Nay more, the Country-Man ought to come into it, in conse­quence of his Maxim To discourage Vice; for Laziness and Covetousness are certainly Vices; and these the Citizen [Page 8] is for discouraging in the Engrossers of great Tracts of Land, who neither Sell nor Improve them; which he thinks a Wrong to both King and Country. This he proposes to do by A general Tax to be laid upon the true Value of Men's Estates, whether in Land or Mo­ney: By which the Poor would certainly pay very little, and the In­dustrious not near so much as they who may sit at Home with their Hands in their Pockets, and be dai­ly growing richer by the Industry of others. These Persons are of two sorts, some who have Money, and o­thers who have Lands. They who have Money, may enjoy a very high Interest for it from those who must work hard, from one End of the Year to the other, to pay it, and very often go to Jayl before they can repay the Principal. While In­terest is at so high a Rate, Trade can never flourish, because the Profit must be very great to make it do. In Spain, where Interest is at Ten per Cent. they have, by that Means, suffered [Page 9] all their Trade to fall into the Hands of the English and Dutch, who are much better able to carry it on, be­cause Money is but at the Interest of Three or four per Cent. among them. Nothing therefore can be plainer, than That Persons who have Money out at Interest can much better afford to be Taxed than any to whom they lend it.

They who have Lands which they will neither Sell nor Improve suffi­ciently, are another sort who may well pay Taxes, according to the value for which those Lands might be Sold; for this value rises continually, as fast as Money does by Interest; and all this, by means of the Industry of their Neighbours, and the encrease of Peo­ple in the Province, who would add still more to the Produce of the Coun­try, if they could purchase Land at reasonable Rates. So that these Engros­sers of Land, are more hurtfull to the Publick, than the Lenders of Money at high Interest; because the latter, make some circulation of their Estate, tho' [Page 10] at an immoderate Profit; but the for­mer, have a dead Treasure lying by them, which they cannot spend, and which is not only of no use to the Publick, but of manifest Hindrance to the Peopling and Improving of the Province: And for this Reason it is, that so many Families remove into Neighbouring Provinces to buy Land, by which we are yearly losing great Sums of Money, and great Numbers of our People.

Now, what has been said, is e­nough to shew, that the Citizen's Scheme is highly reasonable; let us next consider whether it is Practi­cable. I am afraid that the Reason which he gives for it, will rather prove an Objection; it is, that the Burthen will not fall heavy on the Poor, for they that have little, will pay little. he might have added, that the Day Labourer and Trades-Man will often pay nothing at all; for as they ge­nerally live meerly from Hand to Mouth, and commonly spend before they get, their Estate is nothing. [Page 11] Now I would ask the Citizen, in what Country he ever heard, that the whole Burthen was taken off the Poor, and laid on the Rich: Is it not gene­rally the Rich that lay Taxes, and do they not constantly take care not to Overburthen themselves? It is true they are often Chosen by the Poor, but have they not always found out ways to keep them Dependent, either by their Hopes or their Fears? so that they are in effect, at the Com­mand of the Rich, tho' they may think themselves ever so much at their own Disposal. But it may be said, all that make Laws are not remark­able for being great Money'd or great Landed Men; there are many that Improve their own Farms, and live comfortably, but have neither heaps of Cash by them, nor vast Tracts of Land that lye unimproved, so that it would be their Interest, rather to have a Tax levyed in the Manner now proposed, than as it commonly has been. This I am ready to grant, but are these honest industrious Coun­try-Men, [Page 12] so practised in the Arts of Persuasion, as those whose time is less innocently employed? Can they expect to be proof against the deep Designs of Men that have all the leisure to contrive, and whose Interest is so high­ly concerned to avoid a heavy Load themselves, and to shuffle it off upon others that are not so sharpsighted? Such Men will leave no Stone un­turned, to draw in others to be their Tools, even against their own Interest, which may be so disguised, as not to be discerned till the Jobb is over, and then it will be too late to cry, who would have thought that they were imposing upon us all the while? Me­thought all they said was Reason! and then, they were so kind and so great with us, one would have Swore we had been Brothers! we never lived so merrily in all our Lives, we thought they were Treating us at free Cost, but now we are like to pay for it: Well! they shall never catch us again. Such after-thoughts are all the Satisfaction, that generally Well-meaning deluded [Page 13] People have upon such Occasions.

But suppose it were possible to ob­tain such a Tax, how would it be raised? Would Men generally give in a true Account of their Estates in Cash? I fear the Temptation would be too strong to the contrary: They have found it so in England in the Customs, great Numbers of Commo­dities used to be valued according to the Oath of the Importer, and then Rated according to that Value: But the Frauds were so common, that a Custom-House Oath grew into a Pro­verb. And lately, as I am inform­ed, the Parliament has thought fit to put a certain Value upon all these Merchandizes, as the only Remedy to such a general Corruption.

As to Estates in Lands, they might be more easily Assessed, because the Neighbourhood can judge of the Price they would yeild: But then, how often do they know the quantity? How many Thousand Acres may they be mistaken in! the Patents will fre­quently be no guide to them, it be­ing [Page 14] a common thing to Possess Ten or twenty Times as much as is expres­sed in them. These difficulties in Collecting, besides the little proba­bility of obtaining such a Tax, have made me lay aside all Expectation that the Citizen's Proposal will take: And since the Country-Man is willing to go along with him, as far as he can make his Words good, it is but fair on the other side, that, if he fails in the Success of his own Pro­ject, he should take the Country-Man's Scheme once again into Consideration, and see if he cannot take up with it, for want of a better.

And indeed, they are already agreed in some of the chief Points, for as the Citizen has little to say against the Duties on Wine, and Negroes imported, and Cocoa; so the Country-Man will, no doubt, upon his own Principles, give up the Duty upon Goods imported from the Neighbouring Plantations, since it certainly hinders the Exportation of our own Produce, to Neighbouring Colonies, and is not [Page 15] of any prejudice to the Trade of Great Britain in general; for it is all one to which of the Colonies Goods are sent, if they must be had from thence.

The Duty on Salt has been given up by the Country-Man already. And as for Molassus, he is not so positive in justifying that Duty, but that if a better could be offered in its Room, he would give it up. And the Citi­zen own's, that the Pole-Tax on Ne­groes is by no means to be laid; and yet that is all that has been pro­posed in the room of the other Duties. So that, till something better is found, the Duty on Molassus has more to be said for than against it. I may add another Duty, which has not been mentioned by either of them, which ought certainly to be taken off, be­cause it is a Discouragement to our own Manufacture, and that is, the Duty on Spirits Distilled from Mo­lassus, &c. in this Province.

So that now at last, we find the main Dispute, about particular Duties, [Page 16] between the two Authors, to be only about the Rum and the Tonnage.

As to the Rum, the Cittizen in­sists, That the Country will have it, cheap or dear; which is at once an Answer to his Apprehension, That the Duty will spoil our Trade with the West-Indies: And indeed, it never has, for, on the contrary, the Mer­chants have imported so much, ever since there has been a Duty on it, that they complain, It has not bore so good a Price as before; and there­fore they alledge, That they, and not the Country, have always paid the Duty. Whether this be so or not, is no great Matter; for if the Merchant pays it, then the Country are entirely eased: And if the Country pays it for what Part they take off, they pay it so by little and little, that it is not felt; and the idle drunken Sort pay by much the greater Share.

It is very true, that We cannot ex­pect to be paid for all our Produce, in Money, in the West-Indies; but we had better be paid for it in other [Page 17] Commodities than in Rum; and they would as willingly pay us in any o­ther: For Rum grows daily in grea­ter Demand in England, and the Price of it, for that Reason, keeps up in the West-Indies; and so they might send most of their Rum thither, and give us Bills of Exchange upon Eng­land for the Value, which will suit them and us, just as well as to bring it hither.

I have already shewn, That it is more for our Advantage, to import Mo­lassus to be Distilled here: And I may add, That we should likewise chuse to import Sugar, Cotton, Indigo, Cocoa and Logwood, which are all proper for to make Returns to England; and so we should save so much Money which must otherwise be sent thither: And this is all one with bringing Money for our Produce from the Islands, and then sending it to Great Britain.

Thus, I think, we may see, that the Country-Man's Arguments for the Duty on Rum remain yet unanswered; [Page 18] and that the Citizen ought in all Reason to give up that Point to him.

As to the Tunnage, the Citizen makes one great Concession to the Country-Man, which is, That when that Duty is taken off▪ the Ship-Carpenters, Smiths and other Trades-men, concerned in Ship-Building, will be Sufferers by it; and the Consequence of that is, That many others, who are now gainers by these Trades-Men, will likewise Suffer; and so, by Degrees, we shall find the Loss to be general: Besides, that taking away any one Conside­rable Sort of Employment, lessens the Demand for People, and so is a Hin­drance to the Province's being well inhabited.

The Country-Man spoke improper­ly in calling Bermudians Stran­gers, and their Vessels Foreign Ves­sels: But, I believe, he does not much mistake in the Argument, tho' he may in the Expression: For, I fancy every Inhabitant in this Province, would rather contribute to make New-York [Page 19] rich and flourishing than Ber­mudas. So that if he has shown, that the Bermudians will run away with a great Deal of our Money for Freight, which would otherwise remain in the Hands of Owners living here, I think he has done enough.

And here it may be proper to con­sider what is offered by the Citizen, on the other side; That taking off this Duty, will encourage the Exporta­tion of our Produce; and that in that Case many more Vessels will frequent this Port; for if this is true, it is a very strong Argument: But it must not be forgot, That the West-Indies is not an encreasing Market for our Produce: It has for many Years past, taken off about the same Quantity of Flour, Bread, Pork, Bacon, Butter, &c. and these Commodities are generally at a low Price there: So that it is plain, That the Shipping we now have is enough to carry on that Trade; and therefore it is certain, beyond Contradiction, that all that is carryed on by other Vessels must be so much Employment taken away from [Page 20] our own; and so consequently it is a meer Amusement to tell the People, That more of their Produce will be car­ried off, by making the Port open: For no Body will be so weak, as to carry off more than will sell in the West-Indies. And what they bring from thence must, for the same Reason, hinder our own Vessels from bringing away so much as they otherwise would: Because we can take off but such a Quantity of Rum, Mollassus, Cocoa, &c. that is to say, as much as we pay for by our Produce, and no more.

It is true, if we traded frequently to Spain and Portugal, there might be an Advantage, in admitting any Vessels that would sail cheap, to carry our Produce thither; because those are vast Markets, and could not easily be overstocked with Wheat: And for this Reason, it might be proper to take off the Tunnage from all Vessels built in Great Britain, from which Parts soever they come; because they would generally find that a Freight from hence to Lisbon or Cadiz, with [Page 21] Wheat, would be worth their while; having, by that Means, the Opportunity of making another Freight from thence homewards; which must answer better to Owners living in England than to us here; because we run the Risque of coming back empty from Europe to this Place, as it often happens e­ven in the direct Trade to Great Britain.

The Citizen mentions one Instance of a Ship last Year, that went from hence to Amboy, for to avoid the Duty of Tunnage: But he ought to have owned, that it was likewise to avoid the Duty on Salt, which would have come to more than the Tonnage; and which Duty is agreed on all Hands to be taken off. Besides, as this was A Brittish built Ship, the taking off the Tunnage of all those Vessels, will answer that Objection fully: For we don't find that the Bermudians, who are the only other Vessels who bring Salt, ever go to Amboy, notwithstan­ding the Duty on Salt and Tunnage both: And they often come for a [Page 22] Freight [...]ither, even under all these Disadvantages. But [...] this Duty has been so very pernicious, how comes the Citizen to bring but One Instance of a Vessel going to another Port? Nay! how come we not to hear of These many Vessels that used to fre­qent this Port formerly, before the Tun­nage was laid on? I believe, that Sort of Proof, which would be only to the Purpose, will be very difficult: And this is the Reason of our hearing nothing of it. And till that is made appear, we may take it for granted That really no more Vessels used to be em­ployed here, than now; But indeed of those that were so, That fewer were our own, and more belonging to other Provinces. And if that should be the Case again, and that People should throw up their Vessels, finding that Bermu­dians run away with all the Freight, what would follow? Why ▪ Bermudas would be Master of our Trade, and might manage us to their Advantage, and disappoint us as [...] as they would, and even put a [...] our Trade if they pleased.

[Page 23]The Citizen says, That neighbouring Provinces laugh at us, and get our Trade from us, by Reason of these Duties. That ouht indeed to put us doubly into ill Humour; to be Losers and Laught at too, is insufferable. By this Account we should be growing daily poorer, while they are thriving and flourishing. But is this the Case? Is it not well known to be other­wise? Does not our Exchange with England hold upon the same Foot, it has been upon for several Years? And are not Boston, Carolina and even Pennsilvania in a different Case? Is not this a Sign, That Specie is more plenty here than in any of those Places? And is not the same thing likewise evident, by the Quantity of Gold, that is here often taken in Payments? Whereas there is very sesdom such a Thing to be seen among our Neigh­bours.

The only Colonies where the Ex­change is better to England than from hence, are Virginia and Maryland; and there the Government is suppor­ted [Page 24] entirely by Duties on Tobacco. E­very one, that pretends to talk of Trade, should know that the Rate of Exchange is a sure Way of judging of the flourishing or declining State of it, in any place; because that Country that falls in Debt to the other, must be continually paying the Ballance in Money; and that makes a Demand for Specie or Bills of Exchange to be sent off, to pay that Debt. And therefore when Boston, whose Money was made at the Pro­clamation-value, pays for a Bill of Exchange of One Hundred Pounds Sterling, Three Hundred Pounds of their own Currency, and Carolina five or six Hundred Pounds; and Phila­delphia as much, at least, in Procla­mation-Money, as we do in Money at Eight Shillings per Ounce, which is but One Hundred and Sixty five per Cent, it is plain that we have the Advantage of them all: And there­fore, I think the Country-Man may here turn the Argument fairly upon the Other, and say, You see what [Page 25] comes of Land-Taxes in other Provinces! You see that they hurt Trade more, by discouraging Industry, than Duties them­selves! And that we act more prudent­ly than our Neighbours, in easing the Industrious and the Labourious, and laying the Burthen upon the Idle and the Lazy, and the Expensive. I fancy those will laugh with the best Grace that laugh last. And as long as this Province continues to gain upon her Neigh­bours, I think she is pretty sure of carrying The Laugh at the long run.

It is reasonable indeed that the Duties should only be paid upon so much as is consumed in the Province, and that the Merchant should have the Duty, or the greatest Part of it, paid back to him, when he ships off his Goods for another Province; which is called the Drawback: This will cer­tainly encourage our Trade and enable us to supply our Neighbours, as cheap as they can supply themselves: Which will entirely answer all the Citizen's Fears, That while we pay Duties, and they none, that they will [Page 26] run away with the Trade from us. This is the Method taken in Great Britain; and by this Means, while they discourage extravagant Consump­tion at Home, they contrive to have all Manner of Merchandize pass through them; and in their own Ships to supply all other Nations.

There have indeed many Cheats been practised, under Pretence of these Drawbacks; which will require great Care in wording the Acts, and faith­ful Officers to Execute them. The Country-Man proposed to do this by Store-Houses, which seems a good Way to prevent Frauds; but perhaps would not be so much to the Merchant's Ease and Satisfaction, as this Method of Drawback; and this has been al­ready practised here in Cocoa; and would be fit to be renewed on that, as well as granted on other Commodities.

If this Method be taken, then all the Duties will come to be laid to the same End as an Excise; which is only a Tax upon Expence: And this is the Duty by which that wise [Page 27] Nation the Dutch, raise the greatest Part of their Income. One cannot eat a Dish of Fish, in Holland, before it has paid to several Branches of the Excise. And if they who live only by Trade, think it fittest to lay a Duty in this Manner, can we have any Pretence That it will hurt Trade? The Dutch do it certainly to discou­rage their People from all needless and excessive Expence; and they are be­come a vastly Rich People, as much by their Savings as by their Gains. We in this Colony, chiefly, owe our Advantanges above our Neighbours, to the Frugality of the first Settlers which they brought from Holland with them; it was their living hard, and pinching their Bellies, That enabled them to leave good Houses and well-stockt Farms to their Posterity. And shall we depart from the sure Maxims of our Ancestors, and run into a course of Luxury and Debauchery, till we lose our Senses and our Estates, meerly to please a few People who set us a bad Example, and will reap [Page 28] all the Profit of our Folly!

What is then the design of those who are most Zealous to take off the Duties? Why, it is to be feared, whatever they may pretend, that it is to weaken the Government, to dis­courage Justice, and to have all the Power in their own Hands: For ne­cessarily, if the poorer Sort have no Refuge to fly to, no Justice to be ob­tained, they must be entirely at the Discretion of the Rich, and lye wholly at their Mercy. Whereas Courts of Justice, and the Power of the Go­vernment to see the Laws put in Exe­cution, keep Things in a just Bal­lance and maintain the Publick Peace.

It is very true, that Governours may likewise abuse their Power: But when they do, we know that the Door is open to all just Complaints, and when there is any Reason for them, they ought to be made in the most publick Manner; and under so Gracious a KING, who rules over so free a Country as Great Britain, we need never doubt of Redress.

[Page 29]But supposing this Design to distress the Government should prevail again, as it did, not many Years ago, what will be the Consequence? Why! the Mischief of it will soon be found out, the Country will be sensible That they have been abused and deceived, that they cannot have their Property secured to them without the Protection of the Government; and that they have been drawn in to contract a great, but a necessary Debt, which will come upon them at once to be paid, in the haviest manner, as it lately was. So that to avoid a few Duties for the Present, which they do not feel, they will entail heavy Land Taxes upon themselves, which neither they, nor perhaps their Children, will have any Hopes to see an End of.

We may see how unreasonable the common way of laying Taxes upon the Income only, is thought to be, by the sharp Remonstrances from the People of France to their King, a­gainst a Tax of this kind of Two per Cent. only, which have been [Page 30] published in our News-Papers: We see their Fears, that the Industry of the People will be Discourag'd, and their Trade ruined by it. If then a Nation under so Absolute a Pow­er as the French are, feel it so sen­sibly, as to venture to Complain, in the strongest Manner, tho' they are sure to Smart for it, under the hea­vy Displeasure of their Monarch: How much more may we expect, that such Taxes will become Odious among a free People, when they come to find the Difference between them and Duties upon Merchandize!

In fine, I hope all that has been said by the Country-Man and Citizen will be duly Considered, and if I have been of Service, in puting their Reasons into a plainer Light, for the use of my Neighbours and of the whole Country, of which the City is a part, I shall think my Pains well bestowed.

And whatever wrong Measures might have prevailed by Surprize, yet now that there has been time given, to [Page 31] examine into the Matter at leisure, it is very unlikely, that private Views, and secret Artifices will get the better of the true Interest of the Country.