Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 1.djvu/412

 orders were given that all ships which were to sail from Virginia should depart only at one of three dates, namely, the twenty-fourth of March, June, or September; the object of this instruction was to require such vessels to set out together, which would enable them to furnish protection to each other even if unaccompanied by a convoy.

The duty of two shillings a hogshead, which had been repealed in 1659, was revived in 1662, and became for a long time a source of large revenue. It was expected that this duty would take the place of the poll tax, which was considered to be unequal in its operation; that in increasing the volume of revenues it would ensure the better payment of the public officers; that it would promote the influx of coin into the Colony; and finally, that it would direct the attention of the planters to a diversification of their crops. This, it would seem, was hardly probable, unless the effect of the duty would be to diminish the demand for tobacco abroad by augmenting its price; if this were to occur, it was not likely that the revenues would show an increase in spite of the amount of the duty imposed on each hogshead. The duty itself was to be paid in coin, bills of exchange, or goods valued at an advance of thirty per cent upon the original cost. Ample security for the integrity of the bills was to be given when delivered. After the repeal of the tax of ten shillings, so far as it bore upon the exportations to the northern communities in northern ships, the tax of two shillings was practically the only one in force, with the exception of the penny imposed upon every pound of