Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 1.djvu/415

 office by the Commissioners of Customs in England. The Naval Officer filled a position which was created by the Act of Navigation, although he seems to have received his commission from the Governor, being required, however, to give security to the English Commissioners of Customs. He was expected to make entry of vessels, to furnish clearances, and to compel the shipmasters to fulfil all the conditions embodied in their bonds.

From 1655 to 1662, the average value of a pound of tobacco in Virginia would seem to have been barely two pence, and when sold in England brought hardly four pence. This left so small a margin of profit that, in 1662, a paper signed by many planters and merchants was offered to the King in Council, begging him to command a total cessation of tobacco culture in Virginia and Maryland during the year 1663. Following the customary line of argument, the petitioners alleged that this would be an effective means of directing the attention of the people of those Colonies to the staple commodities. It is a remarkable commentary on the change of feeling towards tobacco on the part of the authorities in England that this appeal was rejected, and express instructions given s that no similar document should be presented to the Council again,