Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 2.djvu/464

 the manufacture of iron in the Colony was so great that practical interest in it died out for a period of many years. The author of the New Description of Virginia, published in 1649, recognized the possibilities of iron manufacture in the Colony. He dwelt at length on the number of the streams there to furnish water for the works, the amount of the wood to supply fuel, the quantity of stone suitable for the construction of furnaces, and the abundance of ore. He declared that works of this kind would be as valuable as a silver mine, since their product could be used not only for plantation purposes but also in building ships, casting ordnance, and making armor and muskets. There were many laborers in Virginia whose services could be easily secured, and it would entail but a small cost to provide for them, since food was plentiful. He stated that it would require only six months to erect the works, and that the charge for importing skilled men and the necessary tools ought not to exceed four hundred pounds sterling. The expensiveness of iron manufacture in the Colony appears from the suggestion of the author of the New Description of Virginia, that the undertakers of a new enterprise, with this object in view, should give their workmen one-half of the annual product, instead of paying them definite wages, in case of a successful issue to their operations; the scheme would thus be carried out on the co&ouml;perative principle, probably the first instance in colonial history in which it was proposed that this principle should be given a practical test.

In 1657-58, a law was passed by the General Assembly, prohibiting the exportation of iron, in addition to hides and wool. This was expressly intended to apply to old iron only. The object of the law, so far as that