Page:Observations on the present financial embarassments.djvu/18

14 benefit on all labourers concerned in ship-building, the making of sails, cordage, and linen; you increase the demand for labour in all these trades; you increase the accumulation of capital; and by diminishing the expense of ship-building, you strengthen the right arm of England's greatness—her maritime' power!

The duty on soap presses severely on the lower orders; it is injurious to cleanliness and health, and also tends to diminish the demand for labour, and the profits of capital.

Too much credit cannot be given to ministers, for having proposed the repeal of the duties on sea-borne coal, and candles. The duty on coal operated injuriously in many ways, but in none more than in its being a drawback on the establishment of manufactures in the South of England, and, consequently, obstructing the free employment of labour.

Taxes on raw materials are, in every point of view, the most objectionable. They lessen the capital of the country—obstruct the employment of labour—are injurious to our mercantile interests, and their tendency is to enable foreigners to undersell us. All taxes on raw materials, and those on the early stages of production, must be considered injudicious, nor are there any which could with greater advantage be repealed. I would submit to the ministers and the country the expediency of