Page:Sir William Petty - A Study in English Economic Literature - 1894.djvu/81

82 direction, soon bore fruit. In 1663 the tonnage was 421,582; in 1683 it had risen to 884,995. In everything else England plays a very poor role. Mining was hardly developed. Tin, in which England has a natural monopoly, only shows an output of £1,600. Coals found their principal market in London. That city consumed half the amount mined annually. Salt was not a domestic product at all; it was imported from France. Iron manufacture was in a very rudimentary condition. Only 10,000 tons were annually produced.

These figures leave one with an impression of the insignificance of England's industrial position during the seventeenth century, but it is easy to take too unfavorable a view of them. As a matter of fact, under the Stuart dynasty, England was making steady progress. She had survived a civil war, and everything goes to show that in the Restoration period England was beginning to feel her power.

The main lines of policy initiated by Cromwell were followed during this period. I need only to refer to the Navigation Act, the abolition of the Feudal Rights of the crown, the introduction of the excise, all of which were Commonwealth measures, that were sanctioned by the Restoration government. The commercial growth of the country is indicated by the increased tonnage of the shipping. In 1663 there were 95,266 tons; in 1688 the total had risen to more than double the amount, 190,533 tons. The customs duties show the same upward tendency. In 1660 the receipts from this source were £421,582; in 1665, £519,072; in 1675, £674,113; in 1685, £701,504; in 1687, the year of Petty's death, they had risen to