THE WEALTH OF NATIONS.

839

the necessaries of life is altogether independent of the quan-tity of money whiclncan be had for them. The reduction inthe money price of labour would necessarily be attended witha proportionable one in that of all home manufactures, whichwould thereby gain some advantage in all foreign markets.The price of some manufactures would be reduced in a stillgreater proportion by the free importation of the raw mate-rials. If raw silk could be imported from China and Indostanduty-free, the silk manufactures in England could greatly un-dersell those of both France and Italy . There would be nooccasion to prohibit the importation of foreign silks andvelvets. The cheapness of their goods would secure to ourown workmcu,not only the possession of the home, but a verygreat command of the foreign market. Even the trade in thecommodities taxed would be carried on with much more ad-vantage than at present. If those commodities were deliveredout of the public warehouse for foreign exportation, being inthis case exempted from all taxes, the trade in them would beperfectly free. The carrying trade in all sorts of goods wouldunder this system enjoy every possible advantage. If thosecommodities were delivered out for home consumption, theimporter not being obliged to advance the tax till he had anopportunity of selling his goods, either to some dealer, or tosome consumer, he could always afford to sell them cheaperthan if lie had been obliged to advance it at the moment ofimportation. Under the same taxes, the foreign trade of con-sumption, even in the taxed commodities, might in this man-ner be carried on with much more advantage than it can atpresent.

It was the object of the famous excise scheme of Sir RobertWalpole to establish, with regard to wine and tobacco, asystem not very unlike that which is here proposed. Butthough the bill which was then brought into parliament,comprehended those two commodities only; it was generallysupposed to be meant as an introduction to a more extensivescheme of the same kind. Faction, combined with the interestot smuggling merchants, raised so violent, though so unjust,a clamour against that bill, that the minister thought properto drop it; and from a dread of exciting a clamour ot thesame kind, none of his successors have dared to resume theproject.

The duties upon foreign luxuries imported for home con-snmption, though they sometimes fall upon the poor, fall