I. THE Burthen of this Imposition will lie wholly upon the People of the Plantations . For when the Importer hath paid the Duty , he will not be able , on that account , to advance his Price in the least . Thus it was found , that when the first Duty upon Sugar was granted to King Charles , which still continues , it made no alteration in the Price . And when the Additional Duty was granted to King James , it still continued the same . In King James's Act it was provided , that the Buyer should pay that Duty : But the Seller was forc'd to pay it , or he must keep his Sugar ; for no Man would buy , unless the Duty were first clear'd . It appears therefore plainly , that the People of the Plantations , who are the Importers and Makers of the Sugar , must bear the whole burthen that is laid upon it ,

II . The Duty that hath been propos'd , will be a very heavy burthen . For a Farthing per Pound upon Muscovado Sugar , is two Shillings four Pence the Hundred : and the ordinary clear Profit of this Hundred being about six Shillings , the Two and Four-pence is about a third part of the clear Profit . which clear Profit is the Planters Livelyhood .

III . The People of the Plantations are not able to bear this Burthen : they paying already Eighteen-pence a Hundred here in England , and the full value of Sixpence upon the place . The like Imposition being laid upon them by King James for eight Years , hath brought them ( who before were in a flourishing Condition ) to the very brink of Ruin . And if it should now be renewed , it would utterly destroy them . In the Island of Barbadoes above forty Sugar-works are deserted : thousands of Acres lie waste : Not one Man in twenty can keep his Buildings in repair : and the whole Island is a spectacle of Poverty and Misery .

IV . Whereas it hath been said , that since the Kingdom is engaged in a War , the Plantations should bear a share in the Charge of it ; It is humbly answer'd , that they do bear their full Share . In Barbadoes every twenty Acres finds a Footman to the Militia , and every fourscore a Horseman : the making and repairing of their Forts and Breast-works is very chargeable , and they are upon perpetual Duty in Guarding them : Every Alarm causes a great Expence : and they have at their own Costs set out several Ships of war . In short , they upon all occasions have strain'd themselves to the utmost , for Their Majesties Service , and for the English Interest : particularly in the Expeditions of S. Christophers , Guadalupe , and Martinico : That of Martinico alone cost the Island of Barbadoes above thirty thousand pound : and they have not ninety thousand Acres that can pay Taxes . So that this one thing comes to about seven shillings in the pound , reckoning their Land at twenty shillings an Acre . Also they have sustained grievous Losses at Sea : and by reason of the fewness of Ships that are permitted to go to them , they want many Necessaries , and their Sugars lie wasting and perishing upon their hands . Or at best they pay excessive prices for what they buy ; and must give treble the usual Fraight , perhaps four or five fold , for what they send off . So that they are in no condition to receive more burdens .

V. The Additional Duties were laid upon Sugars by the late King , at the Instigation of the Sugar-Bakers : who had gain'd some Persons of great Credit with him . And nothing would content him but that Tax . But the Commons were not willing to pass the Bill , till he had promised them by the Chancellor of his Exchequer ; that if the Duties were found grievous to the Plantations , they should not be collected . They were soon found very grievous , and he was well inform'd of it , but it was Collected notwithstanding .

VI . The Sugar-Bakers were desirous to get a Monopoly of improved Sugars : and to shut out others , not by downright Prohibitions , but by High Duties , which are the same thing in Effect . And therefore they contrived , that all Sugars fit for Use ( for that was their word ) that came from the Plantations , should pay a treble Duty , tho they seldom reach double the price . By which means they might reasonably expect , that no such Sugars would come from the Plantations . And then they might sell at what rates they pleased

It is humbly hoped that the Honorable House of Commons , will never prefer the Interest of a few Sugar-Bakers before that of the Plantations . which Employ so many hundred Ships , and so many thousand Families here in England : and which , by the most moderate Computation , are worth to this Kingdom ( by getting and saving ) above a Million yearly . They are as good as Mines of Silver , yearly yielding a Million .