WHen so general an Application hath been made for three or four years to this Honourable House by the Clothiers of Gloucester-shire , Wilts , Somerset , Berks , Warwick-shire , &c. by Petitions and Letters to the Members , to regain their lost right at the publick Market of Blackwell-hall , where alone they have a free liberty to sell their Cloth ; and by which means solely , they can be redeem'd from the more than Egyptian Bondage they are brought into by the conjunct interest of the Turky Merchants and Packers . It seems a more than ordinary Imposition upon this great Council ( after their Practice has past the Censure of a Committee ) to shelter the extraordinary advantage they gain from the Country , under a specious pretence of Favour to the little Clothiers , as if they were totally uncapable of understanding their own Interest .

The Reasons are flourish'd ( like a Citizen ) in the beginning , with Bodies Politick , and Bodies Natural ; to which I shall only answer , That the Bodies Politick in the City , hath made many Natural Bodies very Poor in the Country ; and come to the first Lyon in the way , That all sudden alterations in Trade are dangerous , which I am sure , is not so fierce as its painted . The Clothiers are now obliged by the City Law , to bring their Cloth to Blackwell-hall , and there pay a Duty ; as likewise restrained from selling them in Inns and publick Houses , which doth denote some advantage to the Clothiers at this publick Market . Here are more convenient Warehouses to lodge Cloth than in any private House , and more secure from Fire , which at present are other ways employ'd ; and if this Cloth be bought by the Merchant , and sent into his own House instead of the Packers , it will be a means to have it Exported the Cheaper , and no loss to the publick , if their withdrawing Rooms were once more turn'd into Warehouses , and the old Cloth Perches were put up in their Coach-houses again : Hereby Apprentices will be brought up to a due knowledge in Cloth , which will beget a greater delight in Trade ; and the old Proverb was , A Man's own business never dirts his Fingers . But supposing this to be inconsistent with the new Equipage and Gallantry , it is the same to send Cloth into the Packers Houses when bought , as now to send Cloth there to sell ; and many hath used Spectacles so long , that the Servant , the Packer , lately Fin'd for Sheriff , when the Master desir'd to be excus'd . As our matters now stand , the saving all unnecessary Charge seems most agreeable to the Constitution of our Body Politick ; and this dangerous Alteration will be converted into the Security of the Clothier , by avoiding two Hazards in three that he now runs in the Sale of his Cloth ; and his present case is directly contrary to what is suggested ; for he now scarce ever knows when his Cloth is sold , to whom it was sold , or at what price ; which in great measure will be redrest by this Bill . The greatest Happiness that this Nation ever enjoy'd , came lately in a sudden Alteration ; when our lost Rights were restored : And I am sure , that private Interest in Trade hath as much invaded the publick Good of our Nation , as the Jesuit in Religion .

The next Position is , That if Cloth is sold at the publick Market , none but the rich Clothiers can Trade . If the little Clothier can't sell his Cloth himself , which in former days was very usual , he hath a Factor ready at hand to sell them for him , the first opportunity . A Liberty to impower the Hall-keeper to deliver them to a Merchant that is his Friend ; when his occasions prompt him to take them at his Price , or otherwise if transacted by Letter ; or if he hath a mind to put them up in a Store-house , the Bank hath offer'd to lend Mony upon easie Terms for the Relief of the Poor : So that this is evidently the advantage of all little Clothiers . And if the necessity of our Affairs should require an Excise out of our home Consumption , this is no way to be Collected , but by preserving the Sale in publick Markets . Small quantities will then be sold for Exportation , and at far dearer Rates than the now Prices . To answer this , I will only add his own words : When the Merchant at one view sees the many unsold Cloths in the publick Market , he will be so far from giving more , that he will probably give less than he non gives . — And this being laid down last , like a bequeath in a Will , it must take place of the former : The more Markets , the more Buyers , in this case is no maxim ; for the Packers Houses are no Markets ; they keep their Doors lockt , and no Lettices , or other Signs that Cloth is there to be sold ; but indeed , rather so many private Monopolies , to which belongs some Favorite Merchants . More Houses than one are let out to Packers by Merchants , that they may thereby command the better Penniworths .

Credit is the Life of Trade : I have often heard , that ready Mony is the Life of Trade ; I am sure that drives it the quickest round ; which seems to have more Life than Credit .

The Clothier is not hereby restrained from giving Credit with his Cloth , and the Packer may buy and sell again for what Credit he pleaseth ; but it can't but be thought hard to all Mankind , that a Clothier should be forc'd upon a hazardous Credit , beyond his own Ability , and his Family want imployment in the mean time , and the Poor ready to Starve . Light Gain makes a heavy Purse , is the Language of ready mony , and nor Credit ; and hereby our Woollen Manufacture will be Exported much the Cheaper , which will encourage the Consumption . A publick Market doth always encourage a good Commodity ; and until our Cloth is truer made , our Trade can never mend . The Sums of Mony chearfully paid by the Country , the present regret that there is not a better Ability to do more to assist the Government , which evidently springs from the loss of our Wool , the extraordinary Charge to the Relief of our Poor , and the Oppression in Trade by those that drink Claret in Quarts ; and the neglect in a long Application , where Relief may be expected , are Considerations that are strangely dis-spiriting to multitudes of his Majesties Trading Subjects , are humbly offered to the Consideration of this Honourable House .