EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 107 



From tlif foregoing state it is observable that there are more trades carried on and 

 manufactures set up in the provinces on the continent of America to the northwnrd 

 of Virginia, prejudicial to the trade and manufactures of Great Britain, particu- 

 larly in New England, than in any other of the British colonies ; which is not to be 

 wondered at, for their soil, climate, and produce being pretty nearly the same with 

 ours, they have no staple commodities of their own growth to exchange for our manu- 

 factures, which puts them under greater necessity, as well as under greater tempta- 

 tions, for providing themselves at home ; to which may be added in the charter gov- 

 ernments the little dependence they have upon the mother country, and consequently 

 the small restraints they are under in any matters detrimental to her interests. And 

 therefore we humbly beg leave to repeat and submit to the wisdom of this honorable 

 House the substance of what we formerly proposed in our report on the silk, linen, 

 and woolen manufactures hereinbefore recited, namely, whether it might not be 

 expedient to give these colonies proper encouragement for turning their industry 

 to such manufactures and products as might be of service to Great Britain, and more 

 particularly to the production of naval stores. 



There is little doubt that the manufacturing industry of the colonies 

 at this time greatly exceeded that mentioned in the foregoing report, 

 for knowing full well that the information given would be used to their 

 disadvantage, the manufacturers understated the truth, a fact so well 

 known in England that English merchants complained of it. 



In the year following this report (1732), England sent new instructions 

 to all the colonial governors to consent to no acts of assembly which 

 might injuriously affect the trade of the kingdom or might give colo- 

 nial traders any preference over British merchants ; and a particular 

 account was required of all manufactures set up, traffic carried on, or 

 laws made, likely to prove disadvantageous to the mother country. 

 The parliamentary prohibition to manufacture in America woolen goods 

 for exportation from one colony to another did not extend to and in- 

 clude hats, an article beginning to be largely produced in some of the 

 eastern and middle colonies. But the English hatters were awake and 

 alive to the growing trade, and they had it cut short, not only by 

 placing hats under the same restrictions with other woolen goods, but 

 by forbidding any colonial hatter to take more than two apprentices at 

 once. 



The result of this act was a quiet evasion of it, and hats continued 

 to be exported to other provinces, and not unfrequently to foreign 

 countries. Felts, which were the ordinary wear of the people, were 

 made in large quantities, and much of the business being carried on in 

 interior towns where sheep were abundant and wool was cheap, the 

 manufacture was less exposed to official scrutiny than in the seaports. 

 Another effect of this and other restrictive acts was, that the women 

 more generally learned to weave and spin, and a large quantity of 

 woolen, hemp, and linen cloth, and other goods was made in the pri- 

 vacy of the household throughout all the colonies. Nearly every family 

 wove a part or the whole of its own clothing and blankets, and many 

 more skilled in the art had many pieces over and above their own 

 wants to sell to the merchants. The law could not successfully invade 

 the home. 



