Thirdly, the labour of the English colonists is not only likely to afford a greater and more valuable produce, but, in consequence of the moderation of their taxes, a greater proportion of this produce belongs to themselves, which they may store up and employ in putting into motion a still greater quantity of labour.The English colonists have never yet contributed anything towards the defence of the mother country, or towards the support of its civil government.They themselves, on the contrary, have hitherto been defended almost entirely at the expense of the mother country.But the expense of fleets and armies is out of all proportion greater than the necessary expense of civil government.The expense of their own civil government has always been very moderate.It has generally been confined to what was necessary for paying competent salaries to the governor, to the judges, and to some other officers of police, and for maintaining a few of the most useful public works.The expense of the civil establishment of Massachusetts Bay, before the commencement of the present disturbances, used to be but about L18,000 a year.That of New Hampshire and Rhode Island, L3500 each.That of Connecticut, L4000.That of New York and Pennsylvania, L4500 each.That of New Jersey, L1200.That of Virginia and South Carolina, L8000 each.The civil establishments of Nova Scotia and Georgia are partly supported by an annual grant of Parliament.But Nova Scotia pays, besides, about L7000 a year towards the public expenses of the colony; and Georgia about L2500 a year.All the different civil establishments in North America, in short, exclusive of those of Maryland and North Carolina, of which no exact account has been got, did not, before the commencement of the present disturbances, cost the inhabitants above L64,700 a year; an ever-memorable example at how small an expense three millions of people may not only be governed, but well governed.The most important part of the expense of government, indeed, that of defence and protection, has constantly fallen upon the mother country.The ceremonial, too, of the civil government in the colonies, upon the reception of a new governor, upon the opening of a new assembly, etc., though sufficiently decent, is not accompanied with any expensive pomp or parade.Their ecclesiastical government is conducted upon a plan equally frugal.Tithes are unknown among them; and their clergy, who are far from being numerous, are maintained either by moderate stipends, or by the voluntary contributions of the people.The power of Spain and Portugal, on the contrary, derives some support from the taxes levied upon their colonies.France, indeed, has never drawn any considerable revenue from its colonies, the taxes which it levies upon them being generally spent among them.But the colony government of all these three nations is conducted upon a much more expensive ceremonial.The sums spent upon the reception of a new viceroy of Peru, for example, have frequently been enormous.Such ceremonials are not only real taxes paid by the rich colonists upon those particular occasions, but they serve to introduce among them the habit of vanity and expense upon all other occasions.They are not only very grievous occasional taxes, but they contribute to establish perpetual taxes of the same kind still more grievous; the ruinous taxes of private luxury and extravagance.In the colonies of all those three nations too, the ecclesiastical government is extremely oppressive.Tithes take place in all of them, and are levied with the utmost rigour in those of Spain and Portugal.All of them, besides, are oppressed with a numerous race of mendicant friars, whose beggary being not only licensed but consecrated by religion, is a most grievous tax upon the poor people, who are most carefully taught that it is a duty to give, and a very great sin to refuse them their charity.Over and above all this, the clergy are, in all of them, the greatest engrossers of land.
Fourthly, in the disposal of their surplus produce, or of what is over and above their own consumption, the English colonies have been more favoured, and have been allowed a more extensive market, than those of any other European nation.Every European nation has endeavoured more or less to monopolise to itself the commerce of its colonies, and, upon that account, has prohibited the ships of foreign nations from trading to them, and has prohibited them from importing European goods from any foreign nation.But the manner in which this monopoly has been exercised in different nations has been very different.
Some nations have given up the whole commerce of their colonies to an exclusive company, of whom the colonists were obliged to buy all such European goods as they wanted, and to whom they were obliged to sell the whole of their own surplus produce.It was the interest of the company, therefore, not only to sell the former as dear, and to buy the latter as cheap as possible, but to buy no more of the latter, even at this low price than what they could dispose of for a very high price in Europe.It was their interest, not only to degrade in all cases the value of the surplus produce of the colony, but in many cases to discourage and keep down the natural increase of its quantity.
Of all the expedients that can well be contrived to stunt the natural growth of a new colony, that of an exclusive company is undoubtedly the most effectual.This, however, has been the policy of Holland, though their company, in the course of the present century, has given up in many respects the exertion of their exclusive privilege.This, too, was the policy of Denmark till the reign of the late king.It has occasionally been the policy of France, and of late, since 1755, after it had been abandoned by all other nations on account of its absurdity, it has become the policy of Portugal with regard at least to two of the principal provinces of Brazil, Fernambuco and Marannon.