AN ACCOUNT Of a Dangerous Combination and Monopoly UPON THE COLLIER-TRADE.  
In a LETTER from the Country.  
SIR,  
I Am infinitely obliged to you for the Welcome Notice you gave me of the Joyful Hopes and Wishes that appear in most People's Faces and Conversations, that the ensuing Parliament, will move the King to enter into Treaties, and Alliances, for the preservation of the Peace of Europe, against the formidable Conjunction of France and Spain. The best Return I can make you, for the Transporting News, is, an undoubtable Assurance that we in the Country keep Pace with you in the Town, and are not behind you, either in the Zeal nor the Generality of our Dispositions and Sentiments.  
But since we are entered into the Theme of Foreign Alliances, I beg leave to give you some account of a Domestic one, upon the Collier-Trade, from which worse Consequences is to be feared to the Navigation, and all that depends upon it, and perhaps a greater Imposition upon the City of London, and the Consumption of Coal in general, and the Manufactures depending upon the use of Coal, than our Foreign Alliances will stand the Nation in, to second them, and make them good; the Business is plainly thus.  
There is a dangerous Combination and Monopoly set on Foot upon the Collier-Trade, which must lay one half of our Ships by the Walls, and Tax the Consumption of Coal, at Home and Abroad, at the Discretion of Mr. Arthur Shallett, who is the unlucky Author of a more pernicious Project, than the Invention of our greatest Enemies could have found out against us, which is to this Effect.  
This Project Mr. Shallett, after much Toil and Labour at last has brought the Majority of the Coal-Owners in the North, to give unto. This Project he has had in his Head (as is known to all that know him) for many Years: The General Articles were agreed to, in November last, betwixt him, and so many of the Coal-Owners in the North, as were then in Town; and these Articles have been since extended into Writings, and are Signed and Sealed by the Parties on one side, and tother, which in substance are thus.  
1. The Coal-Owners on the one side oblige themselves to Work nor Vend no greater quantity of Coals than Thirteen Thousand Tenns of Coals, which is but 130000 Cauldrons of Coals, Newcastle Measure, and Two hundred and Sixty thousand Cauldrons London Measure; Instead of Twenty three thousand Tenns of Coals, which is 230000 Cauldron of Coals, Newcastle Measure, and 460000 Cauldron London Measure, (Rockoning at double Goal, as by this Project the Coal-Owners agree to Over-load their Keels, and have the Ships make out at London) which has been the Medium of the Vend of Coals since the War, from the River Tine Coast-ways, and over Sea, and can never be less, unless this Project takes Effect.  
2. These Coal-Owners agree to Sell or Dispose of this quantity of Coals, to no Man or Company of Men but Mr. Shallett, or his Order.  
On the other Part, Mr. Shallett agrees to take the foresaid Thirteen thousand Tenns of Coals, and no less from the said Coal-Owners which is one Third less than the foresaid Medium of the Vend or Export from the River Tine, but he obliges himself to Pay for every Cauldron of the said 13000 Tenns, no less than Ten Shillings and Six Pence per Cauldron; and for some Eleven Shillings per Cauldron; which is one Fourth Part more than the best Coals in the River Tine have been Sold for, for many Years, and a Fifth Part more than the best Collieries can afford to Sell for, at Reasonable Profit.  
This is the main Business of the Combination, and that which chief concerns the Public. I shall not trouble you with the Detail of the private Parts of it, which contains the several Quota's of the Coal-Owners, which are to be Delivered by them, and Received by Mr. Shallett, nor shall I trouble you with the Method agreed to deliver them at Newcastle, and to Vend them at London, which would take almost a Volume to Explain to you. But in genetal, I assure you my Friend, by this Combination, the Coal-Owners will receive a Fifth more Profit than reasonably aught to be expected, and Mr. Shalett, being possessed of all, or most of the Coals Exported from the River Tine, can set what Price upon the Coals at London be pleases, and where the thing will end no Body knows, for every Day they may advance the Price of Coals upon us; and thereby equal their Collieries in the North, to the Mines of Peru and Mexico, or the Trade round the Cape of Good Hope, and hereafter the Collier-Trade shall be Christened the Black-Indies, and Mr. Shallett's Project upon it shall be enlarged into Companies, upon Joint-Stock.  
The first sight of this soul Business, my Friend, no doubt will raise both Horror and Contempt; but, I assure you, the thing is Practicable upon the forementioned Measures, and will take Effect. The Persons concerned in it, are Men of Conduct and Interest, and have Wit, and Address to Colour, Countenance and Support most things they Undertake; and therefore I beg leave to give you the necessary Lights, I have into this dark Business in order to your prevention from being surprised, with what may be cunningly offered for the Justification of the Undertakers; and in doing of this, I shall have occasion to give you some further Prospect of the Consequences of this fatal Combination.  
But before I begin to Propose and Answer what the Combinators may say for themselves, I desire to discover unto you the Spring that gave Life to this Combination, and the Engine that set it first in motion, and must keep it still a going: Which is in plain English, The King and the People's Money, viz. The Branch of Excise upon Salt, in the Port of Newcastle and its Members; Together with Excise upon Beer, Ale and Spirits in Northumberland, Bishopric, and Part of Yorkshire; which together one and all, amounts to Two hundred thousand Pounds per Annum; which 200000 l. by Agreement made betwixt the Commissioners of Excise, and Mr. Shallett, is returned from the North by Mr. Shallett, for 8 s. in the 100 l. into the Treasury of Excise, in Broad-street, London, this 8 s. in the 100 l. is just 800 l. clear gain to Mr. Shallett, per Annum; Besides the unspeakable Benefit, that it has been, and continues to be to him in his Trade and Credit; but Mr. Shallett not content with so Profitable and Convenient a Gain, is resolved to make a farther use of it; (of which the Commissioners of Excise, are absolutely Innocent, and no doubt as soon as they discover the ill designs that the King's Money is put to, they will take care to place it in better hands) which the Nation, or he, must repent of at last; which I shall have occasion to Explain in answering what I know will be offered in his Favour, and those concerned with him.  
1. It will be offered that the Combination will fall of its self, for nothing less than a Bank of England can carry it on: One hundred and thirty thousand Cauldron of Coals Newcastle Measure, demands a Hundred and thirty thousand times 16 s. which is 104000 l. to Buy up and Ship these Coals with; which not private Man or private Company of Men can advance upon this Occasion.  
Answ. Mr. Shallett, having the Return of the 200000 l. arising from the abovementioned Branches of the Excise, can very conveniently Pay down the 104000 l. demanded, and having 28 Days time allowed him to make his Returns in; the Coal within that Interval will be brought to London, and turned into Money; the Collier-Trade being always upon Prompt Payment, and ready Money, both at the Loadning and Unloadning Ports.  
2. It will be offered, That the Combination is Justifiable by Law, for there is a Saving in the Statute against Monopolies for the Hostmans' Company at Newcastle: And this Combination is Countenanced by the said Hostmans' Company.  
Answ. It is granted there is a Saving in the Statute in favour of the Hostmans' Company, but whether this Combination is approved or not approved by an Act of the Hostmans' Company, is a Dispute; but grant the Combination is, or shall be approved by that Company; It is answered, the Company cannot exceed the Powers and Authorities of their Patent and Institution. That Company is indeed in Possession of Regulating the Price of Coals within the River Tine, and obliging its Members to sell at a reasonable Price with Profit to the Coal-Owners; but then, All Buyers are Welcome for their Money: But sure it never was pretended before now, that this Hostmans' Company could Authorise her Members, the Coal-Owners, to Sell and Vend no Coals but to One particular Man or Company of Men, which is the Case here complained of; Mr. Shallett by his Covenants having the Coal-Owners tied up to Sell no Coals but to him, and Company or Order, which certainly is a manifest Monopoly both in him and the Coal-Owners, and without the Saving in the Act against Monopolies.  
3. It is offered, Mr. Shallett has not agreed with all the Coal-Owners in the River Tine; for Sir James Claverin, and others, stand out, and refuse to come into the Combination, nor neither will the Coal-Owners in the River Wear (or the Port of Sunderland) nor the Coal-Owners in the Ports of Collar Coats, Blyth or Seaton, come into it.  
Answ. Collar Coats, Seaton, and Blyth, Mr. Shallett never intended to comprehend in this Combination; the Coals exported from these Ports are not at all fit for the Forge or the Furnace, and for Domestic Use little better, as all the World knows, and the Blyth Undertakers will witness with Sorrow. Mr. Shallett has made offers to the Coal-Owners in the River Wear (or the Port of Sunderland) to let them come into the Combination, but hitherto they have rejected them, as Sir James Claverin within the River Tine has likewise done. But it is notoriously known, that all the standing out Collieries and Coal-Owners in both Rivers, Tine and Wear, are not able to work Seven Thousand Tenns of Coals, which can answer the demands of the Forge, the Furnace and Domestic Use (Pan-Coal excepted, which is not understood to be within the State of the Debate in hand) so that this 7000 Tenns being added to the 13000 Tenns, makes in all but 20000 Tenns, instead of 30000 Tenns; which has been the Medium of the Vend and Export of Coals from both Rivers since the War. Thus the Coal-Works being laid in one Third, the Price of Coals must necessarily rise one Third; and under 30 s. the London Cauldron Coals cannot be expected.  
4. It will be offered this Monopoly will be of Service to the Navigation, for Mr. Shallett pretends to Fraight most part of the Collier Ships, and give them certain Profit at least 6 s. and 6 d. per London Cauldron; whereas they go now, and have gone since the late Act of 5 s. per Cauldron upon Coals, for 5 s. or less the London Cauldron.  
Answ. This is, indeed, what Mr. Shallett pretends; but it is all over Imposition. To say the Combination will be a Service to the Navigation, is an audacious Affront to common Sense and universal Experience. The Combination reduces the Vending and Shipping of Coals one Third, and consequently the Navigating the same one Third too; So that the Navigation, and all that depends upon it, both in the Loadning, and Unloadning Ports, must be reduced one Third; and there is not a Master of a Ship, nor a Sailor in England, nor a Keel-man, a Ballast-man, a Fit at Newcastle, nor a Labourer, a Crimp, a Coal-merchant at London, nor a Man of common sense but will affirm the Truth of this Answer, and the Falsehood of Mr. Shallett's Insinuation. Mr. Shallett, indeed, by proposing 6 s. and 6 d. or 7 s. Fraight for a London Cauldron, does make a show of Serving the Owners of Ships; but in reality they can reap no Profit by it; for the Shipping will not make above half of the Voyages under the Combinators they did before, which will raise an Advance, both upon the Masters and Sailors Wages; and the Charge of Victualling above what Mr. Shallett pretends by the Advance of Fraight. For the Master, and Sailors will have double Wages, when they can make but Four Voyages in stead of Eight, and yet they will eat no less Provisions in the Four Voyages, than they did in Eight; for the Ship has her whole Equipage aboard, the whole Trade Season, and whether she be at Sea or in Harbour, the Charge is the same. Mr. Shallett by his Combination, will surely have Occasion to employ the Ships he has any Parts in, which indeed are very many, he being esteemed to have more Money in Parts of Shipping than any Man in England: And after those are well employed, no doubt, he will next prefer those Ships that his Confederates, the Coal-Owners, have any parts in, and these are not a few; so here is a Wheel within a Wheel, a Monopoly upon a Monopoly; Mr. Shallett must not only have all the Coals in his own hands, but he must have no Ships but his own, and his Confederates, to carry them; and, no doubt, none but his and their Servants, to Load, Deliver, and Vend them.  
It must be acknowledged, and it can never be too much regretted, that the Navigation goes to wrack, and is at present Perished to a Degree beyond what is consistent with the Safety and Tranquillity of England. The Ships go to Sea, and return without Profit to the Owners, but the true Reason lies in the Super-plusage of Tonnage in Shipping, we are possessed of above the Bulk of Cargo we have to fill and Employ our Shipping, either in their Imports or Exports, The War raised this Increase of Shipping, confined it to Convoys, and reduced the Number of Voyages, and consequently increased the Number of Ships. The Peace took off the Confinement, and one Third of our Shipping wanted due Employment, which certainly ought to have put us upon increasing our Bulk of Cargo, or the Extent of our Trade: But instead of this, we have diminished our Bulk of Trade by the Mischievous 5 s. Tax upon Coal; and yet under those unhappy Circumstances, the Shipping must all go to Sea, every one Endeavours to Sell cheaper than another, that they may run faster than another, and thus they have gone since the Tax, and run the Coals off their due Price, the Owners out of their Profit, the Ship out of Stock, and the Poor Masters, and Sailors out of Wages, and Victuals, and all concerned in Navigation out of Heart, and many out of their Senses. And for an Improvement and Increase of this Calamity, Mr. Shallett will lay on 5 or 10 s. more at his Discretion, upon the Cauldron of Coals, and make a Reduction of another Third in the Collier-Trade, and all that depends upon it; and at the same time, will have us to understand it to be for the Service of the Navigation.  
These Things are, what I hear the Combinators offer for themselves, or Mr. Shallett in their Names; and I am afraid, it is all that can be said for their Justification: I assure you, my Friend, if I were Conscious of any real Benefit their Project would be to the Nation in general, I should not fail to represent it to you, and give it the best Colour I could lay upon it; but as I know nothing that can be urged for its Defence, so I cannot forbear to give my Opinion, against the Combination, as a Pernicious and Dangerous Monopoly, which must produce most terrible Effects and Confusions, for it cannot fail to lay the Navigation by the Walls, or wear it out at Sea, or Starve it in our Harbours; Diminish the Collier-Trade one Third, and lessen His Majesty's Duties upon Coal, Coastwayes, and Over-Sea to the same Proportion. The Orphans Fund, and City's Mettage will have the same Share in the Calamity; and if this will not move us, we shall have the Cries and Curses of the Poor to Rouse us. Nor can we expect better Language from the Housekeeper, the Brewer, the Glass-maker, the Salter, the Smith, and all the Manufactorers, and Workers with Fire, who are One and All too nearly concerned to be silent upon this Occasion. Indeed, one would think the vast number of Persons and Trades this Monopoly must deal with, would fright any one Man from the Attempt, or at least out of hopes of succeeding in it; but Mr. Shallett is a Man of Invincible Courage, Nothing is too bold or daring for him. This intended Engagement is not to be Paralleled in Story, nay, not by that Prodigious Attempt the King of Sweden made upon the Muscovites. That King had to deal with Muscovites indeed, but Mr. Shallett has Englishmen to Encounter him. That great Prince had the Vows and Prayers of Europe on his Side; but this Man has the Curses of all England to attend him, from whose heavy Consequences, I pray God deliver him; which shall ever be the Prayer of  
Your most Humble and obliged Servant.