The Allegations of the Glass-makers' Examined and Answered.  
THE Glass-makers who petition against the Duty, Allege,  
I. That by reason of the Duty, the Manufactures are stopped, and the Makers, which are Numerous, reduced to Poverty.  
'Tis plain that's but a Pretended Cause; and 'tis easy to prove, That the Real Cause of what Stop. has been made, is the Solicitation of some particular Men, who wrote Letters to desire the Glass-makers to put out their Fires, and to raise Contributions to carry on their Petition; for at the same time that they affirm want of Demand for Goods occasioned them to put out their Fires, the want of Goods is so great among them, that the Prices of all Glass are considerably risen; and several Houses had prepared to work, and must begin quickly, whether the Duty be taken off or no; one of which is a Rebuilt House, that has not wrought for several Years before.  
The Demand for Bottles indeed at Gloucester and Sturbridge may have been less than usual: But the want of Cider, not the Duty, has been the Occasion of that, together with the vast Quantity they made before the Act took place: For 'tis known they have had no Cider for Two Years past, on which the Bottle-Trade in those Parts depends; and this is plain, because the Flint and Broad Glass-houses there, have wrought all along as usual, till by Letters from London they were desired to stop, to make a Pretence for Petitioning.  
So that the Glass-makers themselves being chief the Occasion of the Stop on the Trade, are answerable for all the Poverty of the Workmen; and yet those Workmen are far from being so Numerous as they pretend, there being not Eight hundred People employed in or about all the Glass-Works in England.  
II. They allege, That the Duties have lessened the Consumption.  
This they very happily contradict themselves; for they also affirm, That Cheapness only causes Consumption. Now 'tis plain they have sold all sorts of Glass, except Bottles, cheaper since the Act, than they did before, till the putting out of their Fires, or else the Glass-makers are forsworn; for their own Affidavits can be produced to prove it. If then Glass-Wares have been cheaper since the Duty than before, and Cheapness causes Consumption, as they allow, How is it possible the Duty can have lessened the Consumption? And yet this Cheapness has not been occasioned by the Duty neither, but by the Glass-makers themselves, to destroy others who were setting up against them, as Mr. Jackson himself has acknowledged.  
III. They pretend, That Glass-Wares are more for Fancy than Necessity; and the Breakage and Hazard such as will not bear a Duty.  
This is against them too.  
For if they are for Fancy more than Necessity, they may the better bear a Tax; for than no Poor Man who can dispense with his Fancy, need part with his Money; and yet we find Glass-Wares are so necessary, that hardly any people are without them; and by the calling in the Plate, may come to be so much used, as to make the Duty very considerable.  
As to Losses and Breakage, they do as all other Dealers in Perishable Commodities do in like Cases, consider it in the Prices they sell at.  
iv They allege, They have great Quantities of Bottles by them, which they cannot dispose of; and Capt. Gutteridge pretends to have lost 1000 l. for his own Share of a Bottle-House, by reason of this Duty.  
It were to be wished these Gentlemen might affirm these things upon Oath, and then 'twould be hoped the difference between Allegations and Affidavits would appear.  
For as to the Quantity of Bottles on hand which they cannot dispose of;  
'Tis publicly known not Bottles are now to be had, or at lest no quantity; and 'tis proved by this, That whereas in June last they were to be sold at 3 s. per Does. Quarts, and 2 s. 6 d. Pints, now they sell at 3 s. 6 d. per Does. Quarts, and 3 s. per Does. Pints, and hardly any to be had so.  
But how Captain Gutteridge can make out his pretence, is a further Mystery.  
For he is but One Fourth part concerned in the said Glass-House, and all the Duty ever paid by them to the King, came but to 419 l. 6 s. 6 l. for his Share; and how he could Lose a 1000 l. out of it, is a Riddle wants explaining; for 'tis known also, That the Bottles they made, Sold for so much more than usual, as the Duty came to; and yet if all the Bottles made at that House since the Duty had been thrown away, they could not have lost much above a 1000 l. a Man, which he affirms they have lost by the Duty. And this very Gentleman has declared since this very Session of Parliament, That the Duty did them no Harm; and last Session of Parliament did prepare and Sign a Petition against the Taking off the said Duty; the Original whereof is ready to be produced.  
V They make great pretensions of the Art being Lost and Engrossed by Foreigners; and Mr. Jackson says there uses to be Transported to Ireland 5000 l. a Year in Glass-Wares.  
This any Man that understands the Trade of Glass knows to be ridiculous.  
For as to the setting up the Manufacture abroad, it has often been tried, to the Loss of several Thousand Pounds, before the Duty was laid; and the Distance and Dearness of Materials make it impracticable; and the Duty cannot alter it one way or other, because 'tis wholly allowed them back upon Exportation: And some of the Glass-makers' have been abroad to try what Encouragement the Dutch would give them, but have found it to no purpose, and are accordingly come back again.  
And as to Mr. Jackson's saying there has been 4 or 5000 l. Yearly Exported to Ireland; it were to be wished Mr. Jackson was ordered to prove that ever One Fifth of that Quantity was sent to Ireland in one Year; and it might be made appear, that more has been sent thither, as well as to other Parts, since the Duty, than ever has been in any one Year in 7 Years before.  
Thus the Glass-makers' to make good their Petition are forced to fly to Fictions and Falsities; which because the Persons Employed to Manage it for his Majesty think it their Duty to Detect, they Publish Pamphlets upon them filled with false and scurrilous Reflections; denying what is offered to be proved upon them, and falsely affirming plain Contradictions, which they know they cannot make out, presuming upon their being Examined only upon Parole; reproaching the Commissioners with Arguing for the Duty only to preserve their Salaries, though the Commissioners only Answered such Questions as the Chairman of the Committee put to them, nor ever appeared till they were sent for.  
And now they are arrived to that degree, pushed on by the Insolence of Solicitors, as to Print the very Account, and Papers delivered in to the Committee of the House of Commons, as is presumed without Leave for so doing, and to annex their most ridiculous Calculations of what will be, and what may be; which will appear to be Erroneous to any that please to examine them: As for instance, their Calculations of Debentures and Deductions from the Duty, which now they have Printed, are False in every Article, they having carried the Account of Debentures on above Two Months farther than the Commissioners Account of the Duty extends, on purpose to make the Sums seem the Larger, and then given a preposterous Calculation of what will be, and what may be, if such or such things happen, which are never likely to come to pass. Now 'tis most certainly true, if they keep from Working. there will never any more Duty be Collected; but 'tis as true, if the Duty continue, and they can be kept from Cheating the King, and Swearing down the Value lower than they Sell, the Duty will certainly raise 25000 l. per Ann. on Glass, and above 30000 l. per Ann. on Pipes and Earthen Wares; and the Commissioners not only brought Persons ready to Farm them at 50000 l. per Ann. as Directed by the Committee, but gave good Reasons for their Opinion; some of which Reasons are as follow: 

1. Because in one particular Quarter, from May 17 to August 17, when they did not expect the Duty should be taken off, the Glass and Pipes and Earthen Ware did actually bring in 11000 l.  
2. Because the Maker's all over England stocked themselves and the Retailers also with all sorts of the said Wares before the Acts took place, and some of them enough to supply them for a Twelvemonth.  
3. Because in the West Parts of England, as Sturbridge and Gloucester, they have had no Cider for Two Years past, which has occasioned less Demand for Bottles.  
4. The Makers have contrived to put a stop to their Works to lessen the Duties.  
5. That the Duty on the Earthen Ware being Collected by the same Officers as the other Duties, cost the King not a Penny to Collect it, and will pay the Charge of the rest.  
6. The same Obstructions that have hindered and lessened other Branches of His Majesty's Revenue, have had the like Influence upon this.  
7. Their abating the Prices, in order to destroy one another, which has considerably abated the Duty on Glass.  
8. No Duty at first ever raised what after some time they are brought to; and the Makers of these Wares have more ways than all people know of, to Evade a Duty, which in time may be prevented, but at first cannot not so well be known.    
There are also no Reasons offered against these Duties but what stand good against all the several Duties of Excise on Beer, Ale, and other Liquors, the Persons employed by them being infinitely more Numerous than those concerned in these Manufactures.  
The Glass-makers' having never been able to Answer these Reasons, have supplied it with Railing at the Commissioners, with Threaten to Expose them and De-Witt them; which the Commissioners do not think worth while to Reply to.  
All which is Humbly Referred to the Honourable the House of Commons.