REASONS Against further Additional Duties upon PAPER: showing, That such a Tax will lessen the public Revenue, and not improve the Manufacture of the Nation, but will only tend to the Advantage of some of the Petitioners.  
Humbly offered to the Consideration of the Honourable HOUSE of COMMONS.  
THERE having been presented to this Honourable House a Petition in the Name of the Principal ●aper-Makers, in England, praying, That the Duties on foreign Paper be increased: falsely insinuating that the present Duties on foreign Paper( French excepted) are very inconsiderable:  
I. The Truth and Fact concerning the Duties on Paper stand thus: The present Duties are triple what they were before the late War, no Paper being now imported that pays less Duty than Fifteen per Cent. and the Charges attending the Importation are not less than Ten per Cent. more,( besides, at this time, by Reason of the Continuance of the High Duties on the Trade with France, Paper is raised above Ten per Cent. every where abroad:) So that English Paper has had for these Thirteen Years past the Advantage of Twenty Five per Cent. of foreign Paper( besides the Sixty per Cent. on French) and without further Duties will have the Advantage of Thirty Five per Cent. above all others; which 'tis presumed is a sufficient Encouragement for the Manufacture here: notwithstanding which, they are not able to make a Quantity sufficient to serve the Nation for common Uses, much less to provide for the Printing those many Books of Value and Learning, which would be printed here, if not hindered by High Duties.  
II. The high Price of Paper will very near destroy the Manufacture of PRINTING, which is, or would be, if not hindered by this Discouragement, more profitable to the Nation than ever the Paper-Manufacture is capable of being. And this is very apparent; for the Hollanders by a modest Computation have within Ten Years increased the Riches of their republic to the Value of Two Hundred Thousand Pounds by the Manufacture of Printing alone, the expenses thereof being not above One Third Part, the rest the Produce of Labour and Industry. For this they are in a great measure obliged to the Scarcity and Dearness of Paper, proper for Printing, in England; since our Nation has, and are at this Time giving many Instances that they are as able and willing to carry on the Printing of great and useful Books in all Languages, as any other in Europe; which would certainly be a great Honour and Advantage to the public: Whereas to increase the Duty on Paper will encourage the Du●● to reprint all the Copies of any Value, belonging to his Majesty's Subjects here, which for want of 〈◇〉 Law to protect Property, they easily bring hither. And also vend them in France, Germany, Scotland, Ireland, &c, to the great Detriment of England.  
III. This Petition for New Duties, made by the Paper-Makers,( set on foot and promoted by a Stock-Jobber, who endeavours to monopolise that Trade,) is apparently nothing but a Design o● Self Interest, to a very few Persons, that by enhancing the price of foreign Paper they may have th● Opportunity of making an exorbitant profit of their own: since the English Paper-Makers never wan● Vent at a profitable rate, for as much Commodity as they are able to make; and the laying more Duty will prove almost a Prohibition, and raise the price of Paper to such an excessive Degree, that the Nation in general will be thereby very much prejudiced.  
IV. That the public will not be benefited by such a Tax, is evident; For the Custom-house ☞ Books demonstrate, That the present Duties on Paper bring in annually more than when the late Additional Tax was added to them; since it appears that the Great Duties in 1696, and 1697. did not produce clear above Five thousand eight hundred Pounds per Annum. And though by the Name of a FUND it was obtained( to the extreme Hardship of many hundred Families) the public did not gain by it: for what was received under the Notion of an Additional Duty, was really lost to the Nation, either out of the Ordinary Customs, or by the Share the King himself paid for Paper used in all his Offices.  
WHEREFORE since the Manufacture of Paper bath already sufficient Encouragement to continue the Improvement thereof, and that it is impossible to make Paper enough in England to serve the Nation, by reason the Materials of which i● is made are wanting here, that the Impor●●tion of Foreign Paper will be so far discouraged that the Printing-Manufacture will be destroyed, and the public Revenues will be lessened by an Additional Duty on Paper:  
The Allegation in the Petition, is to improve the Manufacturing of Paper here: But laying a further Duty on foreign Paper will be a very great Prejudice to Woollen and other Manufactures; for the Parts from which we are supplied, take off from this Kingdom such Quantities of our Product and Manufacture, that does overbalance the Importation of their Paper; and such further Duties will consequently hinder the Exporting of our own C●●modities to those parts.  
'tis humbly hoped the Honourable House of Commons will not think necessary to lay a New Duty on Foreign Paper, for the Advantage of a Few Private Owners of some English Paper-Mills; when so many Hundred Families of His Majesty's Subjects, whose Livelihoods depend upon Printing and other English Manufactures, will be ruined thereby; the Honour as well as interest of the Nation suffer; and when not one Penny will be really brought in for the Service of the public.   

REASONS Against the PAPER-TAX.