REASONS Humbly Offered against laying a farther Imposition upon SUGAR.  
I. THE burden of this Imposition will lye wholly upon the People of the Plantations. For when the Importer hath paid the Duty, he will not be able, on that account, to advance his Price in the least. Thus it was found, that when the first Duty upon Sugar was granted to King Charles, which still continues, it made no alteration in the Price. And when the Additional Duty was granted to King James, it still continued the same. In King James's Act it was provided, that the Buyer should pay that Duty: But the Seller was forced to pay it, or he must keep his Sugar; for no Man would buy, unless the Duty were first cleared. It appears therefore plainly, that the People of the Plantations, who are the Importers and Makers of the Sugar, must bear the whole burden that is laid upon it,  
II. The Duty that hath been proposed, will be a very heavy burden. For a Farthing per Pound upon Muscovado Sugar, is two Shillings four Pence the Hundred: and the ordinary clear Profit of this Hundred being about six Shillings, the Two and Four-pence is about a third part of the clear Profit. which clear Profit is the Planters livelihood.  
III. The People of the Plantations are not able to bear this burden: they paying already Eighteen-pence a Hundred here in England, and the full value of Sixpence upon the place. The like Imposition being laid upon them by King James for eight Years, hath brought them( who before were in a flourishing Condition) to the very brink of Ruin. And if it should now be renewed, it would utterly destroy them. In the iceland of Barbadoes above forty Sugar-works are deserted: thousands of Acres lye waste: Not one Man in twenty can keep his Buildings in repair: and the whole iceland is a spectacle of Poverty and Misery.  
IV. Whereas it hath been said, that since the Kingdom is engaged in a War, the Plantations should bear a share in the Charge of it; It is humbly answered, that they do bear their full Share. In Barbadoes every twenty Acres finds a Footman to the Militia, and every fourscore a Horseman: the making and repairing of their Forts and Breast-works is very chargeable, and they are upon perpetual Duty in Guarding them: Every Alarm causes a great expense: and they have at their own Costs set out several Ships of war. In short, they upon all occasions have strained themselves to the utmost, for Their Majesties Service, and for the English Interest: particularly in the Expeditions of S. Christophers, Guadalupe, and Martinico: That of Martinico alone cost the iceland of Barbadoes above thirty thousand pound: and they have not ninety thousand Acres that can pay Taxes. So that this one thing comes to about seven shillings in the pound, reckoning their Land at twenty shillings an Acre. Also they have sustained grievous Losses at Sea: and by reason of the fewness of Ships that are permitted to go to them, they want many Necessaries, and their Sugars lye wasting and perishing upon their hands. Or at best they pay excessive prices for what they buy; and must give triple the usual freight, perhaps four or five fold, for what they sand off. So that they are in no condition to receive more burdens.  
V. The Additional Duties were laid upon Sugars by the late King, at the Instigation of the Sugar-Bakers: who had gained some Persons of great Credit with him. And nothing would content him but that Tax. But the Commons were not willing to pass the Bill, till he had promised them by the Chancellor of his Exchequer; that if the Duties were found grievous to the Plantations, they should not be collected. They were soon found very grievous, and he was well informed of it, but it was Collected notwithstanding.  
VI. The Sugar-Bakers were desirous to get a Monopoly of improved Sugars: and to shut out others, not by downright Prohibitions, but by High Duties, which are the same thing in Effect. And therefore they contrived, that all Sugars fit for Use( for that was their word) that came from the Plantations, should pay a triple Duty, tho they seldom reach double the price. By which means they might reasonably expect, that no such Sugars would come from the Plantations. And then they might sell at what rates they pleased  
It is humbly hoped that the honourable House of Commons, will never prefer the Interest of a few Sugar-Bakers before that of the Plantations. which Employ so many hundred Ships, and so many thousand Families here in England: and which, by the most moderate Computation, are worth to this Kingdom( by getting and saving) above a Million yearly. They are as good as Mines of Silver, yearly yielding a Million.