REASONS Humbly offered to the Honourable House of COMMONS, AGAINST Laying a farther Duty upon PAPER.  
TO lay a Duty upon Home-made Paper will greatly discourage the Manufacture of it in England, whatever may be represented to the contrary by Private Persons, for their own Ends. Experience shows, That the greatest part of this Duty will be spent in the Salaries of Commissioners and other Officers to levy it. The Value of all the Paper made in the Kingdom not amounting to above 30000 l. per Ann.  
As to foreign Paper,( altho the High Duty of 25 l. per Cent. be now expired) 'tis still extremely Dear: the true Reason of which is this, There being now a Duty of 60l . per Cent. upon French Paper, and the Dutch using that Paper themselves, which they buy at a Low Rate, do sell us their own at a very great Price; well knowing, that we cannot Import French Paper, without paying a Duty of 45 l. per Cent. more than we do for theirs.  
The Dearness of Paper is the only occasion that a great Number of Voluminous and Useful Books, in many Sciences, now ready for the Press, cannot be Printed; to the great Discouragement of Trade, as well as of Industry and Learning, very many of the Profession being forced to employ themselves on trivial Pamphlets. And if a farther Duty should be laid upon Paper, it is too visible, that the Dutch will certainly carry away the best part of the Trade of Printing from us; towards which they have already made so great a Progress; by reason that French Paper( which is most proper for Printing) imported into Holland, pays no more Duty than One Penny per Ream: and supposing the intended farther Duty of 30l . per Cent. be laid upon it, we shall pay above 4s . per Ream for the same: So that no use can be made in England of French Paper, unless, instead of loading it with Additional Duties, which conveys all the Profit of it to the Dutch, it shall be thought reasonable to reduce the Duty to that upon all other foreign Paper; by which the English will still pay Two Shillings for what the Dutch pay but One Penny.  
Therefore 'tis humbly hoped, that this Honourable House will consider, how destructive the intended Duty will inevitably be to the Manufactures of Paper and Printing in England, to the total ruin of a great Number of Families, whose sole Dependence is upon the Paper-Trade, which hath already suffered so much by the Scarcity and Dearness of Paper. And that your Honours will be pleased, either wholly to lay aside the said intended Duty, or else to allow Paper to be imported from all Parts beyond the Seas at an equal Duty.  
Note, That two Thirds of the Paper used for Printing and Common Writing, which is ranted in our Book of Rates at 4 s. 6 d. per Ream, doth cost beyond Sea no more than from 1 s. 3 d. to 3 s. per Ream.  
The whole Produce of the Paper-Duty, from March 1. 1696, to March 1. 1698, came but to 16848 l. 10 s. 9 d about one Third whereof was collected upon the Stock which was in the Hands of tradesman before and at the time when the Act passed.   

REASONS AGAINST Laying a farther Duty upon Paper.