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14 Correspondence of Governor Sharpe.
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Letter Bk. I.
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Indulgence for their Negligence in not being well assured of
their Stock of Ore before they built, & if they went on the
Latter they deserve as little for their Presumption in imagin-
ing that this or any other Province would willingly or could
be compelled to forego its just Advantages to prevent Losses
to Persons acting upon such Principles. The Petitioners then
go on & say that for every Ton of Ore they pay twenty pence
Stg. at the Bank & intimate that as this is so much clear Gain
to the province it is our Interest to encourage the Trade by
forbearing to levy the Tonnage Duty on the Vessels that
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p. 276
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They shall employ to fetch the Ore to their Furnaces. The
Tonnage they say is very near as much as the Ore is worth,
they should have said that what they pay at the Bank added
to the Tonnage on their Vessels (which together is to be con-
sidered as the price that they pay for their Ore) is more than
they can afford, but whether both these Sums together amount
to more than the Ore is worth or not is nothing to the pur-
pose, they alone can tell whether it be so but if it is why
should they desire or expect to be freed from the Tonnage
more than from the Demand of the Owners of the Ore Bank?
they may as well term the latter a Burthen on them as the
other & with as much reason may they desire to be discharged
from both as from either. They will say perhaps that the
price of the Ore at the Bank is a private Contract & of their
own Making, but this can make no difference in their favour,
for the Tonnage is setled by Acts of our Legislature which
are as obligatory upon any Man who has business to transact
with us as any private Contract whatever of Mens own making
can or ought to be & the Property in the Tonnage is as firmly
fixed by those as any property whatsoever can be by any pri-
vate Contract. This is a Truth that the Petitioners cannot
deny & since the Owner of the Bank will not suffer them to
export his Ore without paying the Price that he has fixed
thereon. how can they expect that His Ldp & his Lieutl Gov-
ernor will be more condescending especially when the Ton-
nage Duty is a considerable Branch of their Revenue arising
from small Sums collected from Numbers of Vessels trading
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p. 277
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to this Province; will not the Owners of all such Vessels if the
Petition under Consideration be granted especially the British
Merchts (who may with some Colour of Truth say they have
a better Right to Indulgence since they furnish Us with all
the Necessaries of Life & since Lightening the Trade to them
is in proportion benefiting ourselves) demand the same
favour & thus would vanish these considerable Revenues to
His Ldp & his Governor, not to mention the Loss of Fees to
the Naval Officers. But after all if this Tonnage is too griev-
ous a Burthen to be borne it is in the power of the Petition-
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