308 Proceedings of the Council of Maryland, 1743/4.

Lib. C. B

The following Address being prepared is read & approved of

To the Right honble the Lord Proprietary

The humble Representation of your Lordships Governor
& Council of Maryland.
My Lord

The Unhappy Situation which the Country is in, and the
manifest Danger of its being reduced to the greatest Distress,
oblige Us humbly to represent to Your Lordship the present
State of it.
Tobacco is the only Staple Commodity We have & our
principal Support and Dependance, and would, under proper
Regulations, not only supply us with all Necessaries, but also
enable Us to provide handsomely for Our Families; and make
this Your Province, as happy and desireable as any Part of
the British Dominions on this Continent But this Our Staple
has lost its Reputation to such a Degree, that many of the
Factors who were sent in and settled here to purchase it, have
been ordered by their Constituents to remove to Virginia, to
which Place We expect All, or most of the Tobacco Buyers, will
soon resort; because that although they give a much greater
Price there than they could buy here for, yet they are sure of
purchasing better Tobacco there than here: Great Numbers
of the Inhabitants have been used to purchase Cloathing &
other Necessaries for their Tobacco, of which they will soon
be destitute

p. 208

By the Advices from home, the French who usually pur-
chased great Quantities of Our Leaf Tobacco, decline buying
any of it, so long as they can be supplyed with Virginia
Tobacco; and when there is Scarcity of that, they will not
give the same Price for Ours, as they would for Virginia
Tobacco. This We find confirmed by the Accounts of Sales,
of the last years Export; & We have but too much Reason to
apprehend that unless Our Staple is speedily put under some
effectual Regulation, the Virginians will get the whole Trade
into their hands, wherein they have already made a consid-
erable Progress
If the Difference We have mentioned arose from any differ-
ence in the soil or Climate, it would perhaps, be in vain to
attempt any Regulation, or to hope that any that could be
made, would prove effectual; but that is so far from being the
Case, that We have really the Advantage both in Soil and
Climate, and the Remedy of all the Difficulties under which
We labour, is within Our Reach
Our unhappy Situation arises from this, that Our People are
under no kind of Restraint, and the Generality of them are