rned to their cousins of New England.[397] And the hardy
sailors of Massachusetts and Connecticut, tempted by the high prices of
manufactured goods in the southern colonies, brought their wares into
the James, the York and the Potomac, where they entered into lively
competition with the English merchants. Nor did they hesitate, when
occasion offered, to defy the law by transporting the Virginia tobacco
to foreign markets.[398] But England was unwilling to leave the
colonists even this small loophole. Parliament decided, in 1672, to
place a duty of one penny a pound upon tobacco shipped from one colony
to another, and the payment of this duty did not give liberty to the
owners to transport it to a foreign country. This act completely
crippled the intercolonial trade. A few years later, after Bacon's
Rebellion, when the Virginia counties were presenting their grievances
to the King's commissioners, the people of Lower Norfolk requested that
the act of 1672 might be repealed. The only notice taken of their
petition was the contemptuous comment of the commissioners that it was
wholly mutinous for them "to desire a thing contrary to his Majesty's
Royall pleasure & benefitt and also against an Act of Parliament".[399]

It had been suggested, when the price of tobacco began to fall, that the
evil might be remedied by governmental restraint upon the annual crop.
The diminution of the demand for the leaf, brought about by the loss of
the foreign market, was to be met by a corresponding limitation upon the
supply. Prices would thus be restored and the planter would receive a
greater return for a much smaller output. But for this remedy to be
effective, it would be necessary to secure the cooeperation of Maryland
and perhaps North Carolina, as a cessation in Virginia would accomplish
little, if no restraint were put upon the planters of the other
colonies. Moreover, since the proposed step might diminish the revenue
from the customs, it would be necessary to obtain the consent of the
King.

In 1662 many of the planters and merchants petitioned Charles II to
forbid the planting of tobacco in Maryland and Virginia for one
year.[400] At first this appeal was rejected and the colonists were
commanded to refrain from presenting similar petitions in the future.
Later, however, the Privy Council secured a reversal of this decision
and an order was issued authorizing the Assembly to appoint
commissioners to confer with the Marylanders up