and would soon be able to supply all his needs at
home. "Will he, after accustomed to the tobacco of his own growth," he
asked, "ever regard that which is in Virginia? Will he ever afterwards
be induced to fetch it thence, when he finds his profit higher at home?
Will he ever buy that of us, when by passing so many hands, and so much
charge contracted thereon, is made so dear, that he can have it cheaper
in his own territories? (Surely no.) Therefore it clearly appears, that
being so, of necessity we must lose that Trade and Commerce."

"If the Hollanders must not trade to Virginia, how shall the Planters
dispose of their Tobacco? The English will not buy it, for what the
Hollander carried thence was a sort of tobacco not desired by any other
people, nor used by us in England but merely to transport for Holland.
Will it not then perish on the Planters hands?... Can it be believed
that from England more ships will be sent than are able to bring thence
what tobacco England will spent? If they do bring more, must they not
lose thereby both stock and Block, principle and charges? The tobacco
will not vend in England, the Hollanders will not fetch it from England;
what must become thereof?... Is not this a destruction to the commerce?
For if men lose their Estates, certainly trade cannot be
encreased."[5-8]

The enforcement of the trade laws was indirectly the cause of still
another misfortune to the colonies, for the two wars with Holland which
grew out of it reacted disastrously upon their trade. In fact, on each
occasion the small stream of tobacco which had trickled over the dam of
restrictions into foreign countries was for a time almost entirely cut
off. Not only did the tobacco exports to Holland itself come to an end,
but the Dutch war vessels played havoc with the trade between England
and other countries and even between England and her colonies.

The loss of their foreign exports was calamitous to the planters. Had
the demand for tobacco been more elastic, the consequences might not
have been so fatal, for declining prices would have stimulated
consumption and made it possible for England to absorb most of the
output. But the duty kept up the price and the result was a ruinous glut
in the English market. Tobacco sufficient for a continent poured into
the kingdom, where since the normal outlet was blocked by the half penny
a pound on re-exported leaf, it piled up uselessly.

The effect upon prices was immediate