Portugal， he conceived， must in any case have exported hersuperfluous store of precious metals， and these would have reachedEngland through some other channel.We here assume that thePortuguese had manufactured their cloths for themselves， hadthemselves exported their superfluous stock of precious metals toIndia and China， and had purchased the return cargoes in othercountries； and we take leave to ask the question whether underthese circumstances the English would have seen much of Portuguesemoney？ It would have been just the same if Portugal had concludeda Methuen Treaty with Holland or France.In both these cases， nodoubt， some little of the money would have gone over to England，but only so much as she could have acquired by the sale of her rawwool.In short， but for the Methuen Treaty， the manufactures， thetrade， and the shipping of the English could never have reachedsuch a degree of expansion as they have attained to.
But whatever be the estimate formed of the effects of theMethuen Treaty as respects England， this much at least appears tobe made out， that， in respect to Portugal， they have in no way beensuch as to tempt other nations to deliver over their home marketsfor manufactured goods to English competition， for the sake offacilitating the exportation of agricultural produce.Agricultureand trade， commerce and navigation， instead of improving from theintercourse with England， went on sinking lower and lower inPortugal.In vain did Pombal strive to raise them， Englishcompetition frustrated all his efforts.At the same time it mustnot be forgotten that in a country like Portugal， where the wholesocial conditions are opposed to progress in agriculture， industry，and commerce， commercial policy can effect but very little.
Nevertheless， the little which Pombal did effect proves how muchcan be done for the benefit of industry by a government which isanxious to promote its interests， if only the internal hindranceswhich the social condition of a country presents can first beremoved.
The same experience was made in Spain in the reigns of PhilipV and his two immediate successors.Inadequate as was theprotection extended to home industries under the Bourbons， andgreat as was the lack of energy in fully enforcing the customslaws， yet the remarkable animation which pervaded every branch ofindustry and every district of the country as the result oftransplanting the commercial policy of Colbert from France to Spainwas unmistakable.(12*) The statements of Ustaritz and Ulloa(13*) inregard to these results under the then prevailing circumstances areastonishing.For at that time were found everywhere only the mostwretched mule-tracks， nowhere any well-kept inns， nowhere anybridges， canals， or river navigation， every province was closedagainst the rest of Spain by an internal customs cordon， at everycity gate a royal toll was demanded， highway robbery and mendicancywere pursued as regular professions， the contraband trade was inthe most flourishing condition， and the most grinding system oftaxation existed； these and such as these the above named writersadduce as the causes of the decay of industry and agriculture.Thecauses of these evils -- fanaticism， the greed and the vices of theclergy， the privileges of the nobles， the despotism of theGovernment， the want of enlightenment and freedom amongst thepeople -- Ustaritz and Ulloa dare not denounce.
A worthy counterpart to the Methuen Treaty with Portugal is theAssiento Treaty of 1713 with Spain， under which power was grantedto the English to introduce each year a certain number of Africannegroes into Spanish America， and to visit the harbour ofPortobello with one ship once a year， whereby an opportunity wasafforded them of smuggling immense quantities of goods into thesecountries.
We thus find that in all treaties of commerce concluded by theEnglish， there is a tendency to extend the sale of theirmanufactures throughout all the countries with whom they negotiate，by offering them apparent advantages in respect of agriculturalproduce and raw materials.Everywhere their efforts are directed toruining the native manufacturing power of those countries by meansof cheaper goods and long credits.If they cannot obtain lowtariffs， then they devote their exertions to defrauding thecustom-houses， and to organising a wholesale system of contrabandtrade.The former device， as we have seen， succeeded in Portugal，the latter in Spain.The collection of import dues upon the advalorem principle has stood them in good stead in this matter， forwhich reason of late they have taken so much pains to represent theprinciple of paying duty by weight -- as introduced by Prussia --as being injudicious.
NOTES：
1.Anderson， vol.i.p.127， vol.ii.p.350.
2.M.G.Simon， Recueil d'Observations sur l'Angleterre.M閙oireset Consid閞ations sur le Commerce et les Finances d'Espagne.
Ustaritz， Th閛rie et Pratique du Commerce.
3.Chaptal， De l'Industrie Fran鏰ise， vol.ii.p.245.
4.The chief export trade of the Portuguese from Central andSouthern America consisted of the precious metals.From 1748 to1753， the exports amounted to 18 millions of piastres.SeeHumboldt's Essai Politique sur le Royaume de la Nouvelle Espagne，vol.ii.p.652.The goods trade with those regions， as well aswith the West Indies， first assumed important proportions， by theintroduction of the sugar， coffee， and cotton planting.
5.British Merchant， vol.iii.p.69.
6.Ibid.p.71.
7.Ibid.p.76.
8.Anderson， vol.iii.p.67.
9.British Merchant， vol.iii.p.267.
10.Ibid.vol.iii.pp.15， 20， 33， 38， 110， 253， 254.
11.Anderson for the year 1703.
12.Macpherson， Annals of Commerce for the years 1771 and 1774.Theobstacles thrown in the way of the importation of foreign goodsgreatly promoted the development of Spanish manufactures.Beforethat time Spain had been obtaining nineteen-twentieths of hersupplies of manufactured goods from England.-- Brougham， Inquiryinto the Colonial Policy of the European Powers， Part I.p.421.
13.Ustaritz， Th閛rie du Commerce.Ulloa， R閠ablissement desManufactures d'Espagne.