tegwick
fecc2fd4fa
Implements markitect/llm/ package with concrete LLMAdapter implementations:
- OpenRouterAdapter: HTTP via urllib with retry/backoff on 429/5xx
- ClaudeCodeAdapter: subprocess-based Claude CLI with stdin piping
- Factory pattern: create_adapter("openrouter") or create_adapter("claude-code")
- API key resolution chain: constructor > env var > project-root key file
- 42 unit tests, 2 integration tests (gated on API key / CLI availability)
Also adds the infospace-with-history example with Wealth of Nations VSM
analysis pipeline, templates, schemas, source chapters, and processed
output for chapters 1-2. process_chapters.py now supports --provider
and --model flags for automatic LLM-driven processing.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
212 lines
14 KiB
Markdown
212 lines
14 KiB
Markdown
---
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id: book-4-chapter-04
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title: "OF DRAWBACKS."
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book: "4"
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chapter: 4
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artifact_type: content
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---
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CHAPTER IV.
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OF DRAWBACKS.
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Merchants and manufacturers are not contented with the monopoly of the
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home market, but desire likewise the most extensive foreign sale for their
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goods. Their country has no jurisdiction in foreign nations, and therefore
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can seldom procure them any monopoly there. They are generally obliged,
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therefore, to content themselves with petitioning for certain
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encouragements to exportation.
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Of these encouragements, what are called drawbacks seem to be the most
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reasonable. To allow the merchant to draw back upon exportation, either
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the whole, or a part of whatever excise or inland duty is imposed upon
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domestic industry, can never occasion the exportation of a greater
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quantity of goods than what would have been exported had no duty been
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imposed. Such encouragements do not tend to turn towards any particular
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employment a greater share of the capital of the country, than what would
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go to that employment of its own accord, but only to hinder the duty from
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driving away any part of that share to other employments. They tend not to
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overturn that balance which naturally establishes itself among all the
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various employments of the society, but to hinder it from being overturned
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by the duty. They tend not to destroy, but to preserve, what it is in most
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cases advantageous to preserve, the natural division and distribution of
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labour in the society.
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The same thing may be said of the drawbacks upon the re-exportation of
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foreign goods imported, which, in Great Britain, generally amount to by
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much the largest part of the duty upon importation. By the second of the
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rules, annexed to the act of parliament, which imposed what is now called
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the old subsidy, every merchant, whether English or alien. was allowed to
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draw back half that duty upon exportation; the English merchant, provided
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the exportation took place within twelve months; the alien, provided it
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took place within nine months. Wines, currants, and wrought silks, were
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the only goods which did not fall within this rule, having other and more
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advantageous allowances. The duties imposed by this act of parliament
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were, at that time, the only duties upon the importation of foreign goods.
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The term within which this, and all other drawbacks could be claimed, was
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afterwards (by 7 Geo. I. chap. 21. sect. 10.) extended to three years.
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The duties which have been imposed since the old subsidy, are, the greater
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part of them, wholly drawn back upon exportation. This general rule,
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however, is liable to a great number of exceptions; and the doctrine of
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drawbacks has become a much less simple matter than it was at their first
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institution.
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Upon the exportation of some foreign goods, of which it was expected that
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the importation would greatly exceed what was necessary for the home
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consumption, the whole duties are drawn back, without retaining even half
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the old subsidy. Before the revolt of our North American colonies, we had
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the monopoly of the tobacco of Maryland and Virginia. We imported about
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ninety-six thousand hogsheads, and the home consumption was not supposed
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to exceed fourteen thousand. To facilitate the great exportation which was
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necessary, in order to rid us of the rest, the whole duties were drawn
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back, provided the exportation took place within three years.
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We still have, though not altogether, yet very nearly, the monopoly of the
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sugars of our West Indian islands. If sugars are exported within a year,
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therefore, all the duties upon importation are drawn back; and if exported
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within three years, all the duties, except half the old subsidy, which
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still continues to be retained upon the exportation of the greater part of
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goods. Though the importation of sugar exceeds a good deal what is
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necessary for the home consumption, the excess is inconsiderable, in
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comparison of what it used to be in tobacco.
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Some goods, the particular objects of the jealousy of our own
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manufacturers, are prohibited to be imported for home consumption. They
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may, however, upon paying certain duties, be imported and warehoused for
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exportation. But upon such exportation no part of these duties is drawn
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back. Our manufacturers are unwilling, it seems, that even this restricted
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importation should be encouraged, and are afraid lest some part of these
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goods should be stolen out of the warehouse, and thus come into
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competition with their own. It is under these regulations only that we can
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import wrought silks, French cambrics and lawns, calicoes, painted,
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printed, stained, or dyed, etc.
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We are unwilling even to be the carriers of French goods, and choose
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rather to forego a profit to ourselves than to suffer those whom we
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consider as our enemies to make any profit by our means. Not only half the
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old subsidy, but the second twenty-five per cent. is retained upon the
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exportation of all French goods.
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By the fourth of the rules annexed to the old subsidy, the drawback
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allowed upon the exportation of all wines amounted to a great deal more
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than half the duties which were at that time paid upon their importation;
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and it seems at that time to have been the object of the legislature to
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give somewhat more than ordinary encouragement to the carrying trade in
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wine. Several of the other duties, too which were imposed either at the
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same time or subsequent to the old subsidy, what is called the additional
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duty, the new subsidy, the one-third and two-thirds subsidies, the impost
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1692, the tonnage on wine, were allowed to be wholly drawn back upon
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exportation. All those duties, however, except the additional duty and
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impost 1692, being paid down in ready money upon importation, the interest
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of so large a sum occasioned an expense, which made it unreasonable to
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expect any profitable carrying trade in this article. Only a part,
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therefore of the duty called the impost on wine, and no part of the
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twenty-five pounds the ton upon French wines, or of the duties imposed in
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1745, in 1763, and in 1778, were allowed to be drawn back upon
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exportation. The two imposts of five per cent. imposed in 1779 and 1781,
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upon all the former duties of customs, being allowed to be wholly drawn
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back upon the exportation of all other goods, were likewise allowed to be
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drawn back upon that of wine. The last duty that has been particularly
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imposed upon wine, that of 1780, is allowed to be wholly drawn back; an
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indulgence which, when so many heavy duties are retained, most probably
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could never occasion the exportation of a single ton of wine. These rules
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took place with regard to all places of lawful exportation, except the
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British colonies in America.
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The 15th Charles II, chap. 7, called an act for the encouragement of
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trade, had given Great Britain the monopoly of supplying the colonies with
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all the commodities of the growth or manufacture of Europe, and
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consequently with wines. In a country of so extensive a coast as our North
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American and West Indian colonies, where our authority was always so very
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slender, and where the inhabitants were allowed to carry out in their own
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ships their non-enumerated commodities, at first to all parts of Europe,
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and afterwards to all parts of Europe south of Cape Finisterre, it is not
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very probable that this monopoly could ever be much respected; and they
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probably at all times found means of bringing back some cargo from the
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countries to which they were allowed to carry out one. They seem, however,
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to have found some difficulty in importing European wines from the places
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of their growth; and they could not well import them from Great Britain,
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where they were loaded with many heavy duties, of which a considerable
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part was not drawn back upon exportation. Madeira wine, not being an
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European commodity, could be imported directly into America and the West
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Indies, countries which, in all their non-enumerated commodities, enjoyed
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a free trade to the island of Madeira. These circumstances had probably
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introduced that general taste for Madeira wine, which our officers found
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established in all our colonies at the commencement of the war which began
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in 1755, and which they brought back with them to the mother country,
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where that wine had not been much in fashion before. Upon the conclusion
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of that war, in 1763 (by the 4th Geo. III, chap. 15, sect. 12), all the
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duties except £3, 10s. were allowed to be drawn back upon the exportation
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to the colonies of all wines, except French wines, to the commerce and
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consumption of which national prejudice would allow no sort of
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encouragement. The period between the granting of this indulgence and the
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revolt of our North American colonies, was probably too short to admit of
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any considerable change in the customs of those countries.
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The same act which, in the drawbacks upon all wines, except French wines,
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thus favoured the colonies so much more than other countries, in those
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upon the greater part of other commodities, favoured them much less. Upon
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the exportation of the greater part of commodities to other countries,
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half the old subsidy was drawn back. But this law enacted, that no part of
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that duty should be drawn back upon the exportation to the colonies of any
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commodities of the growth or manufacture either of Europe or the East
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Indies, except wines, white calicoes, and muslins.
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Drawbacks were, perhaps, originally granted for the encouragement of the
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carrying trade, which, as the freight of the ship is frequently paid by
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foreigners in money, was supposed to be peculiarly fitted for bringing
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gold and silver into the country. But though the carrying trade certainly
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deserves no peculiar encouragement, though the motive of the institution
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was, perhaps, abundantly foolish, the institution itself seems reasonable
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enough. Such drawbacks cannot force into this trade a greater share of the
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capital of the country than what would have gone to it of its own accord,
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had there been no duties upon importation; they only prevent its being
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excluded altogether by those duties. The carrying trade, though it
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deserves no preference, ought not to be precluded, but to be left free,
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like all other trades. It is a necessary resource to those capitals which
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cannot find employment, either in the agriculture or in the manufactures
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of the country, either in its home trade, or in its foreign trade of
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consumption.
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The revenue of the customs, instead of suffering, profits from such
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drawbacks, by that part of the duty which is retained. If the whole duties
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had been retained, the foreign goods upon which they are paid could seldom
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have been exported, nor consequently imported, for want of a market. The
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duties, therefore, of which a part is retained, would never have been
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paid.
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These reasons seem sufficiently to justify drawbacks, and would justify
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them, though the whole duties, whether upon the produce of domestic
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industry or upon foreign goods, were always drawn back upon exportation.
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The revenue of excise would, in this case indeed, suffer a little, and
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that of the customs a good deal more; but the natural balance of industry,
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the natural division and distribution of labour, which is always more or
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less disturbed by such duties, would be more nearly re-established by such
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a regulation.
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These reasons, however, will justify drawbacks only upon exporting goods
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to those countries which are altogether foreign and independent, not to
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those in which our merchants and manufacturers enjoy a monopoly. A
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drawback, for example, upon the exportation of European goods to our
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American colonies, will not always occasion a greater exportation than
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what would have taken place without it. By means of the monopoly which our
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merchants and manufacturers enjoy there, the same quantity might
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frequently, perhaps, be sent thither, though the whole duties were
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retained. The drawback, therefore, may frequently be pure loss to the
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revenue of excise and customs, without altering the state of the trade, or
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rendering it in any respect more extensive. How far such drawbacks can be
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justified as a proper encouragement to the industry of our colonies, or
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how far it is advantageous to the mother country that they should be
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exempted from taxes which are paid by all the rest of their
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fellow-subjects, will appear hereafter, when I come to treat of colonies.
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Drawbacks, however, it must always be understood, are useful only in those
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cases in which the goods, for the exportation of which they are given, are
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really exported to some foreign country, and not clandestinely re-imported
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into our own. That some drawbacks, particularly those upon tobacco, have
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frequently been abused in this manner, and have given occasion to many
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frauds, equally hurtful both to the revenue and to the fair trader, is
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well known.
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