The Trade Between London And Hudson's Bay Was Carried On In 1748, And
For Some Previous Years, By Four Ships.
The cost of the exports was in
1748 5,102l. 12s. 3d., and the value of the sales
of furs and other imports in that year amounted to 30,160l.
5s. 11dd.
The "charge attending the carrying on the
Hudson's Bay trade, and maintaining their factories," in 1748, is
stated at 17,352l. 4s. 10d. The original cash
capital was 10,500l. That capital was "trebled" in 1690, making
the nominal capital 31,500l.; in August, 1720, it was proposed
to augment the cash capital, and to make the nominal total
378,000l. But at a "General Court," held on the 23rd December,
1720, it was resolved to "vacate" the subscription "by reason of the
present scarcity of moneys, and the deadness of credit." And it was
further "Resolved, that in the opinion of this Committee, that each
subscriber shall have 30l. stock for each 10l. by him
paid in," "which resolutions were agreed to by this Court." Anyhow, the
capital in 1748 is stated at 103,950l. A trade which, by sending
out about 5,000l. a year, brought back a return of
30,000l., was no doubt worth preserving; and even taking the
outlay for working and maintenance of forts and establishments, there
was over 8 per cent, on the nominal capital left, or probably 40 per
cent on all the cash actually paid in; not too great a reward for the
benefits gained by the country from this trade.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 203 of 492
Words from 56283 to 56544
of 136421
