02 
| Benjamin Franklin [1766 
pay such and such sums; and thus it is intended to 
extort our money from us, or ruin us by the conse- 
quences of refusing to pay it. 
(Q. But supposing the external tax or duty to be 
laid on the necessaries of life imported into your 
colony, will not that be the same thing in its effects 
as an internal tax? 
A. I do not know a single article imported into 
the northern colonies, but what they can either do 
without, or make themselves. 
Q. Don’t you think cloth from England absolutely 
necessary to them. 
A. No, by no means absolutely necessary; with 
industry and good management they may very well 
supply themselves with all they want. 
Q. Will it not take a long time to establish that 
manufacture among them; and must they not in the 
meanwhile suffer greatly? 
A. 1 think not. They have made a surprising 
progress already. And I am of opinion that before 
their old clothes are worn out they will have new 
ones of their own making. 
Q. Can they possibly find wool enough in North 
America. 
A. They have taken steps to increase the wool. 
They entered into general combinations to eat no 
more lamb; and very few lambs were killed last year. 
This course, persisted in, will soon make a prodigious 
difference in the quantity of wool. And the estab- 
lishing of great manufactories, like those in the 
clothing towns here, is not necessary. as it is where 
the business is to be carried on for the purposes of