I Benjamin Franklin [1768 
heavy an oppression!). That, on a slight complaint 
of a few Virginia merchants, nine colonies had been 
restrained from making paper money, become ab- 
solutely necessary to their internal commerce, from 
the constant remittance of their gold and silver to 
Britain. 
But not only the interest of a particular body of 
merchants, but the interest of any small body of 
British tradesmen or artificers, has been found, they 
say, to outweigh that of all the King’s subjects in 
the colonies. There cannot be a stronger natural 
right than that of a man’s making the best profit he 
can of the natural produce of his lands, provided he 
does not thereby hurt the state in general. Iron is 
to be found everywhere in America, and the beaver 
furs are the natural produce of that country. Hats, 
and nails, and steel are wanted there as well as here. 
It is of no importance to the common welfare of the 
empire, whether a subject of the King’s obtains his 
living by making hats on this or that side of the 
water. Yet the hatters of England have prevailed 
to obtain an act in their own favor, restraining that 
manufacture in America; in order to oblige the 
Americans to send their beaver to England to be 
manufactured, and purchase back the hats, loaded 
with the charges of a double transportation. In the 
same manner have a few nail-makers, and a still 
smaller body of steel-makers (perhaps there are not 
half a dozen of these in England), prevailed totally 
to forbid by an act of Parliament the erecting of 
slitting-mills, or steel-furnaces, in America; that the 
Americans may be obliged to take all their nails for 
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