John Cary (1649–1722?) was a prominent Bristol merchant and writer on matters regarding trade during the eighteenth century. Cary has been heralded as a pioneer in establishing economics as a separate field of "scientific" inquiry, a proponent of a "favorable balance of trade", and an objector to the idea that low wages were desirable.
Life and background
Early life
John Cary was born in Bristol, England. He was estimated to be born in March 1649 and is believed to have died sometime between 1717 and 1722, with the exact dates of his birth and death unknown. Cary was the eldest son of Mary Cary and Shershaw Cary. He descended from a family of merchants, and his father was a sugar trader in the Iberian Peninsula and West Indies. Cary also had a sixteenth-century namesake who was a merchant who traded contraband spices. While not much information is known about his formative years, he spent some of his late youth working as an apprentice to a linen draper.
Merchant
Cary became a merchant in 1672 and began his career dealing in goods and raw materials such as Caribbean sugar and Madeira wines. His merchant tradings led him to sail ships across the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Mediterranean.
By 1677, Cary joined the Bristol Society of Merchant Venturers and was promoted to become a warden in 1683. In the 1690s, he was named the Society's representative based in London where he advised London city members on the state of trade in Bristol and brought up matters of concern.
Religious views
Cary was a devote Anglican who served as a churchwarden for parishes in Bristol. He was active in pastoral movements and cited the Bible as a key influence that provided moral and economic knowledge, especially in regards to sanctifying labor.
He was against Catholicism because of his aversion to the idea of "arbitrary power" which was an association he linked with the Roman Catholic monarch, James II.
Political dealings
During the 1690s, Cary was an avid supporter of the Whigs Party members Sir Robert Yates and Major Thomas Day. His support led the opposition party, the Tories, to accuse him of treason for his encouragement of trade with France; however, Cary was able to defend himself against these accusations
Additionally, in 1698, Cary was a candidate for Parliament in Bristol.
Workhouses for the poor
Cary also promoted the establishment of workhouses for the poor. Described as the "philanthropic Bristol merchant", after recognizing the dire situation in Bristol in that there were over a thousand paupers who inhabited the city, he was inspired to build a workhouse where these individuals could "be compelled to maintain themselves". In 1697, he was the main organizer of the Bristol Corporation of the Poor which provided relief after the 1696 Poor Act in Bristol.
Cary described his vision for the workhouses as being:
"That a spacious workhouse be erected in some vacant place, within the city, on a general charge, large enough for the Poor, who are to be employed therein; and also with room for such, who, being unable to work, are to be relieved by charity."
At these workhouses, the poor would be provided with room, board, wages, and free education for poor women. In Cary's view, this establishment "won them into Civility, and a love to their Labour."
Views on Spain
In Cary's 1690s work Discourse on trade and other matters relative to it, he expounded a view on the Spaniards which was common amongst other economists of this time. He observed that during the seventeenth century, the Spanish seemed to be trailing behind other economic powerhouses in the world economy as Spain was not engaging in mercantile activities.
In Cary's opinion:
"Spaniards are stately People, not much given to Trade or Manufactures themselves ... other trading Nations, such as the English, French, Dutch and Genoese, take advantage of them."
Additionally, Cary believed that countries such as Spain were inferior because of their desire for foreign luxuries as this caused unemployment and encouraged vice. He believed that this is "why the Kingdom of Spain continues poor notwithstanding its Indies, because all that the Inhabitants buy is purchased for its full Value in Treasure or Product, their Labour adding nothing to its Wealth, for want of Manufactures."
Relationship with Ireland
In 1700, Cary was named as a trustee for a sale of forfeited estates in Ireland. He was invited by the English Parliament to oversee the Williamite confiscations in Ireland.