Enclosure I

Charleston Chamber of Commerce

The Committee appointed to Report on Mr. Jefferson’s Letter Delivered in the following report, which was agreed to, and the President was requested to furnish the Vice president with a Copy to be delivered to Ralph Izard Esqr.

The Committee to whom was referred a Letter from the Honorable Thomas Jefferson Esqr. requesting information relative to the products, Exports, Imports and other Commercial Matters therein Contained, Having taken the same into due Consideration, and obtained such information as they were able to procure (all the Books of the Custom House being carried away by the British) beg leave to offer the following Report to the Chamber of Commerce.

That on an Average for Several years previous to the Late Warr with Great Britain, they find the Annual Products of this State were nearly as follows—

Rice	130,000	Tierces
Indico	500,000	lbs.
Naval Stores	15,000	Barrels
Tobacco	3,000	Hogsheads
Deer Skins	1,500	Ditto
Beef & pork	5,000	Barrels
Indian Corn & pease	20,000	Bushels
Hogshead & pipe Staves	800,000
Sawed & Square Lumber	2,000,000	feet
Cypress Shingles	3,000,000

That in the year 1771 They find the Crop of Rice then made Amounted to 130,500 Tierces Were Shipped from hence as follows—

To Great Britain & for Foreign Markets	73,235 ½
Portugal	14,439
Spain	1,760
Italy	222
British West India Islands	30,304
Foreign	975 ½
Ports on the Continent	9,564
	130,500

Your Committee are of Opinion that the Annual Products of this State will in a very few Years, be as great as Ever, and that the Article of Tobacco in particular will farr Exceed the Quantity ever made.

By the prohibition lately laid on our Rice to Portugal, and the British proclamation preventing the Transportation of our produce to their Islands (Except in British Bottoms) as well as the opening many Markets for our produce, which were heretofore Restrained Your Committee are of Opinion that the Exports of this Country may Vary, and that they probably will be Shipped to the Several Ports, and in the following Proportions

130,000 Tierces Rice		40,000 Tierces to Great Britain
		20,000 To Different Ports in France Spain & the Meditera[nean]
		50,000 To Holland, Flanders, the Baltic Hambro and Breme[n]
		20,000 To the Continent and West Indies
500,000 lbs. Indico		250,000 To Great Britain
		150,000 To Holland, Flanders, the Baltic, Hambro and Bremen
		10,000 To the Continent
		90,000 To the different Ports in France and the Mediteranian
3,000 Hhds. Tobacco		1000 To Great Britain
		1000 To Holland, Flanders, the Baltic, Hambro and Bremen
		1000 To Different Ports in France
15,000 Barrels Naval Stores		10,000 Barrels to Great Britain
		2,000 To France Spain and the Mediteranian
		3,000 To this Continent and the West Indies
1000 Hhds. Deer Skins		600 Hogsheads to Great Britain
		400 To France, Holland, Flanders, Hambro and Bremen

Corn, Peas, Beef and Pork, as well as Lumber of all Sorts (Except a Small part of the Staves) were chiefly Shipped to the West Indies, which is now prohibited to the British Islands, Except in British Bottoms—very Little of said Articles being Shipped to the other Islands, or at most not above one fifth Part of the Lumber.

The Returns generally made for the Exports from this State are as follows—

Dry Goods from Europe
Wines from France, Spain and Portugal
Negroes from the Coast of Africa
Rum, Sugar		From the West Indies
Molasses and Coffee

But your Committee are of opinion that the Exports of this State, will be regulated by the Imports from Each Country.

The Freights from this Port are as follows

To Great Britain for Rice and Naval Stores 50/ to 60/ ⅌ Ton

Holland and other European Ports for Ditto 55/ to 65/ ⅌ Ton

To all European ports for Indico, half penny to ¾ths ⅌ pound

Do.	Do. for Tobacco, 30/ to 35/ ⅌ Hhd.
Do.	Do. for Deer Skins 25/ to 30/ ⅌ Do.
	for Ditto in the Hair ¾ths. to 1d. ⅌ pound

Your Committee observe that as they are unacquainted with the Burthens, which may be Imposed on our Trade by Foreign Powers, They Cannot point out their Remedies. Yet they must Report that the prohibitions laid [on] our Rice to Portugal, and being restrained from Shipping in our own Bottoms to the British West Indies, are the Greatest Disadvantages, and Burthens, under which our Trade at present Labours.