Extraordinary session held in the
residence of the honorable vice-director M. Beck.
Monday, the 21st of February 1656.
Present: M. Beck, vice-director Borgert Stammart, lieutenant Jan Jacobsz Bruyn, ensign Balthazar van Essen, cornet Hans Grouwel, sergeant The honorable vice-director M. Beck has proposed to this council the petition of the Jew named Isaeck de Fonsekou, being a merchant aboard the small ship named Constant Anna, which arrived here in this harbor from the Barbados on the 18th of this month, bringing a cargo of flour, brandy, oil and parcels of goods, all of which has been submitted to the council by the aforesaid Jews factor; requesting to be allowed to trade the same here with the Company or inhabitants, having brought along for this purpose some letters of introduction and recommendation even from the honorable governor of the Barbados,[1] which this council has read and communicated. It states that if the Company were to allow free trade to the inhabitants of the Barbados, then the Company would also not be refused the same privileges and freedoms of these islands at the Barbados. Upon which petition the honorable vice-director requested the consideration and advice of this council and makes known his objections therein: first, that the Company has not authorized permission to trade anything here, including the trading of any horses, unless it is urgently necessary and there is a scarcity of provisions; and whereas the aforesaid merchants provisions are the least of his cargo and the remainder are parcels of merchandise and wet goods, so that the freedom to trade here would not only draw away many young stock as well as sheep and goats and thereby deprive the island greatly, but also with the sharp dealing[2] and selling of the Jewish nation, the natives of the country would become stripped of their young stock and not be able to sustain themselves, both to the prejudice of the Company as well as to others. Also, there are considerations and scruples about refusing absolutely to allow trading here, thereby also depriving the Company completely of the opportunity of establishing any correspondence and trade with the Barbados, especially since the aforesaid merchant and the skipper of the ship, who is himself an Englishman, declare for certain that any vessel or ship coming from here to the Barbados for the Companys account shall be allowed to trade there as freely as any Englishman. And it is the opinion of the honorable vice-director that such being the case and having considered the reasons of the Company[3] that whereas the horses increase and can be spared from the islands, the Company should be able to enjoy the same and more benefit, which the private people now seek to do. Therefore, the aforesaid proposal has been presented to this council to deliberate upon what is now best, beneficial and profitable for the Company: whether to refuse or allow trading. Upon which proposition and submitted proposal, after mature deliberation, it has been finally and unanimously resolved and agreed to that if the aforesaid merchant Isaec de Fonsekou wants to value his goods honestly and sell them to the Company, with payment for them to be received on Aruba in Companys horses and, according to opportunity, some young stock, that we shall trade with him as shall be deemed equitably proper. And so that private people have no complaints about the Company acquiring the aforesaid cargo for itself and thereby depriving them of buying what they need, it is resolved that whatever the Company itself does not need, they shall be therewith accommodated in trade for goats and sheep at the current price, without any mark-up; all of this in order to prevent as much as possible the export of young stock from the island.
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