DECREE of the Conseil d’Etat, to relieve of the five percent duty the nègres of Guinea who will be brought to the French islands of America

THE KING, recognizing with some satisfaction that the care he continues to take, and the protection he gives to his subjects, spur them on every day to take up sea trade, and notably that of his islands of America: His Majesty also neglects nothing that can invite them to it, having relieved them of six livres per ton, which they paid before their departure from France, and also introduced into the said islands complete freedom to sell and buy goods there. And since nothing contributes more to the growth of the colonies and the cultivation of the land than the laborious work of the nègres: His Majesty also wishes to ease, as far as he can, the trade in them from the coasts of Guinea to the said islands. And being advised that five percent is charged on the said nègres on their arrival in the said islands, besides the five percent that is also paid on the goods brought back to France, and that the levying of this duty on the nègres could cause the merchants of this Kingdom who are accustomed to trade in them to hold back, if no remedy were applied.