Abstract

Thomas Ellis, merchant of London, never expected he would be prosecuted for participating in one of the largest commercial frauds of his time. So when the Customs seized his brandy in 1731 he fought back. His case would influence parliamentary decision-making and reveal the extensive involvement of merchants in illicit trade. Ellis’s argument that he was merely a ‘fair trader’ also illuminates the moral debate over smuggling during the period as governments sought to legitimize and enforce their trading rules and tariffs. Pressured by competition from professional smugglers and the revenue demands of the state, merchants responded by developing their own rules by which they could fairly compete. Ellis’s story, and the ‘Flemish scheme’ it exposed, thereby shed light on the moral economy of early modern capitalism, the history of smuggling, and the dynamic of market ordering by increasingly assertive states.

中文翻译：

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公平贸易与18世纪初期英国走私白兰地的政治经济学*

摘要

伦敦商人托马斯·埃利斯（Thomas Ellis）从未料到他会因为参与其时代最大的商业欺诈活动而受到起诉。因此，当海关在1731年查封他的白兰地时，他进行了反击。他的案子将影响议会的决策，并揭示商人在非法贸易中的广泛参与。埃利斯（Ellis）认为他只是“公平交易者”的论点也说明了在此期间政府寻求合法化和执行其贸易规则和关税的关于走私的道德辩论。在来自专业走私者的竞争和国家的收入需求的压力下，商人通过制定自己的公平竞争规则来做出回应。埃利斯的故事及其所揭示的“佛兰德计划”，从而阐明了早期现代资本主义的道德经济，走私的历史，