VEND, LIMITATION OF THE, the name of the oper ations of a combination of north of England colliery owners, which existed between 1771 and 1844, formed for the purpose of limiting the supplies of coal to consumers to raise prices.
The system of price control by coal owners using the ports of the Tyne, the Wear and the Tees, began as early as 1665 and be , came systematic in 1771. The owners established a control office at Newcastle-on-Tyne with what is described by Porter in his Pro gress of the Nation as "a very costly establishment of clerks and agents." The governing committee held regular meetings at which the quantities to be sold by each colliery were determined and the prices to the consumer fixed. By this means, during a
period of nearly three-quarters of a century, every British coal consumer using seaborne coal was heavily taxed. Moreover, as the limitation of the vend only applied to coal shipments to London, which was then the great market for seaborne coal, and not to shipments made to foreign countries, the system taxed British consumers while cheapening coal prices to foreign consumers.
The limitation of the vend became the subject of a number of parliamentary enquiries. It was examined by parliamentary com mittees in 1800, 1829, 1830 and 1836 and finally expired in