The American Republican gazette — Concord, N.H., 1802-11-09 00:00:00, page 1

# ffitaellan^.,
f'seMP-
From the N. INTELLIGENCER,
tetr)
[Our readers will be gratified with the
found sense and pleafan^ vein of the
._ ff flowing extract of a letter from Ri
/ chard Peters of Pennbhgmta, to Gen.
Wellington, occcfioncd b, certain en.
quiries and remarks made b, Arthur
Y^J
[Taken from a late English publics
tion, entitled “ Letters from bis
Excellency Gen. Washing.
ton co Arthur Young.]
" Obfernations on an extras of a letter,
dated 17th fan, 1793,fr0m Arthur
Young, Est to the PreJident of the
United States.
« 1. Your information has thrown
me afloat on the high seas. To anal
ize your husbandry, has the difficult,
of a problem. Is it possible, that the
inhabitants of a great Continent, &c.
can carry on farmingas a business, &
yet never calculate profit by per cent,
age on capital?' &c.
I know not where to land Mr.
► Young from his fea.voyage, unless
r fa&s well known and felt here, ferv
ing as pilots to guide him into a fafe
harbour, will enable him to arrive on
a snore, pleasant in its profpe&^nd
abundant in its resources; not fo'much
indebted to art as to nature, for its
beauties and conveniences. Let him
'but realife his proposals of Doming a
mong us, (I presume as a visitant) and
judge for himfelf. He will not be
embarrassed with unavailing conjee,
ture, or laborious calculations: he
will find that, added tq our situation
as a new country, where much land
is to be had for little money, ourpo-^
' litical arrangements contribute to our
happiness, and to our moderate, but
competent wealth. We have no prin-'
ces, to indulge the grades more im.
mediately beneath them, in their plea
sures and their tyfon;, that they may
themselves be supported at the ex
pehfe of the nation, in their schemes
of ambition and luxury.—no over#
grown nobles, to wanton on the hard
earnings of an oppressed yeomanry !
He will find a refpe&able clergy, cho.
fen by their refpe&ive congregations,
and reputably supported by the vol#
untary contributions of their hearers.
But these are not ecclesiastical drones!
fruges conJumere nati ^—they themf elves
do the duties required of them! they
a& not in the affairs of heaven by de.
puties, whofevpoverty is, truly apoftol
ical; the penuirous Stipends allowed
them by their grasping superiors, com
pelling them to be conversant only_in
the fts, while their principals revel
in the feajls, of the church.——{n a
word, he will not fee a fable host of
fuperfluous and pampered priests,
(maintained by numbers who do not
hear or believe in their doctrines) who
fatten on the poverty of the people;
and, while they fetter & terrify men,
' confeiences, to mould them to their
purposes, <@ out their substances, un
der the fanßion of law. These de
scriptions of characters, in other coun.
, tries, create and increase taxes, while
' they render their subordinates less 11-
able to pay them, by enormous rents,
TUESDAY, NOV. 9 , 1802.]
taßtratttr&^tete&taforoß^^
'' PRINTED AT CONCORD, N. HAMPSHIRE, BY E. RUGSELL.
Error ts Opinion ma, be tolerated, where reason is left free to combat it— Jefferson.
^=^^^B—t^T-i—^^^^^^^-■—^^^—■—■mratfo—^^trat—m^^ •-•■.
AMERICAN REPUBLICAN GAZETTE.
gs. a Year,]
made necessary by their diffipationl
and extravagance, and by their capri^l
cious terms of leafing lands, of whid#
they are the principal engroflcAmCT
gland has, perhaps, less reafon^^t. I
plain, on these accounts, tha^Hne I
other European countries : but, if we
had no other statements to rely upon
than tbofe given by Mr. Young him.
felf, we should know enough to be
convinced, that, even here, fame of
these causes produce misfortunes in
fufficient plenty. Not having the letift
inclinations if it were in my power, to
disturb the systems of other nations,
and wishing the happiness of mankind [
in their own way, i do not mentionl
either our positive or negative prof-I
perity, with a view to draw -odious orl
'difagreeable comparisons. The world
will never agree about forms of gov.
ernment. Let those who think well
of grades in society, be happy in the
possession of such arrangements. We
confider it fortunate, and feel it bene
ficial that we have them not.
Taxes, it is said by some, stimulate
to industry; and, therefore, the higher
the tax, the greater the exertion, and
, the more employment. But, if this
were a more tenable do&rine than it
is, I fee not that man Ihoulti laboi not
for himfelf—or for himfelf too hardly
—nor should he be compelled by ar
tificial necessity, like a criminal im.
merged to the chin in water constant
ly flowing in upon him, incessantly to
pump, or perish. Taxes we have,
but the greater part aril imperceptible,
and all of them are light. The mod
erate expenses of our government, &
the mediocrity of our public debt, do
not require heavy and ruinous taxa
tion. The backs to bear it, increase
falter than the burthen; and we are
too far removed from the feenes of
ruinous & unnecessary wars, to dread
any sadden or fatal increase of it.—
Wars are generally produced by the
pride, vanity, interest, or ambition of
hereditary rulers.
The great body of an industrious
people are inclined to peace; and
from these, our government will al
ways take its tone. As to our wars
with the savages, they are, for the
time, embarrassing, locally distressing,
and, generally, expensive ; but are
not nationally formidable, or danger
ous. Disputes witQthem must grad
ually diminish, and, at no distant pe
riod end, 1 Though the reflection be
painful to humanity, it is juftified, in
point of sass, by experience, that the
nations in contact with the whites, al.
ways have been, and ever will be ex
terminated. The approaches of our
fettlemcDts always bahiffi the Indians.
Our laws are generally liberal in;
their policy. We have no narrow ar.;
rangements, which, under falfe no
.tions of national convenience, or sha
dowy and miscalculated political re
ftridions, palsy agriculture and com#
merce, by preventing those who pos
sess the products of the country, from ;
disposing of what their labour has cre
ated, when, where, & how they please.
/Free from such restraints, and from/
the pressure of heavy rents, church
dues, and taxes, our farmers are the
proprietors of the foil they, cultivate :
they gather the honey,(hear the fleece ,
LIBERTY and THE CONSTITUTION.
THE
and guide the plough, for themselves
alone, ft is not the "Jie vos non vo.
bis' of Europe, They increase the
value of their capital, while they la.
hour for their sustenance. They do
not, indeed, receive an annual inter
est, or revnue, on their capital; but
they pay none: yet, by their exer
tions for their own support and ac
commodation, and the growing popu.
lation and improvement of the coun
try, to which every one, stranger as
well as native, contributes, more than
an European per centage is added to
their principal; insomuch, that farms
will increase, in very many parts of
the country, tenfold in their value, in
less than twenty years. Immense
tra&s of new lands have been recent
ly fold by the state of Pennsylvania,
at less than an Englifb (hilling per a
cre. Great' and extensive bodies of
these lands can be now procured, at
second hand, at less than half Mr Y's
calculation for mountain lands. I
know valuable traOs^of great extent,
within a few days ride of Philadelphia,
which may be had at from 3 to 9s.
sterling per acre. These are not
" mountain lands," tho', like all the
face of our country, they are cut in
some places, by ridges. They are for
the most part, level, and so luxuriant
in pasturage, that maugre our winters,
cattle now pass the season in prime or#
der, without cover, or artificial for#
age. They command both the New-'
york and Philadelphia markets, and
are situated in a fafe country, which
will, ere long, be as great for grazing
as any in America. Other states have
similar advantages, Mr. Ys farm, or
even his 60 acres, and the sheep he
summered on it, will buy him a little
territory ; and his capital, in 10 years,
will be encreafed 500 per cent. This
is not a bad per centage, nor is it a
vilionary calculation. I wish not to
throw out fallacious temptations, but
to relate fatty merely to ffiew why our
farmers need not make nice calcula
tions about per centage. They hate
now, and always have had, a fore re
source for the wear of their tea board
farms, &c. the growth of their fami
lies. Children, in Europe, are often
a burden and expenle. The wealth
of a great part of the American far
mers grows with the additions to their
families. The children assist. in the
labour of the old farm, or in the eftab
lifhmenr of the new one. This foper
cedes the necessity of calculating on
hired laborers, the whole being chief#
ly done within themselves : they are
paid by the increased value of the
common flock. Our laws, contrary to
the teodal injustice of- Europe, encou.
rage and dire& equality of distribu
tion among the children of intestate
defeendants; so that many parents
purposely omit making wills, content
ed with the distribution made by law.
And though every man has the rjght,
at his pleasure, to dispose ofhis eftye:
by will or deed,yet the habi sos think- 1
ing on such occasions, take their bias|
from the spirit of our laws. Many,[
who have large families, and wantl
room, or are tired of their old farms,
think it better to fell, and remove to
places where nature is in her prime,
leaving to their successors, the toil,
calculation, and expense of renovating
lands exhausted by bad tillage. The
worn farms always find purchasers;
and the price paid for them, buys a
fufficient quantity of new land, besides
leaving a surplus in cash, for improves
ment. One day this must have an
end; but that is far distant. When
it arrives, the proprietors of old lands
will adopt better systems of agricul
ture, which are now faft advancing.
These will add to the products of
their lands, and procure more wealth,'
but possibly not more happiness, iri(
our more ancient settlements. Our
old lands are capable of renovation,
having a good staple, as has been pro
ved in numberless instances.
I condemn not calculation, which
is orudent and proper in every bufirf
net's—" Egofumpiaor." —I am some.
times feized_with the faculty of calcu.
lasing, but not always fuCcefsful in the
practical proof of jt. I need not,
however, be discouraged ; for I of.
ten read, with pleasure, Mr. Young's
writings; I admire his genius, and re
fpe& even his enthufialm; in which
he often strikes out the fineft thoughts 4
—but I venerae his candour, while
he frequently acknowledges, that suc
cess does not always crown his own
calculations, or invariably durable
conviction, his opinions. We have
here innumerable instances of farm
ers who get forward, without ever
spending a thought on per centage,
or other nice calculation. And how
ever " problematical" this may seem,
it is an observation as old as the firft
appearance of the redoubtable Hudi- ''
bras, that
" No argument like matter of faR is."
« I ask your forgivenefs for the
multifarious, and perhaps tiresome,
scope I have taken. The easy fitua#
tion of an industrious, full banded A
merican farmer, is the pleasing result
of a combination, produced by all the
/causes I have mentioned. Instead of^
calculating, he labours and enjoys.
And though I do not profefs to have
a good opinion of the flyle of Ameri.
can husbandry, yet even this fliews
the happy filiation, in other refpeds,
of our country. With such farming
in Europe, the farmers would starve,
and have their children common la
bourers, or, beggars. And yet, here,
they live well, and leave their defeen
dants the means of obtaining the com.
forts and tonvepiencies of life.* This
is the problem I have endeavoured to
solve. And I could nor, but by 'this
circuitous route, arrive at the answer
to Mr. Y's question, " Is it possible
that the inhabitants of a great conti.
nent, not new settlers, who, of course,
live to hunt, to eat, and to drink," can
carry on farming as a business, and
yet never calculate the profit they'
make by percentage on their capital?"?
—The phraseology, "who, of course,
live to hunt, to eat, and to drink,^l do
not perfc&ly comprehend. ' Our hunt
ers are only a few borderers,; and not
to be counted upon as farmers; nor:
are our farmers, though they have hot
&best systems, idle. It^fo thioli, dst
(without metniag a cririq¥) ^wb #f, oxi
dmk,n®<, would have beta a morsjuft
arrangement of I nguege."
, There i, much good feufe in man, of thia
gentlemen's obfemtioas,—A. Y.
VolumeTl.—Number XCII.
— —————————
[Pay quarterly.