The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1808-07-22


opinion, which she in common with the o.
tfieI- Inuharrhics OF Europe, TOO long and TOO
successfully rropagated, that a republican
form of government was unfit for q large &
extensive country, an opinion which Anne
RIGA under the blessings Of Providence has
now so happily disproved ltbelongs to the
energy Of this age, to dissipatc these anti
quated celusions, the offspring of selhshness,
& design, to bring the power OF man to the un-
errng test offact and experiment.. A crowded
people, it istrue, will become manufacturers
from necessity. This has been the case
with Great Britain. But necessity from
whatever cause it springs, viii produce the
same effect. We, for example, are far from
being a crowded people yet we experience
q necessity to become manufacturers equally
importunate with that which results from
scantiness OF territory, and, to a people who
love freedom, equally dii'eful for we can no
longer get manufactures from abroad, without
experiencing every indignity and every
wrong which arrogance, injustice and rapa-
city can infhCt; without ruin 20 those who
engage in such commerce; without the total
prostration of the honor, the peace and in
dependence of our nation. Agriculture then
can no longer supply all our wants--we
must of necessity become manufacturers.
The objection that iabour in this country
is too scarce and the Scages too high, has
been pushed too far. Some manufactures do
not require as much labour as has been ge
morally supposed. Most of them employ
iabour-saving machines. These machines are
equivalent to as many labourers as they SUI
pcrsede and they consequently supersede
the 7cages of labour in the same proportion.
There is no reason to fear that these ma
chimes may not be constructed at nearly as
little eXpence as those which pervade Eu-
nd he, t,.,aS -tit .l,r
clear. that in those manufactures, which adj
nit of laboui- saving machines to any extent,
the high wages OF the labourers of this coun-
try are nearly saved. Iadeed. if it be once
admitted, as we presume it will be by ali,
that we must rely only On our resources, for
articles OF the first necessity, every ooser-
walton as to the scarcity of labour III this
country, Carries with it the strongest argu-
ment in favor of the introduction of ma
chinery, by which that little may be inf
nitely multiplied and may display itself TO the
greatest possible advantage.
f3ut let us withdraw from our fields and
cur forests that surplus labour, which has hi
therto gone to feed the colonies of France
and England to supply their looms with raw
materials and their architects with lumber
let us apply this labour to the purposes of
manufacturing, & We shall soon see how hap
PLY society, forced on self-dependence,
will balance itself-how soon labour will APP
portion itself among the various operat ions
nee essary to the subsistence of the society,
& how, while agriculture gives bocad to all,
manufactures will give clothing.
4. As 70 the objection, that the people Of
the United States have too little CAPITAL for
such enterprises, let it he retorted. what shall
become OF that capital, which is now shut
out from the high seas BY the rapacity of the
powers of Europe. In the words of all En-
gl;sh Orators who was lately called before
the British parliament specially to speak &c
such points, +" Will congress for the sake of
giving encouragement totrade'S manufactures
make some enaCtments in the nature
of the British Orders in Council! will they
after the manner ofthose precious measures,
prohibit manufactures, &c. mo, no !;
they will not copy you so close they
viii give their trade and Manufactures
every facility they are rather better
politicians than the wise trainers of your de-
crees they will foster this capital and
make it conduce to truly beneficial ends, not
by such Orders in Council as yours, but by
measures really adapted to the encourage
ment of trade; ay, and let me sell you, sir,
to the purpose of "retorting upon England
the evil of her own injustice"
5. As to the raw materials for the purpose
OF manufacturing, we have iron and cotton
in abundance---we can raise any quantity of
hemp and fax that we please--and as to
wool, it requires but a constant mart and
those cautions and excitcments which will not
fail to be applied, to carry it to the highest
perfection & produce it also in the greatest a.
bundamce, in a very short time. A lamb is
an annual crop; for i'll one year. lamb will
yield as go1d wool as at any subsequent peri
od. The quantity too is not inconsiderable
With due care, therefore. considerable
quantity of wool can be accumulated in the
short space of one tweivemonth -
For the purpose of giving start to do
mestc manufactures, by raising the neces-
sary capital, which TO individual can be ex-
pected to supply, patriotic associations have
been already formed in several of the states,
aud their subscription books are rapidly fill
led. PGtrfoti8m alone, at such a crisis as
this, would be sufficient TO produce this eff
Feet: But another motive not SD exalted in
deed, but at least, as universal and efficient,
has contributed to aid the process: that is.
interest. The few experiments in manufac-
tories which have been alrea dy made IL! O.
Their states, on ii small scale, have demon
strated that there is no legitimate mode of
investing money more profitable, perhaps
none so much 80. We have been informed in
such way, as to rely upon it, that the an
Duai product of money sOinvested, even at a
period when our commerce was unmoiested.
was from ten 10 fifteen per cent What ac
Cumu!ation Of that profit the total otlStr,ct;