Portland gazette and Maine advertiser. (Portland, Me.) 1805-1818, 1808-12-12

! what the honorable gentleman from Ken
! lucky has Just now in substance declared
1 that the gentlemcn.who supported the EN-
barge laws at the last session upon this floor
! supposed thew would be speedily productive
4 Of great and beneficial results upon onrfor
| eign relations tAat they would bring the
! two great belligerents, and especially Eng
/ land, to Just and reasonable terms aho
| that there would be no occasion for contlh
| uing them longer than till they shoula oe
| known on the other side OF the AtahIC
| But IN all this they now see and know tiieh
| mistake they now know, from the Ihos'
| authentic sources, that these laws nave
/ produced no alteration in the conduct OF el'
Their France OF England in relation TO us
that in fact, they are applauded by the one,
I and treated with contempt and derlslon oy
The other, whilst we are ourselves the sur
ferine and bleeding victims of the rack up
onwhich we vainly expected to torture them
Il is the fate Of humanity to err; the WI
sest and the best of men are liable TO At.
And all we seek of these honorable gentle
men. now, is to come out openly, and &C
knowledge in the face of the nation the
eeregious mistake into which they fell and
unite with us in redressing the injuries and
healing the wounds they have SO unneces-
sarily inflicted upon their devoted country.
/ make this appeal to them with the more
cofidence. because know every gentleman
here has too much character and patriotism
to be influenced by the pride ofoplnion, to
wish TO persist in political error. Twill sub
nit 10 Won. Mr.. President, whether we have
not before rs sufficient evidence to shew
that the administration themselves are now
convinced of the impolicy of this measGre,
and would willingly get rid Of it, if they
could do SO. consistently with The character
Of infallibility they wish to preserve in the
public opinion. deduce this conclusion
from the offer they say they have recently
made to the British government, to take Oft
the embargo, as to them, and continue il a.
gainst France, provided they would rescind
their orders in council. An offer which,
if made unincumbered with other terms, is
acomplete acknowledgement of a conviction
Of error on the part OF the administration !;
because, after they had subjected the coun-
try to all the deprivations and ruinous ects
of the embargo for more than six months, it
was coming to the precise ground we were
requested to take in relation To France, by
the British government year before the
embargo was laid, in the famous note Of
Lords Holland and Auckland, to Messrs.
Monroe and Pinckney, accompanying the
British treaty formed BY those gentlemen.
All they then asked of US, was, that we should
q not acquiesce in the palpable violations of
our rights, directed BY the Berlin decree,
if attempted TO be enforced - but surely
they have not contemplated more, than if
France did attempt to enforce that decree,
we would interdict all intercourse with her,
and continue our commerce with Q. Britain :
which would be the effect Of the stipulation
recently proposed. This proposition from
the British government, however, in De
cember, 1906, was spuned with disdain /;
and now whel the country is half ruined
with the experiment Of perpetual embargo
such as believe was never before practised
upon any people I; we ca1descend to beg
these very terms they refused to grant them.
Sir, the truth IS, the administration must
now be convinced, that the embargo il
inluring none but ourselves, and US It must
eventually ruin fpersisted IN. regret too,
this proposition as nssde, because it has fur
nished to Mr.. Canning an opportunity Of
offering a most sarcastic insult tothe gov
ernment Of this country. He tells Mr..
Pinckney, in reply to it, /" that II. NJ would
not hesitate to contribute in any manner in
his power to restore to the commerce Of tbe
United States its wonted activity, and fit.
were possible without any sacrifice, for the
repeal Of the embargo, would gladly facili-
tate its removal as q me asure of i1conuenienf
restriction oboa the f1tevcaH people. ] have
no faith, Mr. President, in the security Of
this profession but feel most sensibly the
severity Of the sarcasm, as applied to a mea-
sure of our own administration, that we
were confidently told was to bring England
to our own terms.
win now, sir, with the indulgence ofthe
senate, endesvour TO examine, as concisely
and correctly as am capable Of, the opera
ton Of the embargo opon the commerce and
general prosperity of the United States.
According to the last report Of the secretary
ofthe treasury, it win be found, that the
goods. wares and merchandise, Of foreign
growth and manufacture, exported from the
II. States inthe year prior to the first day Of
October, 1907, amounted to $500 $50.
All the revenue, all the national and com
merciaI wealth that would have arisen from
this very extensive trade, is completely des.
troyed- by the embargo 1t is a total loss to
the country that can never be recovered In
the same report it appears, that the goods,
wares AMI merchandise, of domestic growth
and manufacture, the actual produce Of our
own country. exported from the United
States inEthe same year, amounted in dollars
10 S48, sos, 592. The whole commercial
profits and national wealth that would have
arisen from the expectation and proceeds or
this immensely valuable produce, is for the
present lost to the country, and a large por-
tton ofthe merchandise, the produce itself
must be forever lost If the embargo be long
continued All, or nearly all the produce
of the fisheries, accounting in dollars to
90. 8O4, 900, as likew tie agricultural
produce OF the couHtfy, few articles, such
as tobacco, cotton, rice, &c. excepted, which
/ have not included ID this estimate, amoln-
ting IN dollars to S I8,52i,0 1o makmgi IN the
,vhole tventy-one million four hundred and