Alexandria daily gazette, commercial & political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1808-1812, 1810-04-05

DORIS ID hpuuueuVes w"s -, 4 ,
s,op and refs, and Be provided ter. This
ne ruia,ion win not therefore prevent her
sh'rs from approaching our country OF no:
.s,Ine an our coasts. We are therefore
vuE,ps q wsr oe vssrieden and inhes.
r;,ali,y item which We have little 10 gain
md may pos,ibly lose much
Bu, Notwithstanding these objections, 90
strongly do ! wish the rspsnl OF 'he non
in,srsourss laws, and such ] know are the
ssn,imsn,, and expectations Of the country
on ,his suLieet. ,ha. I am willing 70 take
.hs eiIl nvesla,abls % ithas been made.
- ijN Il has been urged that The bill has
bssn stripped OF every thing valuable and
euxh, not In Ito present dser'ppsd md do.
fotn,ed s,a,s 20 30 eounlsnanced. ] must
brs ,hs a,,sns!en Of The houss while pace
In review the highly priced provisions
which are 90 per,inaeiously adhered to-
/ shall be much disappointed if Il dess
rated. ,
In their moot perfect form and without
ary lnpedImtn,s or eountrfvuiling fsgvls'
lions on the part Of the European govern.
minis, he provisions which have been ne.
ga,ived by The senate, may. sondns Tie a.
nhsrieun imPer. and expert trade 10 Ame'''
can vssssl, 4,
Tina. 70 certain degree Our own chip
owns Hnd thip builders ought 'obs sreou.
ragged will not be denied. We not only Nv
Il, give employment 70 m useful oct OF mtn
but tho community Of large are benefited
If we dtrsrd Oh foreigners 10 carry away
our productions, we would not only give q
monopoly 70 certain European Nations as
for instance 10 the British during The prssets
war, 40 their vssssls only con reach ou'
coast, but our sales would not be rs proisa'
bic or 40 certain. Our merchants in our
own vessels seek the best market and can
therefore give the bes. prices. And the
farmer or planter sinks In his sales but one
profit and one freight.
This eneouragemrn 10 ALREADY given IN
our protecting duties. and SO efiscsual have
they been under the fair conduct OF our
merchants that foreign ships seldom enter
our ports. Blu. this encouragement may
be carried too far and it may well be doubt
ed whether BY driving foreigners absolutely
out of market we arc no, prsiudicing one
act of our citizens for the exclusive ad1an.
,ars of another. Whether by absolutely
prohibiting every thing like competition
with our own ship owners and thus allow
ing theu to make their swn freigh.s, we
are no, unduly sacrificing the agricultural
to promote the shipping Interest.
But is this the regulation necessary to
protect or to foster cur shipping Interest,"
AS to French vessels it certainly is not re-
quirsd as no French merchant vessels arc
found in our seas. II i, has any operation
it must be ON the British. and so it seems
to be understood. We have no docum. Mt
before US from what we gather with GER
tainty the exact amount Of British tonnage
employed in our trade, but we have such
parts as will enable US to come pretty near
the truth. 1t is stated that the whole TO-
reign tonnage employed in our trade, is
somewhere between forty. and sixty thou
sand tons.
When it is understood that the British |
vessels which enter our waters arc Prlnci-
pally coasters coming from Nova Scotia |
with plaster Of Paris, and other bulky ar
ticIes, and that the same vesse! arrives Sc
veral times during the same year, and thus
swells the list of tonnage, without adding
to the number of ships, it is fair and safe !
calculation that the actual amount Of .Bri- |
fish shipping employed in our trade does
NO, sxceed and probably does not amoans
TO 5000 tons. Thus then the French have
no ships to be excluded, end the English
but forty or fifty vssssls of the smaller
kind. This 10 indeed small item in the
amount. The addition OF few small :
craft will certainly be Of no great advan.
tage to our ship builders AID cur fatm.rs,
q speak particularly Of the country which
| have the honor to represent will BE- seen
to suffer by the in,erdie,ion Of these Nova
Scotia coasters, either from the scarcity Of
plaster and the eonseqnsn. advances on its
price. /
But !. 10 said that want Of employ else.
where will greatly eneresse the British ship.
ming in our traae. that being wholly ex.