Martinsburgh gazette. [volume] (Martinsburgh, Va. [W. Va.]) 1810-1825, 1811-10-25

OF the truth OF this assertion have moro
respect Cor the understanding of my country
men,
Another professed object Of these CONNER
cial chimeras, was to save our ships and our
property from the pcrils of capture. Neither
one nor the other was endangered by land
expectation of potash into Canada, yet this
last and innocent trade was prohibited under
embargo and non-intercourse laws Shall I
halt here in pity, or does my duty compel mo
to pursue this subject furtherp ! am pledg-
ed to the last sacred alliance and must 90 on
with my labours entreat you, sir, Go make
a fair account for yonr own satisfaction of tho
losses suffered by the commerce of your coun-
try from capture, detention, plumber and
burning beginning at the peace Of 1888, and
compare the amount with what has fallen up
on US since the commencement Of the system
of policy adopted for the express purpose Of
saving our merchants from ruin. You will
find, sir, that the American people have suf-
feres more by actual plumber abroad, within
the period of the five last years than they
have suffered in the twenty years preceding.
Fifty millions of dollars will not pay the loss
es under which your fellow-eitizens have sunk.
to protect them.
Leaving this survey of part of the suffer-
! ings of your countrymen inflicted by foreign
hands, let me call your attention to what is
going on at home under the operation Of the
greet system-the system of commercial re-
| strictions.
| Your seat and plantation of Montpelier 10
not of so much worth as il was before the
| birth of the embargo. The value Of the lands
| in your neighbourhood is diminished. some Of
| the humble tenements around you are deser-
ted, and the Impoverished citizens that are
left, stand visible evidences of what has been
done for the general good. Survey the state
of the country that Immediately surrounds
you. Listen to the unremitted complaints Of
your neighbours, rich and poor; look at the
glaring proofs OF national distress manifested
in individual suffering observe how things
are sinking from bad to worse, and ponder
sir, on the catastrophe Of this tragedy.
4 What you observe within your immediate
view is a representation, in miniature, of the
universal calamities that are overwhelming tn,
citizens of shis once happy and rrosperou
nation.
Look at the observation-disclosures of them VIII,
do stand are lettering on the very brink o
ruin. Many of them have embarked theiI
fortunes, in honest adventures, to the cont
nent of Europe. The aggregate loss of thi.
i class of American citizens, including burnings
confiscations, representations, failure ofreturns
sacrifices to maintain credit and final ruin oil
that credit amount to sum that / beg you
would take leisure to calculate. Fifty millions
| of dollars loss abroad must induce sacrifice
| of at least ten millions more at home. You
will add to this amount the difficulties with
which man, even of unstaincd character,
l n. - al ln.. l.
of poverty and suffering to which all are re-
duced What can be done by friendsP Can
| they secure themselveso
| Inquire SIR what is the value Of shipping
| per toni Inquire what was the late, compar-
ed with the present value of wharves and wa
ter lotsp Inquire of tenementholders what
demand they have for counting houses and
room for storage? assure You, that in the
city of Charleston, ship is hardly worth the
cost of her timber, that wharves do not pay the
| interest of their purchase money, and that
comfortable counting rooms in the centre Of
business with large spaces for storage, may
be obtained at a rent that does not amount to
an interest of three per cent. upon the value
they were rated at seven years ago.
You will perceive, that, all the branches OF
mechanics, connected with the shipping Infe-
rest, must be reduced and must suffer with
that interest The ship builder has no vessel
under his care. but those that require repairs;
having lain idle, with the worms destroying
them. The sail-maker employs about fourth
of the hands that he used, in ancient and bet
ter days, to call to his service for the sake OF
profit. The calker is half his time idle The
blacksmith makes any thing but ring bolts and
chain-plates. The rigger is called upon for
his bill of expenses or stripping-the baker
delivers no bread to deserted ship; the
butcher has no bill to present where he has
sold no meat.