Alexandria gazette & daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1817-1822, 1818-04-23

| fear that this will be but small Item,
compared to the injury which will be sus.
taiDed BY our trade in general. prae-
ticed men it would be unnecessary 10
mention the increased charges OF every
kind which must 10 time OF war De sup
ported by their commerce, but to those OF
a different description it may net be I'M
proper to state, that the increased wages
Of seamen, the great advance in the rates
OF insurance. and the necessity OF srhlng
our vessels, will conspire to enhance the
,rice Of carriage to such degree that We
shall be unable to carry on our trade on
as favorable terms as those Who vii DC
neutral on thi. occasion. Among these
Great Britain will take the lead. She
has by the late treaty the right OF trading
in our ports on the most favorable terms;
and she vii! doubtless accommodate US
with the means Of transporting our gonds
to all parts of the world, aud will thus
enable US t. keep our own ships 'ecuieH
at our wha. YES. Our ships OF war will
give employment to such OF our -eanen
as will rot choose to abandon our service;
aud if they can find the ships Of the enc
my. they will doubtles. display thei' u
sual CALAMITY. But where w. uld they
Look for them. They may OCCASIONAL!
meet and c.ptu~e privatesr'; but the ene
my's ships Of var and merchant vessels
will disappear from the ocean. The s, a.
nish trade is mostly carried on at Thu.
time under neutral colours, it will ten
be wholly %; and here again the good
Offices OF Great Britain will be freely
rendered for the general carriage OF that
trade. We may indeed blockade some
of their principal Spanish ports, but We
may experience no small difficulties with
the superior squadrons OF the British
ships before the same ports. They will
quote to US the rules o. mentality, gradua
ted by our own scale: and We, 10 our
turn, may quote from their orders in
council the rights Of beIiis"reuts But
we must be prepared to Weld, for we shall
be deficient in the most essential right,
that of the strongest. We must also be
pr epared to see the most serious conse-
quences occasionally 'e.ult from these
adverse claims which will be discussed
by parties, who will be armed, and be-
tween whom there cannot even at this
time exist much cordiality. These con
sequences may lead to others, very re-
mote from our original expectations. 1t
must then be evident that We shall not |
only lose most valuable traie with SPAN
and her West Indi- l.lands-bvt that he
while Of our remaining commerce ~ill
either be conducted on tie mus' unfavor.
able terms in our own vessels. or will be
ansferied, as far as il respects carriage
to neutral n.tiens. TO the imminent Ia
card Of sacrificing the great branch on
hich our naval power depends. We
may affect to despise the navv Of Spain
but when we look at the geographical Pc
,ition Of her sespoT.s la Europe AID
America. we zee much reason to dread
he system of privateeripg. to which her
maritime efforts will be confined, and III
which she will not want the ready aid of
the experienced adopts who will flock to
her ports from all qua tsrs for the purpose
OF plundering our commerce..
0u limits will not admit ct our stating
10 detail the i'll effects which this war
.youId Inevitably produce on all the Diff
rem, branches Of trade But trusting that
in the general view which we have eIhl.
bit.d, we have proved that the amount Of
loss in this important item will vastly
that Of our gain-we Will here
dismiss this part Of our subject for the l.,
and will hazard some few OBJ
seryations. on the nature and kind Of
aiG which we may propose to give the pa
lriuts
1t cannot be expected that We should
send our ships and troops to attack the
tortresse. which are held by the royslists
in The Gulph of Mexico, or what is called
the Spanish Maine. The smallest infor-
nation as to The insaiub.ity ofthe climate,
without a reference to the proverbial I
strength cf the fortresses would shew the ,
madness Of such project; and the same
observation would apply with equal force
to the islands Of Cuba ard Porto Rico
We are now prepared to turkish, and ac-
'ually do furnish all the arms and ammu-
milton that may be called for BY the pa.
riots, it is true that this can only be ct
ected in the parts Of the province Of We /
,ezuela, adjacent to the river Oroaoko, 1
Ind on the northern coast OF Mexico, I
rear our line. And We do not see how I
war with Spain could multiply eur I
points Of contact with the patriots, on +
hat extensive range of sea-coast. Bue-
,os Ayres and Chill are too remote tor q
military expedition nor are they requi. t
lite in those countries, where arms and :
only are wanted. They have |