Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1824-02-24

factories oil the country To supply IN. demand
Tor the article thus proposed III be prohibited.
For This Information, he minated, he had
looked in vain TO the Chairman Of to- Com
miiiee on Manufactures, or to the several
statements prepared for the use "f the House.
Disappointed in these sources Of information,
ne mad endeavored, from Others to arrive as
nearly rs possible at the truth. Taking the state
ment OF the Speaker, that the value of the arl-
Gle VI cotton-hagging IN Scotland, hence il is
now 'mported, is IS cents per yard, aud that
of the Chamber ofCommrrre, of New York.
mat the duty OF per cent, per square yard,
added to the cotintervaing duty, wouio be
equivalent to 60 per cent. on the value Of the
article, withtha OF tn. Chairman ofthe COM
mittre Of Manufactures, salulng thu. article st
cents per yard, MIR. NJ. Came to the con-
ciusIon that the value of the al ticlr, when SUBJ
Jected to duty here might be computed at
ib LIZ cents per yard, and that the duty pro-
posed ny this bill would amount tU &C 2-3 per
cent. ON the present duty of 20 per cent ad
valorem.
When he came Ia calculate the amount Of
is commodity nfbasging annually consumed,
he made nunbcr OF statements and estimates,
which from tie number Of figures they EN-
brace, we cannot pretend Ia trace and, cal
culating the additional duty proposed upon
the baggng necessary 10 hale this quantity of
cation, he arri, ed AT the amount of tax which
inns hiil would impose on the Southern States.
which was OF sta'tling amount suy upwards
OF three hundred thousand dollars.
What, he asked, would be the Effect of such
duty The principles OF tie gentleman from
South Carolina, b. said, on this subject, were
perfectly sound. But, in aid of his argu-
ments, Nlr. Nj. asked, if, in regard 10 this
valuable traffic in cotton, the House was APP
priced that there are two or three new COIN
petitors entering the market of Europe Tor
The supply Ut this article, of which It is now
proposed 10 tax the expectation The Com
stitu'ion ofthe United States was perhaps too
.iten and unnecessarily introduced into this
House but, he said. in regard To constiu-
tutional law, as well rs expectancy, we ought,
in the execution of the letter of The Conslilu-
f'on, to look In the spirit which dictated t.
He said, then, that this House has no right 10
impose such duty as his. DOES mol The
Consultations say that no duty shall be inn
posed on rxporiaiion :. And what matters il,
whether an export duty be laid on the article
exported, or on the envelope in which il is en-
closed What should we say, if the Jamaica
Legislature were, ny duty on slaves, 10 tax
the article exported in the hogsheads, out of
which hey are composed Yet This was al
parallel case. l!such export duties were thus
imposed on cotton, Mr.. NJ. went on 10 argue,
the article would he exposed Ia competition
with Gr product Of other countless mt a time,
too, when the situation of the country en-
phat'cally demanded that the products OF our
agriculture should be left free "a seek n ma. krt,
Apart from the consideration nf exprdiency,
however. he argued that such n dniy, opera
Ting asa duty on exI;oriaticn, would run counter
Z" the principles of the Constitution, and to
every sound exposition oft.
Alter some other observations as 10 who ac-
tually pays the duty this article of cotton
Ir II hat L..
at present, at least, that we must exclude ali
intercourse with the rest of the world he e
cause, at some future period, we may our
selves he able TO supply all onr own wants.
with regard to the particular article of bag
ging, the argument drawn from the reduction
o' the price of coarse cottons by the prohb-
tory duty, did not apply. In regard to this
manufacture, there were difficulties in the way
of il first, III the growth of the raw nlateri-
al; the gathering it in; making it into tow,
the lnapplicabty OF machinery 10 the spin
ming fit, &c. Comparing this nannfacture,
with that objections, in which single machine
performs the work of four hundred hands,
&c. no argument could be drawn FROM the
success fcottoB manufactures to the sue
cess OF the mandatory of bagging, &c.
But II had been suggested that we are en-
gagged in competition with Great Britain,
and that our spirit of Independence, and our
pride. ought to induce us Ia persist in il and
IT had been suggested that the British premi-
UNI on expectation had been introduced to
countervail our duty on the importation of
this article. Az far back, Mr.. NJ. said, AS the
Britlsh colonial system, and that admrable
work, Smiths Wealth Of NATIONS, on which
he passed high eulogt, there was a bounty
on The exportaiion from Great Britain of This
very commodity, of one and a half cents per
yard 1t was part of the system of Great
Britain for what Not to protect her home
trade, but to fnrce her commodities abroad
Gentlemen bad said, if we impose any duty
whstevrr. she will countervail it. But, Mr..
VI. said, she has NOT done so in regard to our
coarse coiiOns. That nation he said, has n
system of policy, founded on her actual con-
dition and relations tn which she STEADILY adj
heres. Would that we had y system of poll
cy equally stable and consistent But he
said, he would not now enter into the gene
raj question of policy. In regard TO the parti-
cOIar item now under consideration, the Nyy-
thetn and Western States were called upon
to cOnspire To restrain the trade Of the South
Prn States in commodity which God and
nature had furnished them the means of pro-
dnciug, aud IF which they ought not 10 be
deprived by legislation. &c.
Mr.. NJ. said he had no idea Of enbarfass-
ing this bill, hui intended to- vote in the intes
gritty OF his heart for such parts Of il as he he
Iieved to be favorable 10 the interests OF the
country. He knew that the minority bad the
power TO force this hill upon the nation he
only hoped that they would exercise their
power with some regard to the Constitution,
To the organic law, 10 the form Of our CO.
veroment, and 10 the interests of the country,
&c.
Mr.. AgBoT rose4to remove an erroneous
idea that the three cents duty on cotton was