Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1824-04-16
RIPosrEp FOR THE NATIONAL IHrELLIGEscER.
Eighteenth Congress.
DEBATE ON THE TARIFF BILL.
SPEECH or MIR. P. p. BARBOUR. OF VA
DELIVERED FRIDAY, MARCH 26, 1894.

SPEECH OF MIR. P. p. BARBOUR. OF VA.
DELIVERED FRIDAY, MARCH &c, 1894.
(Concluded)
MIR. Chairman, in the discussion Of this sub
iect we are awaystold that, whatever iheorist.
may say, experience proves that great power
ty has been the fate Of those nations which
did not encourage manufacturers and great
wealth the lOt ofthose which did Spain and
England have been uniformly presented as
striking examples, The first Of poverty, and
the second of wealth, which is ascribed to
their different policy in this respect. Let us
first investigate the causes Of the poverty of
Spain. Unhappy country! What contrast
it presents to IFS former self The time was,
when it was the terror of all Europe when il
commanded the resources Of Spain proper,
the Netherlands, Sicily, Sardinia, Naples, AID
both the Indies when, in the great struggle
between the rival houses of Boui bon and
Austria, the balance of power in Europe was
endangered; when Quren Elizabeth and the
whole English nation trembed at the ap-
preach of her in,incible Armada. Now what
is her condition Prcstrate, debased, vas.
sal province TO france. Now, indeed, sve-
rihed the fafn0us saying of Lewis XIV. There
are n" longer any Pyrenres. And even in
the 18th century, the benighted mind of part
of its population makes them cling to the In
QUESTION but his Holiness the Pope refuses
tn comply with their request to re-establish it.
Let me assign some of the most prominent
causes of this fallen condition. 1t is o,ging.
in part, tn the bigotry of the GOV ernment, TO
the superstition of her people--to the Catlro-
lie religion. Look over the map of Europe !;
you will find The Catholics much more numer-
Gus than the Protcstants. And yet how inf
mite the difference in the rational industry in
! favor of the Protestants What comparison
/ IS hpr h.,tN fha of Iahn ,l,
flemings. the French, and northern Italians, on
the one side, and the SiIesians, the Saxons,
the Prussans, aud Englishmen on the other
In Ireland, we are told, the linen, the only
great manufacture, is in the hands of the Pro-
| testants. Sir, il is said the endless HOLIDAYS
IN the Catholic religion seriously interfere with
labor. The gold and silver of Mexico and
South America have been to them a misfUr-
tune. While it stimulated the industry Of the
rest of Europe, il furnished the means to the
kings of Spain of carrying un wars of mad
ambition, it dazzlrd the nation with The glare
of houndltss wealth, and destroyed the elastic
spring oflndusfry. Every ga;leon which cross
ed he ocean carried with it apparent wealth,
hut the cause OF ultimate poverty. Spain, in
her folly, banished from the Kingdom Inc Jews
who conducted her commerce and, IN the
early part of The 18th century, n million of
Moors, the most industrious of her people in
agriculture and manufactures. These exiles
carried with them their wealth, their skill, and
industry. Examine, sir, the structure of her
government and her internal regulations
Her King, her mobiles, her clergy, under papal
bondage; the people without education the
tvs" orders of nobility and clergy, with one
third of the land ofthe Kingdom, locked up in
perpetual ina!Ienaby. Some idea ofthe ope
ration of the latter cause may be formed from
the Experience Of the French revolution
There, too, third of the land Of the kingdom
was IN the hands of the privileged orders, and
inaenabN. The French revolution, though
/ II produced SOME tremendous shocks, has left
s"ine valuable monuments 10 its memory
! The national domain was cOnfiscaird and sold,
and millions ofpeople, in consequence, became
ihe owners of the soil. Who can doubt that
hui for this, upon the restoration of the Bour-
! bon dynasty, al! the former abuses, and the
whole ancient regime, would have been restor-
ed with them. To return 10 Spain. The
taxes ofthe kingdom, the most oppressive in
the manner of being laid and collected, and
almost the whole borne by the people whilst
| the privileged orders were exempt, or nearly
81! Take particular tax upon the sale Of
commodities repeated at every new sale, insO-
nurh that an article, in its various transfers
has been taxed Ten, aye twelve different times
i Consider the mOnsirous and absurd practice
grown into a prPscrptive right in favor of The
! privileged orders, called the Mesta, by whrh
they are NJ liberty. at will, To have thousands
and myriads Of sheep drivrn through the df-
/ ferent provinces for the benefit of pasturage
the most defective administration of Justice,
! perhaps in the CT, llized world " hch we know
sooner than any other cause, TO destroy all
credit IN the Transactions of men. It's agrcu-
| tnrp, sir, is al as low an ebb AS its mannfac-
lures, and it is ascribable tn the same causes
These. sir, are the outlines Of the picture Of
Spain. The Eject Of all these causes is, in n
great degree 10 destroy that master spring OF
4 human exeriiUn--the certainty that we shall
reap the profit Of our labor. No man can
feel this certainty, who does not enjoy securi-
ty person and property. The Spanish peo-
/ pie are under the yoke of a political, legal
and papal bondage. Look at England herself
whilst she wore the chains of feudal vassalagp,
and you will find, that the active spirit of in
I dusiry, which now achieves so much, then
Blmost lay dormant Agriculture, manufac-
a sluggish pace new era commenced, and
all the natural consequences followed.
And this, sir, brings me tO examine the ex-
ample which England Offers to our contem-
pIaiion. The first view which shall present
on this subject has reference To- the statistics
Of the two countiies The population of
5 Great Britain and Ireland, according 10 Lowe,
, for 1823 was 81 500, 900. But, ms the state
, inenl, in relation To- Ieland, was coulectural,
and that uf G. r.. official will take that ~ the
subject ofcnmparisun; g. r. then, in I 1913, had
!, = population of Is 100000, and 16j to the
SQUARE nilr di,idiug the population by the
number To- the square mill. we fiod ihe number
. Of square miles to be- Iess than 30 900 the pop
ulati0n nf the u. Srqies for round numbers,
will state ut 10 900 900. II we take the whole
a IL. -.