Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1824-05-28
SPEECH OF MIR. WEBSTER,
Concluded.


Concluded.
Buff these be thoughtto be advantages, tley
are greatly counter-b balanced by other advanta-
ges enjoyed by other portions Of the country.
-cannot but regard the situation of the West, as
hig,iiy.avora5le TO human happiness. 1t offers,
in the abundance of Its new and fertile lands,
such assurances ofpermanent property and res
probability to the industrious, il enables them to
lay such slre foundations for competent pro-
vision for their families, it makes such nation
of frceholders, that it need not envy the happ-
est and most prosperous of the manufacturing
communities. We may talk as we will of well
fed ana well clothed day abourers or journey.
men; they are not, after all, to be Compared,
either for happiness, or rcspecfabiity, with him
who sleeps under his owa roof, and cuItivates
his own fee simple inheritance.
With respect to the proposed duty on Glass,
would observe, that, upon the best means of
Judging which possess, am of opinion, that
the Chairman of the Committee is right, in stat
ing, that there Is III effect, bounty upon the
expectation oil the British article. I think il
entirely proper. therefore, to raise own duty
by such an amount as shall be equivalent to that
bounty.
And, here Mr. Chairman, before proceeding
TO those parts of the Bill which l most strenu-
ously object, i will be so presumptuous, as to
take up challenge which Mr.. Speaker has
thrown down. He has asked us, in a tone of
interrogatory indicative of the feeling of anti
cipated triumph, to mention any country in
which manufactures have fourished, without
the aid of prombitory laws. He has demanded,
ifirbe not policy, protection, aye, and prohibi-
ton, that nave carried other states to the height
of their prosperity, and whether any one has
succeeded with such tame and inert legsla-
ton as ours. Sir, am ready to answer this in-
quiry.
There is country, not unlistnguished
among the nations, in which the progress of
manufactures has been far more rapid than in any
other, and yet unaided by prohibitions or un-
natural restrictions. That country, the happi-
est which the sun shines on, is our own.
The woolien manufactures of England have
existed from the early ages of the monarchy.
Provisions, designed to aid and foster them, are
in the biacklettered statutes of the Edwards and
Hcnrys. Ours, on the contrary, are but of yes
terday; and yet, with no more than the protec-
ton of existing laws, they are already at the
point of close and promising competition. Sir,
nothing is more unphilosophical than to refer us,
on these subjects, to the policy adopted by other
nations in very different state of society, or to
infer that what was Judged expedient by them
in their early history, must also be expcdient
for Us, in this early part of our own. This would
be reckoning our age chronologically, and es-
tirnating advance by our number of years
when, IN truth, we should regard only the state
of society, the knowledge the skill, the capital,
the enterprise, which belongs 10 our times. We
have been transferred from the stock of Europe
in comparatively enlightened age, and our CT
vilization and improvement date back as carly
as her own. Her original history is, also, our
original history; and if, since the moment of
separation, she has gone ahead OF u.s. in some
respects, 1T may be said, without violating truth,
that we have kept up in others, and, in others
again, arc ahead ourselves. We are to legis-
late, then, with regard to the present actual
state of society; and our own experience shews
us that, commencing manufactures at tue pre-
sent highly enlightened and emuous moment,
we need not initiate the clumsy helps, with
which, in less suspicious times, governments
have sought to enable the ingenuity and indus
try of their people to hobble along.
The English cotton manufactures began about
the commencement of the last reign. Ours can
hardly be said 10 have commenced, with any
earnestness, until the application Of the
power-loom in 1916, not more than eight years
ago. Now, sir, hardly need again speak ofits
progress, its present extent, or lis assurance OF
future enlargement. In some sorts OF fabriclzs
we are already exporters, and the products of
manufactures are, at this moment, in the South
american markets. We see, then, what can be
done without prohibition or extraordinary pro-
lection, because VIC see what has been done and
/ venture To predict that, in a few years, it will
be thought wonderful that these branches of
JHdnulaCtuTCs3 At lcdSJ, SDOulu nave DCcNtDOu9Dt
to require additional aid from government.
MIR. Chairman the best apology for laws
Of prohibition anil laws of monopoly, will be
found in that state Of society, not only unen-
lightencd, but sluggish, in which they are most
generally established. Private Industry, in those
days, required strong provooatiges, which go
vcrnmcnts were seeking to administer by these
means. Something was wanted TO actuate and
stimulate men, and the prospects of such profits
as would, in our times, excite unbounded com
petition, would hardly move the sioth of former
ages. In some instances, no doubt, these laws
produced an effect, which, in that period, would
not have taken place without them But our
age is wholly ola different character, and its
legislation takes another turn. Society is full
of excitement; competition comes in place OF
monopoly; and intelligence and industry ask
only fair play and an open field. Profits in
deed, in such state Of things will be small, but
they will be extensively dilfused prices will be
low, and the great body Of the people prospe-
rous and happy. It's worthy of remark that
from the operation of these causes, commercial
wealth, while is increased bcy cnl calculation