Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1824-04-06
EigMteeMth Congress /.
REMARKS OF MIR. r.. 8. GARRETT, OF
VIRGINIA.


out the duty of % cents bushcl on wheat.
mr. Garnett said such repeated claims to pro-
lection had been founded by the manufacturers,
on the encouragement supposed to have been
given to agriculture, that it was the interest of
the agriclturists, who knew this motion to be
the merest fallacy in the world, to strike from
the bill every item which purported to be for
their benefit. With this view, he had moved
the other day to strike out an item, on which,
he supposed, at some future period, pretext
might be founded for saying small portion of 4
small section our country, namely, the fruit
growers Of Florida, had been protected Had
lie known at the time that the bill contained a
proposition for dutyon wheat, "a circumstance
that had escaped his notice, from his cursory
pcrusal of it,) he should have struck at that
game rather titan the other, which was OF infe-
rior importance. 1t was fortunate, however,
that he did not know it, as it was the means of
the motion being made by his worthy colleague,
who was much more able to sustain it.
This attempt to raise the price of wheat, Mr..
G. observed, was one of the most remarkable
examples ofthe progress of the American. Lee
gislature i'll the science of political economy
which had ever been exhibited. If It wa,
not for the respect which he entertained for
the gentlemen who composed the COMMITTEES
ON manufactures, he should really have sup
posed that the duty had been introduced mere
ly al odptanduu,-to induce the agricultur-
lists to compound for the certain evil contained
i'll the bill for the promise of contingent good;
but the respect he had for those gentlemen for
babe the idea that they would endeavor to ac-
complish, by sleight of liand,iby legerdeman.
and management, what they could not effect by
the force Of reason and truth. And, indeed, as
this idea of raisngthe price of grain was not the
only extraordinary thing in the theory ofpolitical
economy which they had adopted, he had no
right to attribute to them any other motive than
the ostensiblc one. 1T was remarked, said Mr.
q. by one OF the most distinguished writers OF
the present age, the celebrated Nautilus, that
to know what we can do, and how to do it,
is the most valuable species of information
we can possess. The next is, to know what
we cannot do, and why we cannot do it. 1t
appeared to him, that, in the present state OF
our legislation, the latter information was more
desirable than the former; for, under the belief
that we can do good which we cannot do, we
are about to do an evil which we certainly can
do. Under the belief that we can protect agri-
culture, we are about to ruin it. He said I'M
der this belief, because it had been repeatedly
avoved, in the course of the debate, by gentle
men, that they would not support the bill but
from conviction that its pressure on the differ
>ent portions of the country, and several classes
of the community, would be equal. If it could
be made to appear that Congress C ould not eff
ciently protect agriculture, gentlemen would be
bound, consistently with their own declarations,
to withdraw their support from the bill-and that
1t could bemade to appear, was unquestionable.
He laid it down as an incontroyertible position,
that with respect to all the great staples of agr-
culture, OF which the country produced a sufi-
cheney for home consumption, and surplus to
export, the price was regulated by that portion
oft which went abroad. Suppose a cargo of
foreign wheat comes to one of the ports of this
country, whilst the American merchant is ship
ping domestic wheat to another country, and
thatit can be sold here cheaper than the domes-
tic wheat Will not the merchant purchase it
in preference to the domestic wheat, and ship it
instead? And why will he, Because, getting
1t cheaper, he makes greater profit on it. But
does not this prove that the owner himself NAV
make the profit Will he be stupid enough to
permit the American merchant to make a pro-
fit which he can make himself, Will he not
carry his wheat himself to the foreign market,
and drive us out of that, before hc comes in com
potion with us in our OWN And will he not to
avoid additional expense, go thither directly in
steal OF touching at our ports' 1t is self-evi-
dent that he will, and, that the necessary con-
dition of a competitor, with us III our own mar
kets, will be, our previous exclusion from the
foreign market. A few Struggling cargoes that
may come to this country, prove nothing to the
contrary. The same was true of tobacco rice,
cotton, &c. With respect to cotton even II
the duty could be added to the price, which was
impossible, it would be only tax on the manu-
facturer to the extent ofhis individual consump-
ton. In the same way, 1t would pay back to
the manufacturer tie amount of the duty adj
vanced to him the raw article. Even with
respect to sugar, and other agricultural cornrno-
dities, the production of which was limited BIZ
climate or other causes, competition had much
more rapid effect IN reducing prices, than it had
IN manufactures. Where the lands of the first
quality had not all been brought into cultiya-
ton, there was no limit to the increase of the
supply, but the quantity of labor that could be
applied. BY clearing the land, and rendering
1t more arabic, the facility of production was
worcestershire same labor could produce more
1t was otherwise IN manufactures. Additional
labor could not permanently diminish prices. I'M
less 1t was accompanied by improvement in skill
IN machinery, by augmented capital, or by some
other circumstance that facilitated production.
and enabled the same labor to produce more
and these circumstances were generally of slow
acquisition, never greatly exceeding the imme-
diate wants Of society. The reason why com
petition from mere additional labor could not
permanently diminish the price Of manufactures
was, that, il a great supply should be thrown in
to the market and thus sink the price below the
cost of production, the commodity would cease
TO be produced, and if this was continued for a.
ny length of time, the capital itself of the man
Eifacturer would be destroyed. With land il
was different Mere labor, without additional
skill, increased the facility Of production. But
even when IN extraordinary supply reduced cle