Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1824-02-27


same answer must be given: for want Of protec-
ton--for want OF encouragement
The gentleman tells you, that the article we
have hitherto made has been inferior in quality.
Still, ask him why, and still the same answer
recurs-for want of protcCtion-for want of Gu
enlargement. Give us protection, sir, and at
once you give us encouragement. As soon as
encouragement is secured to us, an iustantanc-
Gus investment of capital will follow as soon as
capital is invested, competition will take place
anu competition will produce an immediate inn
provement of the fabric, sc. BY way prov
ing that all Ohio, and Kentucky, and Tennes-
see, cannot produce enough cotton bagging for
the use of the South, the honorable gentleman
informed us, that the state of Louisiana used
nearly one million of yards of the article. 1
can, in return, inform that honorable gentle
man, land say it from the personal know ledge
of a distinguished member of this House,) that,
in the town of Lexington alone, more than one
million of yards of cloth arc made, in OILY ten
factories the material OF the whole of which
is drawn from 4 single county. Sir, / will VEN
turc to pledge myself, and to predict, that, UNI
der adequate encouragement, the state of Ken
lucky alone will be perfectly competent to sup
ply the whole Southern market with this article
Sir, take away this duty, and what equivalent
IS left to the West, for all the burdens which are
to be imposed on her by the other provisions of
this bill While all other parts of the Union
are looked to, and cared for, shall we alone
stand without shelter? Must we be sunk
lower, and still lower, in the scale of this nation
Impoverished, as the West has been, by per-
nicious system of policy, must she suffer still
more? What, sir, has she done to forfeit your
protection? Has she been wanting in LOYALTY ,
Has she been wanting in zeal for our cause p
Has she failed you in the hour of danger' No.,
sir: she is linked to this government by ties of
the strongest attachment; in this feeling we
shall live, in this feeling shall die but trust
IN God that we shall not, on this account, be de-
nicd our share of the national protection.
The honorable member from Louisiana has
alluded, III his remarks, more particularly to the
factories of Kentucky. Sir, Louisiana and
Kentucky are bound to each other by ties as
strong as those which hold in connection the sun
and the earth-they arc naturally inseparable.
The citizens of Louisiana are planters; we are
farmers and grazicrs. They give their whole
time and attention to the raising of cotton; we
are precludcd from doing this; we have neither
the soil nor the climate adapted to the produce
ton of that valuable plant; we raise their pork,
beef, and flour; and nothing can affect the plen-
ty or scarcity of these articles in Kentucky,
that does not affect Louisiana, in almost the
same degree. No sooner are our crops inur-
ed, than the planters of Louisiana feel it. Who
raises their hogs, their horses The people of
the West On the other hand, we 90 to them
for all our marl1et-and such is the competition,
from the extended region in which our products
are raised, that the price of our commodities
sinks IN that market till our shipping merchants
are almost all ruined, and even the farmers
themselves obtain barely the amount of their
actual expenses. This trade, Sir, is highly be-
M IN II l,,t 4. n
Kentucky and the West. Sir, we are fast be-
coming, VIC have already become, tributary to
Louisiana. We are hewers of wood and draw
ers of water for the wealthy planters of the
South. Sir, we do not complain of this. We
cannot help it. 1t is the inevitable course of
things. But will they refuse us, in turn, some
small equivalent? While they are amassinp
fortunes. will they not allow some small field
for our infant manufactures? Sir, even the
slave himself, who tolls without hope, and with.
out remuneration, must have some little en-
enlargement to alleviate his bondage. The
market is all against us; we toll and reap no
reward, and unless some alteration takes place.
we cannot toll much longer. | trust, Sir, our
higtminded friends in the South will not feel
disposed to deny us the ayas of such duty as
that now proposed.
There Is one other consideration on which I
would touch, but with the greatest delicacy. 1t
| is the policy of the bill. What is the end pro-
posed by the whole measure? To protect the
! industry of American citizens. The founda-
ton of the policy is determination no longer to
feed the workmen of other countries, but to en-
ploy our own people. Sir, the true wealth of
any country is the profits of its labor. Even the
capital employed in commerce does not so truly
and permanently enrich the country as the capi-
tai employed in agriculture. He who feeds two
men and two women, where before but one man
and one woman could be fed, deserves well OF
his country. Pursue, then, policy which will
feed your people-which will strengthen your
mass of population. They will repay YOU with
support and attachment. They will she'd their
blood in your defence.
Strike out the duty, and who will be benefit
ted? The autocrat of Russia. He is the great
est hemp grower. Does he gentleman from
Louisiana wish to feed the Russian Doors, rather
than the hemp growers of the American soil !,
And, If he does, is il sound policya Ought we
instead OF increasing our own strength and re-
sources, TO strengthen au arm already too
strong Why should we suffer a foreign DOW
er to draw from us that wealth which NAV here
after be turned into bayonets and aimed at the
yltals OF our country Do gentlemen wish to
see Russian fleet lowering on our coast? and
",' 10y III All our own country 10 help to build
1T! The people of the West of all others, have
the least reason to dread the approach ofan enc
my. The war must rage on our sea-board, be-
fore it can reach them. But what has been
their conduct? Did they wait at home till the
foe reached the Kentucky line, Did they say,
let the enemy come here, and we will resist him ;
No, Sir. They left their homes and their boun.
dairy lines behind them; they went forth to meet
the foe. They will do it again; but they do not
seek to invite his approach by prostrating our
domestic strength, and giving our resources to
strangers.