The Massachusetts spy, and Worcester County advertiser. [volume] ([Worcester, Mass.]) 1825-1831, 1827-01-24
Communication.
[For the Ma.sachusett. spy.l


has become so extensive aud important in
these Atlantic States as TO excit with us a
deep and anxious solicitude for its welfare. ]
\ live in section of New-EngIand where the
manufacturing, as well as the growing OF
! wool, is business of primary interest; and
where the embarrassment and distress of the
present times must of course fall with pecu-
| liar force. The reiterated complaints OF the
public have, almost unconsciously, invited my
attention TO this subject; upon which, per-
haps, any observations or reflections OF my
own, il may be thought, had better have been
spared than obtruded upon the public.
The ever memorable period Of 18l7-18-
1870, &c. so unpropitious to ali our manu-
features, had almost sealed the fate OF the
woollen business. Our necessities, during the
late war with Great Britain, had embarked
large capital in this as well as in other branch
es of manufacture. The termination Of the
war brought, to be sure, desired peace, and
with it destruction to our defencelSss and IN
protected manufacturers. Immense quaint
ties of European goods were disgorgsd at our
ports, and, like flood, swept the American
fabric from the market. The proprietor, who
| had invested his capital under auspices SO Ia
vorable to success, was the first to suffer. No
efforts of his could enable him to Withstand
I
arrest the progress of bis ruin. He was un-
done.
| In every section of England was TO be
seen manufacturing villages, which the enter
prize of our citizens had built up, depopulat-
ed, and those great work. shops of our manu-
facturers were 10 be seen shut up and desert
ed-the silent and tenantless monuments of
bankruptcy and ruin. Every where was to
be met the once thrifty citizen, stricken with
the misfortune Of the times, and reduced to
poverty. Families, who had derived COM
Portable subsistence from some great and four
| ishing establishment, as from a common moth
| er, and drunk at its fountains as from the foun-
tains of life, we're turned upon the wide
world, objects OF compassion and distress, TO
seek support in some other department Of
business, whose ranks, perhaps, were already
filled to OVERLOOKING. Our young men, who
had devoted their youthful and most active
days to acquire some useful branch OF the art,
found no demand for their dear-bought skill,
and were condemned TO commence the world
again, and seek their fortunes in some new
and untried sphere. Neither did the farmer
escape from participating in.the caamities of
the manufacturer. Tie saw his domestic mar
ket annihilated at blow. His wool, which
the rising prosperity OF the manufacturer in
duced him to cultivate, was so much reduced
in value, that he was forced to abandon his
nocks, and all his laudable efforts and great
expense which he had bestowed upon their
improvement, by the introduction OF the Span
sh breed, repaid by loss and disappointment.
Indeed, the calamity Of the manufacturer de-
ranged and embarrassed every wheel through
out the whole circle of business. But it Is
not my design to dwell upon the unsightly
( 6 q H.
in fundun, dolOreni," to recount the unuttera-
bic woes Of days that are past. Neither is it
my intention to renew the argument, and rise
and fall the notes which have been so often
sounded upon the expediency or inexpediency
of legislative protection. look upon this
question as de6nitively settled. The Tariff
was revised in 1924, upon the principle that
governmental aid was both polite and neces-
sary. The expediency Of the measure, there
fore, stands the recorded sentiment of the ma.
ton. 1t is melancholy indeed, to reflect that
the distress of our citizens was so long unheed-
ed by Congress, and their complaints so long
disregafdtd; and still more so to reflect that
England was false to her own interest.
But public sentiment is changed, and the
united voice OF New-England is now ready to
} sanction the adopted principle Of our National
Council.
When the late act, revising the tariff had
passed, it was confidently anticipated that the
woollen, in common with the other manuiac-
lures of this country, was placed upon a Sc
cure and permanent foundation. But, an this
: expectation, the-hopes of all have been disap.
pointed. Circumstances, altogether unlore-
: seen. have conspired to defeat the design Of
the act. ltseems that Great. Britain, soon af-
: ter the passing OF the act, began to extend
: her woolen business, and soon increased the
I quantity of goods so much as TO exceed the
demand OF her accustomed markets. The
excess remained on her hands without want,
and, of course, without value. Under these
circumstances, deeming it better 10 sacrifice
part instead Of the whole, she partially evades
the tariff, and pushes her surplus goods into
the American market, and sells them at what
they will bring. Thus she deirauds our re
enue, attacks the interest OF our manufs cturer,
and partly by sacrifice and partly byinsidious-
ness, drives him from his own market. 1t is,
therefore, against the improvidence, as well as
the treachery OF the foreigner, that our citl-
gems claim relief.
1t is notorious fact, that great portion OF
the woolen manufacturers of this country are
in imminent danger OF ruin. They are mol
ianguishing, for they are yet struggling under
the violence Of the first paroxysm; short
continuance Of which must prove fatal at once
The fate Of many Of our industrious and enter
prizing citizens is already sealed, and many
more are, at this moment, lettering on the
brink OF bankruptcy and ruin. Neither is the
farmer without his share of distress in common
with that of the manufacturer. More than
three-fourths Of our wool growers have the
present years stock on their hands. la vain
does he urge the manufactured m Inv Tho
price Of tha fabric in the market will scarcely
remunerate the expense of manufacturing,
, much less the additional cost Of the raw ma
terlal. Thus the scenes of 18l7-l8-l9-20,
&o. are about to be acted over again, and our
> manufacturers and farmers are appalled, al the
thought.
No improvidence can he imppted "a tbe