Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1831-10-24
From. Miles, Register.
NEGRO CIOTUJNC

From 1924 until 1928, tho chief supplies of coarse
wooiien goods for the Southern market, came from
tho Northern States-and wers acknowledged by
those who used them TO be better and cheaper than
any with which they had ever jcforc been furnish
cd; but after the forced duty OH coarse wool, the
Canton Company of Massachusetts, whose works
cost $500 ,O0O-suspcndcd operations, and the cs-
Enlistment, after remaining idle until last spring,
was then sold to new company Cor $40, 000-and
such cloths had been freely supplied for 30 cents
yard, rose 10 As, and now out of the market.
The effect of these proceedings rests where it
should Lcft-handed Legislation has met its re-
Yards
Again-we have many and valuable manufac-
lures ofcotton canvass, cotton oznlburgs, cotton fan
nes, cotton blankets, and very strong sort of cot
tom goods, called bcavcrtccns All these are cheap
much cheaper than such necessary articles were
ever before supplied for our consumption; and the
ncp applications Of cotton should also be respected
by those who produce the commodty But neither
such cheapncss i'll price, demand for their pro-
duct, seems TO have any degree Of influence over
the heated passions of the South. These manu-.
features also, must be destroyed, if possiblo-tho'
as in the of woollcns, 50 per cent. may
be added to the cost of clothing slaves.
There is something i'm all this, that is not rcdu-
chile to any fixed rules of action among thinking
men. Tho cry of distress prevails among tho cot
ton planters of South Carolina, while those of Lou
islana arc remarkably prosperous and entirely con-
tent The one blamcs the tariff as the author of
every cvil-tho other supports it as 4 source of in
valuable good.
ain 1901, writer in Charleston paper earnest
ly recommended the manufacture of strong cloth
OF cotton warp and wool filing, saying it would
sell for from fffy.fre to serenity cents por yard.
This was exactly the d, scription of goods made
by the canton company, and sold, soon after the
tariff of $685. at from thirty to thirty five per
yaro Before that tariff, Welsh plains were worth
Oh cents yard-a year after that tariff pas
sed. they sold for less than 40 cent, yard
Lest some of readers may not understand
the allusion of Mr.. Niles in foregoing remark
that "left-handed legislation has met with its re-
ward" we must call to their recollection the fact
that some of the most oppressive features of the
tariff of 1928, forced on the friends of the
measure, by tho concentrated votes of Virginia and
States south Of with the avowed object of making
the tariff odious in its details, and thereby defoat-
ing it in gross. We say avowcd object because it
was openly proclaimed in Congress, and laudcd by
the press, wise & expedient system of legislat
ing, although in direct opposition of the SCUM
dest principles of ethics, edo not evil that good
may come of it." Among these clauses thus cram
med down the Threats of the friends Of protect
ing tariff and not the least odious and oppressive
was the high duty wool. The end Of
this tortuous policy failed OF the two evils, q
failure of the scheme to give adequate protection
domestic manufactures, or the injury which would
arise from passing the act with those obnoxiou,
features, the least was chosen, or that which was
thought the least. The act passed with tn.
hope that a better feeling would soon prevail ane
the objectionable parts be repealed The conse
quences are briefly but forciby pourtrayed in thu
paragraph from the Register, and most truly may i
be said that 'icft-handed legislation has net with
its reward"