Litchfield enquirer., 1832-04-19
SPEECH OF HENRY CLAY
IN DEFENCE or THE AMERICAN sYeTEN.
 (Earlhen ErinnclaA

< To not the fact iudisputGble, that all esSen- tiai objects of consumption, affected by the tariff, are cheaper and better, since the act Ol 1924, than they were for several years prior to that law! Iapppal, for its truth. to com. > mon observation and to all practical men. appeal to the farmer of the country, whether he does not purchase on better terms, his iron
 salt, brown sugar, cotton goods, and wool. lens. And ask the cotton planter if he has not been better and more cheaply supplied with his cotton bagging.
 plant myself upon this fact, of cheapness and superiority, as upon impregnable ground. Gentlemen may tax their ingenuity and pro- duce thousand speculative solutions of the fact, but the fact itself will remain undisturb- ed. Let us look into some particulars. The total consumption of bar iron in the United States. is supposed to be about 146, 900 tons, of which lI2,866 tons are made within the country, and the residue imported. The number ofInen employed in the manufacture is estimated at 29,954, and the total number of persons subsisted by it, at 146.273. The measure of protection extended to this neces- sarySarticle, was never fully adequate until the passage of the act of 1928 and what has been the consequence sThe annual increase of quantity, since that period. has been in a ratiOnf near 25 per cent. and the wholesale price of bar iron in the Northern cities, was, inl828.. .Sl05 per ton, in 1929, S1O0, in 1880.
 $90, and in 1881, from $&5 to 75-cOnstant.
 y diminishing. We import very little En- gish iron, and that which we do. is very in-
 ferior. and only adapted to few purposes.- In insthuting a comparison between that in-
 feri0r article and our superior iron, subjects,
 entirely different, are compared. They are
 made by different processes. The English
 cannot make iron of equal quality to ours,
 at less price than we do. They have three
 classes, hest-best, and best, and ordinary. It
 is the latter which is imported. Of the whole amount imported, there is only about
 5000 tons of foreign iron that pays the high
 duty the residue paying only duty of a.
 bout 50 per cent. estimated on the prices of the importation ofl8q9. Our iron ore is su-
 periorto that of Great Britain, yielding often
 from GO to 90 per cent. whilst theirs produc-
 es only about 95. This fact is SO well known, that have heard of recent expectations of iron ore tofEngland.
 The next article to which would call the attention of the Senate, is that of cotton fa. brlcs. The success of our manufacture of coarse cottons is generally admitted. It is demonstrated by the fact that they meet the cotton fabrics of other countries, in foreign markets, and maintain successful compcIi. tioP with them. There has been gradual inehsase ofthe export of this article, which is cent to Mexico and the South American Re. publics, to the Mediterranean, and even to Asia. The remarkable fact was lately com. municated to me, that the same indi, idual who, twenty-five years ago, was engaged in the importation of cotton cloth from Asia, for American consumption, is now engaged in the expectation of coarse American cUttOns to Asia, for Asiatic consumption! And my honorable friend from Massachusetts, now in my eye, (Mr Silsbee) informed me that, on his derarture from home, amOng the last or. ders which he gave, one was for the expOrta. l tlon of coarse c0ttons to Sumatra, in the vi. cinity of Calcptta! hold in my hand statement, derived from the most authentic 1 source, showing that the identical description of cotton cloth, which sold, in 1917, at twen- l ty-ninc cents per yard, was sold in 1919, at twenty.one cents; in 1891, at nineteen and half cents; in 1893, at seventeen cents in lSs5. at fourteen and half cents; in 1927, at thirteen cents in 1929, at nine cents: in 1880, at nine and half cents: and in 1881.
 at from ten and a1half to eleven. Such is the
 wonderful effect of protection, competition. and improvement in skill, combined! The
 year 1929 was one of some suffering to this branch of industry, probably, owing to the principle of ofcompelition being pushed too far, and hence We observe a small rise in the ar. ticIe the next two years. The introduction of calico printing into the United States, con. stitutes an important era in our u,auufactur. ing industry. It commenced about tlie wear 1925, and has since made such as,onishinr advances, that the whole quantity now annu- nlly printed is but little short of forty millions ofyards--abont two-thirds of our whole con. sumption. It is a beautiful manufacture, combining great mechanical skill with scien. tifc discoveries in chemistry. Are the fine graceful forms of our fair country women less lovely when enveloped in the chintses and calicoes produced by native Industry, than when clothed in the tinsel offoreign draperv
 Gentlemen, no doubt, are surprised at these facts. They should not underrate the ener- giess the enterprise, and skill of our fello v. citizens.' ! have no doubt they are every way competent to accomplish whatever can be eHecied by any other People, if encourag. ed and protected by the fostering care of our own. Government. Will gentlemen believe the fact, which am authorized now to state. that the United States, ut this time. manu- iactu!e onai half the quantity which Great Britain did in l8l8! We possess three great advantages 1st. The raw material. Qd. Water power instead of that of steam, gen erallynsedin England. And Sd. The cheap. CT labor of females. In England, males spin with the mule and weave ; in this country women and sirla s,Nsn x.;eh sh~ sh.~..,o .L