Vandalia Whig and Illinois intelligencer. [volume] (Vandalia, Ill.) 1832-183?, 1832-03-28

that no protection whatever would be neces-
sary. 1t may be that in the very infancy ola
on its first introduction into a
country, small protection for short time
might hastenits advancement, but at most, the
Of such protection could have no
other effect than to delay its introduction for
a few years-for the existence in any country,
of unemployed capital, and individual sagaci-
ty and enterprise, sufficient to direct it pru-
IDENTIFY, would soon lead to the introduction of
every branch cf manufactures, for which such
country was really Prepared this stage
of infancy once passed, it is preposterous to
talk Of the necessity Of protecting any article
that can really be made as cheaply at home
as it can be obtained from abroad-and to as
sert, that to reduce such protection to twenty
or thirty per cent, would be ruinous to any
manufacture, is to admit at once, that such
article cannot be proftably made at home, and
consequently that it can only De sustained at
the expense of the other interests in the com
munity. Now Sir, let US suppose another case,
and it is unhappily the very case which now
exists in the United States. We will suppose
an extensive country, of which one portion is
exclusively agricultural, and incapable of chang
ing its pursuits, and that the other portion
embraces within its limits, all the manufac
lures and manufacturing capacities of the
whole country. The bounty would then be
exclusively enjoyed by one section, and the
other would share only the burthens of the
system. To make the inequality still greater,
it is only necessary to suppose that the agri-
cultural section is not only incapable of man
at home, but is prevented by insu-
perable obstacles, from emigratng or remov
ing their property to the manufacturing re-
gion-that their industry can only be prohta-
bly, employed in exchanging their agricultur-
al productions, for the Oery foreign articles
which enter into competition Nth the domestic man
utdchrers, and which are heavily taxed for the
protection Of the latter,-that the effect of
course and impair the profits Of their industry,
but that the agricultural section is thereby
exposed to the eminent hazard Of havngl
the market for their productions entirely cut
off, and finally, TO CAP THE CLIMAX OF THIS
INJUSTICE AND OPPRESSION, that the money thus
levied on the foreign articles, is expended al
most exclusively in the foreign region-and|
you then have the whole case Of the southern
States laid open before you.
Their pursuits are altogether agricultural-they
cannot change them-they cannot transfer theirl
labor and capital to the favored region-they can
not find market for their productions, except by
exchangin ing them for the very foreign manufac-
lures which are taxed almost to prohibition, and
the taxes thus raised are expended in other sec
tons. Is there man in this assembly who canl
lay his hand upon his heart and say that it is a
just and equal system2 1t may be said, however,
that all this is merely the result of our PECULIAR
condition, and the nature Of our pursuits. 1t Is
not so, Sir. All we ask, is to be LET Alone
Leave us to the free enjoyment of the bountes
Of heaven, and the advantages of our situation,
and we ask no more. But where is the Justice
and equality of system of legislation which isl
70 make profitable the industry of others by the
destruction Of our own? And by what right is it
hat we are to be made victims to the prosperity
If others9 will here borrow an illustration, toI
make this matter plain. The southern States
supply themselves with wooens, cotton, a..d iron,
BY raising cotton, rice, and tobacco. Now, sup
pose we should exchange bale of cotton for a
bale Of coarse woollens for the use of our slaves,
we will say, a hundred pieces. This
bale of cloth is ours. 1t is the fruit of own
abor, Of American capital, and home industry
We may be said to have manufactured it, not with
he spindle and the loom, but with the plough and
He HUE wow, 6lr, we VIII suppose tiidt u Hor'
hern manufacturer has, by the application Of an
equal amount of labor and capital, produced
similar bale Of woollens, of precisely the same
quality and value. In what respect is the manu-
acturer entitled to be regarded with more favor
than the planter? Does the freight which we may
nave paid to the ship owner, and the employment
given to navigation, entitle us to less favor in the
ayes of the government Are the plough and the
noe less favored instruments Of production than
he spindle and the loom7 Perfect equality, Sir,
would seem to require that we should stand, att
east, on the same footing, and that, whether these
woollens were wanted for consumption or for sale,
hey should be subject to exactly the same tax.
But how are we treated by just and paternal
government, who careth, we are told, equally for
all her children? Our bale of woolens is stop
ped at the cdstom-house, and forty pieces are ia.
ken out, as a tax to the government, whereby our
stock is reduced to sixty pieces, while the bale of
the manufacturer is free from all taxation. III
these articles are wanted for our own consump-
ton, we can consume but sixty pieces; while theI
retains his hundred pieces. If the
goods are wanted for sale, we have but sixty pie
ces to be converted into money, or to be exchang-
cd for other commodities; while the manufacturer
has his hundred pieces for the same purposes;
and if we should happen to meet at the same mar
Al L. Il