Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 182?-183?, 1832-05-04

| ton of constant alarm and insecurity. No
thing is more prejudicial TO the great inter
est OF a nation than unsettled and VARYING
policy. Although every appeal to tho Ma
tional Legislature has been responded to. i'm
conformity with tho wishes and sentiments
ofthe great majority of the People, measures
ofprotection have only been carried by such
small majorities, as to excite hopes, on the
one hand, and fears on the other. Let the
country breathe, let its vast resources be de-
veioped, let its energies be fully put forth,
let II have tranquility and, my word for it,
the degree Of perfection in the arts which it
will exhibit, will be greater than that which
has been presented, astonishing as our pro-
gress has been. Although some branches of
our manufactures might, and, in foreign
markets, now do, fcarlessly contend with
similar foreign fabrics, there are many 9TH
ers, yet in their infancy, struggling with the
dlihcultles which encompass them. We
should look at the whole system, and recol-
lect that time, when we contemplate the
great movements ola nation, is very differ
ent from the short period which is allotted for
the duration of individual life. The honor
able gentleman from South Carolina we'll
and eloquently said, in 1924, emo great in
| 'terest OF any country ever vet grew up in a
"day; no new branch of industry can be-
come firmly and profitably established, but
''in long course of years; every thing, in
deed, great or good, is matured by slow de-
grees that which attains speedy maturi-
"ty is OF small value, and is destined to a
Nbrlef existence. Ii is the order of Provi-
"dence, that powers gradually developed,
snail alene attain permanency and perfec-
"tlon. Thus must it be with our nation
cal institutions and national character it
"self."
feel most sensibly, Mr.. President, how
much | have trespassed upon the SEN
ale. My apology is a deep and deliberate
conviction, that the great cause under debate
involves the prosperity and tho destiny of the
Union. But the best requital can make,
for the friendly indulgence which, has been
extended to me by the Senate, and for which
shall ever retain sentiments of lasting graf
itude, is to proceed, with as little DELAY as
practicable, 10 the conclusion of a discourse
which has not been moro tedious to the Sen
ate than exhausting 10 me. / have now to
consider the remaining of the two PROPOSE
lions which l have already announced
| That is,
2dly. That, under the operation of the
American System, the products OF our agri-
culture command higher price than they
would do without it, BY the creation ofa
home market; and, by the augmentation
Of wealth produced by manufacturing indus
try, which enlarges our powers of cOnSump-
lion both OF domestic and foreign articles.
The importance of the home market is a.
mong the established maxims which are u
Universally recognized by all writers and all
men However some may differ as to the
relative advantages Of the foreign and the
home market, none deny 10 the latter great
value and high consideration. Ii is nearer
TO US; beyond the control OF foreign lecisla-
tion ;and undisturbediby those vicissitudes to
which all international intercourse is more
or less exposed. The most stupid are sensi
BILE OF the benefit of residence in the yicin-
ity of large mandatory, or market town.
of good road, or of a navigable stream
which connects their farms with some great
capital. If the pursuits of all men were
perfectly the same, although they would be
IN possession of the greatest abundance Of
the particular produce of their industry,
they might, at the same time, be in extreme
want OF other necessary articles of human
subsistence. The uniformity of the general
occupation would preclude all exchanges, all
commerce. 1t is only in the diversity Of the
vacations of the members ofa community
that the means can be found for those saluta-
NODuuCC 10 the general
prosperity. And, the greater that diversity,
the more extensive and the more animating
is tho circle Of exchange. Even ifioreign
markets were freely and widely open to the
reception Of our agricultural produce, from
its bulky nature, and the distance of the in
terror, and the dangers OF the ocean, large
portions of it could never proftably reach
the foreign market. But, let us quit this
field oftheory, clear as it is, and look at the
practical operation Of the system of protec-
ton, beginning with the most valuable sta
! pie of our agriculture.
In considering this staple, the first circum-
stance that eXcites our surprise is the rapidi-
| ty with which the amount of it has annually
increased. Does not this fact, however, de-
monstrate the cultivation oft could not have
been so very improbable If the business
were ruinous, would more and more have
annually engaged in it? The quantity in
1916 was eighty millions of pounds; in
! 1926 two hundred and four millions and in
| 1880, near three hundred millions! The
ground OF greatest surprise is, that il has been
able TO sustain even its present price with
such an enormous augmentation of quantity.
| II could not have done it but for the combin-
ed operation OF three causes, by which the
consumption ofcotton fabrics has been great
ly extended, IN consequence of their reduced
prices: LIST, competition ID, the improve
ment of labor saving machinery; and IDLY,
the low price Of the raw material The crop
of 1919, amounting to eighty eight millions
Of pounds, produced twenty-one millions of
dollars the crop of 1923, when the amount
was swelled TO one hundred and seventy
! four millions, (almost double that of1Sl9)
produced less sum, by more than halfa
| million ofdollars and the cron of 1894 q