Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1834-03-20

| oStiiiillttcC state tIat the business mas
fallen off serenty. free per cent. at least;
that is to say, that, ps>most, only one
quarter part oftheir usual employment
now remains. This is the season of the
year in which building contracts are
made. 1t is now known what is to be
the business of the year. Many OF
these persons, who have heretofore had,
every year, contracts for several
houses on hand, have this year no con-
tract at all. They have been obliged
to dismiss their hands, to turn them o.
yer to any scraps of employment they
could find, or to leave them in idleness,
for want Of any employment. But, sir,
let us look into the particulars of this
case little further. 1t is well for us
TO dwell on them. AS we have facts
before US useful for us to know, let US
not hasten away from them.
Sir, how has this building business
been usually carried ont Has it been
by employing these mechanics as mere
! day laborersl No, sir; that, probably,
would be generally the case in other
countries; but in this, hitherto, and es-
pecially oflate years, something better
has been done by the building mocha
MICS. Many of our young beginners,
say the Committee, buy a lot, partly
for cash, and perhaps mostly on credit.
They GO to work, and build house
upon it; those who furnish bricks and
lumber having lien on the land for
their security. They thus unite CAPT.
tai, or its substitute, credit, with their
labor; and by prudent management, in
prosperous times, they are able to sell
their houses, when thus built and CON-
pleted, at prices handsomely remunera-
ting them. They are thus proprietors
and owners, as we'll as laborers; and
this practical ownership of property,
this substantial interest in the commu
nifty, is one of the causes which give
independence and responsibility to the
mechanics in the cities of the United
States, far beyond the general expert
ence of other countries. But see, sir,
how the Secretary's ssexperiment' has
affected the interest of these persons.
On the one hand, they can now obtain
no new credits, they can commence no
/ new operations on their own account,
and other and richer persons will not
build houses, in the present state oil
/ things; so that these mechanics are out
of employment; and, on the other hand
nobody buys, at fair and usual prices,
the houses which they have already
built; but they are obliged to sell them
to capitalists, or others, at great loss.
At the same time, therefore, that they
aredeprived of employment for the pre-
sent, and the hope of it for the future,
they are subjected, also, to great sacri-
fees in the earnings of former years.
These, sir, are plain matters of fact,
and they are manifestly the results OF
the measures ofGovernment; and have
not these mechanics, then, right to
complain? Ought they to hold their
tongues, and starve, in order to enable
the Secretary to try his experiment.
Are they to be the willing victims of
+ such fantastical and arrogant schemesl
No, sir, that is not their notion of pa
triotism and duty. They think the Co.
vernment was established for them, and
the rest of the people of the u. States,
for their protection, security and hap
piness. They think it not subject for
the practice ofevery raw conceit, eve-
ry presumptuous theory, every impulse
Of arrogant and self-sufiicient love OF
change. Sir, they are not the dupes
ofthe Secretary's experiment; and, il
they can help it, they do not intend to
be its victims. They know full well
in what purpose these measures origi.
mated, which have since obtained the
: name Of the experiment. They
think they have right to demand o
Congress MOTTO sanction such purposes
10 their ruin. As American citizens
they demand the shelter of the laws;
as tax payers to Government, they de-
mand the protection of Government; as
industrious citizens, they demand secu-
rity for their industry; and they protest,
solemnly protest-in their name, sir, in
their behalf, in their presence, | now
enter their protest--against these un-
necessary and wanton measures, which
destroy their property, break up Their
employments, and reduce them and
their children to want and beggary.
Mr.. President, the Senate will per.
ceive, that, in one of the resolutions,
this meeting of mechanics expressed
their hope that the Governor of Penn
sylvania would adhere to his former
opinions, and lend his countenance and
support TO the restoration of the cur.
rency, by rechartering the Bank. In
this hope they have been disappointed
, They feel it to be a great misfortune
, certainly, that they do not come here,
, sustained by the government of the
State at home. No doubt, sir, it is q
t great misfortune; at least, | agree with
D them in thinking it such. They mos