The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1836-1851, 1840-03-14

Lected articles most again take place; that,
is to say, that its effects are to enable for
eign manufacturers to meet ours in our
own country, under the disadvantage of
paying high additional duties. How, then,
with that result, would it be possible for
our manufacturers TO meet the foreign Ia
brics of the same description abroad,
where there can be no duty TO protect
them! There can be no answer. The rea-
son is decisive. do not wish, in what l
have said, to be considered the advocate .
of low wages lam in favor of high wages;
and agree that the higher the wages, the
stronger the evidence Of prosperity; pro-
vided land that is the important poinl)
they are so naturally, by the effectiveness
of industry, and not i'll consequence of
an inflated currency, or any artificial re-
.gula,ion. When l say the effectiveness
of industry, l mean 10 comprehend what
ever is calculated to make the labor of one
country more productive than that OF
others. l take into consideration Skill,
activity, energy, invention, perfection Of
instruments and means, mechanical anu
chemical; abundance Of capital, natural
ana acquired; facility Of intercourse and
exchanges, internal and external, and, IN
word, whatever may add to the produc-
tiveness of labor. High wages, when at
tributable 10 these, is the certain evidence
of productYcness, and is, on that account,
and that only, the evidence of prosperity.
1t is easily understood. Just as such la
Dor would command, when compared with
the less productive, greater numbtr ct
pounds of sugar or tea, greater quantity
of clothing or food, in the same proper
ton would it command more specie, that
is, higher wages, for days work. But,
sir, here is the important consideration:
high wages from such a cause. require no
protection no, not more than the high
wages of man against the low wages Of
boy, of man against woman, or the
skillluI and energetic against The awkward
and feeble. On the contrary, the higher
such wages the less the protection reGuir-.
ed. Others may demand protection against
Iit-not it against others. The very de-
mand of protection, then, is but COMES
sion of the want Of effectiveness of labor
(from some cause) on the side that makes
it; but, as general rule, it will tu.n out
that protection, in most cases, is mere
falacy; certainly so when its effects are an
artificial expansion Of the currency. So
far arc high wages from being t.,c Evidence
Of prosperity, in such cases, or, in fact
whenever caused by high protection, high
taxes, or any other artificial cause, it is
the evidence Of the very reverse, and al
ways indicates something wrong, or q ten
dcncy to arrangement and decay.
Having arrived at this conclusion, l
will now hazard the assertion, that in no
country on earth is labor, taking it all in
all, more effec tive than ours; and esPe-
ciallv in the Northern and Eastern por'
tion:. What people can excel our North
crn and New Eng land bret rem in skill,
invention, activity, energy, perseverance,
and enterprise? In what portion of the
globe will YOU find position more iavora-
5le to free ingress and egress; and tacili-
ty of intercourse, external and internal,
through the broad limits Of our wide
spread country-a region surpassed Dy
none, taking into consideration extent and
fertility! Where will YOU find such an
abundant supply Of natural capital, tie
Gift of kind Providence; lands cheap,
plenty and fertile; water power unlimited;
and the supply Of fuel, and the mos! use
ful metals, iron, almost without stint. IL
is true, in accumulated capital, the fruits
of past labor, through long snccessio"
of ages, not equal to some other countries,
but even in that, far from being deficient,
and 10 whatever extent deficient, would
be more than compensated by the absence
of all restrictions, and the lightness of tho
burden imposed on labor, should our Coy.
ernment, State and General, wisely avail
themselves of the advantages OF our sllu'
alton. If these views be correct, there
is no country where labor, if left to ITSELF
free from restriction, would be more effec-
live, and where it would command great
er abundance of every necessary and CON-
fort, or higher wages; and where, OF
course, protection is less needed. Instead
of an advantage, it must, in fact, prove
IN impediment. 1t is high time, then,
that the shacklcs should be thrown off in:
dustry, and its burden lightcned, as far as
the Just wants Of the Government may pos