Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1842-08-09


we tax profitable industry TO force labor INTO unproht'
able pursuits.
This, SIR, is in part, the meaning Of the cry, which
we sometimes hear that the large and established ma
nufac,uers object TO protection, because they fear The
competition which it will produce They need have no
fear of the competition but they may we'll fear the
tax which dmlnishes their profits, which ceh::s he m
from The foreign, and which limits the capacity oil The
home market 10 purchase their productions These
miul well feel that Nature had given them more ad
yan,apes than the law confer and ought TO opect
10 ary policy which forced them 10 accommodate their
motions TO the rickctiy gait of the forced and feeble
establishments which have no sustaining power.
If there be truth any oil the statistics iurnlsheo
by either side there is reason TO believe that Inc
narrow limits of the hoU:e market can afford full
scope for the energies oi either the agricultural, The
navigating, the manufacturing interests There rs
cood reason 10 believe that the capacities OF the hone
market do not cover than one-th'rteti oil the
entire production of cotton we have seen That our
manufacturers already supply US with seven out oil
eight parts OF all OF such articles as they
are capable of producing and, under the reductions oi
the Compromise act their foreign exports have doubled
And why should it not be: We have many Of the ele-
ments oil cheap production which other nations cannot
so readily command. We have cheap land, cheap
food the material agencies in manufactures are all
cheap in this country Comparatively, too, we have
luht taxation and the whole world accords to us the
reputation of great mechanical ingenuity. GIVE US
low taxes, and sound specie currency, and Co.
yernment can 90 nothing which will more ettctually
foster American production of every kind For the
home market we need have no fears. The freight,
the costs of insurance and commissions and the reve-
nue. duties afford all the protection that ought to be de-
sired When cotton is at or cents, and the freight
10 Liverpool is from to ] cent per pound-ths, OF
itself, when united 10 the other costs and charges,
is heavy protection. Upon iron, the same circum-
stances operate in like manner; and, in short see
no reason to believe that most manufactured uTtl-
cles of which country affords the raw material,
could not be produced and sold here without the aid
of the custom house, and in despite Of foreign COM
petition. Indeed | am alta loss TO know why we
NAV not strike for the markets Of the world. The
natural advantages which we have, mere than COM
pensate for The slight differences between the cost OF
pi,al in this and "er countries With The exception
of labor the natural cost Of production is less here
than in any other nation If labor, them demands
more than the foreign, lave more 10 give it, We
can afford TO give the operative more food, more OF
the comforts of life, Of the commodities which he
DESIRES if imporations are permitted upon fair terms,
and more even of money, than any other nation And
if he can find profitable employment than this,
although lis wages greater than those of the TO-
reisner, we ought to rejoice that the boundless re
sources of our country afford him still, more inviting
fields for his operations. No consideration ought
duce us to diminish by law, his profits in other oecu.
pa,ions, in order to compel him to engage in this. II
one hours labor in an employment OF his choosing
will enable him to command Ave hours Of the pau