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

IN .cial!r sCEcol oI pun iIci ecoho"t ~
;c doctrines Of the restrictive system now tau.hs.-
Pc VIVA, writer Of ounority in political ecrrce AT
ibev nav ayowed: Is not tie movement %! all lie c.
lz,d naiians whose policy respect, towcfts zee
,rade3 Loci 10 the evidence COLLECTED ON ihs snjee
10 Mr. Hume committee. Looh to the advances wac"
h, been made towards free trade by oaxony 10y fFc*
sin. BY Holland and Belgium. Look /" l'i'le S"'ztT'
lapd whose manufactures like the hardy Alpine Pian'
have outised desp lte lis SHOWS and n'ouhlas tn"e
trade as free the ancient spirit o, us people '"
TO England herself, where n"w haze the assent %
both parties to the doctrines OF this glorious school ne
oueson between The two parties has not been as TO 'e
true end the jonrnry, hut as TO the TapdIty oil le
march Ii is 10 lie remembered that the English Go
yernment reposcs for security upon It's special interests
mud privileged classes Amones! these, the clei p-
lar was tie landed ar,stocrGcy Vast Interests had vest
ed here under the operation OF lis former laws, ana re
vou,nn n,,rh, BIZ the consequence Of prccipale OF III
iudicious clan.e Eu; both parties have acknow-
l,dged the necessity OF change and Peels bill has al
ready made an advance bold and rapid TO leave
no Doubt of the ultimate do% mall oil their protective
system And are we to receive as authority tie very
opinions which matured experience has forced
them to abandon. But, Mr. Chairman, this is no
question to he settled by mere authority human rea
son ought TO have something Ia say upon such SUP
iect When fairly examined, The protective policy,
bpeve will be found 10 operate as u lax upon laOoi
for the benefit Of capital whilst lis artificial arrange
meu,s of currency ard If trade must ultimately ~
lure The very interest whch is the object Of lis bounty
That the duty increases the price OF the domestic ar
Gle and dimnisss the importation OF the rival foreign
commodity, all must believe however sEie may ahrc
to deny it. The duty is laid because the domestic pro-
Queer cannot sell the article cheap as the foreigner
if Government allowed him access 10 the market ne
effect of this to increase the price oil the commodities
thus taxed and the home producer OF articles design
ed for the foreign trade and OF articles not protected
nv the law is thus forced give higher price for The
commodities which he obtains in return for hs labor
He thus receives less than he did before and the
profit of his production is diminished But, with
some slight variations, produced ny olherences IN
the risk and salubrity of different employncnts tie
profits Of all occupations tend 10 the sane level
/ The protected class, whose profits were increased
for while by the law, soon feel the effects oil The
competition from those who leave ether empioymenis
and ultimately their profits find the general and lover
level TO which the other productive interests are re-
duced. There is thus general reduction in all pro-
tsthe good brought down TO the level oil Inc had
and the question arises, upon whom does inns loss
mainly fall: It must fall upon that element OF pro-
duction which is least able 10 resist ana has fewes
opportunities Of escape That eementi Is labor-whIch
is bound 10 the coil by local attachments, and those
other ties which often bind man TO his fate however
mise rahc il ney be. On the other hand the local at
fractions for capital comparatively slight IL there
| be other countries and empoyments IN which i's IN
vcstmen Mt s more profitable its ultimate tendency ~ 10
seek them The laws cannot reduce the profits Of CAPT
tai in any country far below the general o sch pro-
fits over the world; and fifth attempt be made, 1t readily
escapes and thus avoids the imposition. Ent capital
may be eulpoyed for less profit than IN small
Ter amounts; and Governments may DIMINISH The mo-
nira profit which capital is willing 10 receive by at.
frdinr bountics 10 lis concentration IN few hands, and
I r large amounts When however, legislation reduces
the profit of production that loss must tail upon labor
In The long rum there is certain hxed rnte which
capital mus, receive from the profits Of production, and
The residue ONLY fall 10 labor This residue iuc-
tua,es with every decline Of profits; and the system
which reduces them, taxes labor Now, this very
protective system creates demand for concentrated
capital b. bounties that species OF industry which
em,lovs i in The larces, sums, and throws upon
the cneratiye the loss which arises from the gene
raj decline Of The profits Of production. The iuii a.
feet Of the steady operation of this system -, PERHAPS
or,y 10 be teen IN Engand-thc country from winch
lis advocates draw their examples. aud MS opeTt-
inns hive been lust such Us have described. In
no other country have ever seen 80 unequal ds!r
button of wealth. and in none has the condition OF th
lucrative so steadily declined. The misery Of The
masses seems have increased in the precise proper
lion Of its accumulation of wealth as q nation. ST.
Roter, Peel is said to have boosted that few lntri
duals in his county could pay the national debt O
Great Britain; and at that very time its able bodice
paupers were reckoned by hundreds OF thousands !
as THIS restrictive policy, connexon with It's true al
llv-,hc naper system which threw the real burdens,
Of lis taxation upon labor, and which made good The
asscs Of capitalists, BY giving them tie pTIVli'Se o.
taxing The operative. We have seen the English IA
borer under this system, abandoning the comforts, 'h
life itself Under the stern exactions OF this invisible
tax cathcer have seen him give up the Use first o.
meat and then of wheat, and then of rye and then,
in some cases, Of potatoes-unt he was reduced
10 sowns made OF the starch IN which the cloth ives
sized And yet this is the system we are asked to
fas,en upon the American peope-a system which, IN
that country has pauperzed its Millions and which
fills the poor house build the paace-a system which
rears the barrack and the factory in fearful prox'
unity collect, by fo'cc what is c1octed by fraud =
la autc of IIrpd ste q una r.
the solitude Of the park crd TIE luxury Of tie castle
from the intrusion al the starving thousands who are
thirsing for blood and clamoring for bread SIR, II
sts rebellion in the American blood TO contemplate
the bare probability that such system as THIS should
be fastened upon people 10 distribute It's benefits TO
, capiia and its burdens 10 labor.
j, know Mr.. Chairman, that various pretences have
been used TO conceal the view of these inevitable ope-
ra,ions of the protective policy. Sometimes We are
E told that the imposition of the duty reduces the price
of the domestic article and some times that 1t operates
as tax only upon the foreign producer Sir It IS hui
, initiating TO the pride of the human understanding TO
see such doctrines advanced by respectable
! rs to make it necessary to answer them.
If the duty reduces the price, how can 1t afford pro-
|, lection TO the manufacturer Does any man believe
, that he would AK for il, if lie thought that It's effect
would be 10 reduce The price Of his iabrlc: on the
contrary, he asks ii because the Price is too o" Tor
him. so long The foreign article has access 10 me
market Does il not contradict the whole experience
ing, or diminishing, competition; or llat you
lessen its cost by taxing III Sir, there are govern
merts in Europe which would receive with public no,
, nors the lecturer who could convince Their oppressed
subjects that this is the effect of iaxatioD Tor, II this
were true. taxation would soon become Tie easiest
process imaginable But i, is said that the foreign
competition produces steady decline in prices but
is used only 10 destroy the domestic rival They sell
for less than The cost Of production 10 day, and des
troy their rivals, that they may sell at higher prices
r hereafter How can this be- if the domestic manu-
fac'urer can produce at nearly the same cost With the
foreign, Tie natural advantages, and the revenue
protection Of the domestic manufacturer, would enable
Inn then 10 undersel the foreigner; and he would drive
him ont OF Tie market so long tie loss OF production
was even nearly equal in the two countries Tins COM
petition could only be kept down whist the foreigner
produced at considerably lower rate than the domes
lie manufacturer But 1t is said that the foreigner
would sell under cost, to destroy his rival Between
individuals, and within the usual period of human
life this is sometimes unwseIy done but the life.