Sunbury American and Shamokin journal. [volume] (Sunbury, Northumberland Co., Pa.) 1840-1848, 1842-01-29

Crltnlnetlng tarlH was u TAX upon S0unern IA
Dor, to increase Northern capital. The Con-
test, gentlemen tell us, is between Northern
capital and Southern labor Mr. Speaker,
wish to assail no part Of the country; but, sir,
l am compelled to say ths, The truth is the re-
verse of this 1t is Southern capital against
Northern labor. The North has frequently
been taulrted as being rich and grasping. Gen.
temen have pointed to our manufacturing
villages as evidence that we were fatteninp
upenthe the labor Of what they dpnomnate the
great producing States But why do gentle.
men pointto our manufacturing villages! Let
them look TO cur soil, rough and ragged as it is,
and compare our cultivated fields with their
exhausted soil and half cultivated plantations,
and ask themselves whether they cannot ac-
count for this difference, by our habits of indus
! try, and the character of The labor we EMPLOY
Nor is it true that manufactures are car
ried on On owned by the wealthy, to the extent
that gentlemen would represent. Many cfour
cotton and wooden mills are owned and opera
ted by men Of small ca sptal--she laborers in the
mills owning portion Of the property. Many
! species of manufactures prosecuted ia Massa
chusetts (ard speak of ray own State only
because can speak of her mere understand
ingly than of any other) require bat very little
capital. we manufacture boots ind shoes 10
the amonRt of sl5,0o0,0o0 annually.-This
large sum is to great exteRt the product of
labor. The conversion Of raw hide iztc shoes
by human toll. The manufacture of farnture
and chairs amounts to 81 100000 annually, and
labor is the principal ingredient in tins product
The same is true of hats, which are manuf;,c-
tui ed to the amount Of about 100000 per year.
The annual product of straw bonnets and palm
leaf hats is S2,0D0,000; and this begins and
ends ia labc--and laboT, too, mostly performed
by women and children. By the otfcial sta
tlstics Of Massachusetts,, it will be seen that
there are produced annually OF these little art-
ceS, these household gssnetactRres-s as
straw and paimieaf hats and bonnets--a very
large amount. In some towns where such ar
ticles are manutac tured, the amount Of dollars
ls ter times the amount ofthe population of the
town; and in some few cases twice that
amount-that is, a town Of 1000 inhabitants
will produce OF straw, palm-leat, and articles
Of this character, 100000, and in some cases
$4,000, Though, in the latter case, portion of
the article, partly manufactured, was O btained
in the adjacent towns. These articles are, to
great degree, the product of labor, and are
produced principally by the women and chill
dren. And it is by unremitting toll, by patient
and continual application, that these products
are brought forth. BY means such es these
-a.--~ iroo, ,alnnies, OF lone widows and
destitute orphans, are supported.
And would gladly ask INV friend from
Souh Carolina whether he can present pic
ture like this from his own State whether
the females or the males there will submit to
toll like this! He knows they will not.
And still he speaks of our manrfactures rs
though they were all men oforcrgrown capital
rolling in luxury and III wealth will give
the gentleman specimen of Yankee manu-
tactures. There are gentlemen within fifteen
or twenty miles Of my residence who manuiac-
turc wooden ware. And what, Mr.. Speaker,
do you suppose they produce willie you.
They manufacture pals, and waslI.boardS, and
mop-handes, and clothes pins. And where do
you suppose they find marke, for these staple
commodities! I will tell you They send
them into the Western wilderness! They
have actually an agency in Missouri, to which
these articles are sent for sale.
We have another class of manufactures of
different character. Our cotton, wooen, glass.
iron, and paper manufactures turn out an an
nual product about equal to the capital inves-
ted. Take all our manufactures together, and
the annual product is at least onc-third more
than the capital invested. Not that the annual
product is so much clear gain; far otherwise.
The interest and insurance on the capital and
fabric, the cost of fine raw material the cost of
the labor. and other incidental charges are all
to be deducted. In fact, company may turn
of an annual product greater than the capital
invested, and still prosecute their business at a
less.
From this view Of our manufactures, it will
be seen that our fabrics are in great degree
the product of labor and not of capital. But
how is it with the product of the South
Take their great staple, cotton; OF what is that
the product ef labor or of capital! OF capi-
tai almost exclusively. Their lands are capital
and their slaves are capital, made so by their
own laws In strictness of speech, they have
no labor, in the sense in which that word is