New-York daily tribune., 1843-03-10
.,S;,,,e,,,s ge,t,ica. aooaony.

Fsge.
srIin.en,s gsclEticai Eceaonay.
+, was Napoleon at St. Helena II We mistake
who frat observed that while the theorists and
,5]osonbers would sean to be ell on ths side OF
r-aa Trade. the eminent practical Statesmen OF
sll Nations as unanimously adhere to Protection
yven the very men VINO theorizs Oh the slos OF
free Trade--as Huskisson, for lnstence-whsn
b,oypht 10 determine as Ministers whether some
greet Producing Interest is to be sustained by FRO
tecrioa sacrificed b. Free Trade at once abandon
,hsir theories and cling to the tangible, PRACTICAL
good. Thus Adam Smith approved the British
Navigation Act; and the British Parliamentary
Commission of la59-'A0 after clarifying Free
Trade in the most unqualified terms through hun
1rsds OF pages, when they came at last TO the Ra-
led proposition Of admitting the Sugar OF other
West Indies on the terms with that oi theli
cwn, negaved it ofhand, setting up the existence
Of Slavery and ts alleged cheaper LABOR IN the
Spanish Islands with its abolition in their own, a:
The pretexe. " 1t 10 evident" say they, " thai
this question is taken BY Slavery entirely out
Of the category Of Free Trade = 10 doubt
Of it. The next thing to be considered is whether
cher -Spes,ioas which they had confidently put
aYso that cates@rv ought not to bs taken out,
sor equally good reasons.
1t is matter of regre, to the fricads OF true
Political Economy that, while ar infnity of facts,
statistics and arguments in support OF the Policy
of Protection, including the unanswersSle efforts
fin eoatused abundance all around U.s. there is no
great work 10 circulation in which this Policy is
,syetemericaliy illustrated and advocated The
writings Of Matthew Carey on this subject are ex-
ceent, bu. not readily attainahle; Hszekiah Niles
wrote forciby and weii but bis essays have not
been collected and published apart from. his sdn-
rsble " Register; the Speeches OF MIR. Henry
Clay, as collected and published byJ B. Swain
srntody some OF the most convincing arguments IN
favor of TIE tsue Policy; and DR.. Frederic List
for several years resident OF Philadelphia, has
recently published 7olums Of six hundred pages,
illusrativs Of the grasping Commercial and Man
ufacturing Policy of Great Britain, and the abso
aoute necessity of couuteracton which 1t imposes
on other nations, if they would preserve their pros
perry OF essential independence. But this work
(Which is not iaultess) has not been translated; {;
hllsd with the works of the Free Traders exclu-
eively, and these constitute the standard author-
t,es on Political Economy in all our Colleges
from them our Wsyands Dews, McVickars. are
da,ly dealing out as uadispu,ed truths, and the
profound, une,Iing deductious Of Economical Sci
ence. tsllacies which ulanya strong-minded though
poorly. educated lourneyman mechanic would read
lily detect and eSEose, but which are not so obvl-
cus to those who separated by all their habits
end tastes from Productive Labor. And thus the
epeccus mistakes ei Free Trade are instilled into
cul leading minds--,hey preached from the
pulpit in the guse of Christian philanthropy, aud
daclaimeo from the lecturer rostrum IS the Spirit
Of .he Age, superiority TO narrow and antiquated
notions &c. and diaused every where without op-
position or question, until even our Legislators
mho are awakened to the necessity of Protection
advance to It's advocacy with timd, apolosetlc
air. and rest their some unsettled special
halfway basis of temporary contingency. where, if
they are overthrown to-day, they are very like
w. through change of circumstances, to find their
position untenable tomorrow.
We are sck of all this. The cause Of frotec-
ton demands and must have recognized text.
book, standard authority, which shall bear to it
the same relation as thn, OF Adam Smith or Bap-
,iste Say DOES to Free Trade. The materials for
such work are abundant the work itself has not
yet appeared. Bat an excsllent foundation for it
is presented IN work published in England in
l84o, of which two copies only. SO far as can
learn, have reached this country. 1t is an open
cctevo OF 2z7 pages, entitled Principles OF Po
htical Economy: or, the Laws Of the Formation
of National Wealth; Developed by Means of the
Christian Law OF Government; being the Sub
ssauce Of Case delivered TO the Hand. Loom
Weavers' Commission: by WILLIAM ATKINSON" I"
This work is too brief to cover effectively the
whole ground OF Protection, but so far as j, goes,
j, is thorough and conclusive; and, if it does no,
utterly annihilate some OF the fundamental pos;
lions Of the Free Trade doctors. then are we given
oves to mental blindness.
For instance Adam Smith discusses the value
to Nation Of Home Trade compared with a
Foreign, and concludes that The former is doubly
advantageous, employing two cspssls and sftora-
ing two profits. j. B. Say arrives at the same
conclusion. But McCuilech takes up the same
question, and, psreeiving that the obvious saswer
is not very congenial to the Free Trade theory,
drops i, with the dry remark that it admits Of no
satisfactory solution" Blu, MIR. Ricardo, and
The writer on Commerce, whose work is pub