New-York daily tribune., 1843-07-28
Political Economy.

of writing Editorials LOT L ne cHH l',oo ~
incapable Of understanding the Plalnest PROPOSE
ton Fifty times at least have we restateo anc
e.nla;ned orr elemental view of Political Econo-
nv. and yet they broadly relterate, IN regard TO
onr Introduction to Atkinson's treatise:
..rb. doctrine is this AL commerce is an ert' The
spor1otion of goods from place 10 place or The pnr.
pose IF czchange ought TO be prohibited by psnG STAT
rrE. This is the doctsine. Let not the reader be sur-
sed No such language It's found IN the preface TO
Mr. Akinson's book but it is found there because
The writer incapable Of making fair and logical state
Of his dogmas s true there are passages IN me
preface contradictory the above OF It's doctnne But
all authors confused with absurd theory, contradict
themselves with every other sentence they wri;e
1t is impossible that any one can have read
the essay referred TO and then honestly ndulged IN
the assertions above quoted from THE Sun Eve
.ry where in our essay is the distinction kept IN
view between such articles as a country ran ad-
yantageousIy produce and such as 1t cannof.-
The ground of discrimination is also distinctly
set forth, viz: Wherever an article can be produ-
ced in country as cheoply-that Is not for as
fen dollars, which proves nothing concluslvely'
but ,cih as little labor, substantially, as in any
other country, then it s clearly advantageous 1or
that country TO produce for itself, and not to sup
ply its wants from abroad. But if there be any
natural obstacle to advantageous Home Produc-
ton, then buy abroad by all means, and do not
contravene the laws Of Nature.
For example, Coffee is tropical product, to
which the climates Of the United States arc un-
yenial. No advocate Of Protection has ever pro-
posed to foster its cultivation here, or to impose
on the foreign article any other duty than a
purely Revenue one. And Why Because it
could only be produced here at heavy excess OF
cost over that of the foreign product But Wool
and Woolens can be produced in the Union as
advantageously G.e. with as little labor as In
any other part of the world This being the fact
VIC maintain that it is clearly the interest and
abiding policy of our country to produce these ar
1ices for herself no matter though their money
price, in the infancy of the attempt to establish
them here, be higher here than abroad The ap-
parent, immediate cost Of the foreign article may
be less, but the actual enduring advantage will be
on the side of Home Production. And why
Because the same amount Of Labor will grow
the Wool and make the Cloth here as elsewhere,
while in cost of transportation, stcadness of sup
ply, and every thing else, the advantage is on the
side of Home Production. Or, to quote the essay
alluded to, a hundred men engaged in making
Cloth can make Just as much here as in England,
and will require absolutely no more food here
than there. BY making the Cloth here instead
of buying it there, we save to the Country not
only the cost Of importing and selling and trans
rlo.,
ing the Grain and Meat to feed the Manuiactu-
rerers in England--which saving is divided be-
tween the two classes of producers, giving the
farmer moro cloth, the manufacturer more food ,
for his labor, and adding largely, through their
increased prosperity to the wealth of the country.
Can any thing be clearer than this
Can any thing be falser than the assumption
that this view Of Political Economy is fatal to all
Foreign T'rade2 Should we not still require all
the prodrcts of the frigid and the torrd zones
Tea, Coffee, Spices, Dye Woods, Tropical Fruits,
&c. &c' What country ever imported SO much
as Great Britain while her Protective Policy was
most stringent? II Protection is fatal to Com
nlerce, how came London so much larger than
Amsterdam Protection, in securing the full
development of the Agricultural, Mineral and
Manufacturing resources OF II nation, always Sc
cnrcs more extended and thriving Forej"n Com
nerce A nation buys most when it Is best able
TO pay. If we were to foster efficiently every
branch of industry established in the country,
under the Limitation already stated, we have no
doubt our Foreign Commerce would every year
increase, and that the increased import OF For
eign Products not advantageousy produced in
the country would amply replace all the loss to
Commerce from Home Production.
The Sun, with deliberate rccklessncSs of truth
proceeds to assert that we have repeatedly advo-
Gated penal statutes for the prohibition OF the IN
fernul trade between our States Bear IN mind,
. Sun! that we brand this as an unequivocal
falsehood, and challenge you to the proof When
you say that, according to orr theory, all trade
between different States. Cities, and even streets
and families, should be prohibited, your error may
arise from defect of understanding but no char
ity can cover the falsehood above quoted.
That the establishment of various branches OF
Manufactures IN the West would be advantageous
10 the whole country, We cannot doubt. Ii would
raise the price and steady the market for the vast
Agricultural surplus of that region; it would IN
crease the value of its lands accelerate the pro
srcss of Literature and Intelligence; and tend to
remove ,ae great local disparitieS IN the relative
numbers of the sexes which now prevail among
us-the East having supcrabundancc of Wo-
men, the West Of Men--a clear moral and social
evil, to be remedied only BY widening the sphere
of employment for Women in the West The re-
quisitc process of building up Manufactures west
of the Alleganies is now going on, aud will con.