Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1844-07-12

protective duty But if Congress may legis-
late Tor the protection of capital invested in
trade, why not also for that of capital invest
ed IN manufactures The building. the
machinery, the stock, in its various stages
OF elaboration, the lands, whose value de-
ponds upon the successful employment, ocI
the capital thus invested, all these are prop
erty, as much as the stocks of the capitalist.
the ships OF the merchant. the lands of the
planter and, viewed simply as property,
without regatd TO higher considerations of
national policy, are just as much entitled to
legislative favor aud protection. The
American capital invested in manufactures
and the mechanic arts, is believed to amount
to no less sum than four hundred millions
OF dollars ;aand one fourth of our population
is dependent for bread OH the prosperity of
those arts. To this vast sum and The in
creased value OF lands in the vicinity of
tlourishing manufactures, and YOU have an
aggregate scarcely inferior TO any of the
items which make up the sum total of our
national wealth..
Destroy the protective system, and you
annIhlate at blow this great accumulation
oil wealth, this Immense proportion of our
national resources. In regard TO the prop
erty invested in manufactures it is to be OBJ
served, that the destruction involved by its
sacrifice has no compensation. 1t is ami
hllation, not transfer Thousands are i'm
povershed, none are enriched You make
your country poorer, by The amount both of
the capital directly invested, and the diff
ference in value of the lands and other
property affected. Let flourishing factory
spring up, with its capital of SI00C00, and
1t adds to the saleable value, and actual pro-
dnctlveness of the lands in its vicinity, at
least as much more Destroy il, and all
this wealth has evaporated. In the case of
the removal of the public buildings, and the
construction Of the works of internal i'm
provement, there is often an apparent loss,
which is, however, balanced by compensa-
ton in the increased value thereby given to
property elsewhere Construct a canal.
passing three miles from country village,
instead of through it. Its prosperity is des-
troyed. One by one, its most enterprizng
. inhabitants desert it, and the aged and the
poor alone are left. The cheerful din
, of its industry is hushed. The grass grows
IN the streets, its cottages are no longer the
home of man, and the fox looks out at the
window. Here is ruin, here is desolation-
: : me! ancholy enough no doubt-but there is
another side to the picture. On the banks
OF that canal there arises new village
q which in its rapid growth and Improvements
far outstrips all that the most sanguine fancy
n had ever hoped for its older rival Here is
r indeed rival. Here is indeed destruction
\ but there is also creation of wealth. Ii is
: a transfer, not an humiliation of prosperity
: and though individuals may suffer, the sur
o total of national wealth is undinnished, anC
r. even increased. On the other hand, strike
e down great branch of national industry
II and where is your compensation Dc
&c southern gentlemen imagine that the ruiz
n of the manufactures of Massachusetts vii
Il raise the price of cottonl Do the forgemer
Of Pennsylvania hope to sell more iron
!, when the bnsy industry of New England
# shall be still, and the clang of the anvil an,
n The hum of the wheel shall no more mingl,
Q with the roar of the waterfall ? Does tn,
+ western farmer suppose that he shall increas,
IF the price Of the lands, or the profits of hi
n husbandry, by compelling his eastern breth
is rem to devote TO the growing of grain ant
e the feeding of cattle the millions of acre
3 which they now occupy for sheepwalks, ant
q for the cultivation of the teazle and othe
q vegetable products required for the use o
T. the manufacturer New England is abb,
n abundantly to supply her own population
. with bread-stufis and meat Her soil
m though inferior to the pralries of'the Yves
,e in fertility, is superior in variety. Sir, tn,
sc West can produce nothing, absolutely moth
= ing, which the soil of New England canno
n also be made to yield in supernuous abun
4. dance. Even in fertility, the difference he
W tween the East and West has been great
m exaggerated. Sir, OIL this subject | do no
I'd speak without book have seen the princi
W pal grain-growing. States in the West in thei
st harvest, and being practically familiar wit
agriculture, claim to be able TO Judge q
o. their productiveness. The western people
m with all their virtues, and. accord ther
st many, are hule prone to talk in Ercles' vein
at and ! have heard on the prairies some gas
ne conadlng about crops, which would hav
IS done no dishonor TO Ancient Pistol. w
or of the East as manufacturers aud shepherd
s. are, to some extent, dependent on you c
Mt the West. Destroy our industry, compt
= us to exchange the loom for the plough, III
n sheep for the OK, turn us from consumers t
Il. producers, and you have lost your best Gu;
O. tO'neI--"c guy vi you w iOhSc'' VI vi
# forty millions of the produce of other State
which Massachusetts consumes, she wi
he require not a dollar Add TO this the SUI
IT. plies demanded for the manufacturers
as other States, and you have not less tina
Isl one hundred millions of American produc'
IN for which market will no longer exist
at Where do you look for compensation ft
le- this lossl You have not the smallest rel
&C. son to expect that the British corn laws wi
en- be repealed--no other European natio