Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1844-03-28
Z NO. %.

assume, as the basis of their arguments,
| that the labor engaged in producing our
great staples of exportation is not domes-
tic labor at all.
The senator from Maine however,
gives US the consoIing assurance, that
the price of these staples will not be at
! all diminished by excluding the exchan-
ses we receive for them; because he says,
prices depend upon supply and deniand
and the capacity of fareign countries to
consume our staples fixes the extent Of
their demand fot them. Now, | admit
thss last proposition to be sound phiIbso-
ply; bat draw from it conclusion pre-
c,seiy the opposite of that drawn by him.
Cor 1t can hardly be necessary to inform
him, after all that has been said ON this
subject, that the capacity>of foreign coun-
tries TO consume our staples is limited bY
their means of paying for them. Now
these means are precisely those manu-
lectures WHICH this protective policy pro.
poses to exclude. have, heretofore ,exs
pressed the opinion that this anticon
merclal policy has excluded 5O.COO, eco
OF foreign imports, which would now
have been annually imported ifthis poll
cy had never prevailed; and it may be
fairly assumed that if this government
had not laid its unhaliowed hands upon
the most valuable Branch Of commerce
that ever enriched d natiGn, the demand
for our staples would have been co-ex-
tensively increased. Indeed, sir, when
we consider that cotton is BY far the
cheapest raw material in the world for
clothing and various other purposes; that
IT'S introduction in France and Germany
Is comparatively recent, and that it is
destined to be extensively used not only
throughout Europe, but the vast empire
OF China, the imagination can scarceIy
conceive the extent Of the demand which
would be created for this great STAPLE BY
throwing off from our commerce the ipcn-
bus OF the protective policy. The peo.
pie of Great Britain now consume cation
manufactures to the annual amount of
Sl5O,O0O. 600; and if the other nations oE
Europe would consume anything like the
same proportion, al that vast region .ex-
tending on the Atlantic and the Gulf Of
Mexico from the Potomac to the Rio del
Norte, would not be adequate to supply
the demand. This bright vision, howey.
er, can be realized only by "a system of
unshackled exchanges with fureigr ma
tons Leave trade to regulate itself. in
dustry to select its own channels, and
we shall never have any complaint of o.
reproduction, to which the senator is
pleased to ascrbe the decay of our pros
perty IN the exporting States. No, sir;
there can scarcely occur such thing as
overproductiOn under system of free
trade. This is always the offspring of
legislative restrictions, damlning up the.
natural currents of trade. There cannot
be greater absarditY than to talk about
overproduc tion, when there is a lust e.
qulllbrlum between the, various produce
tons ofindustry, which free trade only@
can maintain. Such. an idea would i'm
ply that country can have too great am
abundance OF. all the necessaries and
comforts Of life! q -.
But SIR, when you cut off, by unwise
and unjust restrictions, the only imports
We can obtain for our staple; when YOU
thus exclude US from those great mar
keta to Which our title is derived from
God and the constitution; almost any a.
mount oil production, however small, will
be excessive. Such, sir, is the power
OF unJustand Ubiquitous legislation, vic.
iatins the. sacred rights of propertyl--
Mighty to destroy the great fabric Of a
nations prosperity. but impotent to re-
build 1t. Such has been the legislation
of Congress for twenty years. aud such
have been its results. And tell you,
sir, that if the system. is not speedily a.
ban,loned, that spectacle of decay and
desolation Whichsis now exhibited in one
of the most favored regions of the earth.
will stand as an eternal monument Of
your injustice and oppressioni It will
be too late TOR even wisdom and Justice
to restore what folly aud wickedness
have destroyed:.s s.@
TO mute and to material things,
New HE returning summer bringsv
But OH my country's wintry state,
what second spring can renoyatet
lhaye new. Mr.. President. briefly and
separately noticed the prominent argu-
ments by which the se4ator from Maine
has attempted to sustain The protective
poicy. But sir, there is something IN.
the general splritand bearing Of hisSre-
marks as whole--something that is OBJ
1cusly implied. but not distinctly said
which I,feel bound to notice. And.in.
the first place It's to be remarked that
his Whole arsument turns upon the as
sumption that the prosperity of the man
ulactures; that domestic industry means
manufacturing sindastry; that the only
branch of domestic ndustry which adds
to the national wealth, islhat which re-.
qulresa perpetual system of government
bounties TO sustain ii; and finally. that
the taxes imposed upon all other classes
to raise these indirect bounties. are not
burdens, but national blessings! These
certainly are build assumptions; but they
are the natural offspring Vi des polio PAW