Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1844-10-24
0NiCATIONS.
Ib he Editors Of The Enquirer:
A CARD.

Several recent numbers OF The Richmond
Wing contain articles. partly editorial and part
To the contributions of others, commenting upon
The Repor, on the Tariff and Home Market re-
Gently made bv The Committee Of the Democrat
ic Association Of this city, and upon The authors
Of that Report which they deem ii proper TO no.
t;ce The Committee beg leave 10 premise, that,
"a their sole object has been the correction oil er-
ror and the statement Of facts bearing on the sub
,ect matter of their report it will give them plea
sure when convinced, 10 correct any misstate-
ment they NAV have uninentionally made-But
they cannot consent TO engage, either individual
" or collectively, in newspaper controversy
with editors or correspondents, who meet Their
arguments, facts and Statistics oiiiy py pciso'ai
ties or affected ridcuc.
The first objection 10 the Report, urged by the
Editors. and a Correspondent OF the Wing IN
that paper OF the 18th instant j., that the Com
mit;ee in noticing the great increase IN The price
of certain articles Of cutlery since the Spring,
made no mention Of fact, 10 which that increase
was undoubtedly partly 10 be attributed, 10 Wit
the increased cost OF manufacturing, caused Dy
the rise Of wages in Sheffield, where those ar'i-
Giles are chiefly made. Inns omission mas oeeh
STYLED a "gross perversion" OF the truth, ana has
been made the occasion of illusions to mem
her Of the Committee, from whom II was con-
Iectured The statement emanated. Without no
ticing the spirit or language OF the illusions IN
ouestipn the Committee will remark, mat the iact
therein mentioned was we'll known TO the men,
her OF the Committee who furnished the statement,
and tina, it was omitted for the following reasons:
In the effort made by the Richmond Wing, ana
cerain of its correspondents last Spring, 10 prove
that the Tariff of iSt2 had reduced the price Of
protected articles, they selected cutlery as goods
on which there had been great decline in price.
This decline was attributed 10 the Tariff, and 10
nothing else No attempt was made 10 show in
what manner the Tariff Could have produced
such result. except that the decline in price
took place soon after the passage OF that act
As this deduction, drawn merely from The time
nj which those events happened, would not have
been considered legitimate, If other causes were
in operation at that Tine adequate to produce The
same effect, it may fairly be maintained, that the
train OF Wing reasoning implies that no ex-
tensiye reduction in the wages OF labor IN Shei-
field had taken place, and that no other such
cause operated there or elsewhere 10 produce sich
q result The mere S'atemer; o this would
hive DESTROYED a large portion Of their assumed
facts May il nothe said, then, that causes, adj
med TO he adequate 10 produce tne eject avn.
hn,ed to the Tariff were entirely disrcSarded, II
lot suppressed since the fact is now disclosed and
mond Whg of the 10th instant, THAT BUSINESS"
(and consequently PRICES, "nAD EEES DEPRESSED
QUITE BELOW ITS NATURAL LEvEL| In reply 10
The quotation os prices made by the Richmond
Wing and its correspondents in the Spring, a
Committee of the Shockoe Hill Association, APP
pointed for that purpose, (of which committee
the author of the statement, characterized IN
the Wing as ''gross perveisIon, was men,
ber1 after contcndns that the practical effects
e, o,-,,y NJ ,a1,. h,
degree Of certainly from the price OF Iianu!actu-
red articles at any particular time, proceeded 10
bring down the quotation OF prices from the peri
Cd a; which the Wing statistics ended, IL a much
later date. This investigation made II manifest,
as the committee then affirmed, shat in every ar
icle referred to in the Wing statements, nnatlec-
ed By peculiar or local circumstances, lnerc (had)
been, since the period assumed by them, steady,
percep,ibIe and most decided advance" in price.
And the Committee argued To show, that the adj
vance within certain limits, on all goods affected
ny protection must 60 on from day 10 day. The
Committee assigned various reasons, wholly in
dependent of the iarih, 10 account for Tie fact,
lha, the full advancement which was anticipated
had not then taken place; among them that buSi-
ness hat been depressed qRiic bc.oir us natural
lrd
The Wing and i,s correspondents endeavored
10 weaken the positions taken by the Committee,
w ohlecting TO the las, period Of time, which they
said the Committee had improperly assigned I"
their quotations, and By furnishing counter state
men,., 10 show that the enhancement of prices up
10 the date Of the report was not 50 great as The
Committee had stated it 10 be- Having reference
10 this difference of opinion, member OF the De-
Inocratic Association moved, during tho last
month the appointment Ola committee for the pur-
pose as he stated, OF having the quotations Of the
Spring COMMITTEE extended to the first of Septem-
Der The author of The Spring Report was the
author Of that portion Of the last Report, which re-
lates 10 the quotation OF prices tie exhibited, as
az far as he could and the season of the year rem
dered proper, comparison of the prices of the
goods quoted last Spring, with the prices which
the same goods bore on the first of September
He did not enquire into prior and incidental causes
as eecting any increase in price: those causes he
had considered and assigned position 10 in the
Spring Report. lie only enquircd whether the
goods in question were influenced by protection;
in other words, whether the domestic manuiac-
lure Of the same description of goods was protect
ed BY bounty under the Tariff, and then whether
there was difference in the market value here.
In articles Of Cutlery, he gave two quotations Of
knives and forks-showius in one instance an adj
vance in price since The Spring from fortv-ivc to
sixty cents and in the other from eiohly-fre TO
one hundred and ten cents.
independent OF the belief that il was neither ne
cessary nor proper 10 enter into minute examl-
nation of all the various causes which had con-
trihuted I, proiuce the ascertained increase in
price and in view ofihe fact that the price OF those
very articles had been instanced by the Wing
and its Correspondents last Spring TO prove a
contrary c.fec; of the Tariff, without an al!u-
fusion having been made BY them TO the true
cause Of the decline, and satisfied, that il these
causes were properly omitted then, it would be
equity proper 10 omit them now; The member
Of the Committee alluded 10 did not give the in
formation, because he was further aware of the
fact that whatever might have caused the increase
in The price Of the selected articles in England,
that increase would only be rendered still greater
and more burthensome to the consumer in the U.
States BY the operation of the Tariff; because the
duty, being per centage and not specific duty,
must increase in amount with the increased in
voiced price of the article Every addition 10 the
cost of the article abroad is made still greater by
The amount of the duty on that additional cost j;
whilst the contrary, the foreign cost OF the ar
,icle can be diminished only by causes independ.
ent ot the Tariff
Here it is worthy Of notice, that il the objection
urged by the Richmond Wing and its correspon-
dents, against the Report of the Committee on
this head is valid objection, il is, in terms, an
admission that the price OF manufactured articles
in this country is regulated most materially by
the state Of affairs in other nations; and that a
rise in the wages CT labor, in Great Britain for in
stance, must cause proportional enhancement oil
the price OF manufactures here. Then the Tariff
does no: place The foreign manufacturer in such a
situation, that he cannot raise the price IN proper
ZION 10 an increase in the expenditures which he
has TO make. The importing merchant buying
from him, under these circumstances, must buy
from one whose charges are not affected by the
American restrictions, and must Of necessity re-
ceive from the consumer fair prof, on the
amount thus expended in making his purchase in
the frs, instance, in paying the expenses of trans
poraion, and in satisfying any demands OF the
Goyernmepr in the form of duties. This is the
general principle which the Committee wished to
establish. ,
The only other portion Of the Report, to assai
which any attempt has been made by the Wing
or its correspondents is the notice there taken Of