Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1844-05-31

make your country poorer by the amount both of tho
capital directly invested, and the difference in value OF
the lands and other property affected. Let flourish
ing factory spring up with its capital OF 81 90 000 and
it adds to the saleable value and actual productive
ness Of the lands in its vicinity at least as mach
more. Destroy II, and all this wealth has evapora.
ted. In the case of the removal of public buildings,
and the construction Of works of internal improve.
ient there is oftei apparent loss which is, how
ever balanced by compensation IN the increased
value thereby given property elsewhere. Construct
a canal, passing three miles from country village,
instead Of through it, Its prosperity Is Destroyed
One by one, its most enterprlzng inhabitants desert
It, aud the aged and the poor alone are left. The
cheerful din Of its industry is hushed The grass
grows in the streets, its cottages no longer the
home of man, and the fox looks out at the window
Here is ruin, here is desoation-melancholy enough
no Doubt but there is another side to. the pcrure.
On the banks of that canal there arises new village
which. IN its RAPID growth and improvement, far out
strips all that the most sangulne fancy had ever ho
ped Tor its older rival. Here is indeed destruction,
but there is also creation of wealth. 1t is trans
fer, not an annlhation of prosperity and though in
divduns may sui1er, the sum total OF national wealth
is undlmlnshed, and even increased On the other
hand strike down great branch of national indus
try and where is your compensation! DO southern
gentlemen imagine that the ruin of the manufactures
OF Massachusetts will raise the price of cotton! Do
the forgemen of Pennsy vana hope to sell more iron.
when the busy industry of New England shall be still
and the clang of the anvil and the hum OF the wheel
|
Does the western farmer suppose that he shall in
crease the price of his lands or the profits of his hus
bandry, by compelling his eastern brethren 10 devote
to the growing of grain and the feeding Of cattle the
millions of acres which they now occupy for sheep
walks and for the cultivation of the teaze and other
vegetable products required for the use Of the manu-
lac:urer? New England is able abundanty to sup.
ply her population with bread sufs and meat
Her soil, though inferior TO the prarles of the West
IN fertility, is superior IN variety Sir, the West can
produce nothing, absolutely nothing, which the soil of
New England cannot also be made to yield IN super
iuus abundance Even in fertility, the difference be-
tween the East and West ha> been greatly exaggera-
ted. Sir, this subject do not speak without book.
have seen the principal growing States OF the
West IN their harvest, and being practically familiar
with agriculture clam TO be able to Judge of their
produc,iveness. The western people, with all their
virtues, and accord them many, little prone 10
talk in Ercles vein; and have heard the prares
some gnscondadng about crops, which would have
done dishonor to Ancient Pistol. We of the East,
as manufacturers and shepherds are, TO some extent
dependent on you of the West. Destroy our industry
compel us TO exchange the loom for the plough, the
sheep for the OK, from consumers into produ-
GERS and you have los, your best customer-we buy
of you no longer. OF the forty millions of the pro-
duce of other States which Massachusetts consumes
she Will require not dollar. Add to this the sup
plies demanded for the manufacturers OF other States,
and you have not less than one hundred millions of
American produce, for which a market will no longer
exist Where do you look for compensation for this
loss? You have not the smallest reason 10 expect
that the British corn laws will be repealed-no other
European nation will take your produce, and when
you are ready to sell, none will be found to buy.
Let the western farmer examine this bill and cal.
culaie the saving which he supposes he would make
by the operation of this anti-labor tariff. How many
dollars would he his cloths, how many on his
ronwarc how many on his glass, his groceries, and
other imported goods Even admitting the truth of
the false principle assumed by the report that re-
ducton of duty is reduction of price to the consu.
mer, he will find that few families would save fifty
dollars, the laborer, probably, not ten But on the
other hand, would not this gain be more than
balanced by the inevitable reduction in the price of
his produce, resulting from the loss of market which
consumes annually, 100000 600 of the products of
the non manufacturing States? Sir where the west
ern States would save one Million they would lose
ten: But repeat it, it is not true that dminulion
OF The duty lowers the price. Reduce them as to
destroy domestic manufactures and do you think that
the British artisan, when relieved from American
competitor, will sell you his wares cheaply as now
Will he not rather take advantage of his monopoly of
the market and compel you both TO buy and to sell
at his own price
Attempts have been made to excite the jealousy of
the South and West, by inflated statements in regard
to the profits of the manufacturers. 1t has been pro.
we'd, by calculations, emitting only the use of capital,
wear and decay OF machinery, fixtures, and buildings,
taxes and insurance. and the numerous contingencies
to which these establishments are pre-ernnenly LA. |
Bile, that the eastern manufacturers must have cleared
not less than twenty or thirty per cent. per
series OF years We have the best authority for say
Ing, that the profits OF the cotton manufacturers have
for years not exceeded an average of six per cent;
and as 10 wooden mills, it is within my personal
knowledge, that there IA scarcely wooen factory in
New England, which has not lost sum equal to its
entire capital, since 1887 Under the tariff of 1912
these establishments can live, but they can never be
means of RAPID accumulation OF wealth.
wish to present another general consideration. ]
refer TO the Importance of domestic manufactures as
an essential element IN system of national ndepcn.
dence and defence Gentlemen need not TO be told, |
that during the late with Great Britain the Gov
eminent was forced to connlye at an Illicit trade with
tn fhn nnl of
cles as neither Government people could live with.
out. Shall we again subject ourselves to the incon |
venence and shame of smu -gIlng from hostile coun.
try the very blankets which cover our soldiers; and
while Stacking fire, that the smoke of guns NAV
clear away, shall negotiate with the enemy for the
purchase Of powder?
am sorry TO say, Mr.. Chairman, that am not
among those who discern in the Signs Of the times
sure tokens of abiding peace. The age of conquest, it
is said, has passed away; but at a moment when our
own administration is meditang n war of conquest,
and has already virtually declared ho>lilies in tina
unholy cause II lies not IN our mouths To say, that
such wars are no longer possible. Sir have too
much respect for the cool judgment of our statesmen
and too much confidence in the regard of people
for the principles OF justice, and the integrity of the
Union, to believe that they will assent 10 the consu.
nation of a project which, under the crcums ances
can only be characterized rs supremacy unwise, and
pre- emnenlly flaelous, and which must necessarily
result not IN dlssenson, but'ln disruption. do not
therefore apprehend a conflict with Mexico or its ne
but cannot be blind to the fact that are in con.
slant danger OF rupture with the most formidable
power upon earth. Great Britain, sir holds Canada
on the North her fleets ,mmand the atlantic on the
East; the South, she has extensive possessions in
the West Indies and on the continents and she occu-
PIES TO say the least, equlvocal position on the
West. But this ls not all Her ships are trayersing
every sea, and SEEING upon every advantageous posi-
ton, which is either unoccuped, whose possessors
too feeble to resist her encroachmenis; an Amer.
lean whaler scarcely bring off keg of water, or
boatoad of cocoann's from coral reef in the wi!e
Pacific without paying tribute 10 the ouiposis of Eng
land. | know indeed, thai she has dlscalmed that
aroclous outrage, the farcbe seizure the sovereign
ty OF the Sandwich Islands but have not vet heard
that she has hung, at the yardarm of his own ship,
the plraca lordllng who perpeiraiedit. Sir charge
not Great Britain with cherishlns dreams of wide,
spread conquest, or aiming al universal empire bui
he must be blind who does not that she striving
for no less prize than the control of the commerce
or the world America too is ambitious. She dis.
putes with England the sovereignty of the northeast
ern shore of the Pacitic-we rivals in the same
branches Of trade and the red and the stars and
stripes float side by side in every harbor of every sea
With all these points of contact dare hope that we
shall always escape collisions; and is ii dof