Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1845-07-26
WING PROPHECIES NOT YET FALsIFIED.

"Still more ruin - Under this and siniiAt oaP
t;ons. instances ara frequently adduced by the Lo-
cofoco presses Of the prosperity o. 'ne coun''y'
which they seem to imagine are the consequence
Of the election Of Mr.. Polk to me fres'oency' M
stead Of the ruin, which, they STATE nls oppone"''
nronhesied would result therefrom. they seem 70
forget. however. that it not the mere election
of M. Polk which his opponents deprecated as
Ire nrobable cause OF disastrous consequences to
he country, but the policy which his friends, or
portion Of them, maintained that he would pursue.
The prosperous state Of the country is to be attr-
buted 10 the policy adopted preDious 10 Mr. PoLK's
election, and is, we hesitate not TO say dependant
for it's continuance upon that policy remaining I'M
changed
A paragraph which lately appeared in the New
York Morning News brings forward the estab-
shment Of three additional starch factories in the
town Of Starks in the State of Maine as proof
that ruin has not overtaken our manufactures in
consequence Of Mr. PoLK's election. Nobody was
foolish enough to suppose that the election Of
either Mr.. CLAY or Mr.. Polk, or any body else, to
the Presidency would Of itself, have any effect,
ai,hss for good or i'll, upon our manufactures. The
administration of Mr. Polk is not entitled to praise
or liable to censure for the present state of our
manufacturing interests. He has hitherto let them
alone; and if he and his friends will continue to
do so we shall be satisfied, giving praise, where it
Is due, to the formers and supporters of the tariff
of 1912, and feeling thankful that the present Adj
ADMINISTRATION is wiser than the representations Of
many Of its friends had led us to anticipate
il would be. 1t is good maxim to "iet Uery
aceA alone' We hope that the present Admin
istration will continue to think so. Ii it should
not, and the present tariff should be sacrificed the
tauntng observation of the News" may be reiter-
ated but reiterated in the spirit Of sober conviction,
that there will be no end to the runsus results of
the election Of Polk and DALLAS
But apropos to starch. 1t appears that /" there
are now ten starch factories under way in Somer-
set county, Name" Starch is used in great
quantities in stiffening muslins and other cotton
less than one million six hundred thousand bushels
Of wheat annually employed in the production
of starch. Encouragement was, previous to 1912,
given by the British tariff to the homemade article
by the imposition of duty Of go 10 ($42 22)
per cwt. upon the imported article. This duty was
in 1912 reduced TO a merely nominal one, and of
course it could then be proftably exported from this
country, and this would be one reason why facto-
ries should be erected for its fabrication. We do
not find, however, that any starch has yet been ex
ported but on the contrary, the last annual State
ment Of Commerce and Navigation enumerates
among the imports nineteen thousand five hundred
and ninety-three pounds of starch. We cannot
account for this, nor can imagine from what part
of the world it could be imported into the United
States. SO as to answer the purposes Of the
mer better or cheaper than the homemade article
would have done !; but, however, being so stated in
the official document, no doubt it is So We do not
forget the fact that the starch which is made at
Starks, in Maine, is manufactured from potatoes.
We do not know whether any of our factories
make starch from scheaf, nor do we know how far
the potato starch would answer for expectation;
but we quite certain that if the wheat starch be
needed here it will be, manufactured here, and not
for home consumption only, but also to supply to
considerable extent the immense amount wanted for
England, where it can now be received at merely
nominal duty. But let us look at our home con-
sumption Of starch. We are, unfortunately with
out guide as to the consumption Of foreign
made starch, for we do not find any mention of it
in the annual statement, except in the instance
above quoted. II probably included in the very
extensive and still-increasing list of non-enunera-
ted articles Our only guide as to the consumption
in starch for domestic purposes will be the increase
of population and, as to that which is used in
manufactures, the increase in the quantity Of raw
material manufactured. Now, the population is in
creasing at the rate Of about six hundred thousand
annually. Good housekeepers will easily calculate
how much additional starch will annually be used
for domestic purposes. But the increased con-
sumption in manufactures will also be great We
do not know the quantity Of starch used, or
the proportions to different occupations but our
readers will perceive that il given quantity was
used in 1910, when our manufactures consumed
two hundred and ninety five thousand one hundred
and ninety-three bales Of cotton, there would be
'nn"h more used in 1914, when the domestic con-
sumption Of cotton was three hundred and for,v-
six thousand seven hundred and fortv-fo,,r b,les
Here, then, sufficient reasons for the estahlsb.
ment Of more starch manufactures, arising from,
the increase Of population and the Increase or
manufactures. We do not see how the application
OF the "reUenue standard and the repenne
limit can affect the former unless il be by the an
plicaton Of poh-far, which, if the said stand
nrd and Hnsif,' as understood by some of our Oh
ponents, be applied TO the tariff, we may yet live
10 see levied upon us as necessary means of rais-
ing money for the support of the Government
In this discussion about starch however. we