Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1845-10-30
WHAT is aFREE TRADE,

I
and patriotic ruler.
WHAT is ssFREE TRADER
The most ultra OF the free trade men
in the U. States have never gone farther,
in defining the meaning Of this somewha,
vague term, than 10 claim that it imports
the repeal of every protective duty. We
were aston;shed, therefore, on reading Mr..
McDuffle's late letter, TO find that, IN HIS
opinion, free trade means not only that
We shall protect no article OF domestic
manufacture, but that, whenever such ar
tlcle Of manufacture comes in competition
with foreign article of the same kind
and duty is imposed upon the latter, a
similar duty ought to be imposed upon the
domestic product He has, we presume,
imported this opinion from his 'natural
market" of Leeds or Manchester, by the
last ship which brought his wooens, &C.,
from those ports. We say we presume
so, from the fact, that letter from "a mem
Der of the British Parliament" TO friend
in the u. States appears in the Charles
ton Mercury about the same time that Mr..
McDufiie's letter was published, in which
this Identical article is preached. This
"member of the British Parliament" kind.
ly tells US, what We expect every manuiac-
turer in our "natural market" will eager.
Iy echo, that "The principle of protection
should be attacked, and the free traders
ought TO repudiate every protective duty.
No foreign article, ,ohich is also the pro.
duct of the United States, should be subject
to a duty, unlesS the same rate Of duty Was
levied upon the home groaon article" Fine
doctrine this, truly The manufacturer
is not only not 20 be protected" but he
is to be taxed for manufacturing, if he
dares to produce fabric similar to those
which John Bulls paupers fabricate in our
natural markets OF Leeds and Manches.
ter !! This is very good doctrine for
the othe: side OF the water, and we are
not surprised to hear "a member of the
British Parliament" preaching it. 1t is
natural that British statesmen should de.
sire to see our manufactures all crushed.
When VIC were in colonial bondage, they
held US in check by despotic Pariamenta-
ry enactments-and now they propose to
do it by converting the American Con-
gress into an echo of the British Parlla-
ment! Will the American people permit
it? We shall not believe it until we see
it. 1t will be time enough for American
statesmen to get lessons in political econ
omy from ga member of the British Par
lament" when the body of which he is
a member shall set us the example, by re-
pealing the Corn Laws, and by striking off
g or 900 per cent. of her duties upon to-
bacco. When the practice, on the other
side of the British channel, shall cores
pond with the teachings OF British political
economists, it will be time enough for the
American government to act upon then
doctrines. For ourselves we shall look
elsewhere for counsel than to "member
OF the British Parliament or to one, who,
preierring the prosperity OF Manchester
and Leeds to that of Lowell and Boston,
ought to be member Of that BODY rather
than of an American Congress. "a mem.
Der of the British Parliament" and George
McDuffie, fighting side by side, with equal
zeal, and with the same arguments, in an
effort to destroy American interests, built
up by the Conscript Fathers, after more
than half century of legislation, is, to
say the least of il, a singular spectacle
But the phenomenon is appalling, when
we are told, by the Official Editor, that
the Administration adopts MIR. McDufie's
views, and considers itself pledged to car
ry them into effect! The President of
the U. States and "a member Of the Brit.
sh Parliament uniting in a war upon a
great American interest, Of which Wash
ngton was the author, and which has
been successfully neurished and fostered
by Adams, Jefferson, Madison and Mon
roe, and even by Jackson and Van Buren,,
as one of the main pillars of our indepen-
dence We are aware of the "madness
Of party ;" but we do not believe that il
is prepared to 60 to such an extremity as
this. We shall soon see, however,
LynchbtTg Virg.