The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-11-13


these injured, not benefited. They feel the bur
den, without partaking the profit. We might add 10
these at once, all the numerous classes whose Oeeu
patons connected, directly or indirectly, with
navigation and commerce. IL Is said, 10 lull the
alarms IN the treasury, that the dehelt OF h'e mil
lions IN the revenue, may be made up by an excise
on domestic manufactures, when the foreign article
should be excluded. But on i0hai manufactures
On cotton and woolen alone and principally Ger
tainy mott On others, as much or more, than on
them. On carriages, for example, among the hrst
This is a tax which like many others, always di-
minlshes the demand for the article. IL takes away
then, at once, the employment OF the artist, who
works in this line. He is a manufacturer, there
fore, not benefited, but likely, in the end, TO be
ruined.
And yet he (Mr W. had understood that, IN
making out the new census, cOachmakers, and all
other handierahsmen or tradesmen, were denonina
ted manutaehTsrs-and this would show a great
number Of manufacturers IN the census, appearing
TO be benefited by protecting manufactures. The
case he had alluded to- might suffice for an instance
or example Of many; and, when the whole should
be investigated il would be found that the sorts OF
manufacturers TO be benefited by the proposed
measures, were yey few. An appeal had been
made to y g patriot feelings of the nation.
IL had been said, we are not Independent 80 long
as we receive these commodities from other nations
He could not see the force Of this appeal. He did
not perceive how the exchange of commodities be-
tween nations, when mutually and equally adyan.
tageOus, rendered one dependant the other in any
manner derogatory to its interest or dignity. A
dependence Of this sort exists everywhere among
individuals as well as nations Indeed, the whole
fabric Of civilization, all the improvements which
distinguished cultivated society from savage life,
rest dependence Of this kind He thought the
argument drawn from the necessity Of providing
means Of defence IN war had been pressed quite too
far. IL was enough that we had capacity TO pro-
duce such means when occasion should call. The
lTeaR i'm M Of de
fence or annoyance can be probably obtained, not
without great difficulty, except from own mate
rails manufactures. He doubted whether there
was much ground for that assumption. Nations
had hitherto obtained military in the midst Of
war from commerce. But, at any rate, as II was
acknowledged on all hands that the country posses
sed the capacity of supplying itself whenever IL saw
81 to make the sacrifce--and he did not why the
necessity Of making 1t should be antic pated-why
should we n0D change our daily habits and occupa'
lions with great loss and ineon yenience merely be-
cause IL is possible some change may h reafler be-
come necessarily We should act equally wisely, he
thought IL we were 10 decide that, although we are
not quite well, and with very good appetites yet
4 Il possible we might day be sick, would
therefore, now sell all our food, and lay up physc.
There was, however, Mr.. w. observed, one part
Of our national defence, which the advocates Of the
new measures appeared to have quite overlooked or
forgotten. He meant the navy. II the commerce
ofthe country should cease, the navy must cease
with il. This he thought too plain to be questioned
A country with powerful navy, and little or no
commerce, would be an anomaly in history. The
great object aimed at, seemed to be, either TO ami
hilate or greatly diminish our foreign trade Where
then, are our seamen to come from for the navy,
BY reference to the amount Of American tonnage IN
1910, the year when its amount greatest, il will
be seen that there were employed in the foreign
trade ga 900 tons; in the coastng trade 37l 900
The proportion Of seamen to tor mage is OF course
greater in the larger vessels; so that probably three
fourths Of the seamen Of the Urted States were EN-
ployed in the foreign trade. The coasting trade it.
self would be Immediately diminished by the cur
tailment Of the foreign trsdc and lift should after
ward revive and be even increased, and extended
there was reason to suppose that il would supply
seamen, in sufficient numbers, for the navy. Be-
sides, the ordinarily engaged in the coasling
trade not class Of seamen the most fl for ma
val service. In this trade, the voyages are short
the number Of hands smal-not always exclusively
seamen. There are not the habits of subordination
the attention to self-preservation, the exposure to
danger and to hardship which form the value Of the
character OF good seamen No part Of national de-
fence Ia 90 impossible TO be suddenly procured as
good seumen, YET without them, all attempts to-
wards establishing commanding naval power are
entirely vain; as the history of more than mod.
ern nation has shown.
Let those, then, who would abridee commerce,
on the ground of a more independent provision for
national defence, declare whether they esteem q
nary to be among Of defence. II they
do not, their argument may be consistent; If they
4 do, it is fnacy Mr.. w. said he would add a
few observations upon more general view Of the
subject. We must regard the proposed measures
either as intended to DO temporary, intended to
be permanent If they were to be but temporary the
manufacturers would be ruined by their repeal. We
must look upon the proposed duties, therefore, as
intended to be permanent; if not permanent at the
same rates, yet permanent at such shall pre-
serve the system of manufacturing for ourselves.
| bound. therefore n ard fin
quences and the state of things which may ulti-
maely arise, if this system should be adopted and
established. twas the part of true wisdom to look
i to the end.
| For his part, he did not consider great manu-
featuring population benefit to be purchased with
so much cost. He thought there were great evils
in it. When it shall come, naturally, and in the
progress of things we must meet it, But, why
hasten III What of it elsewhere did not re-
commend it to The great object of good gov
ernments was individual happiness, and this, to be
general, required something like an equality in con-
dition.
He was not advancing any agraran notions, but
he considered that those employments which tended
to make the poor both more numerous and more
poor and the rich less in number, but perhaps
rich, were not employments fit for us to encourage
by taxing other employments. And this he be-
eved, would be the tendency of the manufacturing
system, pushed to excess. At present it was proba-
bly, true that the manufacturing capitals being gen.
oIoHy, epp oio'o PiopeIty, WeTe nOiuel III many
hands But if the capital employed in COM
merce were also to be put into manufacturers it
would, in the end, he should Think get the ascend
ancy, because it would be individual capital, and,
according to our experience, would be, therefore,
better managed.
| Manufacturing capital comes, in the end, to be
owned but by few. 1t does not therefore, encourage
industry, like capital employed in some other pur-
suits The case of the establishment mentioned in
the report was in poin, to this argument. Halfa
million of dollars gives employment to 265 persons,
and those principally women and children. Now,
what employment Of that sum, in almost any other
pursuit, could fail to demand and require more hu-
man labor If vested in agriculture, the would
command good and productive land sufficient to en-
poy, he might almost say, all the cotton-spinncrs in
the United States.
And how would it be in commerce. suppose it were
in the freighting busnessi A commercial friend
had furnished him with a statement, which would
show the result: ship fit for that service may cos,
$4,000. She will require, in her immediate service