The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1846-08-15

ed OIL, ana ullVtfshI ulslIesS ipHpNOu''
They tried making banks, but that OF course
failed, us the specie was gone, Wllch alohe
can sustain them. From this we were never
fully relieved until il was done 10y the protec-
tive ruriiT of 1924 aud 1898, which toslered n
home manufactured and home market In
1882 the friends of free trade procured the
passage of the Compromise act, under which
the protective duties We're gradually taken of
and reduced until lS42, when the whole came
down TO twenty per cent This was again
free trade; and what was its etfecR lt was
precisely the same it had always been before
We bought where we could buy cheapest,
and az the duties diminished, imporations
offoreign goods increased, until the country
was again flooded with them, the specie was
again drained off, the revenue fell below thir-
teen millions, and general bankruptcy, iudi-
vidual aud national, eusucd. From this we
were relieved by the present tariff law under
which we are prospecting. Now II would
seem as il We had been sufficiently tanghi,by
our own experience, that our prosperity, that
our national Independence, cannot be SIS
tanned in the practice Office trade.
What is state ofcolonial dependence, and
what are the advantages to England, or amy
other government, in the possession OF colo
mics? The benefit to England, derived form
| her colonies, ~, that she confines Their 'rade
! to herself and supplies them, ut her own price
with all manufactured articles, by her own
vessels, & sends of'tu them her surplus goods
and population. TO obtain these advantages
she is Mt the expense ofdciending the colonies
against other nations, aud sustaining their gov
emment Now, suppose we adopt the prln-
ciples Office trade, now put forth, aud take
all our manufactures from England, aud, be-
cause they sell cheapest, we give TO them our
entire market; then they will evidently have
| from us all the aIr miages they have from n
my colonies: and yet. five uuly levy on those
goods duty enough TO pay the ordinary eN-
penses Of our Government, and as there are
to be no domestic manufactures TO compete
with them, our people, the consumers, VIII
have that duty TO pay, and we shall pay the
expenses of orr own Government, and thus
relieve England from all burden in that way;
so that we shall be, practically, her colonies,
entirely nj our own eXpense-sef reduced a
gun to colonial dependence for the neccSSa-
rics ofliie, and incapable of sustaining our
l'sclvcs in any time ofwouhc. This accounts
for The delight with which the Secrctary's re-
port was received and repuhIlshcd by the Brit
! ish Parliament. Now, who are the .7meri-
can party and who the British party in this
country? Are all the cXertIous and SutlcungS
olour fathers in the Revolution TO redeem us
from this state of colonial dependence 10 be,
in effect set aside and disregardod, and our
much boosted Independence be battered n
way for cheap clothing and accessories, which we
arc fully able ourselves to supply?
I'll. | come now to consider the proposed
bill, adopting nnti0na' poicHas res-inieg1a, as
five were now, for hG first time, to enact law
on the subject; as if we had nothing now yes
ted in manufactures, and 10 sacrifices To en-
dure by change; and as five were secure
from the oppressive operation on us of the
regulations Of trade by other nations The
Secretary in his report says; alt is general
ly conceded that reciprocal free trade among
nations would best advance the interest Of
ALL" Again, he says, "Let us, with revenge
duties only open our ports to all the world,
and nation after nation will soon follow our
example" Ii is difficult to see what induce
mcut they could have TO follow our example,
when we shall have Gircn them our free trade
without requiring any concession from them.
But it IS TO the sentiment first quoted above
| wish 10 call attention, and to express nly
views--I say my views, because | am author
wed 10 speak on this point only for myself.
When two bodies of water lie near each
other, and communication is formed between
| them, all the water will fiud the io,ceSi level
ifthe cattle in Two contiguous pastures are
suffered 10 run common into both, the feed
| will be reduced to the condition OF the poor
feed oithc lowest in flesh. lfudjacent coun-
| tries pursue their trade unrestricted with cach
| other, all things must sell at the lowest price
ot'that article in either ofthose countries. ii
we depend on a foreign market for supplies.
we must sell our produce to them in their
market at as low rate as it can be supplied
ly anybody. Together with these simple
truths, another must he remembered, and
that is that, for all the purposes OF trade and
commerce, and the interchange of commud-
tics, so great has been the improvements in
navigation, and so rapidly are they advancing,
that we are now brought into continuity with,
and are contiguous TO, Europe.
Let it be remembered that we are now try
ing, III view the world, the great expert
mcnt whether mankind can succeed with
/ popular system of government. Now must
he solved the great problem in civil society,
whether man is competent TO self govern
/ mcnt, and it rests with us to settle for our
selves, for posterity, and for the word-to
settle, and that probably toreuer, this great
! question. To effect this, we have assumed
al exalted position for our tcho'e people among
the nations of1he earth. 1t is not enough
that our people he only as coYditioned
as those ofOher nations. In order to occu-
| ny their places as freemen, and discharge
the duties as enlghted citizens ola free re-
public, and bring forward their children to
take their positions on the platform of equali-
| ty with the favored sons aud daughters of the
land, our people, yes-our whole people
must, as compared with those of other ma
lions, occupy an elevated position, physical,
intellectual, moral, and social They are,
and they must he better clothed, better fed,
bette. housed, and better educated and a.
dOrned as become the taste and condition of a
free people. Now, whatever branch of our
production or industry is brought into con-
tact and competition with the same in Europe