The Charlotte journal. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1835-1851, 1846-07-31

G " sure - iitluihS HuiShdSCEs tHSIo bOS
4 Great Britain, so much abused here 70
c some purposes, aud Landed by the sam
persons for others, does she look TO the U
States for her wheat and flour and grain o
} every description Is no wheat grown II
Germanyf None in Prussia None IL
the Russian dominions None in the pro
vinces Of Turkey Will not the whea
from the Baltic and the Black Sea NEE
our wheat in that market, and would no
they undersell US I To say nothing of the
!, distance and cost of freight, until our labor
in this free and happy Republic shall be
brought down TO level with the labor Of
Russian seris, 1t was impossible 10 com.
pete with them in the Engll markets
Until our people were as poorly fed, cloth
, ed, and paid as the starving millions OF the
monarches Of Europe, living on bare
subsistence, We could not expect this boon,
! so much desired by some gentiemen, OF
selling the products Of our American labor
in foreign markets on equal terms OF com
petition with them. What does II cost to
make bushe Of wheat in Illinois, for IN
stance
! [Mr. Douglass said about thirty cents.
The gentleman from Illinois SAYS thirty
cents. That is low price: but, even
| then, il will take al least twenty five cents
, 10 get 1t to New York, and fifteen cents for
| transportation TO Liverpool. When depo
, sited on the wharf al Liverpool il costs the
shipper al least seventy cents. And now,
sir, every body knows that bushel Of
wheat from the great gran.growing coun
try Of the Baltic can be laid down on that
same wharf at Liverpool for forty cents.
Wheat was now selling in the Liverpool
market, at time when great scarcity ere.
ated demand, at fifty cents per busheL.
Are gentlemen so demented as TO hope to
compete in the British or any other foi.
eign market with men who we're compell-
cd, from the necessities Of their position,
10 labor for sixpence per day ! Ii Is ab.
| surd; so obviously so, that can scarcely
bring myself to believe tha, gentlemen are
serious IN the declarations of their hopes
about these foreign markets for our farm
/ ing productions. However this may be, !
/ hope never to see the day when wages IN
I tins free country shall come down 10 that
level. We are a totally different people
| from those who inhabii the shores Of the
Baltic and Black Seas. Our policy is TO
elerdte the laboring classes. Here we
have perfect political equality. The men
who toll in our fields and workshops are
not debased and ignorant slaves, but we'll
informed and hlgh-spiried frecmen, who
constituted, each man Tor himself, a por
ton Of the sovereignty Of the land. God
forbid that their industry should be placed
on the same level, by any force Of clrcum.
stances, with the pauper-l labor OF men who
work barely to live, and live but 10 be de
graded The contact would be destruc.
tive to American industry, and fatal TO the
spirit Of liberty itself.
Mr.. Chairman, iii argued tina, we must
reduce our tariff because England is redu
! eng hers. Il IS true that on some arti.
cles she is lowering and on some taking
of her duties. But, sir, is any fair reel.
procity proposed by England to US And
with what view has her recent policy been
dictated! Why had the duty been taken
off o! cotton : Only for the purpose Of ben.
citing her manufacturers. There was
time when England struggled with an abb.
ding hope 10 supply herself with raw cot.
| ton independently of our aid She had
made Strenuous efforts to grow cotton IN
her own East India possessions, and enter.
tanned sanguine hopes of getting it 10
Egypt Both projects failed. For a long
time she imposed high duties on the raw
material and prohibltory duties on the
manufactured article from this country
But she has discovered that she cannot do
without American cotton. She has dis
covered that instead of being subsidiary
and dependant for the manufacture OF our
raw material, we had become wholly indie
pendent OF her; and from the subordinate
condition Of COLONIAL dependant ~e have
risen into the rank Of competitor, and
have IN fact become her most formidable
rival. In the manufacture Of coarse cot
tons, built up under the policy we have
pursued, we can compete with her in the
markets Of the world. b. the abolition OF
tho duty sho has extended protection to
her own manufacture 10 this contest. And
so as to her reduction Of the duty on bread
siufis and provisions. Is any man so sim.
plo as to suppose England has done this
mere y 10 benefit as, or in consequence Of
any wild theories Of free trade Let US
mol cherish SO great and fatal deluslon.
All nations arc essentially selfish, and Of
all nations in the world England is and al.
ways has been the most so. She has ia.
ken of her duties on provisions only, be-
cause she was compelled to do it by the
necessities OF her starving population, and
that her manufacturers might continue to
draw the breath of life. The same policy
VIII induce her Ia put them on again when.
ever her interest requires it. Besides oil
these considerations Of selEnlerest, Eng
lahd IS IN most respects much in advance
oil other nations IN manufacturing skill aad
capital, and she i. in the Fortunate position
Oh beng able 10 invite others into riyaIly
w''h her without injury to her interests.
Tier poIicy has always heretofore been re.
strIctiye, bat she would be willing to.mor.
row 10 enter the list IN the irnoractjcable
scheme Of free trade with thc u,a,ll r