Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1848-01-12
WHOLE NUMBER 1877.

I
restricted in its products to n single marked,
| abandoning the profits Of the exchanges
with other nations. II is thus clear thlt
tax or restriction on commerce is re-
strction or tax upon labor, and falls chiefly
upon the wages OF labor; and it will soon
become an automatic truth, that aliriaIifis
are tax upon labor and wages. One Of
the most common errors is 10 compare our
imports, exclusive Of specie, with our do
meslic exports, exclusive Of specie; nnd lf
there are more such imports than exports in
any one year, snch balance oftraGe is set
down as SO much lost y foreign commerce
TO the nation. single fact proves the
| faiiacy of this position. From 1890 10 tbs
present period. our imports, exclusive Of
specie, have exceeded our, domestic 7es.
fports, exclusive of specie, several hua. !
dfed nifFiions eEs dollars; yet our wealth
has increased with a, rapidi,y iunprecedent- I
ed The theory, therefore, rs disproved by
the facts; and the reasons are obvious. Of
which the following are among the mos,
prominent: The products of our wE,ale
fisheries extracted by our hardy seamen
from the ocean, AMI most clearly one of
the great products Of American industry,
when imported hero are iaciuded in the list
oI Our foreign imports, and go to swell sev.
eral millions Of dollars every year this a.
legged uniavorable balance. The earnings
OF freight in foreign commerce by our
crews and vessels are not brought into the
account, or often againt US. when invested
IN foreign imports. The profits CT ex.
changing oar imports, Or ofsales of foreign
products, do not appear in the balance, or,
ifso, to q very Limited extent, or often
against liz. Thus an American merchant
ships from Boston cargo Of ice during
the winter, valued at that time, as an ex-
port, at very small sum. He sends it TO
Calcutta, and sells it OF an advance Of per-
haps thousands per cent. Tie procc eds
he may invest there in the purchase OF
goods, which he can bring to Liverpool,
and probably sell at profit OF twenty or
thirty per cent; and the aggregate profits
realized at Calcutta and Liverpool he
takes home in specie, or in imports, or in a
bill Of exchange, which he probably sells
at a premium for remittance. Yet these
profits may never appear, or may even
appear rs an unfavornble balonce under
the head OF imports Upon the same fall
iacious theory, If, instead of purchasing
millions OF ioreign fnbrics from the profits
OF foreign commerce, such valuable foreign
articles were presented gratuitously to ths
American merchant. and brought by him in.
to the country. they would swell this alleged
untavorable balance Of trade To sum no
tho result, rs proved by -,he-tnbles or The
Treasury, it appears that, if the argumen.
tatlon was in the same ratio as during ths
last tscal year since the repeal Of the Tariff
OF 1872, our domestic exports in lS49
would exceed those of any other nation:
and our imports in 1851, our specie in
lSo9, Our tonnage in 1851, md if our rev.
enue Augmented in the same ratio in sue
ceedlng years as in the year endin on tho
lst of December, l547, compared with tie
year, our revenue from duties in
1854 would exceed that Of any other nn.
ION from the same source. Ii is not con.
ended, great as the future augmentation
hay be us to imports or exports, tonnage,
specie, and revenue, that the advance will
De SO rapid as it was this year, when, with
he shackles stricken from commerce, we
sounded forward at such wonderful raie
If progress. Bot that the increase under
ow duties ia a series of years will be regu.
ar, rapid, and progressive, is not doubled.
Before the repeal of the British corn-laws,
he argument here for high duties was as
! measure OF retaliation, by closing our
markets against British fabrics, to force her
D open her ports TO our breadstuffs and
rovisions. Well, she has thus opened her
orts freely, and invites the exchange; and
ct it is still commended that we ought to y
eep out her fabrics by high duties. and OF
curse induce her TO re-establish her corn.
Avs.
This is new commercial era, and there
re many causes combining at this time to
ugment trade among nations-the reduc.
on or repeal OF duties, the construction of
aliroads and canals to bring the products
nd fabrics OF all nations from tho interior
D the seaboard, with ocean steamers in ad.
ltion 10 sailing vessels to facilitate and
asten the exchange, aud with China, con-
aiming nearly enethird of The population
the globe, brought at last within the u,
ange OF liberal exchanges at low duties.
'ur canals and railroads, bringing our own
roducis and fabrics from the interior to
le seaboard or lakes and rivers of the
est, the points Of distribution for domestic
assumption, as we'll MS for shipment in :
zchange for the fabrics of oiher nations,
re OF great and increasing Importance.
|iihout these roads and canals, there are
cry many points where coal, and lime,
I'd iron, and other materials, could not be
ought together for profitable use in the
me establishment; there are many farms
I'd manufactures whose products and
brics could never have found market,
I'd the coal and iron ofPennsylyania and
other States must have remained almost
useless treasure. This, in itself, is
eat change in favor Of our domestic in.
stry, and is a far better protection 10 all
3 products and fabrics of American labor H
m any restriction which may be imposed q
high tariffs, and, in truth, dispensss
en- with the pretext for any such policy,
llch, when the. internal communication
brought our own products or fabric.
on the seaboard, would arrest their ex-
ange there for the productions of the -
'r.d. The doctrine that we cannot en-.
unter foreign cargoes in fair and open
tnpetition, is as erroneous and as iniuri.