New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1851-08-05


mills enough in the country to supply the
present number of people we say that IN
the richest part of New-Iork there IS an
abundance of unused water-pOwer sufficient
for all the purposes Of dense population,
such as the fertility of the soil could sup
port: TIE Post replies that there IS water
power in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania,
and that for that reason ours cannot be used.
On the value Of such reasoning we viii not
venture an opinion
The idea of community mainly provld-
Ing fox its own wants. consuming Its own
products, and buying from abroad only such
articles as Nature does not allow It to pro-
duce at home, is an idea foreign to the Wis
dom of the Free Traders. They can con-
ceivc of nothing but some one district mo-
nopolzing this or that branch of industry
for whole country or whole globe. No
alteration in the tariff is likely to concen-
trate the manufacture Of wooden goods in
Western New York, the Post tells rs II
does not once imagine that the fabrication
of such goods should be carried on all over
the country, each district producing for it.
self; but it must crowd all the wooden spin
ners and weavers, and Overs and dressers
into one great Leeds or ElbGuf, there to
drag out miserable existence themselves,
while sending their cloths to market at the
antipodes SO, too with regard to cotton
mills. it SAYS: There are already enough
of them in the country to make all the mus
Inns and calicoes that can be wanted but
it does not enter into the mind of this Doc
tor of Political Economy that, with growth
of population and prosperity which Is per-
fecty possible to this State. the regions IN
question would soon set themselves free from
the monopoly which foreign mills, whether
in New or Old Eng land. now exercise over
them, and would begin to make their OWN
cottons for themselves.
The manufacture of Gotten and WOODEN
goods also furnishes an Illustration IN re-
gard to other branches of manufacturing in
dustry. A suitable tariff would contribute
to distribute them throughout the country in
their natural proportions. The problem Is so
to combine the persons pursuing the various
arts and trades with the agricultural popula-
ton, that the labOrers in each pursuit may
exchange their products for those OF the
others to the greatest possible advantage,
not only to themselves, but to the soil, which
should be continually improved and not eX-
hausted by the service it Is made to per-
form In order to this, numerous pop
ulation is needed, not centralized in dense
masses, but thckly distributed over the sur
face of the land. Great commercial cities,
with numerous trading population, are the
logical result of the policy advocated by the
Free Traders compact, productive rural
population, with the greater part Gifts COM
merce done at home, is the logical result
of the policy advocated by the Protection
lists For such people can only be formed
bv shutting out the disturbing influence of
the British manufacturing and trading mono
poly, so that things can follow their natural
course Then every branch of industry
would take new and more vigorous start
Instead Off importing manufactures, we should
import men, that is to say, talent and skill to
produce wealth, and stomachs and backs to
consume food and clothing. Instead of go
ing beyond our State to settle on the wild
lands of the remote West to raise grain,
they would stop here near our canals and
railroads, some TO work at trades, and others
TO drain and till the rich lands which would
then be brought into use, because there would
be demand on the spot for their products.
The operation of the present tariff IS to
dispense the population, and drive them
away from the States already settled to the
wild country beyond As long rs we buy
articles OF first necessity, like cotton,
wooden, and iron manufactures, at British
workshops, SO long our farmers must raise
grain to pay for them. and must have large
farms for that purpose. They are also pre-
vented from bringing the richest lands into
cultivation, because they are difficult to
drain and clear, and are not well adapted to
grow grain. Moreover, the process of
raising grain and sending it abroad for con-
sumption Impoyerishes the most fruitful
soil, and reduces the best capital of the
country The result may already be seen
in the Genesee region, where the productive
power OF the land mas suffered great de-
cline, and IS still diminishing. All these
things compel the scattering of population