The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-03-26

on an average, are not receiving fifty cents DC
in order that the manufacturers Of iron NAV
able TO get one dollar per day. Stripped Of al
humbug, this ia the naked proposition before us
Will any one affirm its justicc' When the,
consent to receive only the same rate of wage
as the laborers of the Union generally obtain
they will be employed. The gentleman from Penn
sylvania intimatcs that they will not consen
| to this, and he asks how arc we TO get along !
the iron business of the country should stop. Bu
the gentleman might have gone further and de
mandcd with additional emphasis what is to be
come Of Us If the farmers Of the country should
England farmer. who is receiving seventy fv,
cents per bushel for his corn that the price wouIc
be brought down to fifty cents, he would probabIy !
tell You that he would be ruined, and would have
to quit the business Those in another part of the
country who are accustomed to receive fifty cent,
per bushel, would be equally alarmed at tho pro
spect Of getting only twenty. five cents. Yet we
know, SIR that there are parts of the Union where
corn 10 made and sold at only ten cents per bushe
These people continue the business because thev
cannot do as well at any thing else. They prose.
cute their patient industry. and do not raise great
hue and cry. and send swarms of lobby mem bcrs
to induce us to tax other interests for their benefit
Nor Is it any thing to the purpose to tell us that
failures have occurred there. The same thing il
constantly happening with merchants. farmers,
and other classes. In fact. the higher the profits
IN any kind OF business, the greater the rush TO It
OF wild adventurers, and the more numerous the
failures Why, sir. If our tariff repealed en-
of iron made in the United States A portion of
our population would still find it to be their inter
est to continue in the business and would soon he
content with the same rate Of wages that the rest
OF our laborers are getting. 1t is possible that
Pennsylvania will in that event see some of her
operatives removing from time to time to the fresb
and fertile lands of the West. She might not show
increase in her population in the next ten wears
of than thirty per cent, but she would still
continue to increase fast as several of the old
States have been doing.
The condition OF Massachusetts,, as respects her
cotton manufactures, resembles that of Pcnnsylya-
mia. There has been there an excessive accilmr.
lation of capital and labor, in this and some other
branches OF business and she is now SUFFERING from
like causes. Is it not better upon the whole that
| she and Pennsylvania, when their whole capacity
for production is considered, both agricultural and
manufacturing, should make up their minds 70 see
portion OF their people emigrate, rather than at
tempt to detoin them by high wages which can
be maintained only by highly artificial system
a system, too, which imposes greater burdens on
other sections than benefits on themselves. The
competition of foreign fabrics is not the sole causc
of the present suffering Of Massachusetts. The
high price of the raw material, cotton at this
time, is perhaps the main element of her distress
There ia another reason, however, which ought
not to be overlooked. mean the growing cn,n !,
petition OF the southern States. This is q cause
which is rapidly becoming stronger and which
the legislation Of this Government cannot materi
ally check. would direct your attention to North
Carolina. because know more about her a nd what
che contains. must first, however, make a pass-
ing remark with reference to coal and ron lest il
should be supposed that am Indifferent to the in
terests Of Pennsylvania, because my State has
not similar advantages Iron ore is not only gen.
orally and abundantly difIuscd throughout the
State, but she has also two largo deposits of coal
The fields OF this mineral, too, fortunately de-
posted on the two rivers most easily rendered
navigable of any in the State, and emptying into
the ocean within her own limits. The existence of
the coal on Deep river has been known for half a
century, but until recently it was not supposed
\ hat hx, tron rAn1 r ~.
markets of the world. The operations, however. OF
the Cape Fear and Deep River Navigation Com
pany, have within the last twelve months rendered
| il certain that this coal can easily and cheaplv
| bc transported 10 the ocean. The field il cxten-
sive, and cannot be exhausted for centuries II
contains in abundance the best varieties of highly
bituminous, semi -bituminous, and anthracite
coal. Capitalists from Massachusetts and New
York, who have recently acquired interests in
the mines, assure me, with the utmost conf
dence, that they will be able to mine this COAL and
transport it to tide water, at cost of less than
per ton. It costs more than s 3 per ton to trans.
port the Goals of Maryland and Pennsylvania 10 the
sea. The stream, with the locks already nearly
completed, is capable of conveying in steamboats,
therefore, to be able to supply with the best kinds
of coal, the cities of the Atlantic coast and the
steamers of the ocean. There are, also, in some
places, lying Immediately above the COAL large de-
posits Of rich iron ore. In the production Of iron
either free slave labor be obtained at forty to
fifty cents per day. This labor, when employed in
raising coal and iron in the vicinity of Pitts
burg, in Allegheny county, costs not less than q |
per day. Provisions also are abundant and cheap.
When, therefore, in the above stated, the la
Dor employed in making ton of iron in Pennsyl-
vania costs $45 the same would cost with US only
$22 so. We might, therefore, when the Pennsyi-
vanians were making nothing, realize profit oi
$22 per ton.
do not, however, regard the calculations Of
the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. HAMp-
that We should be able to produce iron cheaper
than they doing in his State. The iron, too,
when thus made. could be transported to the ocean
for less than S per ton. 1t is obvious, therefore,
that our State might put forward demand for
high protective duties, with much show Of JUS
tce as Pennsylvania does. ] trust, however, that
her people will be satisfied with the existing rates.
has, also. not less than fifty cotton factories most
of which have been built within the last four
or five years. think she is in advance of any of
the southern States in this branch Of business.
Whether am right or not in entertaining this
opinion, the returns of the late census, when COM
plcted, will decide. II is believed by many that the
South cannot compete successfully with the North
in manufacturing, it being supposed that we have
not the capital to spare to such investments. Lea
US look for moment at the clements Of manufac.
turing capital. An important one is water power
and North Carolina has moro than enough of this
to all the machinery now existing in tho
world. 1t may be had, too, in most of the iocali.
ties, at price merely nominal. Timber, stone,
and all building materials, also equally cheap.
North Carolina though not great cotton State,
also produces five times much, probably, as sho
or any one southern State is now manufacturing
She can, too, obtain easily an additional supply
from South Carolina, by means Of three railroads
connecting her with that State. The cotton now
produced by her is cheaper. probably, by one cent
in the pound, than the same article at Charleston.
II is also cheaper at Charleston by three fourths Of
cent, than in New England. Our manuiactur-
ing establishments, therefore, can obtain the raw
material at nearly two cents in the pound cheaper
than the New England establishments. Provisions
are also only half as dear with u.s. Labor is like
wise one hundred per cent. cheaper. In the upper
parts of the State, the labor of either free
slave, including board clothing, &c., can be OBJ
taincd for from $lI0 to S l20 per annum. X costs
at least twice that sum in New England.
The difference in the cost Of female labor
whether free slave, is even greater. As we have
now popu.ation of nearly one million, we might
advance to great extent IN manufacturing before
materially increased the wages of labor. We
have, therefore, all the elements Of turing
capital much cheaper than the North, except the
machinery, and this we should be able to obtain at
the same price. There is sufficient surplus capi-
tai among US for its purchase. Two years since,