The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1852-06-23
NUMBER 9.

:
=" The manufacture Of corn and hay into
pork and beef, butter, cheese, and lard, do
clines daily, and the value of exports from tho
West to the East has fallen from S62 per ton
in 1886 to $40 per ton in 1861.
ave have thus diminished the market for
cotton and have placed ourselves under the
necessity for exporting more, the consequence
of which is seen in the fact that il has fallen
even below the revenue tariff Of 1910, ~
then the lowest that had ever been known
with certainty of great further decline,
should the crops prove large.
We have diminished the domestic market
for food to be consumed by the growers OF
, wool and of hemp, and the producers fcloth
and of iron, coal and lead, and that diminu-
tion cannot be estimated at less than fifty mil
lions of dollars per nnnum and yet our abil-
ity to supply food to the world declines from
year to year, as the manufacture of corn and
hay into pork, beet, butter, cheese, and lard
declines, and as we become more dependent
upon foreign nations for wool and hemp, lead,
cloth, and iron.
The import Of fish now exceeds the cx-
port, that of rice has fallen in both quantity
and price, and that of naval stores has in
creased in quantity willie it has declined In
amount"
There is another question that lies
back, and stretches on far beyond all
these: What will be the effect of the rev.
! cnue system on the interests Of agricul-
ture7 That is, and ought TO be, aud al.
ways will be- the leading interest of this
country. If we we're shut upin con-
tracted islam d, the mercantile, manufac.
turing. and m aritime interests might pre-
dominate bnt in a country stretching
from zone TO zone, and from ocean to O.
cean, we ought to ask what will contrib.
ute most to the prosperity of the great
mass. who own and till the soil Are the
men of this nation to be engaged in dig
gng gold, in raising cotton, and woodland
grain, and pork with which to pay for tho
manufactures of the Old World II
We had not the natural power, or the ma
terials or the skill, there would be ne
cessity for this But when there is scat
tered all over the land an abundance Of
gold and silver, Of iron and copper, and
lead, and every other metal necessary for
the use of man when we have all the cl
ements of natural and physical, and po-
litical. and mental power, it would seem
as if the Creator, in his works and prov
idence. had designed to furnish one ma
. tion with the means of entire indepen-
dence Shall we use the IN cans or cast.
ing reproach on our Creator for making
these needless deposites shall we follow .
system sure to render us as dependent ss
if we were colonial vassals tramping over
barren land 1t just as certain as if
declared by Omnisciencc-and the evil
) dence is more tangible because it appeals
/, to the senses-that, under our present
system, our leading manufactures cannot
, lire When our establishments are
crushed, our laborcrs are scattered, and
our skilled hands have forgotten their
cunning the augmented prices of Brit
ish manufactures will bring us to our
senses know the ready answer of tho
gentleman frcm Massachusetts, -
When that time comes we will go. to
manufacturing again" Who will do
thatl Who will reft his shattered ships,
and put sea on the faith of a Government
that has left him a prey to every foreign
spoilerl Who, in this or the gcner-
alton to come, will invest his property or
expend hi, labor on the pledge of .
Government that saw him or his fathers
dying by slow tortures, and would not
lift hand to help him
will now introduce som, facts to
show the effect of our present system on
1 agriculture and l will say, frankly, in
f advance, that all facts, gathered by the
= gentleman from Massachusetts, or myself,
in a short portion of time. though mould
5 ed into the imposing form of tables, are
very liable to msead A philosopher
+, who clearly sees one fully-developed fact,
/ may be prepared to announce law Of ma
D ture; but in political economy it is not
, so that isolated fact may arise from q
> peculiar condition in the shiftings of hu,
man affairs But the facts now before
t us, arising under our present system, arc
f. those on which we are compelled to make
; up our conclusions; and say. candidly,
that they are conclusion to which / should
have come by reasoning in advance of OK
pcricncc
My conclusion is, that our increasing
/, importation of foreign manufactures does
not increase our export ofthe produce Of
t agriculture the reverse of thisseems to
be the case
In ls45 '46. under the tariff Of 1912,
food of all kinds exported to Great
Bruian. was $40 392.239 In the next
year. during the famine, it was s27.si3,-
9 100 In the last year it was ss,l0425S.
5 In that year we exported s2,2s7, ,776 less
+ than in 1916
The export of our produce abroad in
+ 1871 '42, was sl4.565, ,037 in is45 'i6,
4 it was s2i, SIS. 45s; that Of 1850 81,
4 was s2l967, ,ls9 Increase from is4l.
:. 'l2 to 1s45 'i6, was Sl0,0SS,4al, de.
n crease from 1915 46 to 1850 '5l, was
s26Sl, 269.
+ In four years, under the tariff of ls42.
/. our export of food run mp sl7, 900 000
c under the tariff Of 1876. it run down
n $4,000 600 and this whilo population
r was increasing five millions, and there
was vast increase of titled land and pro.
/ duce. 4 corresponding effect is seen
f at home, The receipt Of American pro-
g duce on the Hudson in lsi3, was As, 900
!; tons in 1876, it was $4,000 tons-afi in.
l crease of $4,000 tons, In ls4s. it was
d 20 900 tons; in 1851 j. was $4,000 tons
/ "A decrease of 10000 tons-this is iu
9 the last three years of each system. Our
wheat is selling lower than it did years
Z since and the quantity sent to market is
less than in iSi5. We are sending less
d abroad, using less by our manufacturers
: at home f.. ...a t.-.-... ....fg
d 1t was supposed, when the present sys-
; TEN went into operation. that the