New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1853-02-15
THE COAsTING TRADE.

We publish this morning letter from cor
respondent in Washington, respecting the
proposition Of Mr.. Toombs TO throw open our
CoastiDg trade to foreign vessels The writer
has always been good Wing and entertains,
we doubt not, orthodox sentiments in regard
TO the Protective policy We do not agree
with him in his plan OF dealing with the OPP
ponentS Of Protection. The rule of conduct he
proposes to himself seems to us too much like
the proposition to bite ones own nose of TO
spite his neighbor. But our correspondent Ia
bors under grave Interpretations of the
commercial classes. IL is NO, generally the
shipping interest that fayors free trade, but the
importing interest, who have nothing to do
with ships but to get the lowest freghts out Of
them. There are individual exceptions, IN
dOubtedly. But the shipping interest general
ly, here as well as in England, supports the
doctrine Of Protection. But greater error
is observable in his assumption that the prop
ositOn Of Mr. TOombs bears at all upon the
privilege Of allowing the Western farmer TO
ship his breadstufls and provisions to foreign
countries in foreign bottoms. He has that
privilege now. There is no law Of our enact.
ing thar prevents him from choosing Sardin.
ian, q Danish or Jamestown ship to trans
port his crop to the foreign market. He has
the run Of all the ships in port And if be can.
not send Spanish ship to a British port, or a
British ship to aSpaDish port, with his cargo,
il is owing TO the laws of those countries and
rot to ours But practically there is DO re-
striction that amounts to anything. So far as
the foreign trade is concerned, We have really
all the benefits Of perfect free-trade in ship
ping.
Mr.. TOCmbs's proposition simply looks TO
theadmission Of foreign vessels into the par
ticipation Of the business Of carrying cargOes
coastBise. We consider il to have been
prompted by a feeling of sectional hostility.
+ The Yankees do all the coastwise carrying Of
the Southern States. And all Yankees are
deemed TO be 'AbolitiOnista' Il has therefore
long rested in the crops Of such dyspeptic
politicians as TOOmbs & Co TO get I'D of these
pestilent fellows. The SlsyOcrscy want TO
crowd them sut by getting the privilege of in
yiting the Nova Scotians and New Bruins wick.
ers in. They themselves can't compete with
the Yankees, but they fancy there are skin
fints somewhere who can, and they desire to
scare them up. This we believe to be the
whole scope of Mr.. Toombss inquiry. Itisa
very smiable enterprise, and we shan't object
to lis going ahead and finishing il up. But we
trust be vii be allowed to find his cOadiutors
among the members Of the Pierce party. 20
which we presume he now locks for aid and
comfort both in his own State and out il.
But Mr. Tombs is BY no means an original
inventor in his proposition. When Mr. Ban
croft was our Minister at the Court of st.
James, lie, under the direction Of Mr. Buchan-
an, offered TO throw open our coasting trade to
British vessels, if England would throw open
hers TO Us. But the British Government re-
fused to reciproeate, on the ground tharit was
imPracticable, with her revenue system, TO car
y. out the Arrangement without opening wide
door TO smuggling. To be sure, the offer was
En- inecnsiderate one, and no such arrangement
would have been contaminated even if the pro-