The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1858-05-12
OUR INTER STATE FREE TRADE.


nations. The Spanish empire sprang up into its once
mighty proportions upon the profits Of its commerce
with the New World. England owes her CONNER
cal supremacy in chief part to her East Indian com.
merce. She posched awhile upon the preserves of
the Spanish crown in western hemisphere, and
took her start as commercial power from these
American enterprises, which she carried on as by
stealth. She afterwards entered into competition
with the Dutch and French merchants for suprem-
acy in the East and ended by beating them fairly
out Of the field True to her vital interests, she is
now knocking rudely at the gates of China, and
is founding empire in Australia which promises
to exceed in magnitude that which she has founded
the Asatic continent. 1t is only when commerce is
free that it demonstrates its mighty constructive
power for erecting political and commercial empire.
Before there were ships, and before the art of nav-
CATION was known this less fact than it
has been subsequently. Egypt, the cradle of sci
and civilization, owed her ancient supremacy
in both to her caravan trade the deserts,
on the right and the left of her, with the bar
barians of India and Ethiopia 1t while COM
merce had it's transit on land, that Babylon and
Nineveh, Memphis and Jerusalem, seats of
empire and wealth. It was after commerce had
sought transit water that we heard of Tyre and
Carthage, Alexandria, Venice, Genoa Amsterdam
and London. Trace her through all her history,
and we shall find that, whether transporting her
wares over land or over water, commerce has
wrought her greatest wonders where she has been
freest from the shackles Of duties and mposts And
it is for this that commercial nations have
always derived their greatest prosperity from trade
with uncivilized peoples who know not the trick of
tariffs 1t is only when civilized nations have to
deal with each other that we find restriction opposed
to restriction duty levied against duty mutual penu
robustness enforced and mutual ponury resulting.
Heretofore distinctive feature of the prosperity
wealth and power resulting from commerce has
been its concentration in large seaboard centres Of
trade its development elsewhere being only Incl
dent and ancillary to its mammoth growth in these
favored localities. But thanks to railroads canals
river steamboats,, aud other modern inventions for
qaick locomotion and the rapid transmission OF III
tellgence, this concentration Of commerce has been
greatly relaxed, great commercial cities have grown
up inland and commerce has spread its fruits broad
cast over the land. t"a w
| We the material prosperity and marvellous
material development of our country to the freedom
of commerce between the States. Ii the trade of
State with uncivilized barbarans, such as that of
England is with India, and that Of Spain once was
with the New World, could produce such results as
have been in the of those countries, be-
cause their trade free, what might not expect
| from an untrammelled trade between States, great
by their civilization, by their knowledge and skill
in the arts by their universal industry and enter
prise? Precisely what might thus expect has
been realized iii the industrial growth of our own FAM
lily Of States The trade between the States Of our
confederacy, which occupies an area large as En
rope, has been Free from the beginning 1t has not
been cramped by cmbargoes The industry of indi
viduals has not been restricted to the petty and
sluggish demands of their confined localities but
has been stimulated and expanded to meet the wants
Of whole continent. Enterprise has not been con
demned like Gagged eagle to anguish and die in
duress, but allowed to take wing and tocourse the
ompyrean in freedom, gaining vigor as it goes. we
have seen the result of this free policy in the rapid
development Of our old and in the miraculous growth
of our States. 8a fHtl .sd e5l.
Does any one suppose that new States would be
founded each year in the West and could grow up
to BIO the equals in population and wealth of their
eastern associates in a decade, if their trade and
communication with the old States and with each
other were subjected to those restraints which i'm
posed by European governments upon the trade and
communication between their respective jurisdc-
tions2 We are too much in the habit of attrbuting
the growth Of country to the superiority of our
race and the supposed excellence of our social
institutions, There is, doubtless much truth in this
assumption and good foundation for this pardonable
national vanity. But it seems to that our mate
rial prosperity is due in chief part to causes addi-
tona to these above all to the absence, in the in
ercourse of our States and sections with each other
of political restraints and burdens upon enterprise
and commerce like those which have subdued the
spirit bent the necks and crushed out the energies
of so many of the nations of the Old World of whose
expressions and sorrows we read in history
1t is far from our purpose to preach universal
crusade for free trade. Many ages will probably
elapse before tho policy can secure general favor
among nations Indeed, the time of it's general adop
ton viii probably never como at all. Our object
is simply to felicitate osn country upon the
early adoption and continual practice of policy
which has been the chief agency in producing the
wonderful development we have achieved. The
value Of the Union arises chiefly from this free trade