Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1859-05-13
a1OIititaI.
MIR. CAREY ON THE CONDITION OF
THE COUNTRY

CAREY in public dinner on Wednesday ev-
cning last, on occasion of his approaching
departure for Europe. His health having
been drank, Mr.. Carey addressed the compa-
ny as follows;
For the kindness you have this day mani
Tested towards me- am. my friends, most
deeply grateful. TO be the guest Of such
men as are here assembled is an honor greatly,
as fear, beyond my deserts and | should,
assurodly, not have ventured TO accept it,
had not felt that there was in it something
more than honor to man--had not seen
that behind me there lay great principle
which, through me, you desired to honor--a
principle to whose triumph among ourselves
we must look alone for the continued MAIN
tenanco Of our institutions.
For the same reason, gentlemen, and for
that alone have | recently accepted the invi-
tation Of other most kind friends in the north
ern portion of the State. NY visit there was
most gratifying one for to it / am indebted
for higher appreciation than ever before
had had of the powers of our people, and of
the wonders that can be effected when actv-
ity, energy and intellect are brought to work
in harmony with each other Had needed
further evidence of the truth of the great
principle to which have referred. should
there have found it.
Oui system, gentlemen, is based upon the
idea Of eevating the laborer. by developing
his various faculties. and thus fitting him for
the position for which he was intended-that
of master Of nature and master of himself.
How can this be done History answers
this question-showing us that man has every
where become free as industry has become
diversi6ed-as the producer and the consumer
have come together-as the powers of the
earth have become doveloped-as agriculture
has become a science-and as men have been
more enabled to combine their exertions, each
with every other.
The British colonial system looked to pre-
venting such combination, and therefore was
it that the men Of &c were driven TO effect
revolution. That accomplished, it soon be-
came obvious that political independence could
not be maintained in the face of industrial
dependence-that we needed a government
capable of affording protection against the
British system-and hence it was that the
men Of the Revolution were found again CO.
operating in the formation of our Con-
stitution. Washington's Administration fol-
lowed in the same direction-giving to the
world document in defense of the protective
system, more luminous than any other that
had then appeared So, too, was it with the
Administration of the elder Adams. Jeffer-
son died full believer in the necessity of
governmental interference for the promotion
of industrial independence Madison dem
onstrated the constitutionalty and the expe-
diency of such interference. Madison and
the younger Adams gladly co-operated in the
passage of the tariff acts of 1924 and 1928.
Jackson showed, in his admirable letter to
DIR. Coleman, that protection to the manuiac-
turer was in reality protection to the farmer
and the planter. Thus, for half century,
as we see, the doctrines of the Revolution
continued to be maintained-the result ex-
hibiting itself in growth of wealth, strength
and power, such as had never before been
seen The close of that period showed us to
tho world as the great and model Republic
free from debt, and realizing all the anticipa-
tons, and all the hopes Of the patriots of
both the eastern and western worlds
Thenceforward, however, the course of
events has proved to be widely different
Abandoning the doctrines of our Revolutions
ary Fathers, Mr.. Van Buren, proclaimed to
the world that the people had been accustom-
ed to expect too much from the government
it being their duty to protect themselves
and that Of the men charged with the admin
istraton of their affairs to act on the princi-
pie. hdsser faire. From that time to the
present, now more than twenty years, with
single brief and brilliant exception, such has
been the policy of the General Government
the people having been left to protect them
selves as best they might against those great
capitals which, as British official documents
inform us, now constitute the most potent
instruments of warfare against the competing
industry of other nations.
In that time our population has doubled
but have we increased in like proportion in
wealth, strength and power; Have our peo-
pie become more moral and more frees Has
labor acquired power over capital Have
sectional jealousies tended to disappear Has
confidence in the maintenance Of our institu-
tions been extended and increased Have
we acquired greater influence among the ma
tons of the world? Has the administration
of our affairs become more pure
To all these questions, unhappiy, we OBJ
tain negative reply. Our merohantle ma
rino has increased in size, but its brilliant
reputation has passed away Our ships of
wal uhNt utNoint nluIt NUMEROUS, DuL ulscOFu
reigns throughout our fleets. Our railroads
and our telegraphs count in miles by tens of
thousands, but the power to maintain inte. nal
commerce declines as our population becomes
more scattered. Our territory has increased,
but its productive power has steadily dimn-
ished. We have acquired the mines Of Cali
fornia, but the rate of interest paid by tho
men who labor has grown, when it should |
have declined. We have more millionaires, !
but the paupors Of a single State now count (
by hundreds of thousands Our schools and |
have grown in number and in size,
but crime has increased in a proportion that
is greatly larger. States have become more
numerous, but sectional ealousios have grown
to such an extent as to render it doubtful if !
the Union can be maintained. The people |
have become less free-the nation has lost
its power to affect the movements of the |
confidence in the perpetuity Of
our institutions has almost disappeared.
Why are all these things; Because the 1
government has abandoned the policy of the |
men who made the revolution Because it |
has failed to see that in protecting the people
1t was, in fact, protecting itself Because it
has abandoned them to the "tender mercies'
Of foreign traders and manufacturers Be-
cause its 1Olicy looks 10 the exhaustion of the |