Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1859-02-15
own sweetness"

! fall,
"True worth. like the rose, bushes at lis
own sweetness"
A NEW ARGUMENT ON THE TARIFF QUESTION.
We call the particular attention Of our read
ers to the following paragraph in the speech o
the Hon. j. F. Dowdell of Alabama. delivered
in the House Of Representatives. on the I'd inst
Mr.. Chairman: do not intend to discuss, at
this time, the subject Of the tariff; nor t" reply
at length to the ingenious and able argument
OF the gentleman from Pennsylvania. Mir.
Morris who has just taken his scat. deny
the constitutional power Of this Government to
impose anv duty for protection. He takes The
power for granted, and cndcavorS to show. by
an able review of the past policy of this and
other countries. that a tariff for protection Is
highly expcdient; and that il not only benefits
the manufacturer. but after series Of years
will cheapen tho price Of the protected articles
to the consumers. In the course o! his remarks,
he says:
IL challenge the advocates oi Tree ;dc 10 pro lac
IA single article which hG, sd the benefit Of lr"rc-
to! for series Of wears, that las not iacii great
in price Instead OF protective duties enhancing ;,'
COS, OF the fabrics, they have everywhere, IA III
o,!ly reliable mcans of in>urinS It's abatement.
Now. Mr.. Chairman, is it not little strange
that the great agricultural and laboring cla>sc;
of this country who consume the greater part
of these protected articles, have not before this
time discovered the truth Of this proposition.
and been before Congress with petitions for
higher duties. Is il not still more strange that
the protected classes whose manufactures ar,
thus reduced in price, have been the only pee
pie who camor :or high tariffs ? Ept. an M
seer to tic eh0lle"ge 10 Mc .trie"ds ct free
( trade, Ican yir> lin F." class ci property @ p"
little ralvt, 'rhich has .Jor 'series # 9e'sf" =
ycs sir, fer. .nJty years bee" protected aga ."'
forign comDctttioa 10 the poihtofrrch;jtipf.
and has all the time, aside from temporary
Fluctuations raused by arrangements a. tie err
runcH, steatIiiy increased in price hmhdrsis per-
cent. I auude TO tie siasc property q h'
South, noe uorth 81, 900 ,o00. GOO. I, not M''
q ca in point'
/ This is what We call palpabc hit--and 4
centre shot n. that. 1t is no al capta"d'1l
stroke 1t bears full investigation, and "'a''n-
rate discussion Moreover, the argument j.
even stronger than would appear ON the first
glance If there is any reason, whatever. ior
the doctrine that protection operates to cheapc''
prices, it would apply, practically and the"rel'-
cally, with much greater force to slave proper
ty than to manufactured articles.
There is no important tluctuation in the sup
ply of slaves. Nor is there the rapid recnr-
renee of demand necessarily incident to arti'
clcs of consumption. There is nothing precar'-
Gus in the possession Of this property. Aslavc
once purchased lasts lifetime And there IS
no necessity, in cases Of salc to make a mar
gin Of price sufficient TO cover losses on other
sales, past or prospective.
Finally. slave property has an inherent pow
er of pcrpetuaton and multiplication, and the
expense of the nurture and maintenance "i =
slave is the mere offset to the gross value OF
slave property, the deduction of which a'cer'
tains the nett value in each instance. Thus
the entire expense attaching t" slave property
must be regarded as mere incident oil posses
sion, and reproduction and multiplication may
be regarded as involving no cost whatever
And this constantly recurringincrcasc secured
without expense, makes an item Q! supply
much greater than that furnished by any one
spccies of manufacturing establishments Of tho
whole country.
Make the comparison by figures. Mr.. Dow
dell estimates the present value OF slave pro-
property at s., ,0o0, 100000. SnppoSing this 10
be renewed every thirty years, and allowing
for rate Of increase somewhat inferior to That
of preceding years, We must have all average
yearly supply, during the next thirty years 10
be val,ied at about s lac, 600, 900.
Now the statistics for the year ending June
80, 1859, place the value Of product oil all our
manufactures for that year, at Sl.Ul9 lo6,'I
When we consider the immense number OF va
rious manufactures among which this Is al
yidcl. we find that the amount Of supply
Welded by any particular species ol manu'ac'
turing establishments, will fall far below tic
annual supply of slave property
Moreover, manufactures arc not, -, slave
property is, sclf.producins. Their production
requires the permanent investment "l 4 large
capital and immense outlays for raw mat''ia'
and labor.
Certainly. if the protective system Viii "pt-
rate to cheaper prices OF manufactured ai'i'
cles valued at 81. .ol9, lO6,G SIG. and produced at
an outlay of nearly $3.50, 100000 the same
system ought To operate much more slrik'''E'F
in cheapening tho price of other propert! pro-
duccd annually to the amount of $40, 'o""''
and without any outlay whatever.
Moreover, the fluctuations in the supply ana
demand of manufactured articles--ther Ire
quvntly pershablc nature-the losses and r'sSS
;,c,rrcd nj, operate 10 keep ND prices. As VIC