The Alleghanian. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1859-1865, 1860-06-28

ployed, and that it would have been pur-
chased by agricultural and other produo-
tio2s, the fruit likewise of unemployed
labor and capital. Thus the wealth of the
would have been increased to twice the
amount that would have been spent for the
home article; and while we save 500, ,000,-
OOO on one hand, we lose SS00,000,0 900,
on the other. In the crisis of 1857, the
country lost by the fall of prices, without
considering the depressions in real estate,
about one thousand millions of dollars-a
disaster which would have been utterly
impossible, if we had been in possession Of
the actual values which the home manu-
tacture Of the single article of iron would
have called into existence. But it would
be very inadequate conception of the real
advantages of the home production of the
articles | have mentioned, to confine them
to the simple values thus produced. The
reproductive powers Of these investments
should be taken in the account, as every
dollar expended in the development of our
natural resources multiplies itself ad iiafn-
ttHm.
Reckless Of our best interests, we have
Co lJlI.'i SttiN ItilJOi-
ers to make our iron; we have employed
British manufacturers TO clothe them, and
British farmers to feed them with the
produce Of their soil, excepting the trivial
amount Of breadstufs which they take
from us; and, what makes it still worse,
we have purchased on credit, because,
when gold fails, we send our bonds, and
other evidences of Indebtedness, in ex-
change, at ruinous rates Of discount.
But, sir, is il true that, with all this
immense sacrifice Of our home capital, we
procure our iron cheaper from abroad
than if, by adopting a protective policy,
we should enable our own people to make
it 1t Is fact which should be con-
stantly borne in mind, that the manufac-
turing industry of this country must look
to men of moderate means for its devel-
opmeut-the men Of enterprise-being
Us class, in such circumstances. Ia
nine cases out Of ten, by the time the
furnace is built, the mines Of coal and ore
purchased, the owner finds his available
capital exhausted, aud~a debt upon his
shoulders. His neighbor opens another
mine, builds his furnace, and completes
with him in the supply of those who
purchase. Their first returns Of profit
are rc-invested on the spot, in putting
their mines in a better working condition
so as to make the same or a greater guam
tity Of iron with less labor; the product is
at once cheapened to the consumer
Again: the profits are invested in a rail
road that will connect the furnace with
! the mines, and at once a large reduction
in the cost Of transporting is effected. SO
hot la-. l
and ore can be transported with less labor
And they are again able to enter the mar
/ ket on terms more fl,vorabl le to the consul
mer. Thus by competition they are con-
stantly approaching the maximum of pro-
duction by the minimum of labor-that
! point where the shares in the value pro-
duced, of all directly or indirectly contrib
uting, are increased to the highest degree;
| where the laborer has the most to spend
! for everything for which man spends
! his capital
| When production is small, the share of
! the laborer is small and it increases Just
| as the production increases. When small,
! it is dear product to him and as he
! gets more iron for his labor he gets it
! cheaper. When employed, it is cheap to
/ him. When unemployed, it is dear,
whether the market price in money be
high or low. And just as it is dear or
/ cheap to the men who make it, is it dear
or cheap to the men who buy it and use it.
And as it is by employment that men are
able to buy, the policy which gives to H.
Dor the greatest employment produces
the greatest good. This would be the ac-
tual condition Of our people, if we could
obtain exemption from auyair competi-
ton.
The early policy of Great Britain in
augurated u protective system Of laws
which absolutely prohibited the entrance
of all foreign fabrics that could possibly
rival her own and if she had gone fur
ther, 1t had been well, not only for her
own people, but for all others Not con-
tent with policy which, but for the un-
equal distribution Of lands, and the checks
TO its improvement in the system o. titles
by which it was chiefly held, would have
created a wholesome employment of her
labor in diverse pursuit, proportioned to
the needs of her population, she has, with
4 sedulous selfshness, devoted the ener-
9ies Of the empire to making her facto-
rics the "workshops Of the world
TO BE CONCLUDED NEXT WEEK
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