, 1863-06-23
NIB. RUGGLES' SPEECH
At TIE
CHICAGO CANAL CONVENTION,
Fiscal Effects Of CheaPenlng the Ttansi
Of Food

| w AAGs
Fiscal Effects of Cheapen1ng the Tran.i
Of Food
JUNE Sd. 1868.
On the second day Of the Convention, and
shortly before 1t adjourned, Mr. s. B. RUG
GILES, Commissioner and Delegate from the
| State Of New York, offered the following res
! olution:
Resofrea, That this Convention is OF opinion
that the increased stimulus to be given to arcul-
ture and commerce, by eheapening he transporta;
enlarged canals, will 80 far increase the foreign
/ commerce Of the country, that tho import duties
on the return cargocs will ve r exceed the intes-
a s fand for its rapid reimbursement.
| In asking the attention OF the Convention,
| for few moments, to the subject Of this reso-
luton, Mir. Rugg1es expressed bis fears that
mht Rohs6y interfere ado 1h II s me altnes 5shes
to listen to political haraugues On the rebel
| lion aud similar topics. He would only claim
for the resolution the comparative merit Of be-
ing somewhat kindred to the objects for which
| this Canal Convention was assembled, and
would seek to enforce it's passage only by
QflEI EAAlEl11EuA u u 4QH cA4AEAI 4H~tos
Much had been said as to the merits and
necessities Of various channels Of national in
tercommunication, having for their object
| the military defence Of the countr:-, md also
the cheapening Of the transit Of food to the
seaboard, but, as yet, little or nothing, as to
their probable cost, or the means possessed BY
| the nation for reimbursing It.
:. He should not seek on this occasion to sum
up the various elements Of National and fiscal
strength to be called into being by the con-
struction Of the proposed Works--and espe-
cIally and manifestly In the erection and iu-
communities, rich In every species Of prop
erty and business, able to contribute nharnlly
| in taxes aud impOsts to the support Of the
Government, but combining himself within
| the nartoWest bounds, be should seek to
specify and put hls finger precisely on the very
dlately pay tor the proposed works, and which
would be, moreover, tu1nised by the works
| themselves. =,
For this purpose he begged to repeat, and
he stood ready to prove the truth Of hepropo-
sition contained Ii the resolutions now under
| consideration, to Wit: "that the import duties
"to be paid fnto the national treasuTy upon the
"4stu1n ca1yoes ratTchaaed 1y The additional
"dmouut Of food to b exported, oM not only
"e1eeed The Interest On The cost Of all ths seorfs
"needed to secu4e that increase, but zciN pro
"ducs fund for It's rapid reinforcement"
! know not, said Mr. Rugg1es, how to state
this proposition more plaln1y or precisely,
nor can believe TINT there can be found
in al this assemblage single individual SO
| dull or 80 prejudiced, Us not to see and admit
now rise and show himself Let him deny, if
| he can, or dare, that every thousand dollars
worth Of food exported to Europe will there
purchase its equivalent thousand dollars
| worth Of foreign products In exchange, and
that this return sarge vii Pay into or m.
average duty Of at least thirty per cent, or
| three hundred dollars, and TINT. too, in gold.
| I pause, said Mr. r., for an ansMer. Docs
no one deny 1T Can no one deny It? In
| discharging the official duty committed to me
5y my st nfsa hare Il mFeRSSsay pronounced es
where, to eminent legislators and statesmen,
and hive earnestly besought an answer, rs do
now and here, from you Or any Of you. Ineror
! yet found the man to deny the proposition.
Some, It is true, seeking to eVade It's force,
country was at war, and had no money but
for war; that 1t really could not afford the
| mems even to enrich itself us If period Of
war and Invish expenditure was not the very
time and the very reason for Iep1enish1og, to
As we'll might the farmer refuse to SOW his
land or seek for q crop because one Of his
SONS had gone to the war. Political phlloso.
piers have also been found SO deeply lmbued
NTH the distractions OF the Southern school,
just now little ont Of vogue, as to deny the
to fill the national treasury and re-fnVlgorate
the national strength; while others again, In
spirit of mean and narrow sectionality, have
thought It patriotic to excite local jealouslcs
against the proposed highways for the nation
al c. mmerce rs tending to lessen the ya1ue Of
existing channels In other localities. and have
especially asserted the implety Of attempting
to compete with the Mississippi as the stream
specially designed for our internal trade BY God
himself. But, I repent, not one Of them has
simple fact, that every thousand dollars ex-
ported In food will virtually bring back, d.
rectly or Indirectly, another Thousand dollars
on which three hundred dollars Of duty will
be paid to the nation In gold.
Fellow citizens Of this fertile aud mighty
West! Need say, for do you not already
know, that 1t is you and you only, who now
| flscally support the Government Of this Amer
lean Union! For is it not yoa, and only you,
who now practically furnish rs ths products for
| Ing imports that golden stream Of duties by
| which alone the public credit is now support
| cd, in this hour Of effort and struggley The
| time was when the cotton oftta South contrib
| Its day has posed, at least for season. Food
| has taken its place. Our foreign exports now
consist almost exclusively Of food, OF its indi-
rect product. It is true that the tables show
q moderate export Of the products OF the for
| est (but the largest portion even Of thst Is
furnished by the West, and considerable
amount (about thirty niiliion5) Of the mann
factures of the Eastern States, but the latter
| is only tho reproduction il another form, of
the food from the West, which leeds the man
| ufacturcre, and without which not water
wheel ora spinning jenny would move. In
truth, American Food las now become thevery
subst1atum, the vital, vis1ying principle Of
American Commerce. The food of the vast
Interior, once derided rs the dream Of the
| enthusiast, no longer floats In the regions
even Of enlightened faith or prophecy, but
now stands before the world, chrystalfscd into
solid and unchangeablc reality-an I'M
! mense and unmistakeable Fact It towers
| high, In plain sight, In the enormous masses
Of the cereals, and the product Of animals
fed by those cereals, now sent down to the
ocean by the eight great foodprodnclng
States, SO richly clustered around the Lakes
and the Upper mississippi
Ny friends. every subject has its one great
central dominant ldea-like grasitation in
vast subject now before Us is. this, that the
gigantic masses Of food which arc already ru-
dating from this unriya1led group OF States
! arc to feed not only all tho Union around it,
but large portion Of the world across the
| Atlantic.
But let us, before proceeding to take in this
| whole 1de0, pause for moment. Let us take
in only minor portion Of the subject, and
| see bya few Wfguresth influence which that mi
nor portion alone already c1erts On the fiscal
condition Of the nation. Last year our,
and your, good city Of Now York, (for it Is
qnite as much yours rs ours) cent to Europe
iifty millions OF bushels Of your cereals in
grain. They purchased in return ut least $780,
:G00, COO worth of foreign merchandise, which
merchandise paid In duties to our esteemed
friend Mr. Secretary CHASE, (chccrs) at least
fifteen millions Of dollars in gold Let
me ask, what would become Of Mr. CHASE
| without you Of the West, who produce this
grain, and us Of the East, who carry 1t to the
scaboard and thence across the ocean? With
ont your broad and fertile fields, and our
heavily laden canals, railways and ships, his
government would not be solvent single day.
tits Jon, and only you, the men Of the food pro-
ducing West, that furnish "thc gtuf'' to pay
his debts. Fellow-citizens, the time has come
for you to take your own measure, and fully to
claim your height to the last inch. But in this
vast audience Is there one to be found with
head or heart large enough, OF with eye clear
| or strong enough to DISCERN, to survey or to
comprehend the whole marvellous Future Of
your inevitable export Of food? Who would
dare attempt it: Why, last year, when you
had only rudcly scratched few patches OF the
surface Of your bonndless prairfes, you sent
down through Lake Erie one hundred and
eight millions Of bushels Of grain. to knock
at the gates Of the New York canals and
nearly choke their channels; and yet 1t WIS
fH+1k1 tf~z kkn%n n u k11AE