Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1862-1865, 1864-03-28
The Enumeration and other Laws.

The Importation and other Laws.
Hmay be argued against these laws that they
restrictive in their character snd tendency, and hence
yOatVe Of those great principles Of political economy
which have been ineulcated BY the masters Of that
science aud on which the South has always heretofore In
sisted 10 her contests With the North. This visW s
shOrtsgbled and erroneous. 1. examines economical
principles il their application u one SCI Of orOum-
stances, and persists in applying them TO another aad
quite different set Of circumstances. Il regards the
aims OF a state Of peace as being identical with the
aims Of state Of war Il overoOks the fact that what
may be necessary in times Of peace may be injurious
10 times Of and that the character aAd conditions
OF the problem being changed, the Of solving
il must be likewise changed. Let it then be admitted
that these laws restrictive The question then
arising simply whether our stu tOn Is not suel TO
Justify and demand the enactment Of restrictive laws.
when We assert that free uade the true policy for
State, that free trade is the true policy at
time when unlimited expansion Of commerce and the
highest degree Of purely material development cOnsii
tats the main objects Of legislation. Blu. We may
imagine = condition OF Ah4rs in which the mers
mutation Of wealth may become object Of secondary
Importance. We may conceive Of time when the
energies Of nation expended in this direction would
be diverted from object Of primary and far higher
importance. In times Of peace that nation is held
BY the economists to be most wealthy and most pros
porous which, after realizing enough either By direct
production or by the exchange Of commodities for the
support Of its own people, afford to buy the great
est amount of Injuries Us people well housed we'll
clothed and well fed lis agrieulIuriss rich; its msr-
chants snterprsing and sagacOus is ports the scene
of busy and continual traffic is Histories Of cease.
less industry is warehouses replsts with exotic pro.
ducta with the wines Of Burgundy and Bordeaux, the
gems Of GolcOnda and Bszl, the SILKS Of Italy ami
the spicb Of the aromatic Els. such nation Is said TO
be wealthy, prosperous and happy. And such results
bear testimony, in purely economical point of view,
to the truth Of the principles Of Free Trade and to she
stimulating effects Of that system on the prodlc
tive industry Of the country which adopts it
But these not the resulss which We are now re-
CURED to achieve. We must first have q county
before We can make il rich country. We must frat
pass through state Of war, of bloody, devastating
and e1hausting war, before We can cultivate the
arts Of peace and turn attention TO the deveope
ment Of our material resources War has its special
needs and itJ special laws. /! engsnders wants which,
in peaceful times exist but TO limited extent. Il Sio
lsnly changes the relations between producers and
consumers and alters the character Of industry and tie
destination Of the products of industry. Our ability to
purchase superb aes andluXuFes is necessarily eurAed
By the necessity to purchase arms and munitions Of
var, and 20 maintain army and navy. These
objects require far than the surplus of cur
productions the ordinary productions Of the oOuO
n.y. In our case they require either the creation Of
immense debt, or the absorption Of a portion Of cur
capital Hence the Purchase Of superauitiSs aud lu1a
riss involves 4 corresponding dminulOn in our ability
to purchase necsssites to create navy; to support
army. The satisfies Of impOTtAdons into the Con
sdSraCy, during she year ending the sOh of sspem
Der last present striking facts Illustrative Of these
principles The returns at hand embrace the Districts
Of Charleston Savannah, Mobile, St. Marks, ApAAehl-
cola and Richmond. Into these Districts there vas -
ported, during the period referred tot cannon lin
value) t8s $50; OF gunpoWder, SEQ $40; Of pistols
t46 OS4 Of rides and muskst3, SIS sos Of saltpelrs
So 527; Of spirits, brandy, &C., sl22 O45 OF vine,
Sl4O67; Of silk and manufactures Of silk SSl 5S It
viii be seen, from these figures, that the imports Of
spirits and wine alone exceeded in value the imports Of
any one Of the named articles Of army supply Taking
spirits wines and silk goods together, they amount 20
nearly Eve times the value Of the cannon 10 more al
twice the value Of the gunPOWdsr TO twice the value of
the riA e. and muskets; than three times The
value Of The pistols and 70 more than three times the
value Of the saltpere Had WeimpOFted nOae Of those
luxures we might have doubled foreign supply of
rass and ruskets or more than doubled our foreign
supply Of gunpoWder. Ii may be said, on the other
hand thai since We require articles for the Of the
army far more than rec are anything else, the or
binary laws Of demand and supply will control the in
pOraiian Of foreign goods and limit 70 those things
which We really need. in so high degree. The figures
We have Just quoted show that this is not tne
IN the sense In which il is meant. II is IN
doubtsdly true In its widest sense but this sense
reQaires a wider interpreta ion. Demand originates
not alone in What We need but also in what desire.
Hence Il arises from combination Of our wants and
our wishes We may assert and believe that time Of
war should be time Of moderation and economy; but,
humiAtng as the fact may be- IL is likewise the period
when the passion for display and the taste for e1TaVs-
ganos gan their strongest hold society. History
atss similar characteristics Of other epOehs during which
the presence Of misery aud death, Of pestilencs and
fannie, has been accompanied With a sudden Outburst
Of profason, reckesness and e1trGVagance. The in
mitabe tales Of BoOcacO relate the reVeriss Of Lords
and ladies' while the plague ravAginE FOrSnOs and
her streets were hlsd With' dead. The Parlsians
crowded che theatres to laugh at the burlesQlea which
t,svsSssd ths dreadful cholera at the very moment de-
vaststinR their city. The sxtraVagauce and reckless
d.paton Of the French during the wars OF the Fsve-
lu,Iou and In the midst Of the national BANKRUPTCY
produced By the AssignAs, have scarcely ever been
euuasd. Even in our own country sOcsty during the