The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1876-04-04
,irh,luad 1isl1atlh.
MISUNDERSTANDING 4, 1879.
Home Industry.

sg5ss Our nOTtuSEn sieiluWsCltlZtnsE,4 uaSc
taught Us a great many good, practical les.
sons, some Of the best Of which ne have
failed TO profit By. Their persistent support
OF the doctrine of protecting hone industry.
3 by leyying heavy duties on the imported
articles of manufacture conveyed useful
moral in domestic economy that, prsctced
with judgment and prudence, is Invaluable.
It is this /: Produce all you can at home, and
buy as little as you can from abroad. It Is
good policy to keep means at home and
strengthen and improve home interests and
comforts rather than be sending abroad the
gains Of labor.
Mr.. CALHOUN was one Of the earliest sdv6.
Gates of the protective" system; but be
y became its bi,terest enemy. His explanation
was never satisfactory. 1t was the idea that
the policy Of encouraging home industry
promoted national independence that occu-
pied DIR. CALHoUN's mind. ssituated and
circumsiancsd as he afterwards was, he
swung too completely around, and was led
into theory utterly at variance with the
practical views he formerly espoused. Mr..
CALHOUN was tbeorist as much in love with
his own theories as was NARCissUs with his
own figure reflected in the water, and he had
neither memory nor recollection for anything
that could disturb tba. which unclaimed his
admiration for the time.
The moral, the kernel, Of the doctrine of
protection is good. What we can make at
home we had better make, and thus avoid
sending eff money to buy. We should save
at home all we can. We thus increase home
occupation, and keep expenditure in the
neIghborhood. Nevertheless, If man may
earn more by working at something else
than manufacturing something for home let
i'm do that other work.
But we lay down the proposition that this
co immunity is constantly sending abroad for
things that could be produced at home.
Slavery taught US the habit of doing this,
aud we still follow 1t. Our Yankee friends
have epjoined the policy of the adaptation Of
home industry to all kinds of wants, and yet
while adniring their practical sense, we
order from them everything almost used in
orr domestic economy aud make nothing Tor
ourselves. A bad way of profiting by
lesson.
Begipning with the policy and practice
OF farming, we behold the farmer looking
very much out Of the State for many of bis
implements that may be had at home just as
well. And great error made by him is the
marked neglect of measures for the preserva.
lion of the off.l on bis own premises as
means of improving his fields, and his ex.
peuditure of large sums in concentrated or
co numerical fertilizers. The gathering up Of
I, t he offal of the farm daily and the placing Of
IL under shelter does two admirable things ::
it keeps tie premises neat and enables the
farmer to save large amount Of manure in the
very best condition. This will save him
money and make him SO far independent as
that he need only buy enough commercial
fertilizer to splice out 8 sufficient supply In.
stead of being compelled to rely almost
wholly upon Shat fertilizer he thus saves
money, keeps his farm clean aud well
policed, and constantly improves bis system
of tillage and the fertility Of bis lands. Not
so the man who looks wholly or mainly to
the concentrated manures, phosphates, &c.
He is too apt to be tempted into the skin
ming process-hsryestiug and selling, and
leaving the land bare. This is the matter with
large portion of our " heatlands now. They
are exhausted from bad tillage and too much
of the stimulating process Of fertilizers, which,
badly used, act upon land like whiskey does
upon man-stimulating him to death. The
Aal c>rs CHI ,,lI no
save under some system by which their
effects may be retained-a system by which
the land shall not be denuded, but covered
with luxursnt growth, to be used In due
time as green manure Thenyo have the
good of the fertilizer indeed.
But no man ought to think of the concen-
trated mauures except as means of making
up any deficiency that may exist after apply
ing his own wel-ssved and admirable do.
mestic manures.
K And so farmers, and neighborhoods, and
counties should endeavor to supply their do.
industry as possible. This policy is made
necessary by the great social revolution
which has fallen upon us. We must in.
crease occupaton-its amount and variety"
at home. SO that we may keep our means at
home, and make every dollar expended go AZ
far as possible 10 paying the debts of the To-
eality. Looking at the homestead, and con-
sldering how the inhabitants there are condi-
toned, it is easy to zee that there are inter
walls when, from the state of>the weather or
other cause, isborers are unemployed; then
some occupation should be invented for
i them shoes should be made, utensils mend.
ed, articles of domestic use should be manu-
featured, &C., &s. This facility of adapting
labor to the ysriou. wants of family could
not fail to promote its comfort and coRve-
nience. and save 1t great deal of labsr.
The economy Of family is an example Of
what should be the economy of neighbor-
hood. Each citizen should encourage the
neighboripg manufacturer, and send of as lit
i lsmoney as pots'bieto buy what may be made
or had at home. Every dollar paid for work
at home Is that much muscle and power kept
at home, and adds to the local Independents
and thrift. We must now concentrate
scattering will not do In the present condl.
tlon Of society. Wemust make everything we
can, and we must avoid sending eur means
to distant places whence they never return.