New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-04-14

| Court in our system Of government" But he
does not make IL clear that some Of these ques-
! tons pertained as directly to the problem of
freedom from foreign interference as any Of those
previously settled This was particularly true
! OF the tariff the value OF which weapon
| against foreign domination discovered during
the war. and demonstrated indlsputab bly,
by what happened Immediately afterward when
the reopened ports Of the country were flooded
with English goods the acknowledged purpose
being to break down American manufactures be-
1 fore they had time to get fairly started. This
new kind Of was puzzling TO theorists of
every kind. but II was successful. As America
had stood her ground against foreign military
force and against the power Of diplomacy. so
/ now she withstOod the combined pressure Of for
! egn traders. In England the very existence OF
! factories in the United States looked on
/ as thing contrary TO nature. but the people Of
the United States who had been engaged in a
/ fierce struggle with nature for several gener-
! atoms d.d not consider this an objection to the
/ course they had been led t. adopt. The contest
of the manufacturers with foreign traders re-
! vealed many unexpected details In which the
latter had the advantage. For example, auction
sales which enabled the master Of an English
ship to secure an immediate return for his cargo
! without the expense Of rent clerk hire. cor license
! as a merchant proved infinite annoyance.
They facilitated the use Of inferior goods in adj
diton to the other advantages for underselling
hCme products. They even placed the Ameri
can importer at the mercy Of the English
merchant whom he took for an ally. For, when
the American sent his order to England. the
exporter there would duplicate II. send out his
own goods in the same ship that carried those
for his customer and by hurried sale on
the auction block ruin the trade which the
latter expected. False invoices were regular
feature of this hurried English trade. and the
features were endless ir lumber that showed
the relation of the struggle with the COM
merclal difficulties that preceded and attended
the War of 1912.
But the greatest struggle for liberty was with
an unconscious master. With such appliances as
were known to the people of those times. it
might have been prolonged for centuries. But
steam had just come into use for prope.ling
boats and long before the period covered by this
volume ended the possibilities OF the continent
began to be tested. The period was one marked
by vast migration Of people from the oder
parts Of the country to the West. and of people
from Europe TO the New World Whenever there
were adversely and want along the seaboard, the
movement toward the interior accelerated.
foot some with many personal belongings. others
with little or nothing. but each a group Of voun-
teers in the effort to conquer nature and u rem
der habitable the wild lands Of the West. The
use Of steamboats, on the Western rivers and
lakes FASTENED the process People had hardly
settled in any region before they discovered that
they were within reach Of market where they
could buy and sell Days OF wagon travel old not
seem long TO them, and they were content with
methods that soon to become unendurahlc
1t is needless to speak Of roads in the West
There were none. But the interruption t. the
coasting trade led to improvercn IN TIE East
and to a development # trado ny wag n that
rivaIed the famous caravans of the Orient. Two
months were required 70 Cr!vo wafon from
Boston to Augusta. Ga But without the waG"
trains there was no means of carry - - '-d...c
between the North and the South. To merchants
accustomed to follow the movements Of their ships
by the information in the newspapers the main
drawback Of this new form Of commerce was
that they knew nothing about what happened
to their goods until the wagoners returned. To
obviate this the wagons named. and the
newspapers teemed with entries in the approved
style Of the marine reporter. under such head
ings as Horse Marine Intelligence" "HOrse-and-
OK Marine News" "Jeffersorian Commerce and
on. in which figured such names for the
wagons Teazer and Split-Iog, Commerce Re-
newed and Old Times Neptune Metamorphosed.
Toe-theMark. Mud-Clpper, Sailors Misery. Geo
patra, Serveall, Jefferson's Pride and Don't Give
Up the Ship. The teams,ers became captains,
and they had trouble enough with Custom House
officers the alert for Struggled goods. and In
ew-England with the TithingMen Of the towns
who kept them from travelling on Sunday. The
close Of the restored the coastng trade, and
1t may be supposed cheapened wagons and
draught animals At all events. wagons were
numerous on all the lines Of travel toward the
West Five hundred and eleven wagons, for ex-
ample passed EastOn. Penn. in single month
in 1917 But those who could not afford wagon
contented themselves with wheelbarrows and
handcarts. rather than miss what they hoped
the West might have In store for them. At
intervals the growth Of the East seemed to stop
when the migrating fever strongest But
in these mnltitudes there was the strength to
conquer nature
The exigencies Of the war and the almost uni
versal dislike Of 1t in New England served also 70
put in clear light never again to he darkened
the greatest defect in the American definition
Of liberty While the sons and apprentices Of
the Eastern farmer and artisan were drawn into
the army, the laboring strength Of the South
was unimpaired. The New-Englander felt him
self oppressed wherever he turned. He gave up
his assistants to the army and found the
prolonged and himself overpOwered at the polls
by the help Of the partial representation of
slaves at the South. That showed slavery In an
aspect which was never forgotten. The subse
quent history Of this controversy SO far the
present volume carries 1t was one Of compro-
misses. but beneath all these can be seen already
the steady increase in strer 9Th Of the opposition
to slavery. This feeling grew along with the
National sentiment Less and less frequent in the
North became the old threats of d.sunion. The
sons forgot that their fathers had ever uttered
such a word. Men in the Free States were
really content with the American definition OF
liberty which was almost complete. Mean
while, they had to guard against strong in |