port, accompanied by a bill "to improve the navigation of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers." [This bill proposes to authorize the President to cause dykes and sluices to be constructed, for the purpose of navigation at the lowest stage of the water, upon certain bars in the Ohio river, to remove planters, sawyers, and snags, from the bed of the Mississsippi river. The bill was twice read and committed. The report is as follows: It is known that the great rivers Ohio and Mississippi are the principal commercial outlets of the vast and fertile regions west of the Alleghany mountains; and it must be obvious that whatever tends to obstruct or endanger the navigation of those streams cannot be regarded with indifference by that portion of our people whose interests are thus seriously and vitally affected. Your committee have, therefore, faithfully endeavored to ascertain the causes and actual condition of the obstacles, whether temporary or permanent, which now, at certain seasons of the year, prevent all navigation upon one of those rivers; and, at all seasons of the year, impair the security of navigating the other. For this purpose they have availed themselves of every source of information in. their power; and have carefully examined the "Report on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers," made by General Bernard and Major Totten of the Engineer Corps, which is printed in the third volume of Executive papers, transmitted by the President during the second session of the Seventeenth Congress. In relation to the Ohio, your committee have ascertained that there are, between the falls and the mouth, twenty-one bars crossing its channel, which render it impassable by steamboats, during six months of the year; and that six of these bars, at the lowest stages, preclude the passage of all vessels drawing three feet of water. To the bars last mentioned, our attention has been particularly directed; believing it to be the better policy, to leave the falls, at Louisville, and the majority of the bars, to be comprehended in some more extensive scheme of internal improvement. Ths six bars which, in our opinion, fall within the range of our present policy, are indicated by the following descriptions, viz: FEBRUARY 1824. In addition to the impediments above described, there is another of a different kind, which deserves to be mentioned, viz: On the right side of the river, (below the mouth of Deer creek,) about fifteen yards with the shore, fifteen feet broad, and rising fifteen from the bank, there is a rock fifty feet long, parallel feet above the surface of the water, at its lowest stage. In times of flood, this rock, covered by a few feet of water, is very dangerous, and can only be avoided by accident or by skilful pilotage. 1st. A mile and a quarter below Flint Island, the river is obstructed by a sand bar, of about 1,200 yards in length; for the distance of 360 yards there are three and a half feet of water; for 240 yards, but two feet; and for the remaining distance of 600 yards, three and a half feet. The shoalest part is also the narrowest, the breadth being about 180 yards. 2d. Two miles above French Island, there is a sand bar of about 200 yards in length, and on which only from 20 inches to two feet of water are to be found. 3d. The bar below Henderson is fifty yards long; the channel fifty yards wide; and the least depth of water two and a half feet. 4th. The bar below Straight Island consists of two parts, one of compact, and the other of moving sand. The length of the bar is 150 yards; the breadth of the channel about 40 yards; and the least depth of water is two and a half feet. 5th. Below Willow Island (in the Mississippi Bend) is a sand bank, on which the depth of water is two and a half feet; the length of the bar is 100 yards; and the breadth of the channel about 50 yards. 6th. Opposite to Lower Smithland, and below Cumberland Island, there is a bar of moving sand; its length is 80 yards, and the depth over it, two feet. The most eligible means of producing the uniform depth of three feet over the bars above mentioned, is recommended in the report of the Engineer Corps, already referred to, viz: the construction of dykes which, by confining the current to a particular chan nel, will necessarily swell the volume, and increase the depth of the water. These dykes are ordinarily formed by rows of piles, driven with force into the bed of the stream, and strongly wattled together; the spaces between the rows being filled with such rough and flat paving stones as the neighborhood can supply. The piles, being elevated a little above low water, the rises of the river, whether partial or gen. eral, pass over them without injury. As the dykes must extend, with the exception of the sluice, quite across the river, the length of the whole, when added together, may be estimated at about four miles and a half. The expense of this improvement will be very inconsiderable, when compared with the permanent. benefits which must flow from it to the industrious and adventurous people who inhabit the shores of this great river, and its tributary streams, and have no other vent for the bulky productions of their industry. The danger arising from the rock below the mouth of Deer Creek, should, in our opinion, be averted, by the erection of a beacon upon it, of sufficient elevation to be always visible above the highest floods. We now turn our attention to the difficulties which embarrass the navigation of the Mississippi. These arise from the impetuosity of its current, and the almost entire absence of rock on its shores, from St. Louis to New Orleans. Hence, its constant effort to change its course; and hence the frequent subm、 1sion of whole acres of land, covered with trees of the most gigantic growth. Of the trees which are thus precipitated into the river, some are borne off by the stream; some lodge upon the shores in great masses, where they form what are called "rafts ;" others become fixed, at one end, in the bed of the stre whilst the other end inclines towards the surface; sometimes appearing above it, sometimes concealed below it. When they are so fixed as to preserve an immoveable position, they are called "planters;" but when they play up and down with restless vibration now yielding to the pressure of the stream, and aga a rebounding from beneath it, they are called "swyers." These terrible obstacles have been the causes of much calamity to the people of the West. To sy nothing of the awful occasion which consigned, in the brief space of five minutes, a large number of human beings, on board the steamboat Tennessee, to a watery grave; to say nothing of a thousand similar accidents, differing only in the degree of horror, the annual loss of property is variously estimated at fro five to ten per cent. upon the whole amount which is hazarded upon the river. But can these difficulties be removed? Of this we have no doubt. Between Natchez and Baton Rouge, there are now fewer rafts " planters, and sawyers, than formerly; and between FEBRUARY, 1824. seen. The Tarif Bill. Baton Rouge and New Orleans, they are rarely to be Below Baton Rouge the forest has been succeeded by cultivated fields, and the disposition of the river to encroach upon its shores, is counteracted by artificial embankments. This description of dyke, we are aware, will never be attempted for commercial purposes alone. To a combination of the future proprietors of the shores, for their own security and advantage, we are to look for the consummation of this desirable improvement, by its extension to the mouth of the Missouri. In the mean time, it is entirely practicable, at the lowest stage of the water, by the aid of suitable machinery, to raise the trees which now obstruct the channel, and to saw them off at a proper depth. The labor may be great, in the first instance, to remove the wreck of centuries; and it may be necessary, from time to time, to prostrate all similar impediments which may intervene. But when the forests shall be entirely cleared, whether for the purpose of cultivation, for supplies of fuel to steamboats, or for the immense, and still augmenting, consumption of New Orleans, these frightful and formidable enemies of Western enterprise will gradually disappear, until it will be as rare to see "a sawyer, a planter, or a raft," above Baton Rouge, as it is now to find one below it. The committee have had access to no data which could enable them to determine, with accuracy, the probable expense of the improvements above suggested. Indeed, the very nature of the proposed undertaking forbids the application of any ordinary rule of calculation. Your committee would, however, suggest the expediency of dividing those rivers into precincts, and that the President of the United States be authorized to employ supervisors for each precinct, binding each by contract to perf. the services which may be assigned to him; and that, for the purpose of carrying into effect the improvements beforementioned, the sum of dollars be appropriated, to be paid out of any money in the Treasury, not otherwise appropriated Which is respectfully submitted. THE TARIFF BILL. 1 The House having resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the bill for a revision of the tariff of duties on imports Mr. FULLER, of Massachusetts, opened the discussion to-day by a motion to strike out from the first section so much as imposes a duty of one dollar and twelve cents per cwt. on iron, in bars or bolts, not manufactured by rolling. In support of this motion, Mr. FULLER observed that iron was an article of far more general importance than cotton bagging or wheat, which had recently occupied so much attention. Every man in the United States, of whatever occupation, was more or less interested in obtaining the best quality, and at the lowest price. In every village a blacksmith was an artisan indispensable alike to the farmer and the mechanic; and in the manufacturing establishments of cotton and wool, a large consumption of iron, in machinery, was annually necessary. To every farmer and mechanic, therefore, said Mr. F., this increased duty will cause a corresponding increase of price for their implements of husbandry, and of their respective echanic arts. But of all the classes of the com H. OF R. Four tons of iron munity who must feel the pressure of this new Permit me to say that it seems unreasonable to increase the duty from another consideration. In 1816, when the whole tariff underwent a complete revision, the duty on iron was fixed at nine dollars a ton. In 1818, the manufacturers complained that the duty was too low to enable them to contend in the market against foreign iron, and they prevailed upon Congress to increase it to fifteen dollars, with which, it was understood, they were then satisfied. Notwithstanding this great concession, they have, for four years past, been urging the imposition of a still higher duty, and seem hardly contented even with that now proposed. Should the duty now required be imposed, the numerous consumers of iron have not the consolation of hoping to realize any reduction of price, even after the iron manufacturers shall have been in possession of the "home market," so often spoken of in discussing the tariff, for any series of years. In this respect, the manufacture of iron is more unfavorable in its nature than that of cotton has proved to be. The greatest part of the expense is for labor; no improved machinery can be a substitute for labor; and, for a century to come, the population of our country cannot reach such a state of redundancy as materially to reduce the rate of wages. While, therefore, the price of labor is as high as at present, the price of iron, the product almost of labor alone, cannot be materially reduced. In Russia and Sweden, besides a redundant population, the manufacture of iron is greatly promoted by the circumstance that H. OF R. The Tariff Bill. FEBRUARY, 1824. and our exports to that country, to only $508,000, leaving a balance against us of $1,799,000; our imports from Sweden the same year were $1,151,000, and our exports thither, only $260,000, leaving the balance of $891,000 against us. Hence, they conclude that these unfavorable balances, amounting to $2,690,000, must have been paid in specie, and caused a part of the fearful "drain" before mentioned. Fortunately, however, the same com their soil is comparatively sterile, and incapable of cultivation. The peasantry of these nations, whom the gentleman from Kentucky calls serfs, have no alternative but to work in the iron mines or die of hunger. Not so in the fertile soil and genial climate of Pennsylvania. There the healthful and moderate labors of the husbandman are amply rewarded; and it does violence to the obvious dictates of policy, no less than of humanity, to transform a thousand or ten thousand cultiva-mercial report affords the means of dispelling this tors of the soil into so many miners and smelters of iron ore. It was. chimera. The export of specie is there detailed It is alleged that a want of capital cramps the manufacturers of this country, and prevents them from resisting, successfully, the shock of competition with foreigners. The correctness of this may well be doubted with regard even to cotton and wool, but certainly is unfounded in relation to iron; for it is well known that some of the proprietors of iron manufactories in Pennsylvania are men of immense capital, and yet these proprietors, instead of making use of their capital in pouring an abundance of the article into the market, and thus excluding foreign iron, are among the most urgent in pressing the increased exaction. There is not even the pretext for extending the protection here, that iron receives any aid in the countries from which it is brought by bounties or drawbacks; it has there no other encouragement than the cheapness of labor: while the American manufacturer must pay a high price for labor, but has already the benefit of the high existing duty, and the expenses of freight for five thousand miles, together with commissions and the mercantile profits, all which about double the invoice price of foreign iron when it reaches our market. If this advantage is not sufficient, it affords conclusive evidence that other objects of industry in our country are preferable, and constitute, in fact, the real obstacle to the manufac-self is sold in these latter cities at a profitable adture in question. Should this duty be imposed, together with that upon foreign hemp, the two articles which constitute almost our only imports from Russia and Sweden, our commerce in the Baltic may be considered as nearly annihilated. I know very well, that some of those sages in political economy, who have so long sounded the alarm of the "balance of trade" being against us, and who are perpetually exclaiming, that we are on the verge of perdition in consequence of the appalling "drain of specie" from our country, wili hail the destruction of the Baltic trade, as a harbinger of returning prosperity. Without stopping here to refute those weak and fallacious theories about the balance of trade and the drain of specie, I will merely remark, that our foreign trade is the only channel, in which all the specie now in this country, or which ever was in it, could have flowed thither. It will not be pretended, that gold and silver are native productions to any extent. As to the balance of trade with Russia and Sweden, our economists examine the Treasury report of our commerce, for the year 1822, made under the act of 1820, and they find our imports from Russia for that year, amounted in round numbers to $3,307,000, vance; and thus a cargo of iron or hemp is provided and brought to our own ports. This, sir, is the course of our traffic with countries upon the Baltic. It brings us, in addition to the particular staples of those countries, a portion of the specie which we occasionally receive, and, indeed, which we never could obtain, but by the profitable employment of the industry and enterprise of our citizens, in transferring our domestic products, not only directly to foreign countries, but from one country to another, as often as an advantageous exchange can be made, till at last, the entire profit returns to enrich ourselves with the various productions of foreign climes. In these returns, specie will always bear such proportion, as its relative value with other commodities shall make profitable to the importer. It may be said that the duty on iron and hemp, proposed by the bill before us, will not annihilate the trade of the Baltic, nor greatly reduce it. That it must very greatly reduce it, sir, I think cannot be doubted by those, who know the pressure of the existing duties. Under the influence of these, our foreign tonnage has experienced a constant diminution for the last three years, of which we have official reports. In 1820, it was 801,253 tons; TE 1,00 IVIES ther ecie fore om this iled rar t a eden th les: the in 1821, 769,084; and in 1822, it was reduced to 747,887. This gradual diminution, can be traced to no other cause than the discouragement of our foreign commerce, under the pressure of a heavy tariff. Should this pressure not only continue, but be increased, the decay of trade must be proportionably rapid; our revenue must be greatly reduced, and the navy itself must be sacrificed. These considerations are of deep concern to every section and to every interest in this rising country. I trust, sir, they will be fully examined, and, as an earnest of the sound and enlarged views of policy, which alone can insure our prosperity, I hope the motion which I had the honor to submit, will prevail. Mr. BUCHANAN, of Pennsylvania, followed Mr. DC FULLER. He said, that the duty upon bar iron, according to the existing tariff, was fifteen dollars per ton. This bill proposes to increase it to $22 50-and the question for the Committee to decide, was the policy of this measure. vas ind Us of ce. his S e It has been contended, said Mr. B., by the genthe tleman from Massachusetts, (Mr. FULLER,) that bar iron might be considered as almost a raw material. If that gentleman intended to convey the idea, that the manufacture of this article requires but little capital, he is entirely mistaken. The man who expects to prosecute it with success, ought not only to possess a considerable active capital, but a large body of land covered with timber. Before the ore is manufactured into bar iron, it undergoes two distinct processes, at different factories. At the furnace it is converted into pig metal, which, in the forge, is manufactured into bar iron. These factories are generally distinct, and each of them requires a large capital. If, therefore, you suffer the manufactories of iron to be destroyed, and the capital invested in them to be diverted into other channels, it will be difficult to restore them, when the necessities of the country may demand such a measure. th at r コー H. of R. man, is the condition of those manufacturers residing in the interior, who have no market at home, but must depend upon that of the Atlantic cities? As it regards them, the picture is reversed. In addition to the first cost of their iron, they are compelled to incur the expense of transporting it to a market where it comes into competition with that from Russia and Sweden. Such ironmasters, under the present tariff, must inevitably be ruined, if they should continue in the business. They would lose upon every ton of iron which they manufacture. The consequence has been, that most of them, in this situation, have been compelled to stop. Sir, said Mr. B., the traveller, if he had gone into the interior and mountainous districts of Pennsylvania, but a few years ago, would have found a great number of furnaces and forges in active operation. Their owners were not only prosperous themselves, but they spread prosperity around them. These manufactories presented the best and surest market to the neighboring country, for the products of agriculture. Thus, they diffused wealth among the people, money circulated freely, and the manufacturer and the farmer were equally benefited. The present aspect of those districts presents a melancholy contrast to that which I have just described. It is a just comment upon the policy of that country which will not afford a reasonable protection to its own domestic industry, and thereby gives to foreigners a decided preference in its markets. Although that portion of Pennsylvania abounds with ore, with wood, and with water power, yet its manufactories generally have sunk into ruin, and exist only as standing monuments of the false policy of the Government. The manufacturers and their laborers have both been thrown out of employment, and the neighboring farmer is without a market. Sir, said Mr. B., the records of your Government prove, conclusively, that foreign iron is rapidly driving domestic competition out of the market. In the year 1819, 16,241 tons of foreign hammered iron were imported. In the year 1822, it had increased to 26,508 tons. What it was during the last year, I have not been able to ascertain with precision, but I am informed, that it has been regularly progressing in the same proportion. Thus, we perceive, that, in the short space of three years, the increase has been more than ten thousand tons. The gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. FULLER) has alleged that the manufacturers of iron, n Pennsylvania, are now in a prosperous condition. It is true, said Mr. B., that a few of the ronmasters, who had acquired sufficient wealth to survive the general wreck in which a large proportion of that class of our citizens has been involved, have been able to support themselves. This, however, has been the case only with respect to those who reside at some distance from the seacoast, and in a neighborhood in which there is a demand for all the iron they can manu- Can any statesman, said Mr. B., regard this facture. Foreign iron, before it can come into process with indifference? Is it the policy of this competition with theirs, must, in addition to the nation to suffer the manufacture of iron to be depresent duty, pay the expense of transportation stroyed? Can any gentleman for a moment sancinto the country. Such individuals, by the ruin tion such an opinion? No nation can be perof rival manufacturers, and by the consequent de- fectly independent, which depends upon foreign struction of domestic competition within their countries for its supply of iron. It is an article sphere, have become the monopolists of their equally necessary in peace and in war. Without neighboring markets. In this manner, the farmer a plentiful supply of it, we cannot provide for the is compelled to pay a much greater price for his common defence. Can we so soon have forgotten iron, than he would be obliged to give, if the pro- the lesson which experience taught us, during the tecting power of the Government would recall late war with Great Britain? Our foreign supply into existence those rival manufactories, which was then cut off, and we could not manufacture have sunk under its neglect. What, Mr. Chair-1 in sufficient quantities for the increased domestic H. OF R. The Tarif Bill. FEBRUARY, 1824. demand. The price of the article became extrav- of only $7 50 per ton. It will, however, afford agant, and both the Government and the agricul- them that gradual protection which is in accordturist were compelled to pay double the sum for ance with the settled policy of this nation: a poliwhich they might have purchased it, had its man-cy which, whilst it encourages domestic manufacufacture, before that period, been encouraged by tures, never loses sight of the great interests of proper protecting duties. We cannot now always agriculture and commerce. expect to remain at peace; and the only means of securing to ourselves, in time of war, an abun-portation of which a duty might be more fairly dant supply of this necessary article, at a cheap rate, is to encourage its manufacture, whilst we are on terms of friendship with all nations. But after all, Mr. Chairman, what do we ask by this bill for the manufacturers of iron? Not a prohibitory duty, as the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. FULLER) seems to suppose, which will exclude foreign iron from our market. We wish only to infuse into our own manufactures sufficient vigor to enable them to struggle against foreign competition. Protection, not prohibition, is our object. The revenue which the country at present derives from foreign iron will, for several years at least, be increased by the proposed additional duty; and at the same time a most important branch of our domestic industry will be gradually cherished. For the proof of this assertion, I refer to the opinion advanced by the Secretary of the Treasury, in his annual report, during the last session, on the state of the finances. In it he distinctly declares "that the duties upon glass and paper, upon iron and lead, and upon all articles composed of the two latter materials, may be increased, "with a view to the augmentation of the revenue." His report during the present session shows that he still entertains the same opinion. Mr. B. said, revenue was at this time an important consideration. In the imposition of new duties, we should not lose sight of the Treasury. Notwithstanding the siren notes which we have heard on this floor concerning the prosperous condition of our revenue, we know that we are in debt about ninety millions of dollars; a great part of which will become payable before our ordinary resources will enable us to extinguish it. Mr. B. said it was his opinion that, should this bill pass, with a very few amendments, it would for some years considerably increase the revenue of the country, and assist in enabling us to discharge our national debt. The proper occasion, however, has not yet arrived for such a general investigation. As it regards the article of iron, we may fairly infer, from the history of its importation, that the proposed addition to the duty will increase the revenue. In determining this question, we should inquire whether the foreign importation is increasing under the existing tariff; and if so, whether slowly or rapidly. According to this advance, we may proportion the additional duty, always keeping within reasonable limits. We find that in three years the increase has been more than ten thousand tons. Under the operation of this bill, the revenue will be augmented until the quantity imported shall be less by one-third than it is at present. No person acquainted with the condition of the iron manufactories of the country can suppose that they will be able to produce this effect for many years to come under an additional duty Mr. B. said there was no article from the imderived than iron. It would not in any degree be partial in its operation. Its use was universal, and all parts of the Union would, therefore, contribute their fair proportion. Mr. B. concluded by observing that there was no item in the bill which had fairer claims to be retained than the article of iron. Mr. MALLARY said, that no article named in the bill was of more importance than that of iron. It would be a fatal objection in his mind to any measure, which did not give it additional encou ragement. It was important to every branch of our industry. It was essential to the safety and defence of the country. Mr. M. considered it impossible to discuss the question before the Committee, without referring to the general policy of giving more decisive aid to manufactures, than has been done by the Government. He hoped he should have the attention of the Committee, while he presented his views on the general subject, as well as on the particular object of the motion. All who have spoken, admit that the proposed measure is of the greatest magnitude; that it required the most candid examination, as well as the exercise of the most deliberate judgment. It had been demanded by millions of the people of this Union, as the only means of relieving them from the distresses of the times, and it was opposed by others as sure to increase the embarrassments already existing. The condition of agriculture and manufactures, particularly in the interior of the Northern, Middle, and Western States, had been repeatedly described. The great staples of agriculture have no market which affords a reward for the industry of the people. Instead of the prospect of improvement, the future seemed to promise nothing but additional misfortune. The change from war to peace was attended with the severest calamities. They were natural and unavoidable. It was expected, when the business of the country had returned to its natural channel, the people would again enjoy the blessings of prosperity. But the settled state of the country brings no relief. The vast interior of the Union presents a cheerless prospect of agriculture discouraged, manufactures ruined, and the energies of millions of people relaxed and prostrate. Sir, other nations have risen triumphant over the havoc and desolation of wars. France was crushed by the combination of Europe against her. Her resources seemed to be exhausted by the exactions of her enemies. She has recovered from her misfortunes, and her people appear to have forgotten their long and dreadful sufferings. England has also astonished the world by an almost instantaneous release from the burdens created by her unparalleled efforts. Her condition was never |
