a state of prematurity the manufacturing enterprise of this country. But we are told it would be idle, weak, and absurd in us, while all the powers of Europe are devising plans for the encouragement of manufactures, to let them stagnate for want of national aid. To this I answer that, such are the profits and enjoyments flowing from labor in the ordinary pursuits of life with us, you cannot draw off the citizen and tempt him to a new and less active pursuit, without robbing from the national wealth a considerable portion which is thrown in to make up his profits. Is not, then, the productive labor of the country thereby diminished? Has not a great portion of it been thrown away, unless some great benefit is derived from this new direction of industry? And is the policy of other governments to be urged as sufficient justification? It must be borne in mind that the circumstances of our country are totally different from those of Europe; there, a crowded population causes it to be an object of real national importance to discover means of employment for the many hands which would otherwise encumber society. With us, however, the case is widely different. Here, every hand would find ample employment in tilling the earth; and the calls of society are sufficient, without bounty, to give occupation to such as prefer other employments to those of agriculture. And every occupation which requires the aid of bounty contains within itself a proof that it is not productive of national wealth, though it may be of national glory. I must protest against the habit of resorting to the regulations of other governments, as rules by which to quadrate our own. Because the governments of the Old World have resorted to this mode of facilitating the collection of taxes by creating protuberances upon the body politic, are we to be influenced by their examples? Because monopolies have for ages become familiarized to them, are we to disregard the evidence in favor of an unshackled pursuit of our own interest, and, in despite of the warning voice of these very nations, which attests the ruinous effects of such a policy upon every principle held sacred by the friends of freedom, are we to give aid to a favorite class of the community by a tax upon the rest? Like the State banks, sir, these manufactures grew up while a state of war gave a feverish heat to our political atmosphere, because the temporary wants of the people and the Government, and the sluggish state of trade, required them. The return of peace has diminished the demand for the paper of the one and the fabrics of the other; they may both be said to have depreciated in their

relative value. The depreciation of bank paper, it is to be hoped, will be arrested in its progress, the combination of these moneyed monopolists broken as to all capacity for harm by the establishment of a bank, governed in part by ourselves, and by other ulterior measures in contemplation. But, when the different manufacturing States may have deemed it wise to follow the example of Great Britain, and incorporate the different manufacturing establishments, grant them exclusive privileges, prop them by by-laws, and regard them as favorites, how, I ask, are you to control the mighty combination to which such a policy would give rise, for they can concert as well as the State banks? Will you, in such event, open the floodgates and let in the ocean of foreign goods threatening to overwhelm them? Certainly not, and yet this would be the only corrective left you.

Sir, while these establishments grow as other branches of industry have done, I shall feel for them no hostility; on the contrary, my preference would be given to articles manufactured by them, but their interest once identified with that of the Government, and I do fear them.

It has been remarked that the arts flourish in the society of each other; not so, however, in their infancy, while both are attempted to be encouraged at the same time, do the manufactures and the navy spring up. For all the protection given to the former is a deduction from the support of the latter.

MR. GOLD.-It is not, Mr. Speaker, a distinct class of manufacturers who have petitioned Congress for relief, but almost all classes, and principally the farmers, have embarked in the manufacture of woolen and cotton, and now pray at your hands the protection of their interests, put in so great jeopardy. It is proper, I should state, after the example of some who have preceded me in debate, that I too have a concern in those manufactures.

Arkwright's machinery has produced a revolution in the manufacture of cotton; the invention is so excellent, the effect in saving labor so immense, that five or six men are sufficient for the management of a factory of two thousand spindles, spinning one hundred thousand pounds of twist or yarn yearly; the other hands are mere children, whose labor is of little use in any other branch of industry. The nation which does not avail itself of this machinery, and pays another nation for fabrics produced by it, sacrifices the entire value of the labor saved by the machinery. It is a maxim of political economy, laid down by Sir James Stewart, that "a nation ought to

restrain, by duty on importation, that which may be produced at home, and to manufacture as much as possible of the raw material."

The same writer says that a new manufacture cannot be established without encouragement, without restraint on importation; old establishments in possession of the ground, in possession of capital (a most important consideration), in possession of extended machinery, with all the fruits of experience in skill and economy, actuated by a jealousy against rival establishments, rising into competition, which never sleeps, never did cease, in any age or country, to exert their undivided force upon these rival establishments, and for a time to make sacrifices in the sale of their goods. The Government itself not unfrequently lends itself, by bounties on exports, to such unhallowed designs upon the manufactures of other nations; where these nations have, as is the case of the United States, been long the great customers and consumers of the fabrics of such government.

Now agriculture is certainly the great and favorite theater of industry in the United States, and, so long as our surplus products can find a good foreign market, it should be the first object. But, how is this fact? With the exception of a period of war, no such market is found, and the grain of our country raised beyond consumption must rot in the granary. Lord Sheffield, in his "American Commerce," states that there never was a good market for American flour and wheat for more than three or four years. Though Europe is not recovered from the shock of war, yet Great Britain is now giving a bounty on the export of grain. Where can the United States now look for a market for her grain equal to that at home?

No friend of his country can look at the enormous importation of goods into the United States, the past year, without concern. The British accounts give thirty millions sterling (above one hundred and thirty millions of dollars) as the amount of her export of goods to the United States, while our whole export to Great Britain is twenty-one millions only. Is it possible to see such a course of trade in any other light than as most ruinous to the country? "If the balance of trade be against a nation, it is her interest to put a stop to it," is the language of Sir James Stewart.

It is further objected that our manufacturers will extort extravagant prices, and the prices during the last year are referred to in support of the objection. Is this charge against manufacturers just? Does not every member of this com

mittee know that the charge applies equally against all classes during the late war? Instead of concert to raise prices, competition and the spirit of underselling prevail to such an extent that sales are often made without a profit.

Justice to different portions of the Union, and the harmony of the whole, require the encouragement of manufactures.

While the South has, from the export of her cotton and tobacco alone, received about thirty millions the last year, the Northern and Middle States, having no such great staples, must of necessity turn their attention to manufacturing, or become greatly impoverished, to the injury of the whole. The relinquishment of the port duties by the Northern and Middle States, to the amount of nearly three-fourths of the customs, by the adoption of the Constitution, creates an equitable claim to such an adjustment of the duties as shall favor and protect the interests of those States.

MR. RANDOLPH made some general remarks on the inconsistency of the proposed policy with that formerly pursued on the subject of commerce. He declared his unwillingness to sacrifice the bona fide American merchants to what he called the mushroom interest which had sprung into favor; and argued, at some length, and with some invective, against the object of the bill, which he characterized as a scheme of public robbery.

MR. CALHOUN.-Neither agriculture, manufactures, nor commerce, taken separately, is the cause of wealth; it flows from the three combined, and cannot exist without each. The wealth of any single nation, or any individual, it is true, may not immediately depend on the three, but such wealth always presupposes their existence. Without commerce, industry would have no stimulus; without manufactures, it would be without the means of production; and without agriculture neither of the others can subsist. When separated entirely and permanently, they perish. War in this country produces, to a great extent, that effect; and hence the great embarrassments which follow in its train. The failure of the wealth and resources of the nation necessarily involved the ruin of its finances and its currency. It is admitted, by the most strenuous advocates on the other side that no country ought to be dependent on another for its means of defence; that, at least, our musket and bayonet, our cannon and ball, ought to be of domestic manufacture. But what, he asked, is more necessary to the defence of a country than its currency and finance? Circumstanced as our country is, can these stand the shock of war? Behold the

effect of the late war on them! When our manufactures are grown to a certain perfection, as they soon will under the fostering care of Government, we will no longer experience these evils. The farmer will find a ready market for his surplus produce, and, what is almost of equal consequence, a certain and cheap supply of all his wants. His prosperity will diffuse itself to every class in the community, and, instead of that languor of industry, and individual distress now incident to a state of war, and suspended commerce, the wealth and vigor of the community will not be materially impaired. The arm of Government will be nerved, and taxes in the hour of danger, when essential to the independence of the nation, may be greatly increased; loans, so uncertain and hazardous, may be less relied on; thus situated, the storm may beat without, but within all will be quiet and safe. There are two ways by which the people can be placed beyond the power of a foreign war materially to impair.

It is certainly a great political evil, incident to the character of the industry of this country, that, however prosperous our situation when at peace, with uninterrupted commerce, and nothing then could exceed it, the moment that we were involved in war the whole is reversed. When resources are most needed; when indispensable to maintain the honor, yes, the very existence of the nation, then they desert us. Our currency is also sure to experience the shock, and becomes so deranged as to prevent us from calling out fairly whatever of means is left to the country. The result of a war in the present state of our naval power is the blockade of our seacoast, and consequent destruction of our trade. The wants and habits of the country, founded on the use of foreign articles, must be gratified; importation to a certain extent continues, through the policy of the enemy, or unlawful traffic; the exportation of our bulky articles is prevented, too; the specie of the country is drawn to pay the balance perpetually accumulating against us; and the final result is a total derangement of our currency.

To this distressing state of things there are two remedies, and only two; one in our power immediately, the other requiring much time and exertion, but both constituting the essential policy of this country; he meant the navy, and domestic manufactures. By the former, we could open the way to our markets; by the latter, we bring them from beyond the ocean, and naturalize them. Had we the means of attaining an immediate naval ascendency, he acknowledged that the policy recommended by this bill would be very questionable, but as this is not