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the fact as it is a period remote, with any exertion, and will be probably more so, from that relaxation of exertion, so natural in peace, when necessity is not felt, it became the duty of this House to resort, to a considerable extent, at least as far as is proposed, to the only remaining remedy. But to this it has been objected that the country is not prepared, and that the result of our premature exertion would be to bring distress on it, without effecting the intended object. Were it so, however urgent the reasons in its favor, we ought to desist, as it is folly to oppose the laws of necessity. But he could not for a moment yield to the assertion; on the contrary, he firmly believed that the country is prepared, even to maturity, for the introduction of manufactures. We have abundance of resources, and things naturally tend at this moment in that direction. A prosperous commerce has poured an immense amount of commercial capital into this country. This capital has, until lately, found occupation in commerce, but that state of the world which transferred it to this country, and gave it active employment, has passed away, never to return. Where shall we now find full employment for our prodigious amount of tonnage; where markets for the numerous and abundant products of our country? This great body of active capital, which for the moment has found sufficient employment in supplying our markets, exhausted by the war, and measures preceding it, must find a new direction; it will not be idle. What channel can it take but that of manufactures? This, if things continue as they are, will be its direction. It will introduce a new era in our affairs, in many respects highly advantageous, and ought to be countenanced by the Government. Besides, we have already surmounted the greatest difficulty that has ever been found in undertakings of this kind. The cotton and woolen manufactures are not to be introduced-they are already introduced to a great extent; freeing us entirely from the hazards, and, in a great measure, the sacrifices, experienced in giving the capital of the country a new direction. The restrictive measures and the war, though not intended for that purpose, have, by the necessary operation of things, turned a large amount of capital to this new branch of industry. He had often heard it said, both in and out of Congress, that this effect alone would indemnify the country for all of its losses. But it will no doubt be said, if they are so far established, and if the situation of the country is so favorable to their growth, where is the necessity of affording them protection? It is to put them beyond the reach of contingency. Besides,

capital is not yet, and cannot, for some time, be, adjusted to the new state of things. There is, in fact, from the operation of temporary causes, a great pressure on these establishments. They had extended so rapidly during the late war that many, he feared, were without the requisite surplus capital or skill to meet the present crisis. Should such prove to be the fact, it would give a back set, and might, to a great extent, endanger their ultimate success. Should the present owners be ruined, and the workmen dispersed and turn to other pursuits, the country would sustain a great loss. Such would, no doubt, be the fact to a considerable extent, if not protected. Besides, circumstances, if we act with wisdom, are favorable to attract to our country much skill and industry. The country in Europe having the most skilful workmen is broken up. It is to us, if wisely used, more valuable than the repeal of the Edict of Nantz was to England. She had the prudence to profit by it; let us not discover less political sagacity. Afford to ingenuity and industry immediate and ample protection, and they will not fail to give a preference to this free and happy country.

It has been objected to this bill that it will injure our marine, and consequently impair our naval strength. How far it is fairly liable to this charge he was not prepared to say. He hoped and believed it would not, at least to any alarming extent, have that effect immediately, and he firmly believed that its lasting operation would be highly beneficial to our commerce. The trade to the East Indies would certainly be much affected, but it was stated in debate that the whole of that trade employed but six hundred sailors. But whatever might be the loss in this, or other branches of our foreign commerce, he trusted it would be amply compensated in our coasting trade a branch of navigation wholly in our own hands. has at all times employed a great amount of tonnage, something more, he believed, than one-third of the whole.

It

An objection had been made that capital employed in manufacturing produced a greater dependence on the part of the employed than in commerce, navigation, or agriculture. is certainly an evil, and to be regretted, but he did not think it a decisive objection to the system, especially when it had incidental political advantages which, in his opinion, more than counterpoised it. It produced an interest strictly American, as much so as agriculture, in which it had the decided advantage of commerce or navigation. The country will from this derive much advantage. Again, it is calculated to bind together more closely our widely spread Republic. It will greatly increase

our mutual dependence and intercourse, and will, as a necessary consequence, excite an increased attention to internal improvement-a subject every way so intimately connected with the ultimate attainment of national strength and the perfection of our political institutions. He regarded the fact that it would make the parts adhere more closely; that it would form a new and most powerful cement, as far outweighing any political objections that might be urged against the system. In his opinion the liberty and the union of the country were inseparably united. That as the destruction of the latter would most certainly involve the former, so its maintenance will with equal certainty preserve it. He did not speak lightly. He had often and long revolved it in his mind, and he had critically examined into the causes that destroyed the liberty of other states. There are none that apply to us, or apply with a force to alarm. The basis of our Republic is too broad, and its structure too strong to be shaken by them. Its extension and organization will be found to afford effectual security against their operation, but let it be deeply impressed on the heart of this House and country that, while they guarded against the old, they exposed us to a new and terrible danger— disunion. This single word comprehended almost the sum of our political dangers, and against it we ought to be perpetually guarded.

CHAPTER III

THE TARIFF OF 1824

[THE AMERICAN SYSTEM]

Protective Tariff Bill Is Introduced in the House-Debate: in Favor, Henry Clay [Ky.]; Opposed, Daniel Webster [Mass.].

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HE financial depression in the country continued, and early in 1824 Henry Clay, who had in the meantime formulated a comprehensive policy by joining his favorite projects of a protective tariff and internal improvements-which policy he presumptuously christened the "American System"-instigated the introduction of a bill in the House of Representatives which increased the duties on imports to a point where the former policy of the country to lay a "tariff for revenue with incidental protection" threatened to become the reverse-"a tariff for protection with incidental revenue." Indeed, the average rate of duties under the bill was 37 per cent., whereas, in the tariff of 1816, 25 per cent. had been considered a most liberal protective rate, and had been laid on only a few commodities such as cotton, the home manufacture of which was thought especially desirable.

The measure was debated in the House from February 14 until April 14, 1824, when it was passed by a vote of 105 to 102. In the Senate it commanded a majority of four votes.

From the alignment for and against this bill it was apparent that sectional interests were coming more and more to replace economic theories as a cause for upholding or opposing the protective system. Thus the Senators and Representatives from the importing and agricultural South, with notable exceptions, such as Senator

Andrew Jackson [Tenn.], voted generally against the bill, along with a majority of men from New England, where commercial interest still overbalanced manufacturing; and, on the other hand, most of the Senators and Representatives of the manufacturing Middle States were in favor of the measure, as well as a majority of the men of the growing West, who had visions of great manufacturing development in the region, and to whom the bill offered further inducements in the form of heavy duties on their sectional products, such as wool and hemp.

Indeed, this tariff bill was the first in which a design was apparent to secure votes by an appeal to local interests, and in framing which "log-rolling" or bargaining between the sections began to play a part.

The chief of the many speakers upon the bill were Henry Clay [Ky.] and Daniel Webster [Mass.],1 who discussed in the House of Representatives the general principles of a tariff primarily for protection versus a tariff primarily for revenue, Clay advocating the former and Webster the latter, and each claiming that he was presenting the policy for which America by nature and institutions was peculiarly adapted.

THE AMERICAN SYSTEM

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, MARCH 31-APRIL 2, 1824

MR. CLAY.-Two classes of politicians divide the people of the United States. According to the system of one, the produce of foreign industry should be subjected to no other impost than such as may be necessary to provide a public revenue, and the produce of American industry should be left to sustain itself, if it can, with no other than that incidental protection, in its competition, at home as well as abroad, with rival foreign articles. According to the system of the other class, while they agree that the imposts should be mainly, and may, under any modifications, be safely, relied on as a fit and convenient

1 In August, 1816, Webster removed from Portsmouth, N. H., to Boston, Mass., and on the expiration of his second term in Congress [March 4, 1817], devoted himself to the practice of law. In 1822 he was returned to Congress from Boston.

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