much reduced, with fairer prospects than ever. The time has passed away: Alas! It is now too late to attempt, by any legislative enactment, to come forward to the relief of many of our suffering fellowcitizens, manufacturers, and others, whose property, by the sudden and violent changes which have recently taken place, has become unequal to the payment of their debts. And is it just or reasonable, to annihilate commerce, to destroy the revenue, to press heavily on the agricultural interest, and on all classes of society, to benefit a small portion of our fellow-citizens, and those too who stand in no need of assistance, by measures which will avail nothing to those who stand in need of it? For we repeat, that the manufacturers, like all others who have lost their capital, or sunk it in useless purchases, are morally dead, and can only be restored to life and usefulness by a discharge from their debts. Whereas, those who have contained themselves within prudent bounds, are now carrying on their business under the most favorable prospects; though it may be admitted that many of them may have sustained losses by the sudden depreciation of the value of their goods, but in this way they have only suffered in common with all classes of mercantile men. But, it is avowed, by the framers of these measures, that they have not been led to recommend them from any narrow views, or partiality for the interests of the manufacturers. They tell us, in plain terms, that their interest was not a leading motive with them, and that it was of little importance in their view; they further tell us, that the nation can never be flourishing or independent, so long as it relies on foreign nations for any essential articles of support, and that the system which has entailed on us this dependence must be radically changed.

They tell us, that, as soon as the debts of the revolution were assumed by the new Congress, a system of excise and internal taxation was resorted to, as a permanent means of paying the interest of the hational debt; that, during the administration of Gen. Washington and his immediate successor, an excise on spirits, snuff, and snuffmills, duties on refined sugar, licenses to retailers, carriages, auctions, and a stamp act and land tax, were imposed, and that, in the preamble to the act for laying an impost, the encouragement of domestic manufactures was one of the avowed objects of the law; that this was the revenue system of the founders of our government, which they do not attack, but rest upon, as the only one on which the nation can rely.

Let us inquire into all this, and into the consistency of conduct of these avowed or pretended friends to the system adopted under Gen. Washington's administration.

We find, that that wise administration, though they were indeed the friends of domestic manufactures, were not the enemies of foreign commerce; they imposed merely such import duties as would give a reasonable encouragement to internal manufactures, without subjecting the consumers to pay for goods such exorbitant prices as must have been the consequence, for a considerable time at least, from prohibitory duties; and whilst they foresaw that an adequate amount of

revenue could not be expected from our foreign commerce alone, they did not shrink from imposing excise taxes to make good the deficit.. What does the argument amount to, that there is to be found in the preamble to the first act imposing an impost, a declaration that the encouragement of domestic manufactures was one of its avowed objects; when it may most justly be inferred, that the framers of that law never meant to sanction the imposition of excessive or prohibitory duties on commerce; as, notwithstanding their avowed friendship to internal manufactures, they immediately resorted to an excise on such of them as could best bear it? The truth is, that that enlightened administra-` tion, anxious to raise the public credit, then at a low ebb, and to support and maintain it, to encourage commerce and to promote internal industry of every kind to the utmost, imposed such burthens only as were necessary for these great ends, and, without looking to the most popular methods, resorted to the means most just and least onerous on the people.

Since that time the excise laws became odious to the people and have been repealed; the impost duties were, therefore, augmented, and the revenue arising therefrom was found to be amply sufficient for all the demands on the government, though the duties were considerably lower than the tariff now existing. When the war of 1812 broke out, it was found that our revenue from commerce could not be productive; it was then thought proper to double the duties, and to resort to direct taxes, excise laws, &c. On the return of peace, in 1815, such was the revenue on imports, from the double duties, and in 1816 and 17, from the new tariff, that it was considered unnecessary to continue longer in operation the odious laws imposing excise and direct taxes, and they were again accordingly repealed. In 1818 (imported goods having become very abundant,) our imports, and therewith our revenue, became diminished. Since then, the efforts to restore the circulating medium to a metallic standard have produced so general and universal a distress as still farther to diminish our imports, and thereby to lessen our revenue still more; not because goods have become plenty, but because consumers cannot afford to purchase, and merchants find it difficult to collect, so as to make the necessary remittances. In this state of things, the Secretary of the Treasury, when called on to state what will be the effect of imposing an augmentation to the import duties, replies, that smuggling will be the consequence, and that the revenue will be thereby diminished, and he has the common consent of the nation to this opinion, for the duties as they now stand, are nearly double the rates fixed previously to the war of 1812.

Notwithstanding a full view of all these things, the favorers of the restrictive system, blind or indifferent to the consequences that must. follow the adoption of their measures, bring in a bill for the imposition of excessive or prohibitory import duties, and to support the revenue, now languishing, and which will be thereby ruined, what do they propose? Truly, nothing!

Here one is naturally led to pause and consider what can be pass

ing in the minds of the authors of these measures! Can they contemplate the ruin of commerce and navigation, which have, for thirty years past, nearly alone, sustained the revenue, as nothing? Can they contemplate a large augmentation of the national debt, which for want of the revenue from commerce must inevitably follow, as nothing? Can they contemplate it as nothing to destroy a system of import, congenial to the feelings of a free people, and by means of which an ample revenue has hitherto been collected without a murmur, to make way for the introduction of an odious system of excise laws, which, if imposed without absolute necessity, can only be enforced, it is to be apprehended, by military authority? Can they contemplate it as nothing to throw out of employment your most deserving merchants, and to introduce in their stead smugglers, to furnish the necessary supplies of imported goods? For such must be the consequence, unless it is made highly penal in our citizens to purchase or use imported goods at all. Can they regard it as nothing to ruin the shipping interest and ship owners, and to throw out of employment a large portion of your most enterprising seamen, through whose means our naval prosperity and glory have been so highly advanced? Can they regard as nothing the immense sacrifices to be borne by the great body of the people, on this sudden change of things, which would infallibly greatly enhance the price of all foreign productions, at the same time that it would tend greatly to reduce the price of all our exports, low as they now are? For, who can be so blind or infatuated as to believe that when we declare we shall import nothing, that foreign nations will continue freely to receive our products, or indeed, that they will take any thing from us which they can procure elsewhere?

Will not Europe impose an extra duty on our cotton, our provisions, and all our most valuable staples? Perhaps, indeed, this state may retain some demand from abroad for her tobacco, as China receives our custom for her teas, which are raised no where else. This nation has advanced with most rapid strides, under a liberal and enlightened policy, to a pitch of greatness which has truly astonished the nations of the earth; and shall we now, for a momentary check in our prosperity, (which equally bears on other nations at this time,) abandon our high destiny and adopt a Chinese policy? Surely, gentlemen, in their zeal to promote independence, have forgotten that the great Author of ature has placed man in a state of dependance on his fellow men for the greatest comforts of life, and that the nation who shuts out all foreign intercourse, rejects civilization in the highest degree, and many of the chiefest bounties of Providence.

And for all the frightful sacrifices which are to follow on the introduction of the prohibitory system, what are we promised in exchange? Why, that manufactures and manufacturers shall prosper throughout the land, and that peace shall prevail! But, who can assure us that even the least of these blessings will ensue? Without a sudden introduction of an host of foreign manufacturers, it would take years before the people of this country will manufacture every thing for themselves; their genius, happily for them, being more devoted to agri

culture, navigation, and other pursuits, better adapted to enlarge the mind and promote their happiness! And in the present state of things can it appear desirable to introduce into this country multitudes of the unhappy manufacturers of Europe?

Can it be supposed that these turbulent spirits, now inflamed to the highest degree, from the miseries they have long endured, and who are only restrained by a strong military force, from open violence, can all at once return to habits of industry, and become › peaceable and inoffensive citizens? The experiment will at least be dangerous. But, in guarding against foreign war, by the prohibitory system, which will indeed prevent any collisions from commerce, who does not see, that, in place thereof, we are to incur the greater dangers of dissentions amongst ourselves and civil war! by arraying, from conflicting interests, the people of the north against the south, those of the east against the west-manufacturers against agriculturists. Give us cheap bread, cry the manufacturers, or we cannot work! Give us a certain fixed price for our grain, say the agriculturists, on the other hand, or we cannot purchase your - manufactures and pay taxes, &c.

Surely we ought to profit by the lessons of experience, which every day declares, in the most legible characters, that a restrictive system is not suited to the condition of man. While the most enlightened legislators and statesmen of Europe are anxiously employed in devising means to throw off the shackles which a narrow and shortsighted policy had imposed, and which time, habit, and deep-rooted prejudices, have rivetted upon their people, shall we unnecessarily expose ourselves to the baneful influence of systems already exploded? Surely not. But, to relieve the difficulties under which we now labour, from an exhausted treasury, let a rigid and exact economy be introduced throughout every department of government, many things will bear curtailment, from the change in prices which most articles. have undergone. At this time, let no new burthens be imposed; the people have already difficulties enough to cope with, and the government can now borrow money, if necessary, upon much better terms than individuals: therefore, let not their industry be paralyzed by any new exactions or sacrifices which may be avoided; and in a short time, it is to be hoped, and may reasonably be believed, by national economy, combined with individual industry and economy, that all the difficulties, introduced by the late great changes in the circulating medium, will, at least as to the great body of the people, entirely vanish and disappear, that commerce will revive, and that the finances of the nation, upon the present system, will soon be adequate to meet all demands on the government. Should this not be the case, it may then be wise to resort to direct taxes, or excises, on such articles as will best bear them, viz. spirits, sugars, &c. &c.

In a word, innovations are always dangerous, and no period could be selected less fitting for the making of experiments than the pre

sent.

It is believed, that the true interests of manufacturers themselves will be best promoted by a moderate protecting duty, because it may

safely be calculated on as permanent. A prohibitory system, in a free country like ours, could not long exist; and a repeal of the monopolizing system would involve in ruin all those who, relying thereon, had embarked in undertakings beyond their means, as has been evinced by the failure of those establishments, which were suddenly erected, on a scale of magnitude and expense, greater than the situation of their owners could support, or the state of the country demanded. It is believed, that manufactures will thrive fast enough, from increasing skill and capital, in every branch suited to the wants and means of the nation; in proof of which, we have the experience of the last thirty years, at the commencement of which, we scarcely manufactured any of the most common articles of clothing or furniture; whereas now, not only all the necessaries, but even most of the superfluities thereunto belonging, can readily be procured of domestic or internal manufacture.

And from the reflections that those views naturally excite, it appears evident to your memorialists, that, at no very distant day, so * far from laying additional burthens upon commerce, it will become necessary to impose taxes upon articles of domestic growth or manufacture, as, in a country so extensive as the United States possess, with soil and climates so diversified, what may we not expect to produce, and what will be the consequence of taxing imports alone, both to the revenue and the people? For the sake of illustration, we shall select the article of sugar, of which there is already a considerable. quantity produced within the United States, but not sufficient for the consumption of the nation. Suppose one hundred and fifty millions of pounds necessary for the consumption of the United States, and suppose one third thereof, now raised within their own territory; it will follow that the consumers now pay, in the duty thereon, three * millions of dollars for the support of government, and one millionand a half as bounty to the growers of sugar, within the United States. Suppose, in process of time, that the territory of the UnitedStates shall be able to furnish nine-tenths of the sugar wanted for home consumption; then the consumers will pay only four hundred and fifty thousand dollars thereon, towards the support of gove: nment, rating the consumption and the duty at the same as they now are, but they will pay four millions and fifty thousand dollars as bounty, to the raisers of sugar within our own territory; for, so long as importers can afford to pay the duty imposed, and can compete in our markets with the same article of domestic growth, so long does the duty serve as a bounty to the grower of the article, and to enhance the price in a similar degree to the consumer; for, it is evident, but for the duty, that importers could afford to sell sugar for three cents per pound less. Let us take one more view of this subject, and such as, we doubt not, will strictly apply to it ere many years pass around. Let us suppose that the United States, in place of not raising sugar enough for their own consumption, shall raise double the quantity. It will cease to be an article of revenue altogether, except through an excise; and what shall then regulate the price it will bear in our own markets? It is evident, if we raise, annually,