chanic and other arts, affords a better market for the products of including cotton, than all the The market of all the other

the country, chiefly agricultural, and world foreign to the United States. states, created by the same cause, is probably equal to that of New England, and throughout the Union this home consumption is annually and rapidly increasing. In 1832, home manufactures consumed two hundred thousand bales of cotton; in 1844, four hundred thousand. The present (1845) home consumption of raw cotton, is estimated at one fourth of the entire product of two millions of bales, by which the wrought value, which is four or five times the value of the raw material, and all the costs of export and import, are saved to the country, besides the market and other business which the factories afford to agricultural and other pursuits.

This plan of General Jackson, therefore, in his letter to Dr. Coleman, in 1824, has been accomplished on a scale far beyond his conception at the time, and the happy consequences then predicted by him, have followed, though not by his instrumentality— followed in spite of all his subsequent hostile influence, armed with the power of the chief executive of the nation.

The effect of General Jackson's influence, as derived from the means of his elevation, and from his power as chief magistrate, was, that it robbed the nation of its sound judgment, and charged it with prejudices, by appealing to the lowest passions, and setting the poor at war with the rich-a state of feeling which will probably take half a century to rectify, if it is ever done. How else could the "Society of Tammany," and the party they controlled, have been driven so entirely from the ground they occupied in 1819? The true policy of the country was never stated better, or more distinctly developed, or more boldly advocated, than by them at that time. Their good sense, untrammelled by extraneous influences, moulded into shape, and stimulated to action, by the common and wide-spread calamities of the country, hit upon the true policy, marked it out, and put it forward more boldly than any form in which it was ever presented by a statesman. It was a movement of the people, which is not addicted to the cautious language of statesmen. General Jackson, in his letter to Dr. Coleman, echoed the same policy. But a few years afterward, occupying a favorable position, he seized the mind of his great and triumphant party, snatched from its deep foundations this wholesome and sound doctrine, which had grown up there in its primitive

and natural bed, and scattered it to the winds of heaven.

Instead of being guided by their own judgment, the people were thenceforth, for a protracted period, swayed by the will of a leader, till they lost sight of the landmarks which they themselves had set up. Democracy" was then transformed, imbibed an unwonted spirit, to be led and governed, instead of leading and governingwas fashioned into a TOOL.

But it ought not to be assumed, that the public mind can never be brought back to that genuine democratic feeling and independence of judgment, which characterized the eloquent and vigorous "Address of the Society of Tammany," in 1819. When this personal influence of one man shall have died away, when the prejudices he infused into the popular mind, so utterly subversive of common judgment, shall have subsided-unless other equally fatal influences shall come in to prevent-it may be hoped that reason will resume her seat, and common sense her empire. As the " Society of Tammany," with the whole country, had been taught by sad experience, when their address of 1819 was sent forth, there has also been experience enough since that time, to reinculcate the same lesson, and restore sanity to the public mind. Let the same party that was thus led astray, read their own words, and let them have a chance to reimbibe their own spirit, of former years, and their own democratic pride and self-respect will carry them back to that solid foundation, on which they once stood.

The design of this chapter, was not to go over the wide field which the head of it might seem to promise; but, first, to exhibit some of the authorities on this subject in the public history of the country; and next, to show, from an authority which can not be controverted, the position on the protective policy, which, in their early history, was occupied by the party who supported General Jackson in his attempts to break it down, and who, since he led them astray from that sound doctrine, so ably vindicated by them in 1819, have been so violently opposed to it. This history is instructive, and shows, that they were led off by authority, and not by reason. General Jackson, as will have been seen, at the same time, occupied the same ground of fidelity to the protective principle, which also proves, that, if he had good reasons for maintaining that position then, he had not afterward any good reason for abandoning it. The causes of this change have been exposed in other parts of this work.

CHAPTER XII.

POLITICAL ECONOMY AS IT RESPECTS THE PROTECTIVE POLICY.

Protective Duties not a Tax, but a Rescue from Taxation.-A Sketch of Taxation in Great Britain.-Adequate Protection saves the Country fifty per cent. in the Cost of Articles protected.-The Parties who Realize this Saving.— How the Protective Policy distributes its Benefits to all Classes.-Meaning of the Balance of Trade.-History of its Results against the United States.-Its Results in Favor of Great Britain.-Effects of the Tariff of 1842.-Importance of Domestic Commerce.-The Protective Policy necessary to countervail the Machine Power of Great Britain.-Necessary to the Capital of Labor.-How the Nation ran in Debt.-Relative Position of European Capital and Labor to American Capital and Labor.-The Laissez-Faire Principle.-Great Britain not returning to Free Trade.-The only Way to have a Sound and Adequate Currency.

It is not proposed, under the lead of the general head of this chapter, to plunge into the entire range of political economy, but only so far as it comprehends the protective policy, and grows out of the long debate which Mr. Clay has, during his public life, maintained, on his part, before the country.

Vast as is the field that has been surveyed under his guidance, and overwhelming as are the facts and reasonings adduced by him in vindication and support of his views on this subject, there are yet other considerations and other facts, appertaining to this policy, which may deserve some notice-not, indeed, as indicating defect in the arguments of Mr. Clay, but as mere accretions to the nucleus which he has formed, such as time and events have suggested and brought to light. Some of them, indeed, are points which he has noticed, but for want of opportunity, has not so much elaborated.

The importance of the question, whether protective duties are a TAX on the consumers of articles protected, is vital to the controversy-is, in fact, to a great extent, THE controversy. And yet it is assumed by one side, that they ARE a tax, and this is the ground of objection. It has also, to a great extent, been conceded by the other side, and the battle has been chiefly fought on false issues, or issues superfluous, embarrassing, and tending to perplexity, in diverting the parties from the true ground of debate. VOL. II.-20

Mr. Clay has with great candor admitted, in a part of his speech of February 12, 1833, that "in general it may be taken as a rule, that the duty upon an article forms a portion of its price." But this was an incidental remark, candidly rendered, in connexion with a showing of an unwarrantable, because uncertain and unreliable, conclusion arrived at by the secretary of the treasury, as part of the basis of his estimates. It is on account of the fallacious character of this technical proposition-which may be allowed to be technically correct, though practically deceptive—that this part of the estimate of the secretary, based on the assumed principle, that duties are parts of prices, was justly arraigned by Mr. Clay; and if it had occurred to him at the moment, or been thought necessary, he would probably have shown the fallacy or deceptive character of the rule. That he so regarded it, is plain from his own words: "Now no calculation can be more uncertain than that." But the proposition, as a technicality in political science, is applied alike when the consumer gets the article cheaper in consequence of the duty, as when he pays more. But Mr. Clay has proved abundantly, that the operation and effect of the protective policy in this country has generally been to cheapen the articles protected, by extending the range of competition, and increasing supply relative to demand. In the early history of infant establishments, protected by duties on imports, prices of the articles thus protected may, in some, perhaps in most cases, be, for a time, enhanced; but it does not follow, that even then they are a tax to the consumers. The consumers may be benefited in finding a market for their own products, in consequence of this protection, to a greater amount than the increased prices on these articles. This is a sound doctrine of political economy, and is the invariable operation of the protective policy. The benefit may not fall precisely, and in exact measure, where it is due; but sooner or later, directly or indirectly, in one form or another, all consumers of protected articles, thus enhanced in price, will get their equivalent. How much more are the consumers of protected articles benefited, when these articles are cheapened in consequence of protection?

The technical proposition, therefore, that duties form parts of prices, seems to lead to practical error. It can not, except in cer tain cases, be true, as for example, it is not true when the duties are greater than the prices. Mr. Clay mentions an instance when duties on lead were two to one of the price. It is absurd to sup

pose that such duties enter into the price. On unprotected articles, when imposed for revenue, generally, this rule applies, though it is not a certain and exact measure. On protected articles, it is rarely true, and never in any case can it be a reliable

measure.

The false notion, that protective duties are a TAX, in the sense of a burden, has led to all the hostility which the protective policy has encountered. To arrive at the truth, the proposition should be reversed, and read thus: Free trade, on one side, leads to a system of taxation by foreign powers and forcign factors, and the protective policy operates as a rescue from and a shield against such wrongs.

On account of the importance of this proposition, it may be well to spend a few words in illustrating it. In the first place, when a manufacturing nation, like Great Britain, has gained an exclusive market for any of its products in a foreign country, the factors are able to command their own prices. The home government, aware of this, imposes exorbitant excise and other duties on these articles, all of which, in such a case-there being no competition-enter into the prices, and are paid by the consumers. Suppose the consumers are citizens of the United States. It will follow, that these taxes, amounting to not less than 50 per cent. of the cost, are paid by American citizens, for all that they consume of such articles, to support the British government, established church, aristocracy, and all other institutions of that empire. It is a TAX-and an enormous one-without disguise or qualification. Such was the actual condition of the American colonies previous to 1776. Though the evil has been relieved since the establishment of American independence, it has never been entirely abated. The United States have always been one of the best customers of Great Britain, on such terms as to pay all the British imposts and excises on the articles consumed.

To show how the people of the United States have been taxed as customers of Great Britain, in the consumption of her manufactures, it is only necessary to exhibit, as nearly as practicable, the average amount of her imposts on the raw material of her manufactured products, and of her excises on the implements and business of manufacture, through all stages to the final act of export. The following extracts from a congressional document of the house of representatives, No. 296, 3d session, 27th Congress, pp. 500-501, may serve as a basis of this calculation :