INTROD UCTION. 1 3 



accessible market " ? It indicates no less 

 clearly the futility of present attempts to 

 shriek our farmers into flax culture, as well 

 as the folly of perpetuating the import 

 duty upon a material which, as all the facts 

 and statistics show, must be imported if 

 flax-spinning is to continue in this country. 

 When an increased use of flax fibre shall 

 have been superinduced through the devel- 

 opment of the manufacture of woven linen 

 fabrics, the intelligence of the farmers may 

 be relied on to avail themselves of what- 

 ever advantages may be offered by such 

 enlargement of the demand at home for 

 flax of high quality. 



Meanwhile, what is the rational course 

 for the economist and the legislator ? 

 There is but one answer : Provide an 

 adequate demand before creating a supply ; 

 remove every impediment, take the duty 

 off the raw material, and thus encourage 

 the establishment of flax-spinning enter- 

 prises in our midst, and the supply of 

 home-grown flax will, in due season, doubt- 

 less be forthcoming. As President Monroe 

 so suggestively intimates in his masterly 

 communication to Congress, in 1821, "By 



