1838] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



699 



howsoever chosen, it may be presumed that the 

 members would ho nmon<r the most intelligent 

 and best laimer« ol" the state. 



xV. body lliiis constiiiiled, eoiild, by proper inqui- 

 ry and CA'amiuation, draw Ibrlh Iroin every region, 

 reports of the condition, ihc existing advantages 

 «nd good practices, and inipiovemenis in agricul- 

 ture, the knowledge ol" which is confined to tlie 

 narrovv limits ol'llieir respective small neighbor- 

 hoods, and which therelbrc, in each particular 

 case, is hidden li'om, nnknown, and useless to ilie 

 country in general. Though inlormaiion so ga- 

 thered miglit be but jreneral, loose, and but little 

 salisliictory, compared to what better means might 

 elicit, still, what was jfauied would serve to 

 sharpen cmiosiiy, and direct iiKjuiry to the sources 

 ol'more Ihll explanation and instruction. 



But a more important operation ot'such a board 

 would bo to examine well and learn the wants ol 

 agriculture, which leffislaiive aid could provide lor, 

 and remedy; and to report the evils Ibund, and re- 

 commend ilie specific means for relief. The opi- 

 nions and recommendations of such a body, could 

 not fad to be heard with respect; and there would 

 be ground for hope, that thus, cautiously and gra- 

 dually, the best of other means would be devised 

 for doing the greatest possible service to agricul- 

 ture, and consequently to the country at large. 

 The iiwestigations, the experience, the judgment, 

 of the members of a board of agriculture would 

 serve to settle, in the most satisfactory manner, the 

 comparative claiins and merits of all other means 

 for aid and improvement, such as the remaininii 

 subjects which it is proposed here to examine in 

 succession. 



The board should have permission to recom- 

 mend any thinir, but power to enact or establish 

 nothing, unless by special order of the govern- 

 ment. Thus it might induce much future good to 

 be done, and it could, directly, do no harm, 

 nor commit the legislature to any undertaking 

 wdiatever. 



The main recommendation (as we fear it maj' 

 be deemed) of a board of agriculture must not be 

 forgotten — the cheapness of the establishment. 

 The aimual sessions need not exceed two weeks 

 in length ; and the whole cost need not exceed 

 filteen hundred or at most two thousand dollars. 



COMMERCIAL CONVENTION. — CONTINUED. 



Report on Direct Trade and Internal Police. 



The committee, appointed to report on the sub- 

 ject of a direct trade with foreign nations ; and to 

 suggest what legislation may be necessary on the 

 Bubject. beg leave to report: — 



That they find it difficult to illustrate the mag- 

 nitude of the evils resulting from a system of in- 

 direct trade, and will remark, that a full review of 

 the past history of Virginia would better elucidate 

 the subject, than any argument which could be 

 urged by them; but the time of the committee will 

 not allow them to treat this topic as it deserves. 



That Virginia has once enjoyed a direct trade, 

 and all the benefits attendant upon it, all will ad- 

 mit. Scarcely a town in the tide-water region but 

 shared the direct trade to a considerable extent, 

 while at present our most important marts are tri- 

 butaries to the north to nearly their whole amount 



of business. When they enjoyed the direct 

 trade, our cities, towns, and country were alike 

 pros|)eroiis, and emigration did not desolate our 

 land. With the loss of that trade, our small 

 towns (ell to ruin, our cities were made desolate, 

 and our population have been fleeing from our 

 borders ; while those towns which have obtained 

 our business in other states have grown rich upon 

 our resources, and have increased in wealth, and 

 numbers proportionate to our decline. During 

 the state of colonial dependence, the several colo- 

 nies were prosperous in proportion to the amount 

 of their surplus production, and their means of 

 consumption, but the reverse is now the case, those 

 who raise the greater portion of the exports at^d 

 consume most of the imports deriving no profit, 

 but sustaining a heavy loss li-om the operation. 



In spite of the loss and injury sustained by emi- 

 gration and our perverted system of trade, agri- 

 culture has advanced very considerably, and even 

 the tide-water section yields a greater surplus than 

 in the season of the greatest commercial prosperi- 

 t}'. But even in this respect, we are not as pros- 

 perous as those states that enjoy a direct trade, al- 

 though their natural advantages are far inferior to 

 ours. This is painfully manifest from the fact that 

 in 1836 the whole assessment value of the lands, 

 houses, &c. &c. of Virginia was but ^207,000,- 

 000, a sum less than the assessment value of the 

 real estate in the single city of New York for the 

 same year. Your committee are unable to state 

 the value of the personal estate of Virginia for 

 that year, but perceive that the real and personal 

 estate of the city of New York was over ^309,- 

 000,000! The humiliating fact also occurs to your 

 committee, that the value of all our lands and im- 

 provements, including valuable city lots, &c. does 

 not exceed on an average, five dollars and ten 

 cents per acre, a price which it is confidently be- 

 lieved might be realised to the United States, were 

 Virginia a territory, and a wilderness, and her 

 lands offered at auction on a liberal credit! Now, 

 if it be considered, that the citizens ol' other states 

 enjoy almost the entire benefit derived from all 

 the profitable branches of our business, we see 

 strong inducements for our most enterprising citi- 

 zens to leave us and locate in other states with a 

 view of reaping the profits of that business which 

 ought to be enjoyed at home, and thus to lend 

 their unwilling aid to our farther impoverishment. 

 Experience too clearly proves that there is nothing 

 in our agricultural prospects to stay the progress 

 of emigration in the present state of things; for 

 in all the states, north and west of Virginia, and 

 in all the countries of Europe, the labor bestowed 

 on lands in the way of improvements, adds to 

 their value, and to the general wealth of a state, 

 while with us, if such a hope were entertained, 

 the past would afl'ord a melancholy refutation of 

 its justice. If we look to Virorinia and the south- 

 ern states, and then to the states of Europe, the 

 contrast will be striking. All foreign states enjoy 

 a direct trade, and furnish their retail dealers with- 

 in their own borders, thereby giving to their own 

 cities and people all the profits arising from nego- 

 tiating exchanges and furnishing supplies — which 

 is a main source of commercial power placed be- 

 yond our reach, so long as we allow those foreign 

 to the jurisdiction of Virginia to pocket the profits 

 of our trade. It is believed that, if Virginia were 

 to convey to the northern ports the value of $5,- 

 000,000, as a gratuity, to be substracled from her 



