AND THE WHIG COALITION 323 



effectually. But meanwhile it was quite natural that 

 President Adams should take his cue from the 

 wonderful roads and bridges and aqueducts built by 

 the ancient Romans with money raised by taxation, 

 and insist that Americans might well do likewise and 

 thus bring together the distant sections of their vast 

 country. This was the policy of " internal improve- 

 ments." The end aimed at was a broad, a national, a 

 noble end. It was only the method of attaining it 

 that was questionable. There were some who deemed 

 it a method more in harmony with the political ideas 

 of ancient Romans than with those of modern Amer- 

 icans ; but before the question could be settled by 

 political argument the immense capabilities of private 

 enterprise had been so clearly demonstrated that, for 

 the most part, the policy of " internal improvements " 

 has had to stand upon the defensive. 



This was one of the leading issues raised during 

 the administration of John Quincy Adams. Closely 

 connected with it was the question of the tariff. 

 Since the War of 1812 had made it difficult to obtain 

 manufactured goods from abroad, the scarcity had 

 served as a stimulus to sundry American manufac- 

 tures, and the protectionist theory had begun to make 

 powerful converts, among them Henry Clay. Mr. 

 Clay advocated the policy of raising by protective 

 duties more revenue than was needed for the ordi- 

 nary expenses of administration, in order that there 

 might be a surplus to be spent in building roads and 

 dredging rivers; and he recommended this policy to 

 many people by baptizing it "the American system." 

 Then there was the question as to the continuance 

 of the national bank, in which the government was 



