NEW EI^Gl^AND FARMER. 



PUBLISHED BY J. B. RUSSELL, AT NO. 52 NORTH MARKET STREET, (at the Ackiculthral Warehouse.)— T. G. FESSENDEN, EDITOR. 



VOT.. IX. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 16, 1931. 



NO. 31. 



(litins pioihiced orsii|)|)liecl by the fanners of llin of houses and ships, hi the rents of hoti.ses, &c 

 Ifiiited States, may be reasonably put down at GOO are put down at a less sum than 90 doMars per 

 millions of dollars a year. , hend, per annum ; or, fbr a man, his wife and three 



We place the e)!(tVe clotliins of the people of children, $4.50 a y('ar— about the amount of the 

 the United States, including all the cloths required 



Mr Fessenden — I taki; the liborty f^ respectfujly 

 quest of you the republication of Mr Nilos' accoii- 

 jnyin;; E^^iay on Poiilical Economy: aUliouf;h yojir 

 per is not devoted to either side ol the momenlons 

 estion that is now before the country, I think no one 



n complain of your impartiality, as you have here- wool, fla.x, leather, fur and silk, &c, and is surely 

 "ore republished Mr Poineroy's Essay on the other below the real value. The aggregate is 240 mil- 

 e of the subject. I think it important that Farmers ilions of dollars — of which many thousands con- 

 )uld understand the merits of the American System, |sMmc more than their proportion in boots and shoes 

 roundlessare the complaints made af^ainsl it — and on/i/, for it includes shoeinakers' bills as well as 

 lat an important beneficial effect the protective duties tailors and hatters, &c. And if to this we add 

 ve upon their int. rests. 



Yours respectfully, VERMONT. 



February, 1S31. 



POLITICS FOR FARMERS. 



"Wc have for some time coniemplatcd a general """'ons. 



for household or other pm-posos, at 20 dollars per 

 head. This embraces all manufactures of cotton 



the manufactures of iron, and other metals, of 

 wood, in houses and ships, and furniture, of niin- 

 ernls and earths, such as brick, glass and wares, 

 the aggregate cannot be put down at less than 451 



which certain of the leading principles 

 lical operations, of what is denominated 



The amount earned \n freii^-hts, coasting, inland 



fishing and foreign, including passengers and o-oods 



can .System,' mi^'ht be rendered more' "'•'"'*'l'"'""^'^ '» ^"'''"" l>oats and canal boats, with 



ailiar to. the furmsrs, and other working^ass- ''"^ profits on exchanging .commodities, cannot be 



not time to read, nor leisure 

 te, the important subject — though more 

 ijply interesting to theraseh cs that any other 

 sous ill the UiiitedStates. It has been delayed, 

 wever, from varii us cau.ses, and the few facts 

 lected are mere Hxaiiiples of the many that 

 jht he obtained, were time and opportuiii'.y al- 

 .'ed fur the gathering of them. We nowyrp- 

 d til tlic task — so far desirous of brevity, as ,0 

 apprehensive that we may not always be f„||y' business of onr people 



less than 100 millions a year, all which is put into 

 'he domestic circxdation, and invigorates every 

 brnncli of business, especially the agricultural, lor 

 subsistence, fuel, &c, consumed. 



In addition to these, wo verily believe, that the 



disbursements of the peo|)le of the United States 



for travelling on land, with stage hire, horse-feed, 



j turnpike rates, &c, ig of larger amount than what 



we have regarded as the 4th great branch of the 



If the whole cotton crop be a million of bales. 

 ir 300 hundred millions of pounds, or 30,000,000 

 lollars, the tobacco, sugar and rice may be esti- 

 rateil at 12 millions more; but, say, 4.5 millions 

 a. the whole product of the planting interest, at 

 far and average prices, including the costs oftrans- 

 prrtntion, a large amount to be deducted from the 

 geieral sum. Fortyfive millions of dollars an^ 

 mow than the worth of all the cotton, tobacco, 

 •suflar and rice, annually supplied in the United 

 States. Well may we exclaim in the words of Dr 

 Cooper, ' how do the boasted panegyrics,' on the 

 planting interests, 'dwindle into insignificance 

 when compared with,the/a?-m!)i£;- or manufaclurin. 



derstood, unless by them, who, while they read, 



h also think ii|)Oii what shall be presented to 



m. 



riie primary interest in the United States i; 



tainly that of the /armers ,■■ — the next, that of 

 manufacturers ; — the third, that of navig- 



land commerce ; — the fourth, that of the /)/a?t<er«, 



per. The last, furnishes the largest amount ot 



je ill atieles for ec/jort; but, in its general sum 



production, is at a vast distance behind the firsi 



econd, and much in the rear of the third. Il 



y be well to say a few words in regard w 



h. J 



3r Cooper calculated the subsistence, only, q 



people of the United States, at 640 millions cl ''^"'^ 'li""gl', as before observed, the planters sup- 



ars, in 1813— and exclaimed, ' Wow do (/, P'.V a large proportion of onr articles for export, the 



sled panegyrics on foreign trade dwindle im ^''°''' proceeds would go but a short way towards 



gnifirance when set in competition with Mj«' | ''"^'''"8 'h'' P<="l'''"'''"'e P'""''"S states if the land- 

 rated the support of each individual, for fooi I '^"'•''"■s ^^'"■'^ ""' also /armers. Their crops of 



ik and fuel, §.55 a year. We have materiall Srani and grass, &c, are worth a much mightier 



ered from the doctor— thinking then, as now ^""^ "^^" *''"'"' of cotton, sugar, tobacco and rice, f 



: he was extravagant in his ' calculation ."— biJ ^^ '"^'^^ ^ careful consideration of these things. 



e supposed that the average co.st of subsistencJ Mathematical accuracy is not aimed at for them 



ht he S25 per annum,* for the whole United^"'' <="""°* ''*"»""'""'''• -'^ " sufficient that our 



tes, considering the cheapness of food in many '■'''"''''''<"'■' "'■^ reasonable. The aggregate for 



ts of the interior, and that we have two ,„il ^ul'sistence and clothing of all sorts, all kinds of 



s of slaves. This moderate sum will give u <'«'■>"'"? O'" family utensils, the building and repair 



I millions of dollars, as the cost of subsistenoq 

 product of our farmers — but when to this i' 



ed the value of fuel used, the food of Iiorsfl 

 other working animals, the value of timber art 



:ransportations, &c, of wool, flax, hemj), &| 



, we think that the whole value of the comm 



The average costof paupers, in many establishment 

 we wish to err, if err we must ' on the ' safe side 



*From this some 30 millions maybe deducted, for im- 

 ported articles. 



t This view of the planting interest will strike manv of 

 our readers with considerable force. It seems to be a 

 new view of the siilijecl. Admiltin? that it requires 90 

 dollars a head to feed, clothe, and provide the people of 

 the United Slates with all the rest of the things that 

 they need, their comforts require, or luxuries demand, — 

 the whole product of the planting interest would supply 

 only 500,000 people. We have made large allowances. 



wages of a respectable journeyman mechanic, 

 which is below the average value consumed. What 

 is the sum of tlie rents of all the houses incur 

 cities and towns ? And the product of these, it 

 must be observed, are as well added to a general 

 amou?it of subsistence, as briuid or clothinn-. 



We shall proceed to a particular notice of certain 

 liroducts of the/rtr»!cra, by which we mean the 

 growers of grain, grass, roofs, meats, wool, &c, 

 in distinction to those of cotton, sugar, tobacco and 

 rice. 



The people of the United States consume, each 

 1 lb. of flour a day, or its equivalent in other vege- 

 table food — tills is less than the amount given to 

 decently-fej slaves, a peck of corn (10 lbs.) a 

 week being allowed per head, with other vegeta- 

 ble food. The .iniiiial supply, for 12 millinns, is, 

 then, 4,380,000,000 lbs.— or 22 millions bbls. of 

 flour. It is no matter of what this food consists. 

 If of wheat flour, the average cost will not exceed 

 two cents for each person per day ; vvhicli we think is 

 a pretty moderate rate of living, and suppose that 

 Dr Cooper ami Mr McDuflie must admit it ! 



The greatBst export of flour was in 1817 — 

 1,479,193 biirrels, because of the very short crops 

 in Europe— but in 1819 only 750,660 ; showing a 

 dpcre.'i.se .jf one half, in two years, and the des- 

 tructive irncertainty of the foreign, market. In 

 1828, the export was 860,809 bbls.— in 1829, 

 837,385; of which latter, 210,384 went to Eng- 

 land, on a speculation of short crops, lint was 

 nearly all reshipped to the British West Indies or 

 elsewhere, or retained until it became sour, be- 

 cause that the duty required upon it could not be 

 paid for British food. 



We shall here explain \v!iat this dirty is. It 

 falls as the jirice of grain rises. Thus — when 

 British wheat is at 50s. the quarter of 8 bushels, 

 of 70 lbs. each, (or about 130 cents for the Amer- 

 ican bushel of 60 lbs.) the duty is 44s. 8d. per 

 quarter, equal to 5 dollars 9 8 cents on a barrel of 

 flour I — when at 60.S. the quarter, (equal to more 

 than a dollar and a half the American bii.shel,)the 

 duty is 24^. Srf. the quarter, or $3,30 on a barrel of 

 flour ; when at 7-2s.,(the starvation point, it is only 1*. 

 the quarter, or 13 cents on a barrel of flour. There 

 is a grade of duty for every shilling of the value 

 of a quarter of wheat, (or other grain)— from 72s. 

 to 50s. At the first, the duty is nominal, butasthe 

 price declines, it becomes heavy, and soon runs into 

 prohibition. It is thus that England watches her ag- 

 riculture. —There has been another little bubble 

 about short crops in England ; but, at the last 

 advices, the duty on a barrel of our flour was 3 dol- 

 lars — so none had been sold for consumption ! 

 But there had been a few days of sutishine ; and 

 as the price of wheat was declining, the duty was 

 about to advaijce. This is a chief part of the 

 British 'free trade system ' so much spoken of, 

 and held up for our imitation ! Britain excludes 

 our flour, though we might furnish it at a much 

 less price than her own costs her .jieople, even 

 when she has a fair and full crop ; but we ought 

 to purchase British calicoes, though we can make 



