OF AMERICA. 23 



in i860 your export of cotton manufactures was Si 1,000,000, 

 it was only Si 1,500,000 in 1878, a paltry increase of 8500,000 

 in eighteen years ! In England the increase within the 

 same period was §60,000,000. There is no doubt that had 

 you been left unencumbered by the fatal boon of Protection 

 you would have made infinitely greater progress, and you 

 might by this time have proved formidable rivals to the 

 Britisher in neutral markets. Again, in the three years 1866 

 to 1868, agricultural exports formed 74 per cent., and manu- 

 facturing and other exports 26 per cent, of the total exports. 

 In the three years 1876 to 187S the agricultural exports 

 formed 80 per cent., and the manufacturing and other exports 

 only 20 per cent, of the totality. No doubt that, but for 

 the fatal boon of Protection, you would not have lagged 

 behind in the race, and that your relative proportion of 

 exports would have shown an increase instead of a diminu- 

 tion. Again, in spite of the vast expansion of the world's 

 commerce, the tonnage of the United States mercantile navy 

 is actually less now than it was twenty years ago. From 

 1855 to 1863 it was upwards of 5,000,000 tons ; from 1874 

 to 1878 it was little more than 4,000,000. English tonnage 

 in 1861 was 4,350,000 tons; in 1877 it was 6,115,000. 

 Within the last twenty years English tonnage has increased 

 by 2,000,000 tons, while yours has diminished by 1,000,000. 

 Formerly your mercantile navy sliared the carrying trade of 

 the world with England ; now, not only that is lost, but your 

 own produce is carried away from your own ports in foreign 

 bottoms. Is it that the American of to-day has degenerated 

 in energy, skill, or enterprise ? Not a bit of it. But here 

 also Protection has shed its baneful influence. Iron has 

 superseded wood in the construction of large ships, and your 

 tariff makes iron nearly twice as costly to tlie American 

 shipbuilder as it is to his British rival. Abolish your import 

 duties, and you will speedily see your mercantile marine 

 restored to its former splendour." 



To sum up, the vast amount yearly wrested out of the 

 earnings of the American farmers is simply a useless and 

 wanton waste. It makes them by so much the poorer, 



