NEW ENGIiAND FARMEU. 



Published fii/Jons B. RussEH, at JVb. 5"^ .Vorth .Market Street, (over the Jigiicultural If'arehouse). — Tkomas G. Fessenden, Editor. 



VOI..Vi. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, APRIL II, 1828. 



No. 38. 



A G it I C U L T U II E , 



(F,< 



\timi4 I still derived consolation ; as I considered 

 I the redemption of the irnaranlee of nearly as- much 

 I importance in its t-onseqiienre, as was the assist 

 mco originally derived by the pledje ; — for there 



e American Farmor.) 



o> Till: 



i:PFECTSOPTUc:PRJ'rKCTINGS¥STEMi,,an he no (luestion, but that it prevented the na 



Upon :hr .Ifiricultura! Interest. 



B. i>;htm, near Boston, loth Feb. 1823. 

 To JonsS. Skixker, Ksq. 



Dear Sii, — By ;in e 'ilori;il artii-ie in a late Am 



tion from h'-ir? involved with one or other of the 

 belliirerents, at a crisis that its very existence 

 woiilfi have been eminently jeopar<lised. 



Ever since the loss of mv flour or silver bars. 



orican Faruier, ("No 4-2,) we learn that you are |which is morp than thirty vears, I have lived on 

 •■ in a quandary on the turitT question," that you Ijiiy farm, chiefly occupied in horticulturt, farming 

 "saw the system of 1824 eritablislied,andin X^'i'i ,\an<\ breedincr of animals ; -awA beintf located in 

 the farmintr interest more depressed than you ev-'the vicinity of the great Cattle fair, which is at- 

 cr knew it." F.very friend to his country, who'tended jocfWi/ the ^ear round, by farmers, afraixers, 

 has witnessed your xeul and untiring exertions to and dairy men from all parts of the IVew Enjjland 

 promote its best interests, will, from motives of states, opportnnities oiTered, which I was not 

 gratitude, feel ;ispost^d to lend a helping hand to backward in improvinsj, of mixing and conversing 

 relieve you; thus iu-tuatei,, I profler my feeble aid iwith a class of men, who, for strenorth nf under 

 I shall commence with an expression of my de- Utandinir. intelliirence, and innate shrewdnpss,will 

 liberate opinion, that a mania with re^jard to theinnt suffer bv a comparison with any class or body 

 question at issue, his been somewhat rife in our of men on the orlnbe. Often have I, in times of 

 country forsev^ ral jears past; and, as in thephi/si jreat acrriculturiil distress, I 'aned over the pens or 

 cal system, when an epidtmic prevails, the robu-tl "enres, and communed with them for hours on the 

 are often Its VI (ims, while the/ffWe escape, so in icniises that led to such a lamentable state of 

 the inletlertaa', when a mania raires, it not unfre- lhin?s. I have also associated with many of the 

 quently passes by the weat< 3.nd puny, and seizes j most intelligent of the mercantile classes in the 

 upon the tcise and saga ious. j npilal and princinal trading towns of New Ensr- 



But before we proceed to discuss the subject, 1 | Imd. during the period referred to, and anxiously 

 oraveyour in(Juli>e' ce to f<;-oAiiie a little. I would Uoutrhf their opinions on the measures of the na- 

 not be understood as huslile to the manufaclurinj; ; tional councils for promotinsr the commerciil pros- 



interest — oil the contrary I am an advoca:e fo 

 fostering ■■ doiiu'Stic industry" especially ho.se- 

 hold manufactures, which I consider the philoso- 

 phtr's stone for the firmer. But I protest against 

 attcmptiiiL' protection by tariffs . As I deem the 

 stale leL'Hlat'ires the best judges of those brinch- 

 es that r.»qiiire encouraorenient, and the legitimate 

 fountains from which the means should flow. Nor 

 am I an iinpo'ter of European commodities of any 

 kind, and never have been. 



I was formerly engaged in mercantile pursuits, 

 and shipped flour fo France, that was purchased, or 

 rather taken by the French republic, for which 

 they promised to pay silver bars, but my super- 

 cargoes nor agents, could never get them or any 

 other pay, although some of my brethren were so 

 fortonalo as to get paid for their flour from the 

 droppings of the Louisiana purchase. I consoled 

 myself, however, that when the revolutionary vol- 

 cano had spent its fury. Prance vvouldeett e down 

 with a permanent ffovernment of some gortor oth 

 er, and bein? impressed with an idea that no gov- 

 ernment Can be permanent unless administered up- 

 on principles of strict justice, at the same time see- 

 ing her riches ^^progressive," I consoled myself, 

 as before observed, that I should ultimately get 

 my bars, or an equivalent in coin. But it was not 

 long before I was deprived of that consolation — 

 for our own government took my claim, together 

 with others similarly situated, into their own 

 hands, and without our consent, relinquished them 

 to redeem a guarantee of the West India islands, 

 which had been pledged to France at a critical 

 period of our war of independence, for the assist- 

 ance rendered in that struggle, without which it 

 is doubtful whether our complete emancipation 

 would have been the result. Notwithstanding I 

 lost Diy claim on France, being habitually an op- 



ppritv of our country, in which, from investments 

 deni-'ndent on it, I felt a strong interest. I doubt- 

 less have not profited by such advantages, so much 

 as many others would, thus situated. But I have 

 deemed it necessary, sir, to speak thus far, of my 

 own affairs, in order to shew the causes which 

 placed me en the field of observation, among such 

 practical men as I have named, during a period of 

 thirty years, which has enabled me to assert, that 

 the positions I am 3bout to assume, are not found- 

 ed upon hasty reflections, elicited by recent disap- 

 pointments, or my conclusions drawn from peru- 

 sing the writings of political economists. Thus 

 supported, I fearlessly declare my most solemn 

 conviction, that the interests of agriculture require 

 no other protection than a free unshackled com- 

 merce, and a fair scope for competition in foreign 

 markets. And that to legislation upon the model 

 of what is termed the counting house policy, or 

 monopolising system of Great Britain — to protect- 

 ing statutes, excited by circumstances of the mo- 

 ment, may be attributed by far the greater portion 

 of agricultural distress and public calamity, that 

 has befallen the nation since the days of the "first 

 Jldams." We then heard that exalted patriot and 

 profound statesman, declare, that " the interests 

 of agriculture and commerce were inseparable — 

 their only eflfectual protection, ^wooden walls'" 



A long time elapsed, unhappily too long, when 

 the nation united with one accord to build those 

 walls. Then arose a gleam of hope that the gold 

 en days were about to return ; but it proved delu- 

 sive. The snake was not killed, nor even " scotch- 

 ed;^' he laid torpid but for a moment, and has come 

 out, clothed in a more specious garb, with renew- 

 ed vigour, to protect manufactures with his fangs 

 — charm agriculture with his rattles, and crush 

 cominercc amid his /oW«. 



I most conscientiously believe, sir, that '• time, 

 with which every thing rises and falls," will prove 

 this as9uin;)tion to be a ^'faithful saying" — that it 

 is not decldijiation.nor the language too highly figu- 

 rative, to pouriray the 'form and pressun" of the 

 AtiCKiCAN System. I sh'ill not plough over the 

 whole surface of that field, nor explore the strata 

 hidden beneath it — my labours will be confined tc 

 an obscure corner, and I trust I shall be able to 

 demonstrate that this same system or any of its 

 ramifications, will operate most injuriously, if not 

 destructively to the interests of the agriculturists 

 of our countiy. 



I begin witli a^ialysing the sugar plwns hereto- 

 fore g;ven, :ind now hold out to those sickly chil- 

 dre:i to induce them-to take their jtbysic. 



The first item to bo exa;iiine I on the ralalogtie^ 

 is H tariff' on cheese of nine cents per pound, grant- 

 ed in 1816 — this has, doubtless, been considered 

 by the farmers as amounting to a prohibition, and 

 of course a complete proteciion. But it is probable 

 they, nor the national legislature, were aware that 

 one more potent then existed, and still exists — 

 nainelv, that such foreign cheese as would sell in 

 the United States, and could possibly come in com- 

 petition, costs in the country where 't is reduced, 

 with the charjes of importation, exchange and a 

 living profit only to the importer,full three times as 

 much as cheese from the best dairies in our coun- 

 try ! Or. Fra'iklin would have advised those who 

 irrantea this boon, to "save the paper" — the parch- 

 ment o3 uhica the law is engiossed, was worth 

 more to tbe farmers than the protection. As we 

 may derive instiuction from this article, 1 shall at- 

 tempt a brief history of its progress towards im- 

 provement. Before the adoption of the federal 

 constitution, much the greater portion of cheese 

 made in New England, was disgustingly inferior 

 to what it now is ; — nearly all the wealthy classes 

 in the commercial cities and southern sti^tes, were 

 ■luppliod with yb re (g-ti cheese — chiefly English; — 

 there were a few good dai'ies, but so rare thai 

 their product was distinguished by the names of 

 the proprietors. The farmers who brought their 

 poor stuff to the grocers, saw English cheese sell- 

 ing for three times, and that from those dairies I 

 have named, twice as much as they could get for 

 theirs, entered into a spirited competition before 

 the impost of four cents a pound was laid in Sep- 

 tember, 1790. Foreign cheese was considered a 

 luxury, and was taxed as a fair object of revenue. 

 The preamble to the act which contains this item, 

 recites : — '■ To make provision for the payment of 

 the debts of the United States." Revenue was the 

 only object — no one ever dreamed that it was for 

 the protection of a particular class of citizens — 

 The discovery that Congress possessed the power 

 of imposing prohibitory tariffs, was reserved for 

 more " evil times" This is an excrescence that 

 has attached to the constitution since that period. 

 Had it appeared then, every hand of those illustri- 

 ous patriots who organized the government, uould 

 have been put forth to pluck out the constructive 

 tumour by the roots. They would have pronounc- 

 ed most emphatically that "the State Legislatures 

 were the only legitimate almoners of the people's 

 money !" 



It is said, that the want of success in the 



