N o. 38— Vol. 6. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



299 



moment in a very itnportant section of the nnion? 

 — those wlioiM it IS the fushioii to style " nabobs 

 of the .>outh,'' perhaps from the ciroumstance of 

 their showing a fondness for the innocent luxuries 

 and elegancies of life — a taste, ^^ hich, it must be 

 adinittbd, has no tondeney to retard the progress 

 of civilization iind the social virtues, if it does not 

 proiiioto them, and muka men less jealous of their 

 just rights. 



I his class of citizens seem, by the advocates of 

 the " American system," to have been placed un- 

 der " the ban of the 'protidint;' empire." Is it he- 

 cause they inherit a properly in ^^ persona held to 

 seivici ur labour," wliicli their ancestors protect- 

 ed with their blood, and which, if the constitution 

 did not guarantee to tnem as sacredly as it does 

 the New England farmer his freehold, they pos 

 Bess by a pardinount title ? 1 am not a Southron, 

 but a full-blooded Yankee; my ancestors fled 

 from the tariffs and constructive religion of the 

 Stuarts and Archbishop Laud, one hundred and 

 ninety years as;o, to the banks of the Connecticut, 

 and I now innerit some of the soil they then loia- 

 ted ; — nor am 1 an advocate for slavery, sir; Hil- 

 berforcc, CI irkson, nor the most zealous memter 

 of the society of friends in our country, do not 

 hold It in ureatf r abhorrence, or will go further 

 to promote Us abolition, if it can be accomplished 

 without manifest injustice and encroaching upon 

 rights that are held sacred. I am sensible that it 

 is an evil of enormous magnitude, that is increas- 

 ing. But I see not a finger lifted to rhei k it. We, 

 of Ihe free stutts, declaim and scold about it, and 

 complain that the constitution has entitled cur 

 Southern brethren to votes in consequence of their 

 slave population. Would it not be better, instead 

 of treating the subject in this manner.and attempt- 

 ing any infrinsjement of their rights, to consult 

 with them as brothers of the same family, and en- 

 deavoji, by the joint and strenuous efforts of the 

 whole nation, to mitigate the evil, and, if possible, 

 to lay a legitimate foundation for its ultimate re- 

 moval. 



1 have never seen the question fairly met ; — ac- 

 cording to my apprehension, there has a ways been 

 too much enthusiasm manifested on the one hand, 

 and irritability on the other, to lead to an investi- 

 gation of the subject in that cool, dispassionate 

 manner its high importance demands. 



We all ought to know, that a delusion seized 

 the whole ehrislian world with regard to slavery, 

 two centuries ago, and continued till the war of 

 our revolution. Even the Quakers, " Ike salt of the 

 earth," did not scruple to hold slaves until a few 

 years before, when the e.xhortations cf that exem- 

 plary man, ,/3iirton)/ Sejietf/, convinced them that 

 it did not comport with the principles of their 

 faith. 



It ought also to be known, that it is physically 

 impossible for all the luiu country south of Virgin- 

 ia, and some parts of that state, to be cultivated 

 by any but the ./Ifrican race. 



White cultivators, in the present state of the 

 country, cannot exist there. In all probability it 

 would have beena</eser^ had it depended on their 

 labour, to this day. Take the slaves away, and 

 their proprietors must starve or abandon their 

 dwellings and the tombs of their ancestors — man- 

 umit them on the spot, and the remedy would be 

 as bad, or worse than the disease. 



Can we wonder, then, that our fellow citizens of 

 that section arc so sensitive on this subject ? And 

 will those feelings be mitigated by taxing them 



enormously for the clothing of their labourers, un- 

 der pretence of protecting the gro vers of coarse] 

 wool, wlio will never grow a pound if they can i 

 change their flocks. | 



The next item we shall consider is hemp that' 

 pays a tariff of thirty five, which the bill bef re 

 Congress increases pro^res.-sively to sixty dollars 

 per ton. Arc the advoi;ate>- of " imlfpendcnre on 

 foreign countries lor all we want," aware thai ■ 

 those very nations to whom tliey are indebted for 

 nearly or quite all the examples br 'U^'ht to prop 

 the " American system," do not hunker after such 

 independence.^ The whole marine ofOre.it Brit- I 

 ain and France, are furnished with hemp from the I 

 Baltic. It does not seem to agree vith the mo-\ 

 nopolizing pulicy of Great Britain, to protect the 

 growth of hemp in Inland, one of the most fertile 

 spots, and as well suited to that crop as any on the 

 globe — and by that m. ans adil a little comfort, by 

 affording employment to a portion of her sir mil- 

 Huns of kind hearted scihject.-<, that have been de- 1 

 based to be subdued — who labour to (xist. and 'xist 

 to labour. France has found it for her interest to ■ 

 send her wines and the "fineries from her work 

 shops" to Russia for hemp, and grow wheat that 

 often competes with our flour, in the West India 

 and South American markets. 



How do o-;r merchants pay for Htefive thou.iand 

 tons of foreign hemp that is annunlly worked up in 

 our country? They take our floi--, pork, lard, and 

 a large amount of other produce to Cuba, and Bra- 

 zil, and with the proceeds purchase svsrars. whirh 

 are taken to Russia, and cargop< of hemp brought 

 back in return, to be manufactured into cnrdase 

 to rig their ships, and to export tor the republics of 

 Mexico and South America. This trade demands 

 .■i large amount of tonnage, with provisions for th • 

 crews. And until the preparation of hemp Is bet 

 ter understood and practised will it not promote 

 the " farming interest" infinitely more than to 

 grow that crop? 



The committee say "hemp and flax only need 

 the consumption of duck and cordage of our ex- 

 tensive commerce and growin? navy." But the 

 commissioners of the navv will not hazard their 

 well earned reputation, by sending the natiomi 

 ships to sea clothed with sails and ritrjinff made 

 of materials the growti; of our country nor will 

 the ship owners. But if they are a little more op- 

 pressed with tariffs, they will send their ships to 

 Europe to be clothed. There is no question, but 

 by a proper system of management, hemp can be 

 grown in the western country, and become a pro- 

 fitable staple at $hiO per ton ; and we can prove 

 by facts, that a small sample was prepared in New 

 England, during the last war, equal to the best 

 Russian hemp. The system, as now practised, is 

 radically wrong. A high tariff, however, will not 

 change it — during the war, hemp sold for $.'J.5fl a 

 ton ; since, the price has averaged over .f200 — it 

 is now $275 in Boston. Where do we see hemp 

 prepared in the Russian manner ? It should be 

 considered, that all improvements in agriculture, 

 are of •' stoiv growth." The only method to bring 

 hemp to such perfection as to be consumed by our 

 marine, is for the State Legislatures to offer large 

 bounties for hemp that shall equal Russian, and to 

 encourage the erection of machinery for dressing 

 it, by loans to the farmers for that express pur- 

 pose ; and even then the increase will be so grad- 

 ual, that it will take probably twenty years to fur- 

 nish the demand for our navigation. 

 If the supply could keep pace with the increas- 



ed consumption for ten years, it would be doing 

 Wfll. In IffUf), there was exported only from St. 

 Petersburgh, 'J <J,;j tons of hemp to the U. States, 

 and 4,639 tons in 1827. The cordage manufac- 

 turers, if the present bill passes into a law, and 

 they are not allowed a drawbak, will be fairly run 

 down by the tariff' ship, as those of duck v\ere in 

 18'.'4. Flax may be supposed, with trifling varia- 

 tions, to stand on the same boltoni|pkith hdrnp. 



The proposed increase of the farilV on aident ' 

 spirits, sweetened as it is with molasses, as a pro- 

 tection to the agriculturists of the nation, is too 

 disgusting to dilate upon If our countrymen will 

 take poison, it is quite immaterial whether it it 

 hel.ebore or arsenic. It is believed however, that 

 the present high duty on West India rum, has 

 done more to occasion the loss of the British col- 

 onial trade than any mismanagement in nego- 

 ciation. As the planters had nothing but rum 

 to pay for of our agricultural products they want- 

 ed, have nut been very strenuous to induce the 

 government to open their ports. And I think it 

 may be fairly assumed, that had the tariff on rum 

 been no higher than for the purpose of revenue, it 

 would have been continued a commirce with the 

 West Indies, demanding a much greater amount 

 of exports from our country at large, than any 

 advantages that have been derived from an in- 

 creased consumption of grain for distillation. 



Internal improvements are said to be pressed 

 into the service of the .4" ericwi system. If that 

 is the case, does not one of its features resemble 

 a steam boat with her nheels moving in contrary 

 directions ? We find t'lat the LegisUffures of the 

 several States, and individuals are most ardently 

 and laudably engaged in cutting canals and con- 

 structing rail-ways for the express purpose of en- 

 abling the farmer to transport his produce to mar- 

 ket at II very cheap rate. The advocates of the 

 "protcting system,'^ by high tariffs on hemp, iron, 

 and duck, sire taking the most effectual method 

 that can be devised that he should transport it 

 coastwise and to foreign markets at a very dear 

 rate. For it is as certain as that the tide will 

 flow, as the materials for ship building advance 

 in price, the freights of our immense coasting na- 

 vigation and also that carrying our products tp 

 foreign ports will advance in proportion. 



Having denied that Congress possess the power 

 they have assumed, and on which the "protecting 

 system" is based, it is incumbent on me to produce 

 authority other than my own opinion, which cer- 

 tainly ought not to weigh a feather against a con- 

 trary doctrine, embraced by very able opponents. 

 Happily I have it in my power to offer, such as I 

 trust will be considered paramount to that of those 

 eminent characters be they ever so learned and 

 well skilled in the science of construction. 



It was my good fortune, sir, to be on the stage 

 when the federal constitution was formed — and. 

 during the debates of a convention of delegates, 

 chosen by the people of my little native State of 

 Connecticut, to deliberate upon the question of its 

 ratification ; I attended in the galleries every mo- 

 ment of their sessions. I was young, ardent, and 

 my little all depended upon the issue ; and, as you 

 may well suppose, not a lisp escaped me. I heard 

 Wm S. John-on, R. Sherman and Oliver Ellawortb, 

 who had assisted to frame that compact, explain 

 and defend its provisions, answer objections, and 

 allay the prejudices of strong pure minded men — 

 with such eloquence, calmness, and energy, that 

 made an indelible impression on my mind. A' 



