46 



THEN EW G E x\ E S E E FARMER, 



Vol. 1 



You I 



Part of the Address ol the Rev. D. V. McLiaii 

 before the Ameiicaii Silk Soc-tty. 



DILIVEEED IS THE HOUSE OF BEPKESE.NTATITES AT 

 WA'HISGTON, DEC. 12, 1839. 



The December JVo. of the Journal of the American 

 Silk Society contnine this able address. As we read 

 it we could not help wiehing that it might be read by 

 every American citizen, especially every Farmer.— 

 At the same time we feared that its lengih would 

 deter many from its perusal, and also prevent our giv- 

 ing it a place in our columns. By the request of sev- 

 eral of our friends, however, we have concluded to 

 publish the most interesting and important portions of 

 it, which we are satishcd our readers will find well 

 worth an attentive perusal. 



The Journal states that the "address was listened to 

 with wrapt ntteniion by a veiy large and respectable 

 audience. The hall of the House of Representatives 

 wad crowded with ladies and gentlemen, and among 

 the latter we observed Mr Clay, and many other mem- 

 bers of Congress, all of whom appeared to be much 

 pleased with the address. It is proper to say that the 

 twelve pounda of raw siili produced by JIk. Mc 

 Lean, from a quarter of an acre of land, was on the 

 table before the speaker, and gave great force to hio 

 arguments." 



That our country is experiencing great and perplex- 

 ing embarrnssments, and that we are far from enjoying, 

 as a nation, the plenty, and the prosperity which our 

 almost boundless resources lead us justly to expect, 

 is painfully felt by all our citizens. We may blame 

 our government or our banks, but whatever agency 

 they may have in our difficulties, they do not directly 

 produce them. 



Such are our real or imaginary wants, that we con- 

 sume more than we proilure, and as long as this is the 

 case, neither our government or our banks can furnith 

 us effectual and permanent relief. Our imports have 

 exceeded our exports; our consumption has gone be- 

 yond our production for years in an alarming degree. 

 The commercial balance against us, iJiis rtrij year, will 

 probablyfall littleshort of $.50,000,000; added to which 

 is the annual interest on state loans amounting to full 



t 12,000,000 more. That is, we are this moment in 

 ebtto the amount of upwards of .*(50,000,000 — be- 

 sides a debt on time for somewhere near ,$200,000,000, 

 and this debt )«)(«( be paid; our creditors are them- 

 selves enibarraesed at home, and they must and will 

 have their money. Here is the cause of the melan- 

 choly prostration of business in our whole country, the 

 stoppage of banks, the ruin of merchants, and the 

 downward tendency in the price of all the products of 

 our soil. Look where we will no permanent relief 

 can be found, but in the actual production of thai 

 which will liquidate our present debt, and the posses- 

 sion of which will diminish our importations in time 

 to come — or serve as a valuable export in exchange for 

 foreign products. But what can we pro(luce that will 

 promise these desired results ? 



After considering Wheat, Cotton, and Tobacco, and 

 ahowinf conclusively that these articles will not answer 

 the purpose, he proceeds : 



Tiie3c indeed form a respectable item in our annual 

 exports, but they are utterly inadequate to accomplish 

 the results desired, and neither can be materially in- 

 crecs -d to advantage. Where then ehall we seek for 

 relief I Is it answered, diminish our imports. True; 

 but where shall we begin ? What do we import now 

 to any considerable extent that is not uhsohfidy neces- 

 sary to the red or imagiiuiry wants of a great and ra- 

 pidly growing nation '! Will a prosperous people — 

 with unlimited resources, submit to real or iwiginttry 

 privations — because we read to them homilies on po- 

 litical economy. Is it not morally certain, that as our 

 nation increases, our consumption must also imcreaBC, 

 and our importations in a corresponding degree. The 

 only hope of a diminution of imparts, is home produc- 

 tion. We nmst produce, for home consumption, some 

 important articles, and in this way lessen importations, 

 or we must produce somclhing largely for export, that 

 will balance our account current with other nations. 

 Once more, I ask, where shall we turn for relief? — 

 what shall we produce ? Plainly, whatever it is; it 

 ought to be Bomeihing which we largely consume, 

 which will command a high and certnin market abroad, 

 and which our uhok country can produce. And what 



article, I csk, is this ? Vou auiicipate my anbwcr, 

 I fearletsly athnn, in my deliberate judgment, the pro- 

 duction of tiik alone, will meet the exigency of the 

 case. Silk muU become a grtut natiunal staple in 

 America, if we would secure and perpetuate individual 

 and national prosperity. When this becomes the case 

 — and, sir, I honestly fear not till then, under the 

 smiles of a gracious Providence, and the benign influ- 

 ence of a paternal government, we may walk abroad 

 with proud independence — secure from the vexations 

 and embarrassments which, to a greater or less extent, 

 invariably attend a debtor nation. 



Here is an article which we largely consume, an 

 article with which we cannot diepenee, which the na- 

 tion 7nust and tcill have, either produced or imported 

 in annually increasing quantities. 



Next to lood. the chief want of man, in every state 

 of society, is clothing. This, in all civilized countries, 

 is produced from wool, Jlax, cotton, and silk. The 

 increasing extent to which silk enters into the clothing 

 of the civilized world is amazing I In our own coun- 

 try it pervades every class of society, and enters large- 

 ly into the holy-day, and even daily habiliments of 12,- 

 000,000 of people. The average annual importations 

 of silk into the United States during the last five years, 

 was $13,273,114. In the year 1836, it rose to the 

 enormous sum of between 25 and $26,000,000. Now 

 the mere abstraction o{ such an item from our indebt- 

 edneas, would almost render us independent. * * 



Here then certainly is an article which we largely 

 consume at home, and which will command a ready 

 market in any quantities abroad. But can we produce 

 it? Why, I aek in reply, can we not ? Nature has 

 surely thrown no insurmountable obstacles in our way. 

 We are nearly or quite on the same parallel of latitude 

 With the principal silk growing countries in the world. 

 The tree which furnishes food for the silk worm, we 

 know will flourish here; because, in very many por- 

 tions of our country it is of spontaneous growth. And 

 even the more valuable kinds, which have of late years 

 been introduced into our country, and which have 

 been supposed incapable of enduring the rigors of our 

 northern winteia, are found by actual experiment, ev- 

 ery thing their warmest friends could desire. 



In the actual prodxiction of silk experiments have 

 been made iit every period of our colonial as well as 

 national existence — which have uniformly reeulted in 

 the production of silk of as beautiful texture and lustre, 

 and as strong a tibre as is produced in any country. — 

 Especially have experiments been made during the 

 last few years, from IVlaineto Florida, which triumph- 

 antly settles the practicability of producing silk in our 

 country. There is something in the dryness and elas- 

 ticity of our summers, which seem to adapt our coun- 

 try in a peculiar degree to the production of silk. We 

 can produce it therefore, just as certainly as we can 

 produce corn or wheat. But can we produce it to a 

 profit ? Are not the circumstances of our country 

 such, and the nature of the business such, that the cost 

 of production will equal, if not exceed, the value of 

 the article produced ? Here it must be confessed is 

 the consideration which must be decisive on the whole 

 subject, both in an individual and national point of 

 view. Individuals will not embark in any kind of 

 business, or having embarked, will not pursue it it it 

 is found to be unprofitable. Nor can the introduction 

 of any business benefit the nation, which does not ben- 

 efit individuals. The great reason why it is thought 

 it cannot be profitably produced in this country is the 

 fact that labor is here so much higher than in any silk 

 growing country on earth. IIow can we produce it 

 as cheap as we can buj^it when our labor, necessovy 

 to produce it, costsfrom three to eight tlmce as much as 

 the labor in silk glowing countries. 



There is much plausibility in this objection, I will 

 acknowledge — and there was a time when it perplexed 

 me gveatly. 



There ara facts, however, on this subject, which it 

 dies eeem to me triumphantly meet all objections to 

 this bus'ncs^, drawn from the comparative price of le- 

 bor': and I love to deal in facts. 



la it not a fact that manufactured cotton goods are 

 furnished cheaper and better by England than by other 

 piirt-j of Europe ? Are not the manufactured silks of 

 England furnished as good and as cheap, if not better 

 and cheaper, than the silks of other countries where 

 labor is much lower. 



I might instance the production of our fincpt linens. 

 They are furnit-hed cheaper and, better by Holland and 

 Belgium, than by other powers where labor is cheaper. 

 France can and actually dues -lurnish fine woollens 

 cheaper and better than they can be furnished by 

 Spain, although the price of labor is much in favor of 

 "Spain. 



One great reason, undoubtedly, why the price of la- 

 bor is neutralucd, so toepcak, is the fact, which the 



hietory ol the whole worhl will prove, that a dccidca. 

 superiority and akill is usually obtained in the produc- 

 tion of a given article, by those with whom the prict 

 of labor is dearer than with their rivals. 



We know the price of labor in any country, othei 

 things being equal, is usually acording to the «AiW am 

 industry of those who perform it. 



We do not pay a mechanic or laborer a high price 

 tor his labor merely because he chooses to ask it, but 

 because we know the product of his labor will furnish 

 us that which we kitow we can sell to a good profit af. 

 ter paying him his wages. Suppose the daily waget 

 of the East Indian is but a few cents per day, will this 

 advantage counterbalance his want of skill and his 

 destitution ot the labor saving machinery, w^hich pe 

 vade every branch of business in our own free anc 

 happy country ? 



The inventive genius of Americana is proverbial, 

 and who can doubt the application of their skill anc 

 genius to the production of silk r* » » *. 



But again, — how can the price of labor operate tt 

 our disadvantage, when the silk growing countries o 

 Europe generally, either owing to their negligence 

 or climate, are in all cases obliged to make large de- 

 ductions, for disease and death among their silk worms, 

 while our attention, and tlie balmy nature of our cli- 

 mate render it unnecessary for us to make any such 

 deduction. Some writers assert that even ffty pei 

 cent, is a reasonable allowance for the per centagi 

 which they lose. Should it, however, be but ihi 

 quarter of this, litis consideration alone more than bal 

 ancc* the dilference in the price of labor. If they cai 

 lose such a [yr centage, and atiU make a profit on theii 

 low priced labor, bow much greater profit can wt 

 make, even if our labor is higher, when no loss i 

 sustained ? 



But again, I ask how can the price of labor operat 

 to our disadvantage when we are entirely free fron 

 every thing like excise duties on trees an silk ? J 

 burden which is borne heavily, indeed, by Euroiiea: 

 siik growing countries. Wg have it on the best au 

 thority, that in the Neapolitan territory every mulber 

 ry tree pays to the government an annual ta.x of abou 

 sixteen cents, and every pound of silk about thirty 

 three cents. Even the refuse and unprofitable part 

 oi the silk and cocoons pay about one per cent, to th 

 government. 



Surely if labor cost even notliing there, and it 

 still profitable to produce silk, it may be vastly moi 

 profitable here with all the high price of our labor. 



But if we can, as we actually do, grow and manu 

 facture cotton and sell it in India cheaper than the 

 can elsewhere procure it, why can we not do the sam 

 with silk ? 



We know with all their disadvantages other m 

 tions produce silk to a profit, and while in other thinf 

 we yield to no nation on earth, why shall we in eil ' ' 

 alone ? 



But we are not left to such a course of reasoning 

 conclusive as it is, to my own mind, to prove that sil 

 may be profitably produced in our own country. I d 

 not believe we are warranted, as yet, from actual r- 

 suits — to speak with absolute certainty, as to theamou) 

 of profit per acre in the production of silk; etill sufl 

 cient is known from actual experiments to satisfy ar 

 reasonable mind that it can be produced to a profit.* 



Experiments have been made in various sections 

 our country during the last few years, expressly wit 

 a view to test the profits of this bu^;ine66; and feelir 

 obliged as I do, to believe the statements of gentlemt 

 who have made such experimcitts, my only surpri. 

 has been that the results have shown such large jirofit i k 

 I could name experiments made in Ma-e'ichueett 

 f'onnecticut, New Vork, Nev>' Jersey, I'ennsyhani 

 Delaware, MarylaJI^, Virginia, and Ohio; but tb( 

 ore familiar to all, and they all go to prove that si |. 

 can be produced so as to yield a very large profit. 



But on this subject I have otlicr evidence still, th 

 silk can be produced in our country, notwithstandir 

 the high price of labor, to a large profit — evident 

 which, to me at least, \s perfect demonstration, I bai 

 actually produced it myself to a large profit. La 

 year I actually produced silk at the rate of $104 p 

 acre. This year, valuing the raw silk at $4,50 pi 

 lb., I produced at the rate of $108 per acre; or valum 

 it ,<;G per lb. at the rate of $180 per acre. The prn- I 

 product this year was 520 lbs. of coeooni, or 48 liu / 

 reeled silk. The cost of producing which is $2. '2 \ 

 per lb., or the value of one male and iwofemalehaud I 

 twelve weeks each, which, valuing the silk as abov 

 leaves the minimum profit $108 per acre. Now i 

 this I know there is no mistake. There, sir, bifu 

 you. is the silk — it will speak for itself. Nor was u 

 "knowledge or facilities and advantages greater thi 

 what is possessed by amj and every member ol t! 



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