No. (j. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



87 



pi-r weik porquuier, c (uul lo 4^ ccms in a buahel ul 

 whenl, or .fi M a yenr. 



Tuc commercial ciI'l-cI oI tbie system bas been to 

 enuiniratje a,)f?i,-u.utii)ii. Tue niunieniu d>liciency nji- 

 pears i.i i''l- oliglue^t degree probable, the grniii denl- 

 era ii iturally withbuid tbuir stock on bniij Iroiii ibc 

 maikcl ; orders nie sent lo tbc comiiienl for 

 grain, to be imported in bond, to be entered as 

 Slim as tbe tali of duties wdl answer; price- 

 are |,Uolied up by all the arts of trade ; and, oe 

 «'Mi aj ibe duty sinks to tb ! desired ratei?, (siy 6s. 

 8(/.,) tbe wuole stock in bond ,8 entcieil lor coiisuiiip- 

 titm, and thus added In tbc general stock; and, if tRc 

 deticieiicy proves imaginary, or siiiiill, prices fall nn 

 rapidly m tney rose before, ilie duty runs up a^ain, and 

 tbc s.ieculntora bnve received the wbole benetii. Tun, 

 a gainbliiig cbnracter is iiiiijailcd tu trade, as detrimen- 

 tal ti c iniiiicrcal niornls as to die general prosperity. 

 Krom July, IS-'S, to U-cember, 18i.-<, tbe qimnti-y en- 

 tered wai 6,7d-!.rfd0 quarieis, of winch 5,liti8,Slfl), or 

 75 per c^mt., pnid duties not exceeding Cs-. 8,^ : and oi 

 thiSj .■i.223.2Q:! or nearly 51) per cent, of tbe wbole 

 quantity, paid only Is. duty. In the year 18:i7, tbcre 

 were entered for con, umpiion,2;i2,71J3 quarters w. eat. 

 and 4l),187 hundred weight of Hour, paying duties to 

 the amount of £:!()6,S6). In the year ]H:J8, there 

 wej-e entered 1,740,S(IG quarters wheat and 393.- 

 857 cwi. flour — being more than seven times the 

 quantity of wheat, and nearly ten times the qnaii- 

 tuv ol flmr entered the preceding year, paying only 

 £UG.o3.'{ duties, or lets than 50 per cent.: wbereas, 

 lia 1 the rate of tbe duty been equal in both venis, the 

 duiv in tbe latter would have been £->.3X\l->'.). From 

 1st Seiiteiuber^ 18:38. to oOih November, 1S:!0, duty 

 wad piid on 4,532,(351 quarters wheat, tbe prices ran 

 ging in the time from GIs lOil. to 81s. 4rf., and tbe 

 duties ranging Irom Is to 2l1s 8'/.: but the averaged 

 dutiod was under 3s. 7d. (15, 16.) 



Tbe tendency of this system to general impoverish- 

 ment, and t.) tbe increase ot misery and diic-mtent 

 among the poorer classes, is already awakening in 

 tense observation in Great lintain. The mamifiicto- 

 riesBtou work, becauieordersdonotcomel'roin .\meii- 

 cn: and the orders nrc not scut, becriuee that which 

 payment might be made to a large nmoiint will not be 

 received on iiiiy just and reasonable terms. The goods 

 are wanted here, and our fiee industry is abnndaiuly 

 able to produce the menus of payment, but the great 

 elnple of the mirilnvest is under on interdict. Tbe 

 operatives are thrown out of employment, and reduced 

 to the linveit means of subsiotence, and unable to con- 

 sume a lull measure of tbe products of agriculture, 

 and th lusauds are made pouiiers, and become an abso- 

 lute clinvge u|)on the land. Tue cimsiimption of agii- 

 cultural products is diminished; the agricultural labo. 

 rers share the common distress: ond agriculture Itself. 

 tbe very object sought to be bciiefitied by th s uniiatu 



ral arrnngemeiit is oppressed by its own protection. 



It is deinonstrahle that a well-employed, well-paul, 

 Well-fed, prosperous c immunity of operatives would 

 consume and pay lor more agricultural products, in 

 addition to the wheat they might import from Ameri- 

 ci, than a depressed and starving community would 

 without the wheat. 



The best oiitborilieB agree that a very large propor- 

 tion of the misery which we bear of among tbe fictory 

 children, is the result of the c-orn laws; first diminish- 

 ing the employment and wagrsof the parent, and then 

 raising tbe price of bis provision^, until sheer want 

 drives him to sacriliee bis children for bread ! Tons, 

 while we are wanting goods, (not, indeed, tbe neces- 

 •nrie^ of lile, but the c miforts of civdized and retired 

 life,) our national revenue falling short, and our gra- 

 naries bursting vi-ith abundance, Kngland's inillsare 

 Slnndiug sii 1, and her poor perishing with hunger — 

 Surely the ciminon instincts of our nntuie, the en- 

 lightened and pbilogophie beneviilence which regards 

 human happiness as the great object of human society 

 and government, require a faithlid examination of ihij 

 •ystem by all naions. 



The question, where Great Britnin is to look for 

 supplies of wheal to meet either the occasonni ihoufh 

 frequmt deficiencies of her hnrvests, arising from her 

 uncertain climate; or the regular demand, not now 

 very disnnt, caused by the increase of population be- 

 yond proJu -tion, is one already exciting the attention 

 of her s atesmen and pnliiical economists. The Bal- 

 tic ciniries are an unsafe reliance, because it is suppo- 

 •■^d they have already reached their miximum. Ire- 

 land, from which large qunu'.ities of grain have been 

 brought, is now in process of a great moral and social 

 revolution, which, by enabling every pensant to eot his 

 daily irci/i/, Will not only furnish a hone market fir 

 Irish wheat, but erelong, create a demand for Ameri- 

 •an flour in exchange for Irinh linen. Thcquaniity 



of wheat brougbt from Ireland in 1832 was 552,74U 

 quarters: in 18:1!), but !iU,G.')U qiioiteie. (14.) The 

 Uuick S a IS another s uirce, but the wheat is of inle- 

 rior quality: lew goods are taken m payment, leaving 

 tbe balance to be met with specie: the voyage is long, 

 and wheat very likely to be injured: and the cost ol 

 height enormously disproportioncd — thecostof fieiglit 

 and charges from O lessa being from 16s to 19s. per 

 qiiaiter. The six nor;hweBierii siatis ol this Union, 

 With their pr. sent products, consumption of goods, 

 iind lopability ot inciease, exactly meet the exigency. 

 The exaininations made by the persons employed last 

 year in taking the census, show that tbe product of 

 wheat in those states, excluding VViskonsin, in the 

 yenr 18S9, was 2.5,241, Gu7 bushels, eipial to 8 6 bush 

 els to each nibabitaiu; of liuliun c..in, 87,62I),8G6 

 bushels, or 20 8 to each inhabitant: of other kinds oi 

 gram, 29,735,2(12. bushels, or 1(J to each inhabitaut: 

 and tbe total ol all kinds of grain was 48 bushels to 

 each inhabitant. Tuere can be no doubt that the pro. 

 ducts of 18411 was very much greater than this: bn; 

 there are no tnciins of ascertaining the extent ol the in- 

 crease. In some extensive Sect oiis It has been ettiiiia- 

 ted at oiie-fourib, and even one-third. Tbe wheat 

 crop of the whole United States, (exc.-pting iVorib 

 Carolina and Kentucky,) was 75.995,787 bushels, or 

 5 bushels to each person; cud of Indiimcorii, tbe crop 

 was 3dl,947,G58buohcls, or 20 bus els to each person. 

 (17.) 



II we now turn again to the six norihw.-Btern states 

 and territories of tbe Union, we shall find that one oi 

 the greatest interests of tbe nation is the filling up ol 

 those countries with a tulii -ient popniati jn to complete 

 tile social organization. Without requiring that iliey 

 sbonid be made as populous as England, wiih Per 294 

 inhabitants to a squaie mile, it may be safely assumed 

 that the structure of society will not be rendered com 

 plete, in a country so destitute of inountaitisand waste 

 lands, w.th a le=s populadon than 50 to a square mile, 

 ol this number, tbey now have hut a quaiter. Any 

 policy, of couise ot events, which hinders the influx 

 ol population, is therefore calculated to protract the 

 pe:i id of compaiative imorganization. 



In addition, those states have burdened themselves 

 with heavy debts, — all incurred for tbe purpose of ma- 

 king roads, canals, and railways. All these improve- 

 ments were caleidated with reference to the convey- 

 ance of the products of the soil to markets out of their 

 borders, and all cmverging, in efl'tct, towards the 

 great .Atlantic seaports, whence those products s boul 

 seek a European market Tlie stocks of these states 

 a e greatly disir.dited, — chielly. it ish 1 eved, through 

 the unfortunate neglect of a well establiehed axiom in 

 tinonce, which forbids the creat on, of a public debt. 

 Without a specific pK-dge of revenue, from to.\es oi 

 some other source, sufficient to prevent the accumula- 

 tion of interest. And even now, the states are reluc- 

 tant to tax themselves, and greatly injuring the coun- 

 try by delay, because tbey do not see a lair prospected 

 sate for the products of their land, which is all they 

 have to sell. And bow are they to acquiie the me ns 

 of paying tbc taxes necessaiy to sustain these stocks, 

 unless they have oniarkctfor theirstaplea ? And how 

 are t/icse public improvements ever to pay for them- 

 selves, unless tbe produce of the country con be car- 

 ried on them 1 And whither shall it be carried, if 

 there is to be no foreign nrarket ? 



The Federal G ivernment has expended more tbon 

 a million of dollars in creating ortifieiol bnrborson the 

 upp.-r lakes: ond two or three millions more are re- 

 quired to conipltte them in such a way, that what has 

 oeen done shall not be destroyed. In addi ion, har- 

 bors are required by the most urgent necessity, along 

 tbe coasts ot Lake Michigan, now, tor hundreds ol 

 miles, destitute of a shelter for shipping. The=e 

 works are oil standing still, because the revenue is 

 short; while the tooth of Time is rapidly consuminir 

 the unfinished constructions. (18.) 



Should it, indeed, come to be settled that there is to 

 he no bireign market for these products, the tine coun 

 try under contemplation is not, therefore, to be des- 

 paired ot Lr.t the ncce.^slh/onre hccuflic nppnrr.ni, ond 

 theie will be but one iiiiiKt among the people of the 

 .N.irth-West. The same patriotism which carried our 

 fathers through tbe self-denying non-inijie.rtation 

 agreements of the Revolution, will produce a fixed de- 

 termination to build up a home market at every sacri- 

 liee. And it can be done. What has been done al- 

 ready in the way of manufactures, shows that it can 

 iie done. I he recent application of the hot-blast with 

 aiithrocite coal to the making id' iron, and the discov- 

 ery of a mine of natural steel, would he auxiliaries of 

 immense value. W'e could draw to our factories the 

 best workmen of Europe, attracted less by the temp- 

 tation of wtges, than by the decire to leave libsny and 



lond as the inberitonce of their cbildrin. But it 

 would take n longtime to budd up a nuimifac'iinng 

 iniciest adequate to supply the wants of the N. Wist, 

 or to consume the produce of those wide fields: and 

 the burden of taxation for internal improven.enis, tin- 

 co.iiph-ied and uiqirodnct vc. would be very hirny 

 and hard to bear, and all the population that is con- 

 centrated upon monufac;nies, is so much ktptbock 

 fioin tbe occupation of tliot noble donoin: and the na. 

 tioiial treasuiy would fi el tbe efT cteof the i-urtailment 

 of imports and the cessation of land sales; and lh» 

 (amount of misery which the loss of the American 

 market would oicasion to the staiviiig opeiatives and 

 fa^-tory childre.i on the other side ol the Atlantic, ia 

 worthy to be taken into the account, by every stales- 

 man who has not tin gotten that be is a man. 



On the other hand, let it he supposed for a moment, 

 tbot the landboldeis of England vioiild be satisfied 

 with a fixed and moderate duty, in mldition to the pro- 

 tection atVorded by the cost of Ireigbi and importatinn, 

 niwomounting to 30 percent, of the net proceeds. 

 There would then be a constant market for wheat in 

 England, to which the nncomnnnly nnifiirm climate 

 of the North West would furnish a constant and full 

 >upply; and tbe whole returns would he lequired in 

 British manufiictuied goods, generolh- of the descrip- 

 tion that yield the greatest profit, immediotely. or- 

 ders v>onld go from this country to set every wheel, 

 and spindle, and hammer in motion. Immediaielv, 

 these states would !«.■ willing to tax themselves for th» 

 interest of the public debt, becausi tbey would see how 

 taxes could be paid. Immediately, the state stock* 

 would rise, because tbe interest would he secured, 

 with a certainty that the public works would be com- 

 pleted and rendered productive. Tbe mnnnfecturing 

 industry of England, and the agricultural industry of 

 die North West, would be siiniulaied to the highest 

 productiveness, by the best of all encourngernenti"— 

 the hope a lair reward. The great cotton staple, too, 

 would feel the benefit of a new ond healthy impulse 

 given to trade. The public works would be finished, 

 and the lines of communication now open would h* 

 'hronged v\-ith freight. New York would abolish the 

 duty on salt, for thAake of securing to her own 

 enlarged canal the transportation of the produce from 

 the Ouio, the Maiimee. the Wabash, the Illinois, ond 

 tbe Wiskoneiii canals, now strongly tending in that 

 direction. (19.) 



The demand for the pnhlic lands would pour a stea- 

 dy stream into the national treasury on the one hand; 

 to be met by o current from the imports on tbe other, 

 I'urnishing .in adequote revenue for the completion of 

 our harbor woiksand national defences. The exports, 

 no longer confined to a single staple, and drovvn iVom 

 the most productive of all hrnnches of labor — tbe cul- 

 tivation of a rich soil that cots next to no hiiiL' — would 

 keep foreign exchanges in a healthy stote; new ties ol 

 mutual advantage, ond new inducements to mutual 

 justice, forbearance, and peace, would arise between 

 two nations of common origin, from whose influence 

 tbe world bos so much to hope for: our own nianufac- 

 lures would be left, under their present protection, to 

 a healthy ond natural growth with the growth of the 

 country; and our nation would be saved from another 

 tnrifl'contrnversy, to occupy and embitter the debaice 

 of another political generation. 



Are not these objects worthy of the consideration of 

 American statesmen? Mayan obscure cit zcn, who 

 loves bis country, be pardoned for his presumption in 

 spreadingthcseimperlectsuggestions before llic Amer- 

 ican Senate ? 



Your memoriulist respectfully requests that useful 

 information may be collected and diffused respecting 

 the wheat product of the tVorth West; the condition 

 and extent of tbe foreign market now ooen for Amer- 

 ican wheat and flour; the obstrueti,.ns inteipoeed by 

 the regulations of foreign governments, ond the prob- 

 ability of any repeal or modification of those retula- 

 lations: ond that Congress will adopt such measures 

 as shall be deemed wise and pro) er, to secure on equi- 

 table and adequate market for this valuable product. 



Your memorialist lios orepored, from the beet motc- 

 riols in bis reach, with eo ne labor, o number of tables 

 illustrative of severol ol the topics in this memoir, 

 which are appended hereto. 



JOSHUA I.EAVITT. 



Wmkinginn City, Feb. 25, 1841. 



It is moral excellence alone that renders a free peo- 

 ple great and happy. Without it, all is empty splen- 

 dor and hollow decay. Religion is the souiceof most 

 of the moral excellence of the race. Its influence, 

 when pure and liberal, is tbe most wholesome aiui en 

 noblin^ 



