244 Memoir of the Life of Eli Whitney, 



into every other considerable establishment for the manufacture of 

 arms, both public and private, in the United States. 



The labors of Mr. Whitney in the manufacture of arms, have 

 been often and fully admitted by the officers of the government, to 

 have been of the greatest value to the public interest. In the year 

 1822, Mr. Calhoun, then secretary of war, now vice-president of the 

 United States, admitted, in a conversation with Mr. Whitney, that 

 the government were saving twenty-five thousand dollars per annum 

 at the two public armories alone, by his improvements. This ad- 

 mission, though it is believed to be far below the truth, is sufficient 

 to show, that the subject of this memoir deserved well of his coun- 

 try in this department of her service ; and we regret to learn, that 

 the succeeding officers of the government have already so far over- 

 looked his merits and his claims, as to permit the capital invested in 

 his manufacturing establishment, which constitutes the greater part 

 of the earnings of his life, to lie, in part, idle and unproductive upon 

 the hands of his heirs. 



It should be remarked, that the utility of Mr. Whitney's labors 

 during the period of his life which we have now been contemplating, 

 was not limited to the particular business in which he was engaged. 

 Many of the inventions which he made to facilitate the manufacture 

 of muskets, were applicable to most other manufactures of iron and 

 steel. To many of these they were soon extended, and became the 

 nucleus around which other inventions clustered ; and at the present 

 time some of them may be recognised in almost every considerable 

 workshop of that description in the United Stales. 



In the year 1812, Mr. W. made application to congress for the re^ 

 newal of his patent for the cotton gin. In his memorial, he present- 

 ed a history of the struggles he had been forced to encounter in de- 

 fence of his right, observing that he had been unable to obtain any 

 decision on the merits of his claim until he had been eleven years 

 in the law, and thirteen years of his patent term had expired. He 

 sets forth, that his invention had been a source of opulence to thou- 

 sands of the citizens of the United States j that, as a labor saving 

 machine, it would enable one man to perform the work of a thousand 

 men ; and that it furnishes to the whole family of mankind, at a very 

 cheap rate, the most essential article of their clothing. Hence, he 

 humbly conceived himself entitled to a further remuneration from his 

 countiy, and thought he ought to be admitted to a more liberal parti- 

 pipation with his fellow citizens in the benefits of his invention. Al^ 



