Miscellaneous works of Henry C. Carey

Preface

Tiik tandency of the whole British system of political economy is to the production of discord among men ;uul nations. It is based upon the Ricardo and Malthusian doctrines of rent and population, which teach that men every where commence the work of cultivation on the rich soils of the earth, and that, when population is small, food is abundant; but that as numbers increase, men are forced to resort to poorer eoils, yielding steadily less and less in return to labor. As a neee.-siry consequence of the increasing scarcity of fertile soils, it is held that with tliis diminishing return, the laud-holder is enabled to take a larger proportion of the proceeds of labor, thus profiting at the cost of the laborer, and by reason of the same causes which tend to the gradual subjugation of the latter to the will of his master. Here are, of course, lying at the very foundation of the system, discordant interests, and this discord is found in every succeeding portion of it. Over-population is held to be a result of a great law of nature, in virtue of which men grow in numbers faster than can grow the food that is to nourish them; and the poverty, vice, and crime that everywhere exist, are regarded as necessary consequences of this great law, emanating from an all-wise, all-powerful, and all merciful Being. "War, famine, and pestilence are regarded as means provided by that Being for restraining population within the limits of subsistence. Charity is regarded as almost a crime, because it tends to promote the growth of population. The landlord excuses himself for taking large rents, on the ground that it is a necessary consequence of the natural tendency of man to increase in numbers with too great rapidity. The stockholder of the East India Company, who luxuriates upon the produce of his stock, regards it as one of the natural consequences of this great law that he should receive, as rent, so large a portion of the proceeds of labor applied to cultivation, as to leave to the poor cultivator but half a dollar per mouth out of which to supply himself and his family with food, raiment, and shelter; and excuses himself to his conscience, on the ground that it is a necessary result of great natural laws. Capital cannot become more productive, except at the cost of labor ; nor can wages rise, except at the cost of capital.

Among the consequences of this great law of discords, promulgated by Malthus and Ricardo, is found the idea that, if men would prosper, they must live apart from each other. The rich lands of England are, as it is said, already occupied, and those who would find rich lands must fly to America or to Australia, there to produce food and raw materials with which to supply the market of England ; and thus it is that that country seeks to establish a system of commercial centralization, that is — as was so justly said, seventy years since, by Adam Smith — a manifest violation of " the most sacred rights of mankind." That great man was fully possessed of the fact that, if the farmer or planter would flourish, he must bring the consumer to his side ; and that if the artisan would

IV PREFACE.

flourish, he must seek to locate himself in the place where the raw materials were grown, and aid the farmer by converting them into the forms fitting them for the use of men, and thus facilitating their transportation to distant lands. He saw well, that when men came thus together, there arose a general harmony of interests, each profiting his neighbor, and profitiug by that neighbor's success, whereas the tendency of commercial centralization was toward poverty and discord, abroad and at home. The object of protection among ourselves is that of aiding the farmers in the effort to bring consumers to their sides, and thus to carry into effect the system advocated by the great author of The Wealth of Nations, while aiding in the annihilation of a system that has ruined Ireland, India, Portugal, Turkey, and all other countries subject to it ; and the object of the following chapters is that of showing why it is that protection is needed ; how it operates in promoting the prosperity of, and harmony among, the va-ious portions of society ; and how certain it is that the true, the profitable, and the onlt means of attaining perfect freedom of trade, is to be found in that efficient protection which shall fully and completely carry out the doctrine of Dr. Smith, in bringing the loom and the anvil to take* their natural places by the side of the plough and the harrow.

Index

Advantage of bringing machinery to the cotton, page 145.

African cotton, attempts to raise, 174.

Agricultural labour in England, 155.

Americana responsible for the wars of England, 197.

Baltimore and Ohio railroad tolls. 24. and Ohio railroad tolls, diagram of,

Brazil, supply of cotton from, 170.

British commerce ruinous to Ireland and India, 71.

efforts to underwork all other nations, imports and exports, 56.

legislation upon imports and exports,

• 53.

slave history disgraceful, 169.

system and protection contrasted, 72.

causes poverty in the producer, 101.

endeavours to maintain monopoly of

machinery, 101.

Bullion and specie should be included in Tariff tables, 7.

Canada and Cuba, objections to their annexation, 62.

form of its commerce, 99.

ruined by free trade, 99.

Canadian desire for annexation, 62.

desire for annexation, its cause, 99.

exports, 91.

independence would stop immigration

in the United States, 73.

produce sent to England, 22.

Capital and labour wasted in transportation, who suffers by its waste, 192.

Capitalist, how affected by protection, 141.

small, ruined by fluctuations occasioned

by the British system, 199.

Cheap labour, 130.

China, manufacture of. 26.

Chinese system of trade, 134.

Clothing, power to obtain, in exchange for labour, 16, 40.

power to obtain, increases under protection, 16.

< price of, is really very high, 111.

Coal, consumption of, 13, 33.

, rate of its consumption under the Tariff r price of, reduced with increased production, 14.

......... production and consumption of, increase and diminish together, 14.

Coffee, consumption of, 28, 38.

abolition of duties on, 30.

Colonial system presents combination of action, 95.

system depresses the price of cotton, 99.

manufactures, object of prohibiting,

Colonies of England, their consumption of cotton, 110.

Colonization, British system of, 64.

Combination diminished by emigration, 94.

impossible in a state of poverty, 87.

increases population, 88.

increases value of labour, 86.

needed in this country, 52.

of labour, strikes, <fec, 161.

Commercial policy, review of our, 10.

Commerce decreases under free trade, 73.

definition of, 67.

increases under protection, 72.

internal, 23.

power to maintain external, 39.

power to maintain internal, 39.

tends to produce equality of condition,

Communism among nations produced by policy of England, 154.

Compromise Act, 3. its operation, 5.

Concentration needed to make labour productive, 89.

Condition of English people, 154.

of man improved by increase of productive power, 78.

Consumer should live near the farmer, 96.

Consumption equals production, 45.

grows with power of production, 23.

of foreign products decreases under

free trade, 42.

not arrested by high prices, 116.

power of, decreases as the producers

are more and more distant from market, 87.

Conversion and exchange, doctrine of, 46.

how maintained in England, 63.

increases man's necessities, and diminishes his powers, !?3.

tends to destroy labour and capital,

Cotton, comparative consumption of, under protection and free trade, 110, 114.

comparative prices of crop and cotton

goods in Liverpool, from 1843 U 1847, 137.

decrease in its cultivation, 103.

decrease in its price, 114.

diagram of imports of foreign, 36.

vi

INDEX.

Cotton, does not increase in supply for want of a market, 121.

fluctuations in price of, 116.

production of the world, 59.

Px-ussian imports of, before the Z oliverein, 107.

return for, consumed in England, 58.

statement of crop and consumption of speculation in India a failure, 111.

supply of, to Britain falling off, 179.

trade between the United States and

England, 114.

weekly consumption of, in Great Britain, 175.

where the best is raised, 105.

goods, 110.

goods and vara exported to India from

England," 103. and twist, prices from 1844 to 1848, consumption of, 15, 33.

consumption of, under free trade, and

under protection, 16.

dearest when cotton is lowest, 117.

import of, 15.

imported into Canada from England,

Credit, public, 31, 39.

Cultivator, his gradual operations with the land, 123.

Currency, how affected by protection, 185.

Debt created by importations, 26.

foreign, 37.

Dependence on England a cause of non-consumption of iron, 83.

Depopulation, present tendency to, 20. diagram of, 34.

Disasters of 1836 to 1842, how produced, 188.

present tendency to, 189.

Duties of the United States, 227.

Duty affects amount of importation slightly, 26.

Earth, a machine to be fashioned to man's purposes, 123.

the only producer, 124.

Earthenware manufacture, 26.

East Indies, British supply of cotton from, 176.

Effects of putting a factory or furnace in operation, 43.

of establishing manufactures in the

South, 50.

Egypt, British supply of cotton from, 170.

Emigration from cotton states, 121.

from Eastern states, 87.

should be stopped, 121.

westward, 20, 87.

England in distress by reason of the disproportion of consumers to producers, 65.

condition of inhabitants of, 109, 154.

fixes the price of products of the farmer, 141.

real wealth of, 63.

: result of dependence on, 60.

English colonies continually want annexation, 113.

consumers and producers, 95.

consumption of cotton, 107.

consumption of cotton cloth, 117.

English free trade disastrous to other nations, 132.

market for our cotton does not grow

with its production, 180.

school, its doctrines, 29.

teaching of its opponents, 30.

Exchanges, how affected by protection, 198.

Exchangers, influence on pauperism, 81.

producers make sacrifices to the, 101.

Expenditure, public, 30, 38.

Exportation of food, 81, 92.

Exports, value of, 36.

Farmer can get most clothing for his produce when the power of producing cloth is greatest, 21.

exhausted by free trade, 73.

how he may get the highest prices in

foreign markets, 98.

profit by emigration only under protection, 98.

sells in the cheapest market, and buys

in the dearest, 81.

suffers by non-production of iron, 80.

Flax, manufacture of, 26, 37.

Flour consumed in English cotton factories,lll.

Food, product, export, and import of, 21.

power to obtain in exchange for labour, 40.

why supply of, increases faster than

the demand, 97.

why scarce in England, 57.

Freedom of man increases with wealth and

population, 162.

Free trade among states, 3.

approach to, creates debt, 23.

approach to, is progress downward, 160.

based on cheap labour, 130.

doctrines about rights of man, 128.

impoverishes the masses, 74.

real, beneficial to all, 135.

results, if introduced in the United

States, 132.

Freights should be included in valuation of

exports, 8.

French consumption of cotton, 122. productions, 139.

productions imported into the United

States, 27, 37.

Friendship unknown in trade, 205.

Fuel necessary to obtain iron, 78.

Gibraltar, its use, 112.

God and silver contribute little to man's necessities, 190.

Government, how affected by protection, 221.

Grain dearer in coal regions than in Philadelphia, 98.

price of, would increase under protection, 98. production of, 21, 35.

Harmony of interests, 41.

perfect throughout the whole union, 1 17.

between planter, manufacturer, and

ship-owner, 119. between land-owners and labourers of

the world, 131.

Home markets make highest prices, 16.

Immigration affected slowly by change in Tariff, 19.

INDEX.

vii

Immigration decreases under free trade, 28.

diagram of, 34.

diminishing at present. 20.

effect on consumption, 130.

effect on price of wheat, 96.

should he encouraged, 121.

stops with decreased combination of

action, 94.

results of, had it continued at the same

rate as in 1834, 115. table of, 17.

would raise price of man abroad, 116.

Importation diminishes under free trade, 28.

means of, 90.

of men and merchandise, 90.

of men reduces shipping prices, 93.

of labour and iron, 81.

under different tariffs. 9.

Independence of England, advantages of, 97.

India, commerce of, 103.

attempts to raise cotton in, 103, 117, commerce of, 103.

cotton exported from, to England, 104.

ruined by dependence on England, 61,

Individual credit, how affected by protection, 213.

Intellectual condition of man, how affected by

protection, 209.

Internal commerce, 23.

Ireland, exports of, 91.

importation of cotton into, 109.

ruined by dependence on England, 61,

Iron, abounding in America, 78.

associated with production, 125.

chief constituent of machinery, 7S.

consumption of, 12. 32, 79.

cost of, in labour, 12.

domestic production of, 11.

fluctuation in price of, 82.

foundation of civilization, 73.

non-production of, injures the producer

of food, 80.

power of importing, greatest under I

protection, 13.

production of, quadrupled by protection, 83.

quantity of, imported since 1S21, 10,

Labour and capital wasted in transportation, 149.

best rewarded under protection; 28.

gives value to land, 124.

has smallest return where machinery

of transportation is most needed, 153.

power of, to obtain food, clothing, and

the aid of machinery, 40.

saved in New England, 48.

tends to produce equality of condition, wasted in the Southern states, 49.

Labourer, how affected by protection, 151.

Labourers' common interest, 130.

Lake tonnage, 24, 36.

Land, a great saving fund, acquiring value

from labour, 122.

effect of sales of, on immigration, 20.

more valuable in the United States

than in Canada, 129.

Land, public, 220.

quantity of, sold, 20.

value of, depends on cost of transportation, 127.

Land-owners in England, 129.

in India, Ireland, Ac, 129.

in Parliament, 132.

remedy for their grievances, 130.

Lead, consumption of, 31.

production of, 18.

Linens, importation of, 27.

Louisville and Portland canal, trade on, 35.

Machinery, increased facility of procuring, causes increased production of food, 21.

must be brought to the cotton, 144.

object of, 78.

of three kinds, 151.

power to obtain in aid of labour, 40.

required to render labour productive,

Man the most valuable commodity, 94.

Manufacture of small articles in the West, 51.

Manufacturer's true interest, 136.

Markets, the best for products are those made wanted for producers, 122.

Marriage regarded as a luxury in Europe, 128.

Merchants are agents of the producers, 80. get the benefit of the producer's toil,

Mission, true, of the United States, 227.

Monopoly of machinery cause of the planter's

poverty, 76. of machinery, effects of abolishing the,

Morality, how affected by protection, 202.

Nation, how affected by protection, 223.

National credit, how affected by protection, 218.

Necessity for producers and consumers to live

near each other, 96.

New England, wages in, will rise when they

increase in the South and "West, 153.

New Orleans, trade of, 25.

diagram of produce received at, 36.

New York canal tolls, 24, 35.

diagram of houses built in, 36.

growth of, 25.

Non-production of iron injures the producer of food, 80.

Ore and fuel in Ohio and the "West, 78.

Over-population, general pretext for the evils of a vicious system, 65.

wrongly complained of in Europe, 129.

Over-production and under-consumption, 103.

Pauperism increases in free-trade countries, 128.

results from the English colonial system, 195.

Pennsylvania canal tolls, 24, 35.

Philadelphia, growth of, 25.

Philadelphia, ratio of growth of, to the population of the Union, 36.

Planters' advantages, if possessing their own machinery, 143.

advantage to, arising from the annexation of Canada, 99.

viii

INDEX.

Planters benefited by consumption of cotton at home, 116.

impoverished by the speculations of

exchangers, 76.

need machinery to convert their own

crops, 138.

oppose their own interests, 169.

tobacco and cotton, relative returns for

their products, 119.

true policy to break down English monopoly of machinery, and bring English machinery to the cotton field, 185.

why they receive small returns for their

capital, 143.

Population, diagram of, 33.

of Philadelphia, 36.

Portugal, causes of its poverty, 112.

Powers of man increase as his necessities diminish, 192.

Prices highest when a nation buys and sells at home, 14.

Producer's returns in cotton cloth, 112.

Production of food and iron unequal, 70.

relation of, to commerce, 68.

Productive power, diminution of, brings discord and internal disorder, 194.

Proportion of producers to consumers in England, 55.

Protection, how it affects morals, 202.

public credit, 217. u

revenue and expenditure, 42, 219.

the capitalist, 141.

consumption of cotton, 108.

currency, 185.

exchanges, 198.

friends of peace, 193.

government, 221.

growth of new states, 88.

intellectual condition, 209.

nation, 223.

political condition, 213.

power to import, 42.

price of cotton, 114.

slave and his master, 161.

value of labour, 66:

woman, 200.

increases immigration and the number

of consumers, 98.

raises the value of man, 130.

raises the value of land, 133.

reduces prices, and increases the power

of consumption, 41.

saves cost of transportation, 141.

why required, 51.

Public credit, 31, 38.

expenditure, 30, 38.

Railroads do not lessen the number of horses, 127.

increase production, 127.

Return freights, 93.

Returns for products, 43.

Revenue from customs, diagram, 38.

from imports, 28.

decreases under free trade, 28.

how affected by different tariffs, 29.

how affected by protection, 219.

Road from the Mississippi to the Pacific, 90.

to be productive, must go through ricb

countries, 89.

Rothschild, his system of accumulating wealth, 75.

Russia wastes food for want of a market, 131.

Russian exports, 91.

system of commerce, 91.

Saving-funds found in mills furnaces, and coal mines, 46.

Settlers' life and experience, 126.

Silver and gold contribute little to man's necessities, 191.

Ship-owner's true interest, 136.

Shipping affected slowly by changes in tariff, 19.

built to replace vessels sent to California, 19.

built, tables of, 19, 34.

increases with protection, 90.

Slavery agitation, how best ended, 165.

would be abolished by making a market on the land in the South, 164.

Slave-history of England disgraceful to that nation, 169.

Slaves have been well kept in the United States, 169.

Northern men cannot afford to raise,

Smuggling as regarded by British authorities, 112.

Soils, poorest, first cultivated, 29.

South Carolina, her inability to produce cotton

in competition with her neighbours,

Specie and bullion should be included in Tariff tables, 7.

imported and exported, 1S29 to 1849,

Steamboat tonnage, 24, 34.

Sugar, production, importation, and consumption of, 23, 35, 120. returns for, 120.

Swords and muskets hinder returns to labour, 193.

Tariffs, outline history of, 3.

merits of, require time for develop

ment, 6.

principal features of that of 1816, 5.

1824, 5.

1828, 5.

1832, 5.

1833, 5.

1842, 5.

1846, 5.

of 1846, effects of maintaining it, 67.

1828, effects that would have resulted

from its continuance, 115.

Taxation of the sugar planter, 76.

increased by pauperism, 76.

Tea, abolition of duty on, 30.

consumption of, 28, 37.

Tendency to produce only the finest cotton

fabrics in England, 179.

Tolls on internal commerce, 24, 35.

Tonnage, increase and diminution of, 19.

steamboat 24, 36.

Tobacco, consumption of, 119.

Tobacco trade, 118.

Trade of New Orleans, 24.

New York, 25.

INDEX.

ix

Trading with a poor people tends to reduce our wages to a level with theirs, 77.

Transportation, costs of, reduce the value of land, 127.

capital employed in, 143.

United States, British supply of cotton from the, 171.

exports of cotton from, to England, exports of grain from, to England, importation of men into the, 92.

present policy of the, 134.

receipts of cloth and iron from England, 113.

true mission of the, 227.

wealth of, in land, coal, and metals,

Union between producers and consumers most profitable when made at home, 51.

Value of exports, 25. of imports, 10.

Variations in prices caused by dependence on England, 83.

Wages, fall under free trade, 28.

of labourers in England, 93.

of labourers in Ireland, 94.

process of reducing, 75.

War, causes of recent, 193.

on the labour and capital of the world

prepared in England, 95. on what the power to make it depends,

Wars of England, Americans responsible for

the, 197.

Western steamboat tonnage, 36.

Woman, how protection affects, 200.

Wool trade, 102.

Woollens, consumption of, 33. importations of, 16, 37.

Zollverein, cotton trade flourishing under its

auspices, 107. imports into Prussia before and after

its formation, 107.

THE

HARMONY OF INTERESTS:

AGRICULTURAL, MANUFACTURING, AND COMMERCIAL.

Why is protection needed? Why cannot trade with foreign nations be carried on without the intervention of custom-house officers ? Why is it that that intervention should be needed to enable the loom and the anvil to take their natural places by the side of the plough and the harrow ? Such are the questions which have long occupied my mind, and to the consideration of which I now invite my readers.

Of the advantage of perfect freedom of trade, theoretically considered, there could be no doubt. The benefit derived from such freedom in the intercourse of the several States, was obvious to all ; and it would certainly seem that the same system so extended as to include the commerce with the various states and kingdoms of the world could not fail to be attended with similar results. Nevertheless, every attempt at so doing had failed. The low duties on most articles of merchandise in the period between 1816 and 1827, had produced a state of things which induced the establishment of the first really protective tariff, that of 1828. The approach to almost perfect freedom of trade in 1840, produced a political revolution, and a similar but more moderate measure, led to the revolution of last year. These were curious facts, and such as were deserving of careful examination.

It may be assumed as an universal truth, that every step made in the right direction will be attended with results so beneficial as to pave the way for further steps in the same direction, and that every one made in the wrong direction will be attended with disadvantageous results tending to produce a necessity for a retrograde movement. The compromise bill, in its final stages, was a near approach to perfect freedom of trade, the highest duty being only 20 per cent. Believing it to be a step in the right direction, one of the enthusiastic advocates of perfect freedom of trade proposed, soon after its passage, that, commencing w T ith 1842, there should be a further reduction of one per cent, per annum for twenty years, at the end of which time all necessity for custom-houses would have disappeared. With the gradual operation of the earlie. stages of that bill there was, however, produced a state of depression so extraordinary as to lead to a political change before reaching its final stages ,

THE HARMONY OF INTERESTS.

and the duties had -scarcely touched the point of 20 per cent, before they were raised to 30, 50, 60, or more, by the passage of the tariff of 1842. With the election of 1844, the friends of free trade were restored to power, and two years afterwards was passed the tariff of 1846 — the free-trade measure — in which the revenue duty on articles to be protected was fixed at thirty per cent. Here was a retrograde movement. Instead of passing from twenty downwards, we went up to thirty, and thus was furnished an admission that so near an approach to free trade with foreign nations as was to be found in twenty per cent, duties had not answered in practice. Since then, it has been admitted, even by the most decided free-trade advocates, that on certain commodities even thirty per cent. w r as too low, and within six months from the date of the passage of the act of 1846, its author proposed to increase a variety of articles to thirty-five and forty per cent.* Here was another retrograde movement. It is now admitted that there are other articles the duties on which require to be raised, and daily experience goes to prove that such must be the case, or we must abandon some of the most important branches of industry. The tendency is, therefore, altogether backward. Thirty per cent, duty is now regarded as almost perfect freedom of trade, and instead, of proposing a further annual reduction, each year produces a stronger disposition for a considerable increase. In all this, it is impossible to avoid seeing that there is great error somewhere, and almost equally impossible to avoid feeling a desire to understand it is that the approaches towards freedom of trade with foreign nations have so frequently failed, and why it is that every strictly revenue tariff is higher than that which preceded it.

With a view to satisfy myself in regard thereto, I have recently made the examination, before referred to, of our commercial policy during the last twenty-eight years, commencing with 1821, being the earliest in relation to which detailed statements have been published. Before commencing to lay before you the results obtained, it may be well to say a few words as to the merits claimed by the two parties for their respective systems.

The one party insists that protection is " a war upon labour and capital," and that by compelling the application of both to pursuits that would otherwise be unproductive, the amount of necessaries, comforts, and conveniences of life obtainable by the labourer is diminished. The other insists that by protecting the labourer from competition with the ill-fed and worse-clothed workmen of Europe, the reward of labour will be increased. Each has thus his theory, and each is accustomed to furnish facts to prove its truth, and both can do so while limiting themselves to short periods of time, taking at some times years of small crops, and at others those of large ones, and thus it is that the inquirer after truth is embarrassed.! No one has yet, to my knowledge, ever undertaken to examine all the facts during any long period of time, with a view to show what have been, under the various systems, the powers of the labourer to command the necessaries and comforts of life. One or other of the systems is true, and that is true under which labour is most largely rewarded : that under which the labourer is enabled to consume most largely of food, fuel, clothing, and all other of those good things for the attainment of which men are willing to labour. If, then, we can ascertain the power of consumption at various periods, and the result be to show that it has invariably increased under one course of action, and as invariably diminished under another, it will be equivalent to a demonstration of the

* Treasury Report, Feb. 1, 1S47.

\ A person employed in the preparation of government statistics inquired, on being asked to prepare some tables, what was to be the policy to be proved. "Why," said the ether, "could you prove both sides?" "Equally well," said he.

THE HARMONY OF INTERESTS.

truth of the one and the falsehood of the other. To accomplish this, has been the object of the inquiry in which I have recently been engaged.

It is necessary now to show what have been the distinguishing features of the several systems that have been in operation during the period to be examined. They are as follows : —

First. The tariff of 1816 was a planters' and farmers' measure. Gotti n and coarse cotton cloths were carefully protected. Iron itself was well protected, but almost all manufactures of iron, the commodities for the production of which pig or bar iron could be used, were admitted at 20 per cent. Wool paid 15 per cent. Blankets and woollen and stuff goods paid 15 per cent., and finer goods 25 per cent., until 1S19, after which they paid but 20 per cent. Spirits paid a heavy specific duty, for the benefit of the farmers ; but paper, hats, caps, manufactures of leather, types, and manufactured articles generally, paid only from 20 to 80 percent. Coal paid 5 cents per bushel, but the commodities in the manufacture of which coal was to be used paid ad valorem duties. Protection was thus given to the coarse commodities that least required it, and refused to those for the production of which the coarser ones were to be used. As a matter of course, its protective features were totally inoperative.

Second. That of 1824, under which iron was, as before, well protected, but manufactures of iron, and of metals generally, were admitted at 25 per cent. Wool was raised to 20 per cent., to increase, by successive stages, until it reached 30 per cent. Coarse woollens were fixed permanently at 25 per cent. Finer ones were to rise gradually until they reached 33| per cent. Carpets paid from 20 to 50 cents per square yard. Hams paid 3, and butter 5 cents per pound. Potatoes 10, oats 10, and wheat 25 cents per bushel; while scythes, spades, shovels, and other things requisite for the raising of wheat and potatoes, paid 30 per cent. Spirits were carefully protected. Bolting cloths paid 15 per cent. Sail-duck, Osnaburgs, &c, 15 per cent. Cotton cloths paid 25 per cent., with a minimum of 30 cents per yard. The general features of this law did not vary materially from those of that of 1816, although protection was slightly increased.

Third. The first tariff thoroughly protective, and so intended to be, was that of 1828. It continued until 1832, when was passed the first of two laws by which the whole policy of the country was changed. This series constitutes stage the

Fourth. By the act of July 14, 1832, railroad iron was admitted free of duty. Axes, spades, &c, as before, 30 per cent. Bar and pig iron were carefully protected, but a large portion of the commodities for which they were needed were thus admitted without duty, or at the same rate as under our present free-trade tariff. Tea and coffee were free. Silks paid 10 per cent. Wool was protected, but worsted stuff goods were admitted at 10 per cent. Cotton goods paid 25 per cent., with minim urns of 30 cents for plain, and 35 for prints. This continued in force until the following March, when was passed the Compromise Act, under which linens, stuff goods, silks, and other articles were admitted free of duty, and one-tenth of the excess over 20 per cent, reduced from all other commodities, to take effect December, 1833, with a further similar reduction every two years until 1841, when one-half of the remaining surplus was to be reduced, and the other half in 1842, when no duty would exceed 20 per cent.