REMARKS 
 
 OF 
 
 MR. WEBSTER 
 
 IN THE 
 
 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 MAY 9, 1828, 
 
 ON THE TARIFF BILL. 
 
 bostoiv : 
 
 PRESS OP THE BOSTON DAILY ADVERTISER. 
 
 W. L. Lewis, Printer. 
 1828. 
 
 
 
 iEx IGtbrtB 
 
 SEYMOUR DURST 
 
AVERY 
 
 Durst 
 
REMARKS 
 
 This subject is surrounded with embarrass- 
 ments, on all sides. Of itself, however wisely or 
 temperately treated, it is full of difficulties ; and these 
 difficulties have not been disminished by the particu- 
 lar frame of this Bill, nor by the manner, hitherto pur- 
 sued, of proceeding with it. A diversity of interest 
 exists, or is supposed to exist, in different parts of 
 the country. This is one source of difficulty. Dif- 
 ferent opinions are entertained as to the constitutional 
 power of Congress; this is another. And then, again, 
 different members of the Senate have instructions, 
 which they feel bound to obey, and which clash with 
 one another. We have this morning seen an Honora- 
 ble Member from New York, an important motion 
 being under consideration, lay his instructions on the 
 Table, and point to them, as his power of attorney, 
 and as containing the directions for his vote. 
 
 Those who intend to oppose this Bill, under all cir- 
 cumstances, and in all or any forms, care not how ob- 
 
4 
 
 jectionable it now is, or how bad it may be made. 
 Others, finding their own leading objects satisfactorily 
 secured by it, naturally enough press forward, w ithout 
 staying to consider, deliberately, how injuriously other 
 interests may be affected. All these causes create em- 
 barrassments, and inspire just fears, that a w ise and 
 useful result is hardly to he expected. There seems a 
 strange disposition to run the hazard of extremes; and 
 to forget, that in cases of this kind, measure, propor- 
 tion, and degree are objects of inquiry, and the true 
 rules of judgment. I have not had the slightest wish 
 to discuss the measure ; not believing that, in the pre- 
 sent state of things, any good could be done by me, in 
 that way. But the frequent declarations that this was 
 altogether a New England measure, a bill for m curing 
 a monopoly to the capitalists of the North, and other 
 expressions of a similar nature, have induced me to 
 say a few words. 
 
 New England, Sir, has not been a leader, in this 
 policy. On the contrary, she held back, herself, and 
 tried to hold others back from it, from the adoption of 
 the Constitution to 1824. Up to 1824, she was ac- 
 cused of sinister and selfish designs, because she dis- 
 countenanced the progress of this policy. It was laid 
 to her charge, then, that having established her manu- 
 factures herself, she wished that others should not 
 have the power of rivalling her ; and, for that reason, 
 opposed all legislative encouragement. Under this 
 angry denunciation against her, the act of 1824 pass- 
 ed. Now the imputation is precisely of an opposite 
 character. The present measure is pronounced to be 
 
6 
 
 exclusively for the benefit of New England ; to be 
 brought forward by her agency, and designed to gratify 
 the cupidity of her wealthy establishments. 
 
 Both charges, Sir, are equally without the slightest 
 foundation. The opinion of New England, up to 
 1824, was founded in the conviction, that, on the 
 whole, it was wisest and best, both for herself and 
 others, that manufactures should make haste slowly. 
 She felt a reluctance to trust great interests on the 
 foundation of Government patronage ; for who could 
 tell how long such patronage would last, or with what 
 steadiness, skill, or perseverance it would continue to 
 be granted ? It is now nearly fifteen years, since, 
 among the first things which I ever ventured to say 
 here, was the expression of a serious doubt, whether 
 this Government was fitted by its construction, to ad- 
 minister aid and protection to particular pursuits ; 
 whether, having called such pursuits into being by in- 
 dications of its favor, it would not, afterwards desert 
 them, when troubles come upon them, and leave them 
 to their fate. Whether this prediction, the result, cer- 
 tainly, of chance, and not of sagacity, will so soon be 
 fulfilled, remains to be seen. 
 
 At the same time it is true, that from the very first 
 commencement of the Government, those who have 
 administered its concerns have held a tone of encour- 
 agement and invitation towards those who should em- 
 bark in manufactures. All the Presidents, I believe, 
 without exception, have concurred, in this general sen- 
 timent ; and the very first act of Congress, laying du- 
 ties of import, adopted the then unusual expedient of 
 
6 
 
 ;i preamble, apparently for little other purpose than 
 that of declaring, that the duties, which it impos< <L 
 were imposed for the encouragement and protection of 
 manufactures. When, at the commencement of tin; 
 late war, duties were doubled, we were told that we 
 should find a mitigation of the weight of taxation, in 
 tbc new aid and succour which would be thus afforded 
 to our own manufacturing labour. Like arguments 
 were urged, and prevailed, but not by the aid of New 
 England votes, when the Tariff was afterwards ar- 
 ranged, at the close of the war, in 1816. Finally, 
 after a whole winter's deliberation, the act of 1824, 
 received the sanction of both Houses of Congress, and 
 settled the policy of the country. What, then, was 
 New England to do ? She was fitted for manufactur- 
 ing operations, by the amount and character of her 
 population, by her capital, by the vigor and energy of 
 her free labor, by the skill, economy, enterprise, and 
 perseverance of her people. I repeat, what was she, 
 under these circumstances, to do? A great and pros- 
 perous rival in her near neighborhood, threatening to 
 draw from her a part, perhaps a great part, of her for- 
 eign commerce : was she to use, or to neglect, those 
 other means of seeking her own prosperity which be- 
 longed to her character and her condition ? Was she 
 to hold out, forever, against the course of the Govern- 
 ment, and see herself losing, on one side, and yet 
 make no effort to sustain herself on the other ? No, 
 Sir. Nothing was left to New England, after the act 
 of 1824, but to conform herself to the will of others. 
 Nothing was left to her, but to consider that the Go- 
 
7 
 
 vernment had fixed and determined its own policy ; 
 and that policy was 'protection. 
 
 New-England, poor, in some respects, in others, is 
 as wealthy as her neighbors. Her soil would be held 
 in low estimation, by those who are acquainted with 
 the valley of the Mississippi, and some of the mead- 
 ows of the South. But in industry, in habits of labor, 
 skill, and in accumulated capital, the fruit of two cen- 
 turies of industry, she may be said to be rich. After 
 this final declaration — this solemn promulgation of the 
 policy of the Government, I again ask, what was she 
 to do ? Was she to deny herself the use of her advan- 
 tages, natural and acquired ? Was she to content her- 
 self with useless regrets ? Was she longer to resist, 
 what she could no longer prevent ? Or, was she, rath- 
 er to adapt her acts to her condition ; and seeing the 
 policy of the Government thus settled and fixed, to ac- 
 commodate to it, as well as she could, her own pur- 
 suits, and her own industry ? Every man will see 
 that she had no option. Every man will confess that 
 there remained for her but one course. She not only 
 saw this herself, but had, all along, foreseen that if the 
 system of protecting manufactures should be adopted, 
 she must go largely into them. I believe. Sir, almost 
 every man from New-England who voted against the 
 law of 1824, declared, that if, notwithstanding his op- 
 position to that law, it should still pass, there would be 
 no alternative but to consider the course and policy of 
 the Government as then settled and fixed, and to act 
 accordingly. The law did pass ; and a vast increase 
 of investment in manufacturing establishments was 
 
8 
 
 the consequence. Those who made such investments, 
 probably entertained not the slightest doubt that as 
 much as was promised would be effectually granted; 
 and that if, owing to any unforeseen occurrence, or 
 untoward event, the benefit designed by the law, to any 
 branch of manufactures, should not be realized, it 
 would furnish a fair case for the consideration of Gov- 
 ernment. Certainly, they could not expect, after what 
 had passed, that interests of great magnitude would 
 be left at the mercy of the very first change of circum- 
 stances which might occur. 
 
 As a general remark, it may be said, that the inter- 
 ests concerned in the act of 1824, did not complain of 
 their condition under it, excepting only those connect- 
 ed with the woollen manufactures. These did com- 
 plain ; not so much of the act itself, as of a new state 
 of circumstances, unforeseen when the law passed, but 
 which had now arisen to thwart its beneficial opera- 
 tions, as to them ; although in one respect, perhaps the 
 law itself was thought to be unwisely framed. 
 
 Three causes have been generally stated, as having 
 produced the disappointment experienced by the man- 
 ufacturers of wool, under the law of 1324. 
 
 First, it is alleged, that the price of the raw materi- 
 al had been raised too high, by the act itself. This 
 point had been discussed at the time, and although 
 opinions varied, the result, so far as it depended on 
 this part of the case, though it may be said to have been 
 unexpected, was certainly not entirely unforeseen.* 
 
 * Extract from Mr Webster's Speech, on the Tariff ofl824.— " This Bill pro- 
 poses, also, a very high duty upon imported wool; and as far as I can learn, 
 a majority of the manufacturers are at least extremely doubtful whether, tak- 
 ing these two provisions together, the state of the law is not better for them 
 now than it would be if this should pass." 
 
9 
 
 But, secondly, the manufacturers imputed their dis- 
 appointment to a reduction of the price of wool in Eng- 
 land, which took place just about the date of the law of 
 1824. This reduction was produced by lowering the 
 duty on imported wool from sixpence sterling to one 
 penny sterling per pound. The effect of this is obvi- 
 ous enough ; but in order to see the real extent of the 
 reduction, it may be convenient to state the matter 
 more particularly. 
 
 The meaning of our law was doubtless to give the 
 American manufacturer an advantage over his English 
 competitors. Protection must mean this, or it means 
 nothing. The English manufacturer having certain 
 advantages, on his side, such as the lower price of labor, 
 and the lower interest of money, the object of our law 
 was to counteract these advantages, by creating others, 
 in behalf of the American manufacturer. Therefore, 
 to see what was necessary to be done, in order that 
 the American manufacturer might sustain the competi- 
 tion, a relative view of the respective advantages and 
 disadvantages was to be taken. In this view the very 
 first element to be considered was, what is to each party 
 the cost of the raw material. On this, the whole must 
 materially depend. Now when the law of 1824 passed, 
 the English manufacturer paid a duty of sixpence ster- 
 ling on imported wool. But in a very few days after- 
 wards, this duty was reduced by parliament, from six- 
 pence to a penny. A reduction of five pence per 
 pound, in the price of wool, was estimated in Parlia- 
 ment to be equal to a reduction of twenty six per cent, 
 ad valorem, on all imported wool ; and this reduction, 
 2 
 
10 
 
 it is obvious, had its effect on the price of home-pro- 
 duced wool also. Almost, (hen, at the vet] moment, 
 that the framers of the act of 1824, were raising the 
 price of the raw material here, as that act did raise it, 
 it was lowered in England, by the very great reduc- 
 tion of twenty-six per cent. Of course, this changed the 
 whole basis of the calculation. It w roughl a complete 
 change in the relative advantages and disadvantages of 
 the English and American competitors ; and threw the 
 preponderance of advantage, most decidedly, on the 
 side of the English. If the American manufacturer 
 had not vastly too great a preference, before this reduc- 
 tion took place, it is clear he had too little afterwards. 
 
 J n a paper which has been pre sented to the Senate, 
 and often referred to ; a paper distinguished for the 
 ability and clearness with which it enforces general 
 principles — the Boston Report, — it is clearly proved, 
 (what indeed is sufficiently obvious from the mere com- 
 parison of dates) that the British Government did not 
 reduce its duty on wool because of our act of 1824. 
 Certainly this is true ; but the effect of that reduction, 
 on our manufactures, was the same precisely as if the 
 British act had been designed to operate against them, 
 and for no other purpose. I think it cannot be doubt- 
 ed that our law of 1324, and the reduction of the 
 wool duty in England, taken together, left our manu- 
 factures in a w 7 orse condition than they were before. 
 If there was any reasonable ground, therefore, for pas- 
 sing the law of 1824, there is now the same ground 
 for some other measure ; and this ground too, is rein- 
 forced by the consideration of the hopes excited, the 
 
11 
 
 enterprizes undertaken, and the capital invested, in 
 consequence of that law. 
 
 So much, Sir, for this cause of disappointment. 
 
 In the last place, it was alleged by the manufactur- 
 ers, that they suffered from the mode of collecting the 
 duties on woollen fabrics at the Custom Houses. 
 These duties are ad valorem duties. Such duties, 
 from the commencement of the Government, have 
 been estimated by reference to the invoice, as fixing 
 the value at the place whence imported. When not 
 suspected to be false or fraudulent, the Invoice is the 
 regular proof of value. Originally this was a tolera- 
 bly safe mode of proceeding. While the importation 
 was mainly in the hands of American merchants, 
 the Invoice, would of course, if not false or fraudulent, 
 express the terms and the price of an actual purchase 
 and sale. But an Invoice is not necessarily, an instru- 
 ment expressing the sale of goods and their prices. 
 If there be but a list, or catalogue, with prices stated 
 by way of estimate, it is still an Invoice, and within the 
 law. Now the suggestion is, that the English manu- 
 facturer, in making out an invoice, in which prices are 
 thus stated by himself, in the way of estimate merely, 
 is able to obtain an important advantage over the 
 American merchant who purchases in the same market, 
 and whose Invoice states, consequently, the actual 
 prices, on the sale. And in proof of this suggestion it 
 is alleged, that in the largest importing city in the 
 Union, a very great proportion, some say nearly all, of 
 the woollen fabricks are imported on foreign accounts. 
 The various papers which have come before us, praying 
 
12 
 
 for a tax on auction sales, aver that the invoice of the 
 foreign importer is generally decidedly lower than that 
 of the American importer ; and that, in consequence of 
 this and of the practice of sales at auction, the Ameri- 
 can merchant must be driven out of the trade. 1 can- 
 not answer for the entire accuracy of these statements, 
 but I have no doubt there is something of truth in them. 
 The main facts have been often stated, and 1 have 
 neither seen nor heard a denial of them. 
 
 Is it true, then, that nearly the whole importation of 
 woollens is, in the largest importing city, in the hands 
 of foreigners ? Is it true, as stated, that tin; invoices 
 of such foreign importers are, generally, found to be 
 lower than those of the American importer? If these 
 things be so, it will be admitted that there is reason to 
 believe that undervaluations do take place : and that 
 some corrective for the evil should be administered. I 
 am glad to see that the American merchants them- 
 selves, begin to bestow attention to a subject, as inter- 
 esting to them as it is to the manufacturers. 
 
 Under this state of things, Sir, the law of the last 
 session was proposed. It was conlined, as I thought 
 properly, to wool and woollens. It took up the great 
 and leading subject of complaint, and nothing eke. It 
 was urged indeed, against that Bill, that although much 
 had been said of frauds at the Custom House, no pro- 
 vision was made in it for the prevention of such frauds. 
 That is a mistake. The general frame of the Bill was 
 such, that, if skilfully drawn and adapted to its pur- 
 pose, its tendency to prevent such frauds would be 
 manifest. By the fixing of prices at successive points 
 
13 
 
 of graduation, or minimiims, as they are called, the 
 power of evading duties by undervaluations would be 
 most materially restrained. If these points, indeed, 
 were sufficiently distant, it is obvious the duty would 
 assume something of the certainty and ^ precision of a 
 specific duty. But this Bill failed, and Congress ad- 
 journed, in March last year, leaving the subject where 
 h had found it. 
 
 The complaints, which had given rise to the Bill, 
 continued ; and in the course of the summer, a meet- 
 in": of the wool-growers and wool-manufacturers as- 
 sembled in Pennsylvania, and agreed on a petition to 
 Congress. I do not feel it necessary, on behalf of the 
 citizens of Massachusetts, to disclaim a participation in 
 that meeting. Persons of much worth and respecta- 
 bility attended it from Massachusetts, and its proceed- 
 ings and results manifested, I think, a degree of tem- 
 per and moderation, highly creditable to those who 
 composed it. 
 
 But while the Bill of last year was confined to that 
 which alone had been a subject of complaint, the bill 
 now before us is of a very different description. It 
 proposes to raise duties on various other articles, be- 
 sides wool and woollens. It contains some provisions 
 which bear, with unnecessary severity, on the whole 
 community ; others which affect, with peculiar hard- 
 ship, particular interests ; while both of them benefit 
 nobody and nothing but the Treasury. It contains 
 provisions, which, with whatever motive put into it, it 
 is confessed are now kept in, for the very purpose of 
 destroying the bill altogether ; or, with the intent to 
 
compel those who expect to derive benefit, to feel 
 smart from it also. Probably such a motive of action 
 has not often been avowed. 
 
 The wool manufacturers think they have made out 
 a case, for the interposition of Congress. They hap- 
 pen to live, principally, at the north and cast ; and, in 
 a bill, professing to be for their relief, other provisions 
 are found, which are supposed, (and supported, becatt96 
 they are supposed,) to be such as will press, with pe- 
 culiar hardship, on that quarter of the country. Sir, 
 what can be expected, but evil, when a temper like 
 this prevails ? How can such a hostile, retaliatory legis- 
 lation be reconciled to common justice, or common 
 prudence ? Nay, sir, this rule of action seems carried 
 still farther. Not only arc clauses found, and continued 
 in the bill, which oppress particular inten sts, but taxes 
 are laid, also, which will be severely felt by the whole 
 union; and this too with the same design, and for the 
 same end before mentioned, of causing the smart of the 
 bill to be felt. Of this description is the molasses tax : a 
 tax, in my opinion, absurd and preposterous, in relation 
 to any object of protection ; needlessly oppressive to 
 the whole community ; and benefitting nobody on 
 earth, but the treasury. And yet, here it is, and here 
 it is kept, under an idea, conceived in ignorance, and 
 cherished for a short lived triumph, that New-England 
 will be deterred, by this tax, from protecting her ex- 
 tensive woollen manufactures ; or, if not, that the au- 
 thors of this policy may at least have the pleasure, the 
 high pleasure, of perceiving that she feels the effects of 
 this bill. 
 
15 
 
 Sir, let us look, for a moment, at this tax. The mo- 
 lasses imported into the United States amounts to 
 thirteen millions annually. Of this quantity, not 
 more than three millions are distilled ; the remaining 
 ten millions being consumed, as an article of whole- 
 some food. The proposed tax is not to be laid for re- 
 venue. That is not pretended. It was not introduced 
 for the benefit of the sugar planters. They are con- 
 tented with their present condition, and have applied 
 for nothing. What, then, was the object ? Sir, the 
 original professed object, was, to increase, by this new 
 duty on molasses, the consumption of spirits distilled 
 from grain. This, I say, was the object originally pro- 
 fessed. But in this point of view, the measure ap- 
 pears to me to be preposterous. It is monstrous, and out 
 of all proportion and relation of means to ends. It pro- 
 poses to double the duty, on the ten millions of gall- 
 ons of molasses, which are consumed for food, in or- 
 der that it may likewise double the duty on the three 
 millions which are distilled into spirits ; and all this, 
 for the contingent and doubtful purpose of augmenting 
 the consumption of spirits distilled from grain. I say 
 contingent and doubtful purpose ; because I do not 
 believe any such effect will be produced. I do not 
 think a hundred gallons more of spirits distilled from 
 grain will find a market in consequence of this tax on 
 molasses. The debate, here and elsewhere, has vilown 
 that, I think clearly. But suppose some slight effect 
 of that kind should be produced ; is it so desirable an 
 object, as that it should be sought by such means ? 
 Shall we tax food, to encourage intemperance ? Shall 
 
1G 
 
 we raise the price of a wholesome article of suste- 
 nance, of daily consumption, especially among the 
 poorer classes, in order that w e may enjoy a mere 
 chance of causing these same classes to use more of 
 our home-mack ardent spirits? 
 
 Sir, the hare statement of this question puts it be- 
 yond the reach of all argument No man w ill serious- 
 ly undertake the defence of such a tax. It is better, 
 much more candid, certainly, to admit, as has been ad- 
 mitted, that obnoxious as it is, and abominable as it is, 
 it is kfept in the bill with a special view to its effects on 
 New England votes, and New England interests. 
 
 The bill also takes away all the draw back, allowed 
 by existing law s, on the exportation of spirits distilled 
 from molasses ; and this, it is supposed, and truly sup- 
 posed, will affect New England. It w ill considerably 
 affect her ; for the exportation of such spirits is a part 
 of her trade, and though not great in amount, it is a 
 part which mingles usefully, with the exportation of 
 other articles, assists to make out variety of cargo, and 
 finds a market in the North of Europe, the Mediterra- 
 nean, and in South America. This exportation the 
 bill proposes entirely to destroy. 
 
 The increased duty on molasses, w hile it thus need- 
 lessly and wantonly enhances the price to the consumer, 
 may affect also, in a greater or less degree, the impor- 
 tation of that article ; and be thus injurious to the com- 
 merce of the country. The importation of molasses, 
 in exchange for lumber, provisions, and other articles 
 of our own production, is one of the largest portions 
 of our West India trade ; a trade, it may be added, 
 
17 
 
 though of small profit, yet of short voyages, suited to 
 small capitals, employing many hands, and much 
 navigation ; and the earliest and oldest branch of our 
 foreign commerce. That portion of this trade which 
 we now enjoy is conducted on the freest and most lib- 
 eral principles. The exports which sustain it are 
 from the East, the South and the West ; every 
 part of the country having, thus, an interest in its 
 continuance and extension. A market for these ex- 
 ports, to any of these portions of the country, is infi- 
 nitely of more importance to it than all the benefit to 
 be expected from the supposed increased consumption 
 of spirits distilled from grain. 
 
 Yet, sir, this tax is to be kept in the bill, that New 
 England may be made to feel. Gentlemen who hold 
 it to be wholly unconstitutional to lay any tax, whatev- 
 er, for the purposes intended by this bill, yet cordially 
 vote for this tax. An honorable gentleman from Ma- 
 ryland, (Mr. Smith) calls the whole bill a " bill of abom- 
 inations." This tax, he agrees, is one of its abomina- 
 tions, yet he votes for it. Both the gentlemen from 
 North Carolina have signified their dissatisfaction with 
 the bill, yet they have both voted to double the tax 
 on molasses. Sir, do gentlemen flatter themselves that 
 this course of policy can answer their purposes ? Do 
 they not perceive, that such a mode of proceeding, with 
 a view to such avowed objects, must waken a spirit, 
 that shall treat taunt with scorn, and bid menace defi- 
 ance ? Do they not know, if they do not, it is time 
 they did, that a policy like this, avowed with such self 
 satisfaction, persisted in with a delight which should 
 
18 
 
 only accompany the discovery of some new and won- 
 derful improvement in legislation] will compel every 
 New England man to feel that he is degraded and de- 
 based, if he does not resist it ? 
 
 Sir, Gentlemen mistake us. They greatly mistake 
 us. To those who propose to conduct the affairs of 
 Government, and to enact laws on such principles 
 as these, and for such objects as these, New England, 
 be assured, will exhibit, not submission, but resistance ; 
 not humiliation, but disdain. Against her, depend 011 
 it, nothing will be gained by intimidation. If you 
 propose to suffer, yourselves, in order that she may be 
 made to suffer also, she w ill bid you gome on — she will 
 meet challenge, with challenge ; she will invite you to 
 do your worst, and your best, and to see who will hold 
 out longest. She has offered you every one of her 
 votes in the Senate to strike out this tax on molasses. 
 You have refused to join her, and to strike it out. With 
 the aid of the votes of any one southern state, for ex- 
 ample of North Carolina, it could have been struck out. 
 But North Carolina has refused her votes for this pur- 
 pose. She has voted to keep the tax in, and to keep it 
 in at the highest rate. And yet, sir, North Carolina, 
 whatever she may think of it, is fully as much interest- 
 ed in this tax as Massachusetts. I think, indeed, she 
 is more interested, and that she will feel it more 
 heavily and sorely. She is herself a great consumer 
 of the article, throughout all her classes of popula- 
 tion. This increase of the duty will levy on her citi- 
 zens a new tax of fifty thousand dollars a year, or 
 more ; although her Representatives on this floor have 
 so often told us that her people are now poor, and al- 
 
19 
 
 ready borne down with taxes. North Carolina will feel 
 this tax also in her trade, for what of foreign commerce 
 has she, more useful to her than the West India market 
 for her provisions and lumber ? And yet the gentle- 
 men from North Carolina insist on keeping this tax in 
 the bill. Let them not, then, complain. Let them 
 not hereafter, call it the work of others. It is their 
 own work. Let them not lay it to the manufacturers* 
 The manufacturers have had nothing to do with it. 
 Let them not lay it to the wool-growers. The wool- 
 growers have , had nothing to do with it. Let them 
 not lay it to New England. New England has done 
 nothing but to oppose it, and to ask them to oppose it 
 also. No, sir ; let them take it to themselves. Let 
 them enjoy the fruit of their own doings. Let them 
 assign their motives, for thus taxing their own constit- 
 uents, and abide their judgment ; but do not let them 
 flatter themselves that New England cannot pay a mo- 
 lasses tax as long as North Carolina chooses that such a 
 tax shall be paid. 
 
 Sir, I am sure there is nobody here, envious of 
 the prosperity of New England, or who would wish 
 to see it destroyed. But if there be such any where, 
 I cannot cheer them by holding out the hope of a 
 speedy accomplishment of their wishes. The pros- 
 perity of New England, like that of other parts of 
 the country, may, doubtless, be affected injuriously 
 by unwise or unjust laws. It maybe impaired, es- 
 pecially, by an unsteady and shifting policy, which 
 fosters particular objects to-day, and abandons them 
 to-morrow. She may advance faster, or slower ; but 
 
20 
 
 the propelling principle, be assured, is in her, deep 
 fixed, and active. Her course is onward and For- 
 ward. The great powers of free labor, of moral 
 habits, of general education, of good institutions, of 
 f skill, enterprise, and perseverance arc all working 
 
 wilh her, and for her ; and on the small surface 
 which her population covers, she is destined, I think, 
 to exhibit striking results of the operation of these 
 potent causes, in whatever constitutes the happi- 
 ness, or belongs to the ornament of human society. 
 
 Mr. President, this tax on molasses will benefit 
 the Treasury, though it will benefit nobody else. 
 Our finances will, at least, be improved by it. I 
 assure the gentlemen, we will endeavor to use the 
 funds thus to be raised properly and wisely, and to 
 the public advantage. We have already passed a 
 bill for the Delaware breakwater ; another is before 
 us, for the improvement of several of our harbors ; 
 the Chesapeake and Ohio canal bill has been 
 brought into the Senate, while I have been speak- 
 ing; and next session we hope to bring forward the 
 breakwater at Nantucket. These appropriations, 
 sir, will require pretty ample means ; it will be con- 
 venient to have a well supplied Treasury, and I 
 state for the especial consolation of the Honorable 
 Gentlemen from North Carolina, that so long as 
 they choose to compel their constituents, and my 
 constituents, to pay a molasses tax, the proeeeds 
 thereof shall be appropriated, as far as I am con- 
 cerned, to valuable national objects, in useful and 
 necessary works of internal improvements. 
 
21 
 
 Mr. President, in what I have now said, I have 
 but followed where others have led, and compelled 
 me to follow. I have but exhibited to gentlemen 
 the necessary consequences of their own course of 
 proceeding. But this manner of passing laws is 
 wholly against my own judgment, and repugnant to 
 all my feelings. And I would, even now, once 
 more solicit gentlemen to consider, whether a dif- 
 ferent course would not be more worthy of the Sen- 
 ate, and more useful to the country. Why should 
 we not act upon this bill, article by article, judge 
 fairly of each, retain what a majority approves, and 
 reject the rest? If it be, as the gentleman from 
 Maryland called it, " a bill of abominations,-' why 
 not strike out as many of the abominations as we 
 can ? Extreme measures cannot tend to good. 
 They must produce mischief. If a proper and mo- 
 derate, bill, in regard to wool and woollens had pass- 
 ed last year, we should not now be in our present 
 situation. If such a bill, extended perhaps to a few 
 other articles, if necessity so required, had been 
 prepared and recommended at this session, much, 
 both of excitement and of evil, would have been 
 avoided. 
 
 Nevertheless, sir, it is for gentlemen to judge for 
 themselves. If when the wool manufacturers, think 
 they have a fair right to call on Congress to carry 
 into effect what was intended for them by the law 
 of 1824, and when there is manifested some dispo- 
 sition to comply with what they thus request, the 
 
22 
 
 benefit cannot be granted, nevertheless, in any other 
 manner than by inserting it in a sort of bill of pains 
 and penalties — a " bill of abominations," it is not for 
 me to attempt to reason clown, what lias not been 
 reasoned up ; but I must content myself with ad- 
 monishing gentlemen that their policy is destined, 
 in all probability, to terminate in their own sore dis- 
 appointment. 
 
 I advert once more, sir, to the subject of wool 
 and woollens, for the purpose of showing, that, even 
 in respect to that part of the bill, the interest mainly 
 protected is not that of the manufacturers. On the 
 contrary, it is that of the wool-growers. The wool- 
 grower is vastly more benefited than the manufac- 
 turer. The interest of the manufacturer is treated 
 as secondary, and subordinate, throughout the bill. 
 Just so much, and no more, is done for him, as is 
 supposed necessary to enable him to purchase and 
 manufacture the wool. The agricultural interest, 
 the farming interest, the interest of the sheep-owner, 
 is the great object which the bill is calculated to 
 benefit, and which it will benefit, if the manufactu- 
 rer can be kept alive. A comparison of existing 
 duties with those proposed on the wool, and on the 
 cloth, will show how this part of the case stands. 
 
 At present, a duty of thirty per cent, ad valorem 
 is laid on all wool, costing ten cents per pound, or 
 upwards ; and a duty of fifteen per cent, on all wool 
 under that price. 
 
 The present bill proposes a specific duty of four 
 
23 
 
 cents per pound, and also an ad valorem duty of 
 fifty per cent on all wool of every description. 
 
 The result of the combination of these two du- 
 ties, is, that wool, fit for making good cloths, and 
 costing from thirty to forty cents per pound, in the 
 foreign market, will pay a duty, at least, equal to 
 sixty per cent, ad valorem. And wool costing less 
 than ten cents in the foreign market, will pay a duty, 
 on the average, of a hundred per cent, ad valorem. 
 
 Now, sir, these heavy duties are laid for the wool- 
 grower. They are designed to give a spring to 
 agriculture, by fostering one of its most important 
 products. 
 
 But let us see what is done for the manufacturer, 
 in order to enable him to manufacture the raw ma- 
 terial, at prices so much enhanced. 
 
 As the bill passed the House of Representatives, 
 the advance of duties, on cloths, is supposed to 
 have been not more than three per cent, on the min- 
 imum points. Taking the amount of duty to be 
 now thirty seven per cent, ad valorem, on cloths, 
 this bill, as it came to us, proposed, if that suppo- 
 sition be true, only to carry it up to forty. Amend- 
 ments, here adopted, have enhanced this duty, and 
 are understood to have carried it up to a duty of 
 forty-five, or perhaps fifty per cent, ad valorem. 
 Taking it at the highest, the duty on the cloth is 
 raised thirteen per cent. ; while that on wool is 
 raised, in some instances thirty, and in some instan- 
 ces cighty-Jice per cent. ; that is, in one case from 
 
24 
 
 thirty to sixty, and in the other from fifteen to a 
 hundred* Now the calculation is said to be true, 
 which supposes, that a duty of tliirty per cent, on 
 the raw material, enhances, by fifteen per cent, the 
 cost of producing the cloth ; the raw material being 
 estimated, generally, to be equal to half the expense 
 of the fabric. So that, while, by this bill, the man- 
 ufacturer gains thirteen per cent, on the cloth, lie 
 would appear to lose fifteen per cent, on the same 
 cloth, by the increase in the price of the wool. And 
 this not only would appear to be true, but would, I 
 suppose.be actually true, were it not that the market 
 may be open to the manufacturer, under this bill, 
 for such cloths, as maybe furnished at prices, inter- 
 mediate between the graduated prices, established 
 by the bill. 
 
 For example ; few or no foreign cloths, it is sup- 
 posed, costing more than fifty cents a yard, and 
 less than a dollar, will be imported ; therefore, 
 American cloths, worth more than fifty cents, and 
 less than a dollar, will find a market. So of the 
 intervals, or intermediate spaces, between the other 
 statute prices. In this mode, it may be hoped, 
 that the manufacturers may be sustained, and ren- 
 dered able to carry on the work of converting the 
 raw material, the agricultural product of the coun- 
 try, into an article necessary and fit for use. And 
 this statement, I think, sufficiently shows, that 
 no farther benefit or advantage is intended for 
 them, than such as shall barely enable them to 
 
25 
 
 accomplish that purpose ; and that the object, to 
 which all others have been made to yield, is the 
 advantage of agriculture. 
 
 And yet, sir, it is on occasion of a bill thus 
 framed, that a loud and ceaseless cry has been 
 raised against what is called the cupidity, the ava- 
 rice, the monopolizing spirit of New England 
 manufacturers ! This is one of the main "abomina- 
 tions of the bill to remedy which it is proposed 
 to keep in the other abominations. Under the 
 prospect of advantage held out by the law of 1824, 
 men have ventured their fortunes, and their means 
 of subsistence, for themselves and families, in wool- 
 len manufactures. They have ventured investments 
 in objects requiring a large out-lay of capital ; in 
 mills, houses, water-works and expensive machine- 
 ry. Events have occurred, blighting their pros- 
 pects,. and withering their hopes. Events, which 
 have deprived them of that degree of succour, 
 which the Legislature manifestly intended. They 
 come here asking for relief, against an unforeseen 
 occurrence ; for remedy against that, which Con- 
 gress, if it had foreseen, would have prevented. 
 And they are told, that what they ask is an abomi- 
 nation ! They say that an interest important to 
 them, and important to the country, and principally^ 
 called into existence, by the Government itself, has 
 received a severe shock, under which it must sink, 
 if the Government will not, by reasonable means, 
 endeavor to preserve what it has created. And 
 4 
 
26 
 
 they are mot with a volley of hard names, a tirade 
 of reproaches, and a loud cry against capitalists, 
 speculators and Stock-jobbers ! For one, I think 
 them hardly treated ; I think, and from the begin- 
 ping have thought, their claim to be a lair one. 
 With how much soever of undue haste, or even of 
 credulity, they may be thought to have embarked 
 in these pursuits, under the hopes held out by 
 Government, I do not feel it to be just, that they 
 should be abandoned to their fate on the first ad- 
 verse change of circumstances ; although I have 
 always seen, and now see, how difficult, perhaps, I 
 should rather say how impossible, it is, fur Con- 
 gress to act, when such changes occur, in a manner 
 at once efficient, but discreet ; prompt, but yet 
 moderate. 
 
 For these general reasons, and on these grounds, 
 I am decidedly in favor of a measure which shall 
 uphold and support, in behalf of the manufacturers, 
 the law of 1824, and carry its benefits and advan- 
 tages to the full extent intended. And though I 
 am not altogether satisfied with the particular form 
 of these enactments, I am willing to take them, in 
 the belief that they will answer an essentially im- 
 portant and necessary purpose. 
 
 It is now my painful duty to take notice of ano- 
 ther part of the bill, which I think in the highest 
 degree objectionable and unreasonable ; I mean 
 the extraordinary augmentation of the duty on 
 hemp. I cannot well conceive any thing more un- 
 wise or ill-judged than this appears to me to be. 
 
27 
 
 The duty is already thirty-five dollars per ton ; and 
 the bill proposes a progressive increase, till it shall 
 reach sixty dollars. This will be absolutely op- 
 pressive on the shipping interest, the great con- 
 sumers of the article. When this duty shall have 
 reached its maximum, it will create an annual 
 charge of at least one hundred thousand dollars, 
 falling not on the aggregate of the commercial in- 
 terest, but on the ship owner. It is a very unequal 
 burden. The navigation of the country has already 
 a hard struggle, to sustain itself against foreign 
 competition ; and it is singular enough, that this 
 interest, which is already so severely tried, which 
 pays so much in duties, on hemp, duck, and iron, 
 and which it is now proposed to put under new 
 burdens, is the only interest, which is subject to v 
 direct tax, by a law of Congress. The tonnage 
 duty. is such a tax. If this bill should pass in its 
 present form, I shall think it my duty, at the earli- 
 est suitable opportunity, to bring forward a bill for 
 the repeal of the tonnage duty. It amounts, I think, 
 to a hundred and twenty thousand dollars a year ; 
 and its removal will be due, in all justice, to the 
 ship owner, if he is to be made subject to a new 
 taxation on hemp and iron. 
 
 But, objectionable as this tax is, from its severe 
 pressure on a particular interest, and that at pre- 
 sent a depressed interest, there are still farther 
 grounds of dissatisfaction with it. It is not calcu- 
 lated to effect the object intended by it. If that 
 object be the increase of the sale of the dew rotted 
 
2a. 
 
 American hemp, the increased duty will have little 
 tendency to produce that result ; because, such 
 hemp is BO much lower, in price, than imported 
 hemp, that it must be already used for such pur- 
 poses as it is fit for. It is said to be sellii)L r for 
 one hundred and twenty dollars per ton; while the 
 imported hemp commands two hundred and seven- 
 ty dollars. The proposed duty, therefore, cannot 
 materially assist the sale of American hemp of this 
 quality and description. 
 
 But the main reason, given for the increase, is 
 the encouragement of American water-rotted hemp. 
 Doubtless this is an important object; but I have 
 seen nothing to satisfy me that it can be obtained, 
 by means like this. At present, there is produced 
 in the country no considerable quantity of water- 
 rotted hemp. It is problematical, at best, whether 
 it can be produced under any encouragement. 
 The hemp may be grown, doubtless, in various 
 parts of the United States, as well as in any coun- 
 try in the world ; but the process of preparing it 
 for use, by water-rotting, I believe to be more diffi- 
 cult and laborious than is generally thought among 
 us. I incline to think, that, happily for us, labor is 
 in too much demand, and commands too high pri- 
 ces, to allow this process to be carried on profita- 
 bly. Other objections, also, beside the amount of 
 labor required, may, perhaps, be found to exist, in 
 climate, and in the effects liable to be produced on 
 health, in warm countries, by the nature of the pro- 
 cess. But whether there be foundation for these 
 
29 
 
 suggestions, or not, the fact still is, that we do not 
 produce the article. It cannot, at present, be had 
 at any price. To augment the duty, therefore, on 
 foreign hemp, can only have the effect of compell- 
 ing the consumer to pay so much more money into 
 the Treasury. The proposed increase, then, is 
 doubly objectionable ; first, because it creates a 
 charge, not to be borne equally by the whole coun- 
 try, but a new and heavy charge, to be borne ex- 
 clusively by one particular interest ; and, second, 
 because, that of the money raised by this charge, 
 little or none goes to accomplish the professed ob- 
 ject, by aiding the hemp grower ; but the whole, 
 or nearly the whole, falls into the Treasury. Thus 
 the effect will be in no way proportioned to the 
 cause, nor the advantage obtained by some, at all 
 equal to the hardship imposed on others. While 
 one interest will surfer much, the other interest will 
 gain little or nothing. 
 
 I am quite willing to make a thorough and fair 
 experiment, on the subject of water-rotted hemp ; 
 but I wish, at the same time, to do this in a manner 
 that shall not oppress individuals, or particular 
 classes. I intend, therefore, to move an amend- 
 ment, which will consist in striking out so much of 
 the present bill as raises the duty on hemp, higher 
 than it is at present, and in inserting a clause, 
 making it the duty of the Navy Department to pur- 
 chase, for the public service, American water-rot- 
 ted hemp, whenever it can be had, of a suitable 
 quality ; provided it can be purchased at a rate not 
 
30 
 
 exceeding, by more than twenty per cent, the cur- 
 rent price of imported hemp, of the same quality. 
 If this amendment should be adopted, the ship 
 owner would have no reason to complain, as the 
 price of the article would not be enhanced, to him : 
 and at the same time, the hemp grower, who shall 
 try the experiment, will be made sure of a certain 
 market, and a high price. The existing duty of 
 thirty-five dollars per ton will remain to be still 
 borne by the ship-owner. The twenty per cent, 
 advance, on the price of imported hemp will be 
 equal to fifty dollars per ton ; the aggregate will be 
 eighty-five dollars; and this, it must be admitted, 
 is a liberal and effective provision, and will secure 
 everything which can be reasonably desired, by the 
 hemp-grower, in the most ample manner. 
 
 But, if the bill should become a law, and go into 
 operation in its present shape, this duty on hemp is 
 likely to defeat its own object in another way. 
 Very intelligent persons entertain the opinion, that 
 the consequence of this high duty will be such, that 
 American vessels, engaged in foreign commerce, 
 will, to a great extent, supply themselves with cor- 
 dage abroad. This, of course, will diminish the 
 consumption at home, and thus injure the hemp- 
 grower, and at the same time, the manufacturer of 
 cordage. Again ; there may be reason to fear, that 
 as the duty is not raised on cordage manufactured 
 abroad, such cordage may be imported, in greater 
 or less degree, in the place of the unmanufactured 
 article. Whatever view we take, therefore, of this 
 
31 
 
 hemp duty, it appears to me altogether objection- 
 able. 
 
 Much has been said of the protection which the 
 navigation of the country has received, from the 
 discriminating duties on tonnage, and the exclusive 
 enjoyment of the coasting trade. In my opinion, 
 neither of these measures has materially sustained 
 the shipping interest of the United States. I do 
 not concur in the sentiments, on that point, quoted 
 from Dr. Seybert's statistical work. Dr. Seybert 
 was an intelligent and worthy man, and compiled 
 a valuable book ; but he was engaged in public 
 life at a time, when it was more fashionable than it 
 has since become, to ascribe efficacy to discrimi- 
 nating duties. The shipping interest in this coun- 
 try has made its way by its own enterprise. By its 
 own vigorous exertion, it spread itself over the 
 seas,..and by the same exertion, it still holds its 
 place there. It seems idle to talk of the benefit 
 and advantage of discriminating duties, when they 
 operate against us, on one side of the ocean, quite 
 as much as they operate for us on the other. To 
 suppose that two nations, having intercourse with 
 each other, can secure, each to itself, a decided ad- 
 vantage in that intercourse, is little less than absur- 
 dity ; and this is the absurdity of discriminating du- 
 ties. Still less reason is there for the idea, that our 
 own ship-owners hold the exclusive enjoyment of 
 the coasting trade, only by virtue of the law, which 
 secures it to their exclusive employment. Look at 
 the rate of freights. Look at the manner in which 
 
32 
 
 this coasting trade is conducted, by our own vessels, 
 and the competition which subsists between them. 
 In a majority of instances, probably, these vessels 
 are owned, in whole or in part, by those who navi- 
 gate them. These owners are at home, at one 
 end of the voyage ; and repairs and supplies are 
 thus obtained in the cheapest and most economical 
 manner. No foreign vessels would be able to par- 
 lake in this trade, even by the aid of preferences 
 and bounties. 
 
 The shipping interest of this country requires only 
 an open field, and a fair chance. Every thing else 
 it will do for itself. But, it has not a lair chance, 
 while it is so severely taxed, in whatever enters into 
 the necessary expense of building and equipment. 
 In this respect, its rivals have advantages which may 
 in the end, prove to be decisive against us. I en- 
 treat the Senate to examine and weigh this subject, 
 and not go on, blindly, to unknown consequences. 
 The English ship-owner is carefully regarded by 
 his government, and aided and succoured, when- 
 ever and wherever necessary, by a sharp-sighted 
 policy. Both he and the American ship-owner ob- 
 tain their hemp from Russia. But observe the dif- 
 ference. The duty on hemp in England is but 
 twenty-one dollars; here, it is proposed to make it 
 sixty ; notwithstanding its cost here is necessarily 
 enhanced by an additional freight, proportioned to 
 a voyage, longer than that which brings it to the 
 English consumer, by the whole breadth of the At- 
 lantic. Sir, I wish to invoke the Senate's attention, 
 earnestly, to this subject; I would awaken the re- 
 gard of the whole government, more and more, not 
 only on this but on all occasions, to this great na- 
 tional interest ; an interest, which lies at the very 
 foundation, both of our commercial prosperity and 
 our naval achievement.