Newspaper Page Text
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: -’.i.ny, Jit’ftj : 5. 1839*
We are compelled to omit several advertisements
W < out m unirufione .
- *-T I! J.,..iL- . V -”1: -*—•
enuEu of tiik day for the mi.
The civil and military authorities, accompanied
by the citizens, will form a procession at Er
vin’s Hotel, at halt'past 10 o'clock, and march
to the Methodist Church.
Orator —Col. R, A. Beall.
Reader —Dr. Georoe G, Smith.
Tiie Dinner at Erwin's Hotel—on the table at
ha! i past 2 o'-el ock.
A subscription list to the dinner is !eftt Mr.
IJekley's Confectionary—Tickets may be pad at
Mr. Erwin's liar, where subscribers are request
ed to call before the dinner.
The Fourth of A uFy.
'To-morrow will usher in a day which is asso
■caited with our dearest,our proudest recollections;
h day,on which tyranny fell prostrate at the shone
of Freedom, and acknowledged the supremacy
of the Eights of Man. The return of this great
National Festival solemnly reminds us of how
fry? —very fov.—of the chosen band of Pate
•riots now linger among us. A little while
more, and they will he gone front vis, forever.
They look to Taney’s eye, like those crumbling
statues of the great men of old Home, that still
attract the admiration and respect of the world ;
and to which, even the dilapidations of time give
art increased splendor and a deeper interest, hot
vis venerate and cherish them, But there is ano
ther consideration blended with the character of
the dap , which now demands more than ever, our
fostering care and jealous vigilance. It is the
tvtsc which drove our forefathers from the com
forts, elegancies, and luxuries of their first home
■—the home of their immediate ancestors—to seek
in an uncivilized and barberous wilderness, that
liberty which was denied them by an unprincipled
and tyrannical governmental majority. Let the
cense then he ever fresh and green in our memo
ries, that it may inspire tis with patriotic firmness
to resist all and every power that
“Feels might and forgets right.”
With the animated and patriotic poet, let us also
frequently ask,
“NY hat constitutes a state ?
Not. high-fais’d battlement and labor’d mound,
Thick wall, or moated gate ;
Not cities proud, with spires and turrets crown'd:
Not bays and broad-arm’d ports,
V* hare laughing at the storm, rich navies ride;
Not starr’d and spangled courts,
VVlicTe low-bred baseness wafts perfume to pride:
No—men, highmiuded men,
With powers as far above dull brutes endu’l
In forest, brake or den,
As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rudet
Men, w ho their duties know,
L’at know their rights, and knowing, dare main
tain.
Prevent the long-aim’d blow,
And crush the tyrant, while they rend the chain.
These constitute a state;
And sovereign law, that state’s collected will
O’er thrones and globes elate,
tv and empress, crowning good, repressing ill.
Theatre.
Se'ind Sight nf Thereat, and the first r.f the
Lady arid the Devi!,
Y]se fine tntfo-dratna of Therese, was again
last night far the beriefitof Mrs. Smith,
and was attended by a large and respectable au
dience. We were highly gratified with the in
creased tiymbwr of brilliant eyes and rosy cheeks
which flushed and sparkled around us. We have
already noticed Therese and its performance.
With‘two immaterial exceptions the cast was the
name as the first night; and we need only say
.a general terms that the parts were as well, and
*i some in stances better
those of Therese and Oarwin. The groupings of
< leclraracters, upon w hich so much depends in
scenic effect and illusion, were more critically
;trended to than formerly. We must object how
’cver, to the thunder in tbe storm scenes—it was
i.ot as good as we can produce here, when Fah
renheit stands at ltKi a Let Mr. S. make his Jit
piter throw better bolts. Hut we won’t quarrel
with the lightning—tlieflashes generally wait off
very well. Upon the Whole, the company im
prove upon acquaintance. They are beoomiim
familiar with their audience, and consequently
fed themselves more “at home.”
The l.ady and the Devi! —
A spirited musical piece, in which a young,
i wiping girl, lull of vivacity, good humor, and
playful raillery, by a scries of ingenious strata
gems, ambuscades her “ gallant Lothario,' and
4 mall j takes his liaart by surprise. Mrs. Smith
entered fully into tho character cf Zephyrinn,
and gave to its graceful, buoyant and interesting'
features all tho effect of Which thov are suscc.’ti-
I/ie. She imparted to Wilillove a portion of her
J ic and feeling and made, him a very efficient
and animated lover, la Negoir.bo, flic prcnunci- 1
ation, attitudes, and action of the sooty African 1
w< re well imagined hv Mrs. Carter, and in the '
delineation of i e character she was remakably
felicitous. Mr. Manager’s Jeremy showed that lie
Las a touch ot’ the tis cbmim. Ho is generally
s>. Very good representative of the “ odds and
nds" of a queer fellow. We must rap him,
}:owtv*>r, a little, over tho knuckles. lie inter-'
polaWs too inuch. It is true he frequently intro-1
duces a happy hit, but ho also sometime's fails.:
Jt is a hazardous experiment to take too nme.li li
berty with the author. Let Mr. Jeremy pay more
mention to Hamlet's advice to tin* players,—not
t o speak more than what is put down” for him.
Wu have not time to notice the performances
<!> ''c' .i!; but wo cannot conclude without re
rr. mc • t- • Mrs. Smith, in tho very arduous
cih iracters of . and Zopliyriiui, acquitted
4 *r,e.f ii. a maim. • ; it would have called forth
4t< plaudit* • ftncmost critical audience. Asa
v e- . too, sim is ii oertstiiig. lier lJcho aud
• ire,.., well executed.
Yd&enrsti
hies ;rs. A. Oatnpbell and (loor ge Hargraves
< f Augusta, have made a donation of five liun
'red dollars each, to tha CeioiiiZEtion Society,
I ri'K‘.removal ct'free persons of color to l.ibe
• i ■ Tuts we think m.mif.-sts a spirit a little
i*mrs philanthropic and humane than that ultra-
I'.niar.iiropy wlueli has been so actively at work
<n dispensing benefactions, for the purpose of
f sten’ng upon the South a savage race who are
now butcheringVVi.y, c, ;- men, women
and children-*
Tin* Intiian War.
The accounts which wc publish to-day of the
bloody progress which Black Hawk and his ruth
less band ot savages is making are highly inter
esting. Gen. Atkinson it is supposed has been
cut otl' from the Army—Missouri is invaded—ami
the frontiers ot Illinois have become the theatre
ol devastation and carnage, The Southern Indi
ans too, who have crossed jhe Mississippi, will,
it is rumored league with Black Hawk. Should
this prove true, the contest will become more san
guinary and destructive than is generally imagin
ed ; and those who have laughed at and ridiculed
the precarious condition in which our western
frontiers are placed, may probably be convinced
that their mirth was ill-timed.
roreigij.
Our last advices from England bringus intelli
gence ol a sudden re-action in public affairs. —
Earl Grey and his Ministry have been reinstated,
and it is said the King will consent to increase
the peerage, for the purpose of carrying the Re
form Bill. Wc cannot view this acquiescence
in the light which many do; because it is impos
sible lor us to imagine how the privileges of the
people can be advanced by increasing "patents of
nobility. They must necessarily add to the as
cendant powers of an aristocracy, which is only
willing t a yield a temporary to the
voice ot the people, with no other object than
that of ultimately fixing upon them a heavier
yoke of bondage.
The Tailed .Males Bank.
The Bill for recharterjug the Bank has before
this no doubt passed the House ot Representa
tives; and as it has already gone through the
Senate, its rejection or approval remains with
the Executive. The friends of President
Jackson feel confident that lie will exercise his
veto on tlie occasion. His views of the impoli
tic and destructive tendencies of the instititution
under its present organization, were freely and
emphatically expressed in his Message of 1830.
The bill now proposed contains no modifications
or improvements which can in the slightest de
gree remove the objections which were then ur
ged. It is true that the bonus for the charter is
proposed to be increased upwards of 100 per
cent, and that no notes, checks, or drafts of a
less denomination than fifty dollars are to be put
in circulation, which shall not on the face there
of, be payable at the bank where issued. As re
gards the advanced bonus, we look upon it as a
glittering bait thrown out to lure the unwary and
propitiate the opposition of the President; —for
the offer to buy anew charter upon such terms, i
is an admission on the part of the Bank that the j
government is merely-considered in the light of j
an ordinary stockholder; because, if the°Bankj
was intended to benefit the government, a pre
mium would not be offered to it for the privilege of!
doing so. It mustthen be considered that their j
interests are separable—and that the Bank only
uses the name of the United Staten to support its
credit, and consequently, promote its own specu-
lations- Under such circumstances the Nation
al Credit is left entirely at the mercy of the
Bank, and she may use and abuse it at pleasure.
So much lor the bonus. The provision which
makes all notes, &e. under the denomination of
fifty dollars, payable at the hank" where issued, is
also a piece of financial trickery ; as it will rea
dily be seen that the Bank ean pay out all her
discounts in fifties except when they fall short
of that amount in any given discount. Tims,
for instance ; a note for SIOOS is discounted,
and paid out u\ fifties or hundreds as far as they
will reach;—alter paying then, twenty-fifties,
or ten one hundred’s the bank is ouly compelled
to cash on the discount fiee dollars; and this ad
vantage which is given her of retaining her spe
cie for private speculations, shetnay a” any time
exercise, not only to the injury of the State Banks
but to the serious interruption of the general cur
rency and local trade in every section of the
country, except at the residence ot the mother
bank in Pennsylvania. These, and similar a
incndments, are the precious and liberal overtures
which the friends of the Bank are patriotically
holding out to tho general government and its
constitutional supporters. And do the gentle
men presume that these specious propositions
will so veil the true character of the Bank as to
seduce Andrew Jackson into a recantation of his
opinion and win over his assent to the passage of
the Bill 1 If they do we hazard little in saying
they will be wofully disappointed. Or do they
think to operate upon his fears by arraying before
him the powerful influence the Bank may" control
by her interference in the present canvass for the
approaching Presidency? They do. But little!
do they know the men, in thinking so. He, who j
saved the whole Southern and Western borders
from ravage and rapine, by invading the domin
ions of Ferdinand—he, who imprisoned a refrac
tory Judge, and kept in abeyance a temporising
and timid Legislature and drove from a country
they would otherwise have subdued “ Welling
ton’s Invincibles, the Conquerors of Europe”—
he, who has thrown himself into the last breech
ot tiie Constitution, determined to save it in des
pite ol misguided trionds and avowed adversa
ries—can he, take “counsel from his fours?” No
no. V\ lien our political society becomes so*cor
rupt that the personal popularity of such a man
conflicts with the interests of the country, he
Will not hesitate which of the two to sacrifice—
in such an emergency lie would devote himself, a
willing victim, upon the altar of the Constitution.
These are the great considerations which mnra-'
ly convince us that Andrew Jackson will arrest,
by his veto the final passage of the bill.
The Protecting System.
“They grant us their protection!— Yes.- such
protection as the vultures giver the lambs —cover-
ing and devouring them.”
Wo have made copious oxtracts to-day from
Mr McDuffie’s speech ou the Tariff. It occu
pies nearly twenty-three columns in the large and
closely jirintod pages of the National Intelligen
cer. Wo regret the impossibility of laying tho
whole of it before our readers ; because it pre
sents a chain of facts and arguments which illus
trate in a more lucid aud forcible view, rot only
the inexpediency but the uuconstitmionality of
the Tariff, than any essay which we have read
tha vis yet been made cm tho tloor of Congress.
Asa specimen of Congressional Oratory, we do
not. think wo pay an unmerited panegyric to Mr.
Me Duffle in saying*that Wo tirfr.k it will not
Suffer in comparison with the best parliamentary
efforts ot Pitt, Ifo.rko or Sheridan. Hut what
recommends ft more to cur attention than any
thing elso, i;;, tho ./mcriran spirit with which it;
;is so deeply imbued, and the patriotic anxiety
which it displays for the preservation of the U
tsion. At this time ot sectional commotion we
have only one tiling to regret in the political ca
reer of Mr. McDullio, aud that is, his advocacy
of the l . States Hank. Wo look upon that institu
tion as being equally at war with the spirit of
oiir institutions and the intendments of our con
stitutions, as is the Tariff itself. The time how
ever, we hope, may yet arrive, which will con
vince Mr. McDuffie that the one is but uu aux
iliary to the other, and that both arc silently but
surely eating away the vitals of the Constitution.
Mr. McDuiiio s speech is the only one which
has yet reached us, Messrs Wilde and Clayton
ot this slate, and several of tho delegates from
Virginia, Month Carolina and Alabama, have al-
I so appeared in the debate, mil the papers speak
Mzmmt
loudly jr their praise. YV'ejdo ardently hope’|
that their united exertions,, with the
long forbearance of the South may operate fav
orably upon the minds of air adversaries and
bring abouta state of affairs calculated to harmo
| nise (*.• dangerously excited 4id conflicting feel
i in os \*hich now prevail thro nhout the country.
i We cling to this hope notwit standing a part of
I N. York. Mass. fc X. 11. an even now madly
j responding to the bayonet rcicdy of Mr. Niles
| and his coadjutors. Are fen ice to our columns
will show farther notice* of ie late New York
j meeting,some account of wh ;h we published in
our last. In New Hampshin ani Massachusetts
j popular meetings have also men held hut not in
j the same conciliatory spirit?<f that of New York.
! They uudisguisedly recomiieisd coercion, or in
; other words open hostility fo the South, at the
i mouth of the cannon and the point of the bayonet.
j But, this as we have ahead yj6aid, is not we hope
a predominant feeling. If it were, we then
should indeed despair of tip Ilepubiic —for tho
South, although she has thus long borne the
manifold oppressions of the Tariff, would not
tamely submit to hear the bfrden which she has
so long b>rne, and at tho sane time quiescently
shrink under the scourge, with which she is
threatened.
The Tariffis not the voife of the people. It
has its origin, to use the emphatic language of
Andrew Jackson, in a “ combination of small
minorities.” This is a truth which may be illus
trated by facts which come within the observa
tion of every reflecting man acquainted with the
relative posture of the two great parties. In South
Carolina for instance, and (the remark tve be-
I lieve is applicable to every other Southern State,)
a majority of what are called Union men are He
| cidedly thorough-going advocates ot the Tariff.
- These men have discovered thata few of its tem
porising opposers were averse to the energetic
, measures recommended by those who are called
I Nullifiers; and that by throwingtheir weight into
j the scale of a misguided and hesitating minority
they would give a factitious importance to it, and
thereby fasten upon us the burtfens of the Tariff,
until an ascendancy could be gaped which would
enable its supporters to perpetuate the curse upon
us. Of the self-styled Union (non in Georgia,
we feel confident t’„at three-fourths of them are
uncompromising Tariflites, and we may assert
the same not only of South Caitdtna, hut of the
other States. Deduct then theif number from the
party, with which they have tinned this unnat
ural association, & each would jo essentially left
in a minority, forming the “smjrii combinations”
so aptly alluded to by the President, and at once
explain the modus operandi by which their politi
cal management has established a Congressional
majority.
These truths are now daily developing them
selves—and as they become more and more
plain to the understanding of the- people, they!
will find if their constitutional rights arc longer
withheld from them, that further “ forbearance
will cease to be a virtue,” and that the “dernier
resort” is only tc be found in secession, nullifi
cation, or if these terras are not sufficient to ex- j
press our idea, by any other the pseudo Unionists
may choose to give it.
MR. McDUFFIE’S SPEECH ON 7 THE
TARIFF.
The extracts which we make from tins speech:
are more garbled than we could wish, and pre
sent but a faint view of the able and luminous
manner in which the subject is treated in detail —
they are but broken links of a splendid chain
Enough however is given to show its general
tone and character, and tho oppressive, unequal,
and unconstitutional impositions of the Tariff.
Extracts.
It must be obvious, sir, that vital as are the
pecuniary interests involved in this contro
versy, they are quite secondary when com
pared with the principles involved in it.
Its true character and importance cannot
be seen until we consider it, not only as a
question of interest, but as a question of right
and justice. It is justice and not intetest
that consecrates tiie struggles of men and of
nations. It will not do, therefore, to show
me, however clearly, that the passage of this
bill will destroy your interests and desolate
your country, as the existing system has de
stroyed and desolated mine. I am not now
considering your interests, but your rights ;
lam not going to try this question by the
barbarian test of power and numbers, but by
the principles of eternal justice.
And in this sacred forum, 1 put these ques
tions to every manufacturer in the Union ;
\\ bat injustice will this bill inflict upon you ?
What right of yours will it violate ? \Vhat
particle of your property will it confiscate,
and to whom will it unlawfully ot wrongfully
transfer it ? I beg, sir, that these questions
may not be evaded by empty and unmeaning
generalities, but that they will be openly and
fairly met, and distinctly answered. I admit,
sir, that this bill, should it pass, will do very
great damage to the manufacturing States,
hut it will he, in legal phraseology, damage
without injury, unless they will show that
some legal or moral right will be violated.
If these views are not radically erroneous,
wo have no\v* a distinct view of tho teal par
ties to this contest. They are not the foreign
manufacturers anti the domestic manufacttir
cts, (for these can come in conflict only in
foreign markets,) hut they arc the planters
of the South and the manufactures vf the
North.
Tho only material difference between the
two operations, is,that mine adds most to the
wealth of the nation, precisely in the degree
that lean sell my manufactures cheaper than
he can sell his. Hut ho has had tho art to
persuade the Government that this circum
stance, which sliftpld make me tiie favored
producer, is a reason why I should be heavily
taxed with a view to exclude iny cheap pro
ductions from the market, and give a prefer
ence to his, at higher prices.
■% # *t 4
We have, thus far, considered this question
only as it affects the relafive interests of the
contending parties ; let us now examine it in
reference to the infinitely more important
consideration, of their rights. And here the
difference between the claims of the southern
planters and the northern manufactures is too
obvious to escape tho dullest perception. No
one will venture to maintain that the planters
claim any thing to which they have not a
natural and indefeasible right. They do not
ask Government to give them any aid of any
kind ; they only ask that it will let them
alone while honestly employed in the pursuit
of happiness. Have they not, for example,
a natural right to produce cotton, tobacco,
and rice T Have they not the same natural
rigiit to sell it wherever they can do it most
advantageously, whether at home or abroad ?
And does not the right to sell abroad involve
the right of bringing home, without hindrance
or restriction, the comrnidities obtained by
that sale? It is clear,!! is self-evident, that,
in exercising these natural rights, the plan
ters do not violate the rights of any other class
of citizens, however directly they may come
in conflict with their interests.
Will any gentleman have the goodness to
paint out what right of the manufacturers t
violate when 1 carry my cotton to Europe,
exchange it for manufactures, and bring them
into the United States, for the purpose el
using them myself, or of selling them to other
people? No, sir, it cannot he done. On
the other hand, there is no difficulty in point
ing out the rights of the planters, which yon
violate when you shackle their exchanges
with restrictions, and encumber them with
taxes, in order to benefit the manufacturers;
you violate their right of property —the right
to make the most they can, in a lawful way,
by the productions of their industry.
To what charter, human or divine, can you
appeal for the power of taking away the pro
perty of one man, for the purpose of giving
it to another 1 No government on the face
of the earth ever had, or ever can have, the
right to exercise such a power, either directly
or indirectly, openly or in disguise, ft really
appears to- me, that, in the evil times on
which wc have fallen, language has lost its
meaning, and that the world is governed by
a miserable cant of hypocrisy and decep
tion.
You openly and nnblushingly perpetrate
plunder, and consecrate the outrage by call
ing it protection ! Do gentlemen understand
the import of words ? Protection! Pvo
tectio* against what ? Is there a band of
foreign mercenaries threatening to plunder
and lay waste the manufacturing establish
ments of the North ? If there he any such
danger to he apprehended, you have only to
call upon the generous spirit ofthe South, and
thousands will rally under your standard,
prepared to shed the last drop of their blood
in defending your rights, and repelling the
invaders. But there is no foreign army
threatening invasion; and I again ask, against
what is it that the manufacturers claitior so
loud for protection ? But one answer can be
truly given to this question : they desire to
be protected against a fair and equal com
petition with the productions -f Southern in
dustry. Involve it, mystify it, disguise it cs
you may, “to this complexion it must come
at last.” The real invaders against whom
this clamorous uproar for protection is raised,
are the planters of cotton, tobacco, and rice.
These are the true rivals of the northern
manufacturers, and, hut for them, not a sin
gle voice would be heard, from one extremity
of this Confederacy to the other, calling for
protecting laws.
In a report recently submitted to the House,
by the Committee on Manufactures, the
power of this Government to protect manu
factures is placed on a ground entirely new
and original. The power in question, sir, is
drawn from that part ofthe constitution which
authorizes the imposition of taxes for the
purpose of “ providing for the common de
fence.'" I give you the very words ofthe re
port ; “to provide for the common defence.”
Defence against what ? against whom ? De
fence against every danger, and again*t every
foe ; defence against all hostility, and from
every evil which may bear upon the whole
community, and menace the general welfare ;
defence, especially, against all hostility of
foreigners, u-kether in irur or in pence ; for
the hostility of nations to each other is not
confined to times of war. The common de
fence must be provided for as much against
commercial rivalry as against warlike inva
sion; for the spirit of traffic, armed with pow
er, as the experience of raanKind has proved,
is more insatiate and more grasping than all
the Alexanders and Cajsars that ambition has
inflicted on the race of man. Now, sir, to
say nothing ofthe solecism of tailing about
“ hostility in time of peace,” a thing which
I do not exactly comprehend, I cannot re
cognize that as a part of the international or
moral code of civilized nations, which de
nounces foreign commerce as a public enemy
in time of peace, against which an eternal
war of extermination is to he waged, by all
the powers conferred upon this Government,
for “the common defence!!”
*****
lain prepared to maintain, before any tri
bunal of New England farmers that can be
organized, that if England would agree to re
ceive the grain of the United States under a
moderate revenue duty, it would be impossible
for New England to carry on with Old Eng
land a commerce consisting of an exchange
of the agricultural productions of the former
for the manufactures of the latter. When it
is known that the price of agricultural labor is
much higher in the northern States than it is
in any part of the European world, docs any
one suppose that grain can be produced by
such labor, sent abroad under a revenue duty
in foreign ports, exchanged for foreign manu
factures ; and that these can be brought into
the United States under another revenue duty,
and sold ascheap as domestic manufactures?
No, sir: if England were to abolish her corn
laws to-morrow, such a trade could not be
carried on. The northern manufacturer could
still make goods cheaper than the northern
fanner could purchase them abroad. And it is
not until the former comes in competition with
efficient agricultural labor, operating at 12$
cents a day, and producing one of the most
valuable staples of (he earth, that he finds it
convenient to have his rival put down by act
of Congress.
1 speak of what I know experimentally,
when l say, that if the planters of (south Car
olina were compelled to pay fifty cents a dav
for the lahor they employ on their plantations,
they could not afford to produce cotton for
less than 25 or (10 cents a pound. If l should
attempt to cultivate it at the present prices,
by such labor, mv whole capital would be
| exhausted, and I should be utterly insolvent
in less than ton years. Then, sir, it is obvi
ous enough that it is the cheap lahor of the
Southern States, and not (lie cheap labor of
foreign complies, against which this exter
minating war of prohibition is waged by (lie
whole confederacy^?manufacturing interests.
I will now bring the conduct and the claims
of our adversaries to a test by which every
Christian combatant should be willing.to be
tried. I will only ask that they do uuto oth
ers what they would that others should do un
to them. A great deal has be n said about
compromising this question. Now, in order
to see where the true middle ground lies, up
on which the contending parties should meet,
i will first show you what are tiie two ex
trenacs.
The manufacturers contend that high pro
tecting duties shall he levied, for their bene
fit, upon the productions of the southern
planters. This is one extreme. S will now
state the opposite extreme, which precisely
corresponds wit hit. Suppose, then, that the
planters of the South were to allege that they
labored under great disadvantages in ex
changing their staples for manufactures; that
they had to go into foreign countries, pay
heavy expenses in sending their staples
abroad, and in bringing hack the manufactures
obtained for
the domestic ntinufaefurers were fortunately
exempted, having their customers almost at
their own doors. Ariel suppose, further, that,
to countervail these disadvantages, and to en
courage American commerce, they were to
invoke the Goicmmeiit to permit them to
import foreign manufactures free of duty,
while a protecting excise duty of forty per
cent, should he levied, for their benefit, upon
ail the domestic manufactures that came in
competition with their imports:—this would
be demanding precisely the same protection
against the manufacturers which the manu
facturers now demand and enjoy against them.
1 defy any one to draw a soand distinction
between them. How then, would the manu
facturers stand affected by having the rule,
which they have so long applied to others,'
applied to themselves.”
#*■**#'
Money is of no value,but for the command
it gives to its possessor over the necessaries
and luxuries of life. It is perfectly absurd,
therefore; to deny that the real price, the ex
changeable value, of cotton is diminished, be
cause the same number of silver dollars can
be obtained for it, when it is notorious that it
will require one hundred and thirty, or one
hundred and fifty of these dollars to purchase
the same quantity of the comforts of life, that
one hundred dollars would purchase, if it
were not for the protecting duties. Money
is not, itself, a source of enjoyment* If i
could purchase the same amount of enjoy
ment for one dollar, that I can with ten, I
would be precisely ns wealthy with ten thou
sand dollars, as 1 am with one hundred thou
sand. Nothing hut a puerile and contemptible
vanity win be gratified by increasing a man’s
store of gold and silver.nniess it increases
also his command over the various produc
tions of human industry, which minister to
ins wants and his desires.
If the planters of the South should be weak
enough to attempt to enrich themselves and
the nation, by receiving the annual amount of
their staph; in specie, from foreign countries,
they would exhibit the folly and fatuity of
the wretched miser who perishes amidst the
hoards of his treasure for the w ant of food.
* * * •
At the close of the late war with Great
Britain, every thing, in the political and com
mercial changes, resulting from the general
peace, indicated unparalielled prosperity to
the Southern States, and great embarrassment
and distress to those of the North. The
nations ef the continent hud all directed
their efforts to the business of manufacturing;
arid all Europe may be said to have convert
ed their swords into machinery, creating an
unprecedented demand for cotton, the great
staple of the Southern States. There is
nothing in the history of commerce that can
be compared with the increased demand for
this staple, notwithstanding the pernicious re
strictions by which this Government has lim
ited that demand. As cotton, tobacco, and
rice, are produced only on a small portion of
the globe, while all other agricultural staples
are common to every region of the earth, this
circumstance gave the planting States very
great advantages. To cap the climax of the
commercial advantages opened to the cotton
planters, England, tiieir great and most valu
able customer, received their cotton under a
mere nominal duty. On the other hand, the
prospects of the Northern States were as dis
mal as those of the Southern States were bril
liant. They had lost the carrying trade of
the world, which the wars of Europe had
thrown into their hands. They had lost the
demand and the high prices which our own
war had created for their grain and other pro
ductions; and soon afterwards, they also lost
the foreign market for their gram, owing part
, ly to foreign corn law s, but still more to oth
er causes. Such were the prospects,and such
the well founded hopes of the Southern States
at the close of the late war, in which they
bore so glorious a part in vindicating the free
dom of trade. But where are now those
cheering prospects and animating hopes?—
Blasted, sir; utterly blasted, by the consum
ing and withering course of a system of le
gislation which wages rn exterminating war
against the blessings of commerce, and the
bounties of a merciful Providence, and which,
by an impious perversion of language, is call
ed “ protection!”
Yes, sir, the very Government which is>in~'
der overv obligation, human and'divine, to
protects our commerce from all foreign agrees- :
Sion, becomes itself the aggressor, art! di
rects the whole power of its legislation ' to
sweep it entirely from the face of the oc arii
And where, sir, are the dismal prospects of
the Northern States? The same notv,>r which
has blasted the fair prospects of the South
has by the same act brightepou, those of the
North. While you see nod.mg but reined
cities and deserted villages from the Potomac
to the Gulf of Mexico, ye.u behold the most
animatingspectacle of unties, towns, and vil-
Ingres, rising up like < bright exhalations,”;
and as it by magic, throughout tne whole re
gion of the manufacturing States. [Jut, sir.
there is no magic in all this, but the injustice
ot human legislation, which, by a process, si
lent, unperceivcdj and for a long time un
known even to its devoted victims, has been
steadily drawing away 'tv* very life blood ol
their prosperity, and transtusimT U
of their oppressors. 6 1,1,0
Bui the great and radical objection
leeting system is not that it is unequal.':,
ration, or even that it is uneonstitutioaa! Sl
by throwing live great pecuniary inter™ 1
marftaciinmg amt planting .States into do c!
lrrcconcileable hostility, it entirely dec,
security which the representative print-; •
designed to provide, and converts the
Congress into an irresponsible dei'no^. 00 ’-
only as it regards the power of taxati*,,
as it regards ail the interests that e .,i, tJT''
or indirectly affected ay it. UII( <
I confidently believe that the contrii ■ •
acted from the planting stales of ibis
flic action of this disguised and irrespo !N jv“’
potisn, of confederated interests, is .! et
less oppressive and disastrous than the pv
levied, by the most insatiable of th e lb a act j
perors, from the conquered and
vinces of the empire. Indeed, sir 1 ‘ I
lievc that the late Emperor of France
riod of his career of conquest, ever levied
ry contributions from the subjugated rat ; 1
gratify his boundless ambition, more i al( S
and oppressive than this
have levied from the productive industry f
planting states, to gratify the insatiable 2
ot this manufacturing confederacy. In,
that these contributions have not been W
the point of the bayonet, thomrh even w.!*
been threatened; but the effect of'w
plunder, though less terrible in the arrav of
gents is not less exhausting & deletedoij
operation on the resources of the country
that of military rapine. But the standiw
swer to all these complaints, on the part of
Southern Slates, has universally been, iU
will ol the majority is omnipotent, even to
extent of consecrating injustice and opn r , s
precisely as if we had no constitutional e hai
and as if the very object of that charter w m
to impose restraints upon the majority.whirt
this country, constitutes the government : i
principle is laid down in the most broad and
qualified terms by the distinguished rr en tlei
from Kentucky,to whom I have already refer
in a speech delivered in another part of the o
tol. He affirms that, though the majority 0l
to govern equitably and constitutionally, 4 l(
must govern with no effective limitation hut t!
own w ill, and subject to no appeal but tire swe
If this be true, sir, the Constitution is a fc
upon the People, and we have, to all practical
tents and purposes, “a government withwt
mitation of powers.” Of what possible va
can it be to impose constitutional restrictions
a government, if the bare fact of its assuain
power be conclusive of the right to exercise
Does not this plainly and avowedly stibsti
the will of the majority for the constitutionit
and confound all distinction between mb
power iind downright usurpation? Itamoi
, to nothing less than that the majority have a
stitutionai right to d® what they please, tit
any practical responsibility to the power than
ted them. This is iho very definition cfdt
tism ; and I will add that it is the most cd
and intolerable of all the forms of despotiepo
If I must be governed by an unrestrained ant
limited pow er, I should decidedly prefer the
potism of a single tyrant to that of eight
lions.
O O o 0
Free trade is the great doctrine of pi
cal reformation in modern times; it is #
commerce and the social condition of ns
what the reformation of Luther was to
Christian religion. The whole Carv
world at one time believed that the i
of religious opinions, and the privil-g
every man to worship God in his own
would be utterly subversive of Christi
itself. How different has been the
perience of the world ! The freedom o
ciission, and the variety of religious
each independent of the other have placi
Christian church upon an everlasting fo
tion ; and so, sir, would the freedom of
place the prosperity of nations upon ast
basis. 1 should regard it as the pro
monument that we could erect to the gh
this Republic, the chosen habitation of
dom, to set an example on this subject!
other nations of the earth. It would s
sir, as a beacon light on the great otea
human affairs, to conduct all nations to
haven of prosperity. Yes, sir, Ictus
the tree of free trade, and water it. th:
branches may be extended to the mtei
extremities of the earth, and the Chr
and the philanthropist will joyfully com
anticipating the blessed period when, be
its fruitful and refreshing shade, “then
of the earth may pitch their tents iupci
In the report of the Committee on
factures, there is a distinct allusion to*
of things, which the author of therepa
poses to be within the scope of proba
and to which I will, for a few niomen!
the attention of the commit tee. Il< sa
reference to the excitement, in the soi:
“Nations, like individuals, are sahf
previous and perilous diseases of the i®
tion.” Again—“ ir, the midst of the ca
and well-being wft.n which we are sum
| cd, it is impossible to conceal from ours
that there is a levering sore of <l Ol
if not a deep-rooted disaffection to the l
rapidly riper. into purposes and P*
which will shake the Union to itsl°
tion.”
In referring to the argument, which*
the great inequality of the burthens in
•ii thr. south, he says: “ the fust r r <(l 2
obtrudes itself on the mind, p ' , cn the
muM of this argument is,d* |al i, sfr ik cs
•y r t the heart of th\j nioll j t3 Jf. 1
vc its two great ,f>; iacC ndrnf, op{xrsi(>
*' in deadly ho* l '
one.; ol'icr.” Agairi—“ln this view
I su bi' ? '-t, the intercst'df-the south is vie
: "and a the foreign rival and competitor
( v orthern manufacturer against him '■ '•
fiis ruin the southern planter and
manufacturer arc colleagued. Hew s
tin; association ! Mow deeply it p
? with the whole history of r,ur revolt
| war! What a satire it speaks on
institutions !”*■ * * * “ Siipposo the
! tic to bo dissolved, what would he
: tiou then subsisting between tlietn
U'ouhl it he otherwise, than that thetri
cileallci and opposite interests should
|ly fret and kindle into war, and
would their relations stand ? Mud 11
weaker party, on which side soever and
fall, fly for assistance to a foreign p° v
Nay, are there not elements in the vc
turn ot the contest itself, which t’ 111 *' 1
Hie planter nation to Great Britain for ßl
and would not alliance be another
protection V* * *’*'