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BY A CITIZEN OF PHILADELPHIA. J NEW-YORK : PRINTED BY JOHN H. SHERMAN, ! NO. 30, NASSAU-STREET, .••••••••tttt 1815. y. ^^ vs ^ v \ <~*> > THE SECOND CRISIS. CHAPTER I. Slate of War and Peace— Declaration of War — Ratification of Peace — The Crisis War produced — The necessity of the measure and its results — Reference to the Amendment of the Militia Sys- tem — Inquiry into the causes which induced England to accede to Peace, &c. THERE is no event in the occurrences of times more important to nations than the transition from peace to the turbid scenes of war ; or the recurrence from the struggles and deprivations attendant on that state, to the calm tranquillity of those visions of social comfort which peace generally invites. In the latter case, the soldier re- signs his sword for the more genial instrument of art and industry — ■ Relinquishes the discipline of camps and arduous marches to guide the plow on his native hills, or mix in the busy hum of cities. And the man who knit his brow, and felt the forces of his soul hardened to deeds of death and carnage, returns to the bosom of his family with smiles beaming on his countenance, and the milk of humanity at his heart. Such are the interesting eras which have latterly oc- curred in the history of these states. On the 17th day of June, 1812, war was declared by America against England, in consequence of a series of insults and aggressions which the spirit of forbearance could no longer brook, when repeated and various struggles for re- dress had been found ineffectual ; and on the 18th day of Februa- ry, 1815, a peace was ratified and exchanged by the President, with our ancient enemy, upon the basis of a treaty which promises food faith, and an observance of equal rights. To a nation, situated as was America, the recourse to hostilities with England, a power gigantic in arms, and wielding a maritime sceptre which had awed every other nation on the earth ; whose resources of credit, and whose fiscal operations, under revolving centuries, were, in comparison to us, as millions are to units, was indeed a crisis ; and the militation of a young and unprepared peo- ple, (for thirty years rocked in the cradle of peace) against a na- tion holding such imposing attitudes, was an epoch in our annals, sufficient to shake the nerves of even the inflexible patriot, whose bosom had never beat with any other throb more enthusiastic than the honour and prosperity of his country. Three years have not yet elapsed before the calamities of war are at an end ; and all the doubts and fears to which the contest gave birth, are dispersed by the happy return of peace, and the glorious results which have attended our virtuous and energetic struggle. To some cold-blooded politicians, perhaps, who keep the debts and credits of this war, with a mercantile accuracy, my assertion, that the nation has crowned itself with an immortal wreath of glory, may be disputed ; it may be advanced that we have not conquered Canada, or that we have not gained an inch of territo- ry ; — but the accession of territory, or the occupation of Canada, was neither of them the cause which prompted us to unsheath the sword, or invoke the God of battles to our aid. Our recourse to arms, was the last resort of an insulted nation, who had ineffectually endeavoured to avert the calamities of war by an appeal to justice, which was contemptuously and arrogantly denied her; and the honour and dignity of the country was impli- cated, if not branded with disgrace, had she refused any longer to appeal to that unhappy experiment, the desperate ultimatum of a wronged and forbearing people. There is not that ceurt or potentate in Europe, however despo- tic, who has not viewed our contest, with an interest rarely felt ; and although jealous of our rising greatness, inimical to the ethics of the republican school, or wedded to the prejudices and abuses of ancient dynasties, there has been an enthusiasm excited in the breasts of princes iucontestibly in our favour; and which, although it was secret as the grave, and lifted not a finger for our salvatiou or our cause, yet refrained from ever enlisting against us, or moyiDg with the policy of our enemy. 5 Vainly should we endeavour to inquire, whether the fate of Po- land, that, brave unhappy nation, vibrated yet upon the sensibility of their nerves ; and that the events which succeeded, and which shook the crowns aGd diadems of monarchs to the earth, had their weight in retrospection. True, however, it is, that like the gods of Homer, they held their scales in balance as by the fiat of Olympus, and the contest, fortunately, did not continue long enough to suf- fer their interest or their wishes to preponderate in either ; — single- handed was the conflict, and Heaven be praised, so it ended ! The brilliant achievements of our infant navy on the lakes and ocean, live in too glowing colours in the bosom of my countrymen, to need a repetition. The affairs of Chippewa, of Erie, Plattsburg, Baltimore, and Orleans, are yet such evergreens of honor and re- nown on land, that it would be a reflection on my readers to reca- pitulate their glory, or rehearse those deeds of valour which are yet the uppermost themes of commendation ; and which, while they excite the liveliest emotions of national patriotism, tend in a measure to sooth those bosoms, which have been rent with the severest an- guish, by the casualties and disasters attendant on a state of war. Peace is ajrain restored us, and let those of our countrymen who yet show their ledger of losses, and groan over what they may term ihe waste of blood and treasure, console themselves with the reflec- tion, that the uations of the earth who have looked with unbiassed eye upon the contest, will say we have preserved our liberty and nationality in it; and with one consent, will decide on the gallant vic- tories of our arms; and the superiority which a brave and self-taught people, by the virtue of their cause, have obtaiued over a venal monarchy and an imperious foe. To brief, our character has beeD re- trieved from ignominy, and instead of an insulted and pusilanimous people, we rank exalted in the opinion of the surrounding world and stand dignified in our own. The steady patriotism of our yeomanry, having been tested throughout this contest, will adduce a striking lesson for future wars, when we may unhappily be visited by them ; that a good and whole- some arrangement of the militia system, which shall teach to the hardy freeman the rudiments of the art of war. and which shall fit him in the day of peace, for the exigencies of all times and seasons, would be the safest and soundest policy our government could pur- sue. Various militia systems have been adopted by ali the stales, and one and all of them, in the opinion of the writer defective. To enter into an analysis or discussion of this subject, would be too far to im- pede the progress of the present inquiries, and dilate the work be- yond the narrow compass of a pamphlet ; suffice it to say, that in- stead of the accustomed method of turning out and paiading through dirty streets, with rusty arms, ragged coats, columns disproportioned, and squares that looked like triangles, as must be recent in the re- membrance of those who witnessed our reviews in a day of securi- ty — that schools well appointed should be instituted, and certain drilling days should be regularly attended by the incipient, under the penalty of a Que to be rigidly exacted ; that semi-annual reviews should be held with all the pomp and splendour of a national fete, and that instead of the ragged men of Falstaff, who formerly ivere wont to walk up and dowu a dirty city to save a fine, we should see a body of tacticians, well apparelled, well accoutred (although not in uniform) and who, while they should feel a pride themselves, will create applause in the beholder. To effect this, the state gov- ernments must not lean too much on economy. A suit of clothes per year ought at least to be the equivalent of the patriotic yeoman •who devotes his hours of industry, to learn how to defend his coun- try ; fines well collected, and justly appropriated, would partly de- fray the expense, and the pride and honour of the state might well afford the other. Before I enter further into the important views which the sub- ject of this inquiry embraces, a question of some curiosity suggests itself, as to what has been the probable causes which have operated on Great Britain, to abandon that system of procrastination, which strongly marked each preceding feature of the uegociation with our ambassadors, and to accede with such sudden and unlookedfor pre- cipitancy to the formation of a Treaty which met the views of our ministers, and the iustautaneous acceptance of the British regent ; a Treaty which, without even touchiugupon any of the subjects of for- mer conferences, confined itself merely to the preliminaries of jus- tice and equity ; two subjects which had never been disputed by America, and which, on any proposals, on the part of England, would have been inquired into and adjusted. Who is the prophetic seer of the nation that could have foretold such a finish to such a contest, that the pviheiple aufl leading features ofa treaty of peace a v ndaip=- ity with Britain, should rest on commissioners, duly appointed to run a Geographical line from the lakes in the woods, through differ- ent regions adjacent, to mark the middle boundary of territorial rights; a lake scarcely spoken of live years ago in either country, and even now obscurely known by the geographists and topogra- phists of London. The peculiar care manifested by the British ministers on this questio n of boundary, would seem to indicate that they persuaded themselves into a belief that ihe imperial flag of Great Britain was destined to wave for many centuries more on the American conti- nent : hence we see so much caution and precision in several arti- cles of the treaty, on territorial sovereignity. In case of any dispute on this subject it is to be decided by some frieudly European power, that is to say, the Emperor of Russia, or Austria, the king of Prussia, or any king, Bonaparte excepted, may, in the course of human events be honored with a title perhaps of equal weight and glory toany they or their ancestors ever enjoyed, no less thau Geographer General to his Britannic Majesty and the United States of America, and although none of those sceptred mortals may- estimate the real dignity attached to such a high calling, yet there are few of my readersw ho will not join me in opinion that the title \c question reflects more honour on any of those mounrchs, and has more real solidity attached to it, thau the Kingdom of Hanover has given, by that title being annexed to the monarch of the British Isles. I have a presentiment that we shall never be under the necessity of troubling any of the royal race in Europe on this subject ; it is already decided by the laws of nature, and must ere long, be so by the political aud progressive strength of our country. A nation speak- ing the same language, influenced by the same habits, with a popu- lation already of eight millions, and with a fair prospect of doubling that number in less than twenty years, is not likely to be plagued very long with questions relative to the rights of European sove- reignty to any part of the American Continent. Whether we shall dry fish on the coast of Labrador, or shoot bears beyond the present imperial boundary, we shall leave to our descendants to arrange some 30 or 50 years hence, but we shall car- ry to the tomb of the Capulets a full conviction that the treaty of •6 prace, recently concluded, is the last instrument that will he signed between Great Britaiu and the United States, respecting the terri- torial sovereignty of either on this Continent. Had the conduct of England, as regarded the negotiations at Ghent, been of that character which carried with it the indications of good faith and a desire for pacification, the treaty wouid uot now be a matter of surprise, nor have been so unexpected an event as it has proven — some causes therefore, as yet behind the curtain, have operated on the ministry of England, to give up their wild preten- sions of territorial aggrandizement in America, and spin red them to the termination of differences on just and honourable terms, at a mo- ment when the war had assumed a most critical aspect. The publication of the correspondence of the ministers at Ghent, by the American government, was calculated to produce great asto- nishment in the eyes ol all Europe ; the arrogant and ambitious pre- tentions of England bore a most striking contrast with the unsophis- ticated good faith prominent in all the conferences and correspon- dences of the American diplomatists, aud had no doubt, its weight in altering both the tone and system of British negociaiion. Those powers of Europe who were convened in the general congress at Vienna, for settling the rights of nations, and consolidating a peace among themselves, would no doubt, unhesitatingly express their dis- satisfaction at the pretensions manifested by England in this politi- cal drama ; as similar doctrines might, at a future and no distant day, be attempt; d to be imposed by England on themselves, and their silent acquiescence, as regarded the Uuited States, be urged as a plea of justice against them. The policy, therefore, of the publication of the dispatches from our ministers, however it may have galled England, was obvious as regarded ourselves. It spoke volumes at a glance aud carried with it the weight of twenty manifestos. It was a clear development of facts and portrayed the character and cause of our hostilities, and the features England was inclined to give them; and further, it was putting the question to continental Europe, and testing wheth- er they were inclined to yield to a principle of interested policy pursued by England against these states, and which once establish- ed became a precedent, which naturally enough, would hereafter be turned against themselves. 9 It is not impossible that England might also have foreseen the probability of that miraculous event which has astonished both he- mispheres. She, no doubt, well knew the sentiment of the military of France, and their devotion to that chief who had so often led them to victory, and who never suffered skill or courage in the field to pass unnoticed or unrewarded. Aud although she might not have calculated ou so sudden an explosion, or that the bold attempt of Napoleon in resuming sovereignty, would have been attended with unopposed success ; yet she might have seen sufficient to have demonstrated to her the necessity of concentrating her forces at home, and to be prepared for any changes which the continent of Europe might display. If any cause yet stronger than the public exposure of the pre- tensions of England, has operated on her to conclude this peace, I am inclined to believe that it is the situation of the Peninsula of Spain, aud the distracted state of those important colonies of that monarchy in South America. Eogland has for years past enjoyed the treasures of those exhaustless mines, with which the unhappy and enslaved Americans, have been cursed. The day of slavery is however fast dissipating — the shackled descendants of the Iucas have burst their chains, and a new and great empire is about to astonish the world. What part England will take iu the momentous drama is yet to be discovered, oue part she assuredly will, and there is one part which it materially behoves the United States to take ; that is, to aid in uuloosing the letters of a galled and gallant people. Policy dictates it; the injuuies we have received from European Spaiu demand ample compensation, aud warrant any measures. The claims which American citizens have on the Spa- nish monarchy would be more than sufficient purchase money for the Spanish Jjloridas, and if she will neither sell them or cede them, or refund her robberies, I see nothing to prevent our taking them vietarmis.l return to my subject — 'hat England has long mediat- ed deeply on the situation of Mexico, various testimonies might prove, and that this may have had a considerable impetus \a closing the contest with the United S:a'.es, in order to be ready to engage m one more profitable, at the first favourable moment, I am fdso dispo- sed to credit, an^' <(?o that :!ie blow a*ainRt Spain, or against her pos- sessions, is now prosecuting a.-d will be struck by Eugsaod on the first politic opening, and however singular it may appear, it may yel be possible and probable, that England for once may range herself on the side of justice and the rights of man, and for a promised remu- neration (perhaps) of certain provinces of this vast continent, engage to emancipate a nation from bondage. That these causes, and others, which are too carefully screened in the cabinets of Europe to be read with accuracy on this side of the Atlantic, have had their weight in producing this wouderl'ul change in the pretensions of England as regards these states, the lapse of a very little time will place beyond contradiction or doubt ; ad interim, however, should these be rejected as visionary, speculative, or as far fetched surmises by any of my inquiring readers, there is another cause well suited to the armor propria of the patriotic American, which might not per- haps suit the palates of the purlieus of St. James's, but would not be unsavory to ourselves. This cause, which modesty might forbid us to dilate on, or even refer to, is neither more or less than that, England, tired with the repeated discomfitures she met on land, on lake and ocean, wherever she came in contact with our forces, (hith- erto so despised and held in contempt,) began to consider that should the same series of success continue to attend the arms of America, she might find in a few months longer extension of the contest, all her Spanish laurels, in the yellow leaf; and that her proudest boast, and vaunted prerogative of supremacy on the ocean, earned by slow and progressive measures, at the price of more money and blood than her islands contain, might be rendered nugatory : and instead, as hith- erto, the dread of surrounding states, by the despotic power of her floating engines of blockade and contribution, she had forfeited her imposing character in the estimation of spectators, by her losing although unequal contest with a natien, who, at the commencement did not possess one hundredth part of her naval armament — and who had already cruised victoriously and with prosperity in the Emrlish channel, and who had rode triumphantly in that called St. George's, laying their sea-ports in a state of blockade or contribu- tion. Whether my readers will allow weight to this last cause as- signed, will depend on their own view of the subject. — One thing, however, has fact to corroborate it, that insurance across the Irish channel, had risen from 1-2 per cent, the usual rate, to 6 per cent, waking eleven additional premiums. And had the war continued 21 12 months longer, and our national cruisers, expressly equipped for sailing, reached their intended destinations, the 6 per ceutum might have quadrupled itself, and the whole navy of England would noS have been sufficient to protect her from an American blockade. The list of British vessels captured, burnt and destroyed by our cruisers, as well private as national, does not rest on our own asser- tions, they are recorded at Lloyd's, and whether we view the Dum- ber, or the enterprise, and valour displayed by our countrymen in effecting this extended scene of capture and destruction, we have the satisfaction to know they are without parallel in naval warfare. Hitherto the world had attached no ordinary degree of stigma to the pursuit of privateering, and cupidity was deemed the sole motive to those who engaged therein, but it was reserved for the United States to develope the fact, that a love of gain was not the premordial con- sideration of Americau cruisers, whether private, or national. Amor Patria, gallantry, and humanity have distinguished the conduct of our < dicers and seamen, in all their rencounters with the enemy. British cruisers had beeu so accustomed to carry the private armed vessels of their enemies, whether in equal fight, or by gallant- ly attacking them with boats, that they did not anticipate any new or extraordinary species of resistance from us; but to their surprise and mortification, they have not only been foiled, but beaten in al- most every attempt they made on the ocean or in the harbours, against our vessels. The attack on the privateer Neufchatel by the boats of the fri- gate Endymion, and the attack of the General Armstrong by as im- mense number of boats from a British squadron in the harbour of Fayal. have given a demonstration of American enthusiasm and valour, fatal to the glory, the discipline and tactics of the British na- vy ; and in my humble opinion, these, and an infinite number of simi- lar instances that had occurred, taught the British ministry to anti- cipate the direful consequences of protracting a war, where every day seemed to add to the glory of their enemy, and to augment his means of annoying and destroying the commerce of Great Britain. Thus, at the moment that they supposed Orleans in their possei» sion, and that such was their expectation, the speech of the Regent from the throne proclaims, when he says, that he hopes to finish thfc Contest with America,, with glory to the BDglish arras,— »at Hm ma* m meut do they propose a peace on those terms of equal justice fo. which alone we contended, and which we had repeatedly offered to treat upon before ; and not waiting even for the news of the occu- pation of Orleans by the British troops, they conclude a treaty ol peace, which, in the same faith, these slates have always manifested, was ratified as soon as it was received. Waving all further consideration of what were the motives which induced Great Britain to the hasty adoption of (his measure, when all denoted more extensive preparations, and the most hostile front; I shall only express this, my opinion, that neither a sense of honour or equity, or a just appreciation of the eights of nations had any thing to do with her decision. These are considerations which are as a dead letter in the eyes of those disciples of Machiavel, who direct the policy of that nation ; — and here I bf g leave to state, that v hate- verm^y be my opinion of the conduct of the British government eith- er past, preseutor future, it has not, and I trust, never will eradicate from my mind, a regard and respect for the individual character of British subjects — as such, we view them analogous to ourselves in habits, in feelings, a6 well as in language ; but it is against a gov- ernment whose acts have been uniformly hostile to our republic, that we have directed our remarks, aod shall continue so to do, until a change of policy or measures on the part of the government of Great Britain, shall convince us of the sincerity of her frequent pro- fessions to cultivate a good understanding, and to preserve a lasting peace with the United States. 3 CHAPTLit II. Commerce considered in a day of I\ncc — America the general car- rier i7i the time of European ivar — The jealousy of England — Its consequences — The eject Peace will have on our Shipping aiiti Tonnage interest-Its effect on Agriculture— the culture of Grain considered— Digression on the agriculture of South America,— Cultivation of articles ofjoreign Growth not yet introduced gener- ally in America considered ; such as tlic Vine, Olive Tree, Gum Tree, &c. The adventure and experiment ?vhich distinguishes America-Distillation in a day of Peace, and Manufactures con* sidercd. The phrases, Peace and Plenty, Peace, Commerce and Pros- perity, have been so often hacknied and toasted, and drank in (low- ing cups, that it may create a little astonishment in the minds of the strongest opponents to the late war, that commeuce on the return of peace, instead of being attended with its expected concomitant prosperity, should be narrowed and confined within a more limit- ed circle, that its profits should be reduced to the lowest grade of percentage, and that instead of the cornucopia of abundance, which in our late trade was the result of the general war in Europe, we shall find it harder to gain a dollar on the ocean, thau we did to gain ten, when fortune made us the carriers of the world. This has, in a measure, already exemplified itself, by the doubt aud hesitation which has marked every commercial movement since the cessatiou of hostilities; aud if, on the very outset of our pacific career, this truth has already developed itself, wheu a reciprocal interchange of various articles interdicted in a state of war, invited a certain portion of commerce ; how much more forcibly would it dis- play itself, when that interchange, so long denied to nations and ourselves, was satisfied and became limited merely to that supply necessary for anuual consumption. Although Europe be at this moment in a very unsettled condi- tion, aud the return of Bonaparte, as well as her opposing interests, lean towards involving her again ie hostilities before many months. 14 yet wisdom dictates, that uncertain events should never be relied on, and it behoves its not only to look to the actual stale of affairs, as they now stand, but to be ready to receive with an open palm the favor of either chance or fortune, or be equally ready to oppose adversity, should she approach, by the maxims of the goddess Minerva in prac- tice. Should peace yet be maintained in Europe, and it is more natu- ral to look towards this event than to calculate on an eternal system of warfare,* our commerce must consequently bp confined to those articles of necessity, the natural growth of these states, which may not be the productions of Europe, or cultivated at least in a minim proportion to their wants ; and our system of exchange of articles must be solely limited to those which may be necessary for our own consumption, whether in the crude stale, or that of manufacture. The commerce of America, from the year 1 793, until the late conclusion of the European peace, was profitable beyond any cal- culation in record. The powers of Europe, militating one against the other, combatting one year in the cause of France, and the next on the side of England ; each drawn progressively, for their own momentary salvation, into the contest, completely over- turned the whole commercial economy as well as the productive in- dustry of continental Europe. Their states and their kingdoms, from the prince who reigned to the meanest peasant, were thrown into distraction and confusion — the stirnilus to industry or agriculture was no more. The fields the farmer plowed, the grain he sowed, and the harvest he hoped to reap, were no longer in existence — the enemy might come — was coming — and would arrive — and what avail is industry, when it is tube the prey for pillage? where is the stimulus for labour but in gain ? Such were the woful reflections, of many an honest husbandman on both sides of the political arena. What then was more natural, than America, by the general necessi- ty becoming the carrier of nearly all the christian world? Kngland alone among all the nations in the map of Europe, who held a name or * And even the restoration of Napoleon, although it at present bears the most menacing front, may nevertheless l^ad to this event, and even in fixing the repose of Europe on a more solid b:i-i«, pit) by his death, or by his bping m-ide a ,iarty in the g«uei al congress, neither of which events are out of tbe line of probability. la consequence, maintained any commerce. By the influence of he> navy she was able to sustain her trade with her colonies; yet even in this commerce she was obliged to maintain it by an expense un- known and uiifelt by the United States at that period. The im- mense expenditure, which the support of a navy like that of Eng- land must occasion, will be well understood without a comment, and the enviable situation, in which the United States enjoyed the freedom of the ocean and the commerce of the world, will be also comprehended without any illustration. This, aud this alone it was, which excited the jealousy and envy of England, which produced the capture of our vessels bound to France in 1793 to 1796, which led to those orders of council in England condemning the trading of vessels from one port to another of a different nation, (known under the general term of trading voya* ges,) and obliging the vessel to clear from, and return to, her native port. — It was this, which next produced the strict examination of the role d'equipage, ultimately producing the late obnoxious or- ders in council which eventuated in war. That England should be jealous of the rising greatness of Ameri- ca and her distended commerce, was a necessary result of her poli- cy, but in the moral spirit of justice, professed by civilians, she had no more right to make manifest that jealousy by oppression, than any other power — nor indeed so much, — as she integrally maintained her commerce, while the nations of Europe were without its benefits, and dependent on America and herself for their supplies; besides, as the war belonged as much to Englaud as to France, or was rather kept alive by her policy, and was maintained more for the preservation of that monopoly which has made her a power of consequence among nations, than for any conquests or aggrandizements which France might meditate ; she had less reason for complaint against the tem- porary good fortune of the United States of America than any other power. — France, during the last four years of war, introduced the hostile decrees of Berlin and Milan; but without entering into the stale discussion, of whether the last orders in council, or these had priority; none who consider this great question dispassionately, will deny, that the repeated captures and acts of aggression of England, led France to those retaliating measures, denominated the continen- tal system ; which, while they materially affected our security, and 16 amounted lo at! infringement of our rights, aimed all llie energy of their resentment against England. The edict which indiscrimi- nately doomed to conflagration every article manufactured in Eng- land, or the growth of her colonies, was a link of the same chain, adopted lege talibriis, against the legislative code of England. These retaliatory acts of the two nations manifested a rancour rarely be- fore seen; and threatened a war of extermination. Their stand- ards might have floated to the winds of heaven on either side with the words ad interniiiionent, stamped in the largest characters, with- out creating fcsehtiirieql of surprise/; and ail states and governments were taught by their conflicting foes, that any of their subjects were implicated and sacrificed without remorse, who aided, however in- directly, the views of either. England closed tjie whole continent of Europe by decrees and statutes, which the unrestrained and adventurous spirit of Fredonians would have laughed at — but so it was — the ports of Europe were closed, and the vast dominions of France were left without a ship or seaport of trade. Besides this, she was daily stabbing vitally her in- terests in manufacture, (the only traffic of industry left her,) by in- troducing under a thousand disguises, the manufactures of herself, and her ludiau possessions. From these causes, France availing her- self of her power, drew that extended circle of prohibition which, while it fostered her internal commerce, aimed a death blow against the designs, as well as the revenue of England. Apologising for a digression, which in general course, I trust may not be deemed irrelevant, I return to my subject. In what manner will this return of peace affect our commerce ? As we have before said, provided continental Europe be at peace, the commerce of Ame- rica, must be very limited, and it is much to be dreaded, that before this/act is experimentally displayed to our adventuiers, that great mischief will individually befal them. It was within a few years back remarked, by many a navigator, that sail where you would, there was no nook, no port so small, bm he found the flag of America before him. The scene may now be changed, these states may no longer be the universal carrier, and the stars of our national flag may not, for sometime, be seen triumphantly waving with the incalculable gains of a distorted commerce. Europe at peace, we are on a foot- ing with all other commercial nations, England excepted, who main- 17 tains a superiority by possessing more colonies than any other pow„ er, regulating and limiting their trade according to their will or interest, at the same time, interdicting the United Stales from any trade, which might be beneficial, and admitting only such articles as she cannot herself supply. This leads us naturally to inquire into what effect it will have upon our shipping, and whether it will tend to their increase or di- minution, and my opinion, unhesitatingly is, that it will operate to- ward the immediate decrease of our commercial tonnage, and that too, in a very severe degree, without salutary measures are used to prevent it. Where traffic is precarious, and its profits few ; where a nation only enjoys that reduced commerce, admitting solely of in- terchange of its overplus productions, ou a limited scale, for arti- cles of a foreign growth or fabric, which may suit its consumption or habits, there can exist but little excitement to adventure. Egre- giously shall those be mistaken who consider that the dashing mer- chants of these states will, as heretofore, be the money making men. The present system will return to that of the old plodding limes of pounds, shillings, and peace. The ledger, and profit and loss ac- count will require a careful circumspection, and to be narrowly attended to in all foreign traffic. A very moderate profit abroad will leave a minimum profit on return after paying freight and va- rious charges, and the regular percentage on imports, will nett but little on their sales after paying outward and inward duties. That spirit which looked upon a ship as a prelude to a fortune, which considered a shipholder as the monopolizer of gains, will feel a shock which will prostrate all the hopes and calculations of the inexperienced or too sanguine adventurer. An apathetic indiffe- rence will naturally succeed to this dangerous enthusiasm. And those who meditated alone on the ocean as being the paternal pro- tector of their fortunes, will have the current of their feelings chang- ed, and will look to their maternal earth and native soil, with patient and well-regulated industry for a moderate support. With no more ports to trade with than before the war of 1 703, •f what use will now be our extensive forests of shipping ? At that epoch, only 2 Tudiamen sailed out of Philadelphia, and I shall not be found very incorrect in the assertion, that not more than 7 or S 3 18 sailed from all the ports of tlie United States. Our increase of population may, perhaps, warrant a double trade with foreign pos- sessions, and a double importation, but further than this we cannot look with safety for profit or success, pnd unless our exportations keep aD equal pace with our imports, the balance of trade will be injurious. The different maratime powers of Europe are in want of shipping, and the overplus of our tonnage will naturally find foreign owners, and, as we can, upon a general scale, build vessels at a cheaper rate than most of the nations of Europe, one species of our industry •will meet a recompense in becoming ship-builders instead of ship- owners. Dismissing this subject without further remark, we have now to inquire in what manner peace will affect agriculture, manufactures, and distillation. In the first consists the natural, unalienable, and progressive strength of the nation ; governed and fostered by the omnipotent mercies of Providence, by the genial return of seasons, and brought to maturity and abundance by the hand of art and industry. — Throughout our distended continent agriculture is the vivifying and all-important branch of labour on which the happiuess or misery of the community depends. During w ar, however, there is as much speculation and hazard attendant on this employment as on others; it thus frequently happens, that farmers become rapidly rich or poor ; are superabundantly paid for their labour, and their land, or dwindle and become distressed for want of an adequate price for those commodities on which they have bestowed both time and toil. The speculator on paper, in stocks, or any other ideal re- presentative of property is not more liable to the chances of profit and loss than the farmer in the unsettled times of war. A fluctua- tion of 20 to 50 per cent, either in the rise or fall of an article, is oftentimes witnessed within six months, and although, generally speaking, the farmers throughout these states have been more for- tunate than otherwise, during our contest, and the few years preceed- ing it — yet some have met equal adversity with the merchant or any other occupation. The day of peace produces a general level with agriculturists ia the same ratio that it does with commerce. That extraordinary, 19 and at times, unaccountable rise and depression of articles of our internal growth is no more to be looked foi thau the rise and de- pression of a yard of broadcloth. The farmer, therefore, who would calculate his gaius in receiving 10 or 12 dollars per barrel, for his flour, must take into consideration his loss if he realizes but 3 or 4. The real value of a barrel of flour, in times of peace, taking it in an aggregate and comparative view, can uever be more than tJ dol- lars. In the mouths succeeding harvest, and when the greatest abundance is in market, it will not command this price. Frauce» from her being excluded from all external commerce, and not allowed to supply her colonies, even during the season of war, when that dreadful name conscription was on foot, seldom witnessed her flour to exceed 36 francs, or something less than seven dollars for the 200lb, In the year 1 795 alone, owing to the horrors of the revolution and a failure iu the crops, together with the starvation edicts of England, did it ever take an enormous rise ? and the policy of the government soon checked this evil so pregnant with many others. Whilst treating on this subject, it may be well to notice, that the period is not distant when South America and Mexico will like- wise be important granaries; the reason this has not already ta- ken place, arises not so much from limited population, as from the restrictions that Spain has for three ceuturies persevered in, against the settlement of foreigners in her dominions, from the barbarous and antisocial system of her political institutions, whose cardi- nal principle consisted in the necessity of keeping 17 millions of in- habitants, iu this va6t continent, in the lowest state of iguorance and misery, in order to swell the pomp, and nurture the disposition of a parcel of monks and mountebanks on a little peninsula of Europe. - The laws of nature and reason will no longer be riolated in such an outrageous manner, as they have been for ages, on this beautiful con- tinent ; the bounties of a beneficent God will be, ere long, displayed throughout this hemisphere, and millions of unborn descendants of Europeans, as well as the offspring of the Incas, will bless the names of those who, in this century, have so largely contributed to the emancipation of the western world, from the feudal chains ef Europe. But to return t» my subject. I think it very pro- 20 bable, that in lees thau 30 years, South America and Mexico wiU be enabled to export immeuse quantities of grain. Wheat grows in abundance in almost every part of this continent. Indian corn may be cultivated every where. The banks of the ri- ver Magdalena, as well as all the adjacent country, already yields a superabundance of rice. A few years ago there was scarcely suffi- cient raised for the consumption of the country ; but since the peo- ple have declared themselves independent of Spain, and the new government have removed the shackles from commerce and agri- culture, the change produced has been truly magicaK There are now above a hundred rice plantations, where there was one four years back. During the late war between the United States and Great Britain, many vessels of considerable tonnage were loaded with this article at Carthagena and on the coast, for Jamaica ; i-. became so abundant that the price was as low as two, to two and a half dollars a hundred weight. The grain is equally, or, perhaps, more nutritious than our Carolina rice; it is not as well cleaned, but that circumstance will be remedied by the improve- ments that are rapidly finding their way to those countries. There is no doubt in my mind, that in a few years rice will rank among the exports of Carthagena, not only for the West Indies, but for the European markets; and there is likewise no doubt, that it can be raised in this part of New Grenada without many of the disadvan- tages attached to its culture iu Carolina and Georgia. The wheat that now comes down the river Magdalena, from a place called Ocaua, in the interior, is equal in quality and flavour to the Barbary grain. The flour, at present made, is not quite as white as ours, but will be equally so, when proper attention is di- rected towards manufacturing it. Tobacco and cotton, in all their various qualities, may be suc- cessfully cultivated in almost every part of these regions, and in fact, nature has so peculiarly endowed this part of the earth with all the varieties of climate aud soil, that it not only yields indigenous ar- ticles, which no other part of the earth can ever rival, but is capable of producing whatever can be raised in either zone. These remarks will, no doubt, have their due weight with many of my reflecting readers, and may teach our landed proprietors to reflect, that neither they aor their heirs are to oalculate on the Unit- 21 til States being, as they have hitherto been, the unrivalled graaary of the universe. The agriculturist, 3o a time of peace, must, therefore, look more to the wants of the community at home than to those abroad. Ouv southern planters of rice, cotton, and tobacco will, uo doubt, enjoy the great benefit of a foreign market; but as all those articles are the growth of foreign countries, they must uot calculate on the ex- clusive supply of them ; but that their prices will be governed by the same limitation which extends to every other article the pro- duce of the earth. The cultivation of various articles, some of which we yet import from abroad, and others of too limited a culture, will be found to be attended with more profit to the farmer than many others hitherto considered of the first importance — such as woad, an article easily raised and of great value in dying. The olive tree, which has al- ready been known to thrive in our climate, and if I am not mistaken, has been cultivated by our president, Jefferson, is another article, opening a wide field, which would well repay its first cultivators. Mustard seed is an article which reflects a shame on our agricultur- ists, that it is not produced in abundance among us. This article sold for two dollars and even three dollars per pound duriog the war, which might give a great piofit to the cultivator at 50 cents, or in- deed, one half that price. Ginseng, a plant indigenous to our soil, has not sufficient attention ; ten times the quantity might meet a good market that is now raised. The Spanish tobacco plant, the seed of which can easily be imported from Cuba, would yield con- siderable profit to those whose lands were genial to its cultiva- tion. In this article the agriculturist should be particularly careful in his choice of land, in which he may make his essay, and should inform himself well on this subject, in which there is no difficulty to insure success in his project. Hops, senna, ginger, turmeric, rhubarb, and many other articles of inferior grades and value might be men- tioned, which would suit our soil and various climate. The cultivation of the vine too, which hitherto, more from iuat- tention to soil aud climate, has, as yet, been unsuccessful, will one day bounteously repay the more prudent and successful cultiva- tor. Doctor Logan, in a letter written from Stenton, in February, 1 799, gives, iu my opinion, seme usef«l hints »a this subject ; he is •)•) guided in his remark?, however, by the climate of Franco, in which lie saw them cultivated. A due attention to the remarks made by Doctor Logan, and adapting ihem to the climate aud soil in which this essay may be made, will most likely be attended with success. The gum tree, a native of Africa, known better by the general term Senegal gum, and which is used in almost all manufactures of linen and cotton, by hatters, and also by apothecaries, under the name of gum arable, might be successfully transplanted from that country, and thousands of acres of our land in Georgia, Florida, and West Louisiana unproductive at present to their holders, (many of them barren sands,) might, in the course of a few years, without anj labour, (for the tree requires none,) become flourishing forests of this valuable thorn, producing mines of wealth from this exotic gum ; the value of which has been so highly estimated, that the na- tion, whether France or England, who had possession of the colony of Senegal, always debarred the world from any interference in her monopoly of this article. The only exception to this general prin- ciple was, while France, unable to assist her colonies, threw them open to neutral commerce. This tree, which grows to the height of 10 to 15 feet, if planted for the purpose of hedges, might be made be- neficial in a double manner, forming a safe barrier to all inclosures, and yielding at the same time a revenue to the possessor. Should there be any impediment in procuring this from Senegal, England now holding possession of St. Louis, and preserving her monopoly by interdicting all trade but her own, it may he fouud in abundance on the Atlantic coast of Barbary, although it does not flourish to the extent to yield the exportation of its gum. These arc not Utopian ideas. Experience has proved, by the introduction and growth of the cotton plant within a few years in the southern states, as well as the sugar cane, the genial properties of our soil and climate; and the extent of those advantages a Benevolent Deity has yet in store, for the industry and enterprise of the citizens of this favoured region. Many other articles of foreign growth, as yet unknown and un- cultivated among us, may strike the imagination of the reader aud researcher, which might be of equal importance to attend to; those already mentioned, however, are sufficient to demonstrate, that we have not yet paid all that atteotiou to enriching our soil, or reaping 2o ;Yom it all those bounties with which the bencficicnt hand oi" the Creator has so lib< rally vUitedthe earth. In a state of civil society, to what other obje.ci than wealth is the toil of man directed. The wisest man may he said to •work the least, as he employs himself on those objects which may be the most productive, find yield him the highest price for his labour. The nearest road to wealth is the one gener- ally sought for, though thousands miss the track. Those who pursue the beaten foot-way of their ancestors, and are never in- duced to swerve from it, however alluring the prospect, may rank perhaps, among the most prudent aud unaspiring. They enjoy a dull monotony, and their slumbeift are never disturbed by doubts or enlivened by the imagery of hope — they have uothing to gain or lose in the great lottery of fortune. To such men an innovation or experiment is as the forbidden fruit, one which, as their forcfa. thers never tasted, they maintain the same self denial. However se- cure this wary prudence may make such men, unhappy for the world would it be, did such a general apathy prevail. Where, alas ! would be the arts and sciences, the refinements and improvements, and those useful discoveries, which adorn the history of revolving years and ameliorate the condition of mankind ? Soon, indeed, would they vanish from our sight buried in the gloom of gothic ig- norance. But, fortunately for the world, these are he smallest por- tion of society. The majority, and particularly in this country, pos- sess an ardent spirit for adventure and experiment ; an enthusiasm for improvement and discovery by no means general throughout Europe. It is this which has given us a tide of prospeiity in com- merce, unexperienced in the history of the world — it is this which has stimulated us as inhabitants of a vast and free region, not ouly to dive into the mysteries of foreign commerce, but to extract from it all that is valuable to ourselves. The improvements of Europe, and its refinements, rose from a state of barbarism and villanage pro- gressively, and varied the scene from savage to social life by slow gradations. The states of America were ushered into existence un- der all the advantages of modern ethics and philosophy. From the date of the declaration of their independence, they may be said to have been boru and nurtured under the first constellations of ge- nius that ever illumined the world ; the d^ctriues and tenets of a Newton and a Locke, a Volney and a Leland, were ail under- 24 stood and investigated by a Rittenhouse and a Frauklin, a Jefferson and a Hamilton; and in place of gradual steps to information, we had the arcana of Europe uuveiled to us, thereby affording an op- portunity to demonstrate the boldness and extent of native genius, when unencumbered by prejudice, and unrestrained by despotism. To the enlerprize and researches of a Fulton, do we owe the vast advantages which have been already deiived, and are likely to progress to an unlimited extent, from the discovery of a proper and powerful application of steam, in impelling the " skarfed bark" through her liquid element, aud directing her course with swift- ness, in opposition to the winds of Heaven, and in defiance of coun- ter currents. The new, the wonderful, and yet unthought-of ad- vantages to which this great improvement may extend, is a fair field for reflecting genius to predicate both fortune and fa-ine by its application to useful objects, and to the economy of time and labour. The historian of America shall with enthusiastic fervour dwell upon the memory of this liberal and enlightened citizen, and shall, in the general sentiment of his cotemporaries, deplore the irreparable loss the arts have suffered by the short duration of his earthly career. Had more extended years been allotted him by the fiat of Omnipo- tence, that masterly aud energetic genius might have discovered still stronger traits, and have furnished even more brilliant facts to philosophy than those with which he has adorned it. Reverting to my subject of the adventure, inherent in my coun- trymen, it strikes me that the same wisdom and researches which unfolded riches to their view in traversing the ocean, will now be diiected to their pursuits ou land. The same spirit of industry in the establishments of landed pro- perties, with productive incomes, may be looked for at home, which has within these last twenty years been directed abroad in foreign speculations. The careful culture of new and valuable plants, herbs, trees, &c. hitherto considered as exotics, will no doubt, interest more or less the genius of my countrymen — and should there not appear a sufficient enthusiasm excited, or doubts and dreads awakeued, wi'h regard to the success, which might or might not be their attend- ants, it would be a just and generous act of policy in the government, in ud the trade with the greatly extended territory of these states, diversified by various seasons and climates, has been ever considered the most profitable tad important that England enjoyed. Interest, the polar star 28 of nations, (as well as individuals,) directs her to pursue that path which will aid and encourage the exportation of her manufactures and her traffic with America ; and the height of refinement to which her artizans have arrived, gives her a decided preference even in the opinion and fancy of our own citizens, to similar goods of natural fabrication. The proper distribution of colours, the just appropriation of light and shade, the evenness of thread — and above all, the exqui- site finish and glaze, which certain goods receive from the hand of the adept, naturally gives them a value in the eye of every behold- er. Besides which, there is another provocative to value and choice — that indefiueable something which exists under the name of fashion, and which imperiously governs the fancy and caprice of the world. As hitherto Europe, and particulary England and France, have been the rabiters and precedents of this camelion god- dess, even across the Atlantic ,• it will be found an unattainable effort to correct this despotism of fancy, without a strong induce- ment operating sensibly on the interests of the community. It may be argued that patriotism should stimulate us to encour- age the workmen and mechanics of our native soil, but it would be argued in vain. Will any one of us purchase an article made at home, of a thread more uneven, of an inferior finish, of a fashion out of date, merely because it was made at home, when for the same, or perhaps less money, we can procure the newest fashion of England, carrying with it colours better executed, aud an appear- ance more beautiful ? Even admitting that the article might be stronger and wear better, unless the eye and fancy were pleased, there must be a greater stimulus to obtain it a preference — videlicet, its price. Notwithstanding the raw material may be the natural production of our soil; the low price of labour, and the high perfection to which machinery has been brought in Europe, gives the manufacturer abroad, and particularly England, (as having the articles most suited to our wants,) a decided advantage over this country. And those articles, after paying all charges abroad, the freight across the ocean, and the import duty at home, can yet afford a commission and a profit, and undersell that manufactured by ourselves of the same texture ; and what is a necessary and a serious part oi these conn- 20 derations is, the mercantile policy united with the policy of \\er pow- er, undeviatingly pursued by England through the medium of her bounties, drawbacks, and the system of long credits established by the traders of that nation; the great sacrifices they are always read} to make, in order to destroy competition, in order to secure a market, and the political influence which is always connected with her agency, which will be a formidable antagonist to our do- mestic ingenuity and industry. That these men who have aided by their enterprise and activity the general government, and the nation at large, iu the employ- ment of their energies and capitals; who have clothed the sol- dier in his camp, providing also for the daily wants of a vast continent ; should, in a day of peace, and what is termed general joy be thrown from employment and involved in difficulties and distress, is a reflection which must arrest the attentioD aud feelings ©four rulers and the community. )& CHAPTER III. Hen- far the general government can protect the citizens of' the United States under changes of War to Peace — The necessity of calling a Convention, its legality and its effects considered — Ex- ports particularly noticed — Imports considered — Manufactures, the Economy resulting therefrom — Export duties on Wheat, Col' {an, and other articles, considered — Canals and Roads considered — The neccsaity of Government holding those improvements in their own hands — The abuse of Lotteries, &c. The preceding chapter has been employed to demonstrate that aeither the merchant, the agriculturist, nor the artizan, (particular- ly the one exclusively employed in fabricks,) will receive any of those various benefits which were looked upon to be the result of the return of peace; but on the contrary, that each will be likely to experience a sudden and disastrous check in their pursuits, and, that the artizan, or manufacturing capitalist, is the most exposed to softer disappointment, and serious inconvenience by the revolution of (he times. There arc evils in human life which admit of no remedy or pal- liation ; yet in political ethics, there are few evils so bad but they might be reduced, if uot wholly cured. The inquiry, therefore, is, in what manner can the evils likely to ensue be deprecated, and how far is it in the power of these states, in their political wisdom, to extend the parental hand to protect their children and depend- ants? A uation is lich, powerful and envied, only by its wise and just administration. Hitherto the United States have been the envy of the Christian world; and thus the suffering subjects of the ancient dynasties of Europe, nave courted emigration to our shores, abandoning, as they will tell you, poverty and degradation at home, to find comfort, if net wealth ; and a character in society, if not ho- nours, in a land of freedom. It is sincerely to be hoped that the same wise policy which has conducted, as yet, the only republic in the world, to happiness and feme, may still exist; and that this 31 ti.iy of general peace, which, in its consequences, •sesms t® estate some alarm in our bosoms; may only be the prelude to more aMe and just plans, to preserve oar prosperity, and ere an with addii-tiaral honours the sachems of our nation. In order to progress with safety, and give a powerful impetas to those measures, which it may prove the policy of the United St;a.ea? to adopt, it appears to me indispensably necessary that a oanrra> tion should be called by the majority, (if not the unanimous vok-t of the states,) to alter and amend the constitution, as circumeUwices' and the present situation of the world may require. It is not a on- vention similar to*the Eastern convention, that is here alluded tej; it is not — but I forbear from expressions on this subject — that cms.- vention has received its final dismissal to die " tomb of the C&- pulets ;" and as it is unmanly to level a blow at a pro^trat-e m&> defeated enemy, however insidious were his designs; I refrain .fieaa any animadversions on its motives, or its principles. The conges- tion that I here propose, is a conveuiiou by the unauimous rtke and feelings of the confederated states; or, at least a ma jo illy of them; in a day of peace and tranquillity; and after our contest W&& the greatest maritime power of the world has ended with honoua to* the American name. If this can be effected, I think the raea-aaape will be atteuded with benefits to the nation; but any other con-vsr- tion than one constitutionally authorised, should have no mre weight with the general politics and municipal regulations of ithe geaeral government, than the statistical laws and regulation of Georgia or Louisiana, have with the District of Maine. The collected wisdom and virtue of those who framed the consti- tution of these states, produced, as they supposed, as perfect a jjdl- tical instrumeut, fining to the temper of the times then existing;; as wisdom and virtue could dictate. And one great and judicious jratf of its perfection consisted, in its being liable to alterations :aaoi amendments, as circumstances and policy might demand; which aS- terations could only be made by a concurrence of a majority of fire. states. Nearly thirty years have elapsed since the federal com- pact was made: — the constitution, perfect as it might then seem M those who orgauized it, was not even considered by them to beat' that perfection in all its clauses, as would suit all times and all eveUte It was left opes for experiment and circumstances to proves whei^a 3sint of property, in those who engage in the tradr ; that each of those ■who dispose of the article, in whatever shape, whether in the fleece or in the jam, or in the finished cloth, each of them must obtain something more than the original and accumulative cost of the ar- ticle; this is called profit, which always signifies something more than the previous cost. We must, therefore, add the profits of each successive dealer to the prime cost, and the price of labour. How is the man, who last sells the article, paid ? Or, in other words — when this piece of broad cloth arrives in New-York, or Philadelphia, the duties are all paid, and the cloth on the shelf of the trader who sells it for use, who then pays for it? The answer is plain; as none of the artisans are unpaid, — as all the duties on the English export are paid — as the import duties are paid, — and the re- tail draper buys only to sell at a profit ; the only mode by which it can be done, is by accumulating all the previous expenses, and add- ing the draper's profit, which makes the selling price of the article; so that we here see that the man who wears the cloth, is he who ac- tually pays all the labourers, factors, export duties, freight, insur- ance, import duties, and the profit of the several factors and deal- ers, through whose hands it has passed. To possess a very clear perception of the momentous truths which are involved iii this consideration of the progress of the manufac- ture and sale of a piece of cloth, we have only to ascertain what is the relative or positive value of the wool, and what the relative or positive value of the cloth when sold. In England we shall suppose the average price of wool per pound, for superfines, may be taken at two shillings aud six pence, or equal to our half dollar the pound, and estimating a loss of one half the weight in the manufacture, that each yard weighs one pound ; and that the broad cloth thus made aud weighed, sells, or has sold, in our market, from eight to eighteen dollars the yard. While we perceive with astonishment the augmentation of price from the raw wool till it covers the back of 39 him who pays for it ; we cannot but perceive that lie who pays for the cloth to wear it, is the person who pays all those tribes of work- men — all the Juties of export and import — all the freights, and all the profits of the foreign factor and the domestic draper. Rut we must, in order to perceive these facts in the manner hi which they apply to our practice, and our own affairs, reflect, that the same principles apply to every article imported from abroad; we shall then be able to perceive how our policy is calculated to benefit other nations at our own expense; while, by refusing to ourselves the same advantages which every other nation, derives from the exports ot its products, we confer on them an advantage for which they do not give us any equivalent, nor even thanks — and in some cases derision for our folly. We perceive that so far as we purchase the productions of foreign nations, we pay for all the intermediate social labour, between the fir.-t cost of the raw material and the import duty ; which whole va- lue is in fact a contribution paid by us to the nation from which we purchase, as much as any other tax. Let us offer a very loose es- timate, taking the piece of broad cloth for our datum. An end of broad cloth of 25 yards, say sells for 15 dollars the yard, product g 375 Deduct 25 per cent, profits of draper, . 93 Price before importation, ...... 282 From the gross price before importation, deduct the price of the wool at half a dollar a pound, and allowing 50 per cent, waste, . . . . •'..•• 50 232 Thus it appears, that for the product of 50 pounds of wool, ma- nufactured in foreign countries, and for the support of foreign arti- sans, factors, export duties, and freights, we pay nearly five times the original cost of the raw article. Apply the principle of this single case of a piece of broad cloth, to the aggregate of our commerce with foreign nations, and it will be seen that we voluntarily or blindly contributt to the support of 40 foreign industry, and foreign government; while we refuse our- selves the privilege of laying an iuiernal duly on articles of our own production, which are equally necessary to foreign nations. It requires only to compare the price of our raw cotton with the prices of the same article pioduced in other nations, and the piice of the manufactured article produced from our staples, to show that it is in our power to make other nations contribute to our industry and revenue, as we now do to theirs. Particular attention would be required in the classification of the taxable articles of export. During the disturbances in Europe, from the year 1 795, to the late conclusion of the general peace, a considerable and productive re- venue might have been raited by a very small duty on flour ex- ported to Europe, South America, and the West Indies; a duty of even twenty cents per barrel might, for a great part of this time, have been obtaiued without producing the least effect on the trade, or injury to the merchant, or exporter. The tax levied by the go- vernment on exportation, when there is not a competitor to under- sell iu the market abroad, is always paid by the consumer; as has been seen in the case of a piece of broadcloth. Thus, wheu the mu- nicipal regulations of Spain, in order to encourage the importation of flour into her colonies from her possessions iu South America, laid a duty in the islands ol Cuba, Porto Rico, &c. of eight dollars per barrel on foreign flour ; the effect was to raise the price in those islands from 12 to 20 dollars, because they were ignorant of the true state of agriculture in their continental possessions, aud their capacity to supply the wauls of those colonies. A competi- tion with the Uuited Stales, under these circumstances, was futile, and the extra price ef eight dollars per barrel, while these regula- tions existed, were paid not by the merchant of the Uuited States, but by the unlucky Spaniard who eat the flour in the colonies, whose legislators were ignorant of the operation of trade, and of the productions of their own country. To attempt, however, a heavier tax than twenty cents on the barrel, on the exportation of this ar- ticle, might be dangerous, and perhaps unnecessary ; leaving it for the experience of a few months to prove whether it might, witli safety, be increased; or whether it might not be politic to abstain from any" imposition on this article. As France. Poland, Sicily, Macedonia, and Odessa, (in the Euxine,) and many porta in the 4i Mediterranean and islauds in the Atlantic will become, on the con» tinuatiou of peace, competitors in this article. How soon their in- dustry will be directed with that ardour which will reward it by abundant harvests, is yet to be seen. Whether their spirits are bro- ken and destroyed by the long continuance and the calamities of war; or whether they will be reanimated by the return of peace, will be perceived iu the policy adopted by their different govern- ments. One measure of policy might enable us, however, to raise an im«> portaut revenue from this article without fear of any competition from foreign countries, it would without doubt, in the first instance, be attended with expense, but would at the same time be adding co the wealth of the natioa : this is, the cutting of canals from one navigable water to another, and so intersecting the country that those articles which are now loaded with a heavy land carriage, should find an easy water transportation, unattended with one-fifth part of the expense. A caual cut from Pittsburg, to communicate with the Chesapeake or Susquehanna, and from the Susquehanna to the waters of the Delaware, and from those of the Delaware to the Rariton, would open an inland communication from Orleans to Champlain, and our most northern and eastern states, by water; thereby affording the means of a safe and economical conveyance of the different products of each state to the other, and enabling us at Philadelphia, New-York, or New London, to receive the flour of the western counties of Pennsylvania, at a price which would war- rant the enaction of an important export duty, the revenue of which would iu a very few year?, on this very article, defray all the ex- pense of locks and canals, which this highly valuable and national improvement would require. (See William J. Duane ou Roads, Canals, &c. And Robert Fulton, in the Appendix.) There are various other articles, the abundant production of these atates, in which the same caution is not necessary, being not the growth of other countries, or cultivated so inconsiderably as not to admit of a competition ; and the ports of all Europe being thrown open, causes them an increased, instead of a diminishing demand. Cotton is one of those articles on which an export duty may belaid, without the fear of injuring the exporter, or causing to the cwHi- yator a loss. n 42 During the wars in Europe, through (lie severe, although just policy of France, England was almost alone the consumer of {his article; her jealousy against the manufacturers of France evinced itself invariOus ways, and the municipal decrees of France manifest- ed her anxiety to encourage and support her establishments in this article, by the most rigid exclusion, and severest penalties. France, as well as many, if not all the power* of Europe, will, on the consolidation of a peace, direct their attention to the esta- blishment and improvement of their cotton manufactures — Switzer- land, and Swabia, baxony, and the countries betweeu the Rhine and Eine, and Holland, particularly. Thus, instead of one mar* ket for this article, and it being in a measure under the jurisdiction of England, and in the power of a few rich capitalists, to raise or depress its price, and to establish its value according to their own interests, we shall have the markets of the European world open to us w-th purchasers, without fear of competition, strong enough to aff>ct any municipal duty the policy of our government may consi- der wise to adopt regarding it. Without further dilation on each article — the general mass of our exports being taken into view, it will be easy to aistinguish those which may suffer by a competition, from others, which, having a continual demand from foreign coun- tries, may, without injury to the cultivator or exporter, be made a source o\ easy and productive revenue to the naion, harmless in its operation on every class of society. In this number are tobac- co, flaxseed, rice, beef, pork, ginseng, quercitron, wool, and many other articles which will themselves manifest their importance by the foreign demand. Tliereis one important subject which calls for the attention of gov- ernment, this is to remedy an evil which the generous character of our government has led us to adopt, in confering too readily on individu- als, corporations, and societeis, certain privileges and charters, which in many instances, have been abused, and which, in most instances it would be politic for the government to reserve for itself. Thus we see seminaries and churches built by lottery, which, gloss it as we may, is neither more nor less, than gambling — and thus we also see turnpikes made the property of individuals and corporations, which 'often times are conducted lather as the subject of private speculation than of public benefit; and instead of being, as intended. 43 ait accommodation and comfort to the traveller) occasion him incon- venience and expense. If lotteries are considered, in some measure, harmless, and are sanctioned by the government ; they, as well as turnpike roads and cauals, might be made very important objects of reveuue ; and if seminaries of instruction are required in various parts of our exten- sive territory, goveiumeut would have the full and efficieut c.eans in their hands to enable it both to establish and protect them ; and I am decidedly of opinion, that national institutions are preferable in many points, to private cr individual schools; and that, while they offer a cheap and well appointed theatre for instruction, they also tend to excite the gratitude o! the student, and inspire him with those sentiments of patriotism and reverence for his country, which s 1 imulateg him to noble ambition, and surrounds her, in the day of clanger, with a bulwark of strength in the virtue of her eitizens. That lotteries should be applied to the building of places of pub- lic and divine worship, must strike the mind ot the sensible and re- ligious man, as a perversion of taste and sentiment, and an incor- rect code of morality, which does not accord with our professions, or even the rest of our actions. There are few nations, I believe, who have a juster sense of religion than the United States of Ame- rica ; and no people whose actions correspond more with their pro- fessions, both of religion and morality — without the latter the first cannot exist, except as a mantle of duplicity : it behoves, there- fore, government, as well as societies themselves, to expel from their ethics, a system which although it may not absolutely vitiate, is iu opposition to those doctrines which are inculcated from the pulpit. A well appointed government, where individuals are not themselves competeut to erect a place of worship, should always have both the will and the means to aid and encourage an undertaking which has religion for its basis. Turnpikes and canals should exclusively belong to government, and I am of opinion, rather to the general government than to the individual states. One system of turnpiking and locking, and that the most approved, would thus be adopted, and no adverse princi- ples of economy in one state, and profusion in another, cause au undue bearing ou society, or mar a work intended for a general be- 44 uefit; and the fee simple of the?e grand improvements being vetted In the nation, would form an eternal and increasing iiouual revenue, and would accommodate the trader or traveller from Georgia tn Maine* 15 CHAPTER IV. Commercial Inquiries continued — Tax on Foreign Tonnage ana Countervailing Duties recommended— Further reflections on Ma nufactures — Merino Sheep, and the Spanish breed of South Ame- rica — The policy of continuing the Double Duties — Articles which would yield a safe revenue by Duties on Export — Impost Taxation — The hitherto just administration of our Revenue Laws, and cheerful euimission of our citizens — Tax on News- papers, &c. . In order to foster the shipping interest of these states, foreign bottoms, both on exports and imports, should pay a considerable additional duty, as also a tax on tonnage, and a higher rate of pi- lotage. These countervailing impositions will be found not only politic, but imperious in the government to adopt; as otherwise we shall discover too soon the annual decrease of our tonnage, and foreign bottoms, the carriers of our own products. Metamorphosing too rapidly into the Chinesian system, we should, with regret, perceive from the natural course of interest, each nation trading •with us, carry away under their own flag, the articles they desired ; and the proud stars and stripes of our nation?, which have hitherto ^aved prosperously and triumphantly in all regions, doomed to suf- fer, alas! the saddest reverse of fortune eclipsed and neglected in heir own.* * The important article of cotton pay?, at this day in England, a duty of 50 per sent, more in American bottoms than English; the duties we can lay on goods imported in British ships, although nominally countervailing, it is to be hoped for the prosperity of our flag on the ocean, are by no tneaua an equivalent for this extravagant taxation, (so tew being t!ie carriers of our importations.) Does it not prove the necessity of taxing the exportation of the article at a high rale, say three cents per pound, at home, so as to draw a revenue from the consumer abroad, and which, according to the legem talimis, would, however hard it might bear, be but justice as regards Great Britain. A circular letter from Liverpool, of the date of the 30th March, states— "It seems to be in contemplation by tbe chancellor of the exchequer, to take off the war duty on British ships, and leaving it to operate on those of otY.tr «*tioa?, making' a did. 46 Every nation possesses the right of directing, according to Its wisdom, its municipal concerns, encouraging its exports or imports, raisins; from either a revenue, or prohibiting one or both, as its in- terests may dictate, or the policy of thr ir states may reuder neces- sary. Thus Spain, and France, and England, &c. have interdict- ed the entry of manufactured tobacco, and various other articles. Thus Spain forbids ihe exportation of it and various articles from iter colonies, unless to the Peninsula with license. Thus England establishes similar practices and restraints on their commerce with foreign nations in her colonies, and at home, interdicting the en- trance of certain articles which might militate against her interest, by the penalty of burning; prohibiting the exportation of others, and giving hounMes for either entry or export, as she deems politic. INot wishing to see the agricultural interests of America either abandoned, or in any manner diminished, by the introduction or premature establishment of manufactures, we, nevertheless, should feci a sentiment of deep regret, if those enterprising men who have nationally introduced various articles of the first necessity generally imported, should be abandoned in their pursuits, at a moment they had reached nearest to perfection. It behoves us to remember that the day of peace may again be scon disturbed, and that those articles which were found of the first necessity in a day of war, may again be wanted — and wanted in vain. Should the history of the times declare, that those men who in our late exigencies, risked their capital and employed their time ference of two pence sterling per pound on cotton, which will amount to prohibi- tion by American. " Quoting the duties on entry, it states — cotton wool in British ship?, sixteen shil- lings and eleven pence per 100 pounds — in foreign ships twenty five shillings and six {fence — upwards of 50 per cent. Rice, in any bottom not from British plantations, twenty shillings and one far- flung per hundred From British plantations, or the East Indies, seven shillings eight pence and one- third Isthis not sufficient motive for the t'nited States to lay such countervailing duties, yiarticularly on the exportation of cotton, as to prevent the loss suffered by Ameri- can vessels ;' and should we not, in our ships, lay such a duty as would frustrate intentions so decidedly hostile to our tonnage, and so favourable to their own? With respect to rice, each nation naturally fosters their own products, or those of their colonies — they have a right so to do — but the supply of lice from British plantations and the East ladies is not so abundant as to create a competition, should we lay a considerable duty on the exportation of that article. 6tce 47 iu pursuits so patriotic and beneficial, were all deserted by tl:e go* vernment, and consequently ruined by the return of peace, by tlii? tacit and tame, indulgence, or preference to competitors front abto; who, more perhaps from want of reflection and consideration, than from any other cause, will place all the disaster and blood which may flow, at the door of him, who .England has termed the distroyer of the human race ; — I mean Na- poleon; that his return and the events which may grow out of it* particularly the renewal of hostilities, should they take place, will all be the emanations of his mad ambition ; — I have already said I am not here as the panegyrist of this man, hut I trust I may declare my sentiments on this subject without offeuce. His return to Fiance, will be admitted, was not the work of en- chantment ; he must have had a large portion of France in his favour, and this must have been made known to him; — -whether it were the military or the majority of the nation, is in my present view of this question, a matter of little importance. The force that abetted him or invited his entry into France was sufficient to protect him, and put down all opposition, and to seat him safely on his throne at Paris, without the slaughter of a single soul ; of whatever this power consisted, it was nevertheless the strongest and most, imposing pow- er in France ; and that it was inimical to the reign of the Bour- bons is evident from its acts. Had Napoleon then have refused to accede to its wishes iu recalling him to his imperial purple, would that have annihilated a sentiment so imposing, so general, so exten- 65 slve? would it have altered the feeling; towards the Bourbons? or would it not rather have excited to revolt, to the election of another chief — to another revolution — and most probably to scenes of civil war and indiscriminate slaughter ? Among all the generals of Bona- parte, none colud have been exalted, however great his merit, but jealousy wou'd have had an open field ; none could have assumed his honour without exciting enmity ; and leagues and parties would have been formed for rival candidates ; his appearance put all these feuds to rest. By the voice of the s'rongest power of France he was undoubtedly recalled to the throne, and he has solemnly re- nounced his intention of extending France beyond her limits. The monarchs of Europe cannot certainly pretend to dictate a ruler for thirty millions of souls which France contains, or to the s'ronger power of the thirty millions ; on this head therefore, they have no grounds for war : if they dispute or disbelieve the intentions of Bonaparte, a strong and powerful army to protect their barriers, and a combination to that effect, should he mean false, is all that prudence or justice calls tor; but should they invade France, de- termined to crush this Chief and support the Bouiboris in spite of the declared will of the strongest powers of that nation, is not rhe scene of desolation which may eusue rather to be laid at their doors than at the door of Napoleon ? If France be invaded, impe- rious duty calls him to defend it ; unthrealened or uninvaded, should he strike the blow, no one will venture to exculpate hirxj •r defend him from the judgment that may theu with justice be alleged against him. If I am permitted to offer an opinioD on this novel scene which at this moment to deeply interests the world, it is, that there will either be no bloodshed in this business, and that all the powers will again meet in a general congress, in which Bonaparte will be ac- knowledged and make one, or that the campaign will be a sanguin* ary and a short one, and perhaps, die last that will for many years to come, be fought on the European continent* I am inclined rather to the latter opinion, and that the blow will be struck. I am induced to this belief from the great exertions England is apparently making, and the troops she is sending to the continent. The interest of England stimulates iter to rekiudle, jf 66 possible, a renewal of hostilities ou the continent; and she will un- doubtedly endeavour to keep it alive as long as possible. When I say the interest of England, I view it only in a political light, as regards the present hour. A renewal of hostilities, will, without doubt, increase the taxes and impositions of Great Britain as well as her national debt, in order to maintain the war; and this viewed in one light cannot be considered as her interest. To lessen them all, would appear, according to reason, to be much more so. But a war on the continent establishes her monopoly ; and as she has refined so long upon that system of supplying all the world with her fabricks, and making her ports the general market of mankind, in order to maintain unrivalled that system; no augmentation of the national debt, no increase of popular burthens, to whatever amount they may extend, have any consideration, compared to the princi- ple of genera' monopoly. This sentiment has become so prepon- derating in the minds of the rulers of that nation, it has become so iuterwoveu in all her constitutional acts and decrees; has become, indeed, so much the master spirit, which guides and directs her helm of state, that before it all other considerations bend ; and however stupendous they may appear to the eyes of surroundiog mortals, they are minor subjects and unworthy of a thought, to the machiavelian policy which rules the destiny of this insulated des- potism. Ten months of peace, has again proved to the ministers of that nation, as did the peace of Amiens, that it has more danger in it thau an eternal war. Peace to be sure, she has not enjoyed; for the war we have lately emerged from, was of deeper consequences to her than she had calculated ou. It was intended no doubt to have been maintained as an episode, or interlude, to the great drama of the continent ; but it has eventuated with some tragic scenery, \vh«ch was foreign to both the tempei and inclinations of the " Mis- tress of the Ocean" It was, however, the ten months peace of the continent, which had he most threatening and portentous aspect in the affairs of En - gland. The genius of man is generally die same in every clime and country. A stlfi-h motive prevails even with the most liberal:— Thus we find, that the moment a continental peace was con- cluded ; people ol all description-— 'the man of moderate income 67 — the one of rather depressed circumstances — the nobles of irreaj and magnificent fortunes — all flocked, as bj general consent, even to that clime, which from the prejudice of centuries, they had beeu taught to detest; aud which, from difference of habits and lan- guage, was uncongenial to their tempers; merely because they could live and enjoy themselves at a cheaper rate, and escape Irom the exactions and taxation of their own government. Not only France, but the continent of Europe, swarmed wilh emigration from Eugland ; and a sentiment was fast awakening in the bosoms of the nation, that to expatriate themselves was to better their fortunes. There were, however, a portion of the community who could not putthis in practice. The poor and needy dependant of diurnal pro- fits — the artisan — the trafficker — the merchant, ayd particularly those who received a scanty subsistence from daily labour, seemed to be excluded from this enjoyment of deserting their soil. And on them was to fall heavy the burthen of supporting the government under which they lived. A government oppressed tenfold in propor- tion to any other in Europe, as regards the exactions on its subjects. It had arrived at this crisis, when the enaction of the corn Jaws, which forbid the importation of grain under such a price, awakened a feel- ins: in the bosom? of wretchedness, which threatened the most despe« rate results ; thrse laws, were indeed, neither more or less, than for- bidding those Englishmen who remained at home, from eating bread at the reduced price ; which their more favoured countrymen who sought the neighbouring soil of the continent, enjoyed. They were, however, imperious laws, and founded on the first necessity. The landed interest, of the nation, was laid prostrate if they were not en- acted. It was the first step to national aud universal ruin. When the landed interest of a nation is suffered to sink, all classes follow with it. And although the landed interest of England is small, com- parative to her manufacturing interest, yet they are so dependant, that the same vortex which ingulphedone, would destroy the other. With the national domain, or landed interest, exists als > the nation- al debt ; and widiout the support of this iuterest, by these severe laws, a national bankruptcy threatened to eosue. Whatever dan- ger was menaced therefore, from the populace ; the case was ur- gent, wa* indispensable and imperious; and there was no other means offered to 6ave the nation. 58 A continental war, would at once put at rest this question ; which, although maintained by the government of England, was carried at the risk of a civil insurrection; was enforced at the point of the bay- onet } and was attended with many appalling features. It was, how- ever, maintained ; and the opposition of the populace of London, was routed and dispersed. But who could say that opposition was destroyed ? The same sentiments pervaded the minds of the suffer- ing multitude ; and might or may again he awakened and stimula- ted to future riots, of more alarming and eventful character. As long as peace exists with France and the continent, so long must these obDoxious and u .popular laws remain in force; a war renders their enaction or continuance as unnecessary ; and although the shi- vering sons of wretchedness and despair, will be in such case, no bet- ter ofTthan at present, (and perhaps worse,) yet the bitter and cruel ordonnance of their resentment, will become as a dead letter; and although it may live in their remembrance, it will not remain as an existing statute of their lancour. It is from these, and other considerations, (hat I adopt the senti- ment that England will industriously endeavour to foment a j al- ousy on the continent against France, and to enter into the war herself, with any power that will jo ; n her ; and indeed, rather than fail in this object, I slioul ! even consider it, as an event, by no means surprising, that she would make an alliance with France, even against the other continental powers thereby evincing at once to 'he world, the justice of princes, iiie faith of treaties, and the con- siderations which bind allied monarchs in the present epoch of po- litical stiife. However contradictory to the tenets of many of my readers, however opposite to their sentiments or feelings, I consider it as a duty which I owe myself, whilst treating on this subject, to declare that I am impressed with the conviction, that the dynasty of Eng- land is drawing rapidly to a close, and that, before many revolving months shall furnish matter for the pen of the steady historian, an event of this most important character is about to present itself for record; — I mean the downfall of a government, of that government ■which has, for many centuries held and maintained the most impo- sing at'irude amongst the nations of the earth; and which has ex- ercised and administered its sovereignty by the brightest examples w i4 virtue in theory, and by the blackest enormities of vice in prac-. tice ; which lias shown resplendent with the most brilliant deeds of chivalric valour ; which has been ornamented by the most splendid trophies of glory and patriotism ; which has justly boasted of her im- mortal sons of literature; and has been truly the liberal patron of every art and science ; bin has sullied her fame by the most atrocious intrigues of cabinets ; has been the giant of despot ism in the four quar- ters of the globe — has visited, with unrelenting hand, her massacres from Asia to America — has vainly endeavoured to concentrate in herself the wealth of all humanity — and bou) ing herself up by a system founded upon the most fallacious principles — " that there is no etui to national credit, and national monopoly; has, to maintain it, been as (he fabled Pelops to her children, offering them up as a ready sacrifice to ministerial ambition — has deluged the groaning earth with blood, and invited th> wrath of Heaven to chastise her. That the hour, the portentous hour, when this mighty nation of Britain is to suffer in the throes of revolution, is fast approaching, I am ready to hazatd as an assertion, and ready also to qnalify it by- saying, that although I shall regret the enormities and the sanguinary horrors which may flow from it, and which are the ge- neral features of revolutions ; yet, as an event that deeply interests the future happiuessof mankind, I ^hall rejoice at it ; as by levelling that enormous mountain of HtR national debt, which poets might distinguish by piling Ossa upon Pelion, it will give to the civilized world a just and true balance, which, as long as its ficticious and pernicious power exists, can never be accomplished. England herself will then become a uation interesting to all others ; — emancipated from a bondage beyond comparison, she will inter- nally possess more physical strength and powers, than she has done for ages. And although she has for the last century, in some mea- sure ruled the destiny of nations, she will have a noble object in view, that of ruling justly her own destiny, and making mortality with- in her happy,; and while conscious of its real blessings, grateful for the mercy of a benevolent creator : subjects at present almost lost in the remembrance of her local population. I have stiled this imperfect Pamphlet the Second Crisis of America. Should the event T above a'lude to, *ake place in our ■day, and I am inclined to believe that short lived men will live to 99 sec it, the present epoch might well be called the Second Cris-u of the world; for since the mighty flood which swept iio>n tiie face of earth its records, never has there been ooe so important and so eventful as this would be to the children of humanity. I draw to the conclusion— we are now, thank Heaven, in the enjoyment of peace after an arduous and glorious struggle with a nation that dictates even laws to Europe — all that remains of wa* is an insolent barbarian on the shores of Africa who has invited the rod of our resentment. My fellow citizens, will I am convinced, agree with me in one point, if in no other, which those pages contain; which is, that at this day of general confusion, where all is unsettled and doubtful — and where reason itself proves but speculation; that the wisest policy is to stand aloof — from foreign influence or foreign prejudice; pursuing the paternal advice of our ever to be rever- ed Washington — "Friendship with all nations, entangled alliances with not)e , '' — and also cherishing such systems of nternal policy as will make us what we term ourselves — Independent States — independent of all the nations of the earth, wheu the day of danger may render it necessary. APPENDIX. I introduce, without any apology, the following remarks ot my fellow citizf .u, Mr. William J. Duaue, of Philadelphia, toge* ther with a letter from that great and deeply to be lamented cha- racter, Mr. Fulton; who has, by the researches of his penetra- ting mind, so adorned philosophy, and whose early departure from this world, is a loss to mankind in general. We recommend those of our readers, who have not yet seen this work of Mr. Duane, to possess themselves of it; it was published in Philadelphia, in letters, in the year 1810, and possesses great merit. Mr. Duane thus speaks of Canals:— ** Of the peculiar benefits of canals, in preference to roads, much may be said ; I shall not, however, be very diffuse ou the subject. Canals are important to the farmer and landholder, because they enhance the value of the lauds, woods, coals, iron and other mines, to the extent of at least forty miles on each side of the country through which they pass ; because they enable the farmer to carry his produce to market, and to return in his boat loaded with goods or manure, at an expense twenty times less than by roads, and because all that is thus saved is actual profit; ihey are important to him, besides, in case he should want either to drain his lands or to irrigate them ; and they also enable him to employ his horses or oxen entirely upon his farm, and uot on the road. Canals are important to the manufacturers, because they enable them to collect and transport the raw materials and fuel that are wanted; to convey the goods manufactured, at so cheap a rate as to admit their selling their productions at a much cheaper price than similar goods could be imported for. Canals are important to the miner, because they enable him to convey to market such heavy or bulky articles as would not bear the cost of lapd transportation 73 Canals are important to merchants on the sea coast and in th£ Interior, by affording a certain and cheap conveyance for goods or articles imported by the former, and for the produce returned by the latter ; but they are still more important by opening a trade be- tween all parts of our immense continent, which must at no distant day, rival, if not entirely supercede a large foreign trade. Canals in winter may answer, as in Holland and Flanders, all the purposes of the best constructed roads — they are thus used, in those countries, by means of sleighs, as much as they are by means of boats in summer. Canals, including the towing path, do not occupy more ground than our turnpike roads ; a canal forty feet wide and a mile long would occupy but five acres of ground. An able English writer upon iulaud navigation, Mr. John Phil- lips, makes these impressive remarks.—" All canals may be con- sidered as so many roads of a certain kind, on which one horse will draw as much as thirty horses on ordinary turnpike roads, or en which one man alone will transport as much as three men and eighteen horses usually do on common roads. The public would be great gainers, were they to lay out upon making every mile of canal twenty times as much as they expend upon a mile of turnpike road ; but a mile of canal is often made at a less expeuse than a mile of turnpike. Were we to make the supposition of two states* the one having all its cities, towns and villages upon navigable riv- ers and canals, having an easy communication with each other j the other possessing the common convej ance of land carriage ; and supposing both states to be equal as to soil, climate aud indus- try ; commodities and manufactures in the former state might be furnished thirty per ceut cheaper than in the latter? or in other words, the first state would be a third richer and more affluent thaw the other." Our owu countryman, Mr. Robert Fulton, whose scientific and practical kaowledge as an engineer, are only equaled by his pa= iriotic efforts to make it useful to his country, , has written largely and ably respecting the superiority of canals." to 74 Mb. FULTON'S COMMUNICATION. BY your letter of the 29th of July, I am happy to find that the attention of congress is directing itself, towards the opening of communications through the United States, by means of roads and canals; and it would give me particular pleasure to aid you with useful information on such works, as I have long been contem- plating their importance in many points of view. But a year has not yet elapsed nnce I returned to America, and my private concerns have occupied so much of my time, that as yet I have acquired but very little local information on the several ca- nals which have been commenced. Such information, however, is perhaps at present not the most important branch of the subject, particularly as it can be obtained in a fe* mouths at a small expense, whenever the public mind shall be impressed with a sense of the vast advantages of a general sys- tem of cheap conveyance. I hope, indeed, that every intelligent American will in a few years, be fully convinced of the necessity of such works to pro- mote the uational wealth aud his individual interest. Such con- viction must arise from that habit of reflection which accompanies the republican principle, and points out their true interest on sub- jects of political economy. From such reflections arises their love of agriculture and the useful arts, knowing them to augment the xiches aud happineis of the nation; hence also their dislike to standing armies and military navies, as beiug the means of inci ea- sing the proportion of nonproductive individuals, whose labour is ooi only lost, but who must be supported out of the produce of the industrious inhabitants, and diminish their enjoyments. Such right thinking does great honour to f»ur nation, and leads forward to the highes possible state of civilization, by directing the powers of man from useless arid d est uciive occupations, to pursuits •which multiply the productions of useful labour, aud create abun- dance. 75 Though such principles actuate our citizens, they are not yet iu every instance, aware of their best interests ; noi can it be expect- ed that they should perceive at once the advantages of those plans of improvement, which are still new iu this country. Hence ihe most useful works have sometimes been opposed ; and we are not without examples of men being elected into the state legislature for the express purpose of preventing roads, canals, and bridges being constructed. But in such errors of judgment our countr>men have not been singular. When a bill was brought into the British parlia- ment fifty years ago, to establish turnpike roads throughout the kingdom, the inhabitants for forty miles round London petitioned against such roads ; their arguments were, that good roads would enable the farmers of the interior country to bring their produce to the London market cheaper than they who lived nearer the city, and paid higher reut : that the market would be overstocked, the prices dimiuised and they unable to pay their rent, or obtain a liv- ing. The good sense of parliament, however, prevailed; the roads were made, the population and commerce of London increased, the demand for produce increased, and he who lived nearest to London still had a superior advantage in the market. In like maimer I hope the good sense of our legislature will pre- vail over the ignorance and prejudice which may still exist against canals. And here an important question occurs, which it may be proper to examine with some attention in this early stage of our public improvements — whether, as a system, we should prefer ca- nals to turnpike roads? Our habits are in favor of roads; and few of us have conceived any better method of opening communications to the various parts of states. But in China and Holland, canals are more numerous than roads; in those countries the inhabitants are accustomed to see all their productions carried either on natural or artificial canals, and thev would be as much at a loss to know how we, as a civilized people could do without such means of convey- ance, as we are su prised at their perseverance and ingenuity in mak- ing them.* England, France, and the principal states of Europe, commenced their improvements with roads, but as the science of * The royal canal from Canton to Pekin, is 825 miles long, its breadth 3© feet, its depth nine feet , 76 the engineer improved, and civilization advanced, cauals were in trodhced. aBd Ki gl in I and France are now making every exertion to £'-t the whole of their heavy productions water-borne, for they have become sensible of the vast superiority of canals over roads. Our system perhaps ought to embrace them both : canals for the long carriage of the whole materials of agriculture and manufac- tures sod roads for travelling and rhe more numerous communica- tions of the country. "With these two modes in contemplation, when public money is to be expended with a view to the greatest good we should now consider which object is entitled to our first attention Shall we begin with canals, which will carry the farm- ers produce cheap to market, and return him merchandize at re- duced prices ? Or shall we first make roads to accommodate travel- lers, and let the produce of our farms, mines and forests, labor un- der such heavy expenses that they cannot come to market ? To throw some light on this interesting question, I will base my calculations on the Lancaster turnpike road. There the fair ex- perimeut has been made to penetrate from Philadelphia to the in- terior country, and the mode of calculation here given will serve for dtewing comparisons on ihe utility of roads, and cauals, feral! the great leading communications of America. From Philadelphia to the Susquehanna at Columbia, is seventy- four miles; that road, if I am rightly informed, cost on an average 6,000 dollars a mile, or 444,000 dollars for the whole. On it, from Columbia o Philadelphia, a ban el of flour, say 200 weight, pays one dollar carriage. A broad wheeled wagon carries 30 barrels or three tons, and pays for turnpike three dollars; thus for each ton carried, the turnpike company receives only one dollar. I will now suppose a canal to have been cut frwm Philadelphia to Columbia, and with its windings, to make 100 miles, at 15,000 dollars* a mile, or for the whole 1.500,000 dollars. On such canal, one man one boy, and horse, would convey 23 tons 20 miles a day + on which the following would be the expenses : *On averaging the canals of America, 15,000 dollars a mile will be abundantly sufficed to construct them in the best manne . particularly it made on the inclined plane principle, with small boat", each carrying sis ton?. ■f One hor«e wit! draw on a canal. Tom 25 to 50 ton*, 20 mile? in one day. I have statp.i the lefet ih.>v evpr d>. and the highest rate of charges, that no deception may eater into these calculations. 77 ©tie man, .... dolls. 1 00 Otic horse, - - - - - 1 00 Oiie boy, - - - - - 50 Tolls for repairing I he canal - - - 1 00 Tolls for pacing loc'is inclined planes, tunnels and aque- ducts, 1 00 Interest on the wear of the boat .... 50 Total, * . , dolls. 5 00 This is equal to 20 cents a ton for 20 miles, and no more ihau one dollar a ton for 100 miles, instead of 10 dollars paid by the road. Consequently for each ton carried Erona Columbia to Philadelphia on the canal, the company might take a toll of six dollars instead of one, which is now got by the road ; and then the flour would arrive at Philadelphia for seven dollars a ton instead often, which it now pays. The merchandize would also arrive at Columbia from Philadelphia, for three dollars a ton less than is now paid; which cheap carriage both ways would not only benefit the farmer and merchant, but would draw move commerce on the canal than now moves on the road, aud thereby add to the profits of the compp, By. Bat to proceed with my calculations, I will suppose, that ex- actly the same number of tons would move on the canal that arc now transported by the road. Again, let it be supposed that at one dollar a ton the turnpike company gains five per cent, per annum oo the capital of 44 1.000 dollars, or 22,200 dollars, consequently 22,209 tons must be carried, which at six dollais a ton to the caua! compa- ny, would have given 133.200 dollars a year, or eight and a half per cent, for their capital of 1,500.000 dollars. The reason of this vast difference in the expense of carriage by roads or canals, will be obvious to any one who will lake the trouble to reflect, that on a road of the best kind four horses, and sometimes five are necessary to transport only three tons. On a canal one horse will draw 25 tons, and thus perform the work of 40 horses; the saving thereof is in the value of horses, their 'ceding, shoeing, geers, wagons, and attendance. These facts should hi 78 duce companies to consider well their interest, when contempla- ting an enterprize of this sort, and what would he their profits, not only in interest for their capital, but the benefit which their lands would receive by the cheap carnage of manure and of their produc- tions. In considering the profit to accrue to a company from a canal instead of roads, there is another important calculation to be made, and lor that purpose I will proceed with the Lancaster turnpike supposing it to extend to Pittsburgh, 320 miles. On which the carriage being at the rate now paid from Columbia to Philadelphia, that is 10 dollars a ton for 74 miles, the ton from Pittsburgh would amount to 42 dollars, at which price a barrel of flour would cost four dollars in carriage, an expense which excludes it from the mar- ket. Thus, grain, the most important and abundant production of our interior country, and which should give vigor to our manufac- tures, is shut up in the districts most favorabie to its culture; or to vender it portable and convert it into cash, it must be distdled to brutalize and poison society. In like manner, all heavy articles of little monied value, can only move within the narrow limits of 100 miles ; but were a canal made the whole distance, and by one or more companies, they might arrange the tolls in the following man- ner, so as to favor the long carriage of heavy articles. The expense of man, boy and horse, as before stated, would cost only three dollars to boat one ton of flour 300 miles, this is 30 cents a barrel; suppose then, that the company receive 70 cents a barrel or seven dollars a ton, flour could then come from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia for one dollar a barrel, the sum which is now paid from Columbia ; thus the canal company would gain seven dollars a too by a trade which could never move through a road of equal length. Here we see that on canals the tolls may be so arranged as to draw to them articles of little monied value, and it would be the interest of the company or companies to make such regulations. But on turn- pike roads no such accommodation of charges in proportion to dis- tance, can be effected, because of the number of horses which can- not be dispensed with.' Even were the roads made at the public * In my work on small canals, published in 1796, page 140 there is a table show- ing a mode of regulating the boats and tonnage in such manner, that a ton may be transported 1.JO0 miles for five dollars : Yet by this method canal companies would gain more toll than by any other means yet practised, v9 expense, and toll free, still the carriage of one ton for three hund- red miles would cost at least thirty -five dollars. But were canals made at the public expense, aud no other toll demanded than should be sufficient to keep them in repair, a ton in boating and tolls would only cost three dollars for 300 miles; and for 35 dollars, the sum, which must be paid to cany one ton 300 miles on the best of roads, it could be boated three thousand Jive hundred miles, and draw resources from the centre of this vast continent. But striking as this comparison is, I will extend it. The mer- chandize which can bear the expense of carriage on cur present roads to Pittsburg, Kentucky , Tennessee, or any other distance pays 100 dollars a ton, could be boated on canals ten thousand miles for that sum. As these calculations are founded on facts which will not be de- nied by any one acquainted with the advantages of canals, it is the interest of any man of landed property, and particularly of the far- mers of the back countries, that canals should be immediately con- structed and rendered as numerous as the funds of the nation will per- mit, and the present population requires; and as inhabitants mul- tiply most toward the interior and must extend westward, still mo- ving more distant from the sea coast and the market for their pro- duce, it is good policy aijd right that canals should follow them. Io 25 years our population will amount to 14 millions; two-thirds o&~ whom will spread over the western countries. Suppose then thai 3,500,000 dollars were annually appropriated to canals, such a sum would pay for 300 miles of canals each year, aud in 20 years we should have 6000 miles circulating through and penetrating into the interior of the different states ; such sims though seemingly large, and such works, though apparently stupendous, are not more than sufficient to keep pace with the rapid iucrease of our popula- tion, to open the market and carry to every district such foreign: articles as we, near the coast, enjoy. With this view of the subject, arises a political question of the utmost magnitude to these states — which is — That as our national debt diminishes, and the treasury increases in surplus revenue, will it not be the best interest of the people to continue the present duties on imports, and expend the products ir* national improvements ? 50 To illustrate this question, I will state some examples of the rale of duties and the expense of carriage, to prove that by keeping on the duties aud making canals with the revenue, goods iu a great number ol instances will be cheaper to the consumer, than by ta- king off the duties, and leaving the transport to roads. FIRST EXAMPLE. Brown sugar pays in duty, two and a half cents a pound, or for 100 pounds, ... dol. 2 56 It pays for wagouiug 300 miles, 5 00 Total, dol. 7 50 By the canal, it would cost iu boating 15 cents for 300 miles; consequently the boating and duty would amouut to two dollars sixty-five cents ; therefore, b) keeping outbedut} and making ca- nals, sugar would arrive at the interior, 300 miles,
intend- ed to remove an) doubts which may arise ou the practicability of passing our mountains- Having thus in some degree considered the advantages which canals will produce in point of wealih to individuals and the na- tion, I will now consider their importance to the union and their political consequences. First, their effect on raising the value of the public lands, and thereby augmenting the revenue. In all cases where canals pass through the lands of the United States, and open a cheap communication to a good market, such lands will rise in value for twenty miles on each side of the canal. The farmer who will reside twenty miles from the canal can in one day carry a load of produce to its borders. And were the lands 600 miles from one of our sea port towns his barrel of flour, in weight 200 lb. could be carried that distance for 60 ceuts, the price which is now paid to carry a barrel 50 miles ou the Lancaster turnpike Consequently, as relates to cheapness of carriage, and easy access to market, the new lands which lie 600 miles from the sea ports, would be of equal value with lands of equal fertility which are 50 miles from the sea ports. But not to insist on their being of so great value until population is as great, it is evident that they must rise in value in a three or four fold degree, every lineal mile of canal would accommodate 25,600 acres. The lands sold by the Uni- ted States in 1806, ave.ged about two dollars an acre, aud certain- ly every acre accommodated with a canal, would produce six dol- lars; thus only 20 miles of canal each year, running through national lands, would raise the value of 512,000 acres at least, four dollars an acre, giving 2,048.000 dollars to the treasury, a sum sufficient to make 136 miles of canal. Had an individual such a property, and funds to coustruct canals to its centre, he certainly would d» it for his own interest. The nation has the property, and the nation possesses ample funds for such undertakings. Second, on their effect in cementing the union, and extending the principles of confederated republican government. Numerous have betri the speculations on the duration of our union, aud intrigues ?»ave been practised to sever the western from the eastern states. 86 The opinion endeavoured to be inculcated, was, that the inhabi* lants beyond the mountains were cut off from the market of the At- lantic states; that consequently they had a separate interest, and should use their resources to open a communication to a market of their own; that remote from the seat of government they could not enjoy their portion of advantages arising from the union, and that sooner or later they must separate and govern for themselves. Others by drawing their examples from European governments, and the monarchies which have grown out of the feudal habits of nations of warriors, whose minds were bent to the absolute power of the few, and the servile obedience of the many, have conceived these states of hjo great an extent to continue united under a republican form of gov- ernment, and that the time is not distant when they will divide into little kingdoms, retrograding from common sense to ignorance, adopt- ing all the fohies and barbarities which are every day practised id the kingdoms and petty states of Europe. But those who have reasoned in this way, have not reflected that men are the crea- tures of habit, and that the.ir habits as well as their interests may be so combined, as to make it impossible to separate them without fal- ling back into a state of barbarism. Although in ancieut times some specks of civilization have been effaced by hordes of unculti- vated men, yet it is remarkable that siuce the invention of printing and general diffusion of knowledge, no natiou has retrogated in science or improvements; nor is it reasonable to suppose that the American*, who have as much, if not mote information i'j general* thati any other people, will ever abandon au advantage which they have once gained. England, which at one time was seven petty kingdoms, has by habit long been united into one. Scotland by succession became united to England, and is now bound to her by- habit, by turnpike roads, canals and reciprocal interests. In like manner all the counties of England, or departments of France, are bound to each other ; and when the United States shall be bound together by canals, by cheap and easy access to market in all di- rections, by a sense of mutual interest arising from mutual inter- course and mingled commerce, it will be no more possible to split them into independent and separate governments, each lining its frontiers with fortifications aud troops, to shackle their own exports and imports to and from the neighboring states ; than it is now 87 possible for the government of England to divide and form again into seven kingdoms. Bui it is necessary to bind the states together by the people's interests, one of which is to enable, every man to sell the produce of his labour at the best market, and purchase at the cheapest. This accords with the idea of Hume, " that the government of a wise people would be little more than a system of civil police ; for the best interest of man is industry, aud a free exchange of the produce of his labour for the things which he may require." On this humane principle, what stronger bonds of union can be invented than those which enable each individual to transport the produce of his industry 1,200 miles for 60 cents the hundred weight? Here then is a certain method of securing the union of the states and of rendering it as lasting as the continent we inhabit. It is now eleven years that I have had this plan iu contemplation for the good of our country. At the conclusion of my work on small canals, there is a letter to Thomas Miftlin, then governor of the state of Pennsylvania, on a system of canals for America. Iu it I contemplated the time when "canals should pass through every vale, wind round each hill and bind the whole country together in the bonds of social intercourse ; and I am now happy to find that through the good management of a wise administration, a period has arrived when an overflowing treasury exhibits abundant resources, and points the mind to works of such immense importance. Hoping speedily to see them become favorite objeets with the whole American people. I have the honour to be, your most obedient, ROBERT FULTON. Washington, December 8lh, 1807„ END . ccd.ccccc «c t< i ^(•CCf Cc cc c c: c c c cc cr «C «•* c C CC 1■ 3^ tTc «c cc ■ •« - c«e;c_ • c>iv ' « «c c S-C-^js «C' cc_ . 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