UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 LIBRARY 
 
 Class Book Volume 
 
 Ja 09-20M 
 
 tCWOK.CS 
 
 OtfAFrMENi 
 

 i 
 
 LETTERS 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 HON. ABBOTT LAWBENCE 
 
 TO THE 
 
 HON. WILLIAM C. R^JES, 
 
 OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 BOSTON; 
 1846 . 
 
 EASTBURN’S PRESS. 
 

 r 
 
 f 
 
 * 
 
 LETTERS. 
 
 RESOURCES OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 We invite the attention of our readers to the interesting communication of 
 this distinguished citizen, in our columns of to-day. It is a subject which 
 comes home to the “ business and bosoms” of us all—the interests and im¬ 
 provement of our own State. Mr. Lawrence, during his service in Congress, 
 was most advantageously known to the whole Union, by the clear-sighted 
 sagacity and strong practical sense which always distinguished his views of 
 public measures. He is eminently natijnal in his sentiments and feelings, 
 and has ever shown himself a true friend of the South. Suggestions from so 
 liberal and enlightened a source, naturally commend themselves to the cordial 
 and respectful attention of Virginians. We shall have great pleasure in lay¬ 
 ing before our readers the additional communication he gives us reason to 
 expect. Richmond Whig, 
 
 MR. LAWRENCE TO MR. RIVES. 
 
 NUMBER I. 
 
 Boston, January 7 , 1846 . 
 
 My Dear Sir : 
 
 When you were with us last summer, I more than half 
 promised to make you a short visit in February, and I have 
 not yet given up entirely the long anticipated pleasure of 
 doing so. 
 
 ^ I have not forgotten our conversation on the condition of our 
 ' country generally, and more particularly the strong desire 
 ^ manifested b%you, to improve the condition of the people of 
 ^ j always entertained feelings of high 
 
 Ancient Dominion,’’ arising probably from the 
 intimate revolutionary associations between her and our ‘‘Old 
 Bay State,” as well as from my having looked upon her as the 
 mother of many of the greatest statesmen, and purest patriots, 
 which our country has produced. 
 
 I am not surprised that you of Virginia should desire to do 
 something by which the matchless natural resources of your 
 native State may be developed. I have thought that the 
 State of Virginia, with its temperate climate, variety and 
 A. ri 
 
 your own Stat^. 
 regard for the 
 
4 
 
 LETTER OF HON. ABBOTT LAWRENCE TO 
 
 excellence of soil, exhaustless water power, and exuberant 
 mineral wealth, contains within herself more that is valuable 
 for the uses of mankind, in these modern days, than any other 
 State in our Union. 
 
 I need not say to you, that these gifts of Providence are of 
 little consequence to your people, or to our common country, 
 unless developed and improved, for the purposes for which 
 they were intended. When the Constitution of the United 
 States was adopted, Virginia contained double the population 
 of New York; and now. New York contains double the num¬ 
 ber of people in Virginia. I do not propose to inquire into the 
 causes that have produced such a mighty change in the rela¬ 
 tive numerical condition of these two States. I do propose, 
 however, to state to you some of the reasons why you should 
 now set about doing something, to bring back that prosperity, 
 which many of your people believe is forever lost. 
 
 The truth is, that Nature has been profuse in her gifts, 
 in behalf of your people, and you have done but little 
 for yourselves. The settlement and development of the 
 resources of the Western country, have brought into exist¬ 
 ence an active, and effectual competition with your people, 
 in the great staples of your agricultural products, namely, 
 Wheat, Indian Corn and Tobacco. Maryland and North 
 Carolina, like yourselves, are essentially affected by com¬ 
 petition from the same quarter ; from Ohio, Kentucky, 
 Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa. 
 The great West is now supplying largely the New England, 
 and other States, which are consumers of these agricultural 
 staples, in quantity and value, to a greater extent than all the 
 foreign world besides. The internal improvements of the 
 country already finished, have brought Boston, by steam, 
 within the distance of four days’ travel of Cincinnati, by way 
 of Buffalo; and a contemplated rail-road from Burlington, 
 Vermont, to Ogdensburg, New York, will bring us practically 
 yet nearer to those fertile regions of the West. The expense 
 of transportation is essentially reduced wherever Rail-roads or 
 Canals have been constructed, and even the Mississippi her¬ 
 self bears down upon her bosom the products of the West, at 
 less than half the freight that was charged a few years ago. 
 
HON. WILLIAM C. RIVES, NO. I. 
 
 5 
 
 Thirty years since, a few small schooners were sufficient to 
 carry on the commerce between this city and New Orleans; 
 now, within the last year, we have had one hundred and 
 sixty-five arrivals from New Orleans at this port, and many of 
 the vessels are of the largest class ; ships from five hundred to 
 seven hundred tons burden. They have brought us Tobacco, 
 Indian Corn^ Flour, Cotton, Beef, Pork, Lard, Lead, &c., 
 amounting in the aggregate to many millions of dollars. Of 
 the first three of these articles, which now come to us in such 
 quantities from New Orleans, our importations, in former 
 times, were almost exclusively from Virginia, North Carolina 
 and Maryland. Can you expect to compete successfully with 
 the Western regions of our country, where, without much 
 labor, the soil produces double, and sometimes even more, to 
 the acre, than the average crops of the last mentioned States ? 
 This competition will increase; and it appears to me that the 
 remedy for its inauspicious effects upon your welfare, is to 
 create a market at home for your surplus agricultural products; 
 by establishing such Manufactures as may be adapted to the 
 peculiar condition of your labor. There are two classes of 
 labor ; intelligent, and unintelligent; the former is that kind 
 of labor which requires a considerable amount of mental cul¬ 
 ture, with active physical power. This combination is capa¬ 
 ble of applying Sciehce to Art, and of producing results that 
 are difficult, and oftentimes complicated. The latter descrip¬ 
 tion of labor, is of that character which depends principally on 
 physical strength; this quality of labor you have in abun¬ 
 dance ; and I hope you are not without a tolerable supply of 
 the higher class. You may, without doubt, commence the 
 manufacture of almost every description of articles, requiring 
 but little skill, and prosecute the work with success. Manu¬ 
 factures of such articles as Iron, Hemp, Wool, Cotton, Leather, 
 &c., wrought into the coarser and more common articles, would 
 succeed with you. 
 
 You will find, very soon after a regular system of the 
 division of labor shall have been introduced, that a desire for 
 knowledge will be created; more education, more intellectual 
 cultivation, will be desired by those engaged in the mechan¬ 
 ical departments; and with this eagerness for knowledge, will 
 
6 
 
 LETTER OF HON. ABBOTT LAWRENCE TO 
 
 follow skill and cleverness in the use of tools, and then will 
 follow the inventive power, for which our people have become 
 so distinguished in the estimation of the world. 
 
 You cannot do any thing in Virginia, that will so completely 
 promote the introduction of Raihroads, as the placing of man¬ 
 ufacturing establishments on your beautiful waterfalls. The 
 water power on the James River, at Richmond, is unrivaled; 
 and it seems a great waste of natural wealth, to permit it to 
 run into the sea, having hardly touched a water-wheel. If 
 the prominent men of Virginia, of both political parties, will 
 give up their party warfare, and resolve themselves into a 
 “ Committee of the Whole, on the Commonwealth, to improve 
 the state of Agriculture,’’ by making two blades of grass grow, 
 where there is now but one; if they will establish manufac¬ 
 tures, and carry on a well-adjusted system of internal improve¬ 
 ments, they will then have done something that will be 
 substantial, abiding—which will stand as memorials of their 
 patriotic devotion to the interests of the people, through all 
 time. Let your common school system go hand in hand with 
 the employment of your people ; you may be quite certain that 
 the adoption of these systems at once, will aid each other. 
 
 You cannot, I should suppose, expect to develope your 
 resources, without a general system of popular education; it 
 is the lever to all permanent improvement. It appears to me 
 essential to the preservation of our Republican Institutions, 
 that the people of this country should be educated, and that 
 all intellectual culture should be founded upon our Holy 
 Religion : the pure precepts of the Gospel are the only safe 
 source from which we can freely draw our morality. It is 
 essential that we should have an educated population; inas¬ 
 much, as every man can exercise the right of suffrage :—the 
 elective franchise, in the hands of an ignorant and debased 
 population, would very soon place our country in a state of 
 anarchy. We should strive to elevate the laboring and less 
 favored classes. In Europe, the great body of the people have 
 nothing to do with the election of their rulers; even in 
 England, free as she is, compared with many of the conti¬ 
 nental States, the mass of the people do not exercise the 
 elective franchise: this is a point of primary importance, and 
 
HOxN. WILLIAM C. RIVES, NO. I. 
 
 7 
 
 your people may rest assured that taxes for education, even as 
 a matter of pecuniary gain, would greatly enhance the value 
 of their property. I am, therefore, clear in my convictions not 
 only of the duty, but the expediency of introducing manufac¬ 
 tures extensively into your State, with an expansive system 
 of popular education ; and from these movements will soon he 
 seen the happiest results, in a healthful prosperity, and a 
 striking improvement in the condition of the people. 
 
 Just for a moment imagine the whole supernumerary popu¬ 
 lation of Virginia employed at a rate of wages, such as are 
 paid in the Northern and Eastern States; what think you 
 would he the effect? I have not a doubt that the value of 
 land would increase within five miles around each manufac¬ 
 turing village, equal to the cost of all the machinery in it. 
 The sphere of labor must be enlarged, diversified, if you 
 would bring out the energies of your people. I yet hope to 
 see Virginia take that place, among the old Thirteen^ that 
 seemed by Providence to be assigned to her : it can only be 
 achieved, by energy and perseverance, on the part of .those 
 who have the destinies of their fellow citizens in keeping. 
 Let the law makers, and those who administer them, not only 
 speak out, but so act, as to give an impetus to labor : let it be 
 considered respectable for every man to have a vocation, and 
 to follow it. If not for his own pecuniary profit, let him labor 
 for character, which he is certain to obtain, if his labors benefit 
 others. I intended to make some remarks on the recommenda¬ 
 tion of the President in his annual message, and the report of 
 the Honorable Secretary of the Treasury, to change our whole 
 Revenue system. The plan proposed, if carried out, has an 
 important bearing on the subject of this letter, which is, how¬ 
 ever, already sufficiently long. Reserving therefore my remarks 
 upon the last mentioned topics, for another communication, 
 
 I remain very faithfully. 
 
 Your friend and ob’t servant, 
 
 ABBOTT LAWRENCE. 
 
 To the Honorable W. 0 . Rives, 
 
 Castle Hill, Albemarle County, Virginia. 
 
8 
 
 LETTER OF HON. ABBOTT LAWRENCE TO 
 
 MR. LAWRENCE TO MR. RIVES. 
 
 NUMBER II. 
 
 Another Letter from the Hon. Abbott Lawrence .—We cheerfully give up our 
 own space to-day, to a second Letter from the Hon. Abbott Lawrence, and 
 feel sure that our readers will thank us for the substitution. We have taken 
 but a mere glance at this document, but think we may safely say, it is a pow¬ 
 erful and impressive paper—throwing much light upon subjects of particular 
 interest to Virginia, and, indeed, to the whole country. 
 
 Richmond Whig. 
 
 Boston, January 16th, 1846. 
 
 My Dear Sir : 
 
 I stated in my letter of the 7th, that I should write to you 
 again, upon the subject of the entire change proposed by the 
 President of the United States, and the Secretary of the Treas¬ 
 ury, in our Revenue Laws. It is no other, than the adoption 
 of ad valorem for specific duties, and a reduction of the whole 
 to 20 per cent; this being the maximum at which the Secre¬ 
 tary supposes the largest revenue can be obtained. I shall not 
 now discuss the rates of duty that will produce the greatest 
 amount of revenue. I will leave the Secretary to settle that 
 question ; but shall endeavor to show what the effect will be 
 upon the country, if his recommendation should be adopted 
 by Congress. I deem the scheme proposed to Congress, in the 
 main, a currency question, and one which, if carried out, will 
 reach, in its operation, the occupation and business of every 
 man in the United States. I believe the most economical 
 member of Congress will agree that thirty millions of dollars 
 will be required, annually, to carry on this Government, for 
 the next five years, and that this estimate does not include 
 large sums that may be wanted to settle our affairs with Mex¬ 
 ico, Texas, &c., &c., and that this sum is to be raised from 
 Foreign Importations and the Public Lands. The goods, sub¬ 
 ject to duty, imported the last year, amounted, in round 
 numbers, to 90 millions of dollars, and the goods free of duty 
 to about 25 millions. I have not the returns at hand, and may 
 not be exactly correct as to amounts, but they are near enough 
 to illustrate my arguments : the former paid an average duty 
 of about 32 per cent, creating a revenue, say of 28 millions. 
 If the revenue derived from an importation of 90 millions, 
 
HON. WILLIAM C. RIVES, NO. II. 
 
 9 
 
 gave 28 millions of dollars, what amount must be imported, to 
 produce the same sum at 20 per cent ad valorem ? 
 
 The answer is, 140 millions; add to this, the free goods, 
 about 25 millions, and we have an importation of 165 millions 
 of dollars. Our exports have not exceeded, nor are they likely 
 at present to exceed 120 millions: we then have a deficit 
 of 45 millions to provide for; and how is this balance to be 
 paid ? State Stocks are no longer current in Europe. Even 
 the Stocks of the United States cannot be negotiated on favor¬ 
 able terms. 
 
 We who are merchants can answer this question, having 
 often been obliged to make our remittances in coin, when our 
 imports have exceeded our exports. 
 
 If we are obliged to import 140 millions of goods subject to 
 duty, to meet the wants of the Government, it is quite certain 
 that the coin must be exported, to meet the deficiency. If the 
 importations fall short of 140 millions, we then have an empty 
 Treasury. In one case, the country will be made bankrupt to 
 fill the Treasury; and in the other, the Treasury will be bank¬ 
 rupt, and resort to Congress for Treasury Notes and Loans. It 
 may be said that our exports will increase with our imports; 
 this supposition I think fallacious. The policy of Great 
 Britain, and that of all Europe, has been, and is likely to con¬ 
 tinue, to protect every thing produced either at home or in 
 their colonies. In Great Britain, the article of Cotton is now 
 admitted free, the duty having been repealed the very last 
 year. This was owing to repeated representations of the Man¬ 
 chester spinners to Parliament as to the necessity of such a 
 measure, in consequence of the competition from foreign coun¬ 
 tries in the coarse fabrics manufactured from cotton produced 
 in, and shipped from, the United States. The argument pre¬ 
 sented in the House of Commons was, that the Americans had 
 taken possession of every market, where they were admitted 
 on the same terms with their coarse goods. This is a true 
 representation, and I apprehend the repeal of the duty on 
 Cotton will not enable the British manufacturer to again 
 obtain possession of those markets, for the heavy descriptions 
 of Cotton fabrics. 
 
 What other article of importance does the Government of 
 
 2 
 
10 
 
 LETTER OF HON. ABBOTT LAWRENCE TO 
 
 Great Britain admit free of duty ? I know of none. Cotton is 
 admitted free of duty from necessity. How is it with To¬ 
 bacco ? A duty is paid of 1200 per cent. Wheat is prohibited 
 by the Sliding Scale/’ and in case of a total repeal of the 
 Corn Laws, very little Wheat would be shipped from this 
 country, inasmuch as it can be laid down, in ordinary years of 
 harvest, much cheaper from the Baltic. Beef and Pork are 
 burdened with a heavy duty. The duty and charges on a 
 barrel of American Pork laid down in Liverpool, with the 
 commissions for sales, amount to $5,75; so that the quantity 
 of this article shipped to England must be inconsiderable, un¬ 
 less the prices here should be so low as to be ruinous to the 
 farmer. I cannot find in the catalogue of our strictly agricul¬ 
 tural products, a single article that is not burdened with a high 
 duty, in England, or other parts of Europe, if it comes in com¬ 
 petition with their own products; nor can I discover that there 
 is a disposition on the part of a single European Nation to relax 
 the stringent system of duties on imports from this country. 
 It is possible that Great Britain may abate her Corn Laws, so 
 far as to admit Indian Corn at a nominal duty. If it should 
 be done, I have little faith in our being able to ship it to ad¬ 
 vantage. I state the fact, then, that exports will not increase 
 in consequence of a reduction, or even a total repeal, of the 
 present Tariff. The duty in Great Britain, on all the products 
 of the United States, received in that kingdom, including cot¬ 
 ton, is not less than 48 per cent., and exclusive of cotton, 300 
 per cent; and this, too, on raw produce generally, where the 
 charge of freight constitutes from one-tenth to one-quarter of 
 the cost here—and this is Free Trade! 
 
 I hope you, of Virginia, will examine this matter, and ask 
 yourselves where the best customers are to be found for your 
 agricultural products. I will just state to you here, that Mas¬ 
 sachusetts takes annually more Flour, Indian Corn, Pork, and 
 many other articles, the productions of the West, as well 
 as of Virginia, than all Europe. 
 
 The question then arises, what will be our condition after 
 the proposed plan of low duties goes into operation? In 
 twenty days after the bill becomes a lav/, it will have reached 
 every country in Europe with which we have trade: the man- 
 
11 
 
 HON. WILLIAM C. RIVES, NO. II. 
 
 ufactories are all set in motion for the supply of the American 
 market; the merchandize is shipped on account of foreigners, 
 in many cases with double invoices, one set for the Custom 
 House, and another for the sales^ so that instead of the duty 
 amounting to 20 per cent, it will not, probably, exceed 15 per 
 cent. This has been the experience of the American Importers 
 in New York, who, previously to the passage of the Tariff of 
 1842, had (most of them) abandoned the business, not being 
 able to compete successfully with fraudulent foreigners. I 
 will not say that all foreigners commit frauds on the revenue— 
 far from it;—but 1 do say, that enormous frauds have been 
 perpetrated by foreigners, on the revenue, under ad valorem 
 duties, and will be again—prostrating the business of honest 
 foreign and American importers. In less than twelve months, 
 after the new plan shall have been in operation, this whole 
 country will be literally surfeited with foreign merchandize; 
 (if it be not so, the revenue will fall short of the wants of the 
 Government;) we shall then owe a debt abroad of millions of 
 dollars, which must be paid in coin. The exchanges go up to 
 a point that makes it profitable to ship specie; money becomes 
 scarce in the Atlantic cities ; yet bills on England and France 
 do not fall; the loans made to the South and West are called 
 in ; demands for debts due from those sections of country, are 
 made; exchange cannot be obtained,—produce is purchased 
 and shipped; and when it arrives at the North, it will not 
 command the cost in the West: a paralysis will have struck 
 the business of the country; produce will no longer answer 
 to pay debts due at the North, and the next resort is to coin, 
 which is to be collected and sent down the Mississippi, or over 
 the mountains, to Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and 
 Boston. Western and Southern credits are cut off, as the 
 people of those sections can no longer promptly meet their 
 engagements. The new States, and the outer circle of the 
 Republic, are the weak points; and the first giving way of the 
 Banks is heard from those places, where there is the least 
 amount of capital. We see the storm approaching like a 
 thunder shower in a summer’s day; we watch its progress, 
 but cannot escape its fall. It at last reaches the great marts 
 of trade and the exchanges, having swept every thing in its 
 
12 
 
 LETTER OF HON. ABBOTT LAWRENCE TO 
 
 course; and the Banks of the Atlantic cities, after a violent 
 eifort to maintain their credit and honor, are forced to yield to 
 this Utopian experiment on the currency. I have no hesita¬ 
 tion in stating that all this will take place within the space of 
 eighteen months from the time this experimental bill goes into 
 operation ; and not a specie-paying Bank, doing business, will 
 be found in the United States. Where will be the revenue 
 which was to produce such a mighty sum under low duties 1 
 Where is the Treasury, and the Secretary 7 and the President 
 and his Cabinet 7 The Treasury is empty ; the Secretary is 
 making his estimates of income for 1849, and preparing to ask 
 Congress for a large batch of Treasury Notes ; or perhaps the 
 deficit is so large that a loan may be required. We have now 
 come to a point of depression in the great business of the coun¬ 
 try, which has attracted the attention and anxiety of all classes 
 of people, all having felt its blight, excepting the great capital¬ 
 ists and money holders, who are reaping golden harvests by 
 the purchase of property, which the wants of the unfortunate 
 throw into the market at ruinous rates. It is now seen and 
 felt from the low wages of labor, and the great number of per¬ 
 sons unemployed, with the cries of distress from all quarters, 
 that it is the labor and not the capital of the country that suf¬ 
 fers by violent revulsions caused by unwise legislation. Have 
 the people of the South and West forgotten their troubles of 
 1837 to 1842—to the hour of the passage of that Law, which 
 has redeemed the credit of the Government, and restored pros¬ 
 perity to the country 7 I have intimated that there is less 
 capital in the new States than in many of the old ones; it will 
 not be denied that the monied capital of this country is held in 
 the Northern and Eastern States, and that the South and West 
 are usually largely indebted to them. Now, L should be glad 
 to be informed what benefit is to be derived by a Planter in 
 Alabama or Mississippi, or a farmer in Ohio or Illinois, by a 
 change, like that I have described, particularly, if by chance 
 he should be in debt 7 Do the people of the South believe they 
 can raise the price of Cotton, or be able to negotiate loans, to 
 prosecute the construction of their contemplated Rail-road 7 
 Do Ohio, Louisiana, Illinois, Michigan, believe they are to 
 create a better market for their produce, or sooner complete 
 
HON. WILLIAM C. RIVES, NO. 11. 
 
 13 
 
 the Harbors, so much desired on the shores of those ^Hnland 
 Seas,’’ and be able to negotiate Loans, and obtain subscribers 
 to the Stock of their intended Rail-roads, by the adoption of 
 this new system of political economy 1 And now what say 
 the great States of New York and Pennsylvania to this pro¬ 
 posed experiment ? Can they afford to try it, and are they 
 ready? If they are, it will be adopted; if they are not, the 
 present Law will stand, and the Country will repose for awhile 
 in happiness and prosperity. Any one would suppose, that 
 those States, that are now just emerging from embarrassment, 
 which at one time seemed almost sufficient to overwhelm them 
 in ruin, would be unwilling to try an experiment which is cer¬ 
 tain, in my judgment, to place them in a position that will be 
 the means of destroying the fair prospects of thousands who 
 are resting in quiet security upon the faith of what they deem 
 a paternal and wise Government. The question of an impor¬ 
 tant alteration in our Revenue Laws, should not be kept in 
 suspense. The Treasury will feel its effects before the end of 
 the present year. The expectation of a great reduction of 
 duties prevents the merchants from going on with their usual 
 business. Voyages are delayed, and orders for goods are held 
 back, until this important question shall be settled. I say, 
 therefore, if we are to go through this fiery ordeal, let it come 
 at once,—we cannot probably place ourselves in a better con¬ 
 dition than we are now, to meet the troubles that await us. 
 
 Mr. Walker proposes to substitute ad valorem for specific 
 duties, in opposition to our-own experience, and that of almost 
 every other country. I have never yet found an American 
 merchant who has not been in favor of specific duties, wherever 
 it can be done with convenience to the Importer and the Gov¬ 
 ernment. I confess it is a bold measure to propose a total and 
 entire change of a Revenue system, which was established 
 with the Government, and has stood the test of experience, 
 through all the trials of political parties and Administrations, 
 from General Washington to Mr. Polk. It appears more ex¬ 
 traordinary at this time, as the country is in a high state of 
 prosperity. The revenue is enough for all the reasonable 
 wants of the Government, and the people appear to be satis¬ 
 fied with their condition. The resources of the country were 
 
14 
 
 LETTER OF HON. ABBOTT LAWRENCE TO 
 
 never developing more rapidly; the increase of our population, 
 the present year, will probably equal that of the last, which I 
 estimate at 600,000 souls ; our wealth too has been wonder¬ 
 fully augmented by the construction of Rail-roads; there has 
 been a great increase of our shipping, engaged in the domestic 
 commerce of the country, not only by sea, but upon our rivers 
 and great lakes : the manufacturing interest has been largely 
 extended; and the soil, too, has been made to produce vastly 
 more than at any former period. The whole productive power 
 of the country has been greater in three years (that is, since 
 the passage of the Tariff of 1842,) than during any equal 
 space of time in our national history. There have been three 
 periods of universal distress throughout our land, since the 
 peace of 1783, and in each case under low duties. I appeal to 
 those who remember those periods; and to others, I refer to 
 the annals of our country. Those periods were from 1783 
 (the conclusion of the Revolutionary War) to 1789, 1815 to 
 1824, 1837 to 1842. 
 
 I would respectfully recommend to the Secretary of the 
 Treasury, who appears to have received new light upon the 
 subject of our national economy, to examine the history of the 
 legislation of Congress at the above periods. He will find in 
 his own department of the Government, abundant evidence of 
 the distress that existed under low duties and a deranged 
 currency. 
 
 There is a prevalent idea abroad, that the capital of the 
 country will suffer exceedingly by a revulsion in its business, 
 and that the tariff of 1842, has operated in favor of the capital, 
 and not the labor of the country. There can be no doubt that 
 capital is generally profitably and safely employed, and well 
 paid. The profits of capital are low, when wages are low ; 
 but capital has usually had the power to take care of itself, 
 and does not require the aid of Congress to place it in any 
 other position, than to put the labor in motion. Congress 
 should legislate for the labor, and the capital will take care of 
 itself. I will give you an example of the rate of wages under 
 low duties, and under the tariff of 1842. In 1841 and 1842, 
 the depression in all kinds of business became so oppressive, 
 that many of the manufacturing establishments in New Eng- 
 
HON. WILLIAM C. RIVES, NO. II. 
 
 15 
 
 land were closed, the operatives dismissed, the mechanical 
 trades were still, and every resource for the laboring man 
 seemed dried up. 
 
 In the city of Lowell, where there are more than thirty large 
 cotton mills, with from six to sixteen thousand spindles each, 
 it was gravely considered by the proprietors whether the mills 
 should be stopped. It was concluded to reduce the wages; 
 this was done several times, until the reduction brought down 
 the wages from about $2 00 to $1 50 per week, exclusive of 
 board ; this operation took place upon between 7 and 8000 fe¬ 
 males ; the mills run on; no sales were made of the goods; 
 the South and West had neither money nor credit, and finally, 
 it was determined to hold out till Congress should act upon the 
 tarifi*. The bill passed, and of course the mills were kept run¬ 
 ning, which would not have been the case, if the act had been 
 rejected; and now the average wages paid at Lowell—taking 
 the same number of females for the same service—is $2 00 
 per week, exclusive of board. Yet Mr. Walker says labor has 
 fallen. Where are the wages for labor, I ask, lower than they 
 were in 1842 ? Who is to be benefited by the adoption of a 
 system that gives up every thing, and gives no reasonable 
 promise of any thing? 
 
 I have succeeded, I trust, in showing that there is no prob¬ 
 ability of our exports increasing, in consequence of a reduction 
 of the tariff, and that the products of the Western States find 
 the best market among the manufacturers at home. In regard 
 to the Southern and cotton growing States, they are to be great¬ 
 ly benefited by the increase of consumption of their staples at 
 home. No appreciable quantity can be shipped to England, 
 if the tariff should be repealed, it being already free of duty. 
 The establishment and successful prosecution of the spinning 
 of cotton in this country, has enabled the planters to obtain 
 for several years past at least, an additional cent per pound 
 on the whole crop, and perhaps even more. The Americans 
 are the greatest spinners of cotton in the world, the Brit¬ 
 ish excepted. This competition has kept the price from fall¬ 
 ing to a ruinous point on several occasions, and it has been 
 acknowledged by many of the most intelligent planters in the 
 South. Our consumption reached, the last year, one hundred 
 
16 
 
 LETTER OF HON. ABBOTT LAWRENCE TO 
 
 and seventy-six millions of pounds, which is equal to the 
 whole crop of the Union in 1825, and equal to the whole con¬ 
 sumption of Great Britain in 1826. This is a striking fact, 
 and one that should be remembered by the planters. The 
 history of the production and manufacture of cotton is so ex¬ 
 traordinary, that I propose to send to you some statistics on 
 the subject, furnished me by a friend. I hope you will not 
 deem me over sanguine, when I tell you that it is my belief 
 that the consumption of cotton in this country will double in 
 8 or 9 years, and that it will reach 400 millions of pounds in 
 1856; and further, that we are not only destined to be the 
 greatest cotton growers, but the most extensive cotton spin¬ 
 ners, in the world. We have all the elements among ourselves 
 to make us so. The manufacture of cotton is probably in its 
 infancy; but a moderate portion of mankind have yet been 
 clothed with this healthful and cheap article. Nothing can 
 stop the progress of this manufacture, but some suicidal legis¬ 
 lation, that will prostrate the currency of the country, and 
 deprive the people of the means of consuming. There can be 
 no legislation that will break down the manufacture of cotton 
 and wool, excepting through the operations of the currency. 
 We may be disturbed by low duties ; the finer descriptions 
 of cotton and woolens, printed goods, and worsted fabrics, 
 would be seriously affected by low ad valorem duties, but the 
 coarser fabrics, such as are generally consumed by the great 
 body of the people, will be made here under any and all cir¬ 
 cumstances. If we have competition from abroad, the labor 
 must, and will come down; this has been often tested, and 
 our experience establishes the fact. 
 
 In Virginia and other Southern States, and even at the West, 
 many persons have believed that the protective system was 
 made by, and for New England, and that New England, and 
 particularly Massachusetts, could not thrive without it. Now, 
 this is an error; the South and West began the system of high 
 protective duties, for the purpose of creating a market for their 
 produce, (although the principle of discrimination was recog¬ 
 nized and established when the first tariff was enacted.) It is 
 not true, that we are more dependent on a protective tariff, 
 than the Middle, Western, or Southern States. Those States 
 
HON. WILLIAM C. RIVES, NO. II. 
 
 17 
 
 that possess the smallest amount of capital, are the most bene¬ 
 fited by a protective tariff. We have in New England, a 
 great productive power ; in Massachusetts far greater than any 
 other State, in proportion to population. We have a hardy, 
 industrious, and highly intelligent population, with a perse¬ 
 verance that seldom tires, and we have also acquired a con¬ 
 siderable amount of skill, which is increasing every day; be¬ 
 sides this, we have already accomplished a magnificent system 
 of intercommunication between all parts of this section of the 
 country by rail-roads; this is the best kind of protective power, 
 having reduced the rate of carriage to a wonderful extent; this 
 being done, we have money enough remaining, to keep all our 
 labor employed, and prosecute our foreign and domestic com¬ 
 merce, without being in debt beyond the limits of our own^tate. 
 Now I ask, how we shall stand, compared with Pennsylvania, 
 Ohio, Alabama, Georgia, or Louisiana, when the day of finan¬ 
 cial trial shall come. 1 do not deny we shall suffer, but as it 
 has been in times past, we shall go into and come out of the 
 troubles far stronger than any other State out of New England. 
 It is not my purpose to present to you the balance sheet of 
 Massachusetts, but it is due to her character, and her dignity, 
 that she should stand before you in her true position. I have 
 never advocated a protective tariff for my own or the New 
 England States exclusively, nor have those gentlemen with 
 whom I have been associated in this cause, at anytime, enter¬ 
 tained a narrow or sectional view of the question. We have 
 believed it to be for the interest of the whole country, that its 
 labor should be protected, and so far as I have had to do with 
 the adjustment of those difficult combinations embraced in a 
 tariff bill, I have endeavored to take care that the interests of 
 all the States were protected, whether they were large or small. 
 I say now to you, and it should be said in Congress, and to 
 the country, that Massachusetts asks no exclusive legislation. 
 If Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio, the three great States, 
 with Kentucky, Georgia, Missouri, Alabama and Louisiana, 
 wish to try an experiment on iron, coal, hemp, cotton bagging, 
 sugar, &c., &c., I am ready, as one citizen of Massachusetts, 
 to meet it, and await in patient submission the result, which I 
 doubt not will be found, within eighteen months, in the reali- 
 3 
 
18 
 
 LETTER OF HON. ABBOTT LAWRENCE TO 
 
 zation of all I have predicted. I say again, I would not, if I 
 could, have a tariff made for Massachusetts alone. If, how¬ 
 ever, there should be a new one, let ovr interests, with those 
 of every other in the Union, share that protection to which we 
 are all entitled, and of which we claim our full share. I can 
 with confidence assure you, that we shall go upward and on¬ 
 ward. We will work. If 12 hours’ labor in the 24 will not 
 sustain us, we can, and will work 14; and at the same time 
 feel that Congress cannot take the sinews from our arms, 
 or rob us of the intelligence acquired from our public 
 schools, established by the foresight and wisdom of our 
 fathers. 
 
 At the risk of writing a long letter, I cannot forbear alluding 
 to th%fact, that the habitual agitation of this question of the 
 tariff, has worked, in the main, to the advantage of New Eng¬ 
 land. 
 
 We were, previous to the war of 1812, an agricultural and 
 navigating people. The American system was forced upon us, 
 and was adopted for the purpose of creating a home market for 
 the products of the soil of the South and West; we resisted the 
 adoption of a system, which, we honestly believed, would great¬ 
 ly injure our navigation, and drive us from our accustomed 
 employments, into a business we did not understand. We came 
 into it, however, reluctantly, and soon learned that, with the 
 transfer of our capital, we acquired skill and knowledge in the 
 use of it—and that, so far from our foreign commerce being 
 diminished, it was increased, and that our domestic tonnage 
 and commerce were very soon more than quadrupled. The 
 illustrations were so striking in every department of labor, 
 that those who, fifteen years ago, were the strongest opponents 
 of the protective tariff among us, have given up their theo¬ 
 ries, and acknowledged that the revelations are such as to 
 satisfy the most skeptical. We have gone forward steadily, 
 till many descriptions of manufactures are as well settled in 
 New England as the raising of potatoes. Our experience has 
 given us skill—and, of course, we have confidence in our own 
 resources, that does not exist elsewhere. 
 
 When I converse with gentlemen from the South and West, 
 respecting the establishment of manufactures—they reply that 
 
HON. WILLIAM C. RIVES, NO. IT. 
 
 19 
 
 they should long ago have engaged in them, but the repeal of 
 the tariff, the action of the government, prevented them. Now 
 you cannot blame us, if this constant agitation of the tariff 
 question has tended to give New England not a monopoly, 
 but advantages which she has not been instrumental in bring¬ 
 ing about. I have no doubt we have been gainers, on the 
 whole, by these agitations, yet we have at times been great 
 sufferers. I wish those States that have withheld their ener¬ 
 gies from entering upon these industrial pursuits, to examine 
 this matter—and, if I am right, to take an observation o.nd a 
 new departure. We have no jealousy, whatever, concerning 
 the establishment of manufactories in all parts of the country; 
 on the contrary, I believe those gentlemen from the South and 
 West, who have been here, will bear witness to the desire on 
 the part of the people who are engaged in manufactures, to 
 impart all the information in their power; there is room for 
 us all. When the southern and western States shall manu¬ 
 facture their own clothing, we shall have become extensive 
 exporters of the variety of manufactures produced here. We 
 have the ships, and the men to navigate them. We shall 
 pursue an extensive foreign commerce with manufactures, and 
 bring home the produce of other countries, such as coffee, 
 tea, &c., &c., and pay for the produce of the South and West, 
 with foreign luxuries, and necessaries of life. It has often 
 been said here by us, who advocate protection to American 
 labor, that in wearing British cottons, woolens, &c., &c., we 
 were consuming British wheat, beef, pork, &c. I am happy 
 to find authority of the highest respectability for this opinion, 
 in the person of one of the most eminent merchants, as well 
 as one of the best and most honorable men in England, Mr. 
 William Brown, of Liverpool—lately the free trade candidate 
 for Parliament, from the county of Lancaster. In a letter to 
 John Rolfe, Esq., a landholder, upon the advantages of free 
 trade, he says : ‘Wou next allude to the League wishing to 
 injure you. I presume it will not be denied, that all interests 
 in the Kingdom are so linked together, that none of them can 
 suffer without the others being injured. We must sink or 
 swim together ! Paradoxical as it may appear, I think Great 
 Britain is the largest grain exporting country in the world, 
 
20 
 
 LETTER OF HON. ABBOTT LAWRENCE TO 
 
 although it is impossible to estimate accurately what quantity 
 of grain, &c., is consumed in preparing £50,000,000 value of 
 exports, by which you are so greatly benefited. It is placed 
 in the laboratory of that wonderful intellectual machine, man, 
 which gives him the physical power, aided by steam, of con¬ 
 verting it into broadcloth, calico, hardware, &c., &c., and in 
 these shapes, your wheats find their way to every country in 
 the world.’’ 
 
 I thank Mr. Brown for the clear statement he has presented, 
 of the importance of a home market, and commend this ex¬ 
 tract from his letter, to the consideration of every farmer in 
 the United States; it is perfectly sound, and applies with 
 particular force to our present condition. To place the peo¬ 
 ple in a condition of permanent and solid prosperity, we 
 must encourage home industry, by obtaining the greatest 
 amount of production; this can only be obtained by diversi¬ 
 fying labor, which will bring with it high wages ; and unless 
 the labor is well paid, our country cannot prosper. Agricul¬ 
 ture, the foundation of all wealth, depends on production, and 
 a market for those products. The encouragement of agricul¬ 
 ture, is found in the establishment of manufactures, which if 
 maintained, will be certain to secure a market. 
 
 I ask the farmer to look for a moment at the following 
 statement: American flour in Cuba pays a duty of about f 10 
 per barrel; in Rio Janeiro $5 to $6, and in many other ports 
 the duties vary from 50 to 150 per cent; in return, we take 
 coffee, most of which we pay for in coin, free of duty —and 
 this is free trade. We have, too, treaties of reciprocity with 
 foreign countries; and among others. Great Britain, (not in¬ 
 cluding her colonies,) by which her ships are admitted into 
 our ports on the same terms as our own ; they come freighted 
 with her minerals and manufactures, which are sold here, and 
 take in return a variety of articles, the produce of the United 
 States; such as timber, lumber, fish, &c., touch at New 
 Brunswick or some other colony, and go home free of duty. 
 We have, too, triangular voyages, made from England to 
 Jamaica, and other British islands, with cargoes, and thence 
 to the southern States, where they load with cotton, tobacco, 
 and other produce, for England; this, too, is called free trade, 
 
HON. WILLIAM C. RIVES, NO. IT. 
 
 21 
 
 I will not pursue this branch of the subject, but give you a 
 fact. Not long since, the foreign carrying trade was nearly 
 all in our own hands; now the reciprocity system, not inclu¬ 
 ding the colonies of foreign nations, gives to foreigners more 
 than one third of all the carrying trade of the United States! ! 
 I cannot believe the time is far distant, when the government 
 of the United States will protest, as it ought, the foreign navi¬ 
 gating interest of this great country. If we would have 
 American seamen to man our navy, the mercantile marine 
 must be protected in the carrying of our own productions. One 
 more fact, and I will close these long, and I fear you will think, 
 desultory remarks. Some years since, a few bales of Ameri¬ 
 can coarse cottons v/ere sent from this country to Hindostan, 
 as a commercial experiment; the superiority of the fabric, and 
 the material of which it was made, gradually brought the 
 goods into notice and use in that country, and the annual ex¬ 
 portation from the United States increased from a few bales 
 up to 3 and 4000 per annum. The British manufacturers 
 were much annoyed at this interference, and it is presumed 
 that it was through their influence that the East India Com¬ 
 pany (the government of that country) have repeatedly aug¬ 
 mented the discriminating duty on these goods, (which are 
 called drillings,) for the purpose of protecting their own man¬ 
 ufactures against those of the United States; prior to 1836, 
 the duty was five per cent in favor of British goods; in that 
 year it was increased to 8| per cent; a few years after, aug¬ 
 mented to lOJ per cent, and even this rate of differential duty 
 proved insufficient to keep out the Americans, who drove a 
 profitable trade notwithstanding the great difference against 
 them. 
 
 And now, within a few months, the East India Company 
 have been compelled again to increase the discriminating 
 duty to 15 per cent, in order to exclude our goods altogether ; 
 and this difference will, without doubt, accomplish the object. 
 These facts are deserving of a passing remark, as illustrative 
 of the energies and resources of the United States. As late as 
 the declaration of the last war in 1812, this country imported 
 almost all its coarse cotton fabrics from Hindostan, whence 
 they came literally by ship loads, and were paid for almost 
 
22 
 
 LETTER OF HON. ABBOTT LAWRENCE TO 
 
 altogether in coin. No country seemed to be more abundant 
 in means necessary to supply such goods cheaply, than Hin- 
 dostan; its soil furnished an abundance of cotton, which, 
 though not of equal quality to that of the United States, was 
 much less in price, and labor was cheaper than in any country 
 in the world. Cotton spinning machinery was available 
 through the medium of British capital, and the manufactures 
 received a protection of 10| per cent against foreign inter¬ 
 ference. No country seemed more secure from foreign compe¬ 
 tition in these goods, than Hindostan, and least of all, was 
 there fear of competition from the United States; a country 
 15,000 miles distant, where a day’s labor will earn about 25 
 pounds of good rice, whilst in Hindostan it obtains less than 
 10 pounds of very inferior rice. But the American planter 
 furnished better raw cotton; the manufacturer, a better and 
 cheaper fabric; the ship owner, a speedy and cheaper con¬ 
 veyance. Their united efforts drove the British manufacturer 
 of these coarse goods from the largest British Colonial market,— 
 a market which the Americans would now be in possession of, 
 but for the interposition of the East India Company, with an¬ 
 other protective duty to sustain their manufactories. I have no 
 fault to find with the course pursued by the British, in these 
 regulations. I have introduced these facts, to exhibit to you 
 the transcendant folly of attempting a system of low duties 
 and free trade, where it is all on one side. I have not yet 
 known the British government to reduce the duties to a point 
 that has reached a single important interest. Their free trade 
 and low duties never apply to any article that seriously com¬ 
 petes with their own labor, nor are they likely to adopt such 
 measures. The free trade of the political economists of Great 
 Britain,-is a transcendental philosophy, which is not likely to 
 be adopted by any government on the face of the globe, unless 
 it be the Chinese, and we have already the earnest of the 
 effect of low duties on the internal condition of that country. 
 The trade of that empire is fast approaching to barter; the 
 precious metals having been drained, to pay for the foreign 
 products introduced into it. 
 
 I am aware that I have written a long letter, but I could 
 not well abridge it, consistently, with glancing at many topics 
 
HON. WILLIAM C. RIVES, NO. 11. 
 
 23 
 
 in which I take a deep interest. The subject is boundless, 
 and I would cheerfully carry out by illustrations, and exam¬ 
 ples, many of the points, upon which I have touched, but I 
 forbear for the present. When I have the pleasure to meet 
 you, we can discuss all these questions, embracing not only 
 the present condition, but the future prospects and destiny of 
 our beloved country, for which I entertain the strongest attach¬ 
 ment. Our strength and glory is in upholding and maintain¬ 
 ing the Union. 
 
 I shall send, in a few days, statistics furnished me by a 
 friend, who is intelligent, careful and accurate in these mat¬ 
 ters, and who holds himself responsible for all that will be 
 stated. 
 
 I pray you, my dear sir, to accept the assurances with 
 which I remain, most faithfully, your friend, and obedient 
 servant, ABBOTT LAWRENCE. 
 
 To the Hon. William C. Rives, 
 
 Castle Hill, Albemarle County, Virginia. 
 
24 
 
 LETTER OF HON. ABBOTT LAWRENCE TO 
 
 MR. LAWRENCE TO MR. RIVES. 
 
 NUMBER T I I . 
 
 Boston, Feb. 23, 1816. 
 
 My Dear Sir : 
 
 When I wrote to you on the 16th of last month, I pro¬ 
 posed to present in another letter some facts in regard to the 
 progress of the spinning of cotton, since the first high protec¬ 
 tive tariff in 1816, to the cotton year, ending 31st of August, 
 1845. 
 
 These facts I shall offer for the special consideration of those 
 who inhabit the cotton growing region of our country ; and of 
 those who brought forward and carried that law through Con¬ 
 gress. 
 
 The tariff law of 1816 was founded in wisdom, and I am 
 ready here to make my acknowledgments to those distin¬ 
 guished statesmen of the cotton growing States, who success¬ 
 fully consummated an act that has done so much to promote 
 the prosperity of the whole Union. 
 
 The primary object on the part of those members of Con¬ 
 gress representing the cotton planting States, in establishing a 
 high protective tariff, was to extend the consumption of their 
 great staple in this country, by excluding foreign made cotton 
 fabrics, and substituting a domestic article, manufactured of 
 American cotton. I think the authors of the tariff law of 1816 
 may congratulate themselves and their countrymen, on the 
 complete success that has followed from the adoption of the 
 minimum of twenty-five cents the square yard, contained 
 in that bill. Under its beneficial operation we have been en¬ 
 abled to supply our own population with cottons of the coarse 
 and middling qualities, and to export to foreign countries to 
 the amount of four or five millions of dollars annually,—for 
 which we receive in payment, tea, coffee, sugar, hides, copper, 
 &c. These goods, the product of our own labor, have become 
 a substitute for coin, in the several countries to which they 
 . are shipped. 
 
 It would seem that the founders of this system of high pro- 
 
HON. WILLIAM C. RIVES, NO. III. 
 
 25 
 
 tection to labor ought to be satisfied with its results, as the 
 quantity of cotton now spun in the United States is far greater 
 than the most sanguine of its friends anticipated in 1816. Ac¬ 
 cording to a statement made up by Mr. P. T. Jackson and Mr. 
 John A. Lowell, for the use of the tariff convention held in 
 New York, in 1832, the home consumption of cotton prior to 
 the passage of the act of 1816, was eleven millions of pounds, 
 being about three eights of the quantity now spun at Lowell. 
 
 The quantity spun in Great Britian in 1816, was eighty- 
 eight millions of pounds. There are no data to be relied upon 
 for continuous returns of home consumption, between 1816 and 
 1825-1826. 
 
 In 1826-27, the returns were made in a New York price 
 current, and they have since been continued, and are deemed 
 to be as correct as the nature of the case will admit. 
 
 In 1826-27, the amount spun in the United States was 103,- 
 483 bales, which we may estimate at 330 lbs. each, [net of 
 tare] equal to 34,149,390 lbs. 
 
 In the same year, the quantity spun in Great Britain was 
 197,200,000 pounds. From 1828 to 1830 was a period of em¬ 
 barrassment and distress among manufacturers^ consequently 
 the consumption of 1829-30 was only 126,512 bales, of about 
 345 pounds each, amounting to 43,646,640 pounds; while the 
 consumption in Great Britain was 247,600,000 pounds. At 
 this period some of our southern friends, who had been fore¬ 
 most in advocating home manufactures, and had counted 
 largely on the benefits anticipated by them in 1816, from the 
 operation of the protective policy, (as greatly augmenting the 
 consumption of their staple,) began to manifest dissatisfaction, 
 with what they considered the slow progress of our cotton 
 manufactures. The idea entertained, and put forth, was, 
 that we should never require so much, as to bear any consid¬ 
 erable proportion to the consumption of Great Britain. This, 
 as will be shown, was a false view of the case, and has proved 
 a capital error. 
 
 In 1832-33, the quantity spun at home reached 194,412 
 bales, averaging perhaps 360 pounds each ; in 1835-36, 236,- 
 733 bales; in 1837-^38,246,063 bales; in 1839-’40, 295,193 
 
 4 
 
26 
 
 LETTER OF HON. ABBOTT LAWRENCE TO 
 
 bales; in 1841-M2, there was deep commercial and manufac¬ 
 turing distress, and the consumption receded to 267,850 bales. 
 In the latter part of the year 1842, and in 1843, after the present 
 tariff law went into operation, a revival of business through¬ 
 out the country took place, and brought up the amount spun 
 to 325,129 bales. 
 
 In 1844-45, (year ending 31st of August last,) the amount 
 spun was 339,006 bales. There is a quantity of cotton con¬ 
 sumed in the interior of the States, which, never having reached 
 the seaports, is not included in the New York statement, that 
 has been estimated to be at least 41,000 bales; we shall there¬ 
 fore estimate the total quantity at 430,000 bales, of 410 pounds 
 each, net, making a total of 176,300,000 pounds as the con¬ 
 sumption last year, against 11,000,000 pounds in 1816—being 
 a period of 29 years. 
 
 The consumption in Great Britain has gone on steadily in¬ 
 creasing, but not in so rapid a ratio as in the United States. 
 The returns for 1845 have been received, and amount to 
 560,000,000 pounds against 176,300,000 pounds in the United 
 States. Thus the increase in the United States from 1816 to 
 1845, has extended from 11,000,000 to 176,300,000 pounds in 
 29 years, being an augmentation of sixteenfold. The increase 
 in Great Britain in the same period of time has been from 88,- 
 700,000 pounds, to 560,000,000 pounds; being an augmenta¬ 
 tion of less than sevenfold, against an increase in the United 
 States of sixteenfold. 
 
 These are not only striking, but important facts, and pre¬ 
 sent a view of the case, which refutes the anticipations of 
 those who entertained different opinions of the future increase 
 
 * Quantity of Yarns spun in Great Britain in 1845: 
 494,000,000 pounds. 
 
 Exported in Yarns, 134,500,000 lbs, valued at 
 
 12d, 24cts, 
 
 Exported in manufactures, 202,360,000 lbs, valued at 
 18id, 361cts, 
 
 Consumed at home, 158,000,000 lbs, valued at 
 
 40cts, - 
 
 494,860,000 
 
 Whole value of cotton manufactured in England, 
 
 $32,280,000 
 73,000,000 
 63,200,000 
 $ 168,380,000 
 
HON. WILLIAM C. RIVES, NO. III. 
 
 27 
 
 of the spinning of cotton in this country, fifteen years ago. I 
 cannot but hope that the views and opinions of some of the 
 prominent men of the South may undergo a change, when 
 they examine this question dispassionately; and that they 
 will come to the conclusion that they are deeply interested in 
 the spinning, as well as in the producing of cotton, at home. 
 As regards the future, if the general peace of the world bo 
 maintained, and the leading business concerns of the country 
 are not disturbed by the legislative action of the federal gov¬ 
 ernment, there is no reason why the increased home demand 
 for cotton, should not go on in as rapid a ratio as during the 
 past. This would be doubling the present consumption in a 
 little more than eight years. 
 
 There are now an immense number of spindles under con¬ 
 struction in a majority of the States, (probably not less than 
 500,000;) .all of which are intended to be in operation before 
 the first of January, 1850, and the probability is, that at that 
 time, the quantity of cotton spun, will reach 650,000 bales, of 
 410 pounds each, or 266,500,000 pounds. There will, also, be 
 a great increase in Great Britain, but not in the same propor¬ 
 tion ; as we possess some advantages in the manufacture of 
 heavy goods, which are not enjoyed in England. So long as 
 we produce better goods, and can maintain our superiority 
 abroad, there will be a constantly increasing export demand; 
 which is of great value to the whole country. Upon a review 
 of this branch of industry, it appears to me that its future 
 prospects are excellent, if not disturbed by bad banking, and 
 (what is still more pernicious to all branches of business,) un¬ 
 stable and unwise legislation. 
 
 The tariff* has already been altered several times, (I believe 
 six or seven ) since 1816. 
 
 If the present movement against the act of 1842 shall suc¬ 
 ceed, in accordance with Mr. Walker’s plan, it must be fol¬ 
 lowed soon by a counter movement; if not on the part of the 
 people, the government itself will recommend it, for revenue. 
 
 It may be truly asserted that the coarse cotton fabrics, such 
 as are worn by the laboring classes, are sold as cheap here as 
 in England, or in any part of the world. Of course there is 
 
28 
 
 LETTER OF HON. ABBOTT LAWRENCE TO 
 
 no further burden imposed on the consumers of this descrip¬ 
 tion of home made goods. It has been said that the existing 
 duties on cotton goods prevent importations of almost every 
 kind. This is so far from the fact, that for the last three 
 years, the amount of cotton, and mixed cotton and worsted 
 fabrics, printed and plain, imported, have been larger than in 
 former years, having ranged from $10,000,000 to $13,000,000. 
 This large amount is of the finer descriptions, and such as are 
 worn by the fashionable and rich. We shall continue to im¬ 
 port largely of these luxuries, so long as our people have sur¬ 
 plus means to expend in dress; and the permanent revenue, 
 under the present system, will be much greater than under 
 that proposed by the Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 The question has often been asked, why not reduce the 
 duties on cottons, if you can sell them so low? I answer that 
 the duty now is nearly inoperative, entirely so on some kinds, 
 such, for example, as are exported in large quantities. If the 
 duties were reduced materially on the coarse goods, I should 
 interpose no objection, provided ample protection was main¬ 
 tained on the middling and fine qualities. This is a matter to 
 be carefully arranged by practical men. We have now cer¬ 
 tainly nothing to fear in the manufacture of yarns, as high as 
 No. 14—so far, we can go on without protection, but the 
 higher numbers require protection, and it should be a specific 
 duty. The law, as it now stands, although inoperative on 
 coarse cloth, gives confidence to the investment of capital in 
 machinery, for the manufacture of finer fabrics,—in fact a very 
 large amount is already invested in mills, which produce yarns 
 and cloth as high as No. 60. Without protection, and that in 
 form of specific duties, there will be no increase of machinery 
 adapted to the middling and fine fabrics. The great amount 
 of printed calicoes require protection, and will suffer severely 
 without it. I will not dwell longer on this subject of cotton. 
 I trust I have presented facts to satisfy the cotton planter, that 
 his interests have been promoted by creating another market, 
 and a larger one, too, for the spinning of his staple. We actually 
 consume [wear] more pounds of cotton in this country, than 
 is consumed in Great Britain—since more than two-thirds of 
 
HON. WILLIAM C. RIVES. NO. III. 
 
 29 
 
 the quantity spun in that country is exported in the form of 
 yarns and cloth. We work up more than France, and quite 
 as much as 60,000,000 Germans. Our consuming ability 
 of this, and all other comforts of life, is beyond that of an 
 equal number of persons of any other country, and five times 
 as great as that of Russia. 
 
 The factories of only Massachusetts and a neighboring 
 State, spin annually 180,000 bales of cotton. 
 
 We received one million of barrels of flour (more than the 
 whole export of the United States to foreign countries) the 
 last year. The amount of products of States out of New 
 England, taken by Massachusetts the last year, amounted to 
 $40,000,000, in cotton, lead, wool, sugar, coal, iron, flour, 
 grain of all sorts, pork, beef, lard, tobacco, rice, &c., &c.; for 
 which we paid in the products of our labor; and this is a 
 steady and increasing market for the articles I have named. 
 
 In fact, Massachusetts (not to speak of the other New Eng¬ 
 land States, which are all large consumers) aflbrds greater 
 support to the Agricultural and planting States, South and 
 W^est, than any other State in the Union, and greater support 
 to the strictly Agricultural States, than all foreign countries. 
 The tariff of 1842 was enacted as much for the benefit of the 
 Southern and Western States, as for Massachusetts, and they 
 have derived as much advantage from it in proportion to their 
 capital. Of the truth of this declaration, they will be satisfied, 
 after a year’s experience under Mr. Walker’s plan of low ad 
 valorem duties. 
 
 The notion is prevalent, I am fully aware, that the North¬ 
 ern and Eastern States, engaged in manufacturing, enjoy the 
 principal benefits from the present tariff. But this is not the 
 case. By reference to the following quantities of protected 
 articles, produced out of New England, almost wholly, you 
 will see that there are other great protected interests in the 
 country, besides the manufacture of cotton and wool. The 
 duties on these are from 40 to 100 per cent, and on spirits to 
 a greater extent. There are produced from 
 
 450 to 500,000 tons of iron. 
 
 220,000,000 pounds of sugar. 
 
 20,000,000 pounds maple sugar. 
 
30 
 
 LETTER OF HON. ABBOTT LAWRENCE TO 
 
 9 to 12,000,000 gallons of molasses. 
 
 5 to 7,000,000 tons of coal. 
 
 50 to 60,000,000 pounds of wool. 
 
 10,000,000 bushels salt. 
 
 60 to 70,000,000 gallons of spirits, mostly from grain. 
 
 12 to 15,000,000 yards of cotton bagging. 
 
 20,000,000 pounds bale rope and twine. 
 
 80 to 90,000 tons of hemp and flax. 
 
 To this list might be added twenty minor articles, worth in 
 the aggregate, more than the whole amount of cotton fabrics 
 produced in the United States. 
 
 Iron, we still import to the amount of 70 to 80,000 tons, in¬ 
 cluding nearly all used on rail-roads, which can and will be 
 produced at home, as soon as increased capital is acquired. 
 We now produce more iron than France or Russia, or any other 
 country, save Great Britain, whose product is now 1,500,000 
 tons. 
 
 Within a few years there can be no doubt that the product 
 of iron will be doubled, provided the prosperity of the country 
 is not interfered with by experiments made by Congress on the 
 labor and currency of the country, which is a greater discour¬ 
 agement to branches of business requiring a large fixed capi¬ 
 tal, than is imagined by many of our legislators who make and 
 unmake tariffs. 
 
 It is estimated that at the present prices of sugar, the culti¬ 
 vation, in a very brief period of time, will be extended to the 
 required home consumption, now about 300,000,000 pounds, 
 which in ten years may be 500,000,000 pounds. I have no 
 doubt that the best interests of the nation require that the 
 present duty on sugar should be maintained with other pro¬ 
 tective duties. This extension of sugar cultivation will em¬ 
 ploy a large amount of labor, now devoted to the production 
 of cotton. 
 
 It would seem that several States of this Union, might with 
 profit multiply the occupations of labor. It appears to me, 
 they require new sources of support, and the progress and con¬ 
 dition of their population, with the amount of production, pre¬ 
 sent to the reflecting portion of the people a strong argument, 
 in favor of such new sources; I will state a few facts. 
 
HON. WILLIAM C. RIVES, NO. III. 
 
 31 
 
 The State of Virginia contains 64,000 square miles; had in 
 1840, 1,239,797 inhabitants; being less than 19 to the square 
 mile ; gross products, according to Professor Tucker, $76,769,- 
 053. 
 
 New York contains 46,000 square miles; had in 1840, 
 2,498,617 inhabitants; products in the same year, $193,806,- 
 433; add the product of navigation, as distinct from commerce, 
 which is omitted, on 650,000 tons shipping, $20,000,000; ma¬ 
 king in the aggregate, $213,000,000. 
 
 In 1790, by the first census, Virginia had 12 persons to the 
 square mile, and New York 7J; now, Virginia contains 19, 
 and New York 53 to the square mile. 
 
 In 1820, Virginia had a population of 1,065,379 ; in 1830, 
 1,211,405 ; in 1840, 1,239,797. New York in 1820,1,372,812; 
 in 1830, 1,918,608; in 1840, 2,428,921. 
 
 In 1850, New York will probably contain nearly 3,000,000, 
 and Virginia say 1,260,000. These facts, one would suppose, 
 would be sufficient to induce the people of Virginia to introduce 
 new branches of industry, and to establish the modern internal 
 improvements for transportation, that the rich resources of the 
 State may be developed. The condition of the two Carolinas 
 is much the same as Virginia. The population of North and 
 South Carolina, in 1830, was 1,319,172; in 1840, 1,347,817— 
 increase 2^ per cent in ten years, (principally in North 
 Carolina.) 
 
 Even in Great Britain, the increase in the same time was 
 11 per cent. In Massachusetts, although there were 81^ 
 to the square mile in 1830, against 17 in the Carolinas, there 
 was an increase of 21 per cent from 1830 to 1840. The 
 aggregate products of the two Carolinas in 1840 was $59,595,- 
 734, with a population of 1,347,817. The products of Massa¬ 
 chusetts, with a population of less than 800,000 people, 
 amounted at the same time to $100,000,000, and now the 
 products of labor and capital are more than $120,000,000. 
 
 I have introduced these statements for the purpose of exhib¬ 
 iting fairly the true condition of some of the old States, and to 
 awaken the public mind in those Slates to the importance of 
 bringing .out their productive labor, by introducing new 
 
32 
 
 LETTER OF HON. ABBOTT LAWRENCE TO 
 
 branches of business, in order that the industrial classes may 
 be profitably employed, and to show that the three States 
 named, have as great a stake in protecting the labor of the 
 country, as any other in the Union. They have now but 
 little else than soil and physical power remaining. You pos¬ 
 sess but a small amount of productive power, in the form of 
 rail-roads and labor-saving machines. You have a deep inter¬ 
 est in common with all the States, in upholding the labor of 
 the country. You seem to be satisfied that the time has come 
 when something should be done to improve the condition of 
 your people. The people of Virginia, with South and North 
 Carolina, (particularly the two former States) have pursued a 
 policy that has brought them, so far as population is concerned, 
 to a stationary condition : and from present indications, I 
 should not be surprised to see Eastern Virginia and South 
 Carolina with a less number of people in 1850, than they con¬ 
 tained in 1840. 
 
 If you propose now to enter upon those pursuits that are 
 certain in their operations to give employment, and that of a 
 profitable kind to your people, and to create a market at home 
 for your agricultural products, what object can there be in 
 transferring our workshops to Great Britain? The South and 
 West have every motive to give efficient protection to the la¬ 
 bor of the whole Union ; first, because those employed in the 
 mechanical and manufacturing arts, are the best customers 
 for your agricultural products; and, secondly, because you 
 desire to engage in those departments of labor yourselves. I 
 say then, look well to this project, now under consideration at 
 Washington, to change our whole revenue system. There is 
 one principle upon which every government, and every com¬ 
 mercial community, with which I am acquainted, agree 
 throughout the world; and that is, to establish specific duties, 
 or a valuation of their oivn. Mr. Walker has reversed this 
 decision, and recommends ad valorem duties on an alleged 
 valuation abroad. I deem this feature in the bill, a violation 
 of sound principle, and such as must be condemned by men of 
 all parties, whose experience and knowledge are of value. It 
 is no other, in practice, than to drive from our foreign trade a 
 
HON. WILLIAM C. RIVES, NO. III. 
 
 33 
 
 large number of honest importing merchants, and to place 
 their business in the hands of unscrupulous foreigners. Time 
 may reveal the truth of this prediction. 
 
 The President, and his Secretary of the Treasury, have sta¬ 
 ted that the operations of the present tariff law, oppressed the 
 poor. I confess this assertion surprised me, coming from high 
 functionaries of the government, who have the means of ob¬ 
 taining correct information. I assume the responsibility of 
 stating that a laboring man may be, and is, clothed with 
 American manufactures, from the crown of his head, to the 
 sole of his foot, as cheaply as a laboring man in Great Britain, 
 or any other part of Europe, who wears as comfortable gar¬ 
 ments; and that the revenue is raised principally from arti¬ 
 cles consumed by those classes of society, who are in easy pe¬ 
 cuniary circumstances. I beg to refer Mr. Walker to the 
 reports from the customs, and ask the favor of him to present 
 them to the President, and he will there find the only article 
 on which the poor man is taxed to any extent, is sugar—and 
 that cannot be deemed very onerous, when he obtains his tea 
 and cofie free of duty, and with a favorable prospect, if the 
 present duty be maintained, of very soon being supplied from 
 our own soil, with sugar, at a price much below that now 
 paid. It is an error of the President and Secretary, to put 
 forth a statement that the tariff of 1842 oppresses the poor 
 man, when the principal part of the revenue is derived rather 
 from the luxuries, than the necessaries of life. 
 
 When we hear from high sources, of transferring our work¬ 
 shops to Manchester, Birmingham, and Leeds, I should be 
 glad to know if it be proposed to transfer our intelligent work¬ 
 ing men with them—and whether a farmer in Ohio can be 
 made to believe that these men will eat more of his beef and 
 pork, in Old than in New England. This is a strange doc¬ 
 trine, and sounds to me quite anti-American, and is the same 
 as the sentiments uttered by the old Tories, previous to the 
 Revolutionary War. 
 
 There is one other point to which I shall allude, in the report 
 of the Hon. Secretary. He says that the wages of labor are 
 lower now, than previous to the tariff of 1842. If he means 
 5 
 
34 
 
 LETTER OF HON. ABBOTT LAWRENCE TO 
 
 the wages of labor in the manufacturing portions of the coun¬ 
 try, I will state a fact, which I think completely illustrates the 
 incorrectness of his assertion. 
 
 In the State of Massachusetts, the institutions for Savings, 
 are obliged by law, to make returns to the Legislature. In the 
 annual returns, just published, I find the following: 
 
 Savings Banks in Massachusetts. 
 
 
 Number of 
 depositors. 
 
 Amount 
 
 deposited. 
 
 Increase in 
 depositors. 
 
 Increase m 
 
 amount 
 
 deposited. 
 
 1841 
 
 1842 
 1845 
 
 39,832 
 
 41,102 
 
 54,256 
 
 $6,485,424 82 
 6,675,878 05 
 9,214,954 07 
 
 1,270 
 
 13,154 
 
 $190,453 23 
 2,539,076 02 
 
 Being an increase from 1841 to 1842, of about 3 per cent on 
 depositors, and about 3.^ per cent on amount deposited—and 
 an increase, from 1842 to 1845, of about 32 per cent on de¬ 
 positors, or nearly 11 per cent per annum, and about 38 per 
 cent on amount deposited, or nearly 13 per cent per annum. 
 
 I shall make no comments upon this extraordinary exhibi¬ 
 tion of the increase of depositors and deposits, further than to 
 state that all the world know for whom these admirable insti¬ 
 tutions were established, and by whom they are used. 
 
 I will not trouble you with more facts, arguments or illus¬ 
 trations touching this great question, national in its character, 
 and as broad as the limits of the Union, and one that reaches 
 the condition of every individual in it. 
 
 I have, personally, no more interest in this question than 
 any other citizen. If the government adopts a course of meas¬ 
 ures that prostrates the labor of the country, I shall, in com¬ 
 mon with every other citizen, feel its effects. We are, I hold, 
 one great family, and indissolubly linked together, and the 
 chain cannot be touched, without the vibration being felt at 
 either extremity. 
 
 I entertain and cherish a strong American feeling; although 
 born and bred in Massachusetts, I have a feeling of pride in 
 the honor and character of every State in our Union. I 
 desire to see our whole population go onward and upward, 
 in a course of prosperity and happiness. My affections for 
 
HON. WILLIAM C. RIVES, NO. III. 
 
 35 
 
 this country are not bounded by geographical lines, and 
 whether I find myself in Maine or in Georgia, still I am an 
 American citizen, protected by the constitution and laws of one 
 of the most prosperous and happy countries upon which the 
 sun ever shone. With all our party strifes and bickerings, the 
 country goes on prospering, and I trust, to prosper. I have 
 only to ask of those who are now the actors on our great polit¬ 
 ical stage, not to experiment upon the prosperity and destinies 
 of a happy and contented people. 
 
 With sentiments of the highest respect and regard, I remain 
 dear sir. 
 
 Your friend and obedient servant, 
 
 ABBOTT LAWRENCE. 
 To Hon. William O. Rives, Castle Hill, 
 
 Albemarle County, Virginia. 
 

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