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made with very great care, by a most intelligent writer, a friend of mine, in whose judgment I have the highest confidence. This estimate shows the exact state of things in this country, in connection with the subjects before us. And, before I go into it, allow me to say that the great wealth, the great happiness, of the country consists in the interchange of domestic commodities.

In illustrating this point, let us take the article of bread-stuffs. What do you do with it? Who consumes it? What becomes of it? You send your flour to Philadelphia, New York, and Baltimore; but where does it go to from those places? There must be an ultimate consumer. There must be a last man into whose hands the barrel of flour must go before the hoops are knocked off. And where is he to be found? Why, the chief consumption of wheat flour in this country is in the East, where the great manufacturing interests are carried on; and in the districts where large and extensive mining operations are successfully making progress; and in those other districts inhabited by the workers in wool, and workers in cotton, and workers in iron and the various metals. These are the classes who are the great and profitable consumers of the farmer's produce, whilst they never compete with him in raising it.

The amount of cotton imported into New England is very large, but the amount of bread-stuffs imported is still larger. But here is the extract before referred to:

"Bread-stuffs are a more valuable import into New England than cotton. Of flour (wheat) we do not raise, in Massachusetts, over 120,000 bushels of wheat, equal to 24,000 barrels of flour, - about enough for the Lowell operatives. The balance comes from States out of New England. I should say we consumed, at least, 600,000 barrels of imported wheat flour, and a large amount of maize, rye, and oats. Maine may raise one half its wheat, but imports a large quantity of maize, oats, and rye, and New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island import still more. Of sugar, we do not take any great quantity of Louisiana. It goes more to the Middle, but chiefly to the Western States. Of tobac co, we are, in New England, large consumers; and our ships to Africa and the East find a market for large quantities, in small parcels. Of naval stores, we, of course, consume immensely; for in Massachusetts we have 550,000 tons of shipping, and in Maine about 350,000 more; and in New England, in the whole, about 1,050,000. We distil a large quantity of turpentine for exportation to all parts of the world.

"There is no population except that of London which has a greater consuming ability for the necessaries, comforts, and most of the luxuries of life, than the 800,000 people of Massachusetts; consequently, there is no population so advantageous to trade with. The Middle, and Southern, and Western States have laid great stress on the Zollverein treaty, on account of reductions in duties, which would not augment the sales of tobacco, cotton, &c., to the extent of five hundred thousand dollars. Now, the commerce which those sections have with Massachusetts, which Mr. McDuffie ranks as one of the poor States, because we have but few exports for foreign countries, —I say, the commerce which these sections, namely, the South, and West, and Middle States, have with Massachusetts, is of more value, and of greater magnitude, than all the products which those sections sell to the whole population of Germany; and, I will add, to Russia, Sweden, and Denmark.

“What may be the amount of imports into Massachusetts from these sections, I cannot ascertain; but of grain of all kinds, it cannot be less, at average prices of the past five years, than $7,000,000; of cotton, 180,000 bales at $35 per bale, average of five years, $6,300,000; making $ 13,300,000 for those two staples. On reference to the returns of 1842, the last published, I find the domestic exports to the countries referred to as follows:

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"Commercially speaking, if this portion of the European population, amounting to at least 120,000,000, were to suspend their intercourse with the United States, it would be less detrimental to the States out of New England, than a cessation of intercourse with the poor State, as she is termed by many Southern men, of Massachusetts, with her population of 800,000 (last census 737,000), and increasing, in spite of the great density of her population, at the rate of about 18 per cent. in ten years.

"As to the other five New England States, I suppose the aggregate of their transactions with States out of New England may not equal the amount of the transactions of Massachusetts. This difference results from the nature of our products, and the superior amount of our capital, 25

VOL. II.

made with very great care, by a most intelligent writer, a friend of mine, in whose judgment I have the highest confidence. This estimate shows the exact state of things in this country, in connection with the subjects before us. And, before I go into it, allow me to say that the great wealth, the great happiness, of the country consists in the interchange of domestic commodities.

In illustrating this point, let us take the article of bread-stuffs. What do you do with it? Who consumes it? What becomes of it? You send your flour to Philadelphia, New York, and Baltimore; but where does it go to from those places? There must be an ultimate consumer. There must be a last man into whose hands the barrel of flour must go before the hoops are knocked off. And where is he to be found? Why, the chief consumption of wheat flour in this country is in the East, where the great manufacturing interests are carried on; and in the districts where large and extensive mining operations are successfully making progress; and in those other districts inhabited by the workers in wool, and workers in cotton, and workers in iron and the various metals. These are the classes who are the great and profitable consumers of the farmer's produce, whilst they never compete with him in raising it.

The amount of cotton imported into New England is very large, but the amount of bread-stuffs imported is still larger. But here is the extract before referred to:

“Bread-stuffs are a more valuable import into New England than cotton. Of flour (wheat) we do not raise, in Massachusetts, over 120,000 bushels of wheat, equal to 24,000 barrels of flour, — about enough for the Lowell operatives. The balance comes from States out of New England. I should say we consumed, at least, 600,000 barrels of imported wheat flour, and a large amount of maize, rye, and oats. Maine may raise one half its wheat, but imports a large quantity of maize, oats, and rye, and New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island import still more. Of sugar, we do not take any great quantity of Louisiana. It goes more to the Middle, but chiefly to the Western States. Of tobacco, we are, in New England, large consumers; and our ships to Africa and the East find a market for large quantities, in small parcels. Of naval stores, we, of course, consume immensely; for in Massachusetts we have 550,000 tons of shipping, and in Maine about 350,000 more; and in New England, in the whole, about 1,050,000. We distil a large quantity of turpentine for exportation to all parts of the world.

"There is no population except that of London which has a greater consuming ability for the necessaries, comforts, and most of the luxuries of life, than the 800,000 people of Massachusetts; consequently, there is no population so advantageous to trade with. The Middle, and Southern, and Western States have laid great stress on the Zollverein treaty, on account of reductions in duties, which would not augment the sales of tobacco, cotton, &c., to the extent of five hundred thousand dollars. Now, the commerce which those sections have with Massachusetts, which Mr. McDuffie ranks as one of the poor States, because we have but few exports for foreign countries, — I the commerce which these sections, namely, the South, and West, and Middle States, have with Massachusetts, is of more value, and of greater magnitude, than all the products which those sections sell to the whole population of Germany; and, I will add, to Russia, Sweden, and Denmark.

say,

"What may be the amount of imports into Massachusetts from these. sections, I cannot ascertain; but of grain of all kinds, it cannot be less, at average prices of the past five years, than $7,000,000; of cotton, 180,000 bales at $35 per bale, average of five years, $6,300,000; making $ 13,300,000 for those two staples. On reference to the returns of 1842, the last published, I find the domestic exports to the countries referred to as follows:

66

Hanse Towns, .

Russia,

Prussia,

Sweden, and Swedish West Indies,
Denmark, and the Danish West Indies,

Add, to Trieste,

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Commercially speaking, if this portion of the European population, amounting to at least 120,000,000, were to suspend their intercourse with the United States, it would be less detrimental to the States out of New England, than a cessation of intercourse with the poor State, as she is termed by many Southern men, of Massachusetts, with her population of 800,000 (last census 737,000), and increasing, in spite of the great density of her population, at the rate of about 18 per cent. in ten years.

"As to the other five New England States, I suppose the aggregate of their transactions with States out of New England may not equal the amount of the transactions of Massachusetts. This difference results from the nature of our products, and the superior amount of our capital, 25

VOL. II.

which, per capita, is greater than exists in any other State, and four times as great as in a majority of the States. Of course, such estimates are in some measure conjectural, but they are partly based on facts which are before the country.

"There never was a traffic carried on in any country, more advantageous, from its magnitude and its character, than the interchange of products between New England and the other States. We are large consumers. We pay cash for all we buy, and in good money, while we sell on credit, and have lost by bad debts south of the Hudson, within twenty years, more wealth than some of the cotton States, who call us poor, are now possessed of."

Now, the question is, Does not this show the true policy of the country to be, to build up interests that shall contribute to the healthy employment and mutual happiness of each other, and thus benefit equally the whole community? And with this, knowing, as I do, that the whole sentiments of the people of Pennsylvania are in favor of the protective system, I leave the topic.

Now, there is another and a very important subject that I desire briefly to speak of. We are trying the great experiment of the success of popular government, whether these seventeen millions of people will exercise so much intelligence, integrity, virtue, and patriotism, as shall secure to this great country for ever the blessings of a free, enlightened, liberal, and popular government. In the first place, we have laid at its base a Constitution, —I had almost said, and may say, a miraculous Constitution, when we take into view all the circumstances connected with its origin and maturity,- a Constitution unequalled in its scope and design, its construction and its effect, which secures the full enjoyment of all human rights alike to every one. We are bound by a solemn duty to see that, among the candidates for the high offices in the gift of a free people, we give our votes to such as venerate that Constitution, and to none other. The principles of our government are liberty and equality, established law and order, security for public liberty and private right, a general system of education liberally diffused, the free exercise of every religious creed and opinion, and brotherly love and harmony, this last being considered peculiarly the characteristic of a happy people under a free form of government. It is to preserve all these, to see that not one of these rights and privileges is soiled in passing

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