all duties, especially as the wages of labor are lower in foreign manufacturing countries? The evidence that we should not have been supplied equally cheap, consists, in part, in the fact, that the consumers in this country of goods which have been effectually protected, are supplied more cheaply than the people of Great Britain, the principal manufacturing nation of Europe, and from which, mainly, our supplies would have been derived.

866. It is proper here to notice the error of those who have supposed, that goods could not be manufactured as cheaply in this country as in England, because wages are lower in the latter country than in the former. The high prices of provisions; the burthensome expenses of the gov ernment paid in tithes, and taxes of various kinds; together with the ground rents, and the transportation of the raw material of the cotton manufacture, overbalance the single advantage of the lower price of wages.

§ 867. Nor have the laborers in our manufactories experienced that depression which was deemed the certain consequence of a successful experiment in manufacturing. As evidence of the liberal compensation of labor in these establishments in this country, it may be stated, that, in a single manufacturing town in New England, $100,000 have been deposited in the savings bank in that place, by factory girls, comprising but a comparatively small portion of the whole number employed in the town. And much besides

is deposited in other institutions, owing to the fact, that each is allowed interest only on a sum of limited amount; so that when they reach this amount, they are obliged to invest elsewhere.

868. The advantages of a home market anticipated by the agriculturist, have also been realized. The foreign market is always uncertain; and a dependence on it subjects the farmer to frequent disappointments and losses; the foreign demand being governed by the contingencies of

admitted free from duty, than we now are? § 866. What considerations of a contrary nature, overbalance the advantage of low wages n England? § 867. Are factory laborers in this country duly rewarded for their labor? § 868. What causes render foreign markets uncertain? Give some examples of this uncertainty, and of the

plenty and scarcity, of peace and war, and changes in the policies of nations. Of the uncertainty of foreign markets, we have had numerous examples. In one year we exported 1,500,000 barrels of flour, and in the second year thereafter, only 750,000. The value of all kinds of vegetable food exported during the former year, was $22,000,000; dur. ing the latter, the total value of such exports was bui $9,000,000. To some place we have one year sent sev eral hundred thousand barrels of flour; the next year scarcely a barrel has found a market in such place.

§869. The home demand is not only more steady, bu much greater than the foreign. The quantity of vegetable food annually consumed in the United States, is ascertained to have been, during a given period, more than twenty times as great as the whole amount exported during the same time. In meats, the disproportion was much greater. Of the surplus grain and flour produced in the United States, more finds a market in three manufacturing states of New England, than in all foreign markets put together. Hence is perceived the value of a home market for the products of domestic industry.

§ 870. The productiveness of agricultural industry has been greatly increased. Not only does it supply the new demand created for its products at home; but it furnishes for exportation as great an amount as before, and even greater. In 1823, the year preceding the tariff of 1824, the amount of cotton exported was 173 millions of pounds, and of flour, 756,000 barrels; together valued at $25,400,000. The exports in 1826, two years after the tariff, were 204 millions of pounds of cotton, and 857,000 barrels of flour: the value of which was $29,150,000. In 1829, the quantity of cotton exported had increased to 265 millions of pounds, which alone was worth $26,575,000.

§ 871. The commerce and navigation of the country also have continued to increase with equal, if not greater ra

fluctuations of foreign demand? § S69. What are the advantages of the home market enjoyed by the people of the United States? § 870. State the effect of the tariff policy upon agricultural industry. §871. What has been the state of our commerce and navigation since the adoption of this system?

dity, since the adoption of the protective system. We conclude, therefore, from what has been said on this subject, hat, although free trade between nations is desirable, and might be most equally advantageous to all; the prohibitory policy of some nations, may impose on others the necessity of protecting their own industry, by counter restrictions and prohibitions.

CHAPTER XII.

Effects of Internal Improvements on Productive Industry.

§ 872. THE influence of protection upon the productive ndustry of a nation, has been considered in preceding chapters and it has been seen, that one of the most important results of the measure, is the increased demand for domestic products. But a market may be so distant from the place of production, or so difficult of access, as to render it of little value to the producer. Not many years ago, grain produced in the western part of the state of New York, did not find a market where it now does, in the towns and cities on or near the Atlantic coast. Nearly the whole value of a bushel of wheat would have been consumed in the expense of its transportation thither. Not enough would have been saved to compensate the cost of its production.

§ 873. Hence we perceive the utility of canals, railroads, and other channels of communication, to facilitate internal commerce. The productive energies of a nation are thus powerfully increased. By means of internal improvements, the products of the most distant parts of the country may be brought into market at a small expense. Since the completion of the Erie canal, a bushel of wheat

§ 872. What is the effect of the distance of market upon the price of a product? § 873. Why does a bushel of wheat command a nigher price now in the western part of New York and Ohio, than prior to 1825? What are the general effects of the construction of

commands nearly as high a price in the western, as in the eastern part of the state, because the cost of transportation has been reduced to a very inconsiderable amount. Formerly, there was little to encourage production, farther than was necessary to supply the wants of the producers. But by the cheapness of transportation, the amount and prices of products, the value of land, and, consequently, the wealth of the inhabitants of these remote parts of the country, have been greatly increased.

§ 874. Internal improvements also cheapen the necessaries of life. By the diminished cost of transportation, most articles of merchandise, either of foreign or domestic production, may be afforded in the interior and more distant parts of the country, at a small advance from the cost at the place of manufacture or importation. In some parts of the United States, before the present advantages of internal intercourse were enjoyed, a bushel of wheat could be ob tained in exchange for a yard of cotton cloth. In the same places, a bushel of wheat has, since that time, purchased eight or ten yards of similar cloth.

§875. It seems, then, to be the duty of the government to encourage production by authorizing the making of internal improvements. But objections are sometimes made to the application of the public money to the construction of works, the benefits of which are to be enjoyed only by a small part of the nation. But if it be the duty of a government to promote the general welfare, it cannot with justice withhold relief from that part of the population which does not enjoy the advantages of commercial intercourse. It is one of the cardinal principles of the social compact, that mutual sacrifices, (if indeed they may be so called,) are to be submitted to for the general good.

§ 876. But it is an error to suppose, that the benefits of these improvements are limited to those for whose relief they are primarily intended. Suppose that certain of the western states had no other than the ordinary means of

this work? § 874. What has been the effect of internal improvements on the price of merchandise in distant parts of the country? §875. Is it the duty of government to make internal improvements 876. Show how the whole country is benefited by improvements

communication, by land, with the Atlantic cities: these fertile lands, owing to their remoteness from the great markets of the nation, would possess little value. Would not policy, as well as justice to this sequestered portion of the union, dictate the construction of canals and rail-roads, as mediums through which vent might be given to its abun. dant products? And would not the trade thus opened be beneficial to the country at large? A powerful impulse would be given to industry in these western states. Both the quantity and prices of their products would be increased; and every article of eastern merchandise consumed in those states would be cheapened; and the manufacturing and commercial towns would be profited by this extension of their trade.

§ 877. Hence we are not to judge of the economy of a government, by the amount of money in its treasury. A person who hoards the yearly income of his industry, may have the merit of being frugal; but he is much the better economist, who employs the annual increase of his capital and labor in improving and extending his business; and, by the additional employment thus given to industry, he contributes essentially to the wealth and happiness of the community. So a nation or a state may wisely expend a part of its surplus revenue in the construction of works of public utility. By this means commercial intercourse will be facilitated; industry will be stimulated; the wealth of the country will be augmented; and, in due time, the money expended will be reimbursed.

878. But how ought the expenses of internal improvements to be defrayed? Most of the canals and rail-roads in this country do not pass from one state into another; but are confined within the limits of a single state. They are therefore more properly made by the authority of the state governments, than by that of the general government. Either companies, incorporated by a law of the state, construct these works at their own expense; or they are exe

which facilitate transportation. § 877. Is it good economy for a state to expend money in the construction of canals and rail-roads? What is the effect of such a policy? § 878. At whose expense ought these works to be made? What objection is there to raising the