North Carolina Newspapers

Rift - V - Ve - fcf ' Two St A HALF UOL PIR 1 " ' ' " "" ' ' . . """" f 1 1 ' -' IV? ,L7tf- a x it irWiwy. J ' PUBLISHED (weekly) BY WILLIAM BOYLANV .". rpZmAJV Vol. iig , RALEIGH,(N.C.) MONDAY. MAY ig, 1806. 0. 52 . 1 ' " I I HI 111 I II '' 1 ' ' CONGRESS. Tuesday, March 8. ' DEBATF On 3!r. Gregg's Resolution " : (Continued) ( Mr. Nicholson's Speech concluded.) Arc geotlciLtn prepared then to hazard thefe confqucoccs i are they ieady to gi 1 1 wer for the protection of this carry ing trad.:, iu which the great bulk of il natiou have no in'tereft ? I vcuture to affrrt that-niue.teen twentieth! of the people of this ccuncty have no iotereit what ever in the trade, for which we are now about to contend. One co'ifolstion, howevor, yet remains let this Houfe receive the meafure as Lv urably as they may, the people will con denn if, wh?o they feel its couftqueucea. We . ro;.y rui hcaJ long into war, but we (hall not have the trouble of carrying it on. The peo ple, will fupply our places with other reprefenta. tlve9 they will not fo readily forgive U3, 1 truft ia Gid ih y will not. A gmilcman from MafTachufetts (Mr. Ctowoinfhicld) thinks the meafure will not leid to war, but if he believed it would, this would be no objeftiou wiih hiiri to the refolutioo he would 11 iil vote for it. We-can convert our vefLls, he fays, into pu'vateere, and can capture t wo or three ; Briiifh veflcls for one of our own that wiil be loll. How, I aflc, is this to be o fit the farmer cr the planter i What propor tiou of thefe profits ire to go into their pocket6 ? . The ge otic man msy vett his capital in priva tetrs, and may makeja. fortune. Here, Gr, he ptaj the merchaot again. Whatever thc"ef feci may be on the grtat body of the people, he h Shy foci iliil the nation may bleed at every pore, but he will have his pound of flcfli. This privateering bufinefi, however, wcb'i J'j G BrtUio has eight hundred flvpsof war, and it ought to be remembered that (he can St out as ruauy ptifateersss we can. But,' fir, the idea of meeting Great Britain- n, the ocean is too Judicious to be repelled by ferious arguinenu My friend from Virgin! hzs given the heft an fwtr to it, in h'is prrfcription of a ft4U waift coa', a dark room, depletion aod water gruel. It is juft as ahfnrd as to talk of fitting out 8 privateer to fight s feventy fur. , The pentieaan ffoai M?ffthufettshas ano ther meafure in refcrve to wound Britain. He fells us we muil confifcate the public debt. This is a ftrsr.ge doctrine for men who talk fo much of TSattoDal honour. I have always be. lieved it tnoft honourable to pay our debts, io ftead of Twindling our creditors. My detcrmi nttioo, however, has long fii.ee been taken on this point. I will never confeot to lay ; my hands upon the public debt, but for the purpofe . of fairly cxtinguifhingit. Let our conflict with' Great Britain proceed to whit lengths it may, I will never lend my aid to dt fraud her fubjeots of that debt, for the payment of which the na tional faith is iolemnly pledged. The nation may do it i but if it be once done, the violati ons of the national honour, which are now fo loudly concplaincd of, will weigh but an aton in the fcale, when compared with the blow -whieh-ypit yurfelverwili level at your own ho- nour. You will fet your Tel ves up as a rare and modern cxzmple of the Punka fees, for you will fo effectually blaft y ur credit, that I venture to affirm you will make no more loans. Had I millions to lend, I wcu'd not truft you with a dollar. rrr ' ' To ju (I ify the meafure now proprfed, we ate referred to the years 1793, and 1794, sod hecaufe a refolution fomwhat fimilar to the prefent, was then adnp- cd, and had well nigh pi (Ted into; law, we are called upon to fan ft ion thawbidvi8 iowbcfore us. But will gentle," thyfe outrages to cornplain of at this time ? Not one. A pait of our ttade it is tru: ii of feaed," but it is that part h'ch is the lead i'd ttrtfting to the nation. When I fay this, I trull it will not be believed that I am wrhing to abandon it, or that I meag tojEliiate the con du of G. Britain. My only of jcc is to ihew that for this carrying tr2de, we cuglft not to briog upon ourfilves tbe calamities of war, nor to purfiie a tin of couduft which though it may affel G. Brifaio, will operate a.uch more injuf jotifly upon our ovin country. ,h isfaid, however, that the meafure wi'l rot lead to war. This I am willing to grant for argument's fake. Let us the take it in, the mo ft favourable point of view in which it can be pietended, and eoquire into its confequerces Suppofe Britain does not confider it a caufe of war, but that neverthelcfs, inflead of relaxing itj htr fvflem, Ihe fhould obllinately pcrfirt in it. Gentlemen fecm to have looked at only one fide oi the qucftion, and appear to have for gotten that every queflioa has two fiJei to it. Ia their anxiety to ii jure Britain, they have not attended to the tfk'cts which thtir propi fition is calculated. to produce at home fhould file perfiO, in what manner are we to be .Jfefled by the propefed meafure ? Let u Lc how it i to operate 00 the revenue. And here it would be well to remind gentlemen that aimoft the whole of our reventie is derived from the duty paid 00 the importation of foreign mercbandife, aod that this duty annually amounts to Dolls. 11,350,000 Our imports from G. Britain amount annually to 27.400,000 From the Britilh Ealt Indies, to 3 eco COO Briiifh Wtft In dies, to 4 5:70,000 Ne Brunfwick, Nova Scotia, and Canada, to Sir, fcid, Mr. Nicbolfon, the gentleman r!e. clarcd when he was addrefltog you 00 this refo lut ion, that he had before dated, he did not believe the revenue would be dirrinifhed one million of dollars, but that he had fince thoucht it "Jvoold not be dimifhed a jingle dollar he now goes back, howevsr, to his n illion, and this is the difficulty which conftaotly prefents iifelf. WVcau none of us tell how much the revenue will be diminifhed, though every one acknow ledges to a very great extent my fear is that the lofs will fee equal at lead, to two or three millions. How ttrange a'te the arguments "of fered to up I One gentleman tells you, you ought to protect cmimerce, becaufe we derive our revenue from it and yet in the fame mo. meot, he advocates a meafure which he admits is to dfftroy a large amount tf that very reve oue he is fo defirous of protecting. Another calls on you to pvoteft the revenue and warns yeu agaiuft direct taxes; whilft his favourite meaf re, by de'lroyinar a confiderable amount of revenue, renders dlreS faxes neccllary. I warn thofe gentlemen, in my turn, againfi direft tstc-s. Let them take care, that they do not by agreeing to this refolution, compel the nation to refoft to thofe taxes, which they fay was the rock upon which the former, adminiftration fplit. Let them remember'that the diiedi tax for two millions of dollars only, which was laid eight years ago, is not yet received in the treafury. Will tbey, by adopting this meafu'e, and there by reducing the revenue, drive us into excife du ties as a fubditute i They ought to recoiled that th;, too, was once a favonrite fcheme of Making in the whole Ii is uncertain how much is exported, but fay, 540,000 35(otOjCoq,,. 6,010, coo men undertake to far that our fit nation at this time will juftify fucb meafoics as Were adopted then i -Will they pretend that we have now the fame grounds ior hoftiiity againll Britain, . or that the two periods cao be compared with each et.hep ? What was our fituation in 1793, and 1794? We had made , a treaty in the year 1783, with G Britain ten years after, fome ot its moft important ft'ipulations on her part were lis fulfilled. She had pledged herlelf to rcttore.to our citizena aa-im,meofe amonot ot property, which had been taken from them. She had engaged to put us id pofRfBon of the Wefiern ports. With neither tf thefe engage. ' meotshad fhV then complied - Yeat after. year ihc was aftive in kindling a definitive war upon cor frontier, and had let loofe the favage ef the wildernefs upon our peaceable citizeor. :' The Algerinea too werr at 1 fce ioftijration of ; ; Britain, committing "ifrpiedaiicproo our ccro iDtrce, and io addiudn to ill this fhe 'dirtAed a - L4OW at our tiade, more injurious than that ; Which is now CorrriiaWri nf Fnp fK nrArwn) to captuxe, all vefTeis Iadeu wiih i ing gviing to the French io'enies or re ; turqmg from them with the produtis of thofe colonita on board. Then it was that the meai . I'ure al'u.cd to wat adooted bv one brinch of ture, and it ,is mr-fl certain that t enough to Ro 'to war.'-- But is our l;:u:tiua as ;.sll iixiilar now :. Have we any of cr.ctui7.rra 30,000000 ' The, revenue on which as ap pears by the report of the Secie- sx taryj)f the Treafuty amounts to, 5.432,000 r very little lefs than one httlf of cur whole le venue derived from imports. The gentleman frpm ' Penivf) Jvtinia (Mi. Gregg) thought he had gained au in rrer.ft triu umph in (hewing that 1 had been guiity of an ciroi;in dating the average duty on iroporta. lions from Britaia at 20 per cenium, which he fays is not more than 14 per cent. It ought to be remembered, that 1 did not pretend to fpeak with accurary ; for when I mite a ft-w obfer vations ptefacing a refoluticn which 1 fubmit. led fome time fince, I had no documeuts from which a calculation could be made. I fuppoled that the importations from Britain might amount to 25 oco oco of dollars, and taking the average duty at ao per cent, ,, faid five milli. 008 of revenue would be afTeded. Does howe ver, the detection of the" error, change the Yefult? It does oot ; . for it appears by the report of the fecretary of the treafury, tht ihe revenue de rived from this fource is 5,432.000 c'ollars, which is more than J dated it at. I all this then to be put to baa srd i Are..Wfito caft it upoa the ocean of uncertainty without helm or chart ? . And for hat ? To protect that trade from which the revenue is derived ? 'No, St to proteel that trsde which carries out own ptO" dufts to market, and brings heme in retutn the articles of cur confumption? No, fir but to roteA a trade intcrefting only to a few merchaots, and I repeat it again; totally noin tetefting to more than nineteen twentieths of the people of Jthis country. Gentle,men afk, will you not a full the merchant, in retbvering its property i. I anfwer, yes, moft willingly ; but not at this expeofe I will not commit to cfiance nearly one half of tRe revenue of the na tion, which we have already pledged for the fair and honourable difcharge of the public pert Sir, when I faid fome days ago, that fie milli ons ofthe revenue would be abided by tliis mea fure, I was" underftobd by fome to. have ftated. that ft would be dimitiied to. the amount of five Bjilliom. This, however, was oot my ftate meot j for I' well knewf tharTit was cot in the power cf human ingenuity fo talcu!a:e the x 4rni to which it would Lc affeftcd. But .by prohibiting the importation ef goods from the only country that could furoifh all of f hem, yod would thereby, haxard the whole revenue derivl ed from them, and a part of it would certaia'y beloJ. What amount would be loft, IdidntH. pretend to fay I do not now pretend to fay iusbeyond my reach botthat a ccnfi3etible a meT ant would be loftirfeemed to be admitted raifmg revenue, t hotigh Hot a very fortunate or a very popular one? as fome gentlemen on the other fide of the Houfe can teltify. I believe, fir, that they, at leafl, will not be very willing to burn their fingers w'uh it a fecond time. They have their experience on this poiit. But, when gentlemen call upon us io agree with them in a meafure, which they admit will confiJera bly diminifh the tevenue, though they cannot calculate the extent, why don't t-hey tell ust what l hey intend to propo"i as a fuhftitute 1 want to fe their ways and means for fupplying the deficiency until they flic w us thefe, 1, for one, will not cpnfcnt to cut oft' our ptefent re foutces are we to borrow ? It won't do, Mr Chairman, to talk of borrowing and of confijea tion in the fame breath wc fhalLfiod no body to truft us , and if we could, we mutt flill find (be. way s and means of paying. Let us, however, purfue this refolotion thro' all its effects, and lliil continue to confider it in as favourable a paint' of view as is bed friends can wifh for let it be admitted that we enn procure from other countries, all thofe ar ticles which we prohibit the importation of from Bi itaio, and of courfe that the revenue will not be diminifhed at all-- It may yet be worth while to enquire, whether the neceffary coofe- quences that mult follow, will vot operate mod injuriorifly upon the citizens of the U. States (ay notning or me great auucuity wntca ine importiog merchants miift experience in chink ing their courfe of trsde, from that channel io which it has been actuftomed to flow, for 18 or 20 years appointing new agents, and form ing new correfpondencies upon the continent of Europe and the abfolute impcfitbility of ob taining the fame credit there, that they enjoy in Enplandthefe are minor confideratioos. But, lir, let us erquire, whether tbe merchants and the agricultures will experience no lofs Uom thia chaugc we export annually to Great Britain, of dnmcftic produce more than thir teen and an half millions of dollars, aod toiler colonial poCcfilonp, more than fix millions, mak ing in the whole upwarda of twenty millions of dollars to all the reft of the world wc export in doraeilic produce only about nineteen and tr helf inillions of dlIarsfrom GrcatrBritain we get her-roanufafture8 in exchange for our ptoduce, aad it is faid that we can procure the lame articles from other countries this is ad mitted 1or argument fake but thofe other countries willnot purchafe our domeftic pro ducc they do not want it it muft therefore flill go to Britain, and her colonies, if, indeed, they will; receive it j and it muft there , be fold -what then wiirbe tbcuate ot tbe cat i wc fhall annually have ia England for produge fcld there, and for bills of eachsoge, drawn by the colonies, more, than twenty millions of dollars -this fum mull be fer.t to the cootineot of Eufopej to pay for ( he goods we purchsfe there. I" now, therefore, eflc gentlemen if they have talculatf d the effects of forcing this large Tun 4Dut of its' natural, or rather out of its habit ual chaotief ? Have, they calculated the effed to b , produced on f xcliapgej by fending annoaHj from Ep gland, more titsn twenty millions ef Polhrjj overand above the cuftomary rernittaa ccaL. Ijtt them look to a laterrccntrcnce a couk3cVbhf lom of money was lately to be re mitted from Euglard, rv pr.y the 2 itifb troops by every bodyi except the gentleman from Msf j on the ; cuiticeBt, jfid 'a oecefTarily done lii'C-iecr.iit I''d caufe fichufettf, ;who faid we lhould riot luur dollar r Mr?: CrtH'niie-JxhirttA, hy obfa vmg a traiif-iaioi tut of 1 h i di ft itf. courfe 1 and I that he had faid the rneafuie w'ild not, io hi opinion, sfFl the revenue above a m-iiorj of . dollars, and thtgeBtlemafl had flaw reduced it to one dollatV - ' . ' ; - ' "' to be remitted to this country, and even v this fmall amount, the dale was obliged to p one per cent above par. Ami not, tbeii,' tV wairantedjri faying, that when the Arerid merchants wi:l annually have ia England," mc than twenty millictiS of dollars, to be rencKt .1. . i: fj .r J u mc luii uncut, il dc lorcca rut or its nicioa coutfe, into new and extraordinary channe that it will raife the price of exchange, at feu from. to ten per cent, and that, therefore. annual lefs will be incurred, from twelve bu dred thoufandto wo millioos of .dollars ?4 This lefs will not fall upon thofe who coi fur your prbduce in England, nor I believe up your own meichants who buy it here for wh they are making their purchtfes here,' they wi calculate the Inlles t ht y arc, to fuitain abroa and thtfe will be cof f'!ered in the prices' whis they will pay the nect flat y confcqueiice the t fore is, that -the price, of Arret ican pro'utl muft fink in proportion to this great )f, arf that the loss, will of courfe, fall upon Amcr can agriculture. Again, fir, as to the effect upon the mark for American produce we fend to England anj her colonies large quantities of our native prr1 ductions I will mftance cotton alone in 18c, we exported to Ei frland 25 770 oco pcui.'ds cottoti, valued at 6,184 979 dollars in 180 it would be ft ill more, becaufe in 1804 we ti,1 ported to Liverpool, 78 2t ba'cs, sud id tl three fiift quartets of the year 1805, the expofl to Liverpool wki 93 714. baits thus, it art' pearo, that England is a great snd ercrcafinfj market for our cotton. We import from Enjil ln4 kll m Alllrtn n A r . I-. u.. . . V. f tauu mi tin. vuuuo uuui w t uit, riicui It white and daioed cottons which come ftnrr tlJ Eafl Indies. By diminifhing the importatio cf thefe f.bncs, we of courfe diminifh the dd mand f6r our own cotton i for nothing is morl near, uan iuai bb iooq ai wc rciuie to impol her cotton manufaftures, die mutt refufe ti bu; of us ihe! raw. material out of which they a r made. ' The conftquence will be a rtduCUo is ine price or our cotton, to tne amount, pruba bly of ffty or one hundred per cent. With lmel however, thia reduction in the price may 00c be very ohjecttonable ; I mean with thofe mcrJ chants, who are trading to India wtb latge ca pitals, and who tell you tbey can furni vi us wit cotton goods from thence, tor thtfe men fa as foon as col too can be bought in this country at twelve and an halt cr tiltceii cents per udu it will become a good export to lcdia as a A.b ftttute I01 money. Now, ho jrtvtr agreeably it may oc, 10 lucie mcrcnanis 10 mcreaie tnctl fortunes, by reducing the price of cotton, -I imagine it will not be very favou-ably cocfijer-' ed by the planters of the fouihern datet, who. fcndtluir cotton to England, aod fell it from? twenty Jive to sixty cents. Th is is one of tb ef J feels to be produced on. the fout'oerh flates, and the'g'entlemaa from Georgia tonfiders them' more intereded io this meafure, than the others! This may be true, but I mean to fhew that the middle dates are very much intereded in it likc-j vile. I do not iutend to notice the tobjccoj of Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina although in this article wc export to England, ! from two and an half, to four and an ha. f mil lions of dollars ar.nus'.Jy. ' We export to the Britifh Well Indies,' in flour, coin uital. other ptovifions and lumber, annually about fix mill lions and fifty thoufaod dollars.. We.receiv in tcturn, rum, lugar and coilce to the E.nunt: of four and an h&If millions of dollars- i he ie mainder, paitly in fpecie, but principally ioj bills of exchange on England if we lefufe to! take thefe four millions and sn half, io the pio dudts of thefe iflands, can the Wed lodiaa plan ter purchile our articles at as high a price as( he now pays for them ? 'Ce-rtaitly not, and the inevitabUVtTeft will be to reduce the value of all' thofe- produc-wbich arche growth if the ' middle dates. In fad it may be faid generally, that when you prohibit the importation into this country of alt articles of the growth, pro-j duce, or roanufaclure of Great Britain, you! tlrereby diminifh their ability to purchafe ihe! prcdufts of our own counity, for which Britain' turbines a greater roatliet thaq- all the reft 01 the world befidea. The more extecfie the pro.l hibition, the more extenitve the irjuty to our felvcs. . '' ; - : -;' '- .-'j I hv examined. the C!'iTTon cflhe feb tlemanifom Pcnnfylvanra, under three differr entviews. Firft. that the manner in which it isexprefled, together with the langcage of thofe who fupported it, wculd be calculated tq' d. duce war." Secondly, that by adopting if, we fho'aid hazard nearly ' one half of ouLtevinne, confiderable par t of which would be loft t and thirdly, .that it neither of thefe effscls were pro duced, the nectTary coi'feque-ce" would be a vad diminution in the vaJutol our own produces, which would fall' upon the agricultural part cf the CjOmmuoity alone.. 7T'' fl mull now be permitted-!; recur again to1 the fecon point for the purbofe oTlhewing that -we caanot be fupplitd with many impor .tiot articles from other nations, which 1 we gfec mi well informed. 'tbjt bid ihe immediate from Great BriUiin, d 6f courfe, that the edeft to raife the ris of t ickwz if rren ptr tent. I hoIe of the re venue collected from: thefe, will .1 . a . .1 I.: f...l.'.'.i,-' ri 0..... t ... .- AZ ine une 01 otiamaou witnio ine istt vear J u w uom. ... x w twic, ai4 ; had three hundred tLoufiad dollars ia Eagiacd, ";" " . (CJmeluMdU pnge ) - - - j by hiis of' exchace iVwsiTM ';ou'ra wilPbe 1 - - . : - ... - .-. , : -. - JL .. it