The Daily Union

The Protective System,

The signs cannot deceive us. The whigs, though they affected non-committalism during the campaign, are now unmasking their battery. They mean to repeal, if they can, the tariff of 1846, and restore substantially the provisions of 1842. They have already tried it in the House; but they are not baffled. They will attempt it again this session--certainly the next Hence it becomes us to plant our foot firmly down, and resist the effort,

The following communication takes a masterly view of the question which it discusses; and though, if we had been at liberty to consult our feelings for Mr. Skinner, we should avoid giving him the slightest pain, yet our public duty compels us to publish the criticism

Mr. Skinner's doctrine would sacrifice an immense foreign trade to an absorbing internal commerce, founded upon an artificially balanced system. The true political economy would cherish both, by leaving both as free as possible. The advantages of foreign trade have been the eloquent theme of many a pen; none more beautiful, perhaps, than Addison's description in the Spectator. "Nature (says he) seems to have taken a particular care to disseminate her blessings among the different regions of the world with an eye to this mutual intercourse and traffic among mankind, that the natives of the several parts of the globe might have a kind of dependence upon one another, and be united together by their common interest. Almost every degree produces something peculiar to it. * * * For those reasons, there are not more useful members in a commonwealth than merchants. They knit mankind together in a mutual intercourse of good offices, distribute the gifts of nature, find work for the poor, add wealth to the rich and magnificence to the great. Our English merchant converts the tin of his own country into gold, and exchanges its wool for rubies. The Mahomedans are clothed in our British manufactures, and the inhabitants of the frozen zone warmed with the fleeces of our sheep."

For the Union.

"The Plough, the Loom, and the Anvil."

I take it for granted that it is well known that, under the title above quoted, John S. Skinner, esq., late editor of the Farmers' Library, has commenced the publication of a monthly periodical, professedly devoted to the agricultural interest, and appealing to that interest for patronage and support, but really acting as the champion of the manufacturing and mining interests, which, although far more wealthy in proportion to the number of persons engaged in them than the agricultural interest, are constantly clamoring for protection-in other words, for the privilege of taxing, through the instrumentality of the legislation of Congress, the great mass of the American people for the benefit of the few lordly proprietors of looms, spindles, and iron mines. Judging from the character of the original articles which appear in his new journal, it is evident that Mr. Skinner's whole aim is to resuscitate the exploded protective system; and hence, in order to disarm of all fears and suspicions the planters and farmers, who are to be the victims, he insidiously approaches them under the plausible and insinuating pretext of a proposition to unite the interests of the "plough, the loom, and the anvil," as if they had ever, under ordinary circumstances, in a civilized country, been separated. The object sought, and the indirect mode of attaining it, are consistent with the creed and the policy of the school of politics in which Mr. Skinner has been reared, and of which he has through a long life been a devoted disciple; although in candor I must admit that, in my opinion, he honestly believes in the theories which he advocates.

But, it is due to the agricultural interest that the disguise be stripped from this patronizing friend, and particularly so inasmuch as his theories are adopted and endorsed by the National Intelligencer, the leading federal print in the country-by which term I mean conservative, in the English sense of the word; which is, in point of fact, the tory party in England: The conservatives in England have always stood bravely by old abuses, monopolies, privileges, titles, and dignities, but not with more stolid pertinacity than their counterpart, the self- styled conservative or whig party of this country, who are but the imitators and echoes of the conservative tories of England. I am, however, wandering from my subject. My purpose was to examine the theory of Mr. Skinner in the shape in which it is shadowed forth under the mystical and plausible title of "The Plough, the Loom, and the Anvil," and advocated in the pages of the new periodical published by him.

The theory, as I understand the venerable and respectable gentleman, is, that the labor of a nation should be so shaped by its legislation that each of its different divisions should produce just enough of its articles or products as will suffice to supply the wants of the whole nation, and no more. In other words, the plough, representing the agriculturists, should have by its side a sufficient number of those engaged in operating the loom and the anvil to consume all its surplus products, in order that it shall not be compelled to go abroad to search out markets and customers for those products. And, on the other hand, the loom must have enough agriculturists, &c., by its side to consume all the cloth it weaves, in order that it may not be compelled to go to foreign countries to seek markets and consumers. And so of the anvil.

Now this must be the true interpretation of Mr. Skinner's scheme, represented by the three cabalistic words which he has adopted as the title of his new periodical. or they mean nothing. It will not do for him to say that he is looking out only for the agriculturist; for that would be an acknowledgment that his scheme was a deception and a device for mischief and injury to other interests. Therefore, when he gets his plan into practical operation, he must preserve the balance. After taking from agriculture, and putting to the loom and anvil, a sufficient number of persons to consume the surplus agricultural productions of the country, he causes those two instruments to over-produce-that is, make too much cloth and iron for the consumption of the nation, and thus compel them to go to foreign countries for markets and consumers-he must again equal- ize, by transferring them back to agriculture-involving, of course, the movement of immense amounts of capital. and the loss of vast sums in machinery and apparatus. If he does not make these transfers of men and capital from one interest to another, as the production of one exceeds the consumption of the whole, he throws his scheme out of its equilibrium, and his theory must explode.

Now, the bare statement of this theory shows its utter absurdity, setting aside the violation of every sound principle of political economy which it involves, and the contradiction of the testimony afforded by the experience of all civilized nations. There is not a nation in the world in which some great interest does not predominate, and produce more of its peculiar commodities than can be consumed by its own people; and hence it must seek a market abroad for this surplus, or it must suffer it to perish upon its hands; and thus the labor spent in producing it becomes an utter loss. And it is upon this great and interesting fact that commerce among nations is founded. Commerce is but the exchange of the surplus products of the labor of one nation for the surplus products of the labor of other nations. Thus, in theory, the scheme of Mr. Skinner, if it were possible to carry it out in practice, would annihilate all commerce, and, as a necessary consequence, all civilization: for nations will not mix with each other for courtesy merely They must be impelled together by traffic. Such is the order of Providence; and the reason and the effort of feeble man cannot repeal it, nor successfully evade it.

So much for the philosophy of Mr. Skinner's theory. I will now test its utter absurdity and impossibility by facts, which neither he nor any one else can gainsay.

The greatest and most important interest in this country is the agricultural. It possesses a capital of at least $4,000,000,000, and probably produces at least $1,000,000, 000 in value of products. Certain it is that it produces a large surplus of wheat, corn, cotton, tobacco, rice, and provisions, for exportation to foreign countries. It produces more wheat and corn than can be consumed at home, or for which a market can be found abroad. Of the grains, it produces from 30,000,000 to 40,000,000 of bushels more of wheat than can be consumed at home; and of corn, from 100,000,000 to 200,000,000. Now, Mr. Skinner observes this fact. He thinks it very hard that the agriculturists should be compelled to employ merchants and sailors to send this surplus, or so much of it as may be wanted, abroad to find consumers. Nay, he finds that, ordinarily, not quite enough consumers can be found abroad to absorb this surplus. He looks about for a remedy, and he finds the manufacturing interest which he represents under the figure of the loom, and the mining interest, which he impersonates in the form of the anvil, both employing much capital and many persons. And it occurs to his mind that the true remedy for the farmers and planters, whom he finds so oppressed with the bounties of Providence, is, to have Congress shut out from our markets, by legislation, the cloth and iron of other nations with which our farmers and planters have hitherto traded, thus rendering it impossible for them to purchase any of our grain; and thus, also, by rendering the business of agriculture so poor, and the manufacturing and mining business so good, as to compel a transfer of men and capital from the former to the two latter, until the products of the former are so diminished in amount that they will just equal the consumption of the whole nation. I will not stop here to consider the effect upon the manufacturing and mining interests of This transfer of men and capital, but will proceed at once to the statistics of those two interests. Employed in the manufacture of cotton was, in round numbers, $46,000,000; the number of operatives employed, 72,119. The capital invested in the woollen manufacture in 1810 was $15,000,000; the number of operatives employed, 21,312. In iron-mining, the capital invested was $21,000,000, number of tons of all kinds produced, 451,136; persons employed, 30,497.

The amount of capital now invested in the cotton manufacture, Leonard, in his "Mechanics' Principia," estimates at $66,964,275; the number of spindles employed, 2,675,571; the quantity of cotton consumed, 480,000 bales, or 240,000,000 pounds; the number of yards produced, 720,000,000, or 36 yards to each individual. And in the "Dry Goods Reporter," the organ of the manufacturing interest, published at the same time, I find the following estimate, by the editor, of the capital, &c., now employed in the cotton interest, viz:

Capital invested $80,357,130
Number of spindles 12,500,000
Number of operatives employed 101,250
Bales of cotton consumed 480,000
Yards of cloth produced 755,000,000, or 37 to each individual. This estimate may be too large, and for the purpose of my argument I will adopt the estimate of Leonard.

The amount of capital now invested in the woollen manufacture is $30,000,000, as estimated by Samuel Lawrence, esq., of Lowell, one of the most intelligent manufacturers in the Union. The value of manufactured goods, persons employed, &c., probably bear very near the same ratio to the capital as in 1840.

The iron interest, particularly in Pennsylvania, has made still greater strides. In 1840, the capital employed in iron mining in the whole Union was $20,190,758; quantity produced in tons, 454,136; persons employed, 30,497. In Pennsylvania, the amount of capital invested was $7,741,171, quantity of all kinds of iron produced, 451,639 tons; persons employed, 11,522. In 1847, according to Mr. Childs, the able editor of the Philadelphia Commercial List, as quoted in the Merchants' Magazine, vol. 16, pages 525-7, the capital invested in Pennsylvania was $20,190,758; number of persons employed, not stated; number of tons produced was 368,056, the value of which was $23,923,640. Thus, in 1847, did the iron interest in Pennsylvania nearly equal in amount of capital, &c., that interest in the whole Union in 1840.

The capital invested in the whole Union in the manufacture of iron in 1848 is probably about $50,000,000.

Omitting much of detail, which will too greatly encumber my article, I come now to the present value of the manufactures and products of these three interests.

Assuming, according to Leonard's estimate, the capital invested in the cotton manufacture to be $67,000,000, the value produced, bearing the same proportion to the capital as in 1810, would be not far from $275,000,000. The value of cotton goods imported in 1847, after deducting the amount exported, was $11,210,348; thus showing that the production of cotton goods in this country falls about one-fifth short of the consumption; and therefore the manufacture of cotton must be increased in that proportion to equal the consumption.

As before stated, the capital now invested in the woollen manufacture is $30,000,000. Estimating the production in the same ratio to the capital as in 1840, it will amount to $150,000,000. The value of woollen goods imported in 1847 was $10,655,875; thus showing that, in order to equal the consumption, the capital and production of this branch of manufactures will only have to be increased one-fifth.

The quantity of iron now produced annually in the United States is, probably, about 500,000 tons; worth $40,000,000. The quantity imported in 1847 was 85,314 tons, at a cost of $3,551,514. In 1845, the last year of the tariff of 1842, the quantity was 102,721 tons, valued at $3,159,036. It appears, then, that in order to supply the consumption of the country, it will be necessary to increase the production of iron not quite one-eighth of the present quantity produced.

Increasing the number of operatives, or laborers, in all these three interests, in the same ratio of the capital invested, as in 1840, let us see how much more of the products of the plough these interests will demand. As it is not necessary to be precise in order to illustrate the absurdity of Mr. Skinner's scheme, I will assume the present number of operatives in the cotton manufacture at 100,000, or 28,000 more than were employed in 1840; in the woollen interest 50,000, or 18,700 more than was employed in 1840; in the iron interest 50,500, or 20,000 more than was employed in 1840—making, in the aggregate, 96,700 more operatives and laborers than were employed in these three interests in 1840. Yet, as the production at present in all those interests—two of them at least—falls short of the consumption about one-fifth, it will be necessary to add 40,000 more operatives and laborers to the number, and then we shall have a sufficient force, with the corresponding increase of machinery, to manufacture just cloth and iron enough for the consumption of the whole country.

In England, it is estimated that there are three and a half persons dependent on each person engaged in manufactures. But, to be liberal, I will suppose that these 136,700 persons to be added to the manufacturing and mining interests, bring with them four dependent persons, or 160,800; making in all 200,000 persons abstracted from the agricultural interest, who, instead of being producers, become the consumers of the products of that interest. Will they be sufficient to consume the surplus grain of the agriculturists, saying nothing of the cotton, &c.?

Let us see.

In England and France, from five to seven bushels of wheat are allowed for the consumption of each person per annum. But, to make my calculation most favorable to Mr. Skinner's theory, I will allow 10 bushels of wheat and 10 of corn, which is twice as much as can be eaten by one person; making, in the whole, 2,000,000 bushels of wheat and the same amount of corn which they will consume of the products of the farmer.

Thus, after equalling the supply of manufactures and iron to the demand, the farmers have still some 30,000,000 bushels of wheat and 100,000,000 of corn for which to provide a market. Now, what shall be done?

In order to supply this market, will Mr. Skinner go on transferring men and capital from the farming to the manufacturing and mining interests? If he should do so, he would compel his manufacturers and iron-masters to exceed the demands of the plough interest, and compel them to go abroad in search of a market for their fabrics and iron bars.

The whole immense cotton manufacture of England employs only about 377,000 operatives, with 1,900,000 dependents, including themselves; and the value of cotton goods annually exported by England to other countries is about £12,000,000. The woollen and iron interests do not employ half of that number of persons. And yet, if the whole cotton, woollen, and iron interests of England were transported to this country, they could not consume the surplus grain and provisions produced by the American farmers.

But, according to his theory, Mr. Skinner is bound to balance the production and consumption of all these interests, and all other interests. He is bound to so increase the manufacturing and iron interests as will enable them to consume all the surplus products of the farmer, and, at the same time, save them from the necessity of going abroad for a market for their surplus fabrics and commodities. This I have shown to be an utter impossibility—a mere chimera of the brain—a most palpable absurdity.

But, according to his theory, nobody is to be compelled to go abroad in order to exchange the surplus products of his labor with the foreigner for the products of the labor of the latter. Now, what will he do with the cotton planter, to say nothing of the rice and tobacco planters?

The cotton planter produces 1,000,000,000 pounds of cotton each year; of which the American manufacturer consumes but 180,000,000 pounds, compelling him to seek a market in foreign countries for the other 720,000,000 lbs. Ought not Mr. Skinner's plan to remedy this? Let us see how much he must increase the capital, and the number of operatives of the loom, in order to do it.

Without going into details, my calculations require a capital of $372,500,000; value produced, at least $350,000,000; about 11,500,000 spindles; 525,000 operatives, with about 2,600,000 dependents, including themselves, who would consume only 26,000,000 bushels of wheat, still leaving a surplus in the hands of the farmer, supposing the surplus to be as great as now. It would produce 4,000,000,000 yards, and clothe 100,000,000 of people, allowing 40 yards to each person.

What, then, would become of the poor manufacturers? Why, they would have to seek a market for their surplus productions in every land and clime, and among people of every race, color, and name.

In these calculations, I have supposed the agricultural interest to remain stationary. That, however, would not be the fact. It would continue to increase; and with the immense facilities in this country, it will for many generations yet to come far outstrip all possible increase of the manufacturing interests. The process of checking the productions of the plough, which Mr. Skinner would have Congress adopt, is idle and preposterous. The transfer of every million of capital from agriculture to manufactures would take with it but about eight thousand persons able to be producers. And, as but about $20,000,000 capital are wanted to equal the supply of manufactured fabrics to the demand, it would be but a drop from the bucket. It would hardly exert a sensible effect upon the interests of agriculture. Mr. Skinner forgets that the great business of manufacture is done by machinery. It is the steam engine, the power loom, and the spinning jenny, that perform nearly all the work in the business of manufacture. A few men and women comparatively are required to look on and watch them. And in this fact will that worthy and respectable gentleman find an insuperable obstacle to his plausible but shallow scheme.

But I will not pursue the subject further, although I have an impregnable array of facts to bear upon it. The truth is, Mr. Skinner's scheme, when analyzed and stripped of its typical meaning and reduced to mere matter of fact, is the most absurd and grotesque that was ever proposed by any man in a sane state of mind. It involves not only a violation of all sound maxims of political economy, but it boldly contravenes the laws and the intentions of Providence, who has decreed that one nation shall produce a surplus of products peculiar to its climate, soil, and habits, to sell to other nations;—in short, that nation shall trade with nation and be civilized. Labor, which was ordained by God, is the parent of commerce; and commerce, next to the Christian religion, is the great agent of civilization.

Since Mr. Skinner has made his publication the mere vehicle of arguments in favor of a protective tariff, and so far political, he cannot expect that it will be countenanced and sustained by the great body of agriculturists who differ from him in opinion. He will more appropriately look, as he doubtless does, to the manufacturers and iron-masters for support.

COMMON SENSE.