"heads of famiport of themselves t healthy, believe griculture will not harge to the puny Human nature is You do not do couraging it. Inimulate it, do not eel and know that country are within im feel and know to his country to ergy to the attainThe walls of this eeloquent words of ay up from honest lustry, who might tillers of a "quarI been held out to had deluded their this bill, although her respects, has a should silence all rage agricultureto the best intery that, but it is to mportance to this , the cotton, the ast,) will be borne all parts of the is bill. Nor these roved by it. The ore skillful by its . We must take eway, this will be ngs of this act will inly great objects; y the advocates of nt praise, none of gain at the title of E to the encourageand manufactures, es of industry.' title is concerned. ical vice versa Panupon this regenerlessings! Do not Do not fall back of old-How can out the exploded Do not ask how are necessarily inall other branches can be done-so I beg pardon-by is nothing in the or promotes any now, do you ask? the world. And the process, viz: o is the head of a ndred and sixty omain." This is us way "to ence, manufactures, stry." It is true, act does not state, enefits, great and 32D CONG.....2D S magnificent head from t This graduation system ent and more of a man tha quarter section of land from ing, clogged with the restr sell, but that I must live up myself. I think the true ment is to dispose of the pu can, at the prices which it gradually as the lapse of ti the lands are not wanted, character. Thad intended to go int gument on the subject, bu the Senate any longer, par from Mississippi has paid that branch of it, and I wi further upon the Senate at THE FEE OF MA IN THE SENATE, F On the bill to regulate the Circuit and District Cour Mr. BRADBURY sai bill is designed to accompl and I hope it will not be d destroyed by amendments reform is very much need friends of the measure not amendments, I will avoid result by too much speak remarks may be necessar as possible. This bill com and having been confided mittee of the Senate to have felt it to be my duty upon the Senate. Beyo licitude than that whic every Senator. a The bill is designed to pensation of district atto Commissioners, jurors, and district courts of th prescribe the costs whic Covered in these courts a anl suits. The bill has and a brief reference to t and the flagrant abuses the present system, wil of some measure of the There is now no un pensating the ministeri for the regulation of th rivate suitors. One trict, and a totally diffe Some cases it would b Bay attention had beer designed to regulate su is bill, but to put the - from Alabama, not at mediately after the title. tle for the world. I do it century there will be I talent that will put, in is title, such an amount nd such a speedy elecmediately afterwards. I ght not to be disturbed. ead. The body I look epit, and I think if the y friend from Alabama come in admirably after e legitimately before us, ment which I would pro was commented on and an and other wise legismen, and I do not think ole objection to it. I do bject if he can purchase merely nominal sum, the y. It is the duty and the t to dispose of the public le. If it cannot receive lapse of so many years, much per cent. and so on, elve-and-a-half cents per man 1 would rather own ayment of twelve-and-a-|| el myself more independhan I would by taking a from the public for nothestriction that I could not upon it and cultivate it e policy of this Governpublic land as soon as it h it can get for it, falling f time admonishes us that d, or are not rich in their into the constitutional arbut I do not wish to delay particularly as the Senator aid particular attention to will therefore not trespass at this time. EE BILL. .J. W. BRADBURY, MAINE, February 12, 1853, he Fees and Costs in the urts of the United States. said: Mr. President, this aplish an important object, e defeated, or its efficiency nts. It seeks reform where eded; and while I ask the not to allow its defeat by id bringing about the same aking on my part. A few ary, and I will be as brief mes to us from the House; d to my charge by the comwhom it was referred, I ty to urge its consideration yond this, I have no other ich should be common to o regulate the fees and comtorneys, marshals, clerks, and witnesses in the circuit the United States, and to ch shall be taxed and reagainst the losing party in s, then, two objects in view; the existing state of things, that have grown up under Il demonstrate the necessity e kind. iform rule either for comal officers of the courts, or le costs in actions between system prevails in one disrent one in another; and in e difficult to ascertain that paid to any law whatever ccodings The set ol The Fee Bill-Mr. Bradbury. February 28, 1799, which is the basis of the present SENATE. I have not the time to allude now to all the abuses that prevail in other respects. I hold in my hand an official report from the First Comptroller's Office, which shows that a clerk in Mississippi charged more than $3,000 for his per diem in attending court in three old bankrupt cases, from February, 1846, to November, 1849; an amount that is greater than the whole average annual expenditures for the United States judiciary in the great State of Georgia. In another district, a clerk charged his per diem for some ninety-two days more than the whole time the court could have been held. It is to correct the evils and remedy the defects of the present system, that the bill has been prepared and passed by the House of Representatives. It attempts to simplify the taxation of fees, by prescribing a limited number of definite items to be allowed. It is not in all respects such a bill as I would have preferred, but it is believed to be an improvement upon the present system. I think it would be a still greater improvement to substitute for district attorneys fixed salaries, proportionate into their services in the different districts, in place of the fees now received. There would be no difficulty in ascertaining such an amount as would be a fair and adequate compensation in the respective districts, and the advantage to the Government of having officers to look after its interests, not dependent upon the multiplication of processes and suits to secure a fair compensation for their services, must be obvious to every one. When this system was adopted, it had the semblance of equality, which does not now exist. There were then but sixteen States, in all of which the laws prescribed certain taxable costs to attorneys for the prosecution and defense of suits. In several of the States which have since been added to the Union, no such cost is allowed; and others the amount is inconsiderable. As the State fee bills are made so far the rule of compensation in the Federal courts, the Senate will perceive that totally different systems of taxation prevail in the different districts. In some, the district attorney receives no compensation beyond his small salary and per diem for a large portion of his most important services; while in others his fees are enormous, and the amount of cost which the losing party is made to pay to the attorney on the other side in civil suits, is so large as to be flagrantly oppressive. It is not only the officers of the courts, but the suitors also, that are affected by the present unequal, extravagant, and often oppressive system. Take, for example, the case of the district attorneys. In some of the States, where no taxable costs are allowed to attorneys, a large amount of business has been thrown upon the district attorneys, in the settlement of land titles in which the United States were interested, and no compensation whatever can be allowed to these officers for their services in such cases. In other States, where a different system prevails in the State courts, adequate, and even extravagant fees are allowed for the same services. So, too, in criminal cases, great inequality prevails. In Georgia, for instance, the district attorney's fees for attending to a criminal prosecution are five dollars; in Pennsylvania they are six dollars; in New York, charges have been made to the amount of three, four, and five hundred dollars for precisely the same services. In Virginia a still different rule prevai.s, and twenty dollars are usually allowed for an indictment, and from fifty to one hundred dollars for attending to a criminal prosecution, under a discretionary authority given to the court to determine the compensation in the districts in that State. The amendments recommended by the Senate committee are, with one exception, designed to remedy defects in the bill where fees were omitted, or placed too low to be compensatory for the service rendered. Experience will undoubtedly prove the necessity of further amendments. It is believed, however, that the bill will remedy the enormous abuses to which I have referred, that have grown out of the indefinite and unequal system that now prevails. The increased and increasing expenses of the courts of the United States may be accounted for, in some degree, by the growth of these abuses, as well as by the natural increase of business before the courts. These abuses attach to the system, and not generally to the courts. I will refer the Senate on this subject, to a statement furnished by the First Comptroller of the Treasury, in a communication to the Secretary of the Interior, under date of November 21, 1851. Here it is: Statement showing the aggregate amounts of expenses of courts of the United States paid out of the judiciary fund, with the salaries and compensation of the marshals and district attorneys added thereto, for specified periods from 1791 to 1851, and the average amount paid annually; also, the increase per centum of population, and expenses of courts, from the year 1800 to 1851. PERIODS. No. of years. From 1794 to 1799... 6 4 174,443 69 43,610 92 299,908 89 74,977 22 282,640 49 70,660 12 321,030 69 80,257 67 117,187 24 513,700 90 128,425 22 4 598,333 62 149,583 40 408,865 03 204,432 51 1,559,161 49 259,860 24 642,703 43 321,351 71 747,390 26 373,695 13 51 2,555,427 77 464,623 23 2 938,446 05 469,223 02 The abuses that have grown up in the taxation such proceedings is unnecessaryz Year 1851 1,800 2,700 122 3,000 4,325 300 2,000 853 6,510 12,970 15,000 4,498 7,500 9,185 10,580 8,394 5,104 9,264 10,090 19,837 13,000 1,870 58,271 5,519 12,867 6,01128,300 16,530 55,000 1,994 61,687 55,000 35,000 100,360 2,825 2,655 2,602 3,939 4,000 9,800 10,357 6,000 1,700 2,200 1,468 1,226 38,408 36,492 43,682 43,920 44,000 45,700 57,525 45,000 2,100 4,788 2,900 28,693 15,379 28,000 26,500 9,478 4,285 16,729 13,086 32D CONG.....2D motion torney and counsel and to postpone, 6 00 600 6 00 9.00 9.00 9.00 175 1 75 175 6216 621 62%2 Attorney and colleague, on motion to extend recog. nizance, (forfeited). Other items.. 806 2,625 733 1,101 8,200 12,679 9,986 22,450 5,494 1,950 4,100 16,197 29,372 29,244 19,150 21,850 1,335 1,698 1,430 2,000 3,900 5,397 6,025 4,826 3,500 3,000 1,685 300 605 5,000 6,500 4,075 9,206 721 1,798 1,419 3,669 3,300 2,250 3,267 15,151 22,000 10,935 26,052 9,000 600 300 450 1,159 600 700 884 2,182 4,000 3,968 3,016 2,712 2,121 2,500 3,833 1,600 1,400 1,074 1,000 850 1,000 1,261 1,125 1,000 2,000 2,400 2,700 1,825 2,398 1,450 14,180 9,000 3,000 11,975 4,612 11,000 6,045 11,352 3,700 19,594 18,412 4,100 4,000 6,000 2,000 3,000, 4,900 4,425 10,000 4,355 15,000 1,232 12,922 14,989 21,044 7,350 17,425 9,000 9,969 10,700 7,142 5,091 6,100 4,900 8,423 12,336 2,500 10,282 14,213 6,470 15,514 10,300 8,000 7,716 22,173 5,003 15,174 18,500 6,383 9,000 9,278 6,612 9,155 16,000 26,697 86,000 72,993 19,969 19,177 19,117 6,995 13,964 12,262 6,000 8,000 13,950 10,760 10,996 7,000 9,000 15,000 31,953 25,000 24,948 2,260 7,991 6,276 9,50 23,700 45,000 29,950 26,500 4,377 3,610 3,487 361 40,000 50,000 45,500 50,000 55,000 39,403 66,000 73,000 55,526 Charges of the 2. Habeas corpus for W 3. Warrant to commit W 4. Warrant to commit 6 $:2; cap, $1; 6 travel, 5 cents... 5. Habeas corpus for 6 During the months of Ap Charge No. 2, 27 times, No. 3, 27 do. No. 4, 27 do. Twal Marshal's fees charge $178 25 March term, 1st, 2d, and 3d items, same as April term above.. 29 87% 29.00 237 12 517 62% Total charge taxed and paid to Shepherd for Total attorneys' fees taxed and paid for eleven Mr. Shepherd and Mr. Hall both charged for the April term, 1849-the former $29, and the latter $25 75. In taxing these bills, the act of Congress of 1842, which confines the taxation in criminal cases to that of the criminal fee bill of the State, is wholly disregarded. The latter allows no retaining fees, and no term fees for attending to try a cause unless it is actually tried, and yet not less than eight or nine retaining fees are charged in a single cause. To show the different practice under the same law in the State courts, one of the accounts of a district attorney for one of the counties of the State of New York, is furnished by the Comptroller. This account includes all the ordinary services of a term, including the drawing three indictments, five trials, and preparation for the trial of thirteen causes; and yet the aggregate amount for the term is $62 06. I refer to another table furnished from the same source, to exhibit the mode of charging adopted in some cases by the clerks: Clerk's fees for attending district court for the southern district of Mississippi in bankruptcy: Accounts of William Burns, clerk, for his per diem from May 19, 1845, to November 18, 1848, for 890 days' sitting in bankruptcy, at $5 per day.. Charges of 18-The same number of the same words, a time, April and Ma amount each, are in indictment No. amounting to...... 4.50 4.00 3.00 1 50 4.50 262/4 $4,450 00 25 Four days on other business.. 20 00 Date. str witnesses, char writ... Total on 4th suit...... Judge Sprague, the judge of the district court for the district of Massachusetts, upon being informed of this communication of the Comptroller, immediately denied having certified and allowed the account as there presented. He alleges that he certified and allowed but one of the accounts, under one of the indictments; and that when he certified it, it was not connected with the other accounts, which were upon separate sheets. It appears that they were subsequently put together and paged, with the certified sheet placed last in order, and thus presented to the Comptroller, who was thereby erroneously but naturally led to suppose, that all had been certified and allowed by the court. It is difficult to perceive, in a proceeding of this kind, where there would seem to be substantially but one offense charged, and but one trial in progress, any apparent object for bringing up each witness on six different writs of habeas corpus, and committing him on six different warrants, daily, week after week, except that of increasing the emoluments of the officers of the court. I shall here dismiss this subject with the remarks of the Comptroller on this point: and all the accounts indicate that there was but one set of "The names of the witnesses are not given, but the facts witnesses in all the six causes, and but one examination, month of April, and part of the month of May; that six of the eight witnesses committed to prison were all brought out of prison daily on six writs of habeas corpus-one in each cause-committed at night on six warrants-one in each cause; that this proceeding was repeated on twenty eight different days; and although only one of the ninety two witnesses sworn could be examined at a time, yet all the six witnesses must be brought up daily on six different writs of habeas corpus, to be present on the examination of each of the ninety-two witnesses. The charges of the district attorney were but $13 25 in each of these causes, amounting in the six causes to only $79 50," which was continued from day to day through a part of the SUGAR INTERESTS OF LOUISIANA. HO. OF REPS. ment like ours, where the poor have as much political power as the rich, and where the relative positions of men in this respect are daily changing. I beg leave to express my dissent both from the premises and conclusions of that gentleman. 1st. There are no millionaires and few capitalists among sugar planters; the latter generally understand their own interest too well to embark in so uncertain and precarious a business. 2d. The interest of the sugar planter is not opposed to the interest of the laboring classes; on the contrary, as I shall, I think, be able to demonstrate. When I speak of capitalists, I mean men who wield cash capital. I do not pretend to say that there is no capital invested in sugar plantations. The aggregate capital is very large, consisting, first, of the plantations previously employed in the cultivation of rice and cotton changed to the culture of sugar-cane for reasons hereinafter stated; second, of the steam-engines, sugar-mills, kettles, &c., &c., necessary to manufacture the cane into sugar, chiefly obtained from Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and New York, which, at a fair estimate, must have cost at least $16,500,000, nearly all originally borrowed, and a considerable portion of which yet remains unpaid. My friend [Mr. MEADE] said that “in his opinion, for every dollar pocketed by the capitalist about one cent goes into that of the laborer." Now, I beg leave to assure the gentleman and the House, that whatever may be the case in other branches of business, it will not apply to sugar planters in Louisiana; almost the very reverse is the fact, as I will show by a simple statement of facts. I am guardian to a minor who owns part of a sugar plantation in partnership with others. One of the owners, who manages the concerns of the partnership, is a capable, attentive, and discreet person. The accounts are settled annually, and dividends of the profits, if any, made on making the settlement. For the crop of 1851, it was found that nearly the whole net proceeds of the crop had been expended in procuring the necessary supplies for the plantation, leaving but about five cents in the dollar to the proprietors for their own attention, industry, and interest on the capital invested. The balance went to labor, about in the following proportion, viz: Twenty per cent. to the manager, sugar-boiler, engineer, carpenters, bricklayers, coopers, and other laborers; five per cent. to physicians and others; twenty per cent. for pork, flour, and other provisions, principally from the State of Ohio. The balance was paid for clothing, hats, shoes, axes, hoes, plows, &c., principally from the eastern States; sugar-kettles, gratebars, &c., as repairs, from Tennessee; hoop-poles from Kentucky; horses and mules from Missouri; wagons and carts from Wheeling, Virginia, &c.; together with the cost of transporting those supplies to the plantation. This, too, was exclusive of the freight, insurance, and charges on the sugar and molasses to market, deducted from the sales REMARKS OF HON. JOHN MOORE, by the factors before rendering the accounts on OF LOUISIANA, IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, February 24, 1853. which our settlement was made. The freight alone amounted to about $2,300, paid principally to vessels owned in the New England States. It will be perceived by this statement that about The House being in the Committee of the Whole twenty-five per cent. went to'labor in Louisiana, on the state of the Union Mr. MOORE said: Mr. CHAIRMAN: I do not wish to consume the time of the committee at this late stage of the session, yet not having had an opportunity previously, I feel impelled by a sense of duty towards a large portion of the people of Louisiana, a State that I have the honor in part to represent, to ask permission to reply to some very erroneous opinions expressed by my friend from Virginia, [Mr. MEADE,] in debate in the early part of the session in relation to the sugar planters of Louisiana, by holding them up as "millionaire capitalists, whose interest is opposed to the interest of the laboring classes." I was surprised that he, being a southern man, one of the favored classes, and having near relations and friends engaged in that culture, should have singled out a southern agricultural interest as and about seventy per cent. to labor in other States, over and above the freight and charges of the crop to market. It is true, that the season of 1851-'52 was rather unprofitable; for, although the production was an average crop, the quality was inferior, and the prices low. Better results are anticipated from the crop of 1852. I can assure all who take an interest in the matter, that in order to succeed well in sugar planting, a knowledge of the business, together with close attention and strict economy, are required. I would not advise persons entertaining the opinion expressed by the gentleman from Virginia, [Mr. MEADE,] to engage in sugar planting; they would most assuredly deceive themselves, and fail, as I have known many to do. I have shown, from facts, that the interest of the sugar planters is not opposed to labor, but is in reality an auxiliary to, and rewards lahor It in Reciprocal Trade with Canada-Mr. Townshend. ouisiana,) gives 000,000 bales of will not exceed of cotton. ubject that may now from sixty ids employed in siana. Destroy ill be employed, of cotton; if not emoved to better airest portion of That number les of cotton, on is. There is altoo much cotton axiom in trade, s more than the in and often relabor now emn be diverted to order to prevent view be correct, Louisiana, but in of the United maintaining the nreasonable proxtending to that ental encouragehers, in any ad- || e required to fix sary to carry on ical administraand expected by 'nited States did tended to protect , the first Conon imposed speea, and coffee. fixed at two and n, three cents on its per gallon on don coffee. This uisition of Loui itain, the duties ray the expenses m of the war, in as fixed at three vn in Louisiana began to be cultibecause of the 言, high price, and cotton, then the a. roduced in Loui eads. The culut the year 1820, nt called the rot, heir attention to Louisiana had inagain fell off to at short crop inDus rates, which more successful na amounted to 1 off to 211,000 The imports of brown sugars in 1847-'48 were. 248,000,000 pounds. The average foreign value was three and sixty-one hundredths cents per pound. The crop of Louisiana that year was 240,000 hogsheads. The average prices of homemade sugar in New Orleans, during the season, were from two and three quarters to four cents per pound, HO. OF REPS. RECIPROCAL TRADE. REMARKS OF MR. TOWNSHEND, IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, and sold as low as two and a quarter in April, On the "Bill establishing Reciprocal Trade with one and three quarters in May, and one and a half cents per pound in June. In 1849-'50 the imports of brown sugars were 198,000,000 pounds. The average foreign value was three and forty-two one hundredths cents per pound. The crop of Louisiana was 247,000 hogsheads. The average prices of homemade sugar in New Orleans, during the twelve months, were three and one twelfth to four and one third cents per pound; and during five months, from January to May, inclusive, it sold as low as two and a half cents per pound. In 1850-'51 the imports of brown sugars were 363,537,861 pounds; the average foreign value three and fifty-four one hundredths cents; the crop of Louisiana was 211,000 hogsheads, a considerable portion of which sold on the levee in New Orleans as low as one and a half, one and three quarters, and two cents per pound. According to a document published by Congress in 1830, the consumption of sugar in the United States in the year 1829, was estimated at 136,000,000 pounds; and it was estimated that in twenty-five years it would be increased to 300,000,000 pounds, and that probably by that time Louisiana would produce nearly that quantity. The result, however, has been widely different. From the best authority, the quantity consumed in the United States in the year ending 30th of June, 1851, is estimated to have exceeded 640,000,000 pounds, and the amount produced in Louisiana was about 230,000,000 pounds. These facts and figures, taken from the best authorities, the reports of commerce and navigation, De Bow's Review, Champonier's Reports, the prices-current of New Orleans, &c., sustain the position that I have taken, that the cultivation of sugar to its present extent in the United States has reduced the prices to the consumers to a very considerable extent; they show, too, that if the freight and charges on the foreign brown sugar be added to the cost, that the Louisiana sugar uniformly sells in New Orleans at a lower rate, except when there is a considerable falling off in the Louisiana crop; and yet the best Louisiana brown sugar is a cleaner and more desirable article for family use than the foreign brown sugars. It will no doubt be asked why it is? The only reasons obvious to me are, that the production falls short of the necessary quantity for the consumption of the country, and that a large quantity must be imported, and that the West India sugar, being made from a more matured plant, is dryer, less liable to lose in weight, and therefore better as an article of commerce for speculation, as it can be kept on hand a longer time to wait a favorable market. In the course of the discussion, several gentle the British North American Provinces on certain conditions." Mr. TOWNSHEND said: Mr. SPEAKER: At this late day of the session I would not tax the patience of the House by any further discussion of this question, were it not that no gentleman representing any part of the valley of the St. Lawrence-the region especially interested in some of the most important provisions of this bill has yet been heard upon the subject. men favorable to free trade advocated direct taxation for the support of the General Government as the true policy. That will do to talk about-to demagogue a little. I am old enough to know something about direct taxation for that purpose. I lived during the embargo and war of 1812, when resort was had to that means, and am therefore privileged to give an opinion. Put it in practice, ns in relation to and you will throw the whole burden on the inand the foreign dustrial classes, principally the agricultural. The ne, and the prob-politicians, office-holders, moneyed men, and popited States, that injays about towns and cities, that wear foreign e, and which, in finery and consume foreign luxuries, will contribhat the inciden- ute nothing. The industrial classes now pay town, anch of industry city, county, and State direct taxes. Add direct aded entirely as taxes for the support of the Federal Government, reduce the price send your Federal tax-collector n among the oly. people, and let him begin to seize the cattle, horses, agricultural implements, &c., for the payment of taxes. I would not like to be in the place of that officer, nor of the party that imposed the tax. That party, sir, would be hurled from power like a trapball; it would vanish, as the old Federal party did more than half a century ago, when it imposed the excise law, the stamp act, the alien and sedition law, and others of like nature. on the levee in er pound. The exceed 15.000 rop in Louisiana sheads. Prices ur to five cents ell off to 30,000 836, prices went und. AGRICULTURAL INTEREST. And in the first place I beg to offer a remark or two for the purpose of quieting the fears of some gentlemen here-opponents of the measure-who seem to imagine that reciprocal free trade with Canada is likely to be prejudicial to the agricultural interest of the country, and especially to that of the Northwest. Perhaps I may venture to speak for this interest. I am myself a farmer, and I represent, in part, one of the best agricultural regions of the whole country. The Canadas annually produce some fifteen millions of bushels of wheat, not more than one surplus, it is supposed, may come into competithird of which can be spared for exportation. This tion with the wheat grown in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan. But when it is recollected. that the price of wheat in those States, and also in Canada, is governed by the European, and particularly the English market, to which our surplus, together with that of Canada, is sent, it is easily seen that it cannot be possible for Canadian producers to undersell us in our own market. But all these fears are utterly groundless in view of the fact that the production of wheat in the British American Provinces is necessarily limited by the rigors of the climate, a part of Canada only being adapted for wheat culture, while the amount that may be produced in our northwestern States is almost illimitable. Why, sir, one of the counties of the Congressional district in which I reside, the county of Wayne, had, last year, seventy thou sand acres of wheat, the crop of which averaged thirty bushels an acre, or in the aggregate, amounting to over two millions of bushels. In Ohio there are eighty-five counties, each one of which could readily produce one million of bushels a year, without interfering in any inconvenient degree with other agricultural products. Under these circumstances, does any one fear the competition of the Canadas? The idea is absurd. All that the agricultural interest of the Northwest demands is, the removal of the obstacles thrown in the way of trade by a high and unequal tariff, and to secure the free navigation of the river St. Lawrence. Only permit us to sell where we can sell dearest, and to buy where we can buy cheapest-permit us to avail ourselves of any market we can find for our wheat and pork, beef, cheese, and other articles-permit us to buy lum-. ber, fish, and whatever else we need without restrictions, and we ask no favors of this Government or of the rest of mankind. We have no conscious weakness to excite our fears of com petition; we are not contending against the economy and laws of nature, and therefore we ask for no artificial protection. This point settled, I come now to consider briefly the bearings of reciprocity on the coal trade. COAL INTEREST. It is to be regretted that the bill reported by the committee does not provide for the free exportation and importation of coal. I sincerely hope it will be amended in this particular. My anxiety for this amendment does not arise simply from the fact that the shipping interest of the lakes desires the profits of the trade, nor merely from my conviction that it will directly promote the general interests of the country; but also from the fact which is, or which ought to be, perfectly understood, that without this provision for free trade in coal, our proposed reciprocity will not be. 32D CONG....2 accepted by the Provi a market for this coal us the benefits of thei by this competition, a The importance of will be compelled to of eastern cities. any competition or di Pennsylvania is al Manufacture of iron; manufacturing interes are now compelled to land at a great disadv of the difference in th count of the differe England, iron can be cause in many localit day suitable for fire ces can be built, are therefore costs nothi together. Should, the from the British Pro duce the price of coa the same ratio increa ters. The manufac qually interested w cheap fuel. But there is and itself, ought to be trade in this article Becessary of life as in the great Atlanti |