Mr. Nicholas said, that he would not, at this time of day, attempt to detain the House any further than by just observing that the practice of comparisons had originated among the gentlemen who opposed the resolutions.
At this stage, the committee rose, and had leave to sit again.
Thursday, January 16.
Commerce of the United States.
The House again resolved itself into a Committee of the whole House on the Report of the Secretary of State on the privileges and restrictions on the commerce of the United States in foreign countries, when
Mr. Nicholas rose and spoke as follows:
Mr. Chairman: I feel a great embarrassment in speaking on this subject, from a distrust of my ability to treat properly its acknowledged importance, and from the apparent expectation of the audience. I feel too, as the member from Maryland who spoke yesterday did, from the imputation of motives, well knowing that the Representatives of my country are industriously reported to be enemies of the Government, and promoters of anarchy, and that the present measure is imputed to these principles. It is somewhat remarkable, that farther north we are charged with selfishness, and want of attachment to the general welfare, for a supposed opposition to measures of the import of the present. I mention this contradictory inference, to show that the shameful designs charged upon us, are not proved by the fact, and to place the guilt where it only exists, in the malignity of the accuser.
It is a commonly received opinion, that trade should be intrusted to the direction of those immediately interested in it, and that the actual course of it is the best which it could take; this principle is by no means a safe one, and, as applied to the trade of America, is extremely fallacious. It can never be just, where the beginning and growth of a commerce have not been free from all possible constraint, as to its direction; as that can never be called a business of election which has been created under foreign influence. The manner in which America was first peopled, and the nurture she received from Great Britain, afford the most striking contrast to the requisite before mentioned. The first inhabitants of America were educated in Great Britain, and brought with them all the wants of their own country, to be gratified chiefly by the productions of that country. Aided by British capital, in the settlement of the wilderness, and depending on the same means for the conveyance of its produce to a place of consumption, it was inevitable, that the demand for British commodities should keep pace with the improvement of the country. In the commencement of American population and its early stages, there does not appear to have been a chance of comparing the advantages of commercial connection with different countries, and it will be found that in its progress, it was still more restrained. In the last years of the dependence of America on Great Britain, the principal part of America was occupied by large trading companies, composed of people in Great Britain, and conducted by factors, who sunk large sums in the hands of the farmers, to attach them to their respective stores, by which means competition was precluded, and a dependence on the supplies of those stores completely established. Since the Revolution, the business has been conducted by persons in the habit of dependence on Great Britain, and who had no other capital than the manufactures of that country furnished on credit. The business is still almost wholly conducted by the same means. In no stage of its growth then, does there appear to have been a power in the consumer to have compared the productions of Great Britain with those of any other country, as to their quality or price, and therefore there is no propriety in calling the course of trade, the course of its choice.
The subject before the committee naturally divides itself into navigation and manufactures, in speaking of which, I shall offer some other considerations, to show that the same effects are by no means to be expected from the greatest commercial wisdom in individuals, which are in the power of the general concert of the community; the one having in view profit on each separate transaction, the other, promoting an advantageous result to the whole commerce of the country.
In considering the importance of navigation to all countries, but especially to such as have so extensive a production of bulky articles as America, I think I shall show that the last observation is accurately right, and that the interest of the whole community, not those only who are the carriers, but those also who furnish the object of carriage, positively demands a domestic marine, equal to its whole business; and that, even if it is to exist under rates higher than those of foreign navigation, it is to be preferred. In circumstances of tolerable equality, that can never however entirely be the case; for, in the carriage of the produce of one country, by the shipping of another, to any other place than the country to which the shipping belongs, there is considerably more labor employed than would have been by domestic shipping, as the return to their own country is to be included. On this ground, it may be confidently asserted, that where the materials of navigation are equally attainable, they will always be more advantageously employed by the country for whose use they are intended; and that if, under such circumstances, another country is employed as the carrier, it must be under the influence of some other cause than interest, as it respects that particular business. A dependence on the shipping of another country tends to establish a place of deposit in that country of those exports which are for the use of others, if it is at a convenient distance from them. The superintendence of property makes short voyages desirable for the owner, and the connection that soon takes place between the money capital of a country and its shipping interests, greatly strengthens the vortex. The attainment of wealth beyond the demands of navigation, leads to an interest in the cargo itself, and then the agency in selling to the consumer becomes important. It is apparent that, as the final sale depends on the wants of the purchaser, all intermediate expenses of care and agency must be taken from the price to which the maker would be entitled. Our own commerce has involved this loss, in a remarkable degree, and it has gone to an enormous extent, from a necessity of submitting to the perfidy of agents, arising from a dependence established by means of the so much boasted credit.