ernment, as the materials were to be had in abundance in our country.

Mr. LAWRENCE thought that if candles were an object of considerable importation, they ought to be tared for the sake of obtaining revenue, and if they were not imported in considerable quantities, the burden upon the consumer would be small, while it tended to cherish a valuable manufacture. He seconded Mr. FITZSIMONS's motion for two cents: which was carried in the affirmative upon the question being put.

On all candles of wax or spermaceti, per pound, six cents; cheese, four cents; soap, two cents; boots, per pair, fifty cents; on all shoes, slippers, or goloshes made of leather, ten cents; on all shoes or slippers made of silk or stuff, ten cents; on all steel unwrought, per 112 pounds,

Mr. LEE moved to strike out this last article, observing that the consumption of steel was very great, and essentially necessary to agricultural mprovements. He did not believe any gentleman would contend that enough of this article to answer consumption could be fabricated in any part of the Union; hence it would operate as an oppressive, though indirect tax upon agriculture, and any tax, whether direct or indirect, upon this interest, at this juncture, would be unwise and impolitic.

Mr. TUCKER joined the gentleman in his opinion, observing that it was impossible for some States to get it but by importation from foreign countries. He conceived it more deserving a bounty to increase the quantity, than an impost which would lessen the consumption and make it dearer also.

Mr. CLYMER replied, that the manufacture of steel in America was rather in its infancy; but as all the materials necessary to make it were the produce of almost every State in the Union, and as the manufacture was already established, and attended with considerable success, he deemed it prudent to emancipate our country from the manacles in which she was held by foreign manufactures. A furnace in Philadelphia, with a very small aid from the Legislature of Pennsylvania, made three hundred tons in two years, and now makes at the rate of two hundred and thirty tons annually, and with a little further encouragement would supply enough for the consumption of the Union. He hoped, therefore, gentlemen would be disposed, under these considerations, to extend a degree of patronage to a manufacture which a moment's reflection would convince them was highly deserving protection.

Mr. FITZSIMONS judged that the gentlemen who were against the article had taken for granted what was not founded in fact. It was said that it would operate as an oppressive tax upon agriculture, and could not be obtained otherwise than from foreign countries. The first objection depended upon the sum with which the blank should be filled up; for his part, he had not an idea of increasing it beyond five shillings per hundred weight; this would affect the agricultural interest very little, even suppose it was to be paid upon 1st CoN.-6

[H. of R.

all that was used; but he hoped to prove that sufficient quantities could be made in America for her consumption. My colleague has stated, and I believe very justly, that in Philadelphia they made, in less than two years, three hundred tons, and if the demand was increased, they could manufacture as many thousands, with a small encouragement from the General Government. Suppose five shillings, per hundred weight was imposed, it might be, as stated, a partial duty; but would not the evil be soon overbalanced by the establishment of such an important manufacture? a great and principal manufacture for every agricultural country, but particularly useful in the United States. When viewed in this light, he had no doubt but every member of the committee would readily assent to a small duty.

Mr. MADISON thought the object of selecting this article to be solely the encouragement of the manufacture, and not revenue, for on any other consideration it would be more proper, as observed by the gentleman from Carolina, (Mr. TUCKER,) to give a bounty on the importation. It was so materially connected with the improvement of agriculture and other manufactures, that he questioned its propriety even on that score. A duty would tend to depress many mechanic arts in the proportion that it protected this; he thought it best to reserve this article to the non-enumerated ones, where it would be subject to a five per

cent. ad valorem.

Mr. TUCKER considered the smallest tax on this article to be a burden on agriculture, which ought to be considered an interest most deserving protection and encouragement; on this is our principal reliance, on it also our safety and happiness depend. When he considered the state of it in that part of the country which he represented on this floor, and in some other parts of the Union, he was really at a loss to imagine with what propriety any gentleman could propose a measure big with oppression, and tending to burden particular States. The situation of South Carolina was melancholy; while the inhabitants were deeply in debt, the produce of the State was daily falling in price. Rice and indigo were become so low as to be considered by many not objects worthy of cultivation; and gentlemen will consider that it is not an easy thing for a planter to change his whole system of husbandry in a moment; but accumulated burdens will drive to this, and add to their embarrassments. He thought an impost of five per cent. as great an encouragement as ought to be granted, and would not oppose that being laid. He called upon gentlemen to exercise liberality and moderation in what they proposed, if they wished to give satisfaction and do justice to their constituents.

Mr. FITZSIMONS thought, if gentlemen did not get rid of local considerations, the committee would make little progress. Every State will feel itself oppressed by a duty on particular articles, but when the whole system is perfected, the burden will be equal on all. He did not desire, for his part, to obtain exclusive advantages for Pennsylvania; he would contend, and undertake to

prove, that by the duties already agreed to, that State sacrificed as much as any other. Indeed, if he had said more, he believed himself capable of proving the position. Being of this opinion, he hoped the committee would agree to grant her an advantage which would revert back upon the other parts of the Union, without operating, even for the present, to the material disadvantage of any. Some States were, from local circumstances, better situated to carry on the manufacture than others, and would derive some little advantage on this account in the commencement of the business. The Eastern States were so situated, perhaps some of the Middle ones also; but will it therefore be insisted upon, that the Southern States pay more of the impost on foreign goods than these? For his part, he never could conceive that the consumption of those articles by the negroes of South Carolina would contribute to the revenue as much as that of the white inhabitants of the Eastern States. But laying aside local distinctions, what operates to the benefit of one part in establishing useful institutions, will eventually operate to the advantage of the whole. With these considerations, he cheerfully submitted the article to the discretion of the committee, moving to fill the blank with sixty-six cents.

Mr. BLAND considered a tax of sixty-six cents a very heavy duty on agriculture and the mechanic arts, and was averse to granting it.

Mr. BOUDINOT moved fifty-six cents, which motion was agreed to.

On nails and spikes, it was agreed to lay one cent per pound; on tarred cordage, fifty cents per 112 pounds; on untarred cordage, sixty cents per 112 pounds; on twine or pack-thread, one hundred cents per 112 pounds.

Mr. MADISON said, that he was not clear as to the policy of taxing cordage. He thought shipbuilding an object worthy of legislative attention. and questioned the propriety of raising the price of any article that entered so materially into the structure of vessels. But if it was politic to lay an impost on cordage, would it not be the same with regard to hemp? He thought it would, and

therefore moved it.

Mr. BOUDINOT.-Hemp is a raw material, ne cessary for an important manufacture, and therefore ought not to be subject to a heavy duty. If it was the product of the country in general, a duty might be proper, but this he believed was not the case.

Mr. MADISON.-I said before, I very much doubted the propriety of laying a duty on such articles as entered into ship-building; but if it is necessary to lay a duty on cordage for the purpose of encouraging the manufacture, and making us independent of the world as to that article, it is also politic to endeavor to make us alike independent for the raw material; a great proportion of the land in the Western country is peculiarly adapted to the growth of hemp, and it might be there cultivated to advantage, if the labors of the husbandman were protected by the Government. Mr. BOUDINOT thought the soil of this country

[APRIL, 1789.

ill adapted to the cultivation of hemp; even the strong low lands which are fit for it, soon became exhausted; it impoverished the lands wherever it grew, and destroyed the agricultural stamina. If he was not mistaken in this opinion, he thought the committee would, with him, disagree to the motion.

Mr. PARTRIDGE thought a duty on hemp would tend to discourage the American navigation, the trade, and fisheries, without any good resulting to warrant such an injury. It was not ascertained whether hemp could be furnished in any tolerable quantities to answer the demand, and if, upon experience, it should be found that the quantity was insufficient, what a stab this would prove to all concerned in ship-building.

Mr. AMES expressed a doubt of the policy of taxing either cordage or hemp, because while it tended to encourage the agriculture or manufacture, it discouraged the maritime interest, and therefore the discouragement, in the event, would reflect back upon those interests it was intended to cherish.

Mr. MOORE declared the Southern States well calculated for the cultivation of hemp, and, from certain circumstances, well inclined thereto. He conceived it the duty of the committee to pay as much respect to the encouragement and protec tion of husbandry (the most important of all interests in the United States) as they did to manufactures.

Mr. FITZSIMONS thought there was a clear distinction between taxing manufactures and raw materials, well known to every enlightened country. He had no doubt but hemp enough could be raised for the home consumption, nay for exportation also, and why it was not done he could not say. He recollected that, before the Revolution, very little was imported; now considerable quantities are brought from England. When such a bulky article is capable of paying double freight, first from Russia and then from England, besides in America had a very considerable advantage. its first cost, he conceived that what was produced It could not be urged that the people are unacquainted with the cultivation, because it had been If eight dollars a hundred is not a sufficient incarried to a very great perfection in former years. ducement to farmers to raise hemp, it is a proof that they direct their labors to more profitable productions, and why should legislative authority

Or for

be exercised to divide their attention? this purpose, why should navigation and shipbuilding be necessarily burdened. He concluded with declaring, that no duty which the Congress would agree to lay, could give encouragement to the cultivation of hemp, if the present price of that article was insufficient.

Mr. SCOTT stated a fact or two. being perhaps as well acquainted with the Western country as any member of the committee. The lands along the frontiers, he could assure the committee, were well calculated for the cultivation of this plant; it is a production that will bear carriage by land better than any other, tobacco not excepted. believed an encouragement of the kind now

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tomac, or across the mountains, to bring to your seaports the hemp which you want, yet the Mississippi would furnish the means; and, with the encouragement, nay, but small encouragement, of the General Government, more of this article would issue out of the mouth of that river alone than the whole of the United States could consume. We who live there are no strangers to its navigation, nor do we find it difficult to construct. boats of great dimensions, capable of floating down many tons; but large quantities will be furnished also from the strong and vigorous lands in the back parts of Pennsylvania and other States. I know very well both the nature of the plant and its cultivation. It will exhaust lands, as said by the gentleman from New Jersey, (Mr. BOUDINOT,) but it is not to be apprehended as doing injury to those I have described. Considering this business of great importance to the whole Union, I shall be in favor of it, knowing that if the people on the other side of the mountains only hear of the encouragement being proposed by Congress, they will lay hold of it as a hope, and be encouraged to draw forth the bounties of nature from a rich and fertile soil.

Mr. BURKE thought it proper to suggest to the committee what might be the probable effect of the proposed measure in the State he represented, (South Carolina,) and the adjoining one, (Georgia.) The staple products of that part of the Union were hardly worth cultivation, on account of their fall in price; the planters are, therefore, disposed to pursue some other. The lands are certainly well adapted to the growth of hemp, and he had no doubt but its culture would be practised with attention. Cotton is likewise in contemplation among them, and if good seed could be procured, he hoped it might succeed. But the low, strong, rice lands, would produce hemp in abundance-many thousand tons even this year, if it was not so late in the season. He liked the idea of laying a low duty now, and encouraging it against the time when a supply might be had from our own cultivation.

[H. of R.

should vote for a small duty at present, in hopes of being able to see, in a little time, sufficient quantities of hemp brought to market, as predicted, at even a less price than is given now for the imported.

Mr. SMITH agreed to forty cents, provided the committee would make it one dollar at the end of two years.

Mr. MADISON Could not judge of the alteration in the circumstances of this country two years hence, and therefore did not like the kind of provision mentioned. He preferred making it a positive sum, and moved fifty cents; which was agreed to. On malt.

Mr. SHERMAN thought this might be struck out, on the same principle that beef and pork had been, there was none imported.

Mr. FITZSIMONS replied, that there had been considerable and recent importations of this article into the United States-30,000 bushels in one year; certainly this interferes with the products of the country. He moved ten cents per bushel, and it was agreed to.

On motion of Mr. AMES, barley was taxed six cents, and lime one hundred cents. He just stated that these articles were imported in considerable quantities from a neighboring State that had not yet adopted the Constitution; and, perhaps, said he, our political situation is such as to make some regulation on this head necessary.

On nails, spikes, tacks, and brads.

Mr. LEE did not think we were ripe for such extensive manufactures as some gentlemen seemed desirous of encouraging; but this was particularly objectionable, because it was a tax upon the improvement of estates, unless the articles could be furnished as cheap and abundantly at home as they were by foreign nations. He moved to strike it out.

Mr. MADISON Conceived this, like a tax on hemp, would increase the price on ship-building; spikes and nails were necessary for the construction of vessels.

Mr. BLAND thought a duty on nails an unequal tax, burdening the Southern States, but not felt by the Northern, who made only enough for their own consumption; he opposed it also on account of its being an article of indispensable necessity.

Mr. GOODHUE informed the gentlemen who were opposed to a duty on nails, that great quantities of them were manufactured for exportation in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, and he believed some other States; and, in a little time, enough might be made to supply all North America.