peculiar article, and but slightly affect the general operations of the salt busi

ness.

The unexampled exclusion of American salt by the Navy Board can only be accounted for on the ground that those gentlemen have acted under misrepresentation or misapprehension, as to the various qualities of our domestic supply. If the exclusion had been limited to the inferior quality, or to the kinds deemed unfit for packing and preserving barrelled provisions on long voyages, it would have stimulated to the production of the kinds suited to those special purposes; but a sweeping rejection can only operate as a general disparagement of our own salt, and the discouragement of any attempts to meet the wants of the Government.

A review of table G shows us how deeply the English salt makers are interested in the questions under consideration: although salt costs fifty per cent. higher in England than in the West Indies, and notwithstanding her general exclusion of the production of our agriculture, and the excessive burthens she imposes on those of the planting States, we imported from that kingdom between the 30th of September, 1828, and the 1st of October, 1829, more than one half of the foreign supply, and from Great Britain and her dependencies, more than two-thirds of the salt received in the United States from abroad. (Vide Ap. G.)

These facts also demonstrate how much the importation of this article is governed by the course of our foreign commerce, and how little by the price at the place from whence it comes, or the vicinity of the points at which it is produced.

The fact may not be generally known, that salt in England is a drug at the price for which it is sent to the United States; and from which it follows, that so soon as the victory shall be achieved by the importer over the home manufacturer, the price must rise, and the ten cents of duty relinquished here will be a bounty of like amount to the foreign producer; and can it be the po licy of the American Government thus to sacrifice her citizens to the aggran disement of British capitalists, or to destroy from six to seven millions of American property, under the delusive hope of obtaining a cheaper supply of salt? We trust that before this perilous experiment is made, Congress will reflect that capital in trade, if excluded from one channel, still conti nues active, and finds employment in another. But that is not so with investments in this business; they are fixed. If the salt establishments are destroyed, the annihilation of the capital is as complete as if buried in the depths of the ocean. If "the cultivation within ourselves of the means of national defence and independence" has not lost its value, we yet hope that the fos tering hand of Congress will not be withdrawn from this in portant branch of manufacture. In a war with a maritime nation, it must be principally, if not altogether, relied on. The condition of our country in the two former wars with Great Britain cannot but be recollected; and it must be remembered that the want of a home supply of salt was felt among the most disastrous results of those struggles. What was found more essential to national defence than this indispensable means of supplying and preserving the food of the army and navy, as well as furnishing the inhabitants with this neeessary article of life? What nation can boast of independence, that relies on foreign countries for the primary articles of food? In the language of the distinguished gentleman now at the head of the Government, "it is time that we should become a little more Americunized, and, instead of feeding the paupers and laborers of England, feed our own; or else in a short time,

by continuing our present policy, we shall all be rendered paupers ourselves." The example of England herself is before us. In the whole history of her political economy, no instance is found of her ever having once adopted a policy for acquiring a manufacture, and afterwards changing it in the slightest degree. The consequence has been that she has never failed to acquire and establish such manufacture, however unpromising in its commencement; and she has invariably obtained the article manufactured at a cheaper rate, and of better quality, than it could be imported. It is owing to this salutary feature in her policy, more than to any other circumstance, that she now stands unrivalled in her manufactures, in commerce, and in wealth.

Some notice has been taken of a supposed monopoly among the manufacturers of salt in the west, to increase the price of the article to the consumer-a suggestion as little sustained by the facts, as the hypothesis that a repeal of the duty will not affect the salt makers of that region. A business carried on on almost every tributary of the Ohio, and spread through seven or eight States, is not in its nature susceptible of concerted action or combined operation. So wild a project was never thought of, much less attempted. If the imputation is directed to the manufacturers of salt on the Great Kanawha, it is equally without foundation. These works have met with animated and almost overwhelming competition in almost all the markets which they have supplied; and during some years past, a part of the manufacturers, to supply themselves with the means of carrying on their business, and to save themselves from the threatened ruin, contracted with capitalists for the sale of salt which they made. The measure resulted from a want of adequate protection on the part of Government, and the consequent excess of salt introduced into the western States. This excess beyond the consumption also compelled, at a most serious loss to the trade, the abandonment of many salt wells, which otherwise might have been profitably employed in active business, and has for some years constrained the manufacturers to limit their production, to their very serious disadvantage.

These certainly were not measures of choice, but of stern necessity, which the Government only could have prevented, by securing the home market to the home producer. During those years of difficulty and embarrassment on the part of the manufacturers, they sold their salt at very reduced rates, to meet the exigencies under which they were placed; and if the purchasers availed themselves of their stock on hand to augment the price, (which is not believed to have been the case,) no part of the profits accrued to the salt makers, nor had they any agency in the subsequent sales. They therefore cannot but think that wanton injustice alone could seek an excuse for the repeal of the duty in measures which had their origin in the inadequacy of its amount, and in the condition of our foreign commerce. Monopoly on the Kanawha, with a view to profit, could scarcely find a place in the views of the manufacturers, as, with a very moderate share of sagacity, they would not fail to perceive the effect of such an attempt. Any increase of price beyond what was essential to the carrying on of their business, would operate more effectually as a bounty to the minor works, than as a source of gain to the controlling establishments; so that every increase of price in their commodity would effectually stimulate the production of others, and bring increased supplies, both from home and abroad, into the markets for which they were competitors, by which their sales would inevitably be narrowed, and their business prejudiced.

At present, and for some time past, the salt business has been more methodically conducted. With a view to abridge the expenses which accrue in effecting sales, and for the purpose of securing to every market a more constant and regular supply, an agency or factorage has been effected, which is no less advantageous to the consumer than the manufacturer. The factors, as is usual in such cases, make a small advance upon the salt delivered to their hands, for the twofold purpose of securing the manufacturer, and enabling him to prosecute his operations. The factor is then bound to keep a constant and sufficient supply in all the markets usually frequented, and, after sales have been made, to pay over to each manufacturer, pro rata, the whole proceeds of such sales, subject only to the deductions of the advance payment, the expenses incurred in reaching the markets, and a small commission as a compensation to the agent. Under this arrangement, the manufacturers have the regulation of the price of the commodity, which the active and increasing competition in the west, of a necessity, keeps at its minimum. This arrangement secures to every market a full supply, and reduces the price to the consumer by diminishing the expense inseparable from an agency for each establishment, and obviates the inconvenience of individual shipments, by which some markets were overstocked, and others inadequately supplied; but with all the economy which it introduces into the business of vending the commodity, and with all the improvements in process of preparing the salt, the foreign supply along the Ohio and Mississippi leaves but little hopes of sustaining the competition without the restoration of the former duty.

The amount of these importations cannot be ascertained with precision, but the aggregate may be approximated by the following known amounts, shipped from Orleans, and received during the fore part of the present year.

At Nashville, and on the Cumberland

At Louisville, and above the mouth of Cumberland river
At Cincinnati, and above Louisville

At Florence

At Maysville

On the Lower Mississippi, and western district of Tennessee
St. Louis and Upper Mississippi

Total bushels

Bushels.

- 125,000

88,000

55,000

35,000

5,000

The deep interest which Virginia ought to feel in the preservation of her salt trade is illustrated by the leading and successful establishments on the Great Kanawha and on the Holston. The extent of the operations of the first is evidenced by the Inspector's Returns (Appendix H;) and of the latter by the communications of Gen. Preston and Col. White, (Appendix I.) The aggregate quantity being more than sufficient for the entire population of Virginia, at 44lbs. of salt for each person, and forming a source of wealth and independence to the Commonwealth, unappreciable in the minds of those who examine with care the latent causes of national prosperity and individual happiness.

The amount of property put in jeopardy by the enactment of last winter, from a reasonable estimate, amounts to from six to seven millions, distribut• Much of this quantity is received at New Orleans, coastwise, from the northern ports.

ed over twenty States., The number of persons employed, from the best evidences which are accessible, are believed to be about 3,653; and if we may estimate their families as averaging four members, not less than fourteen thousand six hundred and twelve persons are now dependent on the continuance of this branch of industry; and surely no parental Government charged with the destinies of a nation, can fail to give the most serious consideration to a measure affecting such a mass of property, and involving the hap piness and prosperity of so large a portion of its people; or venture upon the consummation of an experiment fraught with such evident danger.

The salt business rivals no one of the great springs of national wealth, while it is auxiliary to some of the highest importance. It does not draw its contributions from what other pursuits might develope, but brings inte action the brine of the ocean, and the salt springs fed from the bowels of the earth, which otherwise would remain valueless.

The shock which has been given to this mass of property, and to the employment and resources of so many of our people, is felt throughout the Union, and can only be arrested by the repeal of the obnoxious act. It has not yet commenced its operations; investments have not yet been made with a view to its provisions, and its repeal cannot, therefore, prejudice the inte rests of any.

Under the liberal patronage of the Government, and with the unlimited resources which are possessed, the salt, business must extend itself until it reaches the limit by which every manufacture must be bounded-the ultimate demand on the one side, and the minimum price of a living profit on the other; improving in quality as the lights of science and the aids of experience shall shed their influence over its operations, and ere long giving a cheaper and better commodity for the consumption of the American people than foreign States can supply, as is now measurably illustrated by the Kanawha works, whose capacity for production is fully adequate to the wants of the whole western States, should circumstances warrant the exertion of their resources.

But if once destroyed, the loss is irretrievable. If the modern doctrines of free trade, taught by those whose manufactures are advanced beyond competition, and pressed upon those whose establishments must be annihilated by its adoption, is to mark the course of our Government, the consequence must, in our humble judgments, be the prostration of every manufacture which our people have attempted, and that of salt among the earliest sacrifices. The lessons of experience may come, but they will come too late; for statesmen cannot rebuild by legislation what their laws have destroyed; as all must be aware that when a manufacture is once abandoned by the policy of the Government, whose protection gives it existence, or whose fostering care gave it extension, confidence is at an end, and prudent men will not risk their capital when they see it has been lost by a change of opinion which may again occur, and overwhelm them in the ruin of a new experi

ment.

The earnest consideration which the manufacturers of salt in the county of Kanawha have given to this subject, satisfies them of the correctness of the facts, and the accuracy of the conclusions which they have urged, and constrains them to address themselves for relief to the wisdom and justice of Congress, with the confident prayer and expectation that the policy indicated by the enactment of the last session will be reviewed and retraced, and the duty on foreign salt restored at least to its former amounts. They

deem it unnecessary to remonstrate against a further reduction of the impost, because they are satisfied that no state of things can arise, in which the representatives of the people and the States can be induced further and more rapidly to crush the important establishments of the country.

Unanimously concurred in at a numerous meeting of the manufacturers of salt, held, in pursuance of public notice, at Terra Salis, in the county of Kanawha, on the 22d day of October, 1830; and subscribed for and on their behalf, and by their order.

ANDREW PARKS, Secretary.

JOEL SHREWSBURY, Chairman.

APPENDIX.

A.

A STATEMENT showing the condition of the Salt Business in the United States in 1829.

To many of the wells is annexed a steam engine of about two tons weight.