CHAPTER III. CHAPTER III. 
"The crude treasures, perpetually exposed before our eyes, contain within them other and more valuable principles. All these, likewse, in their numberless combinations, which ages of labour and research can never exhaust, may be destined to furnish, in perpetual succession, new sources of our wealth and of our happiness."
Babbage
Thewhole American people suffered, during the revolutionarywar, from the want of the comforts and some of the necessaries oflife, now so called. Their commerce with the world abroad beingalmost wholly intercepted, they had nothing wherewith to consolethemselves but the stocks which might be left in theirwarehouses, and the produce of their soil. It is amazing, at thisday, to hear of the wants of the commonest articles of clothingand domestic use, undergone in those days by some of the firstfamilies in the republic.
The experience of these troubles suggested to many persons theexpediency of establishhlg manufactures in the United States: butthere was an almost universal prejudice against this mode ofemployment. It is amusing now to read Hamilton's celebratedReport on Manufactures, presented in 1790, and to see howelaborately the popular objections to manufactures are answered.The persuasion of the nation was that America was designed to bean agricultural country; that agriculture was wholly productive,and manufactures not productive at all; and that agriculture wasthe more honourable occupation. The two former prejudices havebeen put to flight by bappy experience. The last still lingers.It is not five years since tbe President's message declared that"the wealth and strength of a country are its population;and the best part of that population are the cultivators of thesoil."
Such prepossessions may be left to die out. They arise mainlyfrom a very good notion, not very clearly defined;--that the moreintercourse men have with Nature, the better for the men. This istrue; but Nature is present in all places where the hands of menwork, if tbe workmen can but see her. If Nature is supposedpresent only where there is a blue sky overhead, and grass andtrees around, this shows only the narrowness of mind of him whothus supposes. Her forces are at work wherever there ismechanism; and man only directs them to his particular purpose.In America, it may be said that her beauty is present whereverher forces are at work; for men have there set up their mechanismin some of the choicest spots in the land. There is a good and anevil aspect belonging to all things. If tourists are exasperatedat fine scenery being deformed by the erection of mills, (whichin many instances are more of an ornament than a deformity,) letothers be awake to the advantage that it is to the workpeople tohave their dwellings and their occupation fixed in spots wherethe hills are heaped together, and the waters leap and whirlamong rocks, rather than in dull suburbs where they and theiremployments may not annoy the eye of the lover of thepicturesque. It always gave me pleasure to see the artisans atwork about such places as Glen's Falls, the Falls of theGenessee, and on the banks of some of the whirling streams in theNew England valleys. I felt that they caught, or might catch, asbeautiful glimpses of Nature's face as the western settler. Ifthe internal circumstances were favourable, there was little inthe outward to choose between. If they had the open mind's eye tosee beauty, and the soul to feel wonder, it mattered littlewhether it was the forest or the waterfall (even though it werecalled the "water-privilege") that they had to lookupon; whether it was by the agency of vegetation or of steam thatthey had to work. It is deplorable enough, in this view, to be apoor artisan in the heart of our English Manchester: but to be athriving one in the most beautiful outskirts of Sheffield is,perhaps, as favourable a lot for the lover of nature as to be alabourer on any soil: and the privileges of the American artisansare like this.
As to the old objection to American manufactures, that Americawas designed to be an agricultural country,--it seems to me, as Isaid before, that America was meant to be everything. Her groupof republics is merged in one, in the eyes of the world; and, forsome purposes, in reality: but this involves no obligation tomake them all alike in their produce and occupations; but ratherthe contrary. Here, as everywhere else, let the laws of nature befollowed, and the procedure will be wise. Nature has nothing todo with artificial boundaries and arbitrary inclosures. There aremany soils and many climates included within the boundary line ofthe United States; many countries; and one rule cannot belaid down for all. If there be any one or more of these where therequisites for manufactures are present, and those foragriculture deficient, there let manufactures arise. If there ispoor land, and good mill-seats; abundant material, animal andmineral, on the spot, and vegetable easily to be procured; asufficiency of hands, and talent for the construction and use ofmachinery, there should manufactures spring up. This is eminentlythe case with New England, and some other parts of the UnitedStates. It was perceived to be so, even in the days when thegrowth of cotton in the south was spoken of as a smallexperiment, not likely to produce great consequences.
New England formerly depended chiefly on the carrying trade.When that resource was diminished, after the war, it is difficultto see how her people were to be prevented setting upmanufactures, or why they needed any particular exhortation orassistance to do it. They had the opportunity of obtainingforeign capital; their previous foreign intercourses havingpointed out to them where it had accumulated, and might thereforebe obtained with advantage. They had a vast material, left fromtheir fisheries, of skins, oil, and the bones of marine animals;they had bark, hides, wood, flax, hemp, iron, and clay. They hadalso the requisite skill; as may be seen by the following list ofdomestic manufactures, carried on in private houses only, in1790. "Great quantities of coarse cloths, coatings, sergesand flannels, linsey-woolseys, hosiery of wool, cotton, andthread, coarse fustians, jeans, and muslins, coverlets andcounterpanes, tow linens, coarse shirtings, sheetings,towellings, and table-linen, and various mixtures of wool andcotton, and of cotton and flax, are made in the household way;and, in many instances, to an extent not only sufficient for thesupply of the family in which they are made, but for sale, andeven in some cases for exportation. It is computed, in a numberof districts, that two-thirds, three-fourths, and evenfour-fifths of all the clothing of the inhabitants, are made bythemselves."* If all this was done without the advantage ofdivision of labour, of masses of capital, or of other machinerythan might be set up in a farmhouse parlour, it is elear thatthis region was fully prepared, five-and-forty years ago, for theintroduction of manufactures on a large scale; and there appearsevery reason to believe that they might have been left to theirnatural growth.
The same Report mentions seventeen classes of manufacturegoing on as distinct trades, at the same time, in the northernStates.
The only plausible objection to the establishment ofmanufactures was the scarcity and dearness of labour, incomparison with that of the old countries of Europe. But, if theexportation of some articles actually took place, while thelabour which produced them was scattered about in farm-houses,what might not be expected if the same labour could be calledforth and concentrated, and aided by the introduction ofmachinery? A great immigration of artisans might also be lookedfor, when once any temptation was held out to the poor of Europeto come over to a young and thriving country. Moreover,improvements in machinery are the invariable consequence of adeficiency of manufacturing labour; for the obvious reason thatmen's wits are urged to supply the want under which theirinterests suffer. Again: manufactures can, to a considerabledegree, be carried on by the labour of women; and there is agreat number of unemployed women in New England, from thecircumstance that the young men of that region wander away insearch of a settlement on the land; and, after being settled,find wives in the south and west.
Thus much of the case might have been, and was by some,foreseen. What has been the event?
In 1825, the amount of manufactures exported from the UnitedStates, was 5,729,797 dollars. Of these about one-fourth werecotton-piece goods, in the sale of which the American merchantswere now able to compete with the English, in some foreignmarkets. The manufacture of cottons in the United States affordeda market for one hundred and seventy-five thousand bales ofcotton annually; and the printed cottons manufactured at homeamounted annually to fourteen millions of yards. The importationof cotton goods into the country in 1825 was in value betweentwelve and thirteen millions of dollars; and in 1826, betweennine and ten millions. The woollen manufacture has neverflourished like the cotton; the bad effects of the tariff beingmore immediately visible in rergard to articles of manufacturewhose raw material must be chiefly derived from abroad.
In 1828, the legislature of Massachusetts passed resolutionsdeploring the increasing depression of the woollen manufacture,and praying for increased protection from Congress. Theexportation of cotton goods that year amounted to upwards of amillion of dollars; and the next year to nearly a million and ahal£ The importation of cotton goods was all but prohibited bythe tariff of 1824: aud the consequence was an immense investmentof capital in the cotton manufacture, almost on the instant; andsome perilous fluctuations since, too nearly resembling theagitations of older countries, where the pernicious policy ofages has accumulated difficulties on the present generation.
At Lowell, in Massachusetts, there was in 1818, a smallsatinet mill, employing about twenty hands; the place itselfcontaining two hundred inhabitants. In 1825, the MerrimackManufacturing Company was formed; it was joined by others; and in1832, the capital invested was above six millions of dollars. Thewhole number of operatives employed was five thousand; of whomthree thousand eight hundred were women and girls. The quantityof raw cotton used was upwards of twenty thousand bales. Thequantity of pure cotton goods manufactured was twenty-fivemillions of yards. The woollen fabric manufactured in theseestablishments was, at the same time, one hundred and fiftythousand yards. Sixty-eight carpet-looms were at work also. Theworkmen employed in all these operations received for wages about1,200,000 dollars per annum. About two hundred mechanics, of ahigh order of ability, are constantly employed. The fuel consumedin a year is five thousand tons of anthracite coal, besidescharcoal and wood.
The same protective system which caused the sudden growth ofsuch an establishment as this, tempted numerous capitalists toseek their share of the supposed benefits of the tariff. Themanufacturing interest was well nigh ruined by the protection ithad asked for. The competition and consequent over-manufacturewere tremendous. Failure after failure took place, tillforty-five thousand spindles were standing idle, and thousands ofoperatives were thrown into a state of poverty unnatural enoughin such a country as theirs. A cry was raised by many for arepeal of the tariff: this created a panic among those who, onthe strength of the tariff, had withdrawn their capital fromcommerce, and invested it in manufactures. The stock of all themanufacturing companies was offered in vain, at prices ruinouslylow. Thus stood matters in 1829.
The history of the quarrel between the north and south aboutthe tariff, and the nature of the Compromise Bill, is alreadyknown. The mischief done will be repaired, as far as reparationis possible, by the reduction of the import duties, year by year,till 1842. If the demands of the country and of foreign customersshould not rise to the limit of the over-manufacture which hastaken place, time is thus allowed for the gradual withdrawing ofthe capital and industry which have been seduced into this methodof employment. Meantime, the manufactures of the northern Statesare permanently established, though not in the wisest way. Ifthey had been left to themselves, they would have been an unmixedgood to the community. As it is, society has suffered theinevitable consequences of an irrational policy,--a policyindefensible in a republic. It is well that the experimentwrought out its consequences so speedily and so plainly that anyrepetition is unlikely,--little as the natural laws whichregulate commerce are yet understood.
In 1831, the total number of looms employed in the cottonmanufacture of the United States was 33,433. Of these, 21,336were in New England; 3,653 in New York State; 6,301 inPennsylvania; and the rest in Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, andVirginia.
Next to the cotton and woollen manufactures, the most valuableare manufactures from flax and hemp; from tobacco and grain;sugar, soap, and candles, gunpowder, gold and silver coin, iron,copper and brass, hats, medicinal drugs, and shoes.
The shoe manufacture is one of the most remarkable in theStates, from the suddenness and extent of its spread. It has beenmentioned that the shoe trade of New York State is more valuablethan the total commerce of Georgia. The extent to which themanufacture is carried on in one village in Massachusetts, withwhich I am acquainted, shows the prosperity of the business.
In order to shoemaking, there must be tanning. There are manyand large tanneries in Danvers and the outskirts of Salem, forthe supply of the Lynn shoe-manufacture. The largest tannery inthe United States is at Salem. The hides are partly imported. Thebark is brought from Maine. These tanneries were in a state oftemporary adversity when I saw them. Some kinds of skins are twoor three years in tanning; and capital is thus locked up in suchamounts as render fluctuation dangerous. It had lately beendiscovered that oak bark could be had cheaper, and tanningconsequently carried on to a greater advantage up the Hudson thanon the Massachusetts coast: so that the tanners and curriers ofSalem and Danvers were descending somewhat from their highprosperity. But nothing could exceed the flourishing aspect ofLynn, the sanctum of St. Crispin.
In 1831, the value of boots and shoes, (very few boots, andchicely ladies' shoes,) made at Lynn was nearly a million ofdollars a year. The total number made was above a million and ahalf pairs: the number of people employed, three thousand fivehundred; being about seven-eighths of the population of theplace, partially employed; and some hundreds from other places,wholly employed. Last year, the place was much on the increase. Agreen, with a piece of water in the middle, and trees, was beinglaid out in the centre of the town. New houses were rising in alldirections, and fresh hands were welcomed from any quarter; forthe orders sent could not be executed. Besides the domesticsupply, two million pairs of ladies' shoes a-year were sent offto the remotest corners of the States; and, as they have oncepenetrated there, it seems difficult to imagine where the demandwill stop; for those remote corners are all being more thicklypeopled every day. Their united demand will be enough to make thefortune of a whole State.
It seems probable that a few more manufactures may be added tothose which are sure to flourish in the United States: as silkand wine. If the government firmly refuses to interfere again inthe way of protection, it will be easily and safely discoverablewhat resources the country really possesses; and what directionher improving industry may naturally and profitably take.
* Hamilton's Report on Manufactures. 1790.
From Harriet Martineau, Society in America, VolumeII, Part II, Chapter III, "Manufactures." London:Saunders and Otley, 1837, pp. 219-231.
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