32D CONG.....2d Sess. generation, I say it is for the present generation 1 that we want the road. As to our having acquired California, and opened this new world of commerce, and enterprise, and as to what we shall leave to the next generation, I say that, after we of this generation shall have constructed this road, we will, perhaps, not even leave to the next generation the construction of a second one. The present generation, in my opinion, will not pass away until it shall have seen two great lines of railroads in prosperous operation between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and within our own territory, and still leave quite enough to the next generation-the third and fourth great lines of communication between the two extremes of the continent. One, at least, is due to ourselves, and to the present generation; and I hope there are many within the sound of my voice who will live to see it accomplished. We want that new Dorado, the new Ophir of America, to be thrown open and placed within the reach of the whole people. We want the great cost, the delays, as well as the privations and risks of a passage to California, by the malarious Isthmus of Panama, or any other of the routes now in use, to be mitigated, or done away with. There will be some greater equality in the enjoyment and advantages of these new acquisitions upon the Pacific coast when this road shall be constructed. The inex haustible gold mines, or placers of California, will no longer be accessible only to the more robust, resolute, or desperate part of our population, and who may be already well enough off to pay their passage by sea, or provide an outfit for an overland travel of two and three thousand miles. Enterprising young men all over the country, who can command the pittance of forty or fifty dollars to pay their railroad fare; heads of families who have the misfortune to be poor, but spirit and energy enough to seek comfort and independence by labor, will no longer be restrained by the necessity of separating themselves from their families, but have it in their power, with such small means as they may readily command, in eight or ten days, to find themselves with their whole households transported and set down in the midst of the gold regions of the West, at full liberty to possess and enjoy whatever of the rich harvest spread out before him his industry and energy shall entitle him to. It will be theirs by as good a title as any can boast who have had the means to precede them. We hear much said of late of the justice and policy of providing a homestead, a quarter section of the public land, to every poor and landless family in the country. Make this road, and you enable every poor man in the country to buy a much better homestead, and retain all the pride and spirit of independence. Gentlemen here may say that the region of California, so inviting, and abundant in gold now, will soon be exhausted, and all these bright prospects for the enterprising poor pass away. No, sir, centuries will pass-ages and ages must roll away before those gold-bearing mountains shall all have been excavated-those auriferous sands and alluvial deposits shall give out all their wealth; and even after all these shall have failed, the beds of the rivers will yield a generous return to the toil of the laborer. But however great the importance of this road, indispensable as it is to the safety and defense of the country in a military point of view; however advantageous to the commerce of the country, and however desirable it may be to the whole population, and especially to the enterprising poor man, I am not encouraged to believe that this measure will receive the sanction of this Congress or of the next. Gentlemen were perfectly right when they suggested that it is very difficult to keep the influence of capitalists out of the consideration of these measures. Capitalists get into our legislative halls, it is suggested. I know of no such influence in the Senate. But capitalists without have an influence. How many and how great are the influences at work against this project, or any other that we could devise for the object? I do not remember to have seen a paragraph in the Washington correspondence of a leading public journal in any one of the large cities, favorable to this bill. The general intelligence conveyed to the country through the leading newspapers, is that it is an impracticable one; that nothing can be done with it; that such and such a project of a Railroad to the Pacific-Mr. Bell. different complexion is preferable; and that it is only a waste of time to consider this. This is significant. The honorable Senator from Virginia [Mr. HUNTER] chimes in, and says it is only a waste of time, and we can do nothing with it. I know that he is under no improper influences in his course, except that I feel pretty sure that he is against the road in any shape. I am sorry to see an advantage taken of the interest excited by other business and questions before the Senate to defeat this measure. The resolutions in relation to Cuba, Central America, to the Clayton and Bulwer treaty, British Honduras, the Bay Islands, the Tehuantepec grant, and the Texas debt bill, have each and all of them been magnified into subjects of far greater public interest than the construction of a railroad to the Pacific. In the midst of so many more interesting and exciting questions, it is difficult to get Senators to give any attention to such a project as this. The truth is, that this subject has not the advantage of the outside pressure of personal and individual interest and solicitude, as some other measures have. All the influences of this kind are decidedly against it. What are these outside influences? It is said that some $30,000,000 or $40,000,000 will be required to complete the Panama railroad. I have heard that a much larger amount than that will be vested in that road. There is the large capital said to be vested in the interoceanic ship-canal project on the route of the San Juan and Lake Nicaragua; there is the Tehuantepec railroad project, which enlists the influence of its millions of capital against this road. Although I do not think those interested in these various enterprises ought to look with any jealousy upon the project of a railroad within our own territory between the Mississippi and the Pacific, yet it is in perfect keeping with human nature that they should do 80. There are also several lines of splendid and costly steamers employed in carrying the mails and passengers on both sides of the continent, and forming a communication between the ports of the Atlantic and the Pacific. The proprietors of these lines are all likely to feel some jealousy of the railroad project to connect the valley of the Mississippi and the Pacific, and their influence will be thrown into the scale against it. Not content with the profits of the present, nor with those of the ten years to come before this road can be completed, still, such is the timidity and farreaching calculations of capital, that there can be no project, however far in the future, but excites some distrust and alarm. We thus have the combined influence of all these great interests to con. tend against. The Senator from Virginia [Mr. MASON] says that however important this road may be, it will take twenty years to complete it, and he therefore concludes that the Tehuantepec contract question is more important and a more practical one at this time. I concede a good deal of importance to the Tehuantepec question. We must have the right. It is of great importance that a right of way through the Mexican territory, by the Tehuantepec bay, should be secured to this country; but how does that prove that the road contemplated by this bill should be delayed? If twenty years will be required to complete it, according to his estimate, it is of more importance that it should be commenced at once. I believe it can easily be accomplished in ten years. Four years have already passed since this road should have been commenced. But there are impediments to the passage of this bill of a different nature from those influences of which I have spoken. There are some gentlemen who are not content with any bill which leaves the eastern terminus of the road unsettled. Some gentlemen of the Northwest want such provisions as will secure the point of terminus at St Louis, or at some point north of that city. We have seen the evidences of this influence in the progress of this discussion. Some gentlemen of the South and Southwest would prefer never to have a road unless it shall have its eastern terminus pointing to their own section of the country. I think they are both wrong. I think the time will come when they will have a road leading from the Southwest to the Pacific, and one from the Northwest, if they do not get it now; and I also think the intermediate position will be occupied in due time. SENATE. I want one, commence it where you will, northwest, or at the intermediate point looking towards Memphis, or some southern point. Give us one, and you will satisfy me for the present, not doubting that in time all these various sections will be gratified. The great and the general interest of the country demands that we shall have a road commenced at some point or other; looking forward with confidence, to the growth and increased resources of the country as a guarantee that we will have a second road very soon, or at least branches communicating with the main trunk of any one we may now resolve to construct. There can be no doubt that the main trunk will have branches in five years from the time of its construction, looking to all the important points northwest, southwest, and to intermediate points. That is my view of the subject. On a former occasion, Mr. President, I alluded to the importance of having a communication by railway between the Mississippi river and the Pacific ocean, in the event of war with any great maritime Power. I confess that the debates upon the subject of our foreign relations within the last few weeks, if all that was said had commanded my full assent, would have dissipated very much the force of any argument which I thought might be fairly urged in favor of this road as a necessary work for the protection and security of our possessions on the Pacific coast. We now hear it stated, and reiterated by grave and respectable and intelligent Senators, that there is no reason that any one should apprehend a war with either Great Britain or France. Not now, nor at any time in the future; at all events, unless there shall be a total change in the condition, social, political, and economical, of those Powers, and especially as regards Great Britain. All who have spoken agree that there is no prospect of war. None at all. I agree that I can see nothing in the signs of the times which is indicative of immediate and certain war. Several gentlemen have thrown out the idea that we hold the bond of Great Britain to keep the peace, with ample guarantees and sureties, not only for the present time, but for an indefinite time; and as long as Great Britain stands as an independent monarchy. These sureties and guarantees are said to consist in the discontented and destitute class of her population, of her operatives and laborers, and the indispensable necessity of the cotton crop of the United States in furnishing them with employment and subsistence, without which it is said she would be torn with internal strife. I could tell gentlemen who argue in that way, that we have another guarantee that Great Britain will not break with the United States for any trivial cause, which they have not thought proper to raise. We may threaten and denounce and bluster as much as we please about British violations of the Clayton and Bulwer treaty, and the Mosquito protectorate, about the assumption of territorial dominion over the Balize or British Honduras, and the new colony of the Bay Islands; and Great Britain will negotiate, explain, treat, and transgress, and negotiate again, and resort to any device, before she will go to war with us, as long as she can hope to prolong the advantages to herself of the free-trade policy now established with the United States. It is not only the cotton crop of America which she covets, but it is the rich market for the products of her manufacturing industry, which she finds in the United States; and this has contributed as much as any other cause to improve the condition of her operatives, and impart increased prosperity to her trade and revenue. As long as we think proper to hold to our present commercial regulations, I repeat that it will require very great provocation on our part to force Great Britain into a war with the United States. One gentleman [Mr. DOUGLAS] has told us that we are in no danger of a war with Great Britain, for another reason. He informs us that she is under bond to keep the peace with us, because she has large territories on this continent, and on our immediate borders, which she would be sure to lose in the event of a war with us. But Great Britain is under a stronger bond to keep the peace with us just now than any I have yet mentioned. As long as Louis Napoleon shall maintain his 32D CONG.....2D SESS. The late debates in the Senate of the United States have tended to allay the apprehension which existed in this country that the advent of the new Administration would be distinguished by hostile movements in reference to Cuba. It was feared, and not without some show of reason, that the temper and policy of the new Administration, but more especially of that portion of the Democracy which it was supposed would be apt to control its counsels, were decidedly of the annexation type, and adverse to the prospect of peace. We all know that such apprehensions were felt. The Senators from Virginia [Mr. MASON] and Michigan [Mr. CASS] contributed to allay those apprehensions in a good degree, by the unexpected moderation of the tone, especially of one of those Senators, [Mr. CASS;] and, at a later day, we have the views of other Senators, which may be supposed to furnish a clew to the policy of the incoming Administration on questions connected with our foreign relations and the preservation of peace. That we are to have no difficulty-no war with any foreign Power, growing out of our relations with Spain and Cuba, is strongly supported by the views of several southern Senators, who have avowed not only their opposition to any movement of questionable propriety towards the acquisition of Cuba, but regard its annexation as of questionable advantage to the interests of the South, or of the country generally, One Senator took the ground that the annexation of Cuba would be decidedly injurious to the planting interest of the South, and I can hardly suppose that the North will be disposed to force the annexation of Cuba against the wishes of the South. The argument has also been advanced that it is better for the interests of this country that Cuba should remain in the hands of a foreign Power, especially one that would be likely to be neutral in any war in which the United States may be engaged. We would then have the advantage of neutral ports near our own shores. It has been further contended that one of the inducements to the annexation of Cuba is founded on a mistake. It is confidently stated that the relative position of Cuba, no matter into whose hands it may fall, does not give it the command of the Gulf trade-that it is not the key to the Gulf-but that the Tortugas and Key West are the true keys to that trade. These views in relation to the policy of annexing Cuba to the United States may be well founded. I do not propose to go into these inquiries. My object has been to array the several arguments which have been employed to give the country assurances of continued peace. Railroad to the Pacific-Mr. Bell. present imposing attitude in Europe-as long as Kingdom. This great and striking change in the Still further to strengthen and confirm the expectations of uninterrupted peace of this country, it has been declared that France, the only other great maritime Power besides Great Britain, has not only no motive to go to war with the United States, but that she dare not, so dependent is she, in the straitened condition of her revenue and finances, upon her foreign commerce, which, it is supposed, would be swept from the ocean in a trice, should she engage in a war with us. We hold, it is said, France as well as England under bonds to keep the peace. I beg to say, with the greatest respect for all the honorable Senators whose views I have alluded to on this subject, that I have not the fullest confidence in their arguments, or the conclusions founded upon them. I fear, sir, that many of them are delusive, and by no means safely to be relied upon by the country. I beg honorable Senators who have spoken so confidently of the insuperable obstacles to a war against the United States, which they suppose exist in the internal condition of Great Britain, in respect to the destitution and discontents of her population, that at no time within a very long period has the laboring population of Great Britain been in a more prosperous and satisfactory condition. The wages of labor has advanced in every branch of industry, and there is no longer any difficulty in finding employment. Some danger, indeed, has been apprehended that there would before long be a deficiency of labor in the United I have said, Mr. President, that the conclusions to which many Senators have come, in regard to the securities we enjoy of perpetual peace, are, in my judgment, delusive. I say, further, that the idea that neither Great Britain nor France would risk a war with the United States, under any circumstance or contingencies which may arise out of questions which have already been agitated in our foreign intercourse, especially with England and Spain, is not only delusive, but if indulged by the people of the United States, would be decidedly mischievous. I must say that the aspect of European affairs and of our international relations at this time, impresses me in a very different manner from what seems to be its effect upon the judgment of others. I do not desire to touch any sub SENATE. ject of sectional agitation, or one not agreeable to the Senate; but it is impossible to shut our eyes to the fact, that notwithstanding the profuse professions of amity, of kind and fraternal feeling, by some of the leading public journals of England, and by many of her statesmen-notwithstanding the unqualified terms in which a war with this country is deprecated, and the blessings and advantages of peace commended, there is a growing jealousy and an ill-suppressed hostility to our institutions felt by the whole governing class of Great Britain. The same may be affirmed of all the great Monarchies. These feelings have been in active operation since the events of 1848 to 1852. We have no friends among them. France, isolated as she is, from all the old dynastic Powers, still, with her present political organization, will find employment for her army and navy in America, if she can find no better field in Europe. We fancy that we hold the bonds of both England and France, with ample securities, to keep the peace with us; and under this delusion we suppose that we may bluster and menace, and assume what doctrines and policy we please in relation to the control of the affairs of this continent, and still involve no risk of war. But let me tell the members of the Senate, and the people of the whole country, if my voice can reach them, that while we indulge the delusion that we hold the bonds of those two great Powers to keep the peace with us, and while we openly boast that they dare not make war upon us; they, on the other hand, more secretly, and therefore more prudently, indulge a similar delusion in regard to bonds which they suppose they hold of ours, and with more ample securities, by which we are bound to keep the peace with them. That This delusion on their part is not founded upon our inconsiderable pretense of a Navy. could easily be remedied. That is not the idea. Nor is it the defenseless condition of the Atlantic coast, and of our harbors and navy yards, nor the absolute want of any defenses whatever on the Pacific coast, though that would be something to be considered. Some English statesman is said to have stated in Parliament, that Great Britain in possession of the Island of Cuba could, in the event of a war with the United States, cut our commerce in two-as doubtless she could, so far as regards our coastwise trade between the Gulf and Lower Mississippi States and the States on the Atlantic. But Great Britain looks to a more effective mode of warfare than the breaking up of our coastwise trade. If the United States shall attempt to enforce the Monroe doctrine to an offensive extreme -should they go beyond mere menace and bravado, and attempt by force to drive her out of Central America, or in any other way or under any pretext provoke a war, she considers that she holds in her hands a key with which she can unlock an element of war of such potency as to cut the Union in two. Great Britain supposes that she holds a key with which she can at pleasure unlock an element of public sentiment by which she can stir the blood of her own subjects to such a feeling of hostility to the United States as will reconcile them all to the consequences of interrupted trade and industry, incident to war. I think, sir, that we must be a little blind if we do not already perceive that the initiatory steps have already been taken to prepare the people of England for any future contingency which may possibly give rise to a war between the two countries-however sincere British statesmen may be in desiring that no such a contingency may ever happen. I repeat, that it is impossible that any sagacious American statesman can look on and consider the current of things, not only in England, but on the continent, in reference to American affairs and institutions, and not be impressed with the idea that there is as much of State policy as of sentiment at the bottom. Whence the obstinate persistence of Great Britain? Whence the increased sensibilities of English statesmen to the atrocities of the slave trade? Whence the more than usual tenacity, not only of the two late cabinets, but the present one also, in enforcing the treaty obligation of Spain, in regard to the slave trade? Does any one believe that it is a philanthropic impulse only which prompts Great Britain to menace Spain, and send her dozen ships-of-war to prevent the landing of slaves in Cuba? Or does any one now doubt that it has become a settled 32D CONG.....2D SESS. Reciprocal Trade with the British Provinces-Mr. Fuller, of Maine. point of English policy, since the correspondence of Lord Palmerston and Lord Howden has come to light, that Cuba shall become like Jamaica? that there shall be no slave-grown sugar in the islands? that Cuba, with the abolition of slavery, shall become worthless, and a burden to Spain? and then we know the sequel. It is for these reasons, in part, Mr. President, that I regard the idea of an exemption from wars in future, either with England or France, delusive. Not, I repeat, that I see any immediate prospect of war; but I would not, in considering the temper of our own people and the present unsettled condition of Europe, and of our relations with Great Britain and Spain, (to say nothing of France,) be surprised if we should be involved in a war at any time. || knows that she has no immunity from those RECIPROCAL TRADE. OF MAINE, IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, On the bill establishing Reciprocal Trade with the Mr. FULLER said: SENATE. investments in railroads and other means of transportation. As an This bill is emphatically, as its friends claim it to be, a measure to promote manufacturing and railroad interests, and its adoption is urged upon the ground of the especial benefits it will confer upon those interests. Now, sir, capital is always quick to scent out its own true interests, and never fails to exercise its full share of influence in the halls of legislation. This bill proposes to establish new rules of trade between the British North American Provinces and the United States, which trade, in the aggregate, the past year, amounted to over $18,000,000. By reference to the report of J. D. Andrews, Esq., communicated to Congress by the Secretary of the Treasury at the present session, and to which I wish to pay a deserved compliment for the vast amount of valuable statistical information it affords, exhibiting not only method, but great industry and research, it appears that our gross amount of exports to the British North American Provinces for the last year, was $12,678,279; and the aggregate of imports from those Provinces was $6,218,660. Now, every one knows that under existing laws the industry of the country adapts itself to such laws, and that any material change thereof affects private interests to a very great extent. illustration: by our present tariff, gypsum in its crude state is admitted into our ports free of duty; and under my own observation on the frontier of my State, near tide-waters, large investments have been made in mills and machinery for calcining and grinding plaster. This bill proposes to admit plaster manufactured free of duty; the effect of which would be to transfer the process of manufacturing to the quarry, or place of shipment in Nova Scotia, and thereby save the expense of transhipment, and the result will follow of the entire abandonment of the present places of manufacturing, and the loss of the capital invested in the buildings and machinery. How stands it with lumber? It is affirmed by the friends of this The tariff in 1846 was revised, and its details measure that lumber is scarce; that our forests are adjusted upon what was then deemed to be the fast disappearing, by reason of the great demand revenue principle, at the same time affording for it, and that it is, at the present time, enorincidental protection to the great industrial pur-mously high in the markets; that lumber must be suits of the country. If there was any portion of the Union which had greater cause of complaint than another in this adjustment, it was the State which I in part represent. The product of her forests was incidentally protected from foreign competition at the rate of twenty per cent., while the great State of Pennsylvania, in her coal and iron fields, was protected at the rate of thirty per cent. a difference of one half. This bill proposes, so far as it affects the interest of my State, to strike off all incidental protection on its chief product of labor, and leave it to bear the most onerous burdens of the tariff of 1846. As for this road, we are told at every turn that SPEECH OF HON. T. J. D. FULLER, it is ridiculous to talk of war in connection with it, for we will have no wars except those with the Indians. Both England and France dare not go to war with us. I say this course of argument is not only unwise and delusive, but if such sentiments take hold on the country, they will be mischievous; they will almost to a certainty lead to a daring and reckless policy on our part; and as each Government labors under a similar delusion as to what the other will not dare to do, what is Mr. SPEAKER: Being a member of the Commore probable than that both may get into such mittee on Commerce, which has reported this bill, a position-the result of a mutual mistake-that I take this early occasion to explain my views to war must ensue? It is worth while to reflect upon the House and my constituents in regard to its the difference between the policy of Great Britain provisions. Here I wish to observe, while I proand this country in her diplomatic correspond-fess to be a thorough-going free-trade man in my ence and debates in Parliament. When we make political principles, I am, at the same time, of the a threat, Great Britain does not threaten in turn. opinion that free trade, in a few specific articles, We hear of no gasconade on her part. If we and with one nation or community alone, may redeclare that we have a just right to latitude 540 sult in the most objectionable system of protection, 40', and will maintain our right at all hazard, she and operate very injuriously with reference to cerdoes not bluster, and threaten, and declare what tain industrial pursuits of portions of the country. she will do, if we dare to carry out our threat. Such is my opinion of this bill. As a measure, When we talk about the Musquito king, and the it has a very important bearing upon the revenues Balize, of the Bay Islands, and declare our deter- of the Government, and the free-trade policy of the mination to drive her from her policy and pur- tariff of 1846. poses in regard to them, we do not hear of an angry form of expression from her. We employed very strong language last year in regard to the rights of American fishermen; but the reply of Great Britain scarcely assumed the tone of remonstrance against the intemperate tone of our debates. Her policy upon all such occasions is one of wisdom. Her strong and stern purpose is seldom to be seen in her diplomatic intercourse, or in the debates of her leading statesmen; but if you were about her dock-yards, or in her foundries, or her timber-yards, and her great engine manufactories, and her armories, you would find some bustle and stir. There, all is life and motion. I have always thought that the proper policy of this country is to make no threats-to make no parade of what we intend to do. Let us put the country in a condition to defend its honor and interests; to maintain them successfully whenever they may be assailed; no matter by what Power, whether by Great Britain, or France, or both combined. Make this road; complete the defenses of the country, of your harbors, and navy-yards; strengthen your Navy-put it upon an efficient footing; appropriate ample means for making experiments to ascertain the best model of ships-ofwar, to be driven by steam or any other motive power; the best models of the engines to be employed in them; to inquire whether a large complement of guns, or a few guns of great calibre is the better plan. We may well, upon such questions, take a lesson from England. At a recent period she has been making experiments of this nature, in order to give increased efficiency to her naval establishment. How did she set about it? Her Admiralty Board gave orders for eleven of the most perfect engines that could be built, by eleven of the most skillful and eminent enginebuilders in the United Kingdom, without limit as to the cost, or any other limitation, except as to class or size. At the same time orders were issued for the building of thirteen frigates of a medium class, by thirteen of the most skillful ship-builders in the kingdom, in order to ascertain the best models, the best running lines, and the best of every other quality desirable in a war vessel. This is the mode in which Great Britain prepares for any contingencies which may arise. She cannot tell when they may occur, yet she The planters of Louisiana, the hemp-growers of the West, the iron and coal producers of Pennsylvania, the manufacturers in Massachusetts, are all protected at high rates of duty; but Maine, which consumes the products and manufactures of these great States, and pays for their protection, has kindly tendered to her the admission of lumber free of duty from the adjoining British Provinces, for the especial benefit of those interests and sections she is taxed to protect. There is a law of the sea which quite appositely illustrates the bearing of this bill on my constituents. It is "the prerogative of the great fish to eat up the little ones;" and in no other light can I view the practical application of this bill in its operation upon my State. I desire to look fairly at all the different interests of this great and varied country. I am disposed to favor any proper measures which will so divide the common burdens of taxation that they may fall equally upon all. In this connection, I wish to invite the attention of the House to a few historical facts. In 1824, and prior thereto, the State of Massachusetts was eminently one of commerce and navigation. That State for a time opposed the protective policy, but her interests changed and she became a manufacturing State, and asked for protection. She obtained it. Under that system, notwithstanding its fluctuations, her manufactures have now obtained a firm foothold, and she now seeks a foreign market on the principle of mutual exchanges. That State, with others at the present time, has large placed in the free list of articles, for the purpose of cheapening it to the manufacturing districts, which are great consumers of it. Admit it to be so. Are not the woolen shirts, the satinets, the cottons, the boots and shoes, iron, hemp, and cordage, produced in other sections of the country, quite as indispensable to the producers of lumber as is lumber to the producers of these articles? Any measure which partakes of incidental protection, in the shape of duties, to defray the expenses of the Government, should be so adjusted as to bear equally on all, and this is all I contend for. Any system which stops short of this must work unequally, and produce great discontent and dissatisfaction. Now, what are the facts in relation to lumber? Lumber, in its varied forms of manufacture, is at this time, and for many years will continue to be, an article of export from our country. By the annual report of commerce and navigation of the past year, it appears that the United States exported to foreign countries over three hundred millions feet of lumber, and of the ap-. proximate value of $3,000,000; while for the same period of time we imported only about $800,000 worth, notwithstanding the long-extended line of frontier bordering on the British Provinces. Is there, then, any foundation in the allegation that lumber is becoming scarce in the markets of our own country, while our lumbermen are seeking a foreign market for their surplus? Our merchants export lumber largely to Spain on the Atlantic and Mediterranean, to France on the Atlantic and Mediterranean, and to the West India Islands. My friend from North Carolina [Mr. ASHE] laid upon my desk this morning a statement of the exports from the port of Wilmington, in his State, one of the items in which statement is seventeen millions feet of lumber exported the past year. Now, that this free-trade project with the North American British Provinces will operate, and is. so intended, beneficially to the manufacturing interests, and to capital invested in railroads, I do not deny. On the other hand, it is just as evident 32D CONG....2D SESS. Reciprocal Trade with the British Provinces-Mr. Fuller, of Maine. that it will operate to the injury of agricultural producers, and to the producers of the raw material. IT IS A TARIFF MEASURE, and it should be so understood. I caution the friends of liberal principles and free trade, that they be not ensnared by this seductive proposition to get up a free-trade system in part, without looking into its details and practical effect, to see that in other respects it does not become more protective. It is well known that repeated attempts have been made in this, and the last Congress, to substitute specific duties for ad valorem ones by the friends of protection, under the specious allegation of preventing frauds on the revenue, while the real object was to obtain higher protection. Failing in this-failing to put a dollar in their pockets, the next resort is (and this is that measure) to save paying out a dollar in the shape of duties on the raw material which they must necessarily consume in the business of manufacturing. Our protective friends have quite suddenly become the advocates of the free-trade policy on such articles as they wish to buy, and desire, no doubt, all the incidental protection they can obtain in the form of duties on what they have to sell. I do not complain of them, for it is an illustration of the maxim, that men are very much inclined to consult their own interest in legislation as well as in other matters. Maine is a large lumber-producing State. From reliable data, I have ascertained her exports of lumber coast-wise and to foreign countries amount annually to about five hundred million feet. Between that State, as an integral portion of the Union, and the neighboring British Provinces, there can be no interchange of commodities. Why? Because in soil, in climate, in production, they are similar: and so it is in our consumptions. We must travel the same road, carry the same articles, and sell in the same market, and return with the same exchanges. In this aspect of the case, we shall find ourselves in the same condition with the Provinces, with this exception: for what we buy, we must pay thirty per cent. higher for the protection of the interests of other States, while they can purchase from the open markets of the world thirty per cent. cheaper than we can. Now, if this sacrifice is to be made of the interests of one portion of our people, for the benefit of another portion, it becomes an interesting matter of inquiry, and a very grave question for Congress to determine, how great that sacrifice is to be, and who shall be the victim. For one, I am bound to say that my constituents shall not be made the victims without an effort being made on my part to prevent it. In this lumber trade, how do these Provinces stand? Great Britain levies a discriminating duty of five dollars per thousand feet on lumber imported from the United States, and about a dollar upon provincial lumber. This is prohibitory of the export of lumber to the British markets. The Provinces export to the mother country about four million dollars' worth per year; and not content with this exclusive market, they desire an equal participation in our own markets, for the reason, that the difference of freight on so cumbrous an article of merchandise, is nearly equal to a third of its value. Even with the condition contained in the bill, that Great Britain shall receive our lumber at the same or no higher rate of duty than we may admit provincial lumber, no adequate consideration is furnished for the free exchange for the simple reason that a distant market is not an equivalent for a near one. I deny that lumber is now too high, or that it pays more than remunerating compensation. For a period of ten years prior to the last two years, it did not pay for the expense of manufacturing; and no man who did not own mills and timber land, and who was embarked in the business, escaped bankruptcy. To this cause is the fact owing that so many of the failed lumbermen of my State are now engaged in opening and working the pine forests of the northwestern States. There is an abundant supply of lumber in the eastern States fully adequate to the demands of our own market. My colleague from the Penobscot district, and myself, represent a tract of territory approximating to twenty thousand square miles, being two thirds of the area of the whole State, and a very large portion of that territory is now green land covered with various descriptions of timber. But what other equivalents do the friends of this measure propose, as an offset for the losses I have shown that we must sustain in this trade, of selling out the interests of Maine? It is the free navigation of the St. Lawrence. Now, of what value will that be to us? And how much shall we use it after we purchase the right? If I can show that the Provinces themselves will use it less and less, by reason of other preferable modes of transit being created, then I suppose, by parity of reason and interest, it will be of less comparative value to us. What I am about to say of the St. Lawrence is, in a measure, applicable to the Mississippi river. The time was when the right to navigate those great inland arteries was considered indispensable, they being the only outlets for the productions of the countries which they drain. But the power of steam is substituting new and more direct outlets, for the circuitous ones through the Gulf of the St. Lawrence and around the Florida keys. The same policy which is now tapping by railroads the great valley of the Mississippi at different points, and terminating on the Atlantic coast, and building up cities, is now beginning to divert the trade of the Canadas from the mouth of the St. Lawrence to the Atlantic cities. The Portland and Montreal railroad, the three roads leading through Vermont, and the Ogdensburg road, are all inviting the exports and imports of Canada over their tracks, rather than to have them seek the dangerous and difficult navigation of the St. Lawrence, inaccessible a very considerable portion of the year. Our own Government has very wisely secured, by legal enactments, the privilege of the through transit of Canadian imports and exports over these roads, and that privilege is now extensively used. It is further said, if this bill does not become a law, the Canadian Government will prohibit the use of their canals to our citizens, as a retaliatory measure. Well, sir, if they should see fit to adopt that policy, I would, as a Yankee, smile at their folly, and increase the facilities for their use of our roads by reduced tolls, and thereby secure more freight for the roads. What further are we to receive as equivalent? It is answered, the free navigation of the river St. John. Maine once bought and paid for that privilege. The only consideration of any value connected with this proposition, is the abolition of the provincial export duty on lumber the growth of Maine. All the lumber the growth of Maine, and which is manufactured in the Province of New Brunswick, may be admitted free of duty, at any time, if we choose to have it so by our laws; and in my judgment, it should be so. The reason is this: all the streams which feed the St. John, flowing from Maine, as they unite with the St. John, have dangerous falls near their junctions, so that the timber can only be floated down in the round log, and necessarily must be manufactured at the place of shipment-the city of St. John. A duty on this lumber, if brought into the United States, is a tax on our own citizens, for the privilege of using in the only practicable way the waters of the St. John, for which right Maine reluctantly consented to part with a large portion of her territory as an equivalent. But there is another consideration which I wish to present. The lumber trade, which is an immense interest throughout the United States, scarcely inferior to the coal and iron trade, enters into all conditions of life. I have spoken of the quantity of lumber Maine exports. In that estimate I included long lumber only. There are other kinds of lumber-shingles, clap-boards, laths, Hackmatac timber, ship timber, wood, and bark. For this description of lumber, the principal market is the United States, and there is no other, not even the distant British markets. Upon the St. Croix river, where seventy of the five hundred millions before spoken of were manufactured, one hundred and fourteen millions of laths were also manufactured; of which the cities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore were large consumers. The value of this Ho. OF REPS. kind of short lumber, as it is called, is made up wholly of the labor employed in the manufacture, the material being the refuse of other lumber. It furnishes employment for a great many persons, whose families are dependent upon the trade for their support. By including this description of lumber in the free list, most ruinous consequences will follow; for in the production of this kind of lumber, I am free to adinit, our people cannot compete with their provincial neighbors. The same is true of wood and hemlock bark. I next come to consider the fishery difficulty; which question, as I believe, has been designedly thrust into this bill by the friends of reciprocity in both Governments. That it is a question of some difficulty, and quite likely to become one of embarrassment to the Government, I have no doubt; and my constituents, who will be a portion of the sufferers, so long as it remains an open question, have a strong desire to see it satisfactorily adjusted; and to this end are willing to concede something. But they ask and will insist that our Government shall protect them in the free exercise of their just rights; and above all, from petty provincial annoyances, designed to coerce them into a submission to what is manifestly unjust. My amendment proposes to strike out all after the enacting clause in the bill, and insert in lieu thereof the following proposition: That whenever the British Government shall permit American citizens to enjoy the same rights in catching and curing fish as British subjects now do, or shall hereafter enjoy, then British caught and cured fish may be admitted into the United States free of duty. This proposition is a fair one, as I will proceed to show. In the deep-sea fisheries, American citizens possess all the rights and privileges which British subjects do; also in a portion of the shore fisheries, but not in all. The extent of the exclusive right in the shore fisheries is a disputed question between the two Governments. Now, yielding to the lower Provinces the value of the right to the exclusive shore fisheries which they claim for it, I propound this interesting question: "What are the fisheries worth to them, or any one else, without a market for their catch?" do the Provinces find their chief market for fish? They are not valued for mere pastime. Where I answer, the United States. The importation of fish from the lower British Provinces the past year was something short of $1,000,000 worth. To show, further, the state of the markets of the world, I have copied and read extracts from the official report of Moses H. Perley, Esq., made to the Governor of New Brunswick, and by him laid before the Provincial Legislature in 1850, on the subject of the sea and river fisheries of that Province: "FOREIGN MARKETS FOR FISH.-As a knowledge of the markets for fish properly cured, is matter of great importance, the writer has been at some pains to acquire information as to the amount of duties and restrictions in Europe and America, which is here submitted. "A large proportion of the pickled herrings of Scotland go to Prussia, and the States under the Germanic Union of Customs; this is in consequence of the low duty. In the Germanic Union the duty is 3s. sterling per barrel on saited herrings, and 1s. per barrel on smoked herrings; the quantity of Scotch herrings sent there annually is 150,000 barrels. "Austria, an adjoining country, to which there is easy access from Prussia, probably receives some of the British herrings; but the duty there is 4s. sterling per barrel, besides a transit duty of 1s. 6d. per barrel on all herrings passing through Prussia, to Austria or Poland. In consequence of these duties, British herrings, instead of becoming a staple export to Austria, as they ought to be, to the Catholic population of that large empire, are reserved as objects of luxury to the higher classes. The loss of a direct trade with Austria deprives the British merchant of a rich market, which would carry off many thousand barrels of herrings. Russia is another country to which a large export of herrings might be made, but a heavy ad valorem duty is assessed upon them, the value being calculated from the first imports of the season, which brings an extravagant price. In Russia, also, fish are exposed to the injurious practice of braacking, which consists in opening the barrels, and removing the contents to inspect thein. "In France, the duties on the importation of fish are as follows: Foreign fish by French vessels, per 100 killograms, 40 francs, or £1 12s. 6d. sterling; if imported in foreign vessels, or by land, 44 francs, or £1 15s. 2d. sterling. These high duties entirely exclude British fish from the French market. "In Holland, the importation of all kinds of salt fish are prohibited. "In Belgium, the duties on British fish of every kind vary with the season at which the importation takes place, as also whether imported in a British or foreign vessel; but all the duties are so high as to exclude herrings and dried fish. 32D CONG.....2D SESS. Exploration of the Interior of Africa—Mr. Miller, of New Jersey. "No British fish have been sent to Sweden or Denmark; the reason for this is not ascertained, but the extensive fisheries of Norway preclude the hope of a market in that quarter. "Smoked herrings are sent from Scotland to Geneva, Leghorn, Naples, Sicily, Venice, and Trieste. In Naples and Sicily, the duty is estimated at 10s. per barrel, which added to the freight, renders the article a luxury, and keeps it from the greater part of the population. "Imports of British fish, on a small scale, are received in Sardinia, Tuscany, the Roman States, Greece, and the Ottoman Empire, with all of which a trade of some extent might be established but for the uniform system of high duties kept up in each. "One or two vessels are cleared annually at St. Johns, Newfoundland, with dried fish for the Ionian Islands, and for Egypt; but of the value of the trade in those quarters no exact information has been obtained. "In Portugal, the duty on cured fish is fixed at 1,600 reis, or about 98. sterling per quintal. The object of this high duty was to protect a fishing company whose operations have failed, and it is now urged that Portugal ought to relax this duty, and allow the admission of British fish on terms in accordance with the reciprocal good relations which subsist between Portugal and Great Britain as to other articles of general commerce. In Spain, foreign fish of all kinds, fresh, salted, or dried, except codfish and stockfish, are prohibited. If these are imported in the vessels of Spain, a duty of thirty per cent. is charged; if in foreign vessels, the duty is forty per cent., and this difference gives the carrying-trade to the Spanish vessels. Great numbers of Spanish vessels resort annually to Newfoundland for cargoes of dry fish, and some of these vessels have also visited Halifax for the same purpose. But none of the vessels of Spain have yet visited the ports of New Brunswick, although the fish caught near its shores are equally as good as those of Newfoundland or Nova Scotia-their cure is so bad that they are altogether unfit for the market of Spain. "With the Spanish islands of Cuba and Porto Rico, an extensive trade might be carried on in fish in return for tropical products if the fish of New Brunswick were properly cured and dried to stand the climate and give satisfaction to the consumers. The writer has procured, from Washington, translations of the several tariffs of duties levied on fish, in Cuba and Porto Rico, from which it appears there are four separate rates. The lowest rate is on Spanish fish imported direct in a Spanish vessel; the next, on foreign fish imported from Spain in a Spanish vessel; the third rate is on fish imported direct from foreign countries in a Spanish vessel; and the fourth and highest rate, is on foreign fish imported in a foreign vessel. Under the last of these rates, pickled herrings are subject to a duty of thirty-three and a half per cent., the value being established at an uniform rate of $4 50 per barrel; the amount of duty is therefore $1 52 per barrel. Dried fish of all kinds pay a duty of twenty-seven and a half per cent., the value being fixed at $3 50 per quintal of 100 pounds; the duty is therefore ninety-seven cents per 100 pounds. When foreigncaught herrings and dried fish are imported in a Spanish vessel, they pay rates of duty amounting to $1.07 per barrel on herrings, and sixty-nine cents per 100 pounds on dried fish. If vessels load a full cargo of produce at any of the ports of Cuba or Porto Rico, an allowance of one fifth is deducted from the duty on the inward cargo. The tonnage duty on foreign vessels is seventy-seven cents per ton; but if they load with full cargoes of molasses, they are free from the tonnage duty. "Some of the badly-cured fish, mentioned by Mr. Allison, which were shipped to Cuba last season, having been sold there, the following is furnished as the account of sales, dated Matanzas, November 26, 1850: "In Brazil, the duty on dried cod is 2,500 reis the quintal of 100 pounds; on other fish, the duty is twenty-five per cent. on their valuation. At Pernambuco, on the 21st of October, 1850, the price of dried cod was 10 milreas-200 reis the 100 pounds. The exchange was then at 28% pence sterling the milrea; consequently the price of dried cod was equal to £1 4s. 11d. sterling per 100 pounds, and the duty 5s. 11d. on the same. The milrea is an imaginary currency, the value of which is governed by the exchange on London, and fluctuates accordingly. "In the United States, all fish pay a duty of twenty per cent. ad valorem, under the tariff of 1846. Besides the markets for fish in the sea-board cities of the Union, there is a large and growing demand for fish in those States which border on the great lakes, and which may be supplied through Canada by the St. Lawrence. There would seem to be an almost unlimited demand for pickled herrings, as well in those States as in Canada West, if caught in proper season and well cured; when sufficient care in these respects is taken, the rapidly-increasing population of the vast fertile districts of the West, near the great lakes, whether Canadian or American, will long continue to offer a sure and profitable market for the products of the fisheries." Now, in this same connection, I wish to show further, the quantities of fish imported under the tariff of 1842, when the duty was specific, and amounting to about one dollar per quintal; also, the increased quantity imported under the tariff of 1846 for the same length of time, the duty being only twenty per cent. ad valorem, and from this increase of importation show how much greater the importation will still be, if all duties are removed. Then I say, for the purpose of preventing all future difficulty and dispute, upon a question which ever will be a prolific source of discord and neighborly irritation, I propose the establishment of the principle of free fishing and free markets for fish. It may be regarded as hard by the fishermen, but it will be better for them than the present state of things. If, however, our provincial neighbors shall decline, or the home Government shall refuse to adjust this vexed question on such a basis, and the Provinces shall continue their annoyances upon our fishermen, another alternative may be presented for their consideration, to wit: the imposition of a duty on fish which shall be prohibitory of importation in its operation, as is the duty imposed by France. The following table shows the operation of high and low duties on the importation of salted fish in barrels. I have not had time to prepare a table of all descriptions of fish imported in the same period: Under tariff of 1812. 1842. 1843. 1844. 1845. 1846.. 14,678 12,334 43,542 30,506 31,402 132,452 Average number of barrels per year.... 109,116 I have a word to say in relation to the amendment of the gentleman from North Carolina, [Mr. CLINGMAN.] His proposition is, to open our coast-wise trade to the competition of the world. I am not disappointed in this proposition. I expected it. When the protectionists of New England and other States ask for the free admission of raw materials, why should not the southern States ask to have the coast-wise carrying-trade thrown open to the world? Shall we repeal our navigation laws whether the European nations shall permit our vessels to engage in their coast-wise trade or not? Should we throw open our valuable California carrying-trade to the competition of the world? In our foreign trade I have no fear of competition. SENATE. to look to the North, where men are always compelled to struggle with the elements, for your effective mercantile marine. And further: While some of our western friends think the bounties paid to these fishermen are unjust, I say that the moment you strike down these bounties, and turn off these men, you give yourself a wound that years cannot heal. You may cultivate the valley of the Mississippi, but you cannot build ships and make sailors. Mr. JONES, of Pennsylvania. Do I understand the gentleman to say that he wishes the duty on lumber to remain as it is, solely for the purpose of revenue; or does he wish the incidental benefits which may arise out of it, as an incidental protection to the lumber trade? Mr. FULLER. My answer is, take off duties on everything and we are content; but if you put the duties on, put them on equally. We do not want to pay thirty per cent. for all the iron we put into, our ships, and have lumber made duty free. That would be unjust, as I presume the gentleman will not deny. Mr. JONES. I agree with the gentleman fully, and I only inquired that I might understand whether I comprehended him correctly. Mr. FULLER. Under the tariff of 1846, we came off third best with Pennsylvania; she got thirty per cent. on iron, and we got twenty per cent. on fish and lumber. SPEECH OF HON. J. W. MILLER, OF NEW JERSEY, IN THE SENATE, March 3, 1853. On the Exploration of the Interior of Africa, and in favor of recognizing the Independence of Liberia. The Naval Appropriation bill being under consideration Mr. MILLER offered the following amendment: For equipment, maintenance, and supply of an expedition for the exploration of the interior of Africa eastward of Liberia, and the ascertaining of the resources of that region, and for the colonization of the free blacks of the United States, to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of the Navy, $125,000. Mr. MILLER said: The Secretary of the Navy addressed a letter to the chairman of the Committee on Finance recommending this appropriation, with an estimate, and requesting that the appropriation should Now, sir, representing as I do particular in-be made. It has not been acted upon by the comterests, I wish to ask if our people, who are scat- mittee, and I have thought it my duty to present tered through our forests, felling our trees, to be this amendment for the action of the Senate. floated down the streams upon the melting of the Senate will recollect that the Secretary of the Navy, winter snows, without knowledge or suspicion of in his annual report, directed the attention of the this measure, are to have this law sprung upon President and the country to this subject. I will them, the effect of which will be most unjust and read a short extract from that report: injurious? I do not refer to this for sectional purposes, but it is proper and legitimate that I should say, that while we are legislating for all interests, we should so legislate as not to destroy and break down any particular interest; and especially that of a people who have to struggle along under the disadvantages of a rigorous soil and climate. Let me say that if you value your mercantile marine-if you consider your commerce as the right hand of your strength, and as a means to promote your growth and prosperity, break us not down, and paralyze not the energies of those who, from necessity, are driven into a seafaring life, but rather build us up and sustain us. Let me say, and appeal to the history of the world for the truth of the assertion, that where men find a warm sun over their heads, and a rich productive soil under their feet, they will not venture upon an ocean life, and expose themselves to the perils of the sea. Who were the men who first explored our continent? Men, sir, from the high and cold latitudes of the north of Europe. They visited our coasts in vessels far inferior to those of the present day. It has ever been found necessary, and ever will be, The "In Commander Lynch, to whom the country is already indebted for important service in another field, I have found a prompt and ardent volunteer for this employment. He is He will land at Linow on his way to the African coast. beria, Cape Palmas, and other points, and will pursue his inquiries as far as the river Gaboon, with a view to the ascertainment of such localities on the margin of the African continent as may present the greatest facilities, whether by the river courses or by inland routes, for penetrating with least hazard to the interior. He will collect information touching the geographical character of the country, its means of affording the necessary supplies of men and pro visions, the temper of the inhabitants, whether hostile or friendly, the proper precautions to be observed to secure the health of a party employed, and all other items of knowledge upon which it may be proper hereafter to prepare and combine the forces essential to the success of a complete and useful exploration of the interior. In the performance of this duty, under the most favorable circumstances, he will encounter the perils of a climate famed for its unwholesome influence upon the white man, and may hardly hope to escape the exhibition of hostility from the natives. The spirit which has prompted him to court this perilous adventure, so honorable to his courage and philanthropy, trust will enable him to brave every hazard with success, to overcome every obstacle in his progress, and to reserve himself for the accomplishment of the great object to which these preparations are directed. In the mean time, I most earnestly commend the subject of the exploration to the early and favorable attention of Congress, with the expression of my own conviction that there is no enter |