Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, Vol. 4 (of 16)United States. Congress
History
Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, Vol. 4 (of 16)
United States. Congress
Law -- United States; United States -- Politics and government
That the embargo is a measure severely felt by our country at large,
and by some portions of it to a very eminent degree, cannot be
denied. I did not expect to hear its effects contradicted; but they
have been in some measure softened by the honorable chairman of the
committee. I think the pressure of this measure great, and in some
places requiring all the exertion of patriotism to support it. And as
a proof of it, the members on this floor from different parts of the
Union have only contended which section suffered most. A member from
Massachusetts, (Mr. QUINCY,) because he conceives that thirty millions
of dollars have been lost to the Eastern country by the measure, hence
concludes that the Eastern country suffers most. The gentlemen from
the Southern country say that they raise seventy millions of pounds
of cotton, of which but ten millions are consumed at home, and the
whole of the residue remains on hand; and that having seven-tenths
of their produce unsold, conceive that they most sensibly feel the
weight of this affliction in their country. A member from Virginia (Mr.
RANDOLPH) will not yield the palm of oppression to either. "I live
(said the gentleman) in the centre of the tobacco country, whether
you draw the line from East to West, or from North to South. We are
not less pressed than others, for we have no vent for this article
so obnoxious in itself, but which the taste of mankind has rendered
necessary." Now, with great deference to all these gentlemen, I say
that my country suffers most. The Southern country possesses its
staples, which but remain on hand; their value only diminished by the
non-export. Tobacco and cotton may be preserved without material injury
for a length of time. We know that at the close of the Revolutionary
war tobacco bore a greater price than previous to its commencement,
and amply remunerated the holders. But I represent an agricultural
country. What can resuscitate wheat devoured by the fly? What restore
flour soured in the barrel? Our produce perishes, the subject is
destroyed. So far therefore as I represent an extensive and fertile
farming district, I will not yield the palm of pressure to the cotton
and tobacco country. So great has been the feeling of the people that
it has wrought a wondrous change in the State which I have the honor to
represent; not in men who are either deluded or deceived, as intimated
by the gentleman from Tennessee, (Mr. CAMPBELL,) but men who, by the
pressure of the embargo itself, have been driven to reflection, and by
reflection removed the film from their eyes, and thereby seen their
true interests more distinctly. In the course of the last Winter, the
Legislature of the State of Maryland, believing that the Orders in
Council justified the embargo, and that it was a wise measure, approved
of it. Succeeding elections have taken place, and the present House of
Representatives tells you that it is most ruinous and oppressive. Such
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