Gazette of the United-States. (New-York [N.Y.]) 1789-1793, April 25, 1789, Image 1
,♦ -j efrU Cfeff eh hi fa* ■<w v/ >>?'• ;>/?*« No. IV. ORIGINAL. ttctr FTCH of the POLITICAL STATE oj AMERICA. "IT T HEN a writer ventures to expose his fenti- VV ments to the publick eye, upon lubjetfts which ar ° not in their nature of local or partial import, but in which the interest of the great v.liole is in volved, he not only avoids flie force of invective and party spleen, but is happy in reflecting that ihe <*cod of the publick forms the main objed: of his pursuit, and feels himfelf entitled to candour, though he may have 110 just claim to applause. At this all important moment, when America, from aftate verging upqn anarchy and confufion, can boall the poflefhon of a government, adequate to every purpose of society—a government, not the offspring of violence, but'the eft'eCtofcalm and mature'deliberation— and established upon the good sense of the community—lt may not be amiss to comteniplate thole principles and causes which led to th'is lurprizing revolution—and turn the mind to a view of those great national objects, which must form the basis of her future greatness. So various and complicated are the causes, and so intricate those fpiings which naturally tend to rfTcft the publick mind, and produce revolutions in the political situation of a people, it may be found neceiiary to revert to that period, when we firfl dared an opposition to the power of Great- Britain : Which, while it affords a train of inci dents, with their corresponding effects, in fuccel fion, at the fame time forms an apology for Amer ira in not having fconer agreed to those general regulations, which would have enabled her more fchy and fabftantially to have realized those bless ings, which the attainment of her Independence naturally pteferrted. I lhafl not however attempt I review of those principles which fir ft gave rife to the late contest with Great-Britain, and Anally pro duced our separation—as they have been repeated ly ltated, and accurately defined by men of abili ti.-s much fuperiour to mine in such a dilquifition— and who have been constant actors through the ■whole great scene : Of principles, the effects of which have been fete in their full force by every virtuous inhabitant of America, and led to exer tions ur.parraTelled in history : Suffice it to fay, that at'te/ Suffering every inl'ult and injury which tyranny and despotism cculd alone invent, Ameri ca, in that ever memorable epoch, the 4th of July, 1736, found it neceiiary, with a solemn appeal to Heaven for the propriety of her condutft and the jufhiefs of her cause, to renounce all allegiance to, and diilblve all political connexion with that par ent country, whose tender mercies were cruelties, and surrounding nations at once fubferibed to licr plea ofjulHficatiun, which was founded on that uni versal polkical maxim, that as protection and alle giance are reciprocal, when a government ceases to afford the one, it becomes the indifpenfible duty of the people governed, to renounce the other.— 111 addition tothiscaufe of their afient, we can also attribute a growing jealousy among the nations of Europe of the power of Great-Britain, while hold ing such extenlive territory in this Western world, which her insolent behaviour, 011 every occasion, served not a little to confirm. A native spirit of liberty, and love offreedonl, Supported by a sense of common danger, gave union to the councils of America, and fuccefstoher arms. During the contest, and after an arduous conflict of ten years, the haughty pride of Britain was cau fed to bow at the shrine of Justice, and these States, early in the year 1 78c;, were recognized by her as free, sovereign and independent. AMERICANUS. (To be continued.) AGRICULTURE. Mr. F-EfcKO, AS many people in this State as well as other parts of the Union, are preparing land for the glowing of Hemp the ensuing season ; you will F/f"1 re P u Mi". Read's (ofMa!lachufctts) II euu observations on the culture of that article. Yom "' s > ' A. B. of raifirg HEMP, and fitting it for > tovimimicatsd to the committee of the American ea emy of Arts and Sciences for promoting Agr't /■ii ' j lo'lllI o ' lll Read Esq. of Roxbury. andpub 'ijhed-iti their request. 1 J THE « I chufe for railing Hemp, is a light c ]„ IK - 1 mould, as free from fione, gravel and thorm 3 P. '< care is taken to have the foil fall nf ?i ' llla nured, and once ploughed in the the fn r ' C .^? ar > if other business will admit; in and as U'u P^ ou ghcd two or three times more, row i,i° rrowe d with an iron toothed har and'leav° r \ CI t0 e P arate the particles of earth, c tilem as light ss poflible then a light From WEDNESDAY April 22, to S A T U R D A Y, ArRiL 2J, 1789. brufli harrow is drawn by one liorfe over the ground, by which means it is levelled so as to re ceive the feed equally, after which it is marked out for lowing ih the fame manner that barley and oats are generallyfown, calculating (if the loil is very good) at three bulliels to an acre, if but mid dling good, at two and an half bushels to an acie. The feed is always harrowed ill immediately af ter sowing, with a fine iron toothed harrow, and nothing is fuffered to pal's over it afterwards, leli by treading or otherways it might be injured. The feed mull be of the lall year's growth, and will be benefited by lying ill ihe cellar a few weeks previous to its being sown. In general I low my feed about the middle of May (being governed by thefeafon) a little l'ooner or later will do ; my hemp is commonly fit to pull by the Bth or ioth 01 August, which is known by the male hemp turn ing whiriih just at the time when the farina palles off; this is ealily discovered by its (making when agitated by the wind or jarred with a stick. When the hemp is pulled, it is spread on the ground where it grew, about an inch thick, and what that will not receive is carried off to other ground, and after laying two or three days mi ll ed with a pole about lix feet long ; then receiving one or two days more foil, it is bound into bundles of about i J or 18 inches in circumference, and immediately lioufed from wet until convenient rime offers to put it into water for rotting, which is done as soon as other business will admit. There being a small lh eam of water that runs through my farm, 1 have erected a dam which enables me to flow a pond about five or fix feet high, wherein the hemp is laid (much in the fame manner that flax is laid for rotting) and after covering it with straw to keep it clean, the plank and ftciies be ing placed thereon, the dam gate is shut down, and the hemp being over flowed, remains until it is properly rotted, which is done in fix or fevCn days, if put in as soon as the latter end of August or begining of September, the weather being ge nerally warm at that I'eafen of the year ; if putin ro water the latter end of September, or the be ginning of October, I have let it lay twelve days ; if the latter end of o<flober or beginning of No vember, twenty days, unless the weather has been uncommonly warm for the fealon, in that cafe I have found itnecellary to be removed sooner, but have made it a point of attending to the heat or cold of the weather, as when the water is warm, the hemp will get a proper rot much sooner than when it is otherwise. My practice has been to draw the water from the hemp 24 hours before tlietrking it up, leaving the weight thereon in order that it may be well drained, as in that cafe it is much better handled : Then it is removed to a dry piece of ground and spread about two inches thick, and after remain ing a week or ten days in that situation is turned, and in eight or ten days after, it is taken up, tied in bundles and removed into the barn, where it remains until I have leisure time to break and swingle it out ; when barn room cannot be spar.cd I have placed it up against a rail fence, running the top ends between the two uppermost rails, letting it remain there until proper time for break ing ; for which purpose I have always found clear cold weather to be the belt. My hemp is broke and swingled much in the fame manner that flax is done, excepting that the firll breaking is done in a course break, the teeth or flats being nearly four inches apart,then a com -111011 flax break answers well, and being carefully swingled is fit for use. My practice for raising feed hath been to set a part in the field some of my belt grown hemp for that purpose, pulling up the male and female hemp for about 18 inches in width, so that a man may pass through ; leaving the other in beds a boutnx feet ill width, in order that two men, (one oil each fide) may reach in their hands and pull up all the male, without injuring the feed bearing hemp. This process is performed when the general pulling is done in Augufl ; the female hemp mult Hand until the feed is fully ripe, which is known by its turning brown ; in wet weather I have been obliged to let it Hand until the middle ofOd:ober before it was fit to pull ; after which it mull: be ti ed in bundles like other hemp, and carefully set up agaift a fence to dry, or that is not conveni ent it may be laid on the ground, and after one or two days fun, beat out in the fame manner that flax feed is beat out, si nking lightly ; then expose the other fide to the fun one or two days, after which give it a thorough beating and spread the feed with all the leaves, &c. in a dry place for some days, then threfli it with a light flail or rub it by hand, either w-ay until the feed is all out, and NOTE. * If is to be observed tliat a muddy bottom will require draw I previous tothe hemp fceijig laid thereon. after winnowing but it into a dry place fcrfcwir o the next yesr. The feed bearing hemp, requires afcwdayslcn ger to rot than the other, cwirgto the thickness otthe tark cr hmle, and the gi eater quantity of glutinous fubilanee cccaficned L y its longfiamiirg. I have always preferred old lr.anuie to new, more especially ii lioife or cow citing, but new, will c!o, and it is much theletttrto ha\ e it plcunh ed in, in the fall. \\ ith rcfpec't to the quantity of hemp, jailed on an acre of ground, it varies from fix to twelve hrn dred weight, much depending 011 the quality of the foil and the manner of preparing it. The expense of cultivating, iU. an acre of hemp, is not at present in my power to ascertain, great part of the bufmefs being done at leisure, and when the time could belt be fpaiecl ; I would just observe, that 1 can laifetw o or three acres yearly on my small faim, without interfering much with my oilier bufmefs. -j- The present price of liemp, together' with the bounty by the State, to encourage the culture of thisuleftil plant, amounts to about 220 dollais per ton, which bid fair to establish its growth here,and 1 am fully i'atisi.ed, from my own experience, that at the present day no branch of agriculture (where land is found suitable) canbe carried 011 to lo great acUantage as that of railing hemp, and 1 have no doubt that bur fanners will soon be convinced of the truth of this observation. It having been found by experience, both in Europe and America, that lienip may be grown on the lame ground for twenty 01; thirty yeais in fuccclfion,without lefloip ing the crcp or empoverifhing the foil ; this alio ti'ill have its weight. The last year 1 tried the experiment of raising hemp 011 a piece diked marih, the fait water having been !:ept off better than cne year ; after being ditched, I had a small part near the upland carefully dug and manured \vitli old dung mixed withfand, the hemp grewto full height, anclpro ved to be of the belt kind ; this encouragement has oecafioncd my preparing a larger piece for further trial the next fealon, when I mean to make seve ral experiments on the cultivation and clearing of hemp, and if any advantage shall accrue there from, I shall do myfclf the houor of communicat ing it to the committee as early as pofF.ble. NOTE. + A man that understands the breaking and fwinglinz Kemp wall, wfll clcan from 40 toso wt. per day. N E W-Y O R K. PROCEEDINGS of CONGRESS. hi the HOUSE of REPRESENTATIVES of the UNITED STATES. SKETCH of the DEBATES upon die ARTICLE of TONNAGE. Tuesday, April 21, 17,89. TH E proposed duty of 6 cents, pr. ton, 011 vefTcls built in t ! ie United States, aria belonging to the citizens thereof, was ob jected to by fcveral membns : It was urged, that it wou'd tend to the diftourag ng ftup building, that it was like taxing the imple ments of hulbandi y, and was an improper Article ol taxation. To these obje&ions, it was replied, that the def:,>n of this tax was not for the purpofeof revenue ; but to defray the cxpenccs of light houfts, and incidental charges of commcroc ; erecting hofpit.il>, so* dilablcd seamen, &t. for which p'.rpofes, a tax of tlie kmd now proposed was themoft convenient ar.d natural revenue# Upon the paragraph which related to vefTels owned by the fub jctts of foreign powers in alliance with the United States—many observations occurred upon Mr. Goodhue's propoling a duty of sixty cents per ton. This tonnage,the gentleman observed, accord ing to a calculation he had made, would amount to about live per cent, on the freight of veflels of tons. Mr. Boudi not proposed thirty cents peV ton. Mr. Goodhue observed, that the duty on foreign (hips was ren dered nectfTary, in conference of the heavy burthens American bottoms were liable to in foreign ports —that therefore, the duty to be laid, ought to bear some proportion to thole impositions. Thir ty cents, he conceived, would not cftablifti the preference', in FavonV of our own (hipping. Mr. Lawrence was opposed to sixty cents, as much too high, the present state of our {hipping, which the gentleman laid, was inefficient for the exportation of our produce ; this would be found so heavy a duty, as to discourage the ftiipments of our produce ; which it was well known would not bear a duty in foreign markets ; it would operate as a tax on ourselves * for freight in foreign veflels would be enhanced to an intolerable de gree ; which would einbarrafs, or prevent exportafions, to the dif couragemcnt of agricu'ttre a.id industry of every kind. Mr. Law rence concluded, by seconding die motion for thirty cents. Mr. Hartley propole'd 33 cents. Mr. Goodhue said, that he was again!! a duty that would be so as to operate to the discouragement of exporting our own produce; but he thought, that five percent, was as little as could be mentioned, to give .American YtfTels proper encouragement. Mr. Fitzsimons observed, that it had been the policy of msr ritime, and commercial nations, to encourage their own ifiippin ' ; and to give it, if poflibje, a decided superiority, ever that of their neighbors and rivals—Hence the proprn*y of cur giving our own navigation peculiar advantage •, and there wasno doubt but in time, our own ships might and would carry our own produce to market, at a lower freight, than any. foreigners could—for many obvious reasons : ButJitthe present scarcity of velFels, he did not conceive it good policy, to discourage' foreigners from coming to our ports. The {hiping at present employed in transporting the prodifce of the United States to market, was two thirds foreign property—lt would require time to bring our shipping upon a par with foreign flipping ; but a decided preference to American bottoms, would induce the merchants to increzlc the aciount of then capitals; in TRICE SIX PENCE.