can party, desires the re establishment of the protective policy, yet I shall call the attention of the gentleman to the fact that I adverted to the other day, that nowhere can he find a published resolution of his party in avowal of any such subject. Mr. HALE. Ido not wish to misinterpret the gentleman from Virginia. lam perfect ly willing to insert in my speech any portion of his that he may IV hat 1 read I think clearly embraced his idea, that he (lid not fear what the Republican party would do so far as slavery is concerned, but that the real object of the party, and what was in the main the ground of objection to it, was that it aimed to restore the protective system. I do believe Mr. Chairman, that the Republi can party is fully committed to the great doc trine of protection to American industry. I am sure that 1 would not belong to any party that was not Xo party in the State could exist, did it not at least profess to hold that doctrine. The Democratic party there claims to do so, with how much good faith I leave the gentleman from Virginia to answer. Mr. Chairman, the gentleman from Virgin ia is greatly mistaken if he supposes that the protective system is sustained upon the popularity of anti slavery notions. There is no doubt a deep feeling in the northern States against the extension of slavery ; but, so far as Pennsylvania is concerned, the feeling in favor of the protection of American industry is quite as strong, and it would be firmly im planted in the public mind there if the other question had no existence. We believe both doctrines to bo just and true. If one receives aid from the other, has the gentleman any right to complain? Certainly not. Every member of the Republican party in this House, save one, has voted to sustain that measure : and it may, therefore, be fairly claimed, I think, that protection to American industry is one of the principles of that par ty. The condition of the country at this time demands the earnest and thoughtful consider ation of all those intrusted with the manage ment of its affairs; and it seems to lue that we should at least occasionally turn our thought-G to the actual results and inevitable tendency of the present practical free-trade policy which now, and for some time past, has ruled this country, even if we thereby, for the time, suffered the " Dred Scott" de cision and its kindred topics to be passed over. Our Democratic friends seem to think there are no other interests worthy of our at tention, and scarcely deserving a passing no tice, but the single one of slavery. It en grosses the legislation of the country, to the exclusion of almost everything else. All other questions, all other interests have to give way before its imperious demands and exacting and aggressive spirit. But, I desire to make no further remarks upon this subject at present. My purpose is to call attention to the present disordered state of our financial affairs; and, if possible, to devise a remedy. We now owe a foreign debt of over five hundred million dollars, and that debt is steadily increasing more titan fif ty millions annually, while our ability to pay ts constantly decreasing. Our imports arc every year growing larger; and our ex ports except from accidental and extraordina ry causes, are falling off. Our manufactories tire, one by one. going down under the de struetive effects of foreign competition ; our country drained of rts preei us metals to make up the balance of trade always against us; the industry and enterprise of the coun try everywhere, to a gr-at extent, prostrate and paralyzed unt : the depressing effect which this state i t thing? i-ion, sooner or later, to bring in its train. Nothing can be more certain ; cause and effect are not more sure, and no axi.jin in political economy can be truer, than that a nation that constantly buys more than it sells will, in time, become bankrupt. A variety of causes may post pone the evil day ; temporary relief may oc casionally be fouud ; but the certain tendency of this course is, and must be, to this end.— This state of affairs existed prior to the pas sage of the tariff of 1842, when, in the pro gross of the free trade system, for some years previous to that time, we were brought to the verge of bankruptcy ; and a bankrupt law, which at one stroke wiped out our indebted ness of untold millions, became as was sup posed, a necessity. The tariff of 1842 grad ually brought the country out of the depres sion into which it had been thrown by the previous system, and restored it to unwonted prosperity; and it may safely be asserted, that every branch of industry and enterprise in this country never was more prosperous than between the years of 1843 and 1847 the time when the beneficial effects of the tariff of 1842 had their legitimate influen ces. We seek, by the passage of the present tar iff bill, to arrest this downward progress of the country, and restore it to that state of prosperity and real independence, which our great natural wealth and resources and the industry, skill, aud enterprise of our people justly entitle us to. To do this, we must in laying our revenue laws, so protect and en courage our own industries, that we shall be able to carry the productions of this country to the point of actual use. This would in crease the capacity of the consumer of agri cultural products. Our farmers would have a market at their doors for their surplus pro ductions, and the consumers would, from their increased ability and numbers, buy more of the quantities and kinds of all farm ing productions, and nothing would tend to stimulate the agricultural interests of the country so much as a ready market near his own door of every agricultural production which the farm could raise. llow much is lost now for the want of a home market for many of the bulky articles of the tarm which will not bear a long trans portation ; bow much is lost in transporting the more valuable products to a distant and expensive market, it is easy to imagine. We have facilities for manufacturing, in all natural resources, quite equal, if not'superi or, to nny other country in the world: in water power, soil, climate and mineral wealth; in the intelligence, skill, and industry of our workmen, and in that active spirit of enter prise which characterizes the American peo ple above all others. Then, why is it that, with these superior advantages, our own man ufactures so languish? Why is it that we send our raw material to a foreign country, there to be manufactured, and returned to us n its finished state, and also send our bread -stuiis to the same distant market, to feed those engaged in the same manufacture, and paying the large amount required for the transportation of the raw materials and ag ricultural products to a foreign land, and then paying for the same returned to us in the shape of the finished article? It is principally to the difference in the price of labor between this country and Europe that we are to lock for the difficulty in our manufactures competing with foreign countries, especially in those articles such as iron, where manual labor enters largely into their production. An article that can be piade principally by machinery needs but lit- tie if any protection ; but it is not so with those that require a large amount of labor: and it then becomes a question of vital im portance, one that must be fairly met, wheth er it is the true policy of this Government to adopt that system which tends to depress la bor dawn to the level of the European stand ard, or that other and better one, which shall increase its value, and elevate its importance to its just rank as the great element of our national wealth and prosperity. The argument in favor of protection, based upon the advantages it confers and the bene fits it affords to the free labor of the country, is, in my opinion, amply sufficient, if no oth er existed. A just division of labor must bo admitted, I think, an essential requisite, in order to advance the wealth and prosperity of a nation to its highest attainable point. It will not do to have ail, or an undue propor tion, engaged in agriculture, lest there be found no market for the farming surplus ; nor will it do for all to be engaged in manufac tures, lest tiiere should be no agricultural products for their subsistence. The true con ditioD of a State, and the most prosperous, is when there is a constant and profitable em ployment for the artisan, and a convenient and reliable market for the farmer. Every intelligent community would soon adjust its business so as to bring about this result, if there were no disturbing causes outside which rendered it impracticable. The lower price ef labor in foreign lands than in our own is the great disturbing cause which prevents this from being effected here; and to remove this difficulty is one principal object of the protective system. Suppose we are required to pay a larger pi ice for a manufactured article made at home than for the same made in Europe.— This may be considered for the sake of argu ment; although I am confident that where an article can be produced and manufactured in this country, all experience proves that when sufficiently protected, for a reasonable time, the superior ekill of our workmen, aud the active spirit of competition among our peo ple, have almost invariably reduced the price be! >w what it was when the manufacture of it was first commenced. But suppose, as I said, the article costs more here than we would import it for: in the first place, we must have the money which we raise by duties on foreign goods for the support of the Government—and, by gen eral consent, this is the easiest and best mode of raising revenue; so that in reality so long as a tariff raises only sufficient for the wants of the Government, nothing whatever is paid as a bounty to the manufacturer. We only ask that when the money required by the Government is to be raised a discrimination shall be made, so as to afford a reasonable protection to the great interests of the coun try, Nothing can he more unreasonable and unjust than to refuse this. To do so would seem to be a policy dictated by the narrowest spirit of partisanship, far removed from a true patriotism and a wise statemanship.— If, while raising the necessary money fur the support of the Government, we can .at the same time so impose the duty as to foster the manufactures of the country, develope the mineral wealth, enc ;urage and protect labor, give a good home market to the farmer, and thereby give an active and steady impulse to the whole business of the country, why shall wc not do so? Can any good reason be shown for pursuing the opposite p-dicy ? Surely, if gentlemen would divest themselves f prejudice and party feeling, and come to the examination of the question with an im partial spirit, there could be no doubt of the re-ult. We do not desire a tariff so high as to be prohibitory, for then no revenue could be raised under it. Nor should it lie indiscritn inate, for then it would afford no sufficient protection. The present tariff bill is believed to be ad justed, as nearly as possible, upon the prin ciple of raising sufficient revenue for the just wants of the Government, and at the same titne so discriminating as to afford a reasonable amount of protection to American industry. This policy, so eminently wise and just, lias so commended itself to the people of the State I in part represent, that ail parties there claim to he its friends and supporters. Especially does the so-called Democratic par ty claim to he its peculiar champion just be fore an important election, when it is neces sary to secure the votes of its friends. It will sound strange to honorable gentlemen on the other side of this house to be told that they belong to the protective tariff party of the country, and that they are so represent ed in the tariff States, when it is well known here that, with scarcely an exception, you and the party to which you belong are opposed to the whole system. It is, however, very possible that a candi- : date may be nominated by that party who I will be represented to the people of Penusyl- j vania as a good tariff man, hoping thereby, i as in times past, to secure the support of the ! confiding people of my State. The great swindle of 1844, I trust, however, has not ' been forgotten by them. It may be the same game will succeed j again. That it will be tried there is not 1 much doubt. W'e shall see whether our peo- j pie will consent to be again deceived and be- i trayed. We may safely say, from all past I history, that the extent of the friendship of j our Democratic leaders for a tariff amounts j to resolutions in town meetings and conven- j tions, and perhaps stump speeches occasion- j ally before an election ; and no more. So it ! will always be. The policy of that party is ; controlled, and in all future time is likely to i be controlled, by that portion of it living in the cotton States of the South, who are fool- j ishly hostile to the free labor of the North— erroneously, I think—believing their inter est is to send their raw material to Europe, and bring back from there the. manufactured article, instead of encouraging those of our own country. From the nature of the labor in that re gion, it must be confined to its rudest and simplest form ; being ignorant and unpaid, it h.as no motive, even if it had the capacity, to rise above the lowest level. The North, on the contrary, by the just respect every where paid to honest toil, and the skill, en terprise, and intelligence of its laboring citi zens, who constitute the great bulk as well as the chief support of its society, has attained the highest point of excellence in all its in dustrial pursuits, and stands this day at the head of the civilized world in its triumphs of labor directed by skill and science. llow is our country to become permanent- ! ly prosperous when subjected to the constant drain upon it, arising from the large excess of our imports over our exports? What na tion or individual could hope to succeed, in the long run, who constantly bought more than his income justified, and was conse quently every year going more and more in debt ? As an example of the increasing progress of dbr foreign debt, already immense, take the .imports and exports at the port of Xew \ork alone for the month of March last viz : Imports, $22,188,150; exports, (exclusive of specie,) $8,128,759; difference, $14,059,39: IMPORTS AT SEW YOSK FOR MARCH. is?,*. is9. lseo. Dutiable merchandise, $7.545.:,26 $15.314."23 $10,106,698 Free merchandise, 3.5P4.7"3 Specie and Oulliou, 277 -206 81,:>66 55.095 Withdrawn from ware house, 4.444.435 1.7 15.337 2.200,117 Total, $14,361,887 f19.733.55yj $22.1*8.150 Warch. .used. 1.*12.230 Cash duties, 3,164,011 3.477.543 EX POETS AT SEW TORK FOR MARCH. 18.58. 18-59. IS6O. Domes:. -merchau 1-e.f 4.7' 3.371 $5.377.*4) f--.995.057 Forei sm merchandise, 077.4*9 498.161 1.130.1*.. Specie and bullion, 836.194 3.343.677 2.3*1.'5-t Total, 56,017,054 f9.219.673 f10.510.417 This, for the single month of March, will show the tendency of our present system to keep us constantly in debt and transfer our manufacturing establishments to Great Brit ain, France, and Germany. In the article of iron, in which the country at large is so deep ly interested as an article of prime necessity both in peace and war, and which we could produce in any quantity sufficient to supply the world, the policy of the Democratic free trade party is to permit the ore to remain un disturbed in its native beds in our own coun try, and to import it from England by mil lions annually ; depriving us thereby not on ly of the large amount of easli which is withdrawn to pay for it abroad, but the great advantages that would accrue from its manufacture here to the farmer and laborer, as well as to every branch of industry. Imports and custom house value of Iron and manufactures of Iron <(• Steel,! under the tariff of 1840, for ten pears and nine months. Description of iron imported. Total t'ns Total value. Averago Duty jU. , K . r ! 1 price. per ct. " ffjf ! Dig iron - - SiiS.iKR) ft 3,941.0611 .061 ft;, f,i ;to #4 65 ! Sheet iron - - 139,966 8,749,775 62 50 30 IS 76 i Hoop iron - - 62,963 2.661.621 49 13 39 14 75 Nail, spike and brazier rods 48,044 1.964.275 46 as . 14 06 Brazier rods - - 28.8,35.". Hand and scroll iron - 8,678 216.105 ,68 75 - 17 62 (lid and scrap iron - 108,44*2 1.732.093 15 97 - 4 79 Railroad bars - - 1,732.466 60,095,271 34 68 - 10 40 liar iron by rolling - 838,195 38,974,005 46 52 - 13 96 Hars, otherwise, and roiling 14<>.<7 4 6.002.666 41 09 - 12 30 Manufactures of iron and stool 124,908 94.980,691 don on Cast, shear and (jornmn stool 82,460 15.700.153 190 39 Other kinds of steel 30,832 6,294,913 171 73 Total 4,207,069 $230,561,372 Average tons per j oar 300,000 23,000.000 From which it will be seen that the amount of iron imported into the country for ten years and seven months, under the tariff of 1840, was equal to 4,207,000 tons, costing $230,501,000 ; or over 400,000 tons annually, and over 823,000,000 every year, as our other imports, independent of iron, greatly exceed ed all our exports, it may be fairly claimed that every dollar of this vast sum had to be paid in gold and silver. "What a depressing effect this would have upon the manufactu rer of iron in this country, and how much benefit the distribution of this sum, or even one half of it, would have conferred upon the busiuess of the country, it is not necessary to state. Every man of ordinary intelli genee must at once see and acknowledge it. The time has passed when it was alleged, and to some extent believed, that the interest of the manufacturer and farmer were opposed to each other. No fact in political economy can be more surely demonstrated than the entire harmonj 7 of all the great industrial in terests of the country. When the manufac tares are prosperous, and labor has constant demand and fair wages, the farmer finds a ready and profitable market. So, on the con trary, when manufactures languish, and an undue proportion of the labor of the country is withdrawn from them, and either not prof itably engaged cr not engaged at all, the farmer fails to find his accustomed home mar ket, and every department of enterprise and business languishes. The true mode of laying a tariff upon all articles of luxury is as high a duty as they will bear without excluding their importation. On all those articles which cannot be produ ced here, and are needed by our manufactu rers, and on all articles of necessity, used by the poorer classes as well as the rich, which are not the production of this country, there shall be no duty whatever. This is the principle which governs the bill reported by the Committee of Ways and Means, and must commend itself, by its justice and pro priety, to all who desire to promote the pros perity of the country, and the interests of our citizens without increasing their burd ens. Specific duties, when the articie is of uni form value, or nearly so, are to be preferred for their simplicity and their freedom from temptation to frauds, even as a revenue meas ure. As a protective principle, they are indis pensible to that uniformity and stability so es sential to make it of real value. As an il lustration, take the article of iron. I have before me the prices current of iron in Liver pool, for a number of years, under the tariff of 1846. In 1850 the average price of bar iron in Liverpool was £5 10s.; in 1851 it was £lO 10#.—within a trifle of one hundred per cent, difference in one year ; in 1852 it was £5 7s 6 : offers to the public at very low prices