tures: bounties, against which, as he was aware, it was urged that the whole community was taxed for the benefit of only a part of it; and protective duties, in opposition to which it was, as he said, “alleged that you make the interest of one part, the consumer, bend to the interest of the other part, the manufacturer.” He merely stated these points, together with the “not always admitted” answer that “the sacrifice is only temporary, being ultimately compensated by the greater abundance and superiority of the article produced by the stimulus.” He did not, however, commit himself clearly in favor of either proposition. But he thought of all “practical forms of encouragement,” the one under discussion, providing merely for a preference to be given to home products in the purchase of naval supplies, whenever it could be done without material detriment to the service, was certainly innocent enough and should escape opposition. He was also in favor of making advances, under proper security, to manufacturers undertaking government contracts, believing “that this kind of assistance, bestowed with prudence, will be productive of the best results.”
A few days after Clay had made this speech, Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury, presented to Congress a report on the manufacturing industries of the United States, in which he showed that several of them were already “adequate to the consumption of the country,” — among them manufactures of wood, leather, and manufactures
