The variety and extent of the uses to which the manufactures of this article are applicable is another powerful argument in their favor.
And the faculty of the United States to produce the raw material in abundance, and of a quality which, though alleged to be inferior to some that is produced in other quarters, is nevertheless capable of being used with advantage in many fabrics and is probably susceptible of being carried by a more experienced culture to much greater perfection, suggests an additional and a very cogent inducement to the vigorous pursuit, of the cotton branch its several subdivisions.
How much has been already done has been stated in a preceding part of this report.
In addition to this, it may be announced that a society is forming with a capital which is expected to be extended to at least half a million dollars, on behalf of which measures are already in train for prosecuting on a large scale the making and printing of cotton goods.
These circumstances conspire to indicate the expediency of removing any obstructions which may happen to exist to the advantageous prosecution of the manufactories in question and of adding such encouragements as may appear necessary and proper.
The present duty of 3 cents per pound on the foreign raw material is undoubtedly a very serious impediment to the progress of those manufactories.
The injurious tendency of similar duties, either prior to the establishment or in the infancy of the domestic manufacture of the article, as it regards the manufacture, and their worse than inutility in relation to the home production of the material itself, have been anticipated, particularly in discussing the subject of pecuniary bounties.
Cotton has not the same pretensions with hemp to form an exception to the general rule.
Not being like hemp, an universal production of the country, it affords less assurance of an adequate internal supply; but the chief objection arises from the doubts which are entertained concerning the quality of the national cotton. It is alleged that the fiber of it is considerably shorter and weaker than that of some other places; and it has been observed, as a general rule, that the nearer the place of growth to the equator the better the quality of the cotton. That which comes from Cayenne, Surinam, and Demarara, is said to be preferable, even at a material difference of price, to the cotton of the islands.
While a hope may reasonably be indulged that with due care and attention the national cotton may be made to approach nearer than it now does to that of regions somewhat more favored by climate, and while facts authorize an opinion that very great use may be made of it, and that it is a resource which gives greater security to the cotton fabrics of this country than can be enjoyed by any which depends wholly on external supply, it will certainly be wise, in every view, to let our infant manufactures have the full benefit of the best materials on the cheapest terms. It is obvious that the necessity of having such materials is proportioned to the unskillfulness and inexperience of the workmen employed, who, if inexpert, will not fail to commit great waste where the materials they are to work with are of an indifferent kind.
