VIEWS ON POLITICAL ECONOMY.

TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES.

Fellow Citizens,

I have now completed a work which I have long had in contemplation, namely, A Map embracing THE WHOLE UNITED STATES TERRITORY, with the contiguous British and Spanish Possessions, including the Mexican Empire; and A DESCRIPTION OF THE UNITED STATES and contiguous countries, corresponding with the map. To this work I beg leave to call your particular attention, believing that you will find it useful and instructive. By looking at the map you will see a topographical representation of your country, with all the improvements up to the present time. In the description you will find an account of the nature and extent of that country; of the soil, the produce, the climate, the waters and minerals; also of the settlement and progress of society, through all the various gradations of civilized life. In preparing the first edition of this work my mind was strongly impressed with an idea of the rising importance of this country, although I then only saw in part, and knew in part. The circumstances which have since come under my observation, and the developements that have been made, particularly in regard to the Geological Structure and Climate of the United States, have opened up an entirely new view, and that view is so interesting, that I have considered it my

duty to use every effort to lay all the material facts before you.

The object of the publication is to convey to the citizens of the United States, and to the world, a correct view of all the leading features of the country. To accomplish this object without a map was impossible. But such is the extent and importance of the country, that a map alone was inadequate to the end. A Description was requisite, and this could not be prepared without the census of 1820. This was long delayed, but the circumstance enabled me to procure many details which I would not otherwise have had; and the census itself added so much to our stock of statistical information, that I resolved, in addition to the natural geography, to introduce an account of the political history and the arrangements in political economy of the United States. I have also inserted a general view of the contiguous states and territories; and I have now only to add a short view of several points in political economy, that could not with propriety have been introduced in the body of the work.

You have in your possession, fellow citizens, a most valuable inheritance. By looking at the Statistical Table, page 84, you will see that your possessions amount to 2,076,400 square miles of territory, which is equal to 1,328,896,000 acres; and this divided among the present population, is nearly 140 acres for every individual; so that, to use the words of a celebrated statesman, you have room for your descendants to the thousandth and thousandth generation." Your country is finely skirted by seas, and traversed by noble navigable rivers. Your climate is superior to what I supposed before I prepared this work. It is peculiarly favourable for raising the choicest fruits of the earth. Your distant territories are also much more valuable than I anticipated. Your go

vernment is of your own choice, and without tumult or noise it can be modified or amended to suit existing circumstances. Your rulers are men appointed by yourselves, and are amenable to you for the correctness of their conduct. The government being appointed by and for the people, is, probably, the most frugal on earth; and with due attention in the selection of your rulers, it cannot fail to lead to happiness and felicity.

Notwithstanding all these transcendant advantages, however, you have had great difficulties to contend with, and the pressure of them has been felt from one extremity of the union to the other.

This has been so clearly seen and felt, that it would be wasting words to comment upon it, and instead of doing so, I shall endeavour to lay before you the true cause of these difficulties, under a conviction that a clear view thereof, is the best method of pointing towards a permanent remedy. Preparatory to this, I beg leave to call your attention to the several Statistical Tables in pages 83 and 84, and to the articles on Agriculture, Manufactures, and Commerce, which immediately follow them. From these tables you will see a connected view of the population, subdivided into the various classes of males, females, free people of colour, slaves, &c.; and then the length, breadth, and area of the country; the quantity of acres in each state and territory, the population in each square mile; and the number of acres to each person. I shall now subjoin another table from the census, showing the whole population, with a view of the state of society as employed in the three great branches of social industry, Agriculture, Manufactures, and Commerce.

TABLE-Showing the population of each state and territory, and the number of persons in each employed in Agriculture, Manufactures, and Commerce.

Now supposing the view of society presented in the foregoing table to be correct, the first remark that intrudes itself, is, that there are too few of the citizens of the United States employed in active industry. The whole population is 9,638,226, and the aggregate of the persons shown to be employed in agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, is only 2,593,095, being little more than one-fourth part; and what is very remarkable, it appears that a greater number of persons are actively employed in the southern

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than in the northern states. In the states where slavery does not exist, the proportion employed is as 23.7 to 100, or nearly 1 in 4. In the most northern of the states where slavery exists, viz. Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee, the proportion is as 25 to 100, or exactly one in 4. In the states south of these the proportion is nearly as 31 to 100, or almost 1 in 3. The reason of this is obvious, the staple commodities of the southern states, cotton and tobacco, are freely admitted into the markets of Britain, while the staples of the northern states are excluded. Now mark one of the results. South Carolina the exportable produce is cotton and rice, they are both admitted in British ports; and in 1821 the exports of domestic produce from that state amounted to $6,868,000. The number of persons shown to be actively employed, by the census is nearly as 35 to 100, or more than one in 3. In Pennsylvania the staple commodity is flour, and that is not admitted in the ports of Britain, except for re-exportation. In 1821 the exports of domestic produce from that state amounted only to $2,832,000.— The number of persons shown to be actively employed, by the census is only about 20 to 100, or nearly 1 in 5.

There does not exist very accurate data for forming an estimate of the number of persons who ought to be employed in agriculture, manufactures, and commerce; nor of the proportions they should bear to each other in a wellregulated community. From the best estimate I can make for the United States, the number ought to be about 33 in 100; and the proportions should be about 20 engaged in agriculture, 10 in manufactures, and 3 in commerce.— Applying this rule to the United States, there would in the aggregate population of 9,638,226 be employed in agriculture 1,927,645; in manufactures 963,822; and in commerce 288,146. As the case stands the aggregate propor