After Huskisson's death, Mr Poulett Thompson undertook thedirection of the commercial affairs of England; this statesmanfollowed his celebrated predecessor in his policy as well as in hisoffice.In the meantime, so far as concerned North America, thereremained little for him to do, for in that country, without specialefforts on the part of the English, by means of the influence ofthe cotton planters and the importers, and by the aid of theDemocratic party, especially by means of the so-called CompromiseBill in 1832, a modification of the former tariff had taken place,which, although it certainly amended the excesses and faults of theformer tariff, and also still secured to the American manufactoriesa tolerable degree of protection in respect of the coarser fabricsof cotton and woollen, nevertheless gave the English all theconcessions which they could have desired without England havingbeen compelled to make any counter concessions.
Since the passing of that Bill, the exports of the English toAmerica have enormously increased.And subsequently to this timethey greatly exceed the English imports from North America, so thatat any time it is in the power of England to draw to herself asmuch as she pleases of the precious metals circulating in America,and thereby to occasion commercial crises in the United States asoften as she herself is in want of money.But the most astonishingthing in this matter is that that bill had for its author HenryClay, the most eminent and clearsighted defender of the Americanmanufacturing interest.For it must be remembered that theprosperity of the American manufacturers which resulted from thetariff of 1828 excited so greatly the jealousy of the cottonplanters, that the Southern States threatened to bring about adissolution of the Union in case the tariff of 1828 was notmodified.The Federal Government, which was dominated by theDemocratic party, had sided with the Southern planters from purelyparty and electioneering motives, and also managed to get theagriculturists of the Middle and Western States, who belonged tothat party, to adopt the same views.
These last had lost their former sympathy with themanufacturing interest in consequence of the high prices of producewhich had prevailed, which, however, were the result for the mostpart of the prosperity of the home manufactories and of thenumerous canals and railways which were undertaken.They may alsohave actually feared that the Southern States would press theiropposition so far as to bring about a real dissolution of the Unionand even civil war.Hence it became the party interests of theDemocrats of the Central and Eastern States not to alienate thesympathies of the Democrats of the Southern States.In consequenceof these political circumstances, public opinion veered round somuch in favour of free trade with England, that there was reason tofear that all the manufacturing interests of the country might beentirely sacrificed in favour of English free competition.Undersuch circumstances the Compromise Bill of Henry Clay appeared to bethe only means of at least partially preserving the protectivesystem.By this bill part of the American manufactures, viz.thoseof finer and more expensive articles, was sacrificed to foreigncompetition, in order to preserve another class of them, viz.themanufacture of articles of a coarser and a less expensivecharacter.In the meantime all appearances seem to indicate thatthe protective system in North America in the course of the nextfew years will again raise its head and again make new progress.
However much the English may desire to lessen and mitigate thecommercial crises in North America, however large also may be theamount of capital which may pass over from England to North Americain the form of purchases of stock or of loans or by means ofemigration, the existing and still increasing disproportion betweenthe value of the exports and that of imports cannot possibly in thelong run be equalised by those means.Alarming commercial crises,which continually increase in their magnitude, must occur, and theAmericans must at length be led to recognise the sources of theevil and to determine to put a stop to them.