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Mr. Lloyd said he considered the question now under discussion as one of the most important that has occurred since the adoption of the Federal Constitution. It is a subject, said Mr. L., deeply implicating, and perhaps determining, the fate of the commerce and navigation of our country; a commerce which has afforded employment for nearly a million and a half of tons of navigation; which has found occupation for hundreds of thousands of our citizens; which has spread wealth and prosperity in every region of our country, and which has upheld the Government by furnishing the revenue for its support.

A commerce which has yielded an annual amount of exports exceeding one hundred millions of dollars; an amount of exports three times as great as was possessed by the first maritime and commercial nation of the world at the commencement of the last century, when her population was double that of the United States at this time; an amount of exports equal to what Great Britain, with her navy of a thousand ships, and with all her boasted manufactures, possessed even at so recent a period as within about fifteen years from this date; surely this is a commerce not to be trifled with; a commerce not lightly to be offered up as the victim of fruitless experiment.

Our commerce has unquestionably been subject to great embarrassment, vexation, and plunder, from the belligerents of Europe. There is no doubt but both France and Great Britain have violated the laws of nations, and immolated the rights of neutrals; but there is, in my opinion, a striking difference in the circumstances of the two nations; the one, instigated by a lawless thirst of universal domination, is seeking to extend an iron-handed, merciless despotism over every region of the globe; while the other is fighting for her natale solum, for the preservation of her liberties, and probably for her very existence.

The one professes to reluct at the inconvenience she occasions you by the adoption of measures which are declared to be intended merely as measures of retaliation on her enemies, and which she avows she will retract as soon as the causes which occasion them are withdrawn. The other, in addition to depredation and conflagration, treats you with the utmost contumely and disdain; she admits not that you possess the rights of sovereignty and independence, but undertakes to legislate for you, and declares that, whether you are willing or unwilling, she considers you as at war with her enemy; that she had arrested your property, and would hold it as bail for your obedience, until she knew whether you would servilely echo submission to her mandates.

There is no doubt that the conduct of these belligerents gave rise to the embargo; but if this measure has been proved by experience to be inoperative as it regards them, and destructive only as it respects ourselves, then every dictate of magnanimity, of wisdom, and of prudence, should urge the immediate repeal of it.

The propriety of doing this is now under discussion. The proposition is a naked one; it is unconnected with ulterior measures; and gentlemen who vote for its repeal ought not to be considered as averse from, and they are not opposed to, the subsequent adoption of such other measures as the honor and the interest of the country may require.

In considering this subject, it naturally presents itself under three distinct heads:

1st. As it respects the security which it gave to our navigation, and the protection it offered our seamen, which were the ostensible objects of its adoption.

2dly. In reference to its effect on other nations, meaning France and Great Britain, in coercing them to adopt a more just and honorable course of policy towards us: and,

3dly. As it regards the effects which it has produced and will produce among ourselves.

In thus considering it, sir, I shall only make a few remarks on the first head. I have no desire to indulge in retrospections; the measure was adopted by the Government; if evil has flowed from it, that evil cannot now be recalled. If events have proved it to be a wise and beneficial measure, I am willing that those to whom it owes its parentage should receive all the honors that are due to them; but if security to our navigation, and protection to our seamen, were the real objects of the embargo, then it has already answered all the effects that can be expected from it. In fact, its longer continuance will effectually counteract the objects of its adoption; for it is notorious, that each day lessens the number of our seamen, by their emigration to foreign countries, in quest of that employment and subsistence which they have been accustomed to find, but can no longer procure, at home; and as it regards our navigation, considered as part of the national property, it is not perhaps very material whether it is sunk in the ocean, or whether it is destined to become worthless from lying and rotting at our wharves. In either case, destruction is equally certain, it is death; and the only difference seems to be between death by a coup de grace, or death after having sustained the long-protracted torments of torture.

What effect has this measure produced on foreign nations? What effect has it produced on France?

The honorable gentleman from Connecticut has told you, and told you truly, in an exposé presented by the French Minister of Foreign Affairs to the Emperor, that this measure is much applauded: it is called a magnanimous measure of the Americans! And in a conversation which is stated to have passed recently at Bayonne, between the Emperor of France and an American gentleman, it is said, and I believe correctly, that the Emperor expressed his approbation of the embargo. I have no doubt that this is the fact; the measure is too consentaneous with his system of policy, not to be approbated by him. So long as the extreme maritime preponderancy of Great Britain shall continue, with or without the existence of an American embargo, or with or without the British Orders in Council, France can enjoy but very little foreign commerce, and that little the Emperor of France would undoubtedly be willing to sacrifice, provided that, by so doing, he could insure the destruction of a much larger and more valuable amount of British and American commerce.

It is therefore apparent, that this measure, considered as a coercive measure against France, is nugatory in the extreme.

What, sir, are, or have been its effects on Great Britain?

When the embargo was first laid the nation were alarmed. Engaged in a very extended and important commerce with this country, prosecuted upon the most liberal and confidential terms, this measure, whether considered as an act of hostility, or as a mere municipal restrictive regulation, could not but excite apprehension; for most of our writers, in relation to her colonies, had impressed the belief of the dependence of the West India settlements on the United States for the means of subsistence. Accordingly, for several months after the imposition of the embargo, we find it remained an object of solicitude with them, nor have I any doubt that the Ministry, at that time, partook of the national feeling; for it appears, so late as June, that such a disposition existed with the British Ministry, as induced our Minister at the Court of London to entertain the belief, and to make known to his Government the expectation he entertained, that an adjustment would take place of the differences between this country and Great Britain.

But, sir, the apprehensions of the British nation and Ministry gradually became weaker; the embargo had been submitted to the never-erring test of experience, and information of its real effects flowed in from every quarter.

It was found that, instead of reducing the West Indies by famine, the planters in the West Indies, by varying their process of agriculture, and appropriating a small part of their plantations for the raising of ground provisions, were enabled, without materially diminishing their usual crops of produce, in a great measure to depend upon themselves for their own means of subsistence.

The British Ministry also became acquainted about this time (June) with the unexpected and unexampled prosperity of their colonies of Canada and Nova Scotia. It was perceived that one year of an American embargo was worth to them twenty years of peace or war under any other circumstances; that the usual order of things was reversed; that in lieu of American merchants making estates from the use of British merchandise and British capital, the Canadian merchants were making fortunes of from ten to thirty or forty thousand pounds in a year, from the use of American merchandise and American capital: for it is notorious, that great supplies of lumber, and pot and pearl ashes, have been transported from the American to the British side of the Lakes; this merchandise, for want of competition, the Canadian merchant bought at a very reasonable rate, sent it to his correspondents in England, and drew exchange against the shipments; the bills for which exchange he sold to the merchants of the United States for specie, transported by wagon loads at noon-day, from the banks in the United States, over the borders into Canada. And thus was the Canadian merchant enabled, with the assistance only of a good credit, to carry on an immensely extended and beneficial commerce, without the necessary employment, on his part, of a single cent of his own capital.

About this time, also, the revolution in Spain developed itself. The British Ministry foresaw the advantage this would be to them, and immediately formed a coalition with the patriots: by doing this, they secured to themselves, in despite of their enemies, an accessible channel of communication with the Continent. They must also have been convinced, that if the Spaniards did not succeed in Europe, the Colonies would declare themselves independent of the mother country, and rely on the maritime force of Great Britain for their protection, and thus would they have opened to them an incalculably advantageous mart for their commerce and manufactures; for, having joined the Spaniards without stipulation, they undoubtedly expected to reap their reward in the exclusive commercial privileges that would be accorded to them; nor were they desirous to seek competitors for the favor of the Spaniards: if they could keep the navigation, the enterprise, and the capital of the United States from an interference with them, it was their interest to do it, and they would, from this circumstance, probably consider a one, two, or three years' continuance of the embargo as a boon to them.

Mr. Smith, of Maryland, said he was not prepared to go as largely into this subject as it merited, having neither documents nor papers before him. He would therefore only take a short view of it in his way, and endeavor to rebut a part of the argument of the gentleman from Massachusetts, and perhaps to notice some of the observations of the gentleman from Connecticut. He perfectly agreed with the latter gentleman that this subject ought to be taken up with coolness, and with temper, and he could have wished that the gentleman from Connecticut would have been candid enough to pursue that course which he had laid down for others. Had he done it? No. In the course of the discussion, the gentleman had charged it upon some one, he knew not whom, that there was a disposition to break down commerce for the purpose of erecting manufactures on its ruins. If this was the disposition of those who had advocated the embargo, Mr. S. said he was not one to go with them, and perfectly corresponded with the gentleman in saying that such a plan would be extremely injurious; that possibly it could not be enforced in the United States; and that, if it could, merchants would conceive themselves highly aggrieved by it. But the gentleman's ideas had no foundation. Mr. S. said he had before seen it in newspapers, but had considered it a mere electioneering trick; that nothing like common sense or reason was meant by it, and nobody believed it. The gentleman surely did not throw out this suggestion by way of harmonizing; for nothing could be more calculated to create heat.

The gentleman last up, throughout his argument, had gone upon the ground that it is the embargo which has prevented all our commerce; that, if the embargo were removed, we might pursue it in the same manner as if the commerce of the whole world was open to us. If the gentleman could have shown this, he would have gone with him heart and hand; but it did not appear to him that, were the embargo taken off to-morrow, any commerce of moment could be pursued. Mr. S. said he was not certain that it might not be a wise measure to take off the embargo; but he was certain that some other measure should be taken before they thought of taking that. And he had hoped that gentleman would have told them what measure should have been taken before they removed the embargo. Not so, however. A naked proposition was before them to take off the embargo; and were that agreed to, and the property of America subject to depredations by both the belligerents, they would be foreclosed from taking any measure at all for its defence. For this reason this resolution should properly have gone originally to the committee on the resolution of the gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. Giles.)

Mr. S. said he was not prepared for a long discussion, he should take but a short view. He would not go back to see which nation had been the first offender. He was not the apologist of any nation, but, he trusted, a fervent defender of the rights, honor, and interests of his own country. By the decrees of France every vessel bound to or from Great Britain, was declared good prize. And still further; if spoken alone by any British vessel, they were condemned in the French prize courts. When a vessel arrived in the ports of France, Mr. S. said, bribery and corruption were made use of in order to effect her condemnation. Every sailor on board was separately examined as to what had happened in the course of the voyage; they were told, you will have one-third of the vessel and cargo as your portion of the prize-money, if you will say that your vessel has touched at a British port or has been visited by a British cruiser. Of course then, by the decrees of France, all American property that floats is subject to condemnation by the French, if it had come in contact with British hands. Were gentlemen willing to submit to this: to raise the embargo, and subject our trade to this depredation? Yes, said the gentleman from Connecticut, who was willing, however, that our ships should arm and defend themselves. Mr. S. said that he had hoped the honorable gentleman would have gone further, and said not only that he would in this case permit our vessels to defend themselves, but to make good prize of any vessel which should impede the trade admitted by the laws of nations. But the gentleman had stopped short of this.

By the orders in Council, now made law, (said Mr. S.,) all neutrals – all neutrals, this is a mere word ad captandum, as it is well known there is no neutral commerce but American – all American vessels, then, bound to France, or countries in alliance with her, are made good prize in the British courts. When bound to any part of the continent of Europe, or any possessions in Turkey or Asia, they are a good prize, Sweden alone excepted. We are then permitted to trade – for it is a permission to trade, since we must acknowledge ourselves indebted to her for any she permits – we are graciously permitted to go to Sweden, to which country our whole exports amount to $56,157! This petty trade is generously permitted us as a boon, and this boon will be struck off the list of permission, the moment any difference arises between Great Britain and Sweden. I am aware, sir, that gentlemen will say this may require explanation. I will give it to them. Great Britain says you shall not trade to any of the countries I have interdicted till you have my leave; pay me a duty and then you may go to any port; pay me a tribute, and then you shall have my license to trade to any ports you choose. What is this tribute? Not having the documents before me, I may make an error of a fraction, but in the principle I am correct. On the article of flour, they tell us, you may bring flour to Great Britain from America, land it, and, if you re-export it, pay into our treasury two dollars on every barrel. For every barrel of flour which we send to Spain, Portugal, or Italy, where the gentleman from Massachusetts has correctly told us much of it is consumed, little of it being used in Great Britain or France, you must pay two dollars besides your freight and insurance. And this tribute is to be paid for a permission to trade. Are gentlemen willing to submit to this?

On the article of wheat, exported, you must pay in Great Britain a duty of, I believe, two shillings sterling a bushel, before it can be re-exported. On the important article of cotton they have charged a duty on its exportation of nine pence sterling per lb., equal to the whole value of the article itself in Georgia or South Carolina. This is in addition to the usual import duty of two pence in the pound. Thus, if we wish to go to the Continent, we may go on condition of paying a tribute equal to the value of the cotton, in addition to risk or insurance. It is generally understood that two-thirds of the cotton exported by us, may be consumed in England, when all her manufactures are in good work. On the remaining third the people of the Southern country are subject to a tribute – on twenty millions of pounds, at the rate of 17 cents per pound. Let this be calculated, and it will be seen what tax we must pay for leave to sell that article.

The English Orders had told us we might trade as usual with the West India Islands; but now, believing no doubt that this Government has not strength or energy in itself to maintain any system long, what has she done? Proclaimed a blockade on the remaining islands of France, so that we are now confined to British islands alone! We are restricted from trading there by blockade, and what security have we, that if the embargo be taken off – for I wish it were off: no man suffers more from it, in proportion to his capital, than I do; but I stand here the Representative of the people, and must endeavor to act in such a manner as will best secure their interests; and I pledge myself to join heart and hand with gentlemen to take it off, whenever we can have a safe and honorable trade – that, from our submitting to these interdictions, as a right of Great Britain, she may not choose to interdict all trade, she being omnipotent, and sole mistress of the ocean, as we were told by the gentleman from Connecticut. I have seen a late English pamphlet, called "Hints to both Parties," said to be by a ministerial writer, to this effect: that Great Britain, having command over all the seas, could and ought to exclude and monopolize the trade of the world to herself. This pamphlet goes critically into an examination of the subject; says that by a stroke of policy she can cut us off from our extensive trade; that she has the power, and, having the power, she ought to do it.

Tuesday, November 22

The Embargo

Mr. Moore said the gentleman from Connecticut had asked if the embargo had been productive of the consequences expected to result from it when passed? Had it not been more injurious to the United States than to foreign nations? It is certainly true (said Mr. M.) that it has not been productive of all the effects expected by those who were its advocates when it passed, but it has not had a fair experiment. The law has been violated, and an illicit commerce carried on, by which the belligerents have received such supplies as to have partially prevented its good effects.

The publications throughout the United States, and thence in England, that the embargo could not be maintained, have induced the belligerents to believe that we wanted energy, and that we are too fluctuating in our councils to persevere in a measure which requires privations from the people. Under these circumstances, it appears to me that the embargo has not had a fair trial. I have ever been of opinion that the only warfare which we could ever carry on to advantage, must be commercial; and, but for evasions and miscalculations on our weakness, we should before this have been suffered to pursue our accustomed trade.

It has been asked whether the embargo has not operated more on the United States than on the European Powers? In estimating this, it will be proper to take into consideration the evils prevented, as well as the injury done by the embargo. If the embargo had not passed, is it not certain that the whole produce of the United States would have invited attack and offered a bait to the rapacity of the belligerent cruisers? If a few have accidentally escaped them, it is no evidence that, if the embargo had not been laid, the whole would not have been in the hands of the belligerents. That both belligerents have manifested hostilities by edicts which prostrated our commerce, will not be denied by any gentleman. Great Britain, on a former occasion, passed an order, sent it out secretly, and before our Minister was officially notified, it was in full operation. Their late orders included all our commerce which was afloat. Was it not to be expected that such would have been the policy of Great Britain in this case, and such our proportionate loss, if the embargo had not been laid, and thus snatched this valuable commerce from their grasp?