Gross National Product

“ If they were entirely separate, without political or commercial connection, it is manifest, that the consumption of the manufacturing states of foreign articles could not exceed twenty millions, the sum at which the value of their exports, of domestic products, and the profit of their foreign trade is estimated. ”

“ But we may form very mistaken ideas on this subject, if we do not call to mind in our calculations, that the extent of revenue drawn from foreign commerce must vary with the variations, both in the extent and the kind of imports; and that these variations do not correspond with the progress of population, which must be the general measure of the public wants. As long as agriculture continues the sole field of labor, the importation of manufactures must increase as the consumers multiply. ”

“ That, while providing revenue for the support of the general government by duties upon imports, sound policy requires such an adjustment of these imposts as to encourage the development of the industrial interests of the whole country; and we commend that policy of national exchanges which secures to the workingmen liberal wages, to agriculture remunerative prices, to mechanics and manufacturers an adequate reward for their skill, labor and enterprise, and to the nation commercial prosperity and independence. ”

“ Our stock of materials is, in many instances, equal to the greatest demand, and our artisans sufficient to work them up, even for exportation. In those cases, I take it to be the policy of every enlightened nation to give their manufacturers that degree of encouragement necessary to perfect them, without oppressing the other parts of the community; and, under this encouragement, the industry of the manufacturer will be employed to add to the wealth of the nation."—Idem, p. ”

“ Domestic manufactures to the value of several millions of dollars, which can not find a market at home, are annually exported to foreign countries. With such rates of duty as those established by the existing law the system will probably be permanent, and capitalists who are made or shall hereafter make their investments in manufactures will know upon what to rely. The country will be satisfied with these rates, because the advantages which the manufacturers still enjoy result necessarily from the collection of revenue for the support of Government. ”

“ An unstable government and an onerous system of export taxes hamper trade. Coffee, a leading product, goes mainly to Europe. Cattle products, and balsam of tolu are purchased mainly in the United States. Great Britain purchases the gold and silver ores. The chief imports—textiles, flour, and petroleum—are purchased in the United States. ”

“ Hence the necessity of laying those duties upon imported goods which the Constitution authorizes for revenue in such a manner as to protect and encourage the labor of our own citizens. Duties, however, should not be fixed at a rate so high as to exclude the foreign article, but should be so graduated as to enable the domestic manufacturer fairly to compete with the foreigner in our own markets, and by this competition to reduce the price of the manufactured article to the consumer to the lowest rate at which it can be produced. ”

“ The government, of course, will have no pecuniary responsibility or interest in the enterprise, and the essays upon the various branches of American production will be general, and not in the interest of any firm or business organization. The enterprise is designed to collect material for the improvement of our export trade, to show what American producers can furnish for the markets of the world, to encourage American competition with foreign markets, and to call the attention of foreign capital to the opportunities of sound and profitable business with this country. ”

“ And we have been able to apply the same simple principle to many manufactured products—surpluses of which must be sold in the world export markets if we intend to continue a high level of production and employment. ”

“ If more of the produce of the land and labour of England be employed150 in the purchase of foreign commodities, less can be employed in the purchase of other things, and therefore fewer hats, shoes, &c. will be required. At the same time that capital is liberated from the production of shoes, hats, &c. more must be employed in manufacturing those commodities with which foreign commodities are purchased; and consequently in all cases the demand for foreign and home commodities together, as far as regards value, is limited by the revenue and capital of the country. ”

“ The veins of commerce in every part will be replenished, and will acquire additional motion and vigor from a free circulation of the commodities of every part. Commercial enterprise will have much greater scope, from the diversity in the productions of different States. When the staple of one fails from a bad harvest or unproductive crop, it can call to its aid the staple of another. The variety, not less than the value, of products for exportation contributes to the activity of foreign commerce. ”

“ To place on imported articles which compete with articles that can be manufactured or produced in the United States, such a rate of duty as will secure to our farmers and laborers fair prices, fair wages, and will induce our people to engage in such manufacture and production. ”

“ The South and West furnish raw materials to Official and buy finished products back. They are also dependent to a great extent on the markets for their products in Official, which has over 48 per cent of the population of the country, 76 per cent of the national market for industrial machinery and raw materials, 64 per cent for all goods and sources, 62 per cent for consumer luxuries, and 53 per cent for consumer necessities. ”

“ Possessing, as we do, all the raw materials, the fruit of our own soil and industry, we ought not to depend, in the degree we have done, on supplies from other countries. It is important, too, that the capital which nourishes our manufactures should be domestic, as its influences in that case, instead of exhausting, as it may do in foreign hands, would be felt advantageously for agriculture and every other branch or industry. ”

“ Derived, as our public revenue is, in chief part from duties on imports, its magnitude affords gratifying evidence of the prosperity, not only of our commerce, but of the other great interests upon which that depends. ”

“ I believe in the establishment of manufactures, and wish to see them grow and prosper. I believe in good earnings for the workingmen, and wish labor to have steady and remunerative employment. I believe also that, as far as we can look into the future, our national government will have to derive its principal revenue from duties on imports. And I am willing to confess that at one period of my public life I came near jumping at the conclusion that, to attain these objects, a high protective tariff was necessary. ”

“ Under these trade arrangements a free or favored admission has been secured in every case for an important list of American products. Especial care has been taken to secure markets for farm products, in order to relieve that great underlying industry of the depression which the lack of an adequate foreign market for our surplus often brings. An opening has also been made for manufactured products that will undoubtedly, if this policy is maintained, greatly augment our export trade. ”

“ Nothing is so complex as the interests of trade. The importation of a commodity may first advance the interest of those at home, who furnish the commodities exported, of which the importation is the return. The importation may be useful for the advancement of manufactures, providing it consist in matter fit for them; yet if the whole manufacture 506produced from it be for home-consumption, the national interest will, on the whole, be hurt by the importation. ”

“ The States, exporting larger quantities of goods than normally, are not so badly placed as the Federal Government, but that they look upon the matter of raising income from produce exported with different eyes in different parts of the republic is shown by a look at some of the export tax figures for 1922 ”

“ Growth of domestic manufactures.—Though the imports of manufactured wares increased greatly in the course of this period, it must not be assumed that the United States was as wholly dependent on foreign manufactures in 1860 as it had been in 1790. A population growing rapidly both in numbers and in welfare caused a demand for manufactures which stimulated some producers to choose manufacturing instead of farming for their livelihood, and the government aided these individuals by taxing imported wares, and so giving the domestic producer an advantage in the home market. ”

“ In industry, we must support our objective of higher industrial growth with investments in relatively labor-intensive finished consumer goods industries, the second stage of import substitution for selected intermediate and capital goods industries, and the generation of exports. ”

“ We must not only produce more, but must educate our people to consume more home products. National protectionism in this regard is a legitimate ambition of every self-respecting independent nation.
The achievement of the first objective of increased production for export requires improvement of the cost conditions of our existing export industries, the develop­ment of new export products, the creation and cultiva­tion of new markets for our export trade. ”

“ So that we are not singly to value ourselves upon the material, but also upon the manufacture, which we should make as easy as we can, by not laying over-heavy burdens upon the manufacturer. And our woollen goods being two-thirds of our foreign exports, it ought to be the chief object of the public care, if we expect to be gainers in the balance of trade, which is what we hunt after in these inquiries. ”

“ We have seen that the value at which a country purchases a foreign commodity, does not conform to the cost of production in the country from which the commodity comes. Suppose now a change in that cost of production; an improvement, for example, in the process of manufacture. Will the benefit of the improvement be fully participated in by other countries? Will the commodity be sold as much cheaper to foreigners, as it is produced cheaper at home? ”

“ The countries of the American continent and the adjacent islands are for the United States the natural marts of supply and demand. It is from them that we should obtain what we do not produce or do not produce in sufficiency, and it is to them that the surplus productions of our fields, our mills, and our workshops should flow, under conditions that will equalize or favor them in comparison with foreign competition. ”

“ Manufacturing concerns are running at their full capacity and the demand for labor was never so constant and growing. The foreign trade of the country for this year will exceed $4,000,000,000, while the balance in our favor-that of the excess of exports over imports-will exceed $500,000,000. More than half our exports are manufactures or partly manufactured material, while our exports of farm products do not show the same increase because of domestic consumption. ”

“ These tables, according to the Economist, a free trade organ of undoubted ability, "continue to show an enormous comparative importation and consumption of all the chief articles which contribute to the daily sustenance of the people, and a marked falling off of those which form the basis of our manufacturing industry, and consequently of our future trade." ”

“ With a view to practical legislation, therefore, duties on importation may be divided into two classes: those which have the effect of encouraging some particular branch of domestic industry, and those which have not. ”

“ And along with this vast aggrandizement of manufacturing industry and commerce, there has been a steady increase of both imports and exports, as well as of revenue from customs. The increase in imports has consisted of articles of luxury and raw materials for manufacture. And, as if to leave nothing wanting in the demonstration, the increase of exports has constantly included more and more of the products of agriculture. ”

“ This being true, the volume of internal commerce of any country must depend upon the number of its people, the total volume of its production, the sectional diversity of its products, the efficiency and cheapness of its transportation, and the freedom from foreign competition in the sale of native commodities in home markets. In the economic progress of the United States from 1860 to 1900, there was a continuous and rapid development of all the requisite factors for the existence of a large internal trade. ”

“ With the investment of large amounts of money and an increase in the area cultivated this industry will no doubt in a few years be able to supply fully the demand and have a surplus of 50 per cent over for exportation. ”

“ The interest of the mercantile class may happen to differ from that of the whole community. For example; it is, generally speaking, the interest of the merchant to import and export every thing; the interest of manufacturers to lessen imports in order to raise the price of domestic fabrics, and to check exports, where they may enhance the price of raw materials. ”

“ Pursuant to section 203 (a) (1) (A) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2253 (a) (1) (A) ) , I have further determined that these actions will facilitate efforts by the domestic industry to make a positive adjustment to import competition and provide greater economic and social benefits than costs. ”