YourcommunicationstotheCountdeMoustier,whatevertheymayhavebeen,cannothavedoneinjurytomyendeavorsheretoopentheW。Indiestous。Onthisheadtheministersareinvinciblymute,tho’Ihaveoftentriedtodrawthemintothesubject。Ihavethereforefounditnecessarytoletitlietillwarorothercircumstancemayforceiton。WhenevertheyareinwarwithEngland,theymustopentheislandstous,andperhapsduringthatwartheymayseesomepricewhichmightmakethemagreetokeepthemalwaysopen。InthemeantimeIhavelaidmyshouldertotheopeningthemarketsofthiscountrytoourproduce,andrenderingit’stransportationanurseryforourseamen。AmaritimeforceistheonlyonebywhichwecanactonEurope。OurnavigationlawifitbewisetohaveanyshouldbethereverseofthatofEngland。Insteadofconfining_importations_tohome-bottomsorthoseofthe_producing_nations,Ithinkweshouldconfine_exportations_tohomebottomsortothoseofnations_havingtreatieswithus_。Ourexportationsareheavy,andwouldnourishagreatforceofourown,orbeatemptingpricetothenationtowhomweshouldofferaparticipationofitinexchangeforfreeaccesstoalltheirpossessions。Thisisanobjecttowhichourgovernmentaloneisadequateinthegross,butIhaveventuredtopursueit,here,sofarastheconsumptionofproductionsbythiscountryextends。Thusinourarrangementsrelativetotobacco,nonecanbereceivedherebutinFrenchorAmericanbottoms。Thisisemploimentfornearly2000
seamen,andputsnearlythatnumberofBritishoutofemploy。Bythe_Arret_ofDec,1787,itwasprovidedthatourwhaleoilsshouldnotbereceivedherebutinFrenchorAmericanbottoms,andbylaterregulationsalloilsbutthoseofFranceandAmericaareexcluded。
Thiswillput100Englishwhalevesselsimmediatelyoutofemploy,and150。erelong;andcallsomanyofFrench&Americanintoservice。Wehavehad6000seamenformerlyinthisbusiness,thewholeofwhomwehavebeenlikelytolose。Theconsumptionofriceisgrowingfastinthiscountry,andthatofCarolinagaininggroundoneveryotherkind。IamofopinionthewholeoftheCarolinaricecanbeconsumedhere。It’stransportationemploys2500sailors,almostallofthemEnglishatpresent;thericebeingdepositedatCowes&broughtfromthencehere。ItwouldbedangeroustoconfinethistransportationtoFrench&Americanbottomstheensuingyear,becausetheywillbemuchengrossedbythetransportationofwheat&
flourhither,andthecropofricemightlieonhandforwantofvessels;butIseenoobjectionstotheextensionsofourprincipletothisarticlealso,beginningwiththeyear1790。However,beforethereisanecessityofdecidingonthisIhopetobeabletoconsultournewgovernmentinperson,asIhaveaskedofCongressaleaveofabsencefor6。months,thatistosayfromApriltoNovembernext。
Itisnecessaryformetopayashortvisittomynativecountry,firsttoreconductmyfamilythither,andplacetheminthehandsoftheirfriends,&secondlytoplacemyprivateaffairsundercertainarrangements。WhenIleftmyownhouse,Iexpectedtobeabsentbut5months,&Ihavebeenledbyeventstoanabsenceof5years。I