1378. COMMERCE, Agriculture and.—
The exercise, by our own citizens, of so much
commerce as may suffice to exchange our superfluities
for our wants, may be advantageous
for the whole. But it does not follow,
that with a territory so boundless, it is the
interest of the whole to become a mere city of
London, to carry on the business of one half
the world at, the expense of eternal war with
the other half. The agricultural capacities
of our country constitute its distinguishing
feature; and the adapting our policy and pursuits
to that, is more likely to make us a numerous
and happy people, than the mimicry of
an Amsterdam, a Hamburg, or a city of London.—
To William H. Crawford. Washington ed. vii, 6.
Ford ed., x, 34.
(M.
1816)
