9068. WEST INDIES, Commerce with.
—The commerce with the English West Indies
is valuable and would be worth a sacrifice
to us. But the commerce with the British dominion
in Europe is a losing one and deserves
no sacrifice. Our tobacco they must have from
whatever place we make its deposit, because
they can get no other whose quality so well
suits the habits of their people. It is not a
commodity like wheat which will not bear a
double voyage. Were it so, the privilege of
carrying it directly to England might be worth
something.—
To James Madison.
Ford ed., iv, 37.
(P.
1785)
