Did the Confederates in the late war lack for iron?
Why, then, shall we manufacture our own staples and bolts because we may some day or other have a quarrel with our ironmonger! To sum up: A radical antagonism exists between the vender and the buyer.
The former wishes the article offered to be _scarce_, and the supply to be small, so that the price may be high.
The latter wishes it _abundant_ and the supply to be large, so that the price may be low.
The laws, which should at least remain neutral, take part for the vender against the buyer; for the producer against the consumer; for high against low prices; for scarcity against abundance; for protection against free trade.

They act, if not intentionally, at least logically, upon the principle that _a nation is rich in proportion as it is in want of everything_..