DEARSIR，——Ishallsometimesaskyourpermissiontowriteyouletters，notofficialbutprivate。Thepresentisofthiskind，andisoccasionedbythequestionproposedinyoursofJune14。”whetheritwouldbeusefultoustocarryallourownproductions，ornone?”
Wereweperfectlyfreetodecidethisquestion，Ishouldreasonasfollows。Wehavenowlandsenoughtoemployaninfinitenumberofpeopleintheircultivation。Cultivatorsoftheeartharethemostvaluablecitizens。Theyarethemostvigorous，themostindependant，themostvirtuous，&theyaretiedtotheircountry&weddedtoit’sliberty&interestsbythemostlastingbonds。Aslongthereforeastheycanfindemploymentinthisline，Iwouldnotconvertthemintomariners，artisansoranythingelse。Butourcitizenswillfindemploymentinthislinetilltheirnumbers，&ofcoursetheirproductions，becometoogreatforthedemandbothinternal&foreign。
Thisisnotthecaseasyet，&probablywillnotbeforaconsiderabletime。Assoonasitis，thesurplusofhandsmustbeturnedtosomethingelse。Ishouldthenperhapswishtoturnthemtotheseainpreferencetomanufactures，becausecomparingthecharactersofthetwoclassesIfindtheformerthemostvaluablecitizens。Iconsidertheclassofartificersasthepandersofvice&theinstrumentsbywhichthelibertiesofacountryaregenerallyoverturned。Howeverwearenotfreetodecidethisquestiononprinciplesoftheoryonly。Ourpeoplearedecidedintheopinionthatitisnecessaryforustotakeashareintheoccupationoftheocean，&theirestablishedhabitsinducethemtorequirethattheseabekeptopentothem，andthatthatlineofpolicybepursuedwhichwillrendertheuseofthatelementasgreataspossibletothem。I
thinkitadutyinthoseentrustedwiththeadministrationoftheiraffairstoconformthemselvestothedecidedchoiceoftheirconstituents：andthatthereforeweshouldineveryinstancepreserveanequalityofrighttotheminthetransportationofcommodities，intherightoffishing，&intheotherusesofthesea。Butwhatwillbetheconsequence?Frequentwarswithoutadoubt。Theirpropertywillbeviolatedonthesea，&inforeignports，theirpersonswillbeinsulted，imprisoned&c。forpretendeddebts，contracts，crimes，contraband，&c。，&c。Theseinsultsmustberesented，evenifwehadnofeelings，yettopreventtheireternalrepetition，orinotherwords，ourcommerceontheocean&inothercountriesmustbepaidforbyfrequentwar。Thejustestdispositionspossibleinourselveswillnotsecureusagainstit。Itwouldbenecessarythatallothernationswerejustalso。Justiceindeedonourpartwillsaveusfromthosewarswhichwouldhavebeenproducedbyacontrarydisposition。
Buttopreventthoseproducedbythewrongsofothernations?Byputtingourselvesinaconditiontopunishthem。Weaknessprovokesinsult&injury，whileaconditiontopunishitoftenpreventsit。