o,
I believe it was when we were settling the controversy between the
oil-merchants and the tallow-chandlers, the _balance of trade_ made its
appearance in debate, and I must confess, Sir, that I spoke of it, or
rather spoke to it, somewhat freely and irreverently. I believe I used
the hard names which have been imputed to me, and I did it simply for
the purpose of laying the spectre, and driving it back to its tomb.
Certainly, Sir, when I called the old notion on this subject nonsense, I
did not suppose that I should offend any one, unless the dead should
happen to hear me. All the living generation, I took it for granted,
would think the term very properly applied. In this, however, I was
mistaken. The dead and the living rise up together to call me to
account, and I must defend myself as well as I am able.

Let us inquire, then, Sir, what is meant by an unfavorable balance of
trade, and what the argument is, drawn from that source. By an
unfavorable balance of trade, I understand, is meant that state of
things in which importation exceeds exportation. To apply it to our own
case, if the value of goods imported exceed the value of those exported,
then the balance of trade is said to be against us, inasmuch as we have
run in debt to the amount of this difference. Therefore it is said,
that, if a nation continue long in a commerce like this, it must be
rendered absolutely bankrupt. It is in the condition of a man that buys
more than he sells; and how can such a traffic be maintained without
ruin? Now, Sir, the whole fallacy of this argument consists in
supposing, that, whenever the value of imports exceeds that of exports,
a debt is necessarily created to the extent of the difference, whereas,
ordinarily, the import is no more than the result of the export,
augmented in value by the labor of transportation. The excess of imports
over exports, in truth, usually shows the gains, not the losses, of
trade; or, in a country that not only buys and sells goods, but employs
ships in carrying goods also, it shows the profits of commerce, and the
earnings of navigation. Nothing is more certain than that, in the usual
course of things, and taking a series of years together, the value of
our imports is the aggregate of our exports and our freights. If the
value of commodities imported in a given instance did not exceed the
value of the outward cargo, with which they were purchased, then it
would be clear to every man's common sense