This self-levelling faculty of political phenomena is so important,
and at the same time so well calculated to cause us to admire the
providential wisdom which presides over the equalizing government of
society, that I must ask permission a little longer to turn to it the
attention of the reader.

The protectionists say, Such a nation has the advantage over us, in
being able to procure cheaply, coal, iron, machinery, capital; it is
impossible for us to compete with it.

We must examine this proposition under other aspects. For the
present, I stop at the question, whether, when an advantage and a
disadvantage are placed in juxtaposition, they do not bear in
themselves, the former a descending, the latter an ascending power,
which must end by placing them in a just equilibrium?

Let us suppose the countries A and B. A has every advantage over B;
you thence conclude that labor will be concentrated upon A, while B
must be abandoned. A, you say, sells much more than it buys; B buys
much more than it sells. I might dispute this, but I will meet you
upon your own ground.

In the hypothesis, labor being in great demand in A, soon rises in
value; while labor, iron, coal, lands, food, capital, all being little
sought after in B, soon fall in price.

Again: A being always selling and B always buying, cash passes from B
to A. It is abundant in A, very scarce in B.