...When Mr. Whitney's mode of conducting the business was brought into successful operation, and the utility of his machinery was fully demonstrated, the clouds of prejudice which lowered over his first efforts were soon dissipated, and he had the satisfaction of seeing not only his system, but most of his machinery, introduced into every other considerable establishment for the manufacture of arms, both public and private, in the United States.
The labors of Mr. Whitney in the manufacture of arms have been often and fully admitted by the officers of the government, to have been of the greatest value to the public interest. A former Secretary of War admitted, in a conversation with Mr. Whitney, that the government were saving twenty five thousand dollars per annum at the two public armories alone, by his improvements. This admission, though it is believed to be far below the truth, is sufficient to show that the subject of this memoir deserved well of his country in this department of her service.
It should be remarked that the utility of Mr. Whitney's labors during the period of his life which we have now been contemplating, was not limited to the particular business in which he was engaged. Many of the inventions which he made to facilitate the manufacture of muskets, were applicable to most other manufactures of iron and steel. To many of these they were soon extended, and became the nucleus around which other inventions clustered ; and at the present time some of them may be recognized in almost every considerable workshop of that description in the United States....
