Newspapers / The Durham Recorder (Durham, … / June 2, 1842, edition 1 / Page 1
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, e L,! I 3 L I - Vol. X3.II. UNION, THE CONSTITUTION AND THE LAWS-TIIE GUARDIANS OP OUR 1.1 B ERTY . Tilt US DAY, JlU 2, 1812. Ao. us a. f im Uit Ckartaof Eglsed Uagaaiae. - . SiV VOIR PRAYERS IN FAIR WEATHER. ' R turning by the Brlft night tnt'd to any diium pari.b in (he North, from the it tia cleric! attaint of iht year $29, .wad (Hll pLeed opposite to gem.' an wba appearance eegtotsed, rather fiio attracted, mj most profound sueo- . , . , ' (lit age, el lit afterwards tolJe. we iiij: end perhaps 1 sWtild Lift conjee lureJ it inueh. though txpoiure to vtn fier, ci'r, auxieiiet, ami danger, with rtitaia air of teiiounei which seemed m u were w preid oer them ill. spoke, ur (!i4ii tlitriTcC1 ol lime, the p rogres d my fillj tfsllcts earthly nilrim- g. ". " " " i " la truth Lit countenance wit neh a "oue unoobtervsnt pbyaiognouiist wot. Id cantemLte. without interest, or mark it sml.bt anil diversified cxprtmon with pai re spcrt and i.ta. The coach in which w tat had acaietfjr ricsred the parmeni, and wa rolling along th coin, parauvrly il big! way, when ny com pinion addressed uta with great esae an J ii.!t:etira. A'ftw roiaWt aufHred tu haw hjl lit rrd iaiiniin itntimcolof tin hurt rl ( n. Ilia catrtion wa atmt f tcluitljr of that character: and. at he poured out the rirh aUirea of lite 'U Uui! aid rxrtenence frnm the cshauattret tienurjr ol a contenrd aoul. iaeuM infcnithl wore aaajr, and tha ua i J nj rireii ts wechi' gfd l.ortei at fit lilt !. " l.inle more iluq an hour rcrmiarj, an J I iut ir.A.b:- p.rt fr ever from a man br who.e e Kirr4U0'i I had bH iitei tr4irljr eitiated. , I ftl', a majr be ei ly eiiurcnet. a itrop derire to Irani hit bitrjr, and ihua to lis more periatn. lady e my mind the iapreiion lie had aide. Acc.irJiiijly. 1 nke l him wheih tr fie tu'tiinf of In heart t- G had bfa eatid by any auJdert d.Ot'rr, or mertly eonn'c ed with bit ie4faiittg lil (he uA alreu'y told me that he com : ManJed a eie trading between Liver pool and America.) or was of gradu.l trowth. ,Uy qurttinn teemed to leir him; at lean he replied la it with the ut 0t e.iurteiy. aaym. that in the laat yer but one of the Ute.war, he wa wmj in pon with a fleet of ruiehantmen till con tot ili iuld arri w. it beinf deemed untife Vf, tail without iucIi protection.' Ill ha bits he ohaercd, had al waya been cxcee dmgly irregular, tu (it e them no airongrr ierta. aad be pitted the period of deirn lien in piatticet he could not look back on without aorrow. " , At length the aignal to weijh anchor wn made; hit thip, aa were alio many o hrn, wat eo thort of hindt. that he wtt glad Li arccpi of any prrten who of fered himielf, however inexperienced he might be in uatigation. At the very in atantof departure, a boat came aloagiidi, at of which a tall robuat man climbed ae tie!y upoa the deck, and gave himielf in at a teaman, willing t engage for the voyage. Tba boat which brought him had returned la the ilmr, and the wind b i wing nearle a file; but under er- ry rircumiUuce, m fnend laid, he will gl id in get aien the addition of one equi weal hand la hie tcanty crew. Ilia pleasure, however, wat of ihort duration, for the ne w comer wat mart found to be of a omit qturreNonm, uiitrartabte diij'O eition, a luiioua blasphemer, and. when opportunity ilTrd, a drunkard. Ue tidet a! iheit dioqiialifiraiiont. he waa wholly ignorant of nautical atTir. or countrrfened ignorinre to escape duty, la abort, he waa the bane and plague ol the aeiael, and refuted ohitinately I give any arcount of himself, or bit famdy, or hit put life. Al length a violent storm arnir, all ha ul, werf ninrd upon derk. and all, a9 Iht caput t'loiigUi, we too few to t ha ilnp. When the men were inttsu red ti their quarter, the etordy hLsplienif r wat nnmg. and my friend went bel w loicrk for him; great wai hit turpriie at fimlmg him on hia kneea repeat n the . Irie praver with wonderful tepidity. oyer and ovrr agam. at d he had hound hi bielf to counilett reiteration Vexeil t what he deemt-d hypocriiy or cowar oice, he eiiook him rougiur oy me cui- aarraior, fr whote lipa I tale iLU anec dote, waa hem fr other exeepatioa, if aigning u drown the rceullecttoa of pe rile and (kliterancei in a cclbrted U tern, litk be had too lurg and too of ten frrquentr-d. A I he wlked leiinrtl toward thia ga.U be encountered a eery dear (need, the qunadni aaiociat of mioy a thooght left boor. SJotaiion oer, the captain teaed him by the arm, declanng that be thould accompaay him to the bour-L I wu do ti. replied the other with great calmaeie, en condition that you come with me fint for tingle boor into this boue (a ci u'ch.) and thank Uod for hi mercira to yo on the deep. The raj Uin wat aahamed to re(ue, ao the la o friend enteied the temple together. Already all the eeate were occupied, and deore erowd filled the aisle; but, by dint of per tonal exrrnon. they iur reeded to reach ing a pontioo right in front of the pulpit. at about nve yarJa duhoce. , I he preacher, one of the most popular of the day, ritetted the attention of the entire congregation, including the cap'aiit him ielf, to whom hit featuree and voice though he riM,M aot aiig any lime or j Nee of preaiout rareting teemed oot who'ly unknown, particularly when he poke with animation. At length the preacher cyet fell upon the tpot where the two frieoda stood. He ludJeoly pauted ttill gazing opon the captain, aa if to make himielf sure that he labored under no optieU dilution -and after a silence of more than tminuU, pronounced with a toi'e that ahok the buddiug, S4y your prayert in fair weather." , Tbe audience were hut iaamaiemcnt, nor was it un'd a runsiderahle time had elapsed, that ihe preacher recovered tufli cient s If pmeesiion to recount the inci dent with which .the reader already ac quainted; sd'linr, with deep emotion, thai the wonla which bit captain unered in the eiorm had clung to biro by day and by atghi afirr hit hudmg, at if an angi I had been charged with the duty of re-i peatmg them in hi eir; that he frit the holy c.il romaig direct from ahore; to do the work'of his cruriSed Master; that he bad studied at cd!cg for the minis try., and waa now, through grace, such as they saw and braid. . At tlie eoitelti-ion f thia atTecting ad dre, he Called on li e audience to join in prayer with htmerlf, that the same words might be bleated in turn to him wbo first had used them. But God bad outrua thrir prt.tions mf friend was already hia chill bclore hit former ihipmate had ceased to tell hit alory. Tht tpirit had wrought eflVc o-lly upon him, and tub dued every lof y inngination. And ao, he.i the peopl.i diperied. he exchanged the hotel for the huuie of the preacher, with whom lie tarried nix weekt, and par ted f i oui him to purtue hie profeuinn. with a heart devoted to the service of bit Siviour, and with holy and happy aa aurancee. which (aa he declared to me, and I conn Irmly rely in his troth.) ad tancing years hallowed, ttrengthened and aauctified. From (hat companion of a night I then narted. nrobahly not to meet again till e stand before the judgment teat of Chritl. His htitory it too palpably in sirucite to require that I ahould add my own reflection!. And with one only, I conrlu'lc addreiainit those persons who teek God merely in the hourt of danger and trouble in the word of the capUin, Say your praer,in f'r weather.' tiro en one side ike uVe. oeMot'ng the , upon the tabjeci of these roada, or ie outer ikiur, order tint conUibuion to te . cat improvements. in lr, esclaim nir. "Siv your prayer l-ir we.ther." The man roae up, ob erting in a low voice, Cul grant I nny ever tee lair weather to say them." h a few hours the st'rm happily abat ed, a wrk mora brought them to haihour, and an inridrttt to irivid passed quickly a-vy .o n the memory nl the captain fit more eady, a the man in qtelion was pan) n IT tin tUf after landing, and appeared not again. I'..n i... ..a hail ilined. dnrins which, thnig'i my friend had twice been, a'ii(iic k"il, and yaa gntViMisly hurt by - the f4l'itif;ol a -par, he iuru-?d without amen Imeni a life of pr-lliita'-y and con- te nj.tol (i l l. At the end ol this period l.e arrived in the pori of N- Yrk, after aj ery ledmut and dittj rutii voyage irom Eiijjlvid. " ' " It W4a'on a tah'iith in-rnin, and the atrdt't wi'M tlironjji d with por.x.ni pro emiiiij ti ide eeveMl h nn'i "f wors'Hp uli which that cy abouiJ-i bu t!i .Spcccli olMr. Simmon', OF RltODK IStAXO, On Mr. Clay's Rctolutione, and in reply to Mrara Writi!, WomlUury, and Callioun, delivered in the Senate ol the United Slates Friday, March II, 18 IS. Concluded. Tlii list point wit elaborately argue I the lattommer by the honorable Senator from South Carolina, (Mr.Calhoun.) who attempted to prove that the rJittribulive admimttration ol the moneytof lliti Gav ernment wa unequal and opnrcstive. and must be so; and that this inequality might he carried to far at t ruin the bouth. This waa idusirated by supposing that two neighboring cutintiet, Liodon and Fairfax, should unite and form a Republic under a form of government like our;; that Loudon had 100.000 people, and Faiifix ten more, sn as to give it a ma jorit) t that their annual profits were three hundred thouand dolUrt eaeh, niakinif an sggregate of fix hundred thousand, and the disbursement two hundred thousand a veur each alike contributing one hun dred thoutan l; that F-iif4X. from its ma j r.ty of ten, thould expend the whole u-n "contributed in that county: the remit, he said, would he that, at the end of the Vear. Fairfax would have four, end Lou don two, of the six hundreil t!touani ihdlais: and by tcp-aiing thit for three years, FairfiX would lue.Hie wlioie cur rency. , When he hal cnnclnded. a friend who m 9 near. me remarked, that'a very clear. Tne honorable Senator halken another method to dliMrate it. anil a shorter one. A cn-iiiiiittcB d nine, live tiumg on one id of ihe ami four n the othcr tli,yiiii!'i uh livo w-foi rrpioienting l!io C4lili ! lie niuiiiuii.il ; one walci e,cH t.i i the unusi J contribution- The laid out among themelf, f..r the ex peaat of the Gorrna.tct. Toeontinae thia for five year, would traaifer the wbde wealth itwrr ihe five. Each ode of stating the proceta be thought conclusively proved the correctness of hia theory. . . All thia may be very good abstract theorj ; bat in prc lica there is do sound nets ia it. At a practical matter, ita ernr te, ia supposing that thete minor nice do Thia is a part f the American srstrat. which, when conducted judiciously, does operate very advantageosaly. Tbe eoua try to inderstaads it, and know, too, to what inluences its deitructioa it anr.be table. But I matt tike leave of this part cf the satjecu 1 have f4igoed ihe Seasie and myself, too, by hobbling along ia this kind of running fight. i - ; QDoriog ihe remarks upon this part of ibo sunteei, ir.e nonoraote ooaiof from nothing, wbde the majority earn the South L'arulina replied to aad commrated public tboney, by employment on the opon tome parte of the vpeech of the pubhe woiks or ia p.bliei dees. J nator from Kentucky, (Mr. ("lay.) who la the tare put by ihe S. nator, of the rose and e'aid, lie should decline answer two counties of Virginia, ihe profile would ing, but thereafter should in-ist that the depend opon which data of eit.zena was 'Senator from Rhode Mand ahould be per aijloyed at the best wages, or in the "muted to go on witboat inteirvption. roost pro!aeiive l.br; those of Faiifix ' Mr. Calhoun sail he should not lne in by the Government, on publie works terreptrd to oden, but the appeals and and in the office, or thote of loudon. in ' allusion were made to him personally .3 raising protieiona and producing other j . Air. S mmons. I have made no perton tapplo a for thrir subsistence. ( al allusion in any ofTentive sense. I hope. It ie plin, if all things were eqnat, and The remarks applied 10 Abe arguments he people ol the two counties dealt with J end observation of the Senator, and not each other, as these of thee Slates do, - to him; and I turned toward his that I that it would make very little difference, I might be tinderttood, in order toconvir.ee in point of wealth, which county had the ! even him. aa well as the Sra te, ilut if public rmploymen'; but take into ihe ae- the diftriboiive administration of ibe mo count the dependent submieiion. and at ney of th e Government should actually he tame time the extravagant habit of become as local and partial in i't character both body and mind, that gradu.Ily under-1 aa in the' iott;ne he has put of the two mine those who feed st ihe public crib, countiet, it would furnish, no ground for and the condition of the people tf Loudon, the nutlifle.tion of a law made to rain who rates the corn and potatoes lor thoie. supplies, or of serious complaint from o( Faiifax to subttst upon, while at work those parts of ihe c-untry whote people for the public, 11 greatly to te preferred might not g? I employed. ' for in independence and eventual asea " 1 will now examine the other ground daney in wealth. , " , . ;. lof complaint which it the supposed ine llere the Realtor from South Carolina quality ol the burdens imp ed upon dil interposed and said: "Ths honorable Sen- ferent pans of Tie country, by tie pro ator states my argument very fairly, but 'posed mode of levj'mg duties, he docs not take ths same new of it that ) The honorable Senator from South I look. I slated that such a course would Carolina (Mr. Calhoun) haa repeatedly draw all the mirey into Fairfax; they ! called opon me (when meynonalt in fa or would command tbe currency. lof protection bate been presented) to show . Mr. imiiii)ns resumed. 1 am glad I ! whv it was, that ihe people of tbe booth have sutd the Sen Hoi' argument cor rrcdy. 1 did not mean to take the same view of it which he look, but was trying t show ihe torrtrt one in practice. - And I thought it was made out pret y cle.rly ihst it depended upon which of the two classes nf citizens, if equally industrious, was beat paid for their services. And here I will refer to a remark on thit subject of public employment, 'made by the honorable Senator from Missouri (Mr. Benton) lart summer, (and be utters ome sensible ones at well at tome very revere ones) that the South bad enjoyed the 0 (Tiers and patronage of this Govern ment for forty yesrs. to their great divid vanfcigr; he hoped for the next forty they might be rid of i and that, while tome other section had it, live South might do the work, and he had no doubt it would torn to more profit. Mr. Calhoun sgsin interpoi-ej. and said: he memt that this not only gave the currency, but ii gave employment to the people of Fxirf.x, and the employment was even more valuable than the currency." Mr. S returned. I agree that both are very valuable. The currency has entered into alinoi-t all dis ctistiona in these times. A word only upon it in this connexion. J 1 regard a good currency at the tools of iride," and a good tariff aa furnishing the people with employment. It is a hard case u have ti do a job with poor tools; but it is still harder to Imve no work to do. The people want both, to prosper. But thre Iree trade folks of the late adminit'ration, by their tampering with the currency, have'been dulling the tools of trade for years, and its'friends now propose free ttadp, to take away the work from our people and give it t.i fo reigners; so that hereafter Ubnr in this country is to hive neither work nor tooli! Upon thit trhject of employment, 1 am glad the honorable Senator hat such correct vie. He says it is more valu able than money; and t agree with him. Ilit argument i without practical sound ness when applied, as he applies it, to a people who interchange labor, and when the aggregate employment it enjoyed by them lne. It is then a question merely as to which mode, public or private em ployment. Is mot profitable; but when it ia connected with the sulject now before ti, it is a good argument lor the protection of our labor against the cheap labor of Eu rope; for to bur of uat ons who w ill not, or d.i not, buy of you. no matter how cheap you buy. will eventually bring us to the condition wlitcii na tneti to oring the people of Loudon into: by losing the lb- nfli.'ea an l work. loo. we vnaii ioe regarded thete duties aa oppressive, and that at the Noith they' were petitioning for them to be laid. 1 1 confrta it dea teem strange that such geopraphical dit inclion should exist, snd appear to be influenced solely by cli mate. I cannot 10 well tell why the South complain to bitterly ab..ut paying duties, but will explain why the North do not make these complaints. Ws of the North I-mik at thit matter of paying the expenses of Government a a necessary thing. We keep perfectly cool, and conclude they must be paid in some form or other. But in other pans of ihe country they would seem to think that, ii they can get rid of, or listen, the duty on a given article, they can avoid pay inc. it altogether; whereaa, if it is taken nil' of one article, it has surely to be put on to snnther. Tbe amount must be paid in tome way. Theeoniiovrrsy which created so mnrh ditquiet in the country from 1823 10 1833, had itt origin in theoretical, rather than practical etN. The doctrine contended foi at the South was, that a uniform rate of duty thould be laid upon all articles those that came iu competition with our on product, and those which did not. I ahall presently ray something of iis adjustment; but I am first to answer the questions repeatedly aikrd of me by the Senator from South Carolina, why 11 is that the North do not consider it a bur den to have a high duty laid on some ar ticles, and a low duty, or no du y al all, on othrr! I have already laid we know ihe rx pen?es must bo paid; and I will answer theie questions as if the Senator were really correct in saying tht the duty en hanced the price; which, however, is not ihe fact, in most if not all cates where an adequate supply, or nearly so, ran be fur nished by ourtrliet. I will take the an ir duty for an example, (that lias been 21 cents per lb., eqil to 50 per cent, al least on the foreign cost.) and the ariicle of coffee, which it fiee. We of the Worm can raise neither; our climate is not adapt ed to their culture. The South raie su gar, sod the duty is nil laid on the foreign tuiar. Whv do we not insist that it price of the artk le has f.Heal I have ia ' ken articles for the iUuitrauoa which are of Southern growth. soJ which it might be supposed would produe disquiet with as, frvaa a Ugh duty, tke lerth can not partieipaie in the advantages which such duty might confer, and I bae bo wo r.o only why we do not complain, bet I hope 1 hate abowa that we have reaion to complain. , The Sooth, 1 presume, do not prrtend that they have any came of complaint, that ihie aad all their productions are thus en roraged and prelected by such duties. I will now take snother kind of imports, and one which haa beet thetutjtclof the most bitter com j Uiatf to wit, woollens. It ill teem, upon ofiectien. te be strange Uiat.a duty opon this article ahould be regarded with particular offence by those of the Soaih. and especially that those ol a warm rltmste thould or jeel to a tax up on wollens, (f the duly it really lobe re garded as s lax.) and those of a cold one be 'satisfied witn it; that it ahould be in iheir mouth to say that such a lax iropea ea uncqosi burdest opon the inhabitants of the South, were woollens, from tbe nstere ol the climate, cannot, to a great extent, beeome a necessary of life, but ra Iter a luxury; while, Irom the rigid coldnese of ours. all. from iufsney to old age, have to be clothed w itb it mott parts of ihe year. Now I have no doubt that, of the duties collected on this article, four dollars per man are paid by those North of this, 10 one dollar by those of the South, if it were levied and collected like direct tsses according to the rule of ihe Constitution; and yet thi tax np wool lens is the ons relied upon by the Seoatnr from S. Carolina to make out hia cause of unequal burdens. - . This very duty was the greit cause of excitement st the South, and the veiy hot-bed that oecaiioned their most absurd doctrine of nullification. ' - . Sir, it would not have been much more bturd for them to hare nullified a law which should impoteaduty on arming pant; an article never seen at the Soudi. because, Ike woolli n. there it no necrt sit j for them; but which from our cold and rigorous climate, can te found in eve ry cottage and farm borne tu flew Lng- Wnd.-' "'. r '- . Sir, I have endeavored to thow why the people of the North do not complain that duttri ire laid on articles which tbey do not rails such at sur and also that there is no"gotd reaton for complaint from the South for ether duties, wiiicn they retard st unequal and oppressive. And I have done this for the purpose of removing impresitont and opinions of Southern friends, which 1 believe to be incorrect, and not to advocate exorbitant rates of duties upon any imports. r I am not in favor of such, and do oot mean to contend for them. My purpose, in what I hate said on the subject of the rates of duties, has been to sntwer the in quiries so repeatedlv ptetsed by the Se nator from South Carolina, and 10 show that tha South would have no particular reason to complain, if the rales of duties should nut be reduced, at I expect they will be. And I now desire to tsy a few words on the ttilijrct embraced in the resolu tions, concerning the manner of raising the amount of revenue necessary to an economical administration of the Govern ment. ; It appears plain to me, from all that has been said on the tubjccl of re I'uctinn, that the amount for all purpoiet must be twenty six millions, including what is proper to be paid toward ihe ex isting debt. The resolutions propose that in raising this sum, the provisions of the compromise act shall be generally ad hered to. To thia general rule, aa ex plained by the mover of the resolutions there are to be such exceptions aa may appear to be jot: at, for instance, if any paiticular branch of industry thould be in imnil'cM danger ol very great injury, or of absolute destruction by the pplication o! the general rule, then good policy and 'justice m'ghl require that it should be ; treated as an exception from iU This was understood when tbe law was pasted. This law plainly declares that a aula- all. and foreigners will get all the wealth. Icrn friends were get mg aoroe encourage- pi.:. : - l...r....l he ilwi.a b.i teach I input and ninteeiion for their li-bnr in ! 1 III- I UIIMFI - , I free trade in England, if it be not by their raising eog.r, by hanng the duty Hint friends who advocate it here. They put laid: it would nuke ihe dih even more ! il.ni .Wtrina fonli for iis to follow, but tial.t.ble; and we thould Uke it hot, an I ' ... . I" . , . r 1 1 U. have too much good sense to follow 11 mase a goou nreahtutt: wmie our Ihernselvcs. irn fnend. bent upon their theory, (ihat Mr. Calhoun again, interposed and duties must be alike on all articles.) would anid, that the expending of piiblic uio- go into their abstract iesning to show ney in one section, as i i raf-x, not how much they v. ere oppreed by put oulv gave employment, which waa bet- un,' the duty on ihe togar. instead of the ter than monev. but there was a great ad- susjar and coll, both; get iiitti a passion vantage to that couny by the improve- about K and at last make a poor breakfast ment made in it by the exp eudtturet,! on cold coffee and bud logic, eut-h as roads' Ac w '" r t pay on Mr. S. resumeit. This very tiuo, 'molasses, we sati.fy oursel.ea by t ie lact Mi;an.l I m glad to find the honorable .that in every .instance in our hi.iory. Senator reluming 1.1 hi fat met vie we t wherein the duty lus bu med, -he should ha Uid half on each, accordmz to cient amount of revenue thall be raised by the S,iuhrrn doctrine f Simply because: dunes on import!, for ' sn economical it makes no difference, in the cost f a administration of the Government It cup of coffee, whether the duty is all put j neither refVrs to, nor rtlies upon any other on the sugar, or laid-half and half on each, 'means than duties for that object Bull When we take up a cup of coffee 10 drink, ' luve known no law to be more miaappre it rciillv is not a!wvs we tbiuk that we! bended than this hat been, nor ons. on are paying atax;and if that thought hm!d dance acrnsi our mill J. it would not ipod , the sweetening, to suppose that our South- which public opinion appara to be ao much divided. This hat resulted, no doub, from the various and conflicting opinionsexpressrd j in regard to it at lite time of its passage, j and in some intancct since, from a deter mination to misrepresent and condemn it. But I am bound to believe that a portion of the men of this last class, if correctly inhumed uf its character and of its capa cities to carry out the" objects intended, would cease to condemn it. The objects of this law can be best understood by look ing al it provision in connexion with the late of ihe treasury at the time of its pass age. This will show its true spirit and inient. At that time it was estimated that the wants ol the Governmen would not exceed fificfii millions of dollars annually Tne debt was nid, and the ordinary ex peuses had not exceeded ihinecu tuillieut a jtii the previous eight yesrs. Every plan presented al that sesioa of Cosgreas proposed aa reduce the rates ef duuet, st) thai the revenue should et exceed tho wants of the Gesrnmest,sod with mors) or lets professed r gard to 1! e iacideul encorsgemebt of American labar. Tie free trade, r what was regarded ft it Southern doctrine was, that duties shau'J be levied oa all articles ahkt. whither coming in incom petition with products tf our own or not, and at a rate no higher than waa eufSciest to raise the requeue sum, which was thsa etumited auwel-t) to thirteen per reau , j Tbey contended for thit. tad it wis st that time justly Hed a horizontal ta riff;" aad 1 pcrerive by seme memorials that the ae which patted at tl at seism has the tamo term applied to it wheth er justly r not, a further examination will' The law referred to, instead of provid ing that the duties ahould be letted 00 all articles alike, declared that many upon which duties had before been laid, espe cially such articles ss hd net interfere - with, but which ere neertiaiy to, our own productions, thould alter wardi be ail mined free, and that where any reduction I the rates ahould be necesnry, in order to dimioith tbe amount of rsvrnus, such reduction should be gradual, and retching through peiiod of nine or ten years; should eventually ceme to a rate (20 per cent.) at which a seflirient amount of re . venue could be raised, on ihst rlas of articles, for an ecdnomical administration of ihe Government.- , , f f , It is therefore manifest that the law contemplated adiscriminalioDbeiweea the articles which come in competition with thots produced by Americin labor and ilioss which did not, to the full extent of collecting the entire revenue by duties levied on h first, and permiuiug the last -to be admitted entirely free. , Thia is the very inient and tpirit of tht law, when viewed with reference to the slate of the . Public Treasury at the titns the law was framrd. v.s. . t . v Li It ia true, time have aincechaaged, un expectedly and unfavorably changed, it) reference ia the ability of the county , la coniume end pay foe dutiable imports, aa well as to the increased expenditure, and consequent aecesiities for increased revenues. Thit change, which it often adverterted to by the advocates nf free trade ts if it wrrs desired by the fiicods of American labor, because it creates a ne cessity for higher duties than wat expect ed, is not, in fact, favorable lo sny kind of productive labor in this country, to my knowledge. , It wrigbs down the prospe rity of all, it destroys eonfideuee, and, wiib it, the value of all kiuds ol proper Neither does it furnish an opportunity lo carry out peculiar doctrines of discri mination, in lev)ing duties, between im port which do, and those which do not, compete with otfr labor. - So far, as tha principle of protection is tuppoitd le consist in discriminating duties, tbe ne cessity for sn increase of duties hss ope rated against the development of that pe culiar feature of ihe law, ; Bus if the ra- ' parity of the rountry to consume imports had continued as it was expected, and if the necessities of the Government had nut become greater than when the law was passed, wo should have had a discrimina tion between these two classes of impor tations equalling the entire duty, ; or twenty per cent.; but, at it now stands, ni such dittinciion between Ihe two kinds of imports csn be expected. . 1 The free articles, or mnst of them, are already raised to that rate; and lo ei joy the discrimination of twentv percent con templated in the bill, the dutiea on the ar ticle intended to be protected could not be reduced much below what they are seen to have been during the laie admin istration, viz: a rale of duty of at least furty per rent. So high a rate I have no ' wish lo see continued, especially as we have the most convincing proof ilut so high duties ars evaded in almost all cases; and we have reason to believe that, from iheir being to high, they occasion many, of those numerous frauds which have dri ven almost all honest American merchants from the business uf importing, as well aa defeated both revenue and protection. This leaves every American (nierrst to becomes a victim either lo the cupidity . of the foreigner who imports or t- the necesaiiies of ihe foreign producer a broail. At any rate, sir, I prefer th-t certainty which is secured by the provi-, sious of that law, of collecting whatever rate of duty may be levied, by having tha basis of it under the con'rnl of our officers and our laws, tl rough a home valuation, to any mere nominal rate of duties, bow-, ever high. And there is abundant eii- dence before the country that all raits are- but nomio.l, so loog at you prmii the foreigner to fix upon the basis by his in- voices, although you should require them to he shingled over with o-tht. 1 have been induced to aay this much of the provisions of the CMnpromioa act, , becsue it has of Wo bt-ei. ass tried that it surrendered the principle of protection. But we have seen that, when taken in -connexion with ihe wntsof the Treasu- -ty, as estimated at the time of its passage, , and with tbe prosperous cuiiduiou ol the
The Durham Recorder (Durham, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
June 2, 1842, edition 1
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