WAoe JWi. 901.
Tbvborough Edgecombe County, jf fa,) Saturday, June 10. 1M3
ro. ifA S3.
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. BY" GEO ROE HOWARD,
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THE PRESIDENCY.
The Indiana State Sentinel contains let
ters from Messrs. Calhoun, Johnson, Cas.
Buchanan, and Van Buren, in reply to
certain questions propounded to them by
the Indiana Democratic Convention, touch
ing the prominent political topics of the
day, they are as follows.
REPLY OF MR VAN BUREN.
continued.)
To insure economy in public expendi
tures, it is indispensable .that those by
whom they are authorized hould.have some
difficulty, and even serious responsibility,
in obtaining the means of defraj'ihg them,
jn no other way an extravagance be pre
vented, since it is the nature of man to
spend that heedlessly which he acquit es
without effort, and to think little of that
which costs little trouble to gain.
I have dwelt more at length on that
part of your inquiry which relates to a na
tional bank than I might otherwise have
done, from a belief that you look upon it
as one of the most vital consequence to the
public welfare. In this I entirely coincide
with you, as well as to myself, to say, that
in referring to the public declarations 1
have been in no degree influenced by any
feelings of dissatisfaction at the repetition
of these inquiries on the present occasion, j
So far from this, I most highly applaud thei
enlightened patriotism of tht: Democracy of:
Indiana, in seizing an occasion so appropri
ate as that of an approaching presidential
election, to require new securities, that the
principles they themselves cherish should j
be carried out to their fullest extent, audi
more especially on this all important ques
tion. I
I am not one .of those who believe . tint!
the long-cherished project of re-establishing 1
a national bank is, or ever will be, abandon-j
ed by tint party which always has been,!
still is, and ever will be, the advocate and j
supporter of such an institution tt may lie j
dormant for a season, fiom a convict on of j
its being inexpedient to revive it; bin he i
niust be blind to all indications 'of the fu- j
ture who, seeing th'at even at the very peri
od when the old bank was tiuectmg the
very air we breathed with its corruptions,
arid when public indignation was liiost
heavily weighing on its long ser ies of de
linquencies at that very moment, a suc
cessful effort was made in both Houses of
Congress to create a similar institution
should nevertheless lull his caution to sleep
with the delusive idea lint the project will
ever be abandoned. Moss asur-dl , noth
ing but the stern vigilance of the Democ
racy will ginrd it against an institution
which may thus be prostituted b the ruin
T)f individuals', the disgrace of the country,
and which, while so limited in its power
to do good, is so potent for the perpetration
of evil.
The tenacity with which our opponents
adhere to the distribution of the proceeds
"of the public lands among the States, in the
present condition of the treasury; is a polit
ical anomaly, which it is hot a little diffi
'd'tto explain, or to reconcile with a fair
understanding of, or a proper regard for.
ll)v true interests of the country. If an
apology for it can he made, it to be traced
Jothat unwillingness to abandon, in the
l''ce of their opponents, a position which
lias been assumed with confidence, and
""pported with earnestness an indisposi
to;i from which but few political associa
tes are altogether exempt. Whatever
may have been expected from this meas
Ure by its authors, or however plausibly de
ceptive its theory ma have been, at a pe
riod when the country was threatened
Wl,h tne evils incident to an overflowing
heasury, subsequent experience in regard
W the. ivnrbln r I C
. . " ui uur political auu iiuju-
Jlal systems ought long since to have satis
every reflating mind, as well of its ut
ter inutility as a means of relief to the
States, as of its destructive tendency to
me stability and weltare, ot the Union. A
the master now stands, and has for vear
stood; it presents, in the former aspect, the
simp.; quesuon, wnetner the people ol the
States can possibly be bent-fifed by recei
ving into the State treasury a ceitiin sum
.if m. ..,.. .-II.. t i . .
m.u.icj tuuuuiiy, io oe immediately re
collected trom themselves in the shape of
,.a.ies "R00 what ,n?y eat, drink, and wear,
with the addition of the expenses of col
lection. Every attempt to give the meas
ure any other tenable aspect; has proved
utterl) unavailing. It is certainly paying
but a poor compliment to the capacity of
the people; to suppose, for a moment, that
they could be brough', by any pretext, how
ever plausible, to stultify "themselves so
lar as to adopt a proposition so preposterous.
Can any intelligent mind hesitate in giv
ing to it a prompt negative? And can any
patriotic one fail to regret that the char.ic
tt r of our people for intelligence and sa
gacity, in the etimatiort of mankind, should
be exposed to hazard by the grave an I
continued agitation of siich a question be
fore them?
It can, after this, and after what I have
heretofore said upon the subject, be scarce
ly necessary to repe.t that 1 am opposed )
io me uiMriouuon ci me proceeds oi the
public lahdsamong the States. The best
evidence 1 can give of my pres"nt opinion
in regard to the proper disposition of the
public lands, is to refer you to those which
were avowed and acted upon by me whils
in offiVe and which were very fully stated
in my first annual message to Congress, in
December, S3l.
My views in relation to the protective
system were also called for by the Shocco
Springs meeting in 1832, and freely given.
A conviction that the establishment of
commercial regulations with a view to the
encouragement of domestic interests, is
within the constitutional powei of Con
gress, was on. that occasion distinctly
aVovyed. Rut holding this opinion, i; at
trie same time, denied the propriety of ex
ercising this power in a manner calculated
to oppress any portion of my fejlow-citi-zens,
or to advance the interests of one sec
tion of the Union at the expense of anoth
er. Ij on the contrary, affirmed it to. be
the duty oX those who are, intrusted with
the administration of the Federal Govern
ment, to direct its operations in the man
ner best calculated to distribute as equally
as possible its burdens and blessings among
the several States and the people thereof.
In addition to the declaration of these gen
eral views, I suggested more specific rules
for the action of the Government in this
particular, bv the observance of which, 1
believed those views would be most likely
to be carried into fair effect.
More than ten years have elapsed since
that communication was made; and, during
that entire period, the people of the United
States have paid large amounts of duties
avowedly imposed for the encouragement
and protection of domestic manufactures;
with gradual reductions, according to the
provisions of the compromise act of 1S33.
The unbiassed sentiment of the country in
respect to what is, under such circumstan
ces, the proper rule for legislative action)
upon this subject, has, I think, by the!
course of events and the progress of opin
ion, bten brought to the conclusion, brief
ly expressed in one of the resolutions of
your convention, viz; a discriminating ta
riff for revenue purposes only, ami which
will incidentally protect American iiidus
try,"
liut, as experience has shown that the
terms employed by your convention are
not always used in the same sense, it is due
as well to the subject and the occasion as to
myself, that I should give you, without re
serve, my own understanding of them.
Adequate revenue, for the support of all
Governments, must be derived from some
source. It has nowhere been found an ea
sy task to preserve erjuality in raising it,
and at the same time to overcome the gen
eral repugnance to the payment of taxes in
any shape a iepugnanre arising more
from an apprehension that their avails will
not be wisely applied, than Irom an unwil
lingness on the part of the people to sus
tain their Government by the necessary
contributions. All must agree that taxes
should be imposed with a fair and full refe
rence to the advantages derived from the
existence of good govtrnment by those
who pay them. Those advantages may,
in general terms, be justly described as re
sulting from ample security in the enjoy
ment of our peisonal rights, and rights of
property, with adequate safeguards against
internal commotion and foreign aggression.
In respect to the immunities of the person,
and civil and religious freedom; the inter
est as well as the immediate advantages of
all are equal. Not so with the other privi
leges secured to us by our free Government
The unavoidable disparity in the pecuni
ary condition of our citizens makes ihe de
gree of benefit they respectively derive
from the maintenance of an efficient Gov
ernment over property and the rights ol
1 property essentially different. The modet
of raising revenue allowed to and adopted
U ik C... n - . e r..
y me .-.laie uo.vernraenis, are generally f
graduated by this disparity. If the results
are not always equitable, the fault, it is be
lieved', will in most cases be found in their
action upon the principle, rather than in
the principle itself. The right to rais
revenue for its support, by the imposition
of duties in lieu of direct" taxation, is by
the Constitution subjected to the exclusive
control of the Federal Government. This
right, subject to the limitations imposed by
the grant, was given to it for that purpose,
and has been freely exerted by it since its
esiablishment. It would afford me much
pleasure to be able to say that the exercise
of this power has borne as equally upon all
classes of the people, however unequal in
their pecuniary conditions, as the taxes im
posed by the State Governments. 13m
this cannot with troth be said. Nor i
the inequality unavoidably resulting from
the federal mode of collecting taxes a new
discovery. It was foreseen and objected
to when the power was conferred, as an
evil inherent to the system, which could
not fail to show itself in its operation, and
the injustice of which no form of legisla
tion, however it might be made to miti
gate, could ever be able to remove. The
advocates of thesyslem were, notwithstan-
linr. reeonei prf in i hv a h ;ef nr. rtnlo
sincerely entertained) that the iuequalitie
which it was feared would result from the
collection of duties upon imported arti
cles, would be prevented by the fact loa
the consumption would be in propor tion to
the means of the consumer. It was upon
this ground that the principle was defend
ed. That this expectation has not been
rediz-d, is undeniably true. There are
but few, if any, who cannot, in their im
mediate vicinity, point out numerous in
stances in which poor men with large fam
ilies are actually obliged to pay more for
the support of the Federal Government,
than others wno are in affluent circumstan
ces, but are either without, or have smaller
families i and few, if any, countervailing
examples are to be found. At the same
time, the great body of wealth invested in
incorporated or associated companies, and
in bonds and notes, entire ly escape Feder
al taxation. The mass of the people seem,
nevertheless, to prefer this mode of collec
ting the revenue. Paying their taxes in
the form of an increased price upon the
commodities they buy, their contribution
loses, in their estimation, much of the odi
um that would be attached to it if severed
from the price of the article, and converted
into a tax by name, as it is in fact. It also
wears the appearance of a voluntary contri
bution, altho its payment is, for the mol
part, as unavoidable as a compulsory impo
sition would be. It is supported, too, by
the odium which was attached to the impo
sition ofdirect taxes many years since, for
purposes which were not approved by the
people, and by the fact that, in most of the
States, the taxes are direct rendering it,
for that reason, desirable to substitute some
other mode of raising revenue Tor the Fed
eral Government. These, and other con
siderations, have given to the impost a pre
ference in the public mind, which would
render the imposition of direct taxes in lime
of peace exceedingly odious, and have
produced as great a degree of unanimity in
favor of a tariff for revenue, as ever can be
expected upon a public question. Of the
great mass ot opponents to a protective:
tariff, there is not so far as I know, a single
State, or even district, that has taken
ground against a revenue tariff.
Let us now, for a moment look at the ad
vantages which the manufacturing inteiesi,
above any other, derives Irom a tariff im-1
posed for revenue only. The first tariff
bill, passed in 179, and all those that fol
lowed it between that period and the war,
were, in fact, notwithstanding the recital,
in some of them, revenue bills. The ave
rage amount of the imposts under them,
commencing at 12 percent., was gradual
ly increased from that to 15, and up to 20
percent. At the latter average it stood
from iSOOto 1S08, & until the commence
ment of preparations for war. Twenty
per centum, upon an average, appears, in
the judgment of those best acquainted with
the subject, here and elsewhere, to be the
rate best adapted for revenue. It is ihe
amount, also, to which it was the design
of the compromise act to reduce the tariff,
and one which ought certainly not to be ex
ceeded, except when absolutely necessary
for revenue, and likely, from the state of
the country, to effect this object. The
rate to which all parties appear willing to
go under the existing condition of the trea
sury, and to continue it until that condition
is sufficiently improved to justify a reduc
tion, is, I believe, an average of 25 per
cent. To this duty afex to be added the
charges upon imported articles arising from
he costs of transportation from Europe,
i-onsistingof freight, insurance, expenses of
agencies, or profits to successive holders,
nd cash duties which are estimated, b
those who understand the matter better
than I do, at not less than 10. per cent..
making, if the average rate of duty is 25 pei
loun., u amount of charges upon, imported
articles b fore the v are placed in our mar-
it ' ' '
ne upon. a par with simitar arncies manor
factored herej equal to 35 per cent ; and if
ihe average duty is 20 per cent., to oO p r
cent. If the foreign article is, notwithstan?
ding. Brought in, arid a competition entered
into with the. home manufacturers, these
duties and charges operate; whilst the com
petition lasts, as a protection to ihedomestjc
manutacturer. equal to their sum giving!
him. by so much, the advantage in. tH" sale!
oi r.is commodities over tho importer; and
if the effert of t he e charges is lo prevent
the importation of such articles altogether,
they then give him an entire monopoly of
the home market. Thise are the direct
advantages which result to the manufactu
ring interest from the raising of revenue by
the imposition of duties upon imports, in
stead of diiect taxa ion'.
Let us next consider whether the other
great interestsof thecountry derive any, &if
any, what direct advantages frcm this mode
of collecting the public revenue. I do not
profess to be as well acquainted wih Ihe
progress and probable results of our fiscal
operations upon trade & labor, as those who,
by their pursuits in life, have enjoyed great
er advantages for arqniring this kind of in
formation. I give you, in answer to your
inquiries, the best views that I am able to
take of the subject. If I fall into any er
rors, they will certainly be unintentional.
nd as certainly be corrected by those who
are better informed. And, first, as relates
t o the agricultural that gre dest of all inte
rests it is certainly true, that, in the form
ation of our tariff, duties var ing in amount
arealo imposed on the same articles which
constitute the staple productionsof thiscoun
try, when imported from abroad; but is it
not equally true, that the t ff -i t of lhat im
position, in respect to the protection there
by afforded to the domestic production of
them, is, for the most part, nominal?
When we look at the comparatively small
amount Of dutieS received at ihe treasury
upon the importation of the important arti
cles, beef, pork, flour, various kinds of
grain, cotton, rice, tobacco, wool,&c, &c ,
contrasted with that collected upon the im
portation of manufactured articles, we can
not but be sensible that this is so. The far
mer and planter, it is true, tnjoy, and to a
great degree without competition with for
eign producers, our own market for the
sale of most of the fruits of their labor; but it
is a security derived chiefly, if not altoge
ther, from natural causes, for which nobody
pays, and which derives but little aid from
legislation. It is, on the contrary, to Ihe
nature of our climate, the enterprise and
industry of our citizens, the character of
our territory, with, other facilities for the
easier and cheaper growth of agricultural
products here, that the agriculturist is chiefly
indebted for his protection against foreign
competition lo foster the interests ol
. I 1 a .1
commerce and navigation, nas men ine
object of the Federal Government; and
much has certainly been done to accom
plish it, through the instrumentality of
salutary laws and treaty stipulations. Res
pect has also been very generally had to
these interests, and more particularly that
of navigation, even in our r evenue bills by
low duties, or exemption from duties, upon
articles necessary and useful to them; but
it will not, 1 believe, be contended in any
quarter, that the prosperity of either of
these great interests is essentially advanced
by a protective or a revenue tariff. That
the great body of the mechanics in ever)
branch of business, whose welfaie should
be an object of unceasing solicitude on the
part of every public man, have been the
greatest sufferers by our high protective
tariffs, and would continue so to be if that
policy is persisted in, is, to my mind, too
char to require further elucidation
If these views are correct, (and, in all
eseniial particulars, I cannot, doubt their
being so,j it is apparent that the manufac
turing interest derive an advantage from
the collection of the revenues of the Fede-
ral Government through the custom-houses
instead of their being obtained by ihe
mode of taxation adopted by the States, in
comparably greater than any other of the
impoit.tnt interests of the country indeed
than all of them put together. That this
advantage consists in a preference in the
American mar ket over their foreign com
petitors, of not less than 30 per cent ,
when the revenue standard is reduced to an
average of 20 per cent., and liable to be in
creased as before Mated; that it is enjoyed
by virtue of a tariff, the colli ction of the
duties imposed by which, whilst it subjects
all lo taxation, invariably, and almost inev
itably, bears with unequal severity upon a
very large, and, unhappily, in general, a
necessitous portion of the people a pro
lection, the indirect advantages of which
to other interests, even under a tariff for
protection, are as . much the subject, ofj
doubt and disputation as they ever were, j
but for which those concerned in other pur-.
uits have for a long series of years paid in j
advance, and received trierr equivalent in
promises, of the performance of which
thev are not, and do not seem likely to be
soonj satisfied. This advantage "to the
manufacturer is not, it is true, , the object
T. but onlv incidentaho, a tariff for reve:
nne .t Stijl it is not, on that account, tha
les beiichVial to him. ; ;, .
The position assumed by your conven
tion, and in which I fully concur,, ..is, .ihat
th incidental protection .ihgs derived is
all the legislative. favor which can at his
day be conferred upon the manufacturer
without great injustice to othrr interests.
The expediency of the adoption by Cor
gress, at any time, of temporary measures
of retaliation, when likely lobe effecul
in counters -ting foreign legislation injuri
ous to American interests, is a question in
volving different considr r itirns., .,,.
We have it from quarters entitled to
respect, that the most considerate of the doj
mestic manufacturers are satisfied with trits
measure of protection; that," tired of hav
ing their peculiar interests embarked in
political contests, resulting at one time in
an excess of duties which' tempts to arj un
due and ruinous increase of capital in their
business, and, at others, under the deep
and excited feelings which perpetual con
troversy engenders) in sudden ,,an'd. great
reductions, iqually injurious; that, consci
ous of the extent to which, for more than
a cjuarer of a century, they have engros
sed the time and attention of the Rational
Legislature and of the people, and of the
millions upon millions which have, during
that time, been collected , from the latter,
avowedly to facilitate and give special, ad
vantages to the particular pursuit in which
hey are engaged, not only to the exclu
sion of. but at the immediate. cost of those
of others; and sensible, as the mostobservr
ing amongst them must be, that the period
h s parsed away when a tariff designed for
protection can be kept up in this country i
without doing moie injury to every inter
est, by the convulsions and revulsions
which it cannot fail to produce in public
opinion, than it can confer benijit on
theirs; tHey would themselves prefer that
the protection secured to them by the le
islatiori of Congress should be confined to
that which isrincidentally derived from 3
revenue tariff. So far as certainty in iheir
condition a matter of inestimable impor
tance it is the only course by which
even an approach to its accomplishment
can be Hoped for. To all present appear
ances, the acquiescence in a tariff for rprl
nue, now so general, may in, the absence oi
special excitement, endure for a period as
longasis commonly embraced in calcula?
Hons of business. . It cannot, however, have
escaped the attention of the manufacturer
that although no State or district of coun
try may yet. have taken ground against
this mpde of raising revenue for the ,sui)
port pi" Government, there are not want
ing thiousand of vigorous, intellects, in eve
ry section of our extended country, whoj
penetrated by a deep sense of the inequali
ty arid cons-querit injustice of its ppera
tion, are applying all the energies of their
minds to the overthrow of the system itself-
. .They cannot be ignorant, either, of
the fact, that a prejudice against. direct tax
ation, springing in some degree at leasts
fibm. a ..supposed abuse of the power in, '
timispaft, may yield to time and reflec-r
tion, or nny be supplanted by a newer and
stronger antipathy. And what could be
more likel to awaken popular aversion
than the sight of a great and affluent inter
est in the country , standing out aniid the
general gloom, pertinaciously exerting its
influence in the councils of the nation, not !
onlv to save itself from the misfortunes
which had overtaken all other classes, but
to secure its own aggrandizement by new
and unjust impositions qii a. corpmunity al
ready borne to the earth by the adverse
course of events. Individuals and their
families may be (and in other countries
are) permanently billeted on the public
coffers; but all experience has shown that,
with us at leasi, it is not in the power of
the Government to secure permanent ad- '
vantages to the business pursuits of one
class over those of all others. The very
patronage which is thus unduly received,
has a tendency to telax the exei lions, and
to dissipate ihe prudence of its recipients;
and if the spirit of monopoly is hot in this
way defeated, it is pure to. be brought
down, in the end, by the controlling pow
er of an excited and enlightened public ,
sentiment. I do, therefore, sincerely
hope that the disposition w hich is attributed
to a portion, i least, of the manufacturing
interest, doe in fact exist, and that it will
soon become general. But whether it be
so or not, the principle advanced by your
convention is, without doubt, the tiue one' ,
for our future government.
Itemuindtr in our next.)
Poverty in the City of New York T
A statistical account of the applications.
for alms at the Commissioners' office in
New York, between the 1st of January and ,
the 1st of April lat, gives the number at
8,985. On examining the situation of
these applicants, it appeared that they rep- .
resented an average of four and one half,
making a total of 40,432 persons who were -4
compelled to, lay their wants beforethe
doors of public Charity.
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