United States oracle and Portsmouth advertiser — Portsmouth, N.H., 1802-05-15 00:00:00, page 2

the merchants and retailers are in fad
the collectors, it follows, that the dif
ference between the sum received at
the treasury, and the sum actually paid,
in confequenee of the duty, by the man
who pays the tax, the consumer is at
the expense of collection. For instance,
' if the treasury receives only one hund
red dollars, and the consumer pays one
hundred and fifty dollars, the expense
of collection is fifty per cent.
mission of five per cent, and pays the
balance into the treasury—the mer
chant fells the goods to the retailer,and
adds, to the firft cost of the goods, all
the charges, including the Import, and,
upon the aggregate, charges, an ad
vance of 20 or 25 per cent.—so that
the duty upon the goods, as well as the
It being then well understood, that
the impost is ultimately paid by the
consumers of foreign goods, and that
In this project for abolishing the in
ternal taxes, I think there is one thing
intended,which is not exprefled. When
ever a deficiency of revenue arises, I
know perfectly well where the deficien
cy must firft fall—l know it mud fall
on your naval establishment. Look
back to the language and conduct of
those who once held feats in this house,
and who now hold high offices under the
executive authority, and point me to
the time when these gentlemen voted
a cent for your navy. Was not their
hostility to our navy openly avowed ?
Have we not often heard from these
gentlemen, that commerce ought to be
left to fhift for itfelf' Yes,Mr. Speaker,
we have beard these declarations, and
they will go far to account for a mea
sure which goes to starve your navy.
When I fee then a project, which,
in my judgement must produce a defi
ciency of revenue, and, from a know
ledge of the character of those, who
now manage our affairs, I am persuad
ed, that they would not be unwilling to
fee that deficiency fall upon an edablifh
ment, which I deem indispensable, and
to which I am strongly attached, I feel
not a little alarmed at its tendency.
But it has been said, that the collec
tion of the internal taxes is expensive,
and, for that reason, they ought to be
abolished. Sir, it is not possible to lay
a tax which is convenient in the collec
tion, and which will be paid without
didrefs by the people, which will not,
at the fame time, be attended with ex
pense. Sir, this circumstance will al
ways attend every indirect tax, and yet
experience has proved, that these taxes
are more productive, and less oppressive
than any other. But I deny that the
internal taxes are attended with more
expense than the impost, on the contra
ry, I think they are attended with less.
It has been often, and truly, said,
that the impost is paid by the coufum
ers of foreign goods—it has been like
wise said, and with equal truth, that
the merchants and retailers of thiscoun
try are the colle&orsof the impost. Nor
was it ever said by me, or by any gen
tleman, to mv recQlleClion, on this
floor, that the mpoft falls, exclusively,
upon the merchant. The fad is direct
ly the reverse, as every gentleman must
know, and the only cautions which are
are necessary to be observed, for the
purpose of preventing injury to the
importers of goods for domedic con
sumption, are, in the firft place, never
T.ot permit myfelf to believe, that gen
tlemen are disposed to ad upon this nar
row system of policy, and that these
measures are only .calculated to effed
that particular event, without any re
gard to the true interests of the coun
try. At any rate, we cannot, without
a violation of our duty, limit our calcu
lation within any period short of eight
years ; at the end of which time, the
Dutch debt, and the temporary loans,
will be discharged, and our revenue
will be liberated from a considerable
proportion of the sums with which it is,
now charged ; and we may perhaps
at that time, fafely dispense with a part
of the taxes ; but we ought, on every
principle,to wait until that period arrives.
Permit me then to repeat again,that
I believe it unfafe to abandon any of
our taxes. I shall, therefore vote a
gainst the repeal of the tax on damps,
and on dills, as well as the tax on car
riages. Sir, I have no idea of giving
up any tax, so long as I,believe them
necessary for the support of public cre
dit, or for the prefersMion of the honour and
fafety of the nation.
We can have no peculiar interest in
retaining these taxes ; we (hare not the
loaves and the fifhes. But, fir, we are
deeply interested in the preservation of
public credit, and in supporting the fafe
ty and honour of our country. And,
let money go into what hands it may, I
will always vote to raise, and to appro
priate, enough to preserve these great
objeds.
Permit me, on these principles to
state the expense of colleding the im
post. The merchant who imports the
goods pays, in the firft place, the duty
to the collector, who deduds his com-
to carry your ifopoit so far, as to pro
duce a pradice of smuggling to the in
jury of the fair trader ; and, secondly,
never to require such prompt payment
of duties, as will compel the merchant
to fell his goods at a loss, before he can
colled the money from the consumer.
goods themfclves, come into the'hands
of the retailer, charged with a mercan
tile profit of at least 20 per cent. The
retailercharges likewise te the consumer
his profit of at least 25 per cent, so
that the duties upon the goods, when
theyare finally paid by the consumer,
are charged with the commission of the
collector of 5 per cent, the profit of the
mc^hantof 20 percent, and with the
profit of the retailer of 25 per cent.
From whence it will appear, that in-
Read of the expense of collecting the im
post being only 5 per cent, as stated
by the secretary of the treasury, it is
in truth more than 40 per cent—a
sum which is much beyond the average
expence of collecting the internal taxes.
Permit me now to examine the e^-
penfe of collecting the internal taxes ?
The secretary of the treasury, in the
firft report which he made on this fub
jeft, calculated the expense of collec
ting the internal revenue at about 19
per cent. In a calculation, since sub
mitted by that officer, he acknowledges
that the expense of collection amounts
only to about 15 per centum, these cal
culations having refped only to the
charges paid by the government to
public officers. On this point I have
but a single remark to make, which is,
that when a public officer varies 20 per
cent, in his calculations within a few
days—when he tells us one thing to
day, and another thing to-morrow, it is
fafer, in my opinion, to calculate for
ourselves.
With the view, therefore, of calcu
lating for ourselves, I beg leave to ob
serve, that the documents on your ta
ble, and the public accounts,will prove,
that the expense, paid diredly by gov
ernment, for collecting of the internal
taxes, in the state of Massachusetts, wifl
not much exceed 8 per cent, and I be
lieve, no good reason can be given,why
the collection, in the other dates, can
not be made with as little expense ; at
any rate it cannot be difficult to reduce
it within ro per cent. And, if you im
prove these taxes as they may, and
ought to be improved— if you carry
them far enough, to equalize the tax on
domestic spirits with imported spirits,
it cannot be doubted but the expense
will be reduced to 5 per cent.
The tax on refined sugar, however,
flands much on the fame ground with
that upon stills, but requires no parti
cular elucidation. And the tax on li
censes to retailers, can in no case, be
charged with more than one advance,
if indeed it is charged with any. The
tax on sales at au&ion,is likewise of the
fame description ; and, in refped to
the tax on carriages, the owner of the
carriage pays the tax, directly to the
officer, and, of course, is fubjeded to no
additional expense. Nor is the stamp
duty, ordinarily, attended with any
charge, it being unusual, even with re
tailers, in many parts of the country,
to demand any thing more than the
face of the stamps. Taking then, into
confideratiqn, all the branches of the
internal taxes, it will demonstrably ap
pear, that they are pot attended with so
much expense to those who pay them,
as the import is to the consumers of
foreign goods ; and the argument
which has been drawn from the ex
pense, must be rejected.
But, if it is admitted that the ex
pense paid by government to the col
ledors of the internal taxes, must re
main at 15 per cent, it will dill be
found, that the actual erpenfe, paid by
the people Upon this branch of the re
venue, will fall Short of the actual ex
pense of collecting the impost.
To explain myfelf upon this fubjeft,
permit me to examine the effect of the
various parts of the internal revenue
upon those who finally pay the tax.
The distillation iff spirits being in
this country a domestic manufacture,
the diftifter, like all other mechanics or
manufaduiers, does not so much look
to an advance upon, the capital employ
ed in his business, for his profit, as to
the labour actually employed in the
process. This principle, it is true, does
not apply; with so much certainty, to
large and expensive establishments,but
to a very Itrge proportion of country
dills, it is, I believe, ftri&ly applicable.
Whenever the principle applies,the con
sequence is, that the distiller, who fells
his spirits to a retailer, does not charge
to the retailer any advance upon the
duty which he pays upon his still, and
the 20 per cent, as charged in the case
of the importer, is saved. Besides, in
a great proportion of the country-dills,
the didiller is, himfelf, the distiller of
his own spirits, and fells them to the
consumer in barrels, or in smaller quan
tities, and, in many of such cases, the
profit of the retailer of 25 per cent, is
not charged, and, in all cases, the pro
fit of the importer is entirely saved,
and the consumer pays no expense in
one case, but the commission of the col
ledor, and the profit of the retailer ;
and in the other case, he pays nothing
but the firft duty, without any addi
tional charge, except the commission
paid to the collector by the govern
ment ; so that the expense of collecting
the tax on dills, and on domestic spi
rits, the collection of which is more ex
pensive than any other branch of the
internal revenue, is still short of the ex
pense on the impost.
It is not, Ttrud, aecefTary further tap
remark, that the treasury calculations,
which are founded only pn the charges
which have been paid by government
to the collectors, are deceptive. It can
not be a matter of any importance to
the man who pays the tax, whether he
pays the expense to one description of
collectors or to another. The only
quedion is, how much money does the
consumer pay ? And how much does
the treasury receive ? The difference
must be, the expenfeof colledion, and
whether it is paid to an excise officer,
or to a merchant arid retailer, the bur
then upon the man who pays, is precise
ly the fame.
But a gentleman from Virginia (Mr.
Randolph) has told us, that internal
taxes are repugnant to the theory of our
government, because they require a
great number of officers to collect them,
and ought, for that reason, to be re
pealed. Why, fir, I never understood
before, that the theory of our govern-'
ment required, that public business
should be managed without public of
ficers. I have always believed, that
no government could proceed without
officers, anc^as to the idea that the
liberties of this country will be endan
gered by one fyervifor, and a few col
le&ors, in each state, it cannot be seri
ous. The gentleman must know, that
a tax-gatherer has been in all ages, an
odious chara&er, and the personal in
fluence of such men, can never endan
ger the public tranquillity. Besides,
the gentleman must, certainly, enter
tain the mod contemptuous opinion of
the people of this country to believe,
that they can be corrupted by a few
collegers of internal taxes. It may
likewise be observed, that this objection
applies to the exigence of every officer
in the government ; to the army, the
navy, and to every officer in the civil
department. It is, in short, an objec
tion, which may have its uses in a
speech, but contains no solidity.
I have already said, that, in my opin
ion, we cannot, with fafety, at this
time, dispense with any of our internal
taxes ; but if we do dispense with any,
it ought to be with those which fall on
the necedaries of life. Sir, the inter
nal taxes are not of this defcription,but
many parts of the impost are. If, how
ever, you regard nothing but the secu
rity ofyour revenue, you must reduce
the duty on certain articles, which are
now fubje&ed to high duties, and which
can be cafily smuggled into the coun
try. You must do this, if you intend
to prevent that pradice of smuggling,
which must end in the loss of your im
post, whenever it takes place. If the
practice of smuggling is generally in
troduced, in refped to one important
article, it will inevitably prOgrefs thro'
the whole lift. I will, therefore, only
mention a single article, on which a
high and productive tax is now paid,
and which may be easily imported in
to this country, and the duty evaded, —
I mean the article of coffee. Coffee, at
this time, pays a tax of five cents the
pound ; this duty is more than fifty
per cent, on the cod abroad, and, at
this time, duty included, it cannot be
fold at 20 cents- Now, fir, can gen
tlemen exped that temptation to smug
gle an article on which such an enor
mous tar is paid, will not be too strong
to be refilled ? If gentlemen will give
themselves the trouble to look at our
sea-coast, and view the vast number of
rivers, harbours, and inlets, which are
scattered upon a frontier of several
thousand miles ; when they confider
the ease with which coffee may be dis
charged from a ship, they must be per
suaded, that, with the present duties,
the temptation is so great, that the prac
tice is inevitable; and if the practice
could flop here, the effect would not
be so fatal : but the moment the im
porter of sugar, and of spirits, fees the
coffee merchant evading the duties,
and perhaps growing rich by the fraud,
he will follow the example ; and, up
on a sea-coast like ours, a thousand of.
ficers cannot prevent the practice.
In this country, the collection of
your impost has and must depend up
on the integrity of your merchants,and
however deserving of confidence that
class of men may be, it is certain, that
individuals may be found, who cannot,
or will not, refill the temptations, from
the present duties, to smuggle ; and,
the practice once adopted, and your
impost is gone. These considerations
have convinced me,,that you mull go
through with a revision of your impost,
and reduce the duty on many of the
most important articles, and, of course,
give up a part of the revenue, with the
view of securing the rest. Besides, the
duty, in many cases, in time of peace,
when the ability to pay is diminished,is
really oppreflive, and we ought t 6 re
duce it with the two-fold view of secur
ing a certain collection, and of reduc
ing the charge on the nectaries of life.
For these reasons, I am in favour of
retaining the carriage tax —for retain
ing every branch of internal revenue,
and for modifying ^d improving
them ; believing, that, m this way,the
expense of collection may be reduced,
the taxes rendered more productive,
and the pressure of public burthensmorc
equally distributed upon the communi
ty.
As far as their power extended, the majority
of this committee have gone, to rob me of that
which is dearer than fortune or life—reputation
—in reward for having at a crisis portentous &
alarming, to the negle& and infinite injury to
my private Concerns, devoted, and moil zealous
ly, a small portion of my life to the public ser
vice.—From their unjust decmen, I make my
appeal to a tribunal where truth will be heard
and will not be fflppre&d ; and where reason
and justice will prevail. Before the tribunal of
the public I am as sure of an acquittal the most
complete and the most honorable, becaufc my
eondad has been right, as I am, that the men,
who, to indulge party rancour, have dared to
accuse me, will quickly find that public deTufien
is rapidly on the decline. It is for these men to
reded on the eflimation in which their prefect
condud will be held, when this delusion (hall
have puffed entirely away.
But it is time to attend to the report of the
majority of the committee, with their reasons
for an unqualified condemnation of the late fee
retary of the navy.
After quoting the a&, directing fix ,4 gun
ships to be built within the United States, and
not to be built or purcbafod, as they wifrto have
the aft understood, and twwother adts, which
had no more connection with the building of
ships, than of houses—one of them authorizing
two docks to be erected for the purpose as et
prtffed in the a& of repairing ships, meaning
docks into which ships might enter without
unloading and be left dry at the fall of the tide,
or after the water should be pumped out, and
be repaired without the expensive operation of
heaving down, things totally dissimilar from
building yards. And the other authorizing a
purchase of timber, not for the use of fix 74
gun ships, as these gentlemen certainly mean to
imply, if they underload their own meaning;
but, as expressly stated in the ad itfelf, to be
preserved for the future use of the navy, (all
the a&s were passed in Feb. '99) —I saw after
quoting these several ads, these gentlemen pro
ceed, " under this authority only (meaning the
three a^s^he then secretary of the navy, ex
pended the sum of 135,846 dollars in the pur
chase of fix navy yards. For this expenditure
the committee conceive that wo authority was
given by law, nor an, appropriation made, except
for the two docks above mentioned, as the sum
of 1000,000 of dollars, was appropriated by
the ad of '99 for building or purcbajing the ships
only—and the sum of two hundred thousand
dollars for the purchase of timber, as public
ships of war, had been before built under a simi
lar authority for the use of the United States,
at private yards; and as congress did, at the
fame time that they authorized the building or
purcbajing th# ships, provide for the erection of
two docks only, the committee are of opinion
that four of the navy yards, were purcbafed
without autborit, and the money misapplied wbteb
was paid for them."
The then secretary of the navy informs these
fagaeious gentlemen, the majority of the com
mittee, that it never was contended or imagin'-
cd, that the ads for procuring timber for fu
ture use, and for erecting docks, conferred any
power to buy or even to hire building yards,
or as they are more frequently called, navy
yards—the whole power to buy such yards,
was communicated by the single ad, directing
that fix 74 gun ships should be built within the
United States, not built or purcbafed as they re
present the ad—ls this aft did not confer the
power to purchase the yards, then the purchase
was made without the authority of law, and.
the report of the majority of the committee,
though malignant, is correa.
The short question then before the public is,
did this #& confer the power to pur^iafe yards ?
I will not labour to establish a felfevidcnt po
rtion. Is there a man of common reason in
the United States, who will believe that an ad
of Congress directing a thing to be done by
the executive, and appropriating money for do
ing it, does not confer on th#executive,fall &
Georgetown, May 1, iBo2.
A Committee of Congress, styled, “ the
committee o£ Investigation," was appoint
ed early in the present session, for purposes
which the resolution for their appointment will
bed explain, A majority of this committee,
after consuming nearly five months, in inquir
ing into the frauds alledged to have been com
mitted by former administrations,have,at length
at the clofc of the session, made a report, when
it is toolate to vindicate in debate on the floor
of congress, the fair fame of men, who have
performed meritorious services for their coun
try, from the foul afperfiona contained in the
report.
From the chairman of this committee, I re
ceived a letter at 3 o'clock on the 27th of April,
dated that day, desiring to know by what au
thority fix navy yards had been purchased,while
Iwas secretary of the navy; and obferviog that
my answer must be in writing, and must be de
livered to him by 10 o'clock the next morning,
as the committee would report in the course of
the day. The fubjeft was familiar to me—no
time for deliberation was necessary—l answer
ed him the fame evening ; but as it would be
fuelling to aq unrcafonablc length, a newspaper
address, to Ifert my answer here,! omit it, con
tenting myfelf with the Single observation, that
I doubted not the explanation it contained, was
fufficient to fatisfy gentlemen of candid minds,
and conversant with public affairs, that not a
single navy yard had been purchased, nor a sin
gle Shilling of money expended on their im
provement, without fall and ample legal au
thority.
This letter produced no effeft on the majori
ty of the committee—it had been previously
determined, that the purchase of navy yards
should at all events be condemned, and it was
urged in vain by gentlemen on the committee,
Who concurred not with the majority,and wbofe
Ulm, abhorrence could not fail to be excited by the
tonduA of that majority, that the letter should at
least be fuffered to accompany the report to congress,
tbat THE DEFENCE MIGHT BE AS PUBLIC AS
the accusation —But this would have been
fair proceeding, and it suited not the views of
the majority, that the poison it was their pur
pose to inftil into the public mind, Should be at
tended by its antidote, and the letter was sup
pressed. From this instance of the uncandid
course of the majority of this committee, in re
lation to a person on the spot to answer them,
a just estimate may be made of the treatment
which former Servants of the public, absent, and
at a distance from the feat of government, have
experienced at their hands.
Fortunately for the free citizens of the Unit
ed States, a report of a majority of a committee
of congress is not condemnation—is not even
proof of guilt. No person laments more than I
do, the too great probability that such reports
will feon lose the power of creating even the
flighted suspicion of guilt in the persons they
Shall accuse.
Read! Read ! Read!
TO THE PUBLIC.
So of yards in which to build the Ships—there
was not one yard in the U. S. public or private,
fit for building Ships of such a Size : It was es
sential that such yards should be procured; and
the a& intended to give, and did give full poorer tn
procure them . •and to procure theg iby hire.or by
purchase, as Should best comport with the pub
lic interest. The argument of the committee,
that it would have been legal to hire, and was
not legal to purchase, because under the preced
ing administrations, yards had been hired, and
had not been purchased, is really too puerile #0
merit serious refutation, and t am not disposed
to trifle with the public.
So much Tor the legality of the purchase of
navy yards—and as the majority of the commit
tee have attacked the measure on the ground of
its illegality only ; I might here close my ad
dress, but ityiay be proper to add Some remarks
to Shew, that the measure of buying yards, was
economical as well as legal.'
I know not how many years have elapsed since
Congress authorized the building of 3 frigates.
At that time the business of building Ships of war
of large size, was new in this country ; and it is
not furprizing that great errors were committed
in making the arrangements for building these
Ships. One very great err or, and for which the
public have Severely paid, was, hiring, instead of
buying ground to build them upon. After hir
ing the ground, it was found indispensable that
wharves and other improvements should be
made on the ground so hired, and at public ex
pcnce.—But the evil did not flop here, f^
the yards were too contracted, as all private
yards are, to admit of such distribution of th©
enormous quantities of timber, required for large
Ships, as to enable the workmen to get at the
pieces hourly wanted in the progression of the
Ships ; hence it became necessary to employ great
numbers of laborers merely for the purpose of
removing timber. I have not such accurate
knowledge of the expense incurred in the im
provements made on private property, and use
less to the public when the Ships were finished,
and in the employment of laborers whole ser
vices under a different system, might have been
dispensed with, as to pretend to exadnefs in Rat
ing the sum; but I have no hesitation in aver
ring tbat it exceeded tie whole c,. of the fix navy
yards, purchased by me.
With a full knowledge of these fadfs before
me, would it have been a proper difeharge of
duty to have fallen into the fame error ? would
it not have been a Shameful Sacrifice of the pub
lic interest, a wanton waste of the public money ?
It is my pride chat the error was avoided, and
that such a course was pursued, as will reftorc
to the public, a large portion of the money ex
pended on the yards, Should a measure so preg
nant with folly and madness be resorted to as a
tale of them. BENJAMIN STODDERT.
ample legal 'authority, not ehl/ to doifie thing
itfelf, but to do every thing incidental to it—
every thing without which the thing directed
by the aft, could not be performed ? In the
present inflance, an aft had palled, direfiieg
that 74 gun Ships Should be built—There was
mot a Stick of timber, nor an article of any kind
in the public arfcnals. necessary to be employed
in their building—they could not be built with
out the necessary materials—the afl, then, in
tended to confer, and did confer, complete power
to procure the materials.
Half part FirtieJClock.
We should suppose, however, it is in
tended that the Income tax shall form
part of the Ways and Means of the
prefeht year. It would require new
taxes to a large amount to provide at
prefeht not only for the interest of the
Loan, but for the interest of former
debts whi^h the Income Tax has been
mortgaged to discharge.
With refped to the terms of the de
finitive treaty, we have been informed
that there is no very wide departure
from the preliminaries. Malta is to be
restored to the Order of Sti John of
Jerusalem, and to be under the gua%
rantee of the principal powers in Eu
rope.
The French language is to be abo
lished, and no perf®A of that nation is
March 30.
Two circumdances were announced
yesterday which occasioned universal
joy—the arrival of the definitive trea
ty of peace, and the notice by the Min
ider of a motion to repeal the Income
Tax—No two events could have af
forded more gratification. It was giv
ing us indeed a speedy and solid taste
of the bleflings of peace, not to fuffer
the day on which the definitive treaty
arrived to elapse, without promulgat
ing the intention to repeal a war tart
which had prefled with such weight up
on all claries of people. The joyful
intelligence was immediately transmit
ted by many members to their constitu
ents. Mr. Combe addressed the fol
lowing letter to Benjamin Travers,Efq.
Chirman of the Committee appointed
by the Livery of London :
0
House of Commons, March 20, 1802. ,
SIR,
“ In order that the gentlemen of the
Committee of the Livery of Lo>lot,
may not be unnecessarily engaged any
longer in their obje&, I trouble you
with this to give you the earned intel,
ligence that the Chancellor of the Ex
chequer has just given notice, that he
shall move the House of Commons for
a repeal of the Tax on Income#
Received by the flip, Sally, Capt. Webber, and
Mount- Vernon, Capt. Boyingtok,from Liverpool.
LONDON, MARCH 1^ — Downing-JIreet^
M R. Moore, Assistant Secretary to
Marquis Cornwallis, arrived this morn
ing at 9 o'clock with the Definitive
Treaty of Peace, which was signed at
Amiens at 4 o'clock in the afternoon
of the 27th inst. bfthe Plenipotentia
ry of his Majesty, and by the Plenipo
tentiaries of France, Spain, and the
Batavian Republic.
I have the honor to be, with great refpe&, Sir,
Your mod obedient humite servant,
H. C. Combe."
Foreign • News.