The Wheeling repository — Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.], 1807-12-10 00:00:00, page 5

dollars shall not he diminished more
than one half by th • v. ai . it vili s ill he
‘ iu e '° ''1C o leaving only the
lnl\vuSt °f war lo“ns to ?) provided for.
/jei;‘ r * *es should l,o raised to a
greater ;;mo:vr or i a she altog. <h r
r',lul° ' d fraying the expenses of
a r, is the ,h. xt subject of considcra
tio. .
1 ax are paid by the great miss of
the citizens, and immedii.telv aff ct al
mo..t • %civ individual of the conimuni
U . Loans are supplied by cam.als pre
vi jiis’.y accuiaulat d by’'a fcwindM
duuls*. Ju a country where the resou;
ccs °l individuals are not gen rail' and
materially aff cted by the war. it* is
practicable and wise to rais • -■ tax' s
the greater pari at least ol 1 .e a. mid
‘ h - rt dit of th ati
also, from v arious circumsf. :ce , be at
times so tar unpaired as to 1 av< no re
source but taxation. fn both r- so.-cts
tiie situation of the United Suucs is to
tally dissimilar.
C, A ma«time war will, in the United
states, generally and deeply affect,whilst
-t continues, the resources of in ividu
ais, as not only commercial profits will
becurtailed, but principally because a
great portion of the surplus of agricul
uiral produce necessarily lvquii s a fo
reign market. I he reduced price of the
principal articles exported from the U
nued States, will operate more heavily
thm any contemplated tax. And v/iih
out inquiring whether a similar cause
xnav no. still more deeply a ,d pcrtna
nentlv alf.ct a nation at war with th U
tiited Slates, it seems to follow, that so
far as relates to America, the losses and
privations caused by the war should not
jc aggravated by tax s beyond what is
strictly necessary. An addition to the
ucbt is doubtless an evil; but expcri.-nce
having now shown with what rapid pro
gress tue revenue of the Union incT eases
in line of peace, with what facility the
d.bt formerly contracted has, in a few
j ears been reduced, a hope may confi
dently be entertained, that all the evils
o! the war will be temporary and easih
rep ured, and that the return of peace
w ill, without any effort, aff nd ample r, -
sources for reimbursing whatever mac
have been borrowed during the w ir.
T»k; credit of the United Stat. s is al
so unimpaired either at. home or abroad,
and it is belieu -d that loans to a r< ason- i
able amount may be obt bn d on eligible '
terms. M -asuivs have been t »k u t » :
ascertain to wh«n extent this may be cf- j
fecteJ abroad ; and it will be sufficient
h^i'c to suggest, that the several banks
or tne United oiates may hud it conve
nient after the ensuing year, and as the
diminished commerce of the country
:'niy require less capital, to loan to go
vernment a considerable portion of their
capital s:oc <, now computed at about 40
mi lions of' dollars.
I' mignt he premature to enter into a
p rf i* ular detail of the several branches
oi ici .1; which may be selected, in
n-.l- r to provide for the interest of war
and to cover dcficienchs in case
-h. existing revenue should full below
seven millions of dollars. A general
enumeration scan , at present suHicicnt.
1* only the duty on s.Jt and the
■ n an dutii > may be immedi
at v r. viv hut the duties on importa
tion generally, may, in case of war, he
consul' ralily increase d,perhaps doubled,
with less inconv nicncy than would a
j vis/ from any othc r mode of taxation.
Without resorting to the example of o
tuti nations, exp .rie.nce has proved that
this source of revenue is, in the U. S.
the most productive, the easiest to col
lect, and the It ast burdiensome to the
great mass of the people. In time of
war the danger of smuggling is dimin
ished,tin scarcity oi foreign articles pre
vents the duty even falling on the im
porter ; the consumers arc precisely
those members oi the community who
• ie * st able to pay the duty j and the
iiici ease oi don estic manufactures v Inch
may be indirect*} affected, is in itself a
de-sn aide obiert.
' 2. Indirect taxes, however ineligible*
'I. ss be cheerfully paid ns /l ot'
J if ih cessarv. Several moclific i
I tions of the system formerly adopted,
I might however lie introduced, be Ah in
\ oiui i to diminish some of the inconve
niences which were experienced, and
p.irticuiai lv t.o ensure the collection of
the duties.
.>• Direct Taxes are liable to. a parti
cular objection arising from the una
voidable inequality produced by the ge
nera; rule of the constitution. Whate
ver difference may exist between the re
lative wealth, and consequent ability of
paying, of the s vend states, still the tax
in list tu ct ssari.y be raised in proporti
on to tluir relative population. * Should
it, however, be necessnrv to resort to
dial resource, it is believed that the tax
mi*- d u Du t. v s] ••cic., of property in
< ach s' tu v lich by the state laws, is li
able to taxation as had originally been
contemplated by Congress, would ho
preferable to a general assessment laid
uniformly on the same species of pro
perty in all the states, as was ultimately
adopted.
All which is respectfully submitted.
ALBERT GALLATIN,
Secretary of the Treasury.
Treasury Department, 0
Nov. 5, 1807. \
Congress.
In the House of Representativs, ©a
Wednesday, Nov. It, ?,Ir. Jer. Mor
r°tv said, that an act for the sale of pub
lick lands had been passed in 1796,
which provided that certain sections
should he reserved for the disposal of
congress in each township ; in 1800, an
act was passed authorizing the surveyor
general to lease these sections, part of
v hich were accordingly leased. An act
had been since passed authorizing the
sale of the sections heretore reserved for
t ie disposition of congress, with a pro
\ ision attached to it, that no section
should he sold at a lower rate than S 8
per acre.— lhis price was so extrava
gantly high, that it appeared from the;
lepoit ol the Secretarv of the Treasury
only 4 sections had been sold in the
course ol the last year. To reduce the
, price fixed, so as that all the publick
iamls might be sold and occupied,
lie moved the following resolution—
He remarked that a similar resolution
was last year referred to the committee
on publick lands, who reported a bill ;
but from the press of business, it was
not acted on.
| Resolved, That the committee on Pub
lic;; Land* be directed to enquire into
the expediency of making further pro
\ ision for the sale of the lands reserved
■ -r the disposition of congress—and that
they have leave to report by bill or o
therwise. Agreed.
?»Ir. Dawson said he was informed
by the secretary of war that there were
in the magazine of the U. S. » great
number of stands of aims, of our own
manul.icture, which were dailv encrca—
sing.—It appeared that some of the
states were in want of arms ; the distri
bution of these would be serviceable
both to the U. S. and to the states indi
Mc.ually. For this reason he moved
the following resolution:
Resolved, That a committee be ap
pointed to enquire into the expediency
°J s' ybng to the individual states or ter
ritories, who may wish to purchase, any