Political questions will always be prejudicial, dominant, and all-absorbing. There will be fighting at the door of the Legislative Palace, and the struggle within will be no less furious. As a consequence of this, there appears to be no country in the world where the social order rests on a firmer foundation. They are slavery and tariffs. These are the only two issues where, contrary to the general spirit of the republic of the United States, law has assumed the character of plunder.
Slavery is a violation, by law, of liberty.
The protective tariff is a violation, by law, of property. It is not this kind of plunder that systematically threatens the foundations of society. Anyway, the war against this kind of plunder has not waited for the command of these gentlemen. The war against illegal plunder has been fought since the beginning of the world. The law itself conducts this war, and it is my wish and opinion that the law should always maintain this attitude toward plunder.