Alexandria daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1803-1808, 1805-06-29
FaoM THE N. 7. EVENING po,.

"
1s6srsoa's administration. Having s, g
a reasonable time to see if any a, sss
would egiven to the article of last Fr, Fig
week, proving that the department, Of \
London Monthly Magazine, entitlesa
merican Literature" is written " on =
side Of the Atlantic" and of course i aa
entitled to the credit and importance as,,s
ed to it as containing the seutimsn,, of
foreigner by the democratic papers, H..
the liberty to suppose the cause is givenns
Bat since certain folks have taken fan1s
to bolster themselves up BY the PRETEND,
appreciation of foreign journalists, we nav
present the following extract from Il.
fourth volume of the Edinburgh RevisS
work of great celebrity and conduc,edb,
men of learning and high respectabE,v
The extract is taken from the Review q
Davis Travels."
6 During his stay in the metropolis, M, |
Davis was present at one Of the mos, n
tsres,ing debates with which the house i
representatives has been occupied since tn |
accession Of the present president. On.
of the very first measures of the admins,
tra,ion, was to propose the absolute and
entire abolition of all the internal tax,
comprehending those which had been in.
posed on distilled liquors, on refined 50.
CARS, on licenses to retailers of wine and
spirits, on sales by auction, on carriages,
and on stamps, and to substitute in then
place certain customs and duties on the i'm.
portation of foreign commodities. Th,
step, we are afraid, was taken rather from
a strong desire Of popularity, than from
any sound or deliberate principle of fnau.
cial reformation. Old established taxes ar.
commonly paid with the least reluctance,
and the amount of those that were levied
in America was confessedly very inconsi.
derable. BY the repeal deviation is made
from what celebrated writer has aenomi.
mated the 'plain high road of finance; : the
revenue of the country must be entirely
drawn from the auctuating source Of com.
niece; dependence is placed on the very
winds and waves and in case of war,
which the history of the K. Y. Il. negocia.
ton and the affair of New Orleans lead U;
to consider as an occurrence by no means
so improbable as some affect to suppose,
this resource must be in a great measure
cut off and it will then be necessary to re-.
sort again to those very taxes the imposi.
ton of which, at first, occasioned an in.
surrection, but to which the people had
become accustomed and reconciled. The
repeal does not appear to have been support
&c so much on the idea of an individual
tax being exceptionable, as in conformity
to irregular and peculiar system of policy
objecting to the principles of internal taxa
ton. If any particular tax had been consI
dered as burdensome or unequal il ought
certainly to have been modified or WIN.
drawn, but We must confess ourselves
utterly at loss to comprehend the induce.
ments to an entire and indiscrminate annt
hilation of these sources of revenues.
Of these imposts, that on stamps, part'
cularly, excited the interest of the commu
eAhd iA d Ioou"u
a duty OF this nature must be clearly pro-
ductive, and though We are disposed to
think, none can be of more just or equabl'
operation yet, as the very mention OF =
stamp act, though imposed by his own re-
representatives., is grating to the ear OF 40
AmerIcan citizen, and calls up TO his mInd
remembrances of an unpleasing nature, w
can readily conceive, that timid and au'
tious administration might have urged INC
substitution OF some other in its stead, OF
even have consented to its abolition, rn'''
a more awful and imposing crisis. But a.
for the duties on stills and distilled liquors.
to which bat temporary resistance "'''
made by the deluded inhabitants OF 'as
western parts OF Pennsylvania, not 0ngi
the necessities of government, but the p''
icy OF checking most general and od'0u'
vice, the bane of social and domestic nay
plness, requiredtheir continuance.
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