The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1812-03-10

providence woa!a not &c iis,cac.L to.
Tx had sonct.nes be.;i wins, sercdthat cur
c:n@ehs mtslt ~ f"unii nuwi.iny .5ncar of
taxes etc: IN pr.si'ec, ANA, they were fair
" engaged IN the war, AID that thea .!,cy
wru Il submit to them with chccrfu,ncss -
M1. =. said, he much doubted whether war
III itself, under a:.y circimsianccs, was at
tended with so many al,cvta:t:ny consiaer:,ti-
o's rs ta render altase,aer acceptable III T;lct
thii which 1t was supposed Cuuid not &c TO-
icr'iied by our citizens cyca ia prospect. Ii
the people will no, bearthc acces sary taxes,
i c.inh with PROPHECY be said that they
wi,i near tho Z me,nplascd war, and the
sooaer We know it the ncstcr. isor his part,
be Gould net reconcile it with bis ideas of
An honest and u fair policy to hold out any
dc'nsive expectations to the 5reop,c.--Hc
wished them 20 look upon war as he looked
upon it, and as L really was, rugged and
thorny road, and not aprnirose path Of
mere pastime and reve!ry. Let us not CON
cnt ourselves with hob5iing along upon the
temporary cxpedients of the day, which
: tmnst soon fail Us, and with then, the peo-
pie themselves will desert US. Let US rather
do our duty to ourselves and to the people,
leaving tito them to do what they shall
think theirs to us.
II ther, (said MIR. b. the necessity of pro-
viding at this time additional revenue is APP
parent at least to the extent proposed by
the Committee, the remaining question is MS
to the sources from which it can most east
~ and conveniently be drawn. These, in
this country, it Is we'll known. are not ma
merous. Our internal monied capital is
comparatively small; and those branches of
industry aud manufacture, which in most
European countries are the sources of large
revenue, are few and feeble. 1t has been
tic general endeavore of, the committee to
select such as promised to be the most pro
ductive in themselves, and as in their idp-
ment, he presumed, would bear with the
most equality upon the different sectonsand
interests OF the country. Whether they had
attained this object, was question for the
House to decide. He would say for himself,
that tho he had fully assented to the gene
raj system recommended by the committee,
he Gould Rot profess to be entirely satisfied
with all the details and proportions of some
OF the duties proposed. One thing at least
he thought might safely be affirmed in the
general, that the interior OF agricultural in
terest had no right to complain when they
compared their burdens with those proposed
to be laid upon the cities and the sea board
generally; and he had rather, for one, that
some CT them had been \ little differently
aPportioned. He would very briefly notice
them all in this point of view, and in relation
TO their local and sectional bearing ~
he lst was the additional duty ofimposts.
his being generally a tax upon consum-
Ption was probably more equal upon the Who'll
In relation TO ITS local bearings, than any o.
ther mode of raising money which we could
resart to, which, added to the consideration
OF Its more easy collection, had made it
heretofore almost the only ono on which we
had rerled, and would probably be so again
on the return ofpeace. The great questi-
on, IN relation to it. was the extent to which
tGouid safely and practically be carried !;
ana IN this point of view he would notice it
hereafter.
The second object proposed. was the re-
tent'on or rs per cent. on the amount of
drawbacks. This he considered might fair
iy be put down as a deduction from mer-
Camille proflt on that branch of our export
trade which consisted OF re expectations of
foreign articles, and operating of course al
most exclusively upon the commercial sec
tons OF the country. In time of war, the a.
mount OF that trade must be very inconside-
ratle, and the product of the duty of cour Sc
small.
The additional tonnage duty might ap-
pear at first view to fall also entirely on the
mercantile part of the community; but
would not it incorporate itself in great
measure with the freight, and like that fall
eventually very much upon the consumer of
the articles which were the subjects of
freight He unprecedented it might.
ne odll TAX IL was evident fell almost e.c-
ciusively upon the agricultural part of the
country, and principally upon that portion of
them living in that section between the sea-
board and the western waters-the former
from the contiguity to the salt water re-
curing the use of very little salt, and the
latter being supplied from their interior ma
nufactures
The Duty upon Stills would probably fall
-tae most heavy, Compared with any other
species OF tax, upon the middle and western
states, who manufactured the greatest GUAM
tity OF domestic spirits. 1t would be re-
marked that it was extremely light indeed,
and calculated to raise b;it half of what was
collected from the same object in the year
1900.
The tax upon Retailers, Including Ia
VEIN keepers, he considered as likely to fall
with much the greatest weight upon the CT
ties III the first place, aad generally upon
the northern and middle portions of the u
'nlon, though some gentlemen protested to
view 1t otherwise---i; was i'll this view, COM
pared with Others, a very heavy one.
he duties upca sales at Auction so far
as it applied to goods and merchandise, could
be considered in its operation az but an adj
dftional impost on foreign goods, falling pref
ty much upon the consumer. As it applied
to the sale of ships and vessels would fall
the most heavily on tic mercantile sections
OF the country.
The duties on sugars refined, must from
their nature fall upon the cnnsnr,a orc In e.,.o