Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1814-11-12
e. Dolls per aan m.

! The document before alluded TO. ife~amin
cd in reference to that subject W uid pre-
sent some striking results He would call
the a',sn,iohnf gentlemen to the last pass
of the document, which Contained The . az.
gregate amounts of internal duties ascer<
fained on the 9Th Of October. 1914. to have
been received in each state or territory
Although that aggregate did nosG.or very
evident REASONS. shew accuratelyiLe Amount
| OF Internal duties actually accrued in each
state. yet when it was considered tina. fhe
collectors were Obliged by law to make
these returns OF very short periods, the a.
mount known at the treasury to have been
received at any givea time. was solerable
evidence OF the amount accrued up to that
timss htall events. It was sufficiently ex-
act Tor the general purposes of his argus
merit.
he had made some calculations, Mr.. q,
said. while IN his seat that morHing from
the data offered by that document. which
pc w*p'd submit to the corimittee. Some
allowance ought to be made in these calcula-
lions on account of the difference before al
iuded to between the duties received and
the duties sccrued but he believed. the
general result would not, in any case be
materially varied. The whole amount Of
internal duties estimated to have been re.
ceised on the 10th, Of October, 1914, was
81, 1855. OF this amount. the states east
fthe river Delaware had paid S76s 200
and the states south and west of that river
including all the territories, and the Dis
trlct OF Columbia had paid S726, 1s5, while
the former had seventy four representatives
IN that house, and the latter one hundred
and eight. Including Pennsylvania In the
eastern division. it would appear that that
division. with ninety four representatives.
mad paid one million, forty file thousand g
eIghty three dollars. while the south and
west ri'h eighty five representatives paid
only S446 202 The state of Rhode Island
with two representatives had paid more
tnan lennes see with six. and as much near
as kentncky with ten, or Ohio with six,
connecticut with seven representatives had
palq SSS,87f, while Kentucky and Ohio
together. with sixteen representatives, had
paid only about S65,e0O. New Jersey with
six representatives had paid S54, 2o2, and
Kentucky With ten, 49,, 1885, The state
Of N. York alone also had paid S303. 794,
while all the states of Ohio. Kentucky, Ten
nessee, Georgia, North and South Caroh-
ma, Deleware and Louisiana had PAID only
about S260,000. while the latter had hityz
three representatives in that house, and sixS
~ nine votes in the choice of President Q!
the United States, while the former nag
twenty seven representatives, and twenty
nine votes for president. Under the stamp
act alone, there had accrued in Massacnus
setts during the two first quarters OF the
year, Sl4,27I and in the states OF Delaware,
North Carolina Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee
and Georgia, there had accrued during the
same period but Sio.435 In Rhode Island,
with two representatives. there had accrued
under the same act, and for the same time,
more revenue, than in North Carolina with
thirteen representaeives--and gentlemen
would find the same inequality running
throughout the Whole system Il was most
evident therefore, that the political power
and influence of the northern and eastern
states, when compared with the other part
of the union, held nc proportion to the shars
which they bore Of the public burthens',
AS gehtiemsn from the south and west
had always crntended that the duty on doc
mestic distilled spirits pressed very unequal-
ly on that part of the union, his attention
Mr.. O. sail, had been drawn particularly to
that subject. He found on examination that
in the states east of the Delaware, there
bad accrued during the two 6rst quarters Of
the year from the duty on licenses to distii-
iers SSH 7e5, and in the states south and
west of that river S432 500 and if Penn
sylyania we're added 10 the eastern division
the states south and west would pay on that
article Only Si67 ,S22, while the east would
pay S589.575- Connecticut, az far as the
product could be estimated by the amount
of the tax, made more domestic spirits than
Ma,yiapd, Ohio, South Csrolina, or Geor-
gia, and about as much as either, Tennessee
or K entucky; and tina state of New York as
much as Delaware, Maryland, North and
South Carolina, Ohio and Georgia together.
1t would appear then that the idea that the
tax On domestic spirits bore uneouaily on the
western and southern country was entirely
erroneous---tke reverse was the truth.
Such system Of internal duties, Mr.. O.
said. he considered both unjust and impo,i-
tjc--u1ust, because il imposed the public
burthens on one section of the union, while
ths political power resided in another--and
imp0iitic. as it mus necessarily tend to wea.
ken the attachments OF the people TO the
government. The states ought not to coz
tribute 20 the support of government in pro-
portion 20 wealth. while power was enjoyed
according to numbers. He was For these
reasons, Mr. o. said, clearly Of opinion, that
the direct tax ought to be ipcreased above,
and the system Ut Internal duties reduced
below the amount recommended by the Sc.
cretsry Of the treasury. From the effect of
this general principle, however, ne was viii
ling to except the article of domestic spi-
rits although the duty on that article, Ike
all tue other internal duties, operated u1e-
qu2lly on the east and north, he thought it
proper subject of taxation The use oft
in most cases was a VICE In some uxu-
ry, and in very few necessary. he wish.
ed to increase the duty 70 the amount re
commended by tie Secretary Of the treasu-
ry--and when the proper period arrived,