The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1814-12-27


of the government, the principal and interest
OF the pub - dcst, &c. and to ore1te an adc-
Guate siakipg fund, &c. (in the same manner
as al the irscraT. .....i--. ea.cssd c.nti..e,
cd.)
On this motion n vr,y interesting but d.
sultoty debate arose, ia which N.rss,s Yam
cey, Calhoun, Rhea, Lowntlcs and I'elfair
advocated the motion, * Messrs Eppes, In
gersol!. Potter, DuYal, Finley, Grosvcnor,
Hawkins, Webster, Pickering. Newton aud
Nelson opposed it.
The advocates Of the mo.ion~urgct,, tha!
they had no wish to def az the passage Of this
bill, but that the spirit of the constitution re
quirsd that Dire. Tax should lie laid onlc
tor one wear, and Continued no longer thar
imperious necesSit: required /; that the Con-
st'tuiicn haring gwen 70 Congress the pow
er to cJn;i'otl the tax2s-to part with IL fo,
series of wears, wou'tl',c to surrender their
ctiis.ltutionai power, inasmuch as thew conls
Mt, after giving the proposed pledge, wit,
hold th~ taxes without the consent OF The two
cther branches of the government that,
WHIST the pledge to be given might s,ddic
therra'ion forever with a land tax, it was not
necessary to the maintenance az the I,bic
c'eait, because 4 suiliceu. aurn was pledged,
iy the bills already passed for tie annual
payment Of the interest and portion OF The
principal of the public deb. that this Ciscnv-
er' ot supporting public credit by piedging an
annual land tax, was of recent datc---for du-
ring the administration OF Washington and
Adams, when the government would na;u-
rally be most socitous Tor the establishment
and inauguration IF public crctit, Direcs
lax had been imposed hut one year, and was
not then pledged as now proposed /, ;hat it
was tlylng too suddenly froro one extrem. To-
r.f.. l. Ii II. .
to pledge AL the resources Of TIE government
Of every description to the public creditor
Narcus arguments were alsn urg. : aws,i.-t
a peCsc TOR the continuance OF this az, de
rived from ITS general character it Was a tax
1t was said unequal in its character on der
ent sections If the uEion, and unequal IN it's
operation frequently when not uncqual 81 its
amount, owing to the local advantae. and
disadvantages of different sections of the ma
ton, and the disburso mems CT tie govern
ment therein. 1t was, besides, argued, that
direct taxation was the principal resource Of
the state governments for ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.
from their nature and relative situation, they
cannot resort to internal taxatio7i.-co there
fore direct tax ought not to be cveroharged
nor too long persevered in
he arPrments in opposition 20 the motion
were various. as they proceeded from ore or
INC other side It The house They were in
Seuera to this effect: The argument ny .inst
parting with the power e taxation, ii was
SAID, you'd apply as well to the pledges CON
taired II thc Internal tax bills (against which
1t had not hecn suggestcd) as to this; and was
"esides uc"nclus've, if correct, inasmuch as
the houSe hy withholding appropriations, O.
yer which Il had an efficient check conld Of
any TIME coerce the other branches ofthe 60
yer'ment n repeal or modify existing tayas
! hat, though in ordinary times, the pledges
already given Of the internal taxes might be
suj"oiSnt to Dafrfain public credit, it was ne
cess Try now to resHScifGte that cred;t-in the
words OF one gentleman "to do II from the
grave - thar this was 6uty peculiarly de-
voiyng on those who had declared and SIM
ported the war, and on whom devolved the
responsibility FOR its success or failure. That
1t would be highly unjust &: partial, after Piled
e'ng the taxes en- the materials and labor OF
NE &rt,zan, mechanic, and poor retailei.-af-
'er' N tact, ?iedging the taxes on the indus
Try Gt the comnlunity-to refuge to uledpe
the ta2; on It's solid wealth and landed prom
erty, &c. That this pledge of the land TAX.
as foundation for borrowing money. ,yo,,lJ
DC worth much more than all the internal
taxes put together, because its product would
DC CERTAIN, whilst the products Of tl,e. ether
taxes must be matter of estimate II cou;cc-
ture. The argument that sufficient an,ount
OF taxes was already pledged to sustain the
p"ouc credit, WIS denied any weight, beca II G
Ut made the eligibility of the taxes to be lied
gsi, 6cperd or the priority Of passare of sew
cral bills, which were intended and rairrla
ted to form parts of a general system of tax
alton, &c.
Various other points were BROUGHT into die.
cusslon, as 70 the intention Of the trainers of
'he constitution ~ regard to the frequency 8.
permanency of a land tax. &c. and ON the
merits ofthe present and former systems Of
hnance, which c'Ild not be here drtailed
with any justice to those who introduced
them.
The question being at length taken on this
motion, was decided in tie negative bv tic
vote Yeas 48, NAYS los.
MI. Foffer moved So to amend the lii as
10 allow To the Individual who shall nav his
proportion OF the Direct Tax on the fst dav
u June a3nually, deduction Of II pcr cent
rom ITS amount and if not SO paid. to him
VINO snail pay IT on the 31st dsy Of October. |
lnlulnY deduction Of six per cent. on its
mount and, that if not then paid, |
ne Said amount shall bear interest till paid
"ihch motion was negatived.
Mr. htn7edy of North Carolina. moved
o amend the Dili so as to reduce the total /
4 the Direct Tax from sic millions To f,,,r
HfAous TVc hHn0ired HDHSo1d dali, With
notion was negatved.
Mr.. InSeTSoH made a motion 20 amend the
III similar to the motion previously made bv
AT. ToEfeT' differing from it only H. not reuui-
ing interest on their proportion OF the Dlrccf
iX from those who should not my. "a, q -, - |