Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1824-02-05
KlCHMOND, FEBRUARY 5. Is94.
Fok TIE EN2UIRER.
THE TARIFF QUESTION.


so speedily have occurred. contemplated a
" serious reduction Of Custom House rerenue -
and " an almost mortal 6io,p at Southern lite
rests" On one hand do we now behold "A
most unm.r ciiul tariff; on another do we be-
h'Sd In Sanih America and Egypt the future
sources of British supply, and well would i,
be, could The u. States say, the bane and
antidOte are both before me :" that the former
is, there be no doubt, but the latter is
yet 10 be discovered.
Do not experience and observ alton unite i'm
enforcing the truth of the assertion. that great
portion of the ills we are now suffering, arise
from our looking to no where but To foreign
countries, for consumption of domestic pro-
ducis-that domestic commerce, which enables
France, England, and in short every power in
the eastern world, TO advance in wealth and
strength, is here prescribed by the short-sight
ed cOu,uct of the citizen, aud the little atien-
ton paid by ,he local authorities to furnish
ing the means 10 carry i: on? And admira-
bly, as Pro, Idence has placed the u. States,
admirably and forcbly as their situation has
been depicted by the iliustrious Washington
in his farewell address: Still is there nothing
done To prepare them for that isolation of
commerce for which il seems the business of
every government in Europe To prepare its
subjects. No-the government aud people
ton how they are to be placed on the pima
Gle of Independence ?-I do not mean po,i-
cal, but that moral aud commercial indepen-
dence essentially necessary To the welfare Of
the country Ii this be the state of things,
how distressing is it to see the Tariff framed
IN such way, as to prove that nothing but *
norance aud inexperence could have had any
thing to do with il.
4" Thus is, IlAt nresen; political iters sport
. tt Inc
rs all passive machines and they uliv their Lalcs
with as much cool Indifference IL Their fellow
lures and with as little feeling ~ they would duply
The any mech.aira inst rumcni To lon rec or
10 raise a weight. Their systems uniformly proceed
on this principle they never vary and mercy not
IN all tisir thoughts. There is allowance ior Gn-
mao ir"ii'y, no revision of Judgment, man has OF
| tended, and he ridSt die The de,h Guussius hec
| HadImanIhus habet durisSima Regud"
Urgent as were the motive rs, and alarming
as were the times with British uuthor, aud
| among British people, whit h induced this
serious sentence, they were not more So than
! those in which a large aud Interesting portion
of the U. States now finds itsrif-ab0ut to be
suddenly deprived of the only market that
has given life to its property and profits to
It's exertIons. But, z" lose it you must" say
the advocates for the Tariff. | acknowledge
that this asssrtiun is founded but, We might
as well recommend suicide because d periud
To life icW arrive, TO close up a channel of
commerce, because it i0M be interrupted in a
gwen number of years.
But, do these gentlemen imagine that the
pitiless storm, which, thanks to them, is to be
made To burst 90 suddenly on this devoted
section of the country, and TO find it unpre-
pared will not reach them in its disastrou us
effects? They mistaken. Let them
look to the immense consumption of their
own produce in the S. States. Let them
look TO the value of property in the slave
states now, and FIVE years ago. Negroes are
diminished one half, and an immense portion
of land in N. and S. Carolina and Georgia.
cannot be sold upon any te,ms.-The popu-
lation is moving westward, and sudden
check to the growth of cotton may do what
will make the bOldest of them shudder
| Will they tell me | am theorst oppose
them, and propose no remedy 81 am not
one OF those strange writer's" TO use the words
of IA favOrite author, who think that con-
stitutlon or system of government must he
produced entire, and at the same time that
it must he simple in its construction and per-
| feet in all its parts. fondly think that Lord
Bacon has distinguished the works of ma
ture from those Ofart, in that mastery and
memorable sentence naiurn omnium parti-
I'm rudimenia stimuli part Ell procrent." sup
pose system of government is the work of
human art.
What my theory has been, the columns of
your paper will shew-to prepare the country
for "A productive course of domestic commerce
by the opening, under the sanction of the To-
cal authorities, great highways thro' the u.
States, and then binding them III one ndisso-
luble bond ] say the local authorities, in con-
tradislInctiOn 10 the scheme of giving the pow
or to the general government, with all the con =
cOmitant means of influence of corruption.
and of intimidation that such system will
inevitably produce. | prefer the system of
England to that ofFrance, and am sanctioned
by the result of both.
Gentlemen, have done, and will close by
urging the tariff advocates to study well the
lessons Of those who have preceded them for
the past thirty years. Mirabeau said, (see
MarmOntrl,) that, with a thousand guneas he
could make pretty srdition. A few speech
es may rum the 5. States--bIt, it must initIre
their authors. | viii add in the words of ano.
Their:
Ia the present state of civil society, nnd Of poll
teal order so wisely established, vigorously main
tanned aad so houoraly rrcOmme nded in this 1nur-
shing country, " is difficult to resirnn the emotion Of
the bfeast aud the Indignation of the understanding
~ the nefarious aud desoaiing principles OF modern
philosophy and political theories. The arms, the
instruments mud the agents before us aud
are fully understood. II was The strong language OF
Cicero =" Demoastro rita foiie deRn,Cio rim ar
mr. reiHoreie We would recover the health That is
gone, the soundues- that is lost. ! an, of opinion
niot both may he recorsred bHt must all strire in
ony se'erdt capacities, 10 direct The ressd Of the public
mind 0Rd ffhe HatioHdi ,mdSrsanding, IN straight
md undertaking course or is reH oppressed ia one
Of he Orphic frdgmsats pressrrSd by Clemens, DI
RECT THg IFTELLEcTUAL VESSEL or THE HEAET.'
AM. CAPnOLlNUS.
Jaauary4 4, 1924
FARMERS BANK.
TO THE EDITORS OF THE ENQUfRER.
have seen the memorial Of the Farmers