Literary cadet and Rhode-Island statesman. [volume] (Providence, R.I.) 1827-1829, 1829-01-03


10 The Unite States, the State would be in q
worse condition, after the adoption Of the Con-
stitu!ion, than before, in reference TO I'm impor-
tart interest. tho improvement Of which was q
particular object in adopting the Constitution.
Were Congress to make the proposed decla- !
ration Of consent to state tariffs in favor OF State
manufactures, and tho permitted attempts did
not defeat themselves, what would DO the s!ua-
ton Of States deriving their foreign supplies
through The ports Of other States ! IT is evil
dent that they might be compelled 10 pay, in
heir consumption Of particuIar articles impor-
ted, a tax for The common treasury, not CON-
mon TO all the States, without having any man
~ufaciure or product of their own, TO par,ake Of
the contemplated benefit.
OF the impraciicabilny Of separate regulations
Of trade, aad the resulting necessity OF general
regulations, no State was more sensible than
Virginia. She was accordingly among The most
earnest for granting to Congress n power ade.
quate 10 the object. On more occasions than
one in the proceedings of her Legislative coun-
ellis il was reciied :" that the relative situation
Of the States had been found, on trial, to re-
quire uniformity in their commercial regulations
as tho only c~fectual policy for obtaining in the
ports Of foreign nations q stipulation OF privi-
leges reciprocal to those enjoyed by the sub
jecis Of such nations in the ports OF the Uuiied
States ; for preventing animosities which cannot
fail TO arise among the several States from the
interference OF partial and separate regulations ;
and for deriving from m such aids 10 the
public revenue as it ought to contribute, &c."
During the delays and discouragements ex-
perienced in tho attempts to invest Congress
with the necessary powers, tho Slate Of Virgin
ia made various trials of what could be done by
her individual laws. She venturcd on duties
and imposts as a source Of revenue: Resolutions
were passed at one time TO encourage and pro-
tect her own navigation and ship building
and in consequence Of complaints and petitions
from Norfolk, Alexandra, and other places.
against the monopolrzing navigation laws Of
Great Britain, particularly in the trade betDeen
the United States and the British Vest H.
dies, she deliberated, with a purpose controlled
only by the ineficacy of separate measures, on
the experiment Of forcing u reciprocity by pro-
hibitory regulations finer own. lSee Journal
of House Of Delegates in 1881
The effect of her separate attempts TO raise
revenue by duties on imports, soon appeared in
representations from her merchants, that the
commerce Of the State was banished by them
into other channels, especially Of Maryland,
where imports were less burdened than in Vir-
ginia. [See do. for l7S6.l
Such a tendency of separate regulations was
indeed too manifest 10 escape anticipation.
| Among the projects prompted by the want of a
II II cQtTdl uuIuVTltf ONcI was suut VI u
| concert frat proposed on the part Of Maryland
for a uniformity Of regulations between the
two States, and Commissioner were appointed
for that purpose. II was soon perceived, how
| ever, that the concurrence Of Pennsvlvania wns
as necessary TO Maryland as Of Maryland to
Virginia, and the concurrence Of Pennsylvania
was accordingly invited. Bat Pennsylvania,
could no more concur without New York than
Maryland without Pennsylvania nor New York
without the concurrence Of Boston, &c.
These projects were superseded for the mo-
ment by that of The Convention at Annapolis in
1886 and forever by the Convention at Phila-
delphia in 1887, and the Constitution which was
the fruit Of it.
There is a passage in Mr.. Necker's work on
the finances of France which affords a signol H.
lustraiion Of the difficulty Of collecting, in con-
tiguous communities, indirect taxes, when not
the same in all, by the violent means rcsorted
10 against smuggling from one TO another of
them. Previous TO the late Revolutionary war
in that country. the taxes were of very different
rates in the different Provinces (; particularly the
tax on salt which was high IN the interior prov
inces aud low in the maratime, and The tax on
tobacco, which was very high in general, whilst
in some Of the provinces the use Of the article
was altogether free. The consequence was,
that the standing army OF patrols against snug
Cling had swoIn TO the number OF twenty three
! Thousand the annual arrest Of men, women,
| and children, engaged in smuggling, to five
thousand five hundred and fifty and The number
| annually arrested on account Of salt and tobac-
CO alone, to seventeen or eighteen hundred,
moro than three hundred Of whom were con-
signed to the terrible punishment Of the Gal
lies.
May il no, be regarded as among the provi-
| Dental blessings TO these States. that their geo.
/ d, pI.o.l .olat.opc fnnlfinItod no fhov tp,ll In
| by artificial channels of inrei course, give such
additional force TO the many obligations TO
cherish that union which alone secures their
peace, their safety, and their prosperity Apart
from the more obvious and awful consequences
Of their entire separation into independent, SOW
ereigniies, il is worthy Of special consideration,
that, divided from each other as they must be
by narrow waters and territorial lines merely,
the facility Of surreptiiious intrcductions OF
contraband articles, would defeat every atto'npt
at revenue in the easy AMI indirect modes of
impost and excise; so that whilst their eypen-
di,ures would be necessarily and vastly increas.
| ed by their new situation. they would, in pro-
viding for them, be limited TO direct taxes on
| land or other property, TO arbit 'ary assessments
! on invisible funds, and 10 the odious lax OH per-
sons.
You will observe that I have confined myself.
in what has been said, TO the consiitu;ionaliiy
and expcdicncy of the power in Congress to EN-.
courage domestic products By regulations o
commerce. In tho exercise of he power, they
are responsible TO their constituents whose
right and duty il is, in that as IN all other cases. |
10 bring their measures 10 tho test of Justice and
Of The general good.
With great esteem and cordial regard,
JAMES MADISON.
Jos. c. CABELL, Esq.
No. H.
n.., S,p Ia r,v lot,ar Of Sonotnhar l9ih- I