The Litchfield County post., 1829-01-15

And may it not be fairly leIt to the uublas. sed judgment of all men of experience and of intelligence, to decide, which is the most to be relied on for a sound and safe test of the
 meaning of constitution, an uniform inter-
 pretatiOn by all the successive authorities un. der it, commencing with its birth, and con- | tnuing for a long period through the varied state of political contests; or the Opinion of every new Legislature, heated as it may he , by the strife of partirs--nr warped. as often
 happens, by the eager pursuit of some Eavoritc Oblect-0r carried away possibly, by the pow erfu' eloquenCr, or captivating address of a 1 few popular statesmen, thPnlsrIvrs, perhaps. i influenced by the same misleading causes If
 the latter test is [" prevail, every new lcgisIa- { tive opinion might make a new constitution, 1 as the foot of every chancellor would make a
 new standard of measure.
 l 1t is seen with no little surprise that an at
 tempt has been made, in a highly respectable
 quarter, and at length reduced to resolution
 formally proposed in Congress, to substitute, 1 for the power of Congress to regulate trade,
 so as tO encourage manufactures, a power in the several States to do so, with the consent
 of congress. lay any impost or duties on. inn
 ports or exports, except what may be ahso-
 lutey necessary for putting in force its in ] spection laws ; and the nett produce of all du- ] ties and imposts, laid ny any State on imports
 and exports, shall be for the use of the treas
 ury of the United States and all such laws
 shall be subject to the revision and controul of congress.
 TO say nothing of the clear indications in the Journal of the Convention of 1787, that the clause was intended to provide for erpen- ses incurred by particular states, in their in spection laws, and in such improvements as they might choose to make in their harbo urs and rivers with the sanction of congress-ob- jects to which the reserved power has been applied, in several instances, at the request of Virginia and Georgia-how could it ever be imagined that any State would wish to taA its own trade for the encouragement of manu- factures, if possessed the authority,or could in fact, do so, if wishing it
 A tar on imports would be tar on its own consumption, and the nett proceeds going,ac 1 cOrdng to the clause. not into its own treasu- ry, but into the treasury of the United States the state would tar itself separately for the c. qual gain of all the other States: and as far as the manufactures, so encouraged, might succeed in ultimately increasing the stock in 1 market and lowering the price ny competi
 ton, this advantage, also, secured at the sole expense of the State, wonld be common to alh 1 the others.
 ] But the very suggestions of such an erped-
 tent to any state, would have an idea of mock 1 cry, when its experienced impfacticability is; taken into view. No one who recollects or re- CUTS to the period when the power over com merce was in the individual States, and sep arate attempts were made to tan, or other wise regulate it, need not be told that the attempts were only abortive, but by de- monstrating the necessity of general and uni I form regulations. gave the original impulse to the constitutional reform which provided for such regulations.
 To refer a state, therefore, to the exercise of power as reserved to her by the constitu- ton, the impossibiity oferercising which was an inducement to adopt the constitution, is of all remedial devices, the last that ought to be brought forward. And what renders it the more extraordinary, is, that, as the tag on commerce, as far as it could be separately col lected. instead of belonging to the treasury of the states previous 10 the constitution, would be a tribute to the United States. the State would be in worse condition, after the ad- option of the constitution than before, in ref erenee to an important interest, the improve ment of which was particularobject in adop- ting the constitution.
 Were congress to make the proposed dec laration of consent to state tariffs in favour of state manufactures, & the permitted attempts did not defeat themselves, what would be the situation Of states deriving their foreign sup plies through ports of other states! It is cv- ident that they might be compelled to pay in their consumption of particular articles i'm ported. duty for the common treasury, not common to all the states, without having any manufactures of their own, to partake of the contemplated benefits.
 Of the impracticability of separate reg ulations of trade, and he resulting necessi- ty of general regulations, no State was more sensible than Virginia. She was ac- cordingly among the most earnest fer granting to Congress a power adequate tu the object. On more occasions than one in the proceedings of her legislative coun- cils, it was recited "that the relative situ- ations of tine States had been found on tri- al, to require unif formity in their commer- cial regulations, as the Oniy eflectual policy for obtaining in the ports of foreign nations a stipulation of privileges reciprocal to those enjoyed by the subjects of such na- tions in the ports of the United States; for preventing animosities which cannot fail to arise among the several States from the rc :o1