Virginia advocate. [volume] (Charlottesville, Va.) 1827-1860, 1830-06-25
SUBSTANCE
or MR.. BENTON'S SPEECH

Il.
The notion for the reduction of the du-
ty pm Salt, being under considera.
tion,
MIR. BENTON commenced his speech
by sajng that he was 10 advocate Tor UNI
profitable debate, and had no ambition to-
add hs name TO the catalogue of barren
orator.; but that there were cases in which
speaking did good cases in which mode
rate abilities produced great results and
he believed the question OF repeating the
salt tax to be one of those cases. Ii had
certa.py been so in England. There the
salt tax had been oVerthrown, by the la
bors oT plain men, under circumstances
much more untavorabie to their uuderta.
king than exist here. The English salt
tax mad continued $50 years 1t was che
rished by the ministry, to whom it Yielded
a million and half sterling of revenue :;
1t was defended by the domestic saltma-
keIs, to whom 1t gave monopoly OF the
home market 1t was consecrated hy time
having subslsted Tor FIVE generations; it
was fortified by the habits Of the people.
who were born, and bad grown gray, IN
der 1t; and 1t was sanctioned by the lie
cessities of the State, which required ev-
cry resource ofIIgorous taxation. Yet II
was overthrown; and the overthrow was
effected by Two debates. conducted, not
by the orators whose reuow has filled the
world--not by Sheridan, Burke, Pitt. and
Fox--but by plain business men Mr..
Calcrait, Mr.. Curwen, and Mr.. Egerton
These patriotic members of the British
Parliament commenced the war upon the
British salt tax III 1917, and finished il in
1872. They commenced with the omens
and auspices all against them, and ended
with complete success. They abolished
the salt tax an toto. They swept it all off
bravely rejecting all compromises when
they had got their adveIsarles half van
pushed, aid carrying their appeals home
10 the people, until they had reused spi-
rit before which the ministry quailed, the
monopollzers tenbled, The Parliament
gave way, aud the tax fell. This EXAMPLE
is encouraging it is full of consolation
and OF hope 1t shows what zeal and per
severance can do IN good cause it shews
that the cause of truth and Justice is tri-
umphant when its advocates are bold and
faithful. 1t leads to the conviction tina,
The American salt tax will fall as the Brit
lsh tax did, as soon as the people shall see
that It's continuance is burthen to them
without adequate advantage on the Gov
eminent, and that its repeal is in their own
hands.
The enormous amount Of the tax was
the tirst point to which Mr.. B. would d.
rect his attention. He said it was near
800 per cent. upon Liverpool blown and
400 per cent upon alum salt; but as the
Liverpool was very interior salt, and
not much used in the West, he would
conlne his obser 'ations to the salt of
Portugal and the West Indies. called by
the general name of alum. The import
price OF this salt was from eight to pine
cents bushel Of 6fty-six pounds each.
ard the duty upon that bushel was twen-
ty cents. Here was tax of upwards of
two hundred per cent. Then the mer
chant had his profit upon the duty as well
as upon the cost of the article. and when
1t went through the hands of several mer-
chants before 1t got to the consumer,
each had his profit upon it, and whenever
this profit amounted 10 fifty per cent. up
on the duty, 1t was upwards Of one hun
bred per cent upon the salt. Then the
tariff laws have deprived the consumer O
ibirty-Iour pounds in the bushel, by sub
st'tulng weight for measure, and that
weight false one. The true weight OF
measured bushel Of alum salt is eighty.
four pounds; but the British tariff laws
tor the sake of multiplying the bushels
and increasing the product OF the tax,
substituted weight for measure; and our