Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1832-06-26

progress oil population and wealth that amount mu,t
increase considerably every year afterwards
We shall have, then, an income of ten millions
from the imposts; and even il we estimate the in
come from the public land, at one-har its present
mount, that and the bank dividends will yield tr o
millions more.
Having shown that only eight millions will he
required for the ordinary and permanent cNpcus,s of
the Government it follows that, with "a venue of
twelve milliens, there will be annual surplus of
Tour mill Ons applicable to pensions aud other
oil a contingent nature.
In pre- ,enng this brief view of the future income
aud expenditure of the Government, will take Or.
casion Il remark that if should ever return tn Ibis
o"dy: intend to propose a general system of re.
trenchment and economy; a system not founded on
n" 'nds ;rimnate hostility to oni existing establish
ments, but on deep conviction that these establish
ments can be maintained in purity aud vigor only by
the observance of stict but judicious and liberal
economy.
army or tha navy and without inuriousy curtailins
The salaries OF fthe officers of government saw
ing may be effected of at least onc-haf million of
dollars. Without going into details 1 will barely
suggest that the Treasury Department alone opens y
heid IN which retrenchment and reform NAV be EN-.
pioyed win very great advantage TO the country
pr. nnder the complicated system of high minimum
anues, the expenses of collecting the public revenue
nave increased enormously within the last ten wears
AT former period, when revenue from the i'm
pos's was equal to what is now, the whole annual
expense OF collecting II dId not 10 more than
ble that amount
The proposed reduction of the duties will en-
able the department To dispense with the greater
part oil that host of cus,Om-house officers which
almost darkens our coasts md, in this item n
lone, several hundred thousand dollars NAV be
annually saved. Upnn the whole, sir, I am well
satisfied that the amount of reveoue which this
bill will produce, with that derived from other
sources, will be amply suflire for all the exi-
genc'es OF the country aud that considering il
as mere revenue measure, no one eau Justly
take an exception to it.
VIII here remark. sir, that the peopie of the
soutn (whether correctly or not, will hereafter
consder,) are firmly impressed with the b.ef
mat, under any system of duties. " lille the reve-
nuo Is derived almost exclusively from imports
their proportion of the hurthens imposed by led
eral taxation, will he much greater than it ought
TO be according TO the principle of the cons,itu-
ZION which regulates the apporonmsnt of ,li-
rect taxes Under these circumstances, they
think they have right to insist that the nggre-
gate burthen of taxation shall be as light as pos
sible, and that nor dollar shall be expended by
the Government that can be avoided by a rigid
economy.
Having now disposed of these preliminary
questions. shall proceed to consider how far
the provisions OF this bill have been die tated by
due regard to the principles of justice and G.
quality In the fiscal operations of this Govern
uient
with the exception of certain articles admit
ted tree OF duty, nearly all cf which are the i'm
ports and the consumption of the northern
states, all imported merchandise wilIb subject
cd TO the moderate and equal duty of l25 per
cent. Now. sir desire to know whether any
objection can he Justly urged against this scheme,
on the score of inequality Regarding il IA n
southern measure, can any other portion of the
Union "llege. with the semblance Of truth, that
IT will he subjected To undue share of the pub
lie burfhens! L put the question emphaticaiiy,
and desire that IL may be fniry met and fully
10 thar
manufacturing >ounty in the Union, that will he
compelled 10 pay larger proportion of public
burthens, by this bill, than justly and equitably
falls 10 its share
Let us examine this matter. Our imports of
foreign merchandise may be divided into two
great classes The first consists Of articles W hich
are exclusively produced in foreign countries :;
the second, of articles partly produced abroad
ana partly IN the United States. the former are
usually denominated the unprotected, and the
latter the protected class Of articles. Now az
10 the former class comprising teas, Coffee silks,
wines anu variety of other imports, will as
sume, that from the, Q, one half Of the federal re-
venue VIII be collected, though in point Of fact
u would TIC more correct to say one third only
AS 10 this portion of the revenue, no one has
ever pretended that the burthen is not equally
distributed over the Union 10 proportion to the
consumption of the articles from which i, ia de-
rived. 1t must he apparent that the manufactu-
rihS states have 40 grounds for alleging that
the duties upon silks, wines, tea, and coffee, ex-
pose them 10 an unequal or oppressive burthen.
VIII a solitary voice be raised 10 denounce This
part of the bill under consideration Assured
~ there will not. What, then, remains What
Is the subject o. complaint gainst this BILL and
who are they by whom the complaint is made 2
lhe part of the bill which is obnoxious TO the
denuncIdiion of the manufacturing States is
that which imposes duty of II 10 per cent,
ana no more, on cotton and wooilen manuiac-
lures, on IRON and iron manufactures, aud OH all
the other articles that fall within the scope of the
protecting system. Yes, sir, this is fthe source q
me complaints against the proposed measure.
ANA VINO, do you suppose, are the persons thai
make them
If an impartial foreigner, Just arrived in our
country, should be Informed that very deem
and threatening excitement existed in relation
to this part of the proposed Tariff, he would We
ny naturally suppose, that, as the excitement was
against tax bill, it was the Indignation of those
VINO were called upon to pay the taxes, or upon
whose productions the duties were proposed to
be levied. Upon being informed that the pro
ductlons OF the southern States furnished the
exchanges Tor this class of imports, he would
lake u for granted that these States were clam
orous againstse unequaIsa scheme of taxation.
but now would this impartial foreigner he aston
iShed, on discovering that the excitement was
conhned TO that part Of the Union which paid
no part OF The taxes in question and that the
cause oil The excitement was, that the taxes pro-
posed were not forty or fifty, instead of l2a per
cent upon the value Of the imports = In other
words, how great would be the establishment of
ms impartial "looker on from Europe, when
ne learned that the complaint against the pro.
posen dnty on cotton, woolieD, and other manu-
IN