Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1832-05-29


conclusions concurrinY with thucc of the SECRETARY
of the Treasury, that the system of graduated p,m-
NUNS upon the manufactures ofwoollcnS must and
ought to be abolished. For the reasons upon which
this opinion is founded, they refer the House to the
report orthc Secretary oi the Trcac,ry accrmpany-
ing the draft the bill. to which they will odd con
Sidcrations of perhaps yet deeper influence upon
their minds. Tins system appears to majority of the
committee to constitute the greatest * the most rca
Souablc objection of the South \ of Southern inter-
ess against the existing Tariff. The Committee can
not perceive how III what manner il can he essen
tia to the protection of the domestic manufacturers
The graduation must necessarily operate IN one
of two wavx-cthcr prohibition uhon the i'm
portatioh of all articles included between the ratios
of the respective minimums, or by laying duty
upon the articles of intcrmcd;aic value far higher
than that apparent upon the face of the law, and
thereby ciccting an artificial inequality between
the burdens imposed upon articles Of the same
kind and the same valuc, and an equality
Of harden alike unnatural upon articles of
different value, but of the same kind
Ih,s for example. square yard of broadcloth
of ono dollars cost at the place of cxportatioc,
pays daty of iS ccDts, while, IT the cost at the
place of expectation be- but dollar nd one cent
1t Is taken and deemed to baye o>t two dollars and
a half and PAYS du of ono dollar and twenty
cents; the difference between thOu being, that be-
tween torty-cgh per cent, and one hundred and
twenty per cent, whilo the article of one dollar
and one cents cost, pays the same duty the ar
ticlc costing two dollars and half. 1t appears to
DO Impossible that the practical operation Of such
system should not nc unjust~-and ii contains
within itself the seeds OF those frauds upon the re-
venue OF which there have been such heavy com
plants on the part of the American Manuia ctu.
rers. The report of tho Secretary notices thcsc
frauds, and the diHiculty, if not ;mpnssihs =, OF
providing against chem. Measures for that pur-
pose were reported by this Committee at carly
period of the session, i'll the form of b;ll, since
re committed to them Ivy the order of the House.
Measures reported by the Committee with great
reluctance, but deemed Indispensable By tho man
utacturcss themselves, as thy still by the
Committee, III the event that the system of gyLdu-
atcd minimums should be continued. For those
frauds, :hc article Of manufactured woollcn of
cost, nearly intermediates between two successive
minnsums, afford opportunities and temptations,
which neither rgor OF legislation, vigilance Of
execution can prevent.
The measures in the bill reported by the Con-
mittcc wcre some Of them of character trouble
some, vexatious, and expensive. to the importing
merchant; and the necessity which the Committee
believed there would be for them ander Tire con-
tinunncc of the graduated mnmrrns, among
the most cogcnt rcasons which produced the con
viction npnn the minds of the ma GRITTY that the
system itself ought TO Nc abandoned. One of the
effects which has been pr0dssccd already is tho
transfer Of the importing trade from tho American
merchant our fellow citizen, to the exporting TO-
reigner in Great Britain.
The valuation ot the article By IFS cost at the
place Of expectation enables the exporter TO fix the
cost III his invoice much ut his discreet ion and al
though that discretion may occasionally he restrain.
cd by the administrative of tho ath required vet AS
il has long been settled by Tie sagcs of British in.
riSprudcncc that fraud upon the revenue laws of
foreign country is no offence against the laws of
England, the administration of an oath un-
sanctioned by any practical penalty, furnishes hut
Indifferent security for the correctness of the in
voices at the place of expectation. The Commit.
tee havo received information from an American
importing merchant of ungucstonablc character,
tn offers have been made tn his agent in En- gland
for the supply of the manufactured article to any
amount that he might desire, and at any cost in
the attusted invoice which he might fit to pre-
scribe, the real prices of the articles I've adjusted
between them at tho rate of the real value of the
article. Hence it is that frauds to extensive an
amount have been detected at our Gust ON houses
and that frauds to much greater amount have
probably passed without detection, There is be-
sides in the system Of graduated minimums an APP.
pcarancc of indiTcCt;on little consOnanI with the
! frank opcn-heartcdness of Republican Institutions
! IL has the air if the legislators Of the nation
| in taxing their constituents, unwilling to Lei
| them know the real amount of that taxation
Tni. has been of the scvcrcst rcproachcs cast
npnn the Tarifiby It's alvcrsarcs. And tho Com.
nttec arc anxiously dcsirous Of taking away from
thos; adversarics their most forciblc argument.
| But in renouncing the system OF graduated mi.
nimums, it il not their intention TO abandon he
| protection of the manuti cturirg interest. Nor
was that the intention of tho Secretary of the
| Treasury i'll the preparation of his bill The i'm.
prcssion of the manufacturers, however, so far a.
it has come to the knowledge of tho Committee
is that the reduction of the amount of duties urnr
the article of manufactured woollaus is foo orcn
| for the establishments of this country tn boar
Such is the impression of a majority OF the Com
mittcc; and they have accordingly modified thai
part of tho Sccretary's draft. Whether the amount
of duty rs reported y the Committee is itself sur
fccnt to preserve the principle Of protection \,
appcd 10 tho woollcn manufactures il will bc fn,
| the wisdom of the House TO determine II ho,
| L,o,, A. 81.