Litchfield enquirer., 1832-02-02

them, to that object. would he a moet natur- al and suitable disposition. And d0 nope: sir, that that great resource VIII De cnerIsneu and dedicated tO some national purpose wOr- thy of the Republic. Utterly opposed as' trust, Congress will shew itself 10 De tO a" the mad and wild schemes-and 70 that la test, but ma6dest and widest ot aI'' FeeOm- mended by the Secretary oi the treasury for souandering the public domain, hope 1t will be preserved for the present generation | and for posterity, as it has been received | from our ar rcestors. a rich and bOuntituI In- beritance. Tn these halcyOn days Of peace and nlentv. and an OverfOwing treasury, we 1 auprar to emharrass ourselves in devlsing VIZ sionary schemes for casting away the Dounues with which the goodness of Providence mas blessed us. Rut. sir, the storm Of war will come. when we know not {; the day of trlaI and difficulty will assuredly come, and now is the time, hy prudent forecast, to husband our resources, and this, the greatest ot mem all. Let them not be hoarded anu nugSeo with a miser's embrace, but IIberaIIy useu'- l Let the public lands be administered In generous spirit, and especially towards me States within which they are situated. Let the proceeds of the sales of the public lands be applied in a season of peace, to some great obiect: and when war does come, by sus- pending that application of them. during it's continuance, you will be at once put in pos session of means for it's vigorous prosecution. More than twenty-five years ago, when hrst | took seat in this body, was told, by the | fathers of the Government, that, if we had any thing perfect in our institutions, 1t was the system for disposing of the public lands, and was cautioned against rash innovations 1 in it. Subsequent experience fully satisfied the of the wisdom of their counsels, and that all vital changes in it ought to be resisted.
 Although it may be impracticable to say what the exact amount of the public revenue should be, for the future, and what would be the precise produce of any given system ot imposts, we may safely assume, that the rev enue may now be reduced. and considerably reduced. This reduction may be effected in various ways, and on different principles Only three modes shall now be noticed.
 .lst. To reduce duties on all articles, in the same ratio, without regard to the principle of protection. 2d. To retain them on unprotected arti- cles, and augment them on the protected ar- ticlcs.
 And Sd. To abolish and reduce the duties on unprotected articles, retaining and enfOr- cing the faithful collection of those on the protected articles.
 
 iections. It would lead inevitably to the de.
 structiOn of our home manufactures. Il
 would establish sort of bed of Procrustes by which the duties on all articles should be blindIy measured, without respect to their na . ture or the extent Oftheir consumption. And it would be derogatory from every principle of theory or practice on which the Govern ment has hitherto proceeded.
 The second would be still more objection able to the foes of the Tariff than either of the others. But it cannot be contrOverted that. by augmenting considerably the duties on the protected class, SO as 10 carry them to the point, or near to the confines of absolute prohibition, the object in view. of effecting the necessary reduction of the public revenue, may be accomplished without touching the duties on the unprotected class. The conse- quencc of such an augmentation would be a foreign article, and of course in the duties up on it.. But against entire prohibition, except perhaps in a few instances, have been always, and still am, opposed. By leaving the door open to the foreign rival article, the benefit is secured of salutary competition. If it be dramatically closed, the danger is incurred of monopoly.
 The third mode is the most equitable and reasonable, and it pi iesents an undebateable' ground, on which had hoped we could all safely tread, without difficulty. It exacts no sacrifice of principle from the opponent ofthe American System it cOmprehends none on the part of its friends. The measure before you embraces this mode. It is simple, and free from all cOmplexity. It divides the whole subject of impOsts according tO its na- ture. It settles at once what ought not to be disputed. and leaves to be settled hereafter, l if necessary, what may be controverted. A certain part of the South has hitherto complained that it pays a dispropOrtionate amount of the imposts. fthe complaint be we'll founded. by the adoption of this meas ure it will be relieved at once, as will be here.. after shown, from at least fourth of its bur thens. The measure is in conformity with the uniform practise of the Government, from its commencement, and with the professions of a! the eminent politicians fthe South. un- til oflate. 1t assumes the right of the Gov ernment, in the assessment of duties, to dis. criminate between those articles which sound policy requires it to foster, and those which 1 it need not encourage. This has been the | invariable principle, on which the Govern meDt has proceeded, from the act of Con- gress of the 4th July. l789, down to the present time. And has it not been admitted by al- most every prominent Southern politician Has tt not been even acknowledged by the Fathers Of the Free Trade Church, in their late address, promulgated from Philadelphia. to the people of the United States lf we never had a system of foreign imposts. and