Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1833-01-07
COM MUNICAl'ION.
THE CRlSlS-No. 1,
TIE Poison and Anitdote.-Tie Tariff aud ne


adverted to what they pleased to call cris,s
IN the affairs Of the Republic, and have often prog
nosilcalcd some great calamity as likely 10 result
but invariably have their predictions failed ofbe-
ing realized, and their prophecies have been uni
tormly falsifcd At length, however, the criSS
has really come and all, save those who delight
in aud blhoishcd, with their attendant tram Of
evils, are astounicd, and are at loss 10 conjecture
WIZ Is to be the end of these thngs-whether
Cir8 Var, and the consequent destruction of the
moral and political power OF the ihtah, or the
restoration OF peace aud harmony, bmdnte these
States together by cords of stronger interest
and Uiie,unu. The prayer of every patriot must
b. thai tie latter may be the result But, whatts.
er 1t may h, ehe consequence must cnsue the &c
neral government " I'll acquire aldttional strength
or be greatly weakened. The agitation of the
questions OF constitutional powct presented To the
American ptet lie ~ this controversy, will demon
strate either that State has 10 night, peaceaby,
and at It's own discretion, 10 Sceeae bm The Union,
whereby the dpehlLo OF state mterpnsitlon in Al
rest OF FeI.ral us,rpatons will he senSbh
weakened or, that Il State mar, peaceably and at
its discretion sccodc, whereby the general govern
meat will be shorn of It's healhful action at home
and abroad, dany one State may hereafter ei
feet repeal Gifts laws, simply by threatening Sc
cession, whenever motives OF interest or ambition
shall d elatc sucha course Tals que, ton must
now assume deter",nate shape. 1t must be set
lied and in whatever way this be done, one or the
other ofthe iofe9o,n. consequences VIII inevitably
follow. Suppose the solemn decision OF liz Amef
lean public he against the States Is 1t not obvious
that the influence If the indyid a States will h.
impared-lhat, in future the protests aud remon
strances ola single State ~ OF several States would
I,, A i ytut..y.
government, be tempted to increase, instead OF a
bandon'ng usurpations, and thus, driving an op-
PRESSED State to desperation, compel her to Ny To
her sister States for protection, ond involve the
whole community in all the horrors Of civil strife
IT, Oh the other hand it be decided in favor OF the
States, Is 1t not obvious that the respect now en-
tcrtainod for the laws OF tbs federal government
will be greatly diminished that they viii be strip
Ird of much OF their moral unu,nce--and that o
hedienee will be yielded or Withheld rs may suit
the interest of any State affected 10y them
Should we not, indeed, present the Anomalous
spectacle Of government enact,nS laws without
the power either moral III Legal OF enforcing them
How long could such government endure how
long would the people have confidence IL lis power
10 allori ample protection To their riShtS, anu Scct
,,ty 10 their lives and liberties Tho ansWoi j..
ohv ous--HO frc years. There can he no doubt,
then in the mimi of any rejecting man, thai al
.hWlsh war and hloutshcd may b. avoided, an
peace aud harmony for the present restored, the
present STATE al affairs will yre,tY lmpaif our Po
Iltscal Institutions both Federal and State, and
ihat those who have been instrumental IN brlns
me- tins result about, deeply responsible 10 Then
country, To posttrily aud To their Col fore tn
question assumed such shape as to demand It's
final settlement, while yet II was doubtful Ia Which
side the majority of the American proPie leaned,
we had practical illustrations of the proper mea
sure of power aud influence OF both the Federal and
State governmcn,s, and the readiness with which
either yielded To the rcmonstranccs and htcrpoSi.
tons of the other, when in the exociSe ofusu,pre
or unconstitutional powers. When has II been that
the national government has failed to Yield, II
time To the circumstances Of the States, aud 10 de
sis from the exercise Of unconstitutional powers
When has any State ultimately thlla'i to tr'.a
enish the exercise fpowcrs delegated 10 ie na-
tonui government when she has assumed them
upon rcmnnslrance Ivy that government, OF when lis
l,nconstitu,ionaiity has b en- clearly aseettancd
tcrer This state Of things shows that the settle
mcnt of this question, which is purely abstract, cat
be productive of no possible benefit to the country
and happy had it been for the security aud stability
Of our free institutions, and Of liberty tse iha, II
had not been agi,ated.
But the crisis has arrived The question ia
presented, and must be decided, whatever may be
The consequences and therefore the people should
Examine it with that Guinness and deiberaton
which its importance demands; and then their
judgment is formed it should be the result of rea-
son, soberness and truth, and not Of haste or pas
sion. In doing this, 1t Is proper that the whole
ground should be surveyed; tina, the subject should
be taken from its origis, traced TO its termination
and examined in all its bearings, and that error OF
every kind should be exposed. The taliii laws,
the doctrine of notification, the proceedings oil
Snuth Carolina the last Message aud the Plocla'
nation OF The President ofthe United States, IN re-
lation thereto must all pass under review
To the tariff laws, (more properly called the
protective sys.em,) as commenced IN 1910, aud
perfected in 1928, may be justly traced all the DIFF
iculli,s which nov beset our once happy and pros
porous country, and arrest its career OF happiness
and prosperity. 1t is not intended to say much in
relation TO this system. as SO much has been al
ready SPOKEN and written in relation TO it, from one
end of the Union to the other, that nothing new
could be presented to the public mind, either as re
lates TO its constitu,ionali,y or oxpediency nol
would it now be touched but for its connexion viii
the main subject intended to be discussed This
system is founded purely in avarlce. 1t was con
ceived and consummated in motives OF self-inerest
and monopoly and by the indirec,on of its opera
ton, connected with high sounding names of ma
tonalty it was fastened upon the great body ofth'
American people as beneficial national system
This system is sustained by the imposition OF hea
Wy duties upon articles OF foreign production i'm
ported into the United States, of the same descrIp
ton as are produced in the United States, to sucf
an extent as to enable the home production to un
dersell the foreign, and monopollze the market
The very fact tina. duty is necessary to enable
the vendors Of the home production to underseli thu
foreign production, is proof positive that wlthou
the aid Of the duty, the home could not undersel
the foreign production. Iii could the tariff law
would be so far perfectly useless, as related tic thei
protective influence. This proposition has been de