Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1840-08-04

in rerard to that or any other public mutier, he "ouid
speak his sentiments freely. There were, he SAID, con-
siiderations of the strongest character, all uniting their
,dmonition 10 the sincere and single.mInded friends OF
the system, 10 be temperate and discreet. we nave
a 0uj miles of seabord, and 800 miles on our North
ar, frontier. The innumcrable avenues 10 smuggling
which the state of the country presented, were iahi''
liar ia all. and of the inevitsble tendency OF prohiphory
du,i.s The general intelligence of our community reh-
lcred !, unnecessary 10 speak, &c, &c. 1t these words
Ind been left in the extracts, they would have shown
nm The face Of the "Ycolnau" the fraud pracused by
its aTtful, not to say guilty coliocation Of sentences, ana
,b.v > r therefore left out without scruple.
Ertract No. 4, taken from pnge IL.
This is d described rs the ''gist Of the matter, as an
sever memorable and characteristic passage. Memo
ruble il indeed should be, not for the reason lnsiliuat.
ed. but as evidence of the ~depravIty OF The compiler OF
Tho article. A mcaner fraud could not be practised up
IN The community. The object in making the extracts
i. TO fix upon Mr.. Van Buren, the profigate avowai that
he would avail himself of his situation rs Senator TO
enrich himself al the expense OF his ellow-citizcns-
thot Inc was in favor of the woollcns bill, not because II
was riul,t and would promote the public interest, bu'
bpc,rsr il would promote his own interest. 10 ac-
co,nplish this design, the paragraph IS recklessy gar
bled by separating from it the following sentence, wh'cn
gives character TO the whole, VIZ: Nhilsth he would mol
Eel L;mselfa liberty TO withhold his aid from the support
Of a great and salulary public measure, because ne might
bc individually benefited by its adoption, nc noutd for
ercr despise himself Jhe could be found eapdbtc 81 aratItnS
himself Of his official station TO secure ms o"n adrant'gc
nj fbC UJuy eJDEuSf on DtHsTS. j us cHlSHCc CloSSS
the sneech1 The very sentiment which it is attempted
IN fix upon Mr.. Van Buren, by the practice OF a mean
fraud, is here indignantly disclained and denounced
MIR. Van Buren, hnd at the time, as he states, fallen INTO
the GENERAL current, BY cmharklng IN raising oil me
wooI He owned ut one time the halt a Hook OF sheep,
,.h;cb meyer exceeded 1000 or 100 at the outside, and
applied To their keeping real estate which was worth
the principal part of the S2O,OOD;-ai OF which, both
sheep and farm, have been sold many years ago. lie
desired to show 10 his trllow-cItizens, that although such
- -. - ..L,1l I, n. hn hnInh nnnrlnr1Upn
in him to have supported a bill, which he could not
npprove on public grounds, because it might promote his
own interest ut the unjust expense OF others. by gar.
bling his expressions in the manner which has been
shown, they make him say exactly the reverse.
Is it not as clear as day, that in every single extract
which has been made of Mr.. Van Bnrens speech, the
entire sense has been perverted, by leaving out parts
directly connected with the extracts made: IS not tfe
unplincipled intent equally clear: Was 1t not done u
deceive the rood people of Virginia, By palmrny upon
them, as the sentiments Of Mr.. Van Bnren. opinions he
not only had never expressed, but opinions and senli-
ments directly the reverse Of those he did express
The author Of the extracts had, he says, and his work
proves it, the pamphlet speech before iuIn. Mr.,
Van Buren,, he says, sent the speech 10 his trend
amt Tariff, of course in Virginia, which IA doubtless
true. Why, then, is The speech not published as a
whole, and, If this was not convenient, why were not
the parts selected given with common honesty: The
reasons are obvious. The objects "fthe author could
not then have been answered. In a speech OF sixteen
pamphlet pages, he could not find a single paragraph
that would answer his purpose, without irandnlently
rarbling its contents.
The purporl and object of the speech, which has been
so dISrrpn,ably distorted, are PLAN enough upon the
face of ii-thry we're
Ist An avowal Of the knowledge Of lis author, that
The encouragement of domestic manufactures was, and
had, for wears, been the settled policy of Mc Statc, and
that he, as its representative, should irci IT ms duty
to carry out their wishes. This is 50 stated in ono Of
The extracts Of the speech given in the "feoman, and
N several other pnrls-but,
I'd. TO slew, By facts and arguments, that the
opinions then so prevalent III favor Of high duties, were
not founded in an enlightened view, either Of what
was due 10 justice or TO the true Interests oil The Stale
itself. To this end, the author undertook 10 shew:-
Isl. That the woollcn bill (which the CARRIED extracts
made him oppose instead Of being confined 10, and ac.
cnmplisll;ng the objects which liz advocates proirSsed,
viz the prevention of frauds upon the reve nns, and
the simple confederation OF the act of the English Par
lament, reducing the dutlcS on wool imported into En-
gland, amounted only 10 4 simple and unreasonable m
crease oil duties, upon a single article, and that one N,
rludin. the coarse woollsns, " Inch were generally pnr.
chased by the poor.
81. That the manufacturers, in that particular bill,
as was alsn In" case generally, took advantage of the
producers Of the raw material, and were On all occasions
the persons who received the advantage OF the high Ia
riff laws, sltongh they were generally asked IN the I'M
posing names Of the farmers and wool.growcrs.
Sd. That it was n deluslon in the people Of n. York,
10 suppose that the manufacturing, was the chief or
most important interest upon the encouragement OF
which, their prosperity depended. mat they owed
more to commerce. which had of late years been deemed
hut secondary to manufactures, aud that the great agri-
cultural interests, which stood above all, did not receive
the aid from the high Tariff, which the manufacturers
pretended
4th. That n large majority of The people, who had to
pay the increased taxes, were not concerned IN either
Of the interests sought 10 BIZ encouraged.
9TH. That in respect to the manufacturing interest,
New York occupied only a secondary position in re-
spect TO her neighbours, while III commerce she stood
first.
9th. That the cxtravagant encouragement which the
Government had been in the habit of giving 10 manu.
features had been injurious TO that interest Itselt-and
7thly. That there was the best reason TO believe that
the high Tariff policy, instead of having chiefly in
view the good of the manufacturing interest, was con-
verted BY lis leading advocates into a political hobby
on which 10 ride into power upon the overthrow Of the
Democracy of the land.
That the speech had the greatest influence in put
ting down the high Tariff feeling which prevailed in
New York, is as notorious there rs that IL ever cX-
istcd.
Mr.. Butler, in his letter to Hugh a. Garland, Esq in
March, l>35, published in the Richmond Enquirer,
speaks Of it thus
"Mr. Van Burcn's personal feelings have been at
all times adverse TO the high Tariff; policy; and while
he has always cndeavored, in the discharge of his Off.
cial duties, to carry into effect the wishes of his inIme-
date constituents, he has left no proper occasion un-
improved 10 moderate their demands and to bring their
wishes TO the standard spoken Of in the above extracts.
~ 10 w ~ " ubN 'h"N 's N'o'S - $3.50 ''f~N
have largely contributed 10 the change of public OPT
Mon which has taken place in his own State, on this
interesting subject. In the month of July. l-s1, he
attended a meeting held in the City of Albany, for the
purpose of appointing delegates to attend the Harrisburg
Convention; and addressed the meeting on the whole
suhjrct, and particularly in explanation of the course
previously pursued by himself. This speech, which
was published and extensively circulated, ultimate!y
produced great effect on public sentiment, IN y. YORK.
Holland, in his life of II. Van Burcn, says, "Thc
speech was printed and extensively circulated, and con-
~tributcd in no small degree, TO the formation OF ulster
views with respect to the Protective system
Col. Benton, in his published letter 10 Gen. Davis of
Mississippi, says, "Ilc was the first eminent member of
Congress North OF the Potomac, to open the war, at the
right point, upon the Tariff Of lo2s, then undergoing
the process OF incubation. through The in,truTcntal,ty
of a Convention to at at Harrisburg. HIS speech at
Albany, in July, le27, openly characterised that mea.
sure as a political manc.uvrc, TO influence the impcnd.
ing Presidential election: and the graphic expression,
~ measure proceeding more from tie ciosct IF tic poll.
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