The Middlebury people's press. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1841-1843, 1842-09-27
MIDDLEBURY VT. SEPT. 81, 1912.

teno results, not from any intrinsic quality
of the laU which, in itself, is neither more
nor less than any other lava simple eman-
alton ofthe legislative will-but from some.
thing extraDeous to it. The law was foun
ded, they assert, in compromise between
the North and the South, which is claimed
as sort of guarantee that the law shall be
perpetual; making its binding force to con.
sist, not in the law itself, but in the circum-
stances attending its enactment.
And what was the history of its enact.
ment! Shortly this. South Carolina be.
came dissatisfied with the rates of duties
imposed for protection. and nuIlified the
revenue laws. "Our resolre (said her Con-
vention in December 1922 is fired and
unahe rable, shat a protecting tariff shall no
"longer be enforced icithin the limits of South
"CaroLna"
To save the conflict of this threatened
resistance, the law in question was passed;
} yhereupon South Carolina desisted. And
now what does she claim Why, very mod
e'tly, that, for retaining TO carry into exc
cutIon her threat of resistance, and acqui.
escing in delay Of the reduction of duties
to 20 per cent on every thing, until the Isl
of July 1912, the duties should, thenceforth
and forever remain at that rate; or if increa.
} sed above it to supply the wants of the gov
ernment, that that increase should be uni
form on every thihg-that is, without dis
elimination above 20 per cent for the
purposes of protection.
4 What a compromised On one side
) resistance TO the laws then in force mot
the claim Of right to resist and nullify)
was given up. On the other, protection
forever after the 30th of June 1912, except
so far as it might result from horizontal
! tariff Of 20 per cent. The magnitude of
; the supposed surrender is sufficient to show
that no such surrender could have been in
tended, or thought of. The thing is impos-
!. sible.
But if it were possible, who was authori-
zed to make the surrender Suppose every
manufacturer in the United States had been
here and consented to surrender in the
mos; solemn form-whom would it bind
The people of the United States in 1912 -
the manufacturers the mechanics, the far
mers, the shepherds, and the laborers who
now need and claim the protection which
this government alone is competent to give
them No sir, no. 1t is too absurd to OBJ
tain the slightest countenance. The idea
is revolving to common sense.
And besides, let it be considered with
what preciptancy the compromise" act
was passed. The whole scene of its enact
nent is fresh in my memory. Or the 25th
day of February 1888, it was introduced
into this House after o'clock p. M. with
a motion that the Committee of the whole
on the State of the Union, 10 which had
been referred bill to reduce and otherwise
alter the duties on imports, be instructed TO
report it as an amendment to that BILL
The motion was forthwith carried, and with
in an hour, the amendment was reported to
the House. Preparatory to the action of
the House on the question of concurrIng IN
the report of the Committee of the whole,
motions were successfully made, for a call
of the House--to adjourn-to postpone to
tomorrow and to adjourn,-all of which
were promptly negatired; and then the
House concurred, and the bill was ordered
to be engrossed. This was all done in the
space of not more than two hours. On the
next day the bill was read third time and
passed under The previous question.
Such is the history of the passage of this
claimed-to-be permanent, unaiterable reve-
; nue. bill, through the peoples branch of the
National Legislature. And this is what
President Tyler denominates, in his late We
to message, ''the solemn adjustment of
great question: 1t was truly great ques-
tom; but to its adjustment, there was a
ny thing bur sotemniiy in it, unless it was the
solemnlty of dragging a reluctant victim,
with indecent haste, to the altar of sacrifice.
To speak of an act thus passed thro ugh
this house as involving perpetual surren-
der of protection, is the extreme ofpresump-
ton and absurdity.
But Mr.. CLAY, il is said, made the sur
render in behalf ofthe protected interests
Without admitting that he, or any body else,
had power to surrender any interest in the
future, | affirm that he made no pretence
of such 4 surrender, but that he expressly
discIaimed it in the face of the Senate. I find
that in tie debate on the bill in that body Mr..
Clay said
:. He did not fear any misconstruction of
'sthe pledge contained in the bill and he
chopped that the manufacturers would go on
land prosper, confident that the abandon
'smen, ofprotec;ion' ,cas never minded, and
Choking to MORE FAVORABLE TIMES for re-
''Dewal of MORE EFFICIENT TARIFF"
! And now, sir, what was really the "com-
promise" GU the part of the protected inter-
ests : 1t Twas simply a consent to try The e.
pertinent of decending in the scale of duties
by the biennial process have described, for
the purpose of ascertaining how far, with
the benefits of increased skill and improved
machinery. and modes of production, The du-
ties might be reduced consistently with PRO-
lection. 1t had beeu claimed by the South
that the duties had been unnecessarily high
for a reasonable protection and finally, that
there should be no protection at all. The
latter there was no pretence of admitting in
the COMPROMISE ssThe abandonment of
protection was never intended" said Mr..
/ clay in the face of the Senate. The former
was to be determined in the process of the
experiment of reduction, Shocking to more
favorable times" for satisfactory and
right adjustment of the tariff.
| Such, il seems to ne, was the whole of the
compromise. The experiment has been tried;
,.a ,ro now cailad nm IN conxibar and I