New-York tribune., 1842-03-09
The Tariff Revi.ion.

that the arm of=DutieS on Imports must be
revised al the present session of Congress. The
Revenue is notoriousiy garingly inadequate
The last Administration expended Fifteen Millions
of Dollars which had been accumulated under IL
higher Tariff by the preceding, and ran in debt
several Millions by issuing Treasury Notes. The
Expenditures during Mr.. Van Buren's four yeurs
exceeded the net Receipts Of those years by more
than Twenty Millions of Dollars. This present
Administration commenced with no surplus, but =
pressing Debt instead, while the Tariff, greatly d.
ulnished during Mr.. Van Burons four years was
still process of reduction, and is be finally re-
dueed very much on the lst of July next. 1t
surely cannot be pretended with any show of rea-
son or fairness that the Government Gun be cth
cien,ly conducted upon tie Revenue arising under
The present Tariff, as il will stand after that rcduc
ton. As to the alternative of continuing Mr.
Van Bmcn's borrowing, shining, Treasury Note
device, we find no open though many virtual sup
portcrs of that. a any rate, we trust those who
are so greatly shocked Mt the idea Of u National
Debt, and who are parpctually quoting Mr.. Jeficr-
sons depreciation thereof will not insist contin
nins in practice wha, they SO violently denounce III
the abstract. The Government has been disgraccd
and crippled by this shnning policy long enough.
Let us have an end of it forthwith; and we can
have it OILY by raising mere Revenue
How shall We do this? There are souo half
dozen journals who talk occasionally over the shoul
der in favor of Direct Taxation, but they are not
half in earnest. The enormous cost, the meagrc
of ah,,ndo ptly
tested during the Last War But them there was
an abundance Of money in circulation, and he who
had any thing to sell could readily pay his taxes.
Nowhere whole counties in which "A thousand
dollars of par money for taxes could not be raised
without constraining sacrifices of property to three
times the value With warehouses full of Pork
and Grain, they are hardly able to pay their State
Taxes, and, if the Federal Government were I"
lay more, they could with great difficulty be col
lectcd
But, says co-Foceisln, You must rcstoro To
the Treasury the Pebc Land Proceeds. which
you have apportoned to the States Well, sup
pose this were done; how much would it add to
the Revenue? Less than million dollars last
year a little more or less this. This is but
drop in the bucket and so it will remain while our
Agricultural Products remain at Free Trade. Sub
Treasury prices. Who will buy Public Lands TO
any extent when the Produce that may be raised
thereon will not pay for carrying To market, and
when it oan be occupied without paying for it =
needs Projection and a National Currencyto
make the Land qsorth 6aeying. We have Of
course deeper objection than this to this
coarse-wG are infexibly hostile to any aspca-
non of the Lund Proceeds to the ordinary pur-
poses of Government. 1t is thrittless, short
sighted, squandering policy-just like that Of the
proligate heir who sells the timber off his estate
tho present purpose that successive Presidents and
Secretaries Of the Treasury have declared the
Land Proceeds too prccurious and luctuating TO
be relied on of meeting the Annual
Expenditures ef the Government.
We come back ut last to the only proper and
adequut. rcsource-higher Duties on Imports
These must manitcstly he laid. On what princi-
ple-Horizon,Sl or Discriminating This has
been settled BY the votes Of The Free Traders
themselves. At the last or Extra Session, they
resisted to the utmost and successfully the impoSi-
ton of duties on Tea Coffee, &c. on the distinctly
avowed ground that these, being articles of gene
raj necessity, not produced in this country, ought
t. Be admitted free. The inevitable converse OF
this proposition is that other articles must be sub
lected to higher duties than they would otherwise
paw The vote on Tea and Coffee established the
prikciplc of Discrimination beyond Il cavil, and
the Free Traders voted en maSSe tc exempt Salt
and several other neceSSnrics in like manner
They are therefore estoppcd By lheirown repeated
acts from any opposition to Discriminating Duties.
But. more than all, THE CoSDIrleS OF TIE
COUNTRY calls loudly for the judicious increase of
the Tarin, Our CURRENCY is broken down and vi
nated I; our Produce is selling AT rates ruinously
low tor the produccr and in many sections of the
country money can hardly be obtained for it at any
rate. The land istul of Provisions which cannot
be Seld, and for want of which those who make
our Clothing are furnishing This is partly caused
bv the srasping policy of Great Britain. bu, lis
occasional recurrence is inseparable from syS,e,
of exchanging Provisions for Cloths with Nation
four thousand miles Oft Such a trade mus, al
WAYS be insecure and nuctuating; and ii to!erably
steady the cost of Transporting the Provisions eats
up their valse aud leaves the producers dependent
and beggarly. LII y monssrous disregard OF the
plainest dictates of Economy TO send -four from
Chicago and Cincinnati to Leeds for Cloths and
Sheffield for Cutlery. when the same msnufactu-
rers could pre,Icc Just much cloth and cutlery
NJ Pittsbuis and Peoria and thereby TO them
selves and our farmers the enormous cost of send
inS the flour and pork from Indiana to England
Its, 1t must be our true policy. invite hithes
the manufacturers rather ,han the goods The
Country could pay oo-morrow for Fifty Millions
worth of Manufactures to producers on our own