The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1842-09-26
LETTER OF MIR. WISE.
(CoNCLUDED.)

The wisdom and patriotism of the real friends of
the People could easily rectify this subject if it could
only be left undisturbed by political legerdemaln and
chicanery The moment it is touched in Congress,
parties pet pelt it to death. The delays and doings
of the late session proved this too sadly By the
manoeuvring of political faction, action on the
whole subject of the Tariff was, in the first place
necessarily delayed nearly to the 30h of June, with
no other view than to cohstran the Executive, by the
pressure of time, to depart both from the welseted
compromise of the tariff act of 1885, and from the
obviously wise policy of the provso to the sixth sec
ton Of the land law of ls4l, distribute the in
come from the real estate of the nation whilst heavi
er duties for and heavier burdens Of alton
were to be imposed upon the people than the maxi
mum standard of 20 per cent ad valorem Under
the pretext of postponng the operation of existing
laws for few months, The real design was to make
the President committed to the principle of one act
of distribution at least, whilst the duties retain
ed above 20 per cent. He defeated this attempt by
bold and manly exercise of the constitutional mega
tive Instantly the hue and cry raised that there
was no lnc FIR after the 30th of june and.
every sort of encouragement was held forth to mer-
chants and importers not to pay the duties under the
act of 1893 except under prot st and with ltgatie H.
L
Treasury groaning under debt whilst the pu bic
creditors suffering, and whilst the national credit
was already dishonored. The President took the adj
| vice of his Cabinet, all of whom sound and dis.
tngushed lawyers, and the opinion Of the Alto rney
| General which counseed that there ,pas ia,p and
the too of executing it have yet hea rd of
| but two suits but the opportunity, hope, w i'll be
afforded to the political bar to test its legal dca before
the Supreme Court Of the United States, and to mea-
sure ITS arms before that tribunal with the present
| IN a OH sf ion viii ch
nothing, am sure, but reckless faction would ever
| have started. This bill was dubbed the Little Ia
riff" little measure it was, in every sense. 1t was
intended only to prepare the way for whist was with
| equal significance styled the Big Tariff The Ma
lor Ursa il as first dubbed, was truly more de-
vouring wild beast
| The Big Bill after proposing the most enormous
rate of duties its 9th section repealed tn proviso
the 9th section of the land bill of September lS4l
which declared that distribution should be suspended
when duties should be imposed of higher rate than
20 per cent ad valorem. This, too, was Inserted af-
ter due notice given by the President in his veto mes
| sage on the Little Bill that he would not consent to
ign any bill for which proposed to give away
also the public money. The complaint on former
occasion was that Congress had every reason to ex.
! pect that the President would sign bank bill On
this question OF the tariff there could be no Prelence
| for any such expectation. Had he been induced by
the cry of No Lao and the bugbear of public exi-
gency sign the 6rst the Little Bill he would aga in
J in of veto, have been reproached with raising
an expectation that he would sign the last the Big
Bill, to tax with hand and to distribute a de-
6cency with the other. If he vetoed the first they
were cry out there lao, and for collecting
venue for suffering country they to arraign
him for the "usurpation Of laying and collecting
of his own mere vi :" and if he signed the Little
Bill he to be held bound by that act, against his
known and expressed opinions, to sign the Big Bill
also, or be charged with vacation and Inconsistency
One effect of the veto OF the first to give fair
tce at least that he would the last and TO throw
hi IF E,
ing bill certain TO fall upon the shoulders where il
belonged.
That time was wasted, and the hopes of thousands
for relief were deferred un il another bill could be
prepared 10 extract another veto. The 9th section
n twihstanding every effort to strike it out by the
friends Of the President, inserted to repeal a
proviso of tie very land law which the Wing major
y had but the preceding session passed and they ac-
cused the President of preventing them from passing
an act which they themselves All already passed. and
which they, with surprising fcklcness were endeav
orng TO repeal And tins repeal of land law o.
vision to scatter revenue to be inserted in IA
bill to raise revenue They complained that the Pre-
sident would not consent that they should DESTROY
their work, and that he would not give his sane
ton TO an act to raise money from the People ind-
rectly, to give away TO the States directly that he
would not consent to fill an empty Treasury in order
to empty il again without paying the debts of the Fed
eral Government whose credit was DAILY dishonored
by distressed public creditors that he would not con-
sent to be generous in assuming State debts without
the constitutional power before he was lust in
paying the national debts without the means to pay
| them
course absurd, thriftless, and runous, was not
approved sincerely believe, by a large majority OF
the Wings themselves. few utras laid down the
iron rule" OF party to the majority, and made Ia
riff of duties to depend upon the distribution of the
proceeds of the public lands. They who exclaimed
on all occasions against the dctation of the
were themselves dictated to by her One Man. and
themselves dictated to the majority of their fellows
IN caucus. few of their mo moderate men.
know, were decidedly for separating the subject OF
revenue from that Of distributions and for disembar-
RAISING the questions Of relief and protection from