The Middlebury people's press. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1841-1843, 1842-04-12
PEOLES PRESS
Tuesday Morning, April IL, 1912
HISTORY OF THE COMPROMISE
BILL.


screen themselves from the storm of public in.
dsnation, which is raging around them, for
their hitherto fixed, uniform and inye,era,e
hostility to protection, By charging the disas.
trous results of the Compromise bill 10 the
wing; party. under the guidance of Henry
Clay, as if Henry [ lay, who has ever been re-
pu'ed the faher of the American system. whose
very first speech in Congress was upon the
subject of protecting domestic industry, and
who has never since quailed through good Or
through evil report, TO uphold il with NJ tho
ladium Of our best interests, had wantonly
put knife 10 the throat Of the offspring Of his
own creation, and made shipwreck of svs-
tenn which Is identified with his fame, and
fraught with such incalcu!able blessings 10 his
country. This charge can only be made on.
by cutting history in two, in the middle, and
contemplating Henry Clay, in the first in
stance, introducing the compromise bill, with
out looking back to sec what transpircd pre-
vlous to that perioj. A retrospect will sho
the charge TO be as false as the Ac,ran.
| We all reco!lect the excitement of the whole
South, iC 1892, against the tariff. In Nov
1882, South Carolina passed ordinances
multiplying the revenue laws Of the Union, de-
clared Them unconstitutional, forbid tho state
authorities from enforcing them, and threaten.
ed that If the United States should attempt to
coerce them, the State of South Carolina would
sccede from The Uuion. This rebel Stale was
sustained, If not 10 the full extern. of her null.
tlcaton, al least in her opposition to the tariff.
by all the states on Il C Other side OF the P0to.
mac; and dorm tcith IKE tariff, ,omahark he
tariff, sas the cry which rung through tho
whole Southern section Of the Union. Then
II was that in q moment Of transportation. Gen.
Jackson issu'd his anous proclamation,
threatening vengeance 10 qualification ald to
>. e. Calhoun and hi, coadjuto;s, who had
nourishcd il irio existence. Bui within one
short month. what q change came over tho
spirit of his dreams Ia his succeeding mos.
sage 10 Congress, the lion hearted jackson
fa"ned as subni>sively 10 those he h. j rebuk.
cd, as # they had been 50 many Androclrscs.
who were capable Of extracting thorn fom
his paw. He therein declares :; a, the ides
| OF II perirare It protective tariff was not 10 DO
admitted for moment aud tha, it should be-
retained only upon articles necessary in war.
The word was FOL lowed by tie deed, and sir.
VerPank, jackson man. and Chairman OF
the Committee of WAYS and Means. inmedi-
a,ely introduced bill, abandoning the pr,nci-
pie of discrimination altogether, and reducing
duties 10 horizontal tariff Of IS per cent.
This bill. which the political economists of the
| day we'll understood, would PROSTATE all the
manufactures of the country, vas sirenuouslv
opposed by Mr.. Clay and he whole whig par
ty, and as warmly sustained BY the whole
Jackson party, until the votes upon several in
cidenial questions clearly indicated its certain
passage through both branches of the Legisla-
lure. 1t was at This crisis. with The concur.
renee of most Of the friends Of protection in
Congress, that Mr.. Clay came forward with
the Compromise bill, as the only means Of saw
ing the manufactI ring interest from instant
annihilation hoping, could he obtain lease
for few years of life TO the mannfacturers,tha,
favorable change in public sentiment would,
at length, secure them permanent and pros.
porous existence. But, unhappily, from that
day until the revolution Of 1910, as in tho be.
ginning. Iocofocoism has been trimming its
sails to catch the breezes from the sunny
south. The destructive party have welded
every possible weapon against II, and even
now, its leaders and leading prints are pouring
out upon it NORWOOD and gall of the biuerest
cast, TO the complete satisfaction Of their
Southern allies. But why should we urge an.
other syllable TO show what history confirms,
that ii was the sweeping and deadly influence
of Jacksonism, which. in 1888, made the adop.
ton ofihe Compromise bill necessary as a con-
seryative measure, and that at the time, Mr..
Clay was hailed by the friends of protection a.
the savior of the country from immediate and
utter prostration, which the adoption Of the
Verpank bill would have brought upon il.
Who does not know that, had the Jackson par
ty al the north united with The wings in sustain.
ing the tariff of 1928, this country would this
be the most prosperous nation on
earth. And even during the present session
Of Congress. were it not for The humiliaiins
fealiy of the northern locos TO southern slave
holders, and the clogs which this unholy alli-
.nce is necessarily throwing in the way, a