The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1842-07-26
(Concluded.)


Yet before proceed, and TO avoid being mlsun-
dersIood let me do Justice TO my cahuiu in'ehu1 ~
les IONS who will study the general good and iegis-
late as periodically the farmer certainly mere are
and Heaven forbid that il should be otherwise but
mean for arhers To have In the general sense,
share OF ieglsia DIS essentially OF themselves Oh
Tins flour and the business of the country will tie
more Ilnparally done, and agricultural interests,
which the primary ones, will have that justice
mel d to them winch they entitled 10.
III Nv comes it IN this Tax bill, that you levy du-
~ on leather of from 80 40 per cent, and the same
on shoes while dry and sailed hides you lay du-
~ only of about fiom TO 10 per cent giving the
tanner advantage over hun, the farmer OF from 20
to 80 per cent How comes it that you lay duties OF
from % to TO per cent. wooen fabrcs and only
per cent on wool of down, thereby giving he
mar utAcure advantage of ID 10 6O per cent over
the farmer You aware that the farmer has
nearly whole OF the taxes that support his State
and county governments to pay, yet In this bill you
tax the leather for his horses and his shoes
some 40 per cent the iron and steel for his poughs
and han rows and spades and shovels, and hoes and
pitchforks and og-chaIns and holse-shoes and wag-
tire, some SIS per cent his sugar 80 to 10 per
cent his wltes pots pans and cups and sau-
GERS, 30 per cent the anti clmale products that
he Iaise on his farm, nor 10 his garden, such
lea coffee, and spices 100 10 so per cent even on
the very bullet that he puts IN his rifle to shoot per-
hops the enemies of his country, 100 per cent. i;
Wh lie two OF his staples coarse WOOL ana nlues,
be favored with five per cent. on the former, and
from 10 per cent. the latter, both at present
duty free. Besides doing injustice 10 the farmer by
importing wool duly free, We dong it to the
country by discouraging Its Increase Look at the
condition of soldiers during the last the
Canada frontier Id whole regiment in the dead Of
winter, without blankets What ID the consequence
of this difcrenlial duty on Wool, In Ohiol Nearly
the whole of the sheep in this State less
of the fine wooded Breed the farmer naturally looking
ot1., fxt,f .u rtrrla ah,uo shzH
policy in Iegi alion think do not know wha, SOL
deIs blankets like now but know that years
ago. wnen had occasion to know them through
quaintance with contractor manufacturer they were
composed chiefly of heap wool from South America,
kind of long HAIR, II might have been called that had
to be chopped up with axe, containing very little
warmth than horse hair and these some, at
least, of the blanket appliances urnis led at that day
to the soldier who fought the battles Of his country, to
protect hin from the inclenencies of winter weather
May not the farmer, with great propriety, ask the
advocates of such extraordinary discrinnative taxes
what they mean? do they mean to tax him for them.
selves but not themselves for him Well be this as
IL may, l have no hesitation in pronouncing, that
when he comes to understand the matter, he WILL
said before, enforce justice at the ballot he will
permit such injurious discriminating oferential
taxation, matter how specous in pretext He
knows, be sure, that indirect taxation cannot be
equal in its operation or results but It can be in its
special detail and provisions. He wishes to pay
cheerully, his share Of supporting his Government,
but, of course is unwilling that should be i'm
posed on him by partial Legislation The farmers Mr..
Chairman, in Olo, at least, are making progress in
the investigation of this thing of indirect taxation
and AN of opinion that there be no false issue
devised that will divert them from it their attention
is turned the truth-that they the broad indus
trial class the community bear the heaviest charges
towards supporting Governments, Federal and State
and that Is, therefore incumbent them see that
the indirect with which they are burdened to
that effect be levied equally and impartiay, by an
avoidance of the discrm alive sophlstry and the i'm
posing allacies belonging to it.
Their investigations will carry them also into the
field of discrimination which occupies Congress at
thismoment, but it will be to discriminate between
fact and fiction soundness and sophisy practice and
profession; between impartial legislation for the
whole and partial legislation for class and privilege
and local interest," and sectional pursuits and between
undisguised direct taxation and cloaked and hooded
tortuous, insidious, nsnuating, indirect taxation
And they will investigate, too, the principle, or ra
Their scheme, of protection-w whether where it is
special policy, it is not positively opposed to Demo-
cratic institutions, and whether the object of tariff
of protection is called has not in all cases been
antagonstical to the benefit of the whole People of
any country? But, for the affirmative of all this we
have the experience the positive evidence before our
eyes, in the situation and oppressed condition of the
laborng population of those countries that have at
all times had the highest rates of duties Ostensiby
the intention held forth to benefit the community
as whole, but that object has yet been attain
ed the result is to increase the wealth of the veal
thy. 1t has two-fold purpose-to stimulate certain
productions artifcally, and thereby produce large
surplus, and indirectly to increase taxation, while
both nure to the advantage of tie few and wealthy
the labor of the country having to pay all the taxes
and the wealthy being invariably the great tax con-
sumers. If there is to be dominant interest in a
Republic the general agrcult lral is the only one
that should be pernitted-any other would be dan
gerous free Government and absorb nearly all le-
gislation In saying general agricultural" mean
it is in our country individualsed, not where it
can be controlled in masses
As surrepttious dominant interest, we will in
stance banking, which had well nigh corrupted the
whole legislation of the Republic the mercantile
and next, it would seem, will follow the manu- actur-
ing, unless controlled in time. The general leeisla-
ton of the country has been almost exclusively for
these particular interests, while the agricultural h az
scarcely been thought Of.
The American Unlon consisting of such power
full galaxy of sovereign Republics, to be really happ,
and independent should be neither an exporting MOI
importing People particularly they should, in the
aggregate, do every thing Wi hin themselves as far az
op5sible The evils accrung from imports are OBJ
vous and those attendant on exports beyond the
imports, the result Of improper state of socie
ty, for the surplus production of country will bt
very great unless ii be articaly caused by an undue
inequality in the state of its population the man,
working exclusively for the profit of the few
Money is power commensurate with its uses mo
ney in diffusion is power in diusion that is none,
in the Peoples pockets is power dIffused among thu
People, therefore the People should not permit ont
dollar more to leave their pockets through the scheme
of taxation than will be sufficient for the necessar,
expenses of their Government it is abstracting pow
er from diffusion to concentration taking it from the
People and giving it to the Government-very unwise
IN Republic Above all action towards weakening
ditfused power in the People and concentrating it in
the Government, the device of indirect taxa ion or
consumption Is The most nsdious in progress and par
tlal IN operation But trust that the farmers and
workers Will put all these things rights for if they
don't, else will.
1t is somewhat amusing, Mr.. Chairman to see al.
vocates and strenuous ones, too, of American mann
features dressed all the time in foreign fabrics some
in full suit, and Others with the exception of an art