Carroll free press. [volume] (Carrollton [Ohio]) 1834-1861, 1842-04-01

that raleP The section docs not so de-
clare Not only is this not expected,
and was not so understood, but directly
the reverse is asserted, and was so un'
dersood, if The exigenc;es Of the Trea'
snry required higher rate to provide
the revenue necessary to an economical
ad dministration Of the Government. The
third section, which embodes most of
the great principles Of the acI, is in
these words:
"Sec. 3 And be IL further enacted,
That, until The thirteenth day Of June,
one thousand eight hundred and forty.
two, the duties imposed by existing laws,
as modified by this act, shall remain
and continue 10 be collected. And, from
and after the day last aforesaid, all du
ties upon imports shall be collected in
ready money; and all credits now al
lowed by law, in the payment of duties,
shall be laid for the purpose Of raising
such revenue as may be necessary to all
economical administration 0Gthe Govern
ment; and, from and after the day last
aforesaid, the duties required TO be paid
by law on goods, wares. and merchan'
disc, shalt be assessed upon the value
thereof at the port where the same shall
he entered, under such regulations as
may be prescribed by law"
What is the meaning ofthis unguaee9
Can any thing be more explicit or less
liable to misconcep ptionR 1t contains two
obligations. The first ia, that there
shall be an economical administration
Of the Governments no waste, nu extra
vagance, no sqandering OF the public
money. admit this obligation, in its
fullest force, 10 all it's length and
breadth, and | trust that my friends
with or without my aid will fulfil it, in
letter aud spirit, with the most perfect
fidelity. But The second obligation is
no less binding and impera'iVe; and
that is, such duties SkdH be laid as may
be necessary to raise such revenue az is
requisite to an economical admnisrrA-
tion Of the Government. The source
Of the revenue is dehnod ard prescrib.
ed--the toreign imports, to the excIu-
sion OF all other sources. The amount,
from the nature OF things, could not ne
spec fed; bot whatever il may be, be
is large or small, allowing US 10 come
below, or requiring that we should GO
beyond twenty per cent, that amount is
to be raised.
contend, therefore. with entire con
Gdence, that it is perfectly consistent
with the provisions Of the CO npromse
act to impose duties to any amount
whatever thirty, torty, or more per
cent, subject TO The snee condition Of
an economical slmlnlstrslion Of the
Government.
What are the other principles Of the
act3 FIRST, there is the principle that a
fixed ad udlOrem duty shall prevail and
he in force at all times. For one, am
willing TO abide by that principle
There are certain vague notions ahoal
as to The utility and necessity Of spe-
cjfic du,ios aud determinations, which !
am persuaded arise from want Of a
right understanding Of The subject. We
have had the ad UalOrem principle prac
ticalIy in force ever since the compro.
mise act was passed; and there has been
no difficulty in administering the duties
OF the Treasury on that principle
It was necessary first to ascertain tho
value Of The goods, and then TO impose
the duly upon them; and, from the com
mencement Of the act to this day, the
G3 UGtorcm principle mas been substan'
TALLY in operation Compare the dil-
ference between specific and the Nd
valorem system Of duties, and | main
tain that the latter is Justly entitled to
the preference. The one principle de-
clares that the duty paid shall be upon
the real value Of Inc article taxed the
specific principle imposes an equal duty
or ar..ses greatly unequal in value. =
Coffee, for example land it is an article
which always suggests itself to my
thoughlS,) is one OF the articles on
which specific duty has been levied
Now, it is perfectly well known that the
Mocha coffee is worth at least twice as
much as the coffee of ST Domingo or
Cuba, yet both pay the same duty, The
tax has no respect to the value. but is
arbitrarily levied on all articles Of q
specific kind alike, however various anC
unequal may be their values say
thnt, in theory, and according 10 every
sound principle of justice, the ad valor
en- mode Of taxation is entitled to The
preference. There is, ! admit, one OBJ
Jecjon to it;H the value Of an article il
IA matter subject TO opinion, and as opin
ions viii ever vary, either honestly ol
lrauduIcn,ly, there is some difficulty il
preventing frauds But, with the home
valuation proposed by my friend from
Rhode Island, (Mr SImmons,) the aC
vnlorem system ran be adopted with al
practicable safety, and will be liable tt
those chances only Of fraud which are