The Hillsborough recorder. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1820-1879, 1842-06-02

. gear shc previous eight yssn. Every
plan presented II thar srssion 81 Cougress
proposed 10 reduce lhs rates Of duties. so
that The revenue should nni exceed de
wants Of The G0ssrnmenf. and wilh more
or less pFolesssd u gard 10 lhe ineidrni.l
encouragement Of American labsr. The
ee.trsde, or whsi sss regarded "a n O
Souihern doctrine was. that duties should
be levied on al sriirlfs alike. shsiher
coming in incomPe,ilion with pr0dpciso &C
our own or mol. and II raie no higher
Ihan was sufficient 70 raise The REQUISITE
sum, which Was ihsa esumsled az lwel,s
10 thirteen per rent.
Thsy commended Cor this. and il vas si
that time Justly called . g horizontal ia-
riff" and l perceive By some memorials
.hsi The ses which passed Al ilal session
hes The sane term applied 10 il--whslh-
CT justly OF not. further examiasiion will
chow.
The law referred 10. instead Of provid-
ing Thai The dolles should be levied on 81
articles alike. declared thai many upon
which duties had before been laid. espe-
eislly such articles IS did not interfere
with. but which acre Necessary to. our
own productions. should afterwards be adj
miiied lres, and that y here any reduction
OF the rates should be Necessary. in order
10 diminish the amount OF revenue. such
reduction should be gradual. and resehing
through period Of nine or len years;
should evenluslly come 10 rate go per
cent? q: which sutiirienl amount OF re.
venue could be raised. on that class Of
articles. for an economical administration
Of lhs Government.
IL 10 therefore manifest that the law
contemplated adiscriminalioDb between The
articles which conc in competition with
those produced by American labor and
those which did not, 10 the fall extent of
collecting the entire revenue by duties
levied on ihe first, and permitting the last
10 be admitted entirely free. This 10 The
very inlenl and spirit Of the law. when
viewed with reference 10 the stale Of the
Poblic Treasury ., HE lime he law was
framed.
Ills true. times have since chabged. on.
expectedly and unfavorably changed. in
reference 70 the ability Of the county 20
consume and pay Zoe duisble imports.
as well as 10 the Increased expenditures,
and consequent necessiiies for increased
revenues. This change. which is often
sdver,erted 10 by The sdvocaies Of free
trade IS IL il were desired by ihe lliends
Of American labor. because il creses ne.
cessi,y for higher duties Than was expect
ed, is not, in fsci, favorable 10 any Kind
Of productive labor in this country, to my
knowledge. |, weighs down The prospe-
ri,y Of all, il destroys confidence, and.
with il, the value Of oil kinds Of proper
". ss.a
Neither does il furnish an opportunity
10 carry out peculiar doctrines OF discri-
minalion, in levy ing duties, between im-
ports which do. and those which do not,
compete with our labor. So fsr az the
principle Of protection is supposed 10
consist in discriminating duties. the ne
cessily for an increase OF duties has ope-
rated against The development Of that PEE
culisr feature Of The law. Boz, II The ca
pacily Of the country 10 consume imports
had continued as IL was expected, aud il
the necessities Of The Government had not
become greater Than when the law was
passed, we should have had discrimins-
ton between these two classes of impor-
ta,ions equalling the entire duty. or
twenty per cent; but. as il nov stands. n.
such dis,incIion between The Two kinds
Of Imports can be expected.
The free articles, or most OF them. are
already raised TO that rate; and TO e. Joy
the discrimination ofiwenly per cent con-
,emplaled in the bill, the duties on The ar
ticles intended To be projected could not
be reduced much below what they are
seen to have been during the late admin
istraiion. viz: rate Of duty Of ., least
forty per cent. So high rate | nave no
wish to see continued, especially as We
have the most convincing proofs Tia. SO
high duties are esaded in almost all cases;
and We have reason To believe that, from
their being SO high, they occasion many
: of those numerous frauds which have Lri.
ven almost all honest American merchants
from The business ofimporting, as well as
defeated both revenue and protection.
This leaves every American interest 10
/ becomes victim either TO the cDpidi,y
Of the foreigner who imports, or to The
necessities of The foreign producer a.
broad. Al any rate, sir. prefer th.t
certainty which is secured by The provi.s
sions Of that law, of collecting whatever
rate Of duty may be levied. by having the
basis Of il under the conrol OF our officers
and our laws, through home valuation,
TO any mere nominal rate OF duties, how
ever high. Aud there is abundant esi-
lenee before The country tina, all rates are
hu, nominsl, so lorg as you pstmii the
/ foreigner 10 fix upon The basis BY his in
voices, although you should require them
/ TO be singled over with oaths.
have been induced To say This much
Of The provisions Of the compromise act.
because il has often bee,l ass lrled lha, il
| surrendered The DTlnclnls of pfOtecilOn.