, 1842-07-23
TVOL. mo. 1871

VIC IOFcTLilleul uO IouulI6 du III.
crease oil the tariff of duties above 90
per cent, and | as little doubt but
that above as we'll as below that rate
Congress may so discrim mate, as to
give incidental protection to manu-
featuring industry-thus to make the
burdens which it is compelled to i'm
pose upon the people for the purposes
ofGovernment, productive Of a dou-
BILE benefit. This, most of the ca
sonable opponents of protective du-
ties seem willing to concede, and if
we may judge from the manifesto
tons of public opinion in all quarters,
this is all that the manufacturing in
terests really require. am happy in
the persuasion, that this double object
can be most easily and effectually ac-
complished at the present juncture,
without any departure from the spir-
it and principle of the statute in ques-
ton. The manufacturing classes
have now an opportunity, which may
never occur again, of permanently
identifying their interests with those
Of the whole country, and making
them, in the highest sense Of the term,
a national concern. The moment is
propritious to the interests of the
whole country in the introduction of
harmony among all its parts and all
its several interests. The same rate
Of imposts and no more as will most
surely re.establish the public credit,
will secure to the manufacturer all
the protection he ought to desire,
with every prospect of permanence
and stability which the hearty acqui-
escence Of the whole country, in a
reasonable system, can hold out to
him.
But of this universal acquiescence
and the harmony and confidence and
the many other benefits that will GER
tainly result from it, regard the sus-
pension ofthe law for distributing the
proceeds of the public lands as an in
~dispensable condition. This meS;
sure IS in my juds- MAORI.
fy;," Of the people of the U. States, by
the state of the public credit and
finances, by the critical posture ofour
various foreign relations, and above
all, by that most sacred Of all duties,
public faith. The act Of September
last, which provides for the distribu-
ton, couples it inseparable with the
condition that it shall cease-lst. In
case of war; Cd. As soon and so long
as the rate ofduties shall, for any rea-
son whatever, be raised above &C per
cent. Nothing can be more clear,
express or imperative than this Ian
guage. 1t is in vain to allege that a
deficit in the Treasury was known to
exist, and means taken so supply it by
loan when the act was passed. 1t is
true that a loan was authorized at the
same session during which the Distri-
button law was passed, but the most
sanguine of the friends of the two
measures entertained no DOUBT but
that the loan would be eagerly taken
up by capitalists. and speedily reim-
bursed by a country destined, as they
hoped, soon to enjoy an overlooking
prosperity. The very terms Of the
loan making it redeemable in three
years. demonstrate this beyond all ca
vii. Who at that time foresaw or
imagined the possibility of the actual
state OF things, when a nation that
has paid OF her whole debt since the
last peace, while all the other great
powers have been increasing theirs,
and whose resources. already so great
are yet but in the infancy oftheir de-
velopement, should be compelled to
haggle in the money market for a pal
try sum, not equal to one years reve-
nue. on her economical system? If
the Distribution law is TO be indef-
nltely suspended, according not only
to its own terms, but by universal
consent, in EAST of war. wherein are
the actua! exigencies of the country,
or The moral obligation to provide for
them, less under present circumstan-
ces than thsy could be were we actu-
ally involved in war? 1t appears to
: me to be the indispensable duty of all
: concerned in the administration of
: public affairs, to sea that a state Of
5 things so humiliating and so perilious
, should not last a moment longer than
is absolutely unavoidable. Much
S less excusable should we be in part
: ing with any portion Of Dur available
t means, at least, until the demands Of
: the treasury were fully supplied. But
s besides the urgency Of such conside-
rations, the fact is undeniabls that
the Distribution act could not have
become alaw without the guaranty
t in the proviso of the act Itself.
This connection, thus meent to be