Litchfield enquirer., 1843-12-28
now HE soUIRMsl


Mr. Van Buren, having addressed a.sly letter to
some virginian, Gntended for private circulation
mefely,) in which be declared he had at no time
nor Gayschere hesitatea To- exprcss his DECIDED.
D1sApPnoBATIoN Of the Tariff act ef 1912, as
nell in RESPECT to THE PRMcIfLEs on schieh IL Is
founded as to its DETA1I.s'' next sat down to com
pose public address in the form Of his Indiana
Letter. well knowing that. it would be carefally
scrutinized by the whole country. He therefore
exerted his utmost art to express himself in such
manner on this vital question as to make his Ian
guage susceptible Of any construction either for or
against the policy Of protection as might happcnto
accord with the views of his adherents in different
sections or the Union. He, was perfectly aware
how important it was that his friends at the north
should have it in their power to quote him as "a
firm supporter Of American industry, and his parti-
sans at the south the devoted advocate of that
most miserable of all. chimeras, one sided free
trade; and therefore we find him acting on the
prohigate maxim Of the celebrated Talleyrand that
'THE MAIN oBJEcT OR PURPOSE or LANGUAGE is
TO ENABLE MEN TO CONCEAL THEIR rHoUGHTs."'
That we do no injustice to Mr.. Van Buren, will be
obvious on perusal of the following extract from
his Indiana letter: a
"The unbiased sentiment of the country in re-
spect to what la under suchscircumstances the
proper rule for legislative action upon this subject,
has, think by the course Of events and the prog
ress of opinion, been brought to thesconclusion
briefly expressed in Of the resolutions of your
convention, viz: A D1scRINnNATING TARIFF FOR
REVENUE PURPOSES ONLY ,and which willsnc des,-
tally protect American industry" - ~
We ask every friend of good tariff to book over
this paragraph and tell lf he can) what it means.
Is Mr.. Van Buren, for or against upholding Aneri-
can enterprise and labor Is he for or against
counteracting the aggressive and hostile legislation
of foreign nations Is he for or against policy
whichsevery good, wise and patriotic President
from Washington down has approved, and without
which prosperity both public and private is i'm
possible, and independence but snames There
is something IN this precious sample Of esuitism a.
Bout protecting Incidentally American industry
that scas intended for tie north and also some-
thing about tariff discriminating forrevenue pur-
poses only that pas Jfred 10 hsn,5ug The sossth
and sos.th-scesk What contemplate charlatanry!
and how utterly unworthy of one who has once oc.
cupied, and who aspires to occupy again, the high
est place in the gift ofthe American people,.
/. But let US examine little more closely this ex-
traordinary language Of Mr.. Van Buren-possibly
wemay ascertainits true import. Z" ann says he,
g in favor Of discriminating tariff for yeoenue
purposes only! and, which will incidesstaily pro
'tect American industy!' That ID to say, in iayiRg
duties on imports you have no right to any
thing else than revenue He says the tariff should
be for ,ece,aue purposes only. In framingssuch a
tariff he admits it is proper todiscriminateb nt he
insists it should do 50 torsvSe,sge purposes only
Tor, in other words, YOU must lay the HIGHEST pu-
TIES on articles which DO NOT come in competi-
ton with the products of American industry, and
THE LOWEST ON THOSE THAT DO, provided you
thereby get the most revenue. The sum of the
whole matter is that it is the duty Of the govern
ment to Discriminate against the industry of the
country if it can thus fill its own Golfers. And then
Comes in by way Of ccdicil the cunning suggestion
Mr.. Van Buren, we do not thank you for such
boonL If you lay some duties, however small, (on
iron for example,) there will be mcdicnm of pro-
tection-it is inevitable; bat can you do nothing
for interests of infinite importance to the country
except what is inevitadfe7 We beg you, Mr.. Van
Buren,, to amend your language, and for once in
your life to speak out like an honest man. Your
letter will then read thus: I" am in favor of ia
riff discriminating for revenue purposes only and
that may inevitably protect, in some degree, Amer
lean industry" And it may not! Mr.. " b.! and
if it did, the little miserable encouragement which
it happened to get from tariff thus discriminating
would leave millions to be crushed, and would
overwhelm the country with ruin. We deem the
plan of Mr.. Van Buren, (if he had any other pur-
pose than to deceive the country as infinitely
worse than the horizontal scheme of South Carroll
ma. Mr.. Calhoun is willing to have the duties on
imports substantially alike-20 per cent. adj valo-
rem-but Mr.. V. B. would, for revenue purposes,
discriminate against American manufactures. We
earnestly invite the attention of the people Of this
county to the extraordinary position which Mr. Van
Buren, now occupies on this vital question of the
Tariff. Can he be trusted with it for moment :
Let AL classes interested in the iron business not
merely the proprietors of FORCES and furnaces, but
all who supply the raw material and produce con-
sumed by these establishments, consider what
would be their fate if the principles of Mr.. Van
Buren, were carried out. Let the wool growers,
the wooden manufacturers, and all who find good
market in our thriving villages, attend to subject
. - - .. ~ -