The northern galaxy. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1844-1848, 1844-04-24


There is an over production oil ihese arti-
,Ies errn now. Sir, there can be no mis-
take here. If this policy be not sustained,
NcwEngIapd must become desert; that fair
,,orrion Of your country, to which you are
so much indebted for whatyou are, must be
abandoned, Her industrious and thriving
population, her talent, her enterprise, aud
her moral worth, her social inf;itutions, sur
passed bv none, if equal'ed by any upon
earth, will be found there no more. The
fairest portion of the heritage whichGod has
given us must be made desolate, and the nur-
sery from which has gone forth go much OF
the elements Of your national power, pros
perity. and happiness, must be broken up
Her sons, whose energy and enterprise have
already founded States, and built an empire
in the West, and who have carried your COM
mercial enterprise to every quarter OF the
globe where the sails Of commerce could
watt it, will be called 10 abandon the place of
their nativity their domestic firesides, and the
temples of their God, and seek a new home
with the retreating and prosecuted savage up
on YOUR remote Western waters-losing
themselves and their distinctive character in
new mass. and leaving behind them the in
s;itutions Of their ADMINISTRATIONS which
in their new condition would mover be repla-
ced.
Does the Senator from New Hampshire
desire thisl Yet the Senator from South
Carolina, his co-worker and associate in the
cause of free trade, predicts l.. lie presents
TO our imaginstions stranger familiar with
the present prosperity and happiness Of New
England, revisiting that region after an abb
tence Of ten years, during which his free
trade system shall have been in operation,
surveying the ruin, and exciaiming, "what
demon of wrath has visited this once happy
country, and spread over lit the desolstion
which surrounds me-" Does the honorable
Senator expect by this appalling picture to
seduce us from our political faith. snd win US
to his thcoresl If the abandonment Of the
protective system is to lay waste our country
to exhibit its effects in the grass grown
streets-and the deserted and Wondering
ruins of our fair towns, does he expect us to
Join in promoting ihi, work of desolation!
But the Senator from New Hampshire has
presented his objection in another light. He
insists that duty upon the article received
by the farmer in exchange for his produce is
equivalent TO tax upon his produce, and
therefore that he is doubly tared. | agree
with him, that ii is not important whether we
consider the matter in the light OF tax upon
the foreign article consumed by him, or the
production Of his farm given in exchange for
IL. But | cannot agree that in either aspect
he is doubly taxed. 1t may be one or the
other-it cannot be both.
But, sir, this argument is no better for be-
ins turned into this shape. 1t depends, as
before, upon the assumption that the duty i'm
posed upon the foreign article enhances the
price to the consumer TO the extent Of the
dIiy. The reasoning is this: it the cost of
the foreign article 10 relatively increased. it is
Equivalent to Il reduction in that of the domes-
tic article. | have already endeavored to eX
pose the fallacy OF this assumption. 1t is,
suppose, the enormous tax upon iron, leather,
&e, which we have already discussed, that
Constitutes the taKupon the farmers produce.
will not repeat the argument, further than
10 say that if the article is produced or made
AT home. the duty on it when imported will
MT enhance the price because il is kept down
by domestic competition. If an article be
one of necessity and is not produced at home
duty would enhance the price; but it is not
part Of the protective policy TO tax such
articles.
But suppose il is true that the tariff of
1912 is, as the Senator supposes, a tax upon
the production Of the farmer Of 80 TO 30 per
cent. What remedy does the Senator pro-
pose! Why, sir, to repeal your duty upon
foreign fabrics. ((or this constitutes the taxi
abandon the idea of domestic market, send
your productions abroad. To the producer
OF wheat and other provisions in the North
west be says, go to England for a market
But he forgets TO tell them that England will
not receive pound Of il if she can avoid it
that she will take il only under the pressure
of necessity, when her own supplies are ex-
Larsted. or about to be so-and even then I'M
der enormous duties. That flour is subject
to a duty of so to 60 per cent, pork 40, beef
IS to so. bacon 70, butter and cheese so, &c.
He forgets also TO tell them that the domestic
market in New England, sustained by this
protective policy, is worth more TO them than
all the markets within the British dominions
Well, sir, what will the wheat grower gain
bv adopting the Senator's advicel Why he
gets rid Of this imaginary tax Of 80 per cent.
but, by sending his -four to England, he sub
jects it to duty of so or 60; which he Of
course has to pay himself, as English wheat
aud flour are not taxed. He cannot, there
fore, add the duty TO the price. lie sells hi.
dour,brings home the balance OF the product
left after paying the Juties and here he is
met by collector, who demands the 30 per
cent. NOT IN tne shape oil DUTY, out oil d.
rect tax for the support of his own Govern
ment. How much think you this farmer will
have left 10 purchase British goods, after
paying costs and charges of Transporting his
produce across the Atlantic fifty per cent. to
the British government, and what is equal to
thirty per cent. TO his own government! The
Senator would dssuade the American farmer
from paying the 30 per cent. duty for the sup
port of his ownGovernment and home mar
ket, but persuade him to pay 30 TO foreign
Government, and subject himself to direct
tax at home for the 80 per cent. If the far
mcr attempt to make his way through Cana
da, he is no better off; the expense is greater,
and the duty the same. He may sc,ld his
wheat into Canada, where il is subjected 10
duty of three shillings sterling per quarter, or
70 cents for every eight bushels. 1t must be
manufactured there to be nationalized, and
when it arrives in England.it is subjected to a
duty under their sliding scale. as il is called,
commencing with FIVE shillings sterling the
barrel. The whole duty, provincial and i'm
perial. BY way of Canada, is about two dol
lars the barrel the expense of transportation
byw of the ST. Lawrence exceeds that by