Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1844-05-31

the space they fill IN the commerce and consumption OF
the country Here is the list:
Unmanuiactured wool, costing more than cents per
n,rnd also several manufactures of wool, such as car
pe,ings, fsnnels, bookings and oazes.
Cotton and manufactures OF cotton generally
Manufactures Of silk generally, and raw silks likewise
with the exception of floss silk purified from the gum
dyed aud prepared for manufacture.
Hemp and the most important manufactures thereof,
such as hagging gunny CLOTH SAL DUCK c0'o
age, cables, yarn, tw'"r, pacSthteao' se,'es
Flax unma nufartured oil cloths OF all kinds
Iron Of al, kinds and grea, variety Of articles made
of iron. ,
Lead: copper in rods and bolts, copper nails, spikes
and patent sheathng metal
Coal coke, glass and great variety Of articles made
of glass. ;. !.
Leather, and boots, shoes. and gloves made OF lea
Their. c,, ao
Hats made Of wool, and hat ooales' OF 'e''' 'haoe
wholly or in part Of wool
cai; suy,r Of all descriptions, moasses, spirits and
vnes Of all knds paint s,utfs and OILS, putty, books
paper, pepper, spices PROVISIONS ana oreao SUNS OF
ali sorts and multitude of other artcles-the whoie
making huge proportion Of the foreign commerce OIL
The country especially in the class of necessarles-
And according to the Treasury books, is apparent.
,h,t from the LIST Of October, l542 TO the goth OF
June la43 more than one halt OF the revenue de-
,yed from IMPORTS was obtained from articles IN the
,axation of which the ad ralorem principle 10 violated
Tho forepoipy must certainly be admitted to be q
strong showing Of the violation of the ad Salo-
,sm principle committed by Wing Congress, and now
espoused, sanctioned, and applanoed ny the whole
WIKI marty Of the North and West in the very face
&c tbe obligations of the Compromise, and OF the
commentator OF MIR. Clay, who, in his aforesaid reso-
lutons urgently advises, as we have already seen,
rhat especially maximum rate OF al caiortm duties
should be established from which there ought 10 De as
little departure as possible
The inouiry irresisbly forces itself upon US at this
point Why have the Wing party thus acted' What
could have been the nducement-what The temptation
a.. ndorc oh
to the Wing Congress OF lsa2-ihus' anu unoet sucn
aggravated to trample under foot the ad
yelorem principle That Congress was certainly IN
der yery high obligations to observe apd respect IT.
first. because it was the principle OF the Compromises
second. because Gen Harrison was elected, drawing
the Wing party along with HIM INTO power under
nledpe TO support the principles of the Compromises
third because Mr. Clay, the acknowledged chieftain OF
the marty after General Harrisons death-the osens-
BILE exponent of their principles, and the man upon
whom they were avowedly ralyipg as their candidate
for the Presidency-was not only the author OF Inc
Compromise but had continued at all times and IN
the most express manner TO advocate its principles,
and to inculcae the policy and obligation OF observ-
ing them.
These TO say nothing of other and more general ar,
uuments that might be mentoned) were strong special
reasons why the Wings both in and out of Congress,
should have anxiousy adhered to the al ralorem prIn
cipe Why then, the question again occurs, did they
disregard all these considerations, and so grossly Vo
late that principle in their adj ustuent OF the tariff
The answer to this question is as easy to find, as II
ia bumiliang when found Ii is 10 be looked Tor IN
that bad quality of human nature, which, with the Ger
tainty OF instinct leads who have made up Their
minds TO the commission of one crime, or wrong, mol
10 be everscrupuous about the commission OF another
in order TO conceal it. The secret uIen oil
the otherwise inexpcable violations OF the al rdtoIe"
principle with which the Tariff OF lSl2 abounds Is thus
The Protectonists in and out OF Congress, were DC
termned for the emolument OF the manufacturing N,
teres;s raise the duties certain leading articles
necessity and consumption 10 greatly higher rates acore
the tventy per cent. Of the compromise, Man could De
justified by considerations IF rccenuc; 10 raise them an
deed rates high and enormous, that they shT"n@
from publishing them 10 the people IN PLAIN al ratortm
phraseoioeu on the statute beck. THIS eXorbani III
crease Of duties for the sake protection was The man
point on which the resolves Of the party were fixed
This was the radical the ganful CRIME aga'ns. the Com
promise aud the people, which they could not lind II
IN their lucrelogns hearts to lose the opportunity oil
perpetrang but which they deemed It polite To mask
as much as possible from thew OF their injured
countrymep, although that very masking to winch
they rrsored constituted, in itself, second ard m
dependent crime, both against the Compromise and The
people.
Here, them in the artful and anxious desire to con-
ceal from the people the magnitude and injustice OF
the taxes to which they about 10 be subjected
we are furnished with The true key to the unfrene-
ness Of the protectonis.s the nd raorem plan of I'M
posts and their ondness, as exhibited IN the exstng
tar f. for the system o! m'nlmums, fictitious valuations,
and specific duties for, under thus later system no
which himself or his family consumes, unless he can
frs, find out how much the articles cost in the foreign
country whence they brought, and how much II
cost 10 bring them here. This kind OF information II
difficult for any person with certainty and exact
ness and il generally be GU, Of the reach Of the
mass Of The community and even 1t man should be
80 lucky get It, there yet another thing Tor hm
10 do; he must 70 through the process OF disenan-
Cling the rne from this perplexed system OF spechc
duties and minimum Valuations and reduce the whole
10 plain ad raoiem per csptage before he can arrive
at satisfactory idea u! the degree oil taxation WE'LL
this is kind Of arithmetic in which the Woodworking
,ax.paying people Of this country are not generally
yersed Taking advantage, then, of these difficulties
under which the people necessarily labor, and which
open such wide and inviting field for the arts OF Oh
fuscatlon, Misrepresentation, and decent Congress- IN
le42 for the sake OF promoting certain pet interests
and investments of capital at the North, ventured, IN
violation Of the Compromise, violation OF all equity
and constitutional right, to up, under the DIS
guse of specific duties and minimum valuations, eho'
nous rates of taxation on most Of The Leading ana es
sen,al articles of consumpon-rates OF taxation SO
exorbtsnt and oppressive that neither that Congress
nor any other that sat, would have dareo, for
such purpose, TO impose them in the piain honest,
open-aced method Of al caorem duties
On cotton goods, for instance, although there IS
nominal Of 30 per cent? yet the duties are, ny
Cnriou.ly conir,ved system OF mnimnms, mace ac-
tuay to range from 80 per cent to lOO, and even 10
$50 per and upwards; the cheaper and coarser
qualities invariably paying the higher rates ana .he
finer and more costly once the lower ates, thus
people in poor and middlng circumstances more hea-
yy on their necessarles than the rich on their uxu-
lies
Manufactures of wooi not to have been IN alto
pethc as great favor with Congress as those OF cotton
doubtless because they form feebler and less exen-
sively established interest and consequently are less
abe to enforce demands for projections hence there was
willingness to stop the duty on woollen goods gene
ralu a, 40 per the real value; degree OF tax
alton which the Protec,ionis,s thought moderate
tina, they could TO express II IN PLAIN ad rao-
ram LANGUAGE. But there certain clsses of wool
lens for the coarser qualities Of winch much higher
duty than 40 per cent resolved which the
duties were for the sake of protection 70 br up as
high as Co. 80, and even 100 per cent, on tie value
Carp.tings, Rannsis bookings, and ba'-es, belong TO
This favored class and here the nd raore mode of lay
ing duty dropped and the specific mode adopted
and adopted manifes,ly for other reason than TO
screen the enormy and gross inequality OF the taxa
ton The four classes OF articles just named sub