Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1844-09-06

One Of the Whig papers has held up the fol-
/ lowing, massage of this ;iddrcss-and others have
circulated il. withan ayidity sufficiently comfii-
mcntarv 10 ourselves:
perhaps il is no wild suppoSition 10 conceive,
Thai even ii The present attacks on our iraoe Hhot'ia
blow over. Congress may adopi me policy oi en-
coura.inu oar own manufactures by rather high
cr dulres ON the imported articles OF Europe. To
keep ourselves from hcing altogether dependent on
EuIone Tor our clothing. Congress may adopt
This corfsc. If they should discover from the en-
! pcricncr Of the Intermediate time. that We have
rcally me Inclination and Tie spirit TO clolhc our
selves
(Signcd) WM. II. CABELL
WM. WRIT.
WIN FOUSliEE. SR,
PEYTON RANDOLPH,
THOMAS RITCHit.*
We commenced our Editorial career with our
minds fresh from the School al Adam Smith
and deeply imhpcd with al his free trade OPT
niolr>-not garl'ci as they were in Mr. Rircs's
Ia, speech 10 the senate. (and The gross msreprc
srnlaiion has been exposed in the Mobile Regis
c! bul as they appear in his own illusirlous
nayes-yci going one inch beyond him. The
yrcat principle which he LAYS down and Is ii is
siio;icd hy the Free Trade Convention OF Phia-
d.lphia j., that each man Is Il better Judge OF ms
ovu interests than the Government can be- and
,lnt the inicres; Of the whole community j. made
uI of The interests oi The several uniis-!hat indi
vitaals will fad ont for themselves, sooner than
the Government can, whether il is best for them
to aisc produce from the land, or work raw
marras into manufactures.
An important political change, however, came
ovcr;he country, towards the close OF Mr.. Jcier-
son. administration and the commencement OF
Mr.. Aia,;isun> These two statesmen had for
some time been under the impression, that instead
Of going 10 war with England, il was better 10
brin. her 10 her senses, ami obtain justice al her
hands hy restrictions upon her commerce. Mr..
Jefferson had adopted this policy in some III hi
Reports, as Secretary of Stale.-Alr Madison
had, in the same spirit. brought forward his cclc-
bra,cd Resolutions of ~. Carrying out these
ideas Mr.. Jefferson proposed during his admin
i>traiion, the virtue of dis experiment upon III"
augmented aagreSsions OF En9land-and finally
the same coercive system was extended lo the
rclaliato.v DEGREES OF France. The consequence
was first an EMBARGO: and then the various laws
restricting the commercial intercourse with these
European powers. Commercial restrictions be-
cam. thus, in fact, a substitute for war-inGecd
rs many called the system. war measure. IL
might have been successful, hut for the secret opc-
rtiolis OF active Smugalcrs and the discDntcnl> ri
large proportion OF the Eastern people. This
hing however took place. The moment the
system went into effect foreign goods became
dcalel-and domestic manufactures were rcsoItcd
To "a a substitute Many of The best patriots
OF the land began 10 wear domestic clothes, and
eren 10 drink domestic wines. Rut the demand
incrcascl-and instead of limiting the maHulac
itrcs 10 domestic labor and the spinning wheel,
ant tic single loom, factories BEGAN Ia rise up,
with their complicated apparatus Of spinning
PENNIES and water power. We ncoilcct We
rs well how. under This feeling thu Inst At
tempt 81! Benjamin ]. Harris, Esp. la c>ial-
li>h q cotton mill on the banks Of the James Ri
yer Canal was hailed with satisfaction. Every
one who was Interested i'll the result oi this qHaSi
war measure srmpathiSed with the rising iacto-
ries OF the land, and wished them success. They
continued 10 increase upon Us. until the end OF
the war They multiplied the more, of course,
during the war The idea was, al first, 10 coninc
the manufactures We wanted TO domestic labor
and when manufactures a2pcaicd, 10 encourage
them only Nv IN active consumption OF their pro-
ducts But first we were told, that many would
not engage in them, until they received some pro-
lection from increased duiicS-and when The ca
pital was .ll,is invested that it was right for some
time at least ito preserve and promote the mantI-
farnrcS which had sprung into existence M.
kid;mr'' lieSagc NJ f;b l-lj] Vel, here was
the diliiculiy-how 10 project those which were in
existence. without inytir. further capital To be
Such was the course of events al that interesting
period of our History
Ii was in The mitist of these stringent CONNER
cial restrictions, which We're regarded aS a pre-
ven,ive against tie tii>Tes>c> OF war, that the
meeting was held in Richmond. and the Address
was published, from which The above is an ex-
tract, The great principle OF Free Trade be-
came modified by the pressure of the pending
crisis, AMI The Committee were prevailed upon 10
add a, 4 last resort, proposition 10 lav ''ra'h'f
higher duties (ot course, than those which then
cxis;cj.)
This was 81 years ago-and what flood Of
l;eht has since been she'd upon theeScc>>c> ot the
Protective System. and upon the dangers Of sio-
laling The great principle ai Free Tradc "Ra-
Mer Hehcf duties was the expression. But "r0-
tier hiober," ccFtan; did not make them nearly rs
hiol. rs thcv have been from The Tariiiof 1916 10
that Of - The duties were then, and down 10
1912 never a. high a ~ per cent. They varied
from ) 10 l5--the average not more than l3i.
and this too, after they had been raised rather
higher" about the times To which we reer-To
compensate tic reader for this dull narrative BIZ
giving him somchin" more substantial. we lay
before him n briel and very general summary
Of the earlier Revenue laws ot lhe l. =. prepared
!y Il friend from the laws themselves They
Will show how the snow hall ma continued II IL
cumulalc until is mass hal become inlolcrabe-
for. then came The 'Bll of denominations" Of -
and the rather modified law OF 80. and then Mr.
Claws Compromise Act of ':33 and then the &c,
Of 'i2, which violates his solemn pledge, and
pros,raics the Compromise act Of '333:
Rrie,cncc 10 the Document. struck by the last
Congress embracing all the revenue laws tha.
have been passed, with The Votes, j,o and coa,
Of both Houses Of Congress-
"ls, Preamhle-reciies, 'HHneccmry,'
among other things, for The encouragement and
protection of manufactures THIS act passed
June l7th. l1e3--aycs and noes in neither House
taken.
..2rd. Page G6-Act of August 9Th 1890
Preamble rccitcS that OF The act Of June l1th,
| 1S3 and adds and, whereas liz support OF Go
vernIncnt and the discharge o! The said debts.
render il necessary 10 increase The said duties =
HrI. this law drors, as one Of its purposes. the
encouragement and protection Of manufactures
Yet further mark The 9TH section, page Is where
il provides that The duties are TO he collected and
paid until The debts and purposes for which they
a!c pledged and appropriated shall be tally dis
charged"
This is The last preamble TO any Of the laws.
"Pascs &c and l01.-Act OF June : 1871, On
all manufactures OF cotton or linen &C.. &c, or
Of which cotton and linen is the material OF chief
value. being printed, stained, or colorcd, per
cent ad rQlorcm.
"a, oi March, 1904. imposes an aldiliona!
duty Of >! per ecn'um 0d rgLofcM, 10 assist in
carving on the war against TriPoli or any ether
o. li.c Bafhary powers.
"Pa4c ZIG, JULY !, lsl2-ITw du'jcs-lail on
100 per cent, o- doubling existing dulles, and
made the average ob0m - per cent. Highest du-
~ dGdcr previous acts did not exceed Is per cent
un-and lie previous average rate was aboul l3,.
spagc l25, act oil February D, 1916. continues
tie war duties until jane 80 IslG, and adds IL
per cent. on the former duties from that day.
page $50. Tariff act Of April 9Th lsl6-see
page 49, Fourth clause oilhe Isl section, shows the
duties on woollens and cotions were imposed for
revenue purposes, and the % per cent. was 10 con
linue foT three years only, and then 10 fall back 10
20 pcr ccntum; ibis il obstructive OF the protective
,nLaS.. dI.Li.,s GOOD % ccrtn,,,