The Charlotte journal. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1835-1851, 1844-07-26

Of Congress. That lie enemies of Mr.
Clay should have so exposed themselves j,
matter TO be regretted; but when the
friends Of the tariff, and the very men who
, profess the utmost confidence in The Iecti
lnde and consistency of that great states
man fall into the same error, il is high time
their mistake should be corrected.
= It's perfectly ,rne that the frs, section
OF the act fixes twenty per cenum ad yalo
rem as the lowest rate at which dutiabit
articles should he admitted after the BOZ |
oil June, ls42 but the third section Of tho
act provides that, from and after that day
duties upon imports shall be laid for The
purpose oil raising such revenue as may BE-
necessary 10 an economical administration
OF The Government :; and also that such
shall be assessed Oh the home Ualuafioa,
aud payable in cash. The leading princi
1 Piles established by The act were, first, tina,
after the Both Of June, 1912, sufficient
revenue should be raised from import du.
ties alone TO delray the expenses of,h Gov.
eminent secondly, that no more revenue
should be collected Than should be dcman-
& 49, " az N1OhblIIlNdl ubHliAlstId klOl vi kiiC
Government; thirdly, that the best posi-.
BILE guards against frauds on the tariff should
be established by the adoption of the new
system Of assessing tie duties on the home
instead OF the foreign value, and making
those duties payable in cash. Whether
these duties, from which all the revenue
Tor the support Of Government was 10 be
derived, should be fixed al twenty per cent,
or at tlly per cent, or any other rate, was,
OF course, sui jrct left for the future con.
sldetation aud action OF Congress, @heney.
er Il should be discovered that the mini
mum rate Of twenty per cent, adopted by
the first section or the bill, was insufficient
for the support Of Government. Nothing
was further from the intention Of those who
passed this law ihnn 10 attempt to prevent fu.
lure Legislation, discriminating with a view
to protect home labor, IN the contingency
OF defect Of revenue from duties Of twenty
per cent. | have ever regarded the tariff
passed by the Congress Of ls42 subs,sn.
tial compliance, in most respects, with this
pledge IN the compromise act, with this cx
ception only: that law, while il Ievles du
ties on imports to- support The Government,
looks 10 the proceeds Of the sales of the pub.
lie lands as an auxiliary for that purpose !;
while the compromise act gave TO me, as
thought when voted for IL, md to every
other friend OF The protective system, nj tho
same time, solemn assurance that after
the 30th of June, ls42, the land fund
should cease TO be regarded as q source OF
revenue, and that all the real wants of The
Government should be supplied exclusively
from duties on imports, assessed so as 10
prevent frauds and payable in cash.
To understand this subject, as It was re.
ally understood by those friends with whom
acted in the passage OF the compromise
act, II IS necessary TO recur 10 some other
proceedings contemporaneous with It. Mr..
Clay's bill 10 distribute the proceeds Of the
sales Of the public lands among the States,
which passed both Houses Of Congress
about the Same time with the compromise
itself, was by US regarded as part and par.
Gel Of one great rercnHe und .fadRcidt SgS-
TEN, which We desired to establish Tor the
benefit of the whole country. " bile ten
pofafily surrendering the land fund TO the
States to which it righ,tuIy belonged, in
the Judgment of the Congress Of 1888, we
provided, in the compromise act, that there
should be day fixed al which, in accord
ance with suggestion previously made by
Gen. jackson himself, the land fund should
forever cease TO be regarded as q source of
revenue by the General Government. 1t
-, l,t sl,,,,Il Ic,n ,ctol
wisely, as the event proved, by incorpora.
ting the provisions of distribution bill in
the compromise itself But who could
have supposed. at that day, that President
Jackson would have vetoed bill which
carried out his own snggestioni Never
,heless, he defeated that great and salutary
measure of distribution by means which no
end can ever Justify. lie refused to return
the bill with his objections to the House in
which II originated, unquestionObly because
he had reason to believe that, had he com
Piled with this, his constitutional duty, each
branch Of Congress stood ready, by a vote
Of two thirds, TO make the bill a law, in
spite Of his veto.
have said that the tariff Of 1912 is, in
my view, substantial compliance, IN most
respects, with the principles Of the com
promise act, md the pledges given IN that
act on the subject of the regulation OF do
ties from and after the 30ih Of June, 1872.
Bot it was not compliance in all respects,
In my humble Judgment, had the tariff of
lSl2 been passed strictly in the spirit of
the compromise itself, II would have been
better tariff for protection than the law now
in force. II would have better guarded the
revenue agalus, frauds IN the foreign vaIua-
ton; aud 1t would more eilectually have
checked excessive importation, which is one
of the creates, curses of our country
The distribution of the land fund among the
States. contemplated by the compromise,
and temporarily provided for by the land
bill, would have pu, an end to the agitation
OF the question OF protection forever; and
the principle avowed and sustained by MIR.
Clay, that in laying duties for revenue, dis,
elimination should always be made in favor
nf orotrctOn rs an incident 10 revenue.