The Arkansas banner., 1845-11-12
From the Constitution
FACTS ABOUT THE TARIFF.

V ii0h a oolqoFersy arlses, and an aSSer- ton IS made by one party, which is met by an assertion equally bold and completely contradictory by another, the credit which will be given to these contradictorv asser- tons, will generally be governed by the rela- i've weight ol characters of the parties nak- Ing the assertions. It may, therefore, hap- pen that the person with the most weight of character may, from ignorance or other eau Ses' De Tn the wrong; and yet, from his gene ral Pfooity, hls assertion may obtain cre- aence, although his opponent may in reality, DC right. When, therefore, an assertion Is made, and that IS contradicted, the way to settle It IS 10 reeur to facis, and let them speak theF own tale as to the matter in dis pute. On this principle, we have invariably on every controyerted point relative to the lniqnltous operation of the Tariff of 1842, brought forward facts to show the oppres- slVe, unequal, and injurious operation of that measure And VIC now propose to bring to to iight few fdcts to show the operation of the "specifc " " principle as relates to silks, with reference to which the lnteligencer of Friday says:
 '.He says silk does not pay duty according to It's ratne, but according to its peieht. Is ne really so ignorant as not to know that the pafrc of silk manufactures depends upon and IS Tn proportion to their leaigRa9 Weare' 'un- willing to ascribe to any thing but ignorance such pernersien of the truth as that the costlier silks consumed by therich are FgM CT than the coarsar and heaUi9r ones which. are used by the poorer classes. Does he not know that the terms 'coarse' and fqe' are not applicable to silk manufactures that the descriptions are Heary' and sHghi2'''
 To meet this with mere ''asserton'1 to the contrary will be to leave the matter open to l controversy, and 10 be decided by those who have no knowledge on the subject by what they conceive to be the relative character for veracity of the parties. We will not leave the issue thus open. We appeal to ftets.
 It is an indubitable fact, that the dscrip- tions of silk piece goods for making dresses are ''heary' and .fHght.2 IL is equally in- dubitable that of such goods the s.aeqeE'' are ''cosilier" than the "Hght" But 1t Is not true : that the calae of silk manufactures is in proportion to their aeaightn To prove this, we will give a few facts We have ob- talned the heights of several peices of silk goods for dresses, their leaetb in yards, and their price per yard, which are as follows;
 Length. Weight. Price .yd. Val. ofp'ee pee 69yds. 3 lbs. Coz. 629 els. $s7,50 1 s' 4S '' s' < I374 g35O " II ..3 2,90- 23.00
 These are the reiaH prices in this city. The freight, charges, insurance, Sc on goods imported to this country, are computed a: 12a per cent. on the invoice price at the place where bought; and the merchants profit Is computed at Is per cent on the cost, duties, and charges as so obaind; these are the data upon which returns are made to Congress. Leaving, then, the retailers profit out Of view, and supposng the aboqe value to be the wholesale value, if we deduct from them thir- ty per cent. we shall obtain the cost withdn- lies added; and five deduct from that amount the daties at S2.50 per pound aceigh, we shall have the cost price, and can easily as certain what proportion theduty is to the cost and also what the proportion ol the cost is to the aceigM. We give the single pieces in the same order as they are above:
 Val per30 perct Cost less Weight Duty at C'stless piece. value 3g per ct. per piece s2 50 D ID duty $37.50 SlI 2 $26,25 lbs. 6 oz. $sS.44 $l7.Sl 93.59 2s.05 65.45 c Ij.G0 50.45 28.0o S.49 l9Go 29z 1883
 tdiGe Sost per Kate of duty lbs. oz. @5.28 $I78r s8.44 sl789 0 8,30 50.45 l5.00 2973 ? 14.O0 1868 2.97 I779
 It will be seen rem these tables that the ualHe ofsiil manufactures is not in proportion to their aceigdt; for while the best quality of silk here given costs IA per pound, the or dinary silk only costs S5.28 per pound, and yet the latter pound pays just as much duty as the former; and the proportion of duty to the cost on the inferior quality is more than twice, and nearly three times as much; for while the costiier silk pays only segea'eea per cent. duty. the inferior pays .forfg-serea per cent. duty. This is the effect oI the '.speci fc" principle. It makes the poor pay near ly three times as much in proportion as the rich. And be it romemberd too, that the supporters of the tariff of 1842 say 1t is to protect American labor by taxing foreig labor, and yet the difference in the value of the two pounds weight of siIk--the one being 5528 and the other $14 per pound, is almost en- hrely caused by labor-there being the same weight of silk in each pound.