The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1845-10-11
sorcIFIC DUTIES OF THE ACT OF '42--
. me M pINTEILIGENCER ON THE TARIFF.

=. with bunder. We expected they would
Gall before they had gone far in the race, but
p. Aid hope, ifony for good sports sake, that they
'.;,b, not Start with miserable stumble. What
dses the Intelligencer aim at-what Is Its drft-in
...,,np that the ''terms coarse and fine are me- APP
sr,.hs 10 silk manufactures !" 1t s not for us to
:, al opponent right on such point We refer
,hs Integencer to the shopboys and the milliners'
,n,ertices. for first lesson in the vocabulary Of
.l.a. Some "kind-heerted old woman" TO whom
a. National Intel gencer has been SO pery polite
- refer us for little elementary information on
.nch au6s, may, perhaps, be found to take charge
:, i,s education in such matters, SO soon as It shall
have got up one solitary step beyond the alphabet.
Wa said that "the coster silks (meaning, of
.o,,.s fauca silk fabrics) CONSUMED by the rich,
h.os lighter, pay much less duty BY the pound than
A.. .oarser and heavier ones which are used by
~. noorer classes of the community" The lntel-
first confesses that it does not kaoO the mean
;ng Of this proposition-then proceeds to deny it,
and then writes on in reftation Oft It's refutation
!, ina, about as successful as we should expect
had loecian's argument to be, when he sets out by
,ons,,ne that he did not k,,o,O phai he arguing
against.
Now, on, of pure kindness to the "lntelligencer,"
| m whose polished manners and old gentemanly
,onr,esv we must again express our acknowledge
men,s \ we will make our meaning just as plain
as possible. We hope we may assume that
the "Inteigencer' knows that the present tar
aF IMPOSES a duty of two dollars and fifty cents
ner pound on silk goods. We hope also that we
NAV give the "Inelligencer" credit for knowing
that merchants and consumers usually buy such
goods, not bp The pound, but by the yard. Now, we
bee the "lnteigencer," standing firmly on these
facts. to put forth its whole logical power, and
grasp an inference, which, its editors fond of
cold women" we of the "Union" are more pleased
10 illustrate by the character of young lady.
Here, then, is Miss Wilhelmina Cavendish, the
rich belle of this season--when she selects some
beautifully fine, gauze-like, transparent silk scars
or maniias, or ball dresses, daintily figured and
colored, she will find that good many yards Of
such articles will neigh less than the substantial
Main black silk gown, which Mrs. John Smith, the
workingmans wife, (and she need not be the ia
yorie "old woman of the '.Intelligencer" ether,)
has worn to church every Sunday for two years
past But, as the duty is charged by the ,oeght Of
the silk, and not by the number of yards, or by the
cost of the article, the poor woman has had to pay
two or three times as much duty as the belle will
pay. Non we trust the "Intelligencer" does fully
understand us. This is just what we meant when
we said
"The costlier silks consumed by the rich being
lighter, pay much less duty, by the pound, than the
coarse and heavier ones, which are used by the
poorer classes Of the community"
And so we congratulate the Intelligencer on hav-
ing got successfully through with its morning les
son on the working Of the silk duty. If our con-
temporary will only behave itself like docile and
Selnannsrsd pupil hereafter, will overlook the
past and we may, ere long, take the trouble to lead
ii through another "frst exercise"
But away with such puerilities! When We said
that the present duty on silk bore hard and une-
qualify on the poor man, we stated no new doctrine.
The same view was urged again and again in de-
bate against the silk duties of the present tariff and
according to our best recollection no attempt even
was made to answer the objection. We quote al
most a, random from the congressional debates OH
the subject. Mr.. McKeon, for example, one of the
abest representatives the commercial metropolis of
our country, who from his position, ought to know
something of such matters, said on the floor Of
Congress:
Moreover, you have proposition to tax the article
silks BY fright The hearies articles those generally
By the poorer classes and these articles imported
the greatest quantities into this country You will moi only
dsprie h wires and daughters Of The hardreskng 81
her sunday dresses but you wiH diminish your rerenue"
We might 60 on with such quotations, od ibit,m
But the point is really too plain to be argued.
And now, one word more to the "Natonal In
telligencer." That journal vapors about what it
will do in rebutting the arguments of the "Union"
against the tariff. But, alas for the "Intellgencers
swelling promises! They are the sure forerunners
Of small performances. 1t vapored just SO, when it
threatened to expose the Postmaster General 10 the
censure ofthe country, for assuming Gas the Nation
al lntellgencer pretended) the power 10 arrange the
mail to Texas. vapored just so, when it threatened
to demosh the Secretary of War, for arrogating las
II also pretended) a power to call out the militia,
through one of the major generals of the army, in
oehance as it would have to believe, of the con-
si'utlon ITSELF Upon both these questions it was
fary vanquished, and then consulted the "better
part OF yalor--the discretion" of silence II va
pored still louder if possible, when it invited us to
discuss the question of the Texan boundary; and
now its course on that question is the very byword
| OF sore and sad rout and discontinue. Such NAV
also be its fate the tariff, if it shall see fit to dis
cuss that subject But at all events, it shall have the
chance.
The oppression and injustice Of the present tariff
rest as we conceive, mainly on three principles
They are:
II" The principle Of protection, as opposed to
the principle of revenue.
"a. The principle of minimum valuations, esiab-
"'ned oy law as basis of duties, in place Of the
'eal oalut' Of the articles imported
81 The principle Of specific duties, as opposed to
duties ad valorem.
Iacn and all of these principles, both in them
ana 10 the details of their operation, we may
=, ''a''er discuss with the lntelligencer In all
nese points, the tariff, in our judgment, demands
''o'm' before it can be brought, as it should be
brought to the revenue standard.
In L-