Staunton spectator, and general advertiser. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 183?-1849, 1845-12-18

when one can have realities and facts t-Whence
came the prosta,ion of the country during that me-
morable epoch Of low duties and free importa-
tons! What caused the Indebtedness Of our
merchants abroad to the amount of hundreds OF
millions for which specie was drained from the
country! How came tho present National debt
into existence : Why were Treasury notes issu-
ed by millions to meet the expenses Of the Van
Buren, Administration? How happened it that
drafts OF the Government for uncomfortable sums
lay unpaid and dlshonored because of an empty
Treasury Look back to that period Of humilia-
ton and shame, we beg Of you, men in power,
and contemplate it well before you enforce mea-
sures TO restore its abominable features again.
The same party now holds the reins of Govern.
ment. Are they not satisfied with having once
destroyed the National prosperity! Are they in
love with ruin! MIR. WALKER says that the
wages OF labor were not decreased by the tariff Of
1912. Does he mean that assertion to be believ-
ed ! Will he tell how many laboring men there
were, just before the enactment of that tariff,
without any wages at all !
When the Secretary argues that the rest of the
community are taxed for the benefit of tho manu-
facturers, to the extent TO which he preends, his
| reasoning is based on the assumption 'ihat the
duty is added TO the price OF the import and also
of its domestic rval.' This is a favoritc dogma
of the "Bundelcund'' school of political ecOno-
mists, and it might be very good one if facts
did not contradict it--a misfortune which attach
es to most of the assumptions Of that school.
l-lnstead of adducing instances in which the
above maxim is not true we beg to know a
single instance in which it is true. Do we
hear any complaint of the high prices of goods
caused by the tariff2 Or is all the nation,
as MIR. BARNwELL RuETT assured his constitu!
en,s they were-the most oppressed people under
the sun, yet they did not know it. The Secre-
tary is kind to give lectures on misery-to ava.
ken the people to knowledge of their own suf-
ferngs, which he feels more keenly than they
do. tie is like the eloquent lawyer who recount
ed the grievances of his client i'm such touching
words that the latter burst into tears and declar-
ed that he had not before known he was such a
miserable man.
1.-THE occasional fall In price," says Mr.. WALK
Err. "of some articles after tariff, is no proof
that this was the effect of the tariff: because,
from improved machinery, diminished prices OF
even after tariff, but they would in such cases
have fallen much more but for the tariff"
| 1t might have occurred 10 Mr.. WALKER that
the fall in price of protected articles is not Soc
casional" merely, but the natural result of pro-
tecton-if he had considered the true principles
upon which our protective system is based. That
principle is not to build up artificial interests for
the benefit OF monopoliss; it is TO build up no
interest for which there is not a natural founda-
try. 1t presumes confidence in native ngenu-
ity and industry, that when the raw material is
at hand we shall be able in short time 10 man.
uiacture so well and so cheapy as TO render the
protective duty no enhancement of the price al
all. That this result has followed i'm many in
stances is known every where except at the Trea-
sury Department.
The Secretary af1irms 'that the States Of Ohio,
Indiana and Illinois, if cultivated to their fules,
extent, could, of themselves, raise more than suf
hcient food to supply the entire home Market"
Yet he would have The manufacturers turned into
farmers. The exnberance of our agricultural
productions is one strong reason why other pur-
suits should be encouraged. We may get ac-
cess to foreign markets in cases of great scarcity
abroad, but for the most part our farmers have Ia
rely upon the home market. Even when Eng
land imports flour, the Baltic countries, near a,
hand, can supply her before we can-unless there
be scarcity, as at present, in tho latter. But
we have not room for farther comments on the
Treasury Report just now.