Mobile register and journal. [volume] (Mobile, Ala.) 1841-1849, 1845-10-29
From the Washington Union.
TariR-Hu. l..

The prcsenari cousidered-lt is protective tariff In
all It's feature. Duties al Yslursm, minimum. and spe
cifc Those explained tice and Cypress
ION prctsed under the minimum aud saeefc dulies.
Illustrations by facts,
IL my last communication, attempted 10 explain
the principles which mark aud distinguish a iarlt
kor reycnuc from Tor protection, defining what
deemed rsuenue and what protective tariff.
In this number propose to consider The funda
mental principles aud the peculiar characteristics
the existing tariff, which the only surviving mon.
umeu of the lug orous and disastrous reign of wing
cry in 1872
In the first place, it is, in all its leading features
IA protective tariff. Deducing ncIuson from ila
most important provisions il enacted mainly ioI
the express purpose Of benefitlng and enrichng the
manufacturing capitalists OF the country al the OK.
pense Of all other classes Of our citizens. Il ia a
MANUFACTURERS TARIFF-devised by the
manufacturers, voted for in Congress by manuiac
tures and designed to benefit manufacturing CAPT,
tai and other capital the expense Of Consumption
and labor. II discriminates in favor Of the mann
Eic,urer, against the producer Of the raw material
who is the farmer. II also dscriminates in favor O
the rich consumer against the poor consumer. IT,
whole tendency is TO build up and fortify capital ~
this country; thus establishing the basest most SOL
did, most groyelling Of all arstocracies-a ,aonied
ari,iocrocy-at the expense Of the impoverishment
and degradation OF the OF the people. This
is its character, and tins its tendency, careful
and thorough analysis of all s provisions will mos
clearly prove. Il is my purpose, now, 10 90 int
tins analysis, and 10 denonsrale the propositions
have laid down
Admitting, duty free. articles imported for The
benefit OF The United States, philosophical appara
tus for schools and colleges certain articles used b,
the manufacturers in their business, lea and coffee
(mpr"perIy exempted from dul,, in consequence ol
the injuicious appcns, perhaps, Of parli-ans o both
parties 10 the prejudcee oi the people,) gold sil
yer aud few minor articles il imposes on all 9TH
,.xin. e
giug from about per cent. TO 500 per cent.
appears from actual importaiions since its pas.
sage.
The duties which il imposes are of three descrip-
tons, viz nd vaorPm, minimum, und specific. IN
order to enable those not conyersant with The pre-
cise meaning Of these terms, it lie necessary that
should e, into brief explanation of them illustra.
ting, by The way, The jnaice of the first and the in
Justice and ennrmity Of the Two last.
l. The al valorsm duty. The term tad valorem' u
10 Latin term, which means IN proportion TO The sal
We. Thus, when commodity is charged with q
duty Of 80 per cent. ad vaorem. the importer has Ia
pay at the custom house $50 for every 800 of its
value. II the duty is 20 per cent? he pays 500 for
every $780, and, 40 per cent, $40 for every 500
in value of The article imported Thus it ls evident
that this description of duty is us just aad hon
est duty. II the articles of j cheap description
the, are Of less value, and of course, pay less duty
IL they are valuable and costly, they pay higher
duty in proportion. Each person who purchases
the articles imported, whether cheap dear, pays
duty only in proportion to its value. TO illustrate
more clearly: Suppose that silks charged with
a duty of 80 per cent. ad valorem, and that Two pie
ces were imported-one valued al SO cents per yard
the other at 81. Under this description of duty,
the person who purchased yard of the cheap silk
would have paw only Is cents duty; while The per-
son who bought the dear silk would have 10 pay 80
cen,s-just double the ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS the value il
but hnIl las only "a tutv of RI
per cent. ad saorem. Thus ad 'aiorenl duty
whatever may be The rate. fails equally and impair
TALLY upon all eonsumersfhe hiRh and the lo,o fhe rich
and the poor. Ii is the only kind Of duty which an
honest, republican people should ever submit to, or
tolerate.
2 mi inmum duty. This, 10 The language of the
trainers of the tariff Of 1872, is also called AN ad.
vaoren dnty but, while pretending to that scharac.
ter, it is II mere mendaciops, fraudulent, and cheat
ing Legislative deyice 10 collect u duly, in some in
stances four five times higher than il Processes To
collect. 1t is also a Latin word, abeh means ''ihe
smallest quantity possible" In the present tariff,
il applies ony to cotton fabrics and yarns. There
are three mnnums which apply TO fibrcks, all or
a part Of which are cotton-vz: the 20 cents, 30
cents, and IS cents minimu,ns and two which APP
ply to cotton yarus,is: the 80 cents and as cents
ninimums.
The following 10 the mode in which these mint
mum duties are levied. To cxplsn the method,
will take for instance coarse cotton shit ngs which
cost cents per yard in England The present tar
n Processes to klevy on all cotton manufactures,
coarse AZ well as fine, imported into this country,
only duty of so per cent ad vaorsu,-lhat is, $50
for every 500 Of value imported. II, however,
II at we're the actual duty levied manufactures of
cotton the cloth above mentioned, casting IN Eng
land cents yard, would pay duty Of but mills.
But when the importer enters the cloth at the Gus
tom house, and offers to pay the duty OF mills per
yard, which would be 30p per cent al va'orem, the
collector tells him he pay cents, instead OF
mills The importer asks hun why he demands
cents per ward duty, when the law says il shall be
taxed only 80 per cent ad valorem, which mils1
The collector replies--"True the law says you
shall pay only 80 per cent OIL your CLOTH but IT also
says--for the purpose Of protecting Abbott Law
renee, who is worth million oi!dolars aihan APP
pleton, worth another million; Samuel Appleton,
worth another million; and numerous others, worth
hundreds of thousands each, manufacturers OF cot.
lon-tliat all cloth costing less than 20 cents a
square yard, shall lie assumed 10 have cost 20 cents
aud on that 20 cents the duty must oe paid, which
10 9 cents Now. you paid. it is true, hut . cents
in England for your cloth; but the tariff says, Tor
the purpose of protecting the aforesaid manufacture
e., that YOU paid 20 cents, which IS the minimum, or
least possible price the tariff supposed you have
paid and therefore, so per cent on ~ cents 10 D
cents; and instead of9 mills. you must pay cent
Duty" The importer replies--"Ihen, sir, while
the tariff pretends to tax me only 10 pei cent, by
stating iasehood in assuming that my cloth cos,
20 cents n ,o,are ward, instead Of senls-n aclu-
ally, under this wicked device of minimum duty,
taxes me 200 per cenr!.!" He then consoles him
self with the reflection, that, 10 the end, he shall
not pay hat enormous duty; but he will add il 10
The cost Of the cloth, and will make the poor man
W no buys the cloth pay il. Thus through this men