New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1845-12-08

Report otherwise we give another;
.yr;cp,,ure Ia our chief employment il is best ada
e5 N our sust!on and IL not depressec by the IaflI
"a ~ he yno,, profitable We raise larger sur
nls of agricultural products and greater 'srety 4dn
almost any other nation, and at cheaper rates
then FROM agriculture all our restctiohs anu " '
,,,fet.ercd power il will break down all foreign restrc
tons and our being removed, would Iced the nun
Try and clothe the poor OF our ieowrnen M
tho nations of the world But no" we
will take nothing In exchange for these products but spe
Gle except ct very high duties and nothing but famine
breaks down all tore! IN restrictions and opens Or tie
,be ports Of Europe our breadstuas H. on arecucto
of onr duties England repeas her laws nearly all
Europe must follow her example give TO her ranuisc
trers advantages which cannot be successfully encoun
tered in most Of the markets Of the world ne ann
did no, raise the price Of breadsu but bad mar
vest in England does-givng for the time that foreign
market which would have at all times oy tnai
repeal Of the laws which must follow the reoucIoh
Of our duues.
To render these assertions cogent or valuable he
Secretary should have shown that Agriculture 'ras
thus profitable when we had little no Tariff and
bought nearly all our fabrics abroad-sayfron i'7''o
1890, or from to 1925. If the uniettered power
of our Agriculture will break down all foreign re-
s,rc,ions, Why has IL not done so in former times
The Secretary pts his assertion in opposition 10 no.
torious and long.existing facts and does not offer
ne the shadow of reason for believing that like
causes with those existing in The past will produce
exactly opposite effects in the future. He tells us
tina, near; all Europe must open its ports to our
grain if England does, but does not tell US that
large arioEurope produces grain as cheaply as we
do, and would compete with US at immense odds
against u.s. for those limited markets which Repeal
of all Corn Laws would Open instead OF looking 10
Us for supplies Half the nations of Europe are
more likely to sell food than TO buy of u.s. and
- hon obi IF
Europe in large quantities. The assumption that we
could sell grain Europe at such prices as the pre-
sent in ordinary years if the Corn Laws were re-
pcaled is con,radiced by simple exhibition OF the
prices there ruling Wheat is produced in Poland
and Southern Russia at about 80 cents bushei, and
is there immensely England than our " heat
exporting region The difference is not one of cost
merely a supply may be poured into England from
Dantzic before our grain could be fary on It's way
,hither The advantage Of this relative proximity
all business men understand. Beside Great Britain
no European nation is likely TO require considerable
supplies of Grain from us, except in years of famine;
and as TO Great Britain the abolition OF her Corn
Laws must have one oftwo results: Either would
largely diminish her production OF grain, which 1t
could only DO by great reduction ofprcc there neu
tralizng 20 us the abrogation OF duty or il would
not diminish the British product in which case the
demand for our Grain would not be increased. In
either the advantage TO us oil repeal o the Corn
Laws has been greatly overrated. We never can
steadily send grain 200 miles to sell in competition
with that grown the spot and obtain good price
because the cost of transportation is nearly or quite
equivalentto that reproduction and must leave avery
small rccompensc indeed for the American producer.
Years of famine are plain exceptions by which the
soundness of the general rule is not shaken but es
tablishcd.
Mr.. Walkers ncessant assumptions that under
our present Tariff awe will take nothing in ex-
rates., and that our Tariff is anti.cotnmercial
tuted by simple comparison of our aggregate Inn
ports with those of low-Tariif years The consump
ton Of Foreign products in this Country in ls4i
and rs has surpassed that of 40 and II when the
duties were quite low. We charge S. duty on two
hundred weight of Havana Sugar and are charged
$40 duty on two hundred weight of Genesee Flour
sent to Cuba pay for it. Europe raises far more
Revenue on our Tobacco than we collect from all
the articles purchase. Our duties collected dur
ing the last fiscal year averaged less than thirty per
cent without reckoning long list of absolutely free
articles among which are Tea, Coffee, West India
Fruits, Drugs, Dyes, Copper, Brass, &c. &c, What
injustice then TO talk OF our Tariff as blndly and
generally prohibitoryl
Mr. Walkers summary Of principles on which
the Tariff should bc recast. is as follows:
lst That no more money should be collected than is
necessary Tor the wants OF the Government, economical
iy administered
I'd That no duty be imposed on any article above the
lowest rate which will yield the largest amount OF reve
3D. That, below such rate discrimination may be
made descending in the scale OF duties for impera
tive the article may be placed in the lis, ofthose
free from all duty.
18th. That the maximum revenue duty should be im-
posed on Injuries.
9TH That all mnimums and all specific duties should
be abolished and advaorem duties substituted in their
place-care being taken guard against fraudulent in
voices and differentiation and &c assess the duty upon
the actual market value.
9th Tina, the duties should be so imposed ope
rate equally possible the Union discriin
mating neither for nor agains, any class or section
On these specifications we would remark;
l. There is no danger of this so long as the Tex
as spectators lof whom Walker is chief have their
arm in the Treasury.
=. This is Mt once unsound and loose. In perfect
consistency with it, Great Britain might continue to
tax our Tobacco 500 per and Grain 90 ION
us HEsl CoSt III point OF CuSHpcst
while we should be constrained TO cut down our du-
ties on her Wares and Fabrics to such poin,
would enable her manufacturers to compete success
fully with ours, though tina, should be fifteen ten or
even five per cent.
3. L. are OF no consequence, being provided for in
the present Tariff.
;. The al raioyem is the very worst form oflevy-
ing duties, giving always an advantage 10 the For.
cign Manufacturer or his agen, over the American
Importer. as the maker of an article can always
swear i, cost him less Than the price a; which he
sells tito another. The dishonest importer, or
who has an agent or clerk 10 swear 10 order it
gives like advantage over;he honest conscientious
dealer native or foreign. Ii is thus that the Import
ing business Of this country had mainly passed into
the hands OF Foreigners, and the signs in the I'M
porting district of City would indicate Dutch
or French emporium rather than ar American
Were English names as distingushable, this fact
would be still more apparentl The al calorem
=