The Charlotte journal. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1835-1851, 1845-12-05
From the National Iatelligencer.
THE TARIFF.
WHO ARE PROTECTED BY TT

llilv of protection, | showed that the very !,
AUTHORS OF The Constitution began their lie.
.slatiyc duties under it, BY speaking and :
voting for law, designed 10 be the perm
anent foundation OF our revenue system,
stamped with the words, Encouragement /,
10 Domestic Manufactures. | showed that
fuoMAs JEFFERSON was decided friend
TO protective duties, even IN he face Of a
surplus Of revenue produced BY them. |
showed that, beginning With 1907 or :,
the most rigid, actual, and theoretcal.pro-
lection to home industry, had obaned as
the policy Of the country, down TO 1888.
| showed that in the year last mentioned
the Government considered Itself forced,
by peculiar slate Of domestic affairs, To
commence gradual descent from the sum.
nit Of protection and prosperity, TO the T
dead level OF a horizontal tariff, cUmpara.
tive free.irade and absolute national dis.
lress. Tins level was reached on the lSt
Of July, 1912; the last round but one OF
the ladder had been touched on the FIRST
Of January OF same year With the break .
ng OF day, on the first Of July, lci2, the 4
commercial aud political millennium should
have dawned Tor no foreign MERCHANDISE
could be taxed thereafter more than ttreniy
per cent. on what the iurelgn importer
might declare to be cost. But had to
show lha. the golden age refused to TeSls-
i Us at the Invocation of his disciples ui
free.irade, and that, as in their predictions
they had been false prophets, IN our pres.
cit calamity they were miserable comfort
ers.
For then the opponents Of protection
we're FREE.TRADERs they have since
come down peg, and have consented 10
adopt an humber maxim IN the science Of
pure economies; they are now revenue.
tariff men. Very well, we accept this
partial recantaton, 10 the confident hope
tina. II is but the precursor to complete
; amendment. But lei US see abIu, his
, reyeuue-ta rtli>m in connection With pro.
lection. | presume all the official editors,
: and the able correspondents, and the
regular" deba,ers in the Union, will al.
] NIT that the tariff Of l>l6 was prefecture
tariff " hat was the debt beqncatbed 10
! the Treasury by the war Of 1872 In
: ISIS | find il stated at Sl22 600, 900 /
set It down from memory.) From l. 10
TO December, 1888, we had nothing but
protection, black tariffs and " bill, Of
! abomlnauon." How came on the revenue
during this period Of protracled ln,quily
{ Why, all the expenses OF Government
+ were paid promptly and we had in lh'
e mean time a Creek and Seminole war no
: unlike that Of Florida in later years-an.
i, the whole Of this vast debt was paid Of
d Yes, this was done IN fifteen sears. Al
e Mr.. Chief Justice IANE4 il he did no
II state the astonishing fact in l.34 IN hl
: last official report [ p to December, | :
} 81, but two-ten!hs Of The rates Of the IA
e riff Of ls2e and 80 had been aiken eli VI
e der the compromise act : so much nom
inaIly, nothing really, the legal elimination
+ in the rate Of duties having teen counter
IA balanced by the prevalence uf the hig
n prices resulting from an expansion Of III
ii currency. 4 vast and plentiful reyenu
It continued, then, up TO l-37 and there va
> a surplus 10 the Golfers Of the Government
h The year l-3- came IN, another fifth par
e Of the protective duties we're taken 1T, an
J. the lovely features Of free.trade III Ills mid
Of err form, alias revenue.tartIism, began T.
n appear above The troubled waters Of tn
q commercial world.
d Protection was dropping was revcng
looking Up Daring the four years easu
= ing, the average annual efficiency Of rev
n enue, as compared with expenditure, va
r s. ,OO0,000 the total falling of in fou
u years was S3l, 400, 900. On the lth c
J. March, lsil, the debt Of The l.. State
. was eight and a half millions, and by tb'
a middle of l-42 il amounted 70 upwards 0
e twenty millions. In short, Inc Govern
J. ment was utterly bankrupt; with revenue
D. known to have been failing fnr sevc
a years, rs credit was gone, and it. 6nauc a
d reputation was tie buu Of the worlds rid
Is lcue. By tae admission Of one Of th
l. ablest and most authoritative advocates @
tree.trade doctrines, the Compromise acr
after the reduction Of l-ll, was not TO b
expected to produce more lban ten OF elev
e en- millions Of dollars wear. (See Tia
II last annual report f Mr.. Secretary Wood
e bury, December, 1900 From such
state Of mbecIry aud depletion It IS, tina
the tariff Of l-i2 has raised the Govern
n menl in three years. have noticed al
-, attempt made by correspondent Of th'
Union to TX the responsibility Of the large
debt existing at the time Of the cnacimen
d Of the tariff, and which was increased
within few months after, but before tie
o operations Of the new system could be sen
slbly felt, upon the tariff party and tn,
!, protective poircy. To mention such pue.
rIIe attempt 10 deceive is enough 10 re.
fute it.
Therefore, in the first place, the tariff
Of 1872, has projected and is protecting
the Government from the ruiz ."!nch the
opposite system threatened to bring upon
il, This IS certainly an important func.
ton, but not the most important Of those
which the tarifhas discharged. 1t would
be wrong 10 say that 1t protects this or
that, or every class Of citizens, for in truth
II cannot operate upon the country by
oil L. r