The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1846-02-28
VOL o. No, 80, Whole No. 44S.

forced TO yield TO this Ethiopian experiment
ON the currency.I have no hesitation in stating
that all this viii take place within the space
Of eighteen months from the time this eX-
perimental bill goes into operation; and not
specie paying Bank, doing business, will be
found in the United States Where will be
the revenue which was TO produce such
mightysum under low duties? Where is the
Treasury, and the Secretary? and the Prcsi-
dent and his Cabinet? The Treasury is emp
~; the Secretary is making hiso estimates OF
income for lS49, and preparing to ask Con-
gress for n large hatch of Treasury Notes; or
perhaps the deficit is so large that loan may
be required.
We have now come 10 a point Of dcpres-
sion in the great business of the country,
which has attracted the attention and GnXie-
~ Of all classes ofpeople, al having felt its
blight excepting the great capitalists ard
money holders, who are renping golden harv'
csts by the purchase ofproUcTty, which the
wants ofthe unfortunate throw into the mark
els ~ ruiuous rates. II is now seen and felt
from thc low woFos Of labor, and the great
number ofpcTsons uncmploycd,w with the cries
Of distress from all quarters, that il is tie Ia
hor and not the capital of Tho country HAT
suffers 10y violent reyulsions caused by uuwise
legislation. Have the people Of the South
aud West forgotten their troubles of 1857 to
1879, TO dc hour Oft the passage Of that Law,
Nllltl nus INtlttnltu INC circuit Ol INC WV
eminent, and restored prosperity 20 the coUn
try? l have iutimutcd that there is less CAPT
tai in the new States than in many OF the old
ones; il will rot be denied that The moned
capital Of this country is held in the Nofihern
and Eastern States, ard that Tie South ard
West ere usually largely Indebted TO thom.
Now. | should he glad TO he informed what
benefit there is to he derived by Planter of
Alabama or Mississippi, or a farmer in Ohio,
I,,. IlliYrnig l,,,o ,l,. lro tbvt
scribed, particularly, if by chance lie sl'Culd
happen TO he in debt? 10 the people Of tie
South believe they can raise the price Of Cot
ton, or be. able 10 negotiate loans,to prosecute
the construction of their contemplated Rail-
| read? Do Ohio, lllirois, Louisiana, Michi-
gan believe they are to create n better mark
CT for thaiE produce, or sooner complete tie
Harhors, so much desired on Ike shores of
those ''mlard Seas" ard TO lie able 10 l,ecoti-
ate Loans, ard obtain subscriptions TO tlie
Stock ot'their intended Railroads, by The adj
option of this rev system of political econo-
! N.Y. And row what say the great SiGfes Of
New York ard Pennsylvania TO Ibis I1cVos-
ed experiment? Can tlley afford TO try it,uId
are they ready! ntbey are, it will be tdrrt-
ed; if they are notthe present Law will stand
and the Country will rcTose, for aW lille IN
happiness and prosperity. Any one wcu!d
suppose, that those States, that are just now
Iemerging from embarrassment, WhiclTg al olse
time seemed almost sufficient 10 oveTwhciIn
them in ruin, would be unwilling TO Try an
IeXperimert Which is certain, in ny judy
mcnt, TO place them in position That viii bc
the means of destroying the fair rrosI Gets Of
! thousands who are resting in quiet security
upon tie fifth ofwhut they deem a lGterIal
and wise Government The question Of Tn
important alteration ia our Revenue Laws,
should not be keptin Slense. The Treasury
will feel IL effects before the end ofthC rTes-
cnt year. The expectation of great rediic-
ton of duties prevents TIE merchants fiJ'm
going on with their usual business. Voyage
es arc delayed, and orders for goods ere Eeld
back, until this important question shall TIC
settled. | say, therefore, five are TO go thro'
this fiery ordeal let il come at once,-we car
not probably place ourselves in n better con-
dition than we are Eow, TO meotthe troubles
that await us. ..
Mr. Walker proposes to substitute I'D vno-
rem for specific duties, in opposition 10 Car
own experience, aud that CT almost every
other country. ! have never yet found tn
| American merchant who has not been in IA
vor ofspecfc duties, wherever it can be done
with convenience to the importer and tie
Government. | confess that il is n bold moG-
sure TO propose total and entire change OF
| n Revenue system, which was esta bhshed
with the Government, and has stood tie test
of experience, through all the trials ofrolti-
cal parties and Administrations, frC m Goner-
al Washington to Mr. Polk. Ii appears more
extraordinary at this time, as the country is
in high state ofprosperity. The revenue is>
enough for all the reasonable wants of Tie
| Government, and the people appear 10 he sat-
! istied with their condition. The resources
ofthe country were never developing more
rapidly; the increase of our population, the
present yeGr, will probably equal that Of Ike
last year, which Iestimato at G00,CG0 souls;
our wealth too has been wonderfully aug
mentnd by the construction of Railroads;
there has been great increase of our SHY
ping, engaged in the domestic commerce of
the country,uot only by sea, but upon our riy-
| crs 81 great lakes; the manufacturing interest
has been largely extended; and the soil too,
has been made to produce vastly more than
at any former period. The whole prcducs
tive power of the country has been greater in
three years chat is, since the passage of tho
Tariff of 1912 than during any equal space
oftime in our national history. There have
been three periods ofuniversal distress thro'
out our land, since the peace of17S3 and in
each case under low duties. / appeal to
those who remember those periods; and 10
others, Ireter to the annals of cur country
Those periods were from 1883 The conchie-
ion of the Revolutionary War(to 1889, 1915,
to 1924, 1887 to 1912. .... ,.....,
would respectfully recommend TO The
Secretary of the Treasury, who atIeafs to-
have received new light upon the subject Of
orr national economy, TO examine the histo-
ny of the legislation of c ongress at the, above
\ periods. lie will find III his own department.
of the Goverpment, an. abundance Of evi.
idence of the distress that existed under low
Il duties anS, derangcd currency. l''''i
b There is a prevalent idea abroad, ttiat The
Il al.