Wisconsin herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1846-1849, 1846-12-19

: both countries, and greatly for the benefits
: of both. Great Britain has been forced
e by the pressure of circumstances at home,
r to abandon policy which has been up
1 held for a9as, and to open her markets fol
/. our imneGss surplus of breadstuffs; and il
t confidently believed that other Powers OF
0 Europe will ultimately see the wisdom, il
1 they be not compelled by the pauperism
Y and sufferings of their crowded population,
/ to pursue similar policy.
t Our farmers are more deeply interested
: in maintaining the just and liberal policy
: of the existing law than any other other
A class of our citizens. They constitute a
4 large majority of our population and it is
well known that when they prosper, all
other pursuits prosper also. They have
) heretofore not only received none of the
bounties or favors of government, but by
. the unequal operations of the protectiv e
policy have been made, by the burdens of
taxation which ii imposed, to contribute to
the bounties which have enriched others.
F When foreign as well as a home mar
ket is opened to them, they must receive
as they are now receiving increased prices
for their products. They will find a reader
sale, and at better prices, for their wheat,
, flour, rice, Indian corn, beef, pork, lard,
butter, cheese, and other articles which
they produce. The home market alone is
inadequate to enable them to dispose of
the immense surplus of food and other ar
ticles which they are capable of producing,
even at the most reduced prices, for the
manifest reason that they cannot be con-
sumed in the country. The United States
can, from their immense surplus, supply
not only the home demand, but the def
ciencies of food required by the whole
world.
I That the reduced production of some OF
the chief articles Of food in Great Britain,
and other parts of Europe, may have con-
/ tributed to increase the demand for our
breadstufls and provisions, is not doubted:
but that the great and efficient cause of
this increased demand, and of increased
prices, consists in the removal of artificial
i restrictions heretofore imposed, is deemed
to be equally certain. That our exports of
food, already increased and increasing be-
You'd former example under the more lib
eral policy which has been adopted, will be
still vastly enlarged, unless they be check
ed Or prevented by arestoration of the pro-
tective policy, cannot be doubted. That
our commercial and navigating interests
will be enlarged in corresponding ratio
with the increase of our trade, is equally
certain; while manufacturing interests will
still be the favored interest of the country,
and receive the incidental protection af-
forded them by revenue duties; and more
than this they cannot justly demand,
In my annual message Of December last,
a tariff of revenue duties based upon the
principles Of the existing law was recon-
mended, and see no reason to change the
opinions then expressed. In view of the
probable beneficial results of that law,
recommend that the policy established by
it be maintained. 1t has but just COM
menced to operate; and to abandon or mo-
dify it without giving it a fair trial, would
be ineXpedient and unwise. Should de-
fects in any of its details be ascertained by
actual experiment to exist, these may be
hereafter corrected; but until such defects
shall become manifest, the act should be
+ fairly tested.
1t is submitted for your consideration,
whether it may not be proper, as war
measure, to impose revenue duties on some
of the articles now embraced in the free
list. Should it be deemed proper to impose
such duties, with view to raise revenue
to meet the expenses of the war with Mex
of a public debt, they may be repealed,
when the emergency which gave rise to
them shall cease to exist, and constitute
no part Of the permanent policy of the
country.
The act of the sixth of August last, s'to
provide for the better organization of the
treasury, and for the collection, safe-keep-
ing, transfer, and disbursement of the pub
lie revennnii,> has been carried into exc
cutiop as dly as the delay necessarily
arising OUT the appointment of new Off
GERS, taking and approving their bonds,
and preparing and securing proper places
for the safe keeping of the public money,
would permit. 1t is not proposed to depart
in any respect from the principles or policy
on which this great measure is founded.
There are, however, defects in the details
of the measure, developed in its practical
operation, which are fully set forth in the
report of the secretary of the treasury, to
which the attention of congress is invited.
These defects would impair, to some ex-
tent, the successful operation Of the law at
all times, but are especially embarrassing
when the country is engaged in a war,
when the expenditures are greatly increa
sed, when loans are to be effected. and
the disbursements are to be made at points
F many hundred miles distant, in some cases,
from any depository, and large portion of
them in foreign country. The modif-
cations suggested in the report of the Sec
rotary of the treasury are recommended to
your fav orable consideration.
In connection with this subject, invite
your attention to the Importance of estab-
fishing branch of the mint of the United
States at New York. Two-thirds of the
revenue derived from customs being col
lected at that point, the demand for specie
to pay the duties will be large: and a
branch mint, where foreign coin and bull
lion conld be Immediately converted into
American coin, would greatly facilitate the
transaction of the public business, enlarge
the circulation gold and silver, and be, at
the same time, a safe depository of the
public money.
The Importance Of graduating and redu-
cling the price of such of the public lands
as have been long offered in the market,
at the minimum rate authorized by exis-
, ting laws, and remain unsold, induces me
i again to recommend the subject to your
[ favorable consideration. Many millions
, of acres of these lands have been offered in
the market for more than thirty years, and
J larger quantities for more than ten or TWEEN
ty years and being of an inferior quality