The North-Carolina standard., 1846-02-25

tered at the custom house, It will be smu9gled
and thus the Government wiK derive very little
or no revenue from it. [ might instance dia-
monds, as a commodity from which, on account
of their small bulk and great value, little or no
revenue would be derived, if too high duty
were imposed upon them. .. r........
On the contrary, iron, sugar, and salt, three OF
the prime necessares of life, (heir great bulk IN
proportion to their value rendering it almost an
impossibiIity to smuggle them,) will bear conf
paratively much higher duty But duty may
be imposed upon those articles so high as to even
prohibit their importation The duty, notwith-
standing the idle and absurd assertions of certain
shabby theorists of the "protective" school, in
creases the price; and, as all persons consume as
much of the necessarics Of life their wants re-
quire and their means will permit them to buy,
the higher the price, Gf it be very sensibly in
creased,) the less will be the quantity consumed,
and of course, the less will be the quantity i'm
ported. The quantity imported may be sensiby
diminished, before the revenue derived from
it decreases in amount But the moment the duty
rises so high as to check the importation Of the
commodity, it becomes pro tGnto prohlbltlVe, and
consequently "pr0teetice."
The purpose of the democratic party is not to
lay on any commodity duty so high as to defeat
its purpose of raising the highest amount of re-
venue from it which can be raised without sensi-
bly diminishing lis introduction into the country
and this is rerenue duty.
On article of common use. (not to call it
necessarily such sugar coffee, it would not
impose a duty so high as sensibly to diminish its
Importation and thus deprive the poorer classes of
the people of the comfort of enjoying them-thus
making those articles luxuries, to be enjoyed on
ly by the rich, if il would increase the a.
mount OF revenue TO be derived from them. A
revenue duty. therefore. should be limited by two
principles: first, IL should not be so high to
defeat the object Of raising rerenue secondly, 1t
should not be so high semsibty to diminish the
importation of The commodities aohich ii as an
posed A departure from these two principles
makes the duty prOhs6itire and protective.
On articles not of necessity, but of luxury
such as wines, distilled spirits, &c-the duty may
60 up to its highest limit, short of defrating the
amount of revenue to be derived from it. In re-
lation to this subject, the moral question is the
same, whether foreign spirits are introduced, or,
by their exclusion, domestic manufacturers are
encouraged 10 make spirits. Foreign and dom
esc spirits equally the enemies of the temper
ance reformer.
Such (as above expIained) are the principles on
which rcrenue tariff should be constructed
They will admit of duty on most commodities
as high as 20 per cent; on some, as high as 80
per cent, and even higher, may be imposed.
But an average, duty of 20 per cent. on the an
nual importation of one hundred millions, will
raise an ample revenue for the use of the Govern
ment By average, l do not mean horizontal
arlff--a tariff imposing the same rate Of duty on
all articles-is entertained by very few, if any
lat this perod,) Of the democratic party.
! The theory Of protective tariff admits the
same general principle Of raising revenue by
imports, or duties on foreign imporlaIons, which
is recognised by revenue tariff. But, in laying
these duties, its next great aim is to protect the
manufacturers of articles coming in competition
with certain foreign commodities imported into
the country. Nay, judging from many Of the
provisions of the existing tariff it may with truth
be asserted that its fist object is TO benefit, or
protect" ITO speak technicaly) a certain class of
citizens engaged in manufactures, at the expense
of all other classes And, in order TO do this, it
Ievies its duties not solely with view to raise
revenue, but, 10 some extent, to prohibit the intro
ducton into the country of the commodity on
which the duty is imposed. In some instances
The duties imposed by the existing tariff amount
to total prohibition | refer to the coarse kind
of cotton cloth, of which the manufacturers of
this country now produce an ample supply. By
this prohibitive duty imposed through the aid Of
the fraudulent and cheating device of the minimum
principle. the manufacturer is enabled to fix his
own price upon these coarse fabrics, actually
charging his own countrymen more for them tha n
! he sells them for in foreign markets Thus, in
respect to this article, all revenue is defeated.
great portion Of the duties imposed by the present
tariff are more or less prohibilive.
!. With the same view Of beuefiting or protect
! ing" the manufacturer, the present tariff admits,
duty free large class of articles consumed by the
manufacturers. 1t seems TO have been framed
more with such view, than with view of rails
ing revenue. 1t may justly be called tariff to
project the manufacturers, and Incidentally to
raise a revenue for the support of the Government.
1t is the favorite banlling of the whigs-the only
surviving child of the hardcidcr Congress; and
therefore it is cherished with all that doatng fond
ness which parents display who have been favored
with but one daI ling I" responsibility" They
will love and admire the little " cherub," however
deformed in body stupid in mind, or mischeviotts
in conduct it may be, and however much other
people may hate and detest it.
d All duties tend, in some degree, to raise the
price of the commodity on which they are levied
and also the domestic article coming in compet
ton with it, Therefore the domestic article would
be, to some extent, "protected" by mere reven
he duty. That protection would be necessary
consequence, and could not be prevented. Reven
ue would be the purpose of revenue tariff, and
protection its consequence or &c incident" There
fore, in one sense, all tariffs Of duties Of
less "protectiVe."
have now explained the principles which
mark and Distinguish a tariff for revenue from one
fo: protection. In my next shall take up the
existing tariff, and show, in that and subsequen
communications, the mendacious, cheating, anc
iniuuitous devices and contrivances incorporated
into it by the advocates of protection. which have
i