Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1846-08-28

of 1874, they do not show that, in nv bos,li.
ty to the experimental tariff, was faithful to
yon and my country, and true to myself and
my party.
Fortunately for me, those opinions, SO far
as they looked forward to its ultimate conse.
quences, on the harmony of the party, OF the
welfare of the republic, am no longer under
the necessity of supporting by labored argu-
ments. For good or evil, the law has passed.
Ii 1t should be repealed or modified at the mex,
session, that will be of itself complete vim
dlcation of my opposition to it at the present.
LII it should be permitted to remain in force in
the form that | was required to vote upon it,
then time will soon determine whether my
opinion OF it was right or wrong. abide the
result without fear; yet. if know myself,
without wish to see evil come of it, merely
for the sake of claiming hereafter the merit of
political sagacity for my resistance to it.
These, then, were my opinions, as they are
now:
First. Our country is involved in an expen.
slve war, and the wisest among you cannot
foresee its close. We have large army in.
vading Mexico. and large navy off her coasts
along the the Pacific Ocean and in the Gull
of Mexico. The sum already appropriated by
Congress for the government expenditures oil
the fiscal year, exceeds FIFTY MILLIONS oil
dollars. Will the experimental tariff raise
revenue sufficient TO "pay as we goa" Ger.
tainy not. Congress knew that, and, there.
fore, authorized loan of ten millions, at the
very time we were passing this tariff; and
the first act OF the next session will probably
be one for ten millions more! Will it produce
revenue enough 10 pay one-haF Of the appro-
| prlations? | am quite sure it will not. Its
advocates did not assert that it will do much
more. Wherefore, if this experiment works
as well as its warmest friends have predicted.
the government will fall in debt twenty five
millions this (6ScaD year. SO long as the
war lasts, and for such period Of time after
it as the war expenses continue, it will be the
same thing. But if the experiment works as
lily as It's more violent opponents have said
Of it, why, then it will hardly go at all.
think the truth lies between them. 1t will
work, but it will work badly, and work you
deeply in debt; and 1T is adhered to with.
out alteration" the public debt will be in
creased, not much short Of THlRT MILLIONS
the first year, and can see no way to prevent
| its yearly increase, except by resort to d.
rect taxes.
Dilect taxes ought to be our very last re-
sort. Public debt is an evil that abhor more
than ever since L was member of Congress
and therefore it was the conclusion of my
mind, that this tariff experiment ought not tc
be tried, and certainly not at this particular
time. The acts of Congress which went tc
diminish the revenue, but to increase the ex
penditures, did not seem to me to be consis
tent with prudence in any government. more
especially in time of war. The tariff sys
tenn, according to my judgment, was mos
unfit subject for party experiments and, a
the time of a yearly expenditure of fifty mil
lions of dollars, and Of foreign war, such ex
periments amounted to patty rashness. fthe
war should end soon, still the government
here, we knew, expected 10 terminate it by {
treaty for peace and a new Territory, viz Cal
ifornla. No honest country would take the
territory without paying the owner for it, and
if we would, Mexico cannot yield it upon any
other terms. Hence, whether we were tc
have peace or war with Mexico, we needed
much more money to carry on the government
When the Plainest rules Of arithmetic and
common sense thus compelled me to with
hold my support from a tariff experiment, t.
be made now, at the expense of the nations
credit, how could hesitate
Second. The tariff of 1912 ought to have
been modified. but not by an act which redu,
ced the duties as early as the lst December.
In all great alterations Of the tariff dimin
ishing duties, the reductions ought to be made
upon reasonable notice to the people, whose
property and business will be affected by
them. In that case, there may be inconveni
ence to some, but it does not bring down ruin
upon so many innocent people. Not giving
time, infant factories are destroyed by the
hand of legislation, and the older and more
mature establishments, are compelled TO di.
minish their operations forthwith, and conse
quently to discharge number Of their labor
ers and reduce the wages of all. The labor
ers suffer more than the owners, because they
are less able to bear it. The sudden loss oil
work will be to many of them and their fami-
lies loss of food and raiment, and that which
the law-maker is commanded to pray for-his
8. daily bread"-he would be thus rudely Ia
king by law from the workingman of his coun-
| try. And the experimental tariff act was the
more Objectionable, inasmuch as many Of on.
conntrymen-the northern laborers, who are
to suffer under twill be put out of employ.
ment in the beg ginning Of winter, when other
employments will be obtained with great diff
ficulty and at the north, the poor, without
labor and wages, encounter degree of suffer-
ing. in that Indictment season, which we have
no just conception Of at the south. You must
see it, before you can fully appreciate it. AL
so, sudden alteration-of the tariff must, OF
necessity, disturb the home market of our
manufacturers, coal-diggers and mechanics.
and involve hundreds and thousands-in los
ses to some, ruin to others, and suffering TO
many.
Even bad tariff law, then, should not be
repealed so as to fall down too hastily. when
its gradua-abroga,ion would create less in
convenience to the government, and ita snd-
den change may Cypress the poor, or do in
justice to any section. The government ought
to have compassion on all the people, and
particularly upon the laboring classes. The
manufacturers at the north are not all cab
bott Lawrences," whose fortune has been the
theme OF so many tariff speeches. The COM
promise tariff act, under General Jackson, in
II Ill.