The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-07-27
[Coniinu.d Ltom Grsl pags. !


Continued from frsi page.l
this country is that created by the manufacturing
interest at home. Those who look 20 Europe foI
consumers Of The products Of our soil will be dsap
pointed; and, In the end, the surplus population and
increased capital Of the will seek manufactures
as the means Of employment
In proof Of this view Of the case, need only
mention the fact that the single State Of Massa-
ehuseus took last year from the other States
one million Of barrels OF hour--moTe than the whole
export Of that article from the United States for
eign countries. IL is also true that for the last
twenty years the home market has generally kept
the price of breadstuffs above the shipping price.
These facts ought 10 settle this question. ] might
ask, in conclusion, what beneficial effect can the
reduction Of the price abroad have upon our pro-
ducts herel ...
The objections to this bill itself are so numerous,
that IL is hard 10 tell where they begin where
they end. am glad TO be able TO acquit my hon
orabe and able friend, the chairman Of the Commit
tee on Finance, from all participation in eoneoeung
scheme so well calculated TO do mischief, so badly
adapted TO the legitimate business Of the country,
and certain 10 fail In producing a sufficient reye-
TO meet the expectations of the government. Its
chief evil on the business Of the country ~
It's Inefficient provisions to detect and punish
frauds on the revenue. Our citizens might In time,
10 some extent, overcome the inadequAcy OF
its protection but there Is no mothod by
which they can guard against the frauds that will
be pTaetised under il. My friend the chairman
felicitates himself upon the security against fraud
by the absence Of motive He produces an array
OF figures TO show that the gain upon invoice OF
goods uDderyalued Is per cent. would produce q
profit Of only u per cent If successful. He thinks
this very small natter and TO the large southern
planter, accustomed 10 estimate wealth by his I'M
cotton and rice fields, II may be; but the re-
suit Of his own figures will show II to be no incon.
siderable sum. Let US take a single case, which lie
by no means uncommon. foreign manufacturer
sends an agent, who opens q countng-honse IN New
York ostensibly for the purpose Of importing goods
lie receives on consignment $500, 900 worth an
nualy, upon which the y per cent. gain, by the
differentiation, is $4,000. | am assured by the
most experienced and intelligent merchants that il
would be utterly impossible detect undery slus
ton Of Is per cent. on cloths. | yentue 10 affirm
that you could not find a man OF character who
would be willing to put his judgment IN the scale
for the difference Of Is per cent m valuation, when
the sum in dispute was $1,000. This being the
case, how unlikely is IL that appraisers appointed
they for their political services, with but ittle
reference to their business qualifications would
detect this difference in the valuation The profits
Of large mercantile transactions are generally very
small on the items. Commission houses, doing
business TO the amount Of IA million Of dollars, will
guarantee their sales for u per cent. When the con-
signnent 10 very large, the guarantee Is frequently
gwen for "a or 2per cent,
Now If u house on the other side can save an
amount greater than they would have to pay for the
guarantee OF the whole amount Of their eonslgn-
ment ask, il there not motive of gain sufficient To
induce the ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS where the
morals the subject Of revenue laws are as loose
as in England and France, where they avow Il Is
not wrong TO cheat the government. am assured
by very respectable merchant, that Of the lsrg,
number Of foreign agents doing business in New
York under the compromise act scarcely any Of
them are now TO be found there Upon the passage
Of the act Of l642 they closed their and
home, because they could no longer defraud the
government by false invoices.
Another serious objection to the bill is its uni
form discrimination in favor Of the foreign mechan-
&c and laborer against our own. This principle
II principle il may be caled-abounds throughout
the whole bill. Every. class Of mechanics is TO be
affected, and the business of many of them to be
destroyed by it, The tailor, the halter, the shoe
maker, the sadder the tinman, the blacksmith, and
all others, will see their towns aud villages filled
with the work Of foreign pauper labor undersellng
them ut their doors, 10 pay for which the coun
try is TO be drained Of its specie To exemplify
this, will refer to few only Of the many glazing
instances Of this character in the bill. There are
by estimate, in the United States, about SOC, 900
men employed in making clothes, and we may to
this add that number Of women engaged in the same
pursuit Ready made clothes, by this bill, as in
schedule @, charged 80 per cent, and the mate
rial Of which most Of them are made is in the same
schedule. All know that the labor upon clothes in
and half staI we'd mel, who eat meat perhaps once
month, who give no education TO their children and
who never expect to see them elevated above the
wretched,sass of their birth. These persons, who
literally work for a shilling day, viii food the
country with ready-rnade clothes, and drive out of
employment this intelligent and worthy class OF our
people.
In further proof will cite fey cases of smaller
manufactures. Take the case of ginger, for in
stance the raw material in schedule Brpaylng 40
per cent ad valorem while the manufactured article
is, in schedule c, paying 30 per cent, thus giving
10 per cent. of premium to foreign labor over our
own.
The like occurs in iron to be converted into
steel. The raw material is, in schedule C, paying
80 per cent, and the steel itself is in schedule
paying only Is per cent. Again, we have the case
of Peruvian bark to be converted into quinine. TIE
raw material is charged ID per cent, while the man
ufactured one is charged but 90; making only per
cent of difference when heretofore there has been
a difference of 90 per in order to encourage its
manufacture In this country. The amount of capt.
tai invested in this item, apparently so unmportant,
is very large single house in Philadelphia has
in its manufacture more than 100000 This
branch Of manufactures like all Others adds largely
to the commerceand navigation Of the country. II re-
qures IS pounds of bark to make one of quinine.
The manufacturer here purchases the cheap domes-
tic fabrics of the country ships them to the western
coast Of South America, and barriers them for bark
made into quinine; and it's great value is the labor
which is here put upon it. Our great competitors
in this manufacture the English and the French
If you destroy our establishments you transfer also
to those countries the commerce and navigation
connected with them. Western senators may per-
haps not be aware Of the great importance attached
to this article throughout their whole country. 1t
is used in almost every form Of disease that presents
ITSELF and it has become the almost constant COM
panion Of every family there. Win they not only
In.t laI -,T.l Az r.
but will they also deprive their neighbors of the
poor consolation of procuring remedy for the d,s
eases of their climatei Is there no motive sacred
enough TO arrest this unholy crusade'
Further investigation has satisfied me that what
pretends to be provisions for producing revenue can
have other effect than to an absolute pro-
hibition, preventing entirely the importation of
many articles that are very important to various
branches ofour industry, and some Of them even
necessary to our national welfare. | have already
trespassed much longer upnn ,nro OF the Senate
thor, had Intended; but TO show the ncongrues
of this measure and that it is unwse considered as
p,pa aIo ~ T.