The North-Carolina standard., 1846-08-26

against them. Verify, aPPeared 10 me tli"' ~
passage would be substituting the lheorles OF yes
terdav learned in law Office, for the experience
of 6Gv years of our own governmenI and the prac-
ice of all civilized nations for the SAKE OF perpetra.
ting an experiment upon the people OF the. OnHeo
States. $780,.
Fifth. The last objection snail trouble you
with is 10 the new principle, that all duties are
TO be laid ad yalorem." II is not the least remark
able circumstance, connected with the passage OF
The net that this new ad Unt0Tem article IN the
democratic creed was supported by the sanction OF
no distinguished name but Henry Clays! ana
Mr. Claws friends say, that even he has been MIS-
representeG, to furnish the authority.
Another not unimportant Circumstance 49, tna'
the neople of my State have been commanded 10
dishonor me, as one not true 10 'ne uTe'tne VI
partv tariff of ad valorem duties and, therefore,
treocherous to them; when put it 10 your con-
scnces that there are thousands and tens OF thou
sands of good North Carolina democrats, who, so
far from having adopted it in their political creed,
did never 50 much as hear Of II until long since
nv election to the Senate LIT each one answer
for himself-Did you ever understand It before =
In sincerity, declare that until after my election
10 the Senate, [ did not, and presume you did
not. But think understand it now, my coun-
trymen, and venture to guess that the more you
know Of it, and the longer it shall be tried. the
less you will like it.
But let me tell you wkat it is 1t is 10 lay duties
or taxes upon goods imported from foreign coun-
tries, according to the value of the goods at the
market from whence they come-the la1c fixing
the per CENT and the collector Of ascertalning the
foreign value Of whatever is taxed-viz: the sum
of the tax-for which he is not responsible to you
but to the Treasury Department And specihc
duty is the same tax imposed upon the same arti
cle-the IalO ITSELF however, Distinguishing the
values, by establishing the particular sum OF taxa
tion, and leaving nothing for the collector to &c
~ fIfVV
if he be guilty of fraud, he may probably be con
vieted or fdisposed to oppress the merchant he car
be prevented. In short where the tax is specific the
collector only weighs or measures the quantity
where it is Gd rGlorens he not on measures oI
weighs the quantity, but likewise determines, up
on his own judgment, the foreign value Of the
things imported. The uniform rule, as approved
by your government, has been heretofore that o.
making all the duties specific which can be made
so, and let the others be ad valorem; but TO re-
duce the list of 1d UGlorenl duties from time to
time, by adding TO the list Of specifics. The ex
permental tariff condemns and repudiatcs this
policy altogether and prescribes new one. oi
having all the duties ad vaIorem, and none OF
them specific With this explanation, you can
have no difficulty in comprehending my objection
10 the new principle of the experimental tariff.
Il was maxim of the revolution that orepre-
sentation and taxation should 60 together" Now,
this great principle Of liberty never 10 be des-
piSed; and the abrogation OF il cannot be necessary
to the interests OF the republic. But it means moth
ing unless it creates the duty of laying taxes by
the lao, and not by the officers who collect it so
that the citizen who reads the law may, rs far as
practicable, see in it what it taxes him officers
too, whom the people have no agency in appoint
ing, and cannot remove-officers who in assessing
values, exercise their own discretion, and whose
Individual Judgment, in this country, as to the
mDrket value Of property in all foreign lands can
nofh hA ft1ll ad ~
neases TO do it live abroad and cannot be got here
and fthey could, it would still be almost i,npos-
slble to convict the officer of intentional alsehood
Il musl be proved that he was wrong and knew
ftoo. Is not this new doctrine, then more than
slight departure from this maxim of the republic
Shall-h be approved, upon the notion that this
grcat principle of representative democracy has
become impraclicable Shall we sanction the
pretence that the peoples representatives wilt chea,
them in adopting the specific duties, and assume
at the same time that custom house officers will be
more SerupuIous and more Just TO Vou in fixing
the values under system of Gd UaIorem duties ?
Ought such departure from great and funda-
mental doctrine of representative government to
be tolerated, much less rngraied permanently into
me laws ot free people, without unavoidable ne
cessIty, and sancti6ed part of our democratic
i"''"'-'''Lthout notice 10 the people2 A step or
tEyo further, and we SnOiI carried to = no;n,
where Congress can do nothing but declare the
aggregate revenues which may be levied for the
government, and leave the Treasury Department
10 collect them as may seem best 10 its officers
and according to its rules - - .. .
l come now to show that what the experimental
tariff makes the rule of taxation the fathers of the
republic made the exception. What they declared
was fruitful mother of frsuds, it has adopted as
the only parent of our repcnuesl
In 1875, when Washington was President.
Alexander Hamilton, his Secretary Of the Treasu.
ry, IN report to the House of Representatives
used the following words, viz
According to the present laws, imposing dui..
on articles imported to the United States NOT uncb
snort OF one third Of the whole amount of the dn-
nes IS derived from articles rated I'D valorem.
In other nations, where this branch of revenue
as With US, is Of principal, or very considerable
consequence, and where no peculiarly of Situation
mas tended 10 keep the rates of duly low experi
ehee mas led to contract more and more the num-
per OF articles rated ad valorem, and of course to
extend the number of those rated specifically. thst
IS according TO weight measure, or other rules of
quantity. -. ' ~ "a
The reason OF this is obvious: IL is to euard
against evasions, which infallibly hammer in
greater or less degree when duties are hioh T, :.
impossible for the merchants of any coun,,v io
have manifested more pTobity than those of The
United States on this subject; and it is firmly
believed that there never was one in which ilicit
purchases to the disadvantage of the revenue have
obtained SO little as hitherto in this. Yet wo. IA
" be delusiveJ expectation, that with duties so
considerable as those which now exist; disposi-
uon will not be experienced in some individuaIs
who carry on our import trade, TO evade the nav
menG OF them, and This TO an extent sn3;o;art =.