The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1846-08-15
The Financial and Com merciaI Policy Of tho
United states.

The session of Congress just closed has been re-
markable for the many important measures per-
footed, defining the financial and commercial po-
icy of the government Attempts have been re-
peatedly, heretofore, made, to place financial
and commercial systems upon better basis, but
they partially failed and it remained for the first
sess on, of the administration, to perfect
those plans, so necessary for proper regulation
Of these important branches of the government
Changes have repeatedly been made in tie Ia
1T, different systems have from time to time
been adopted for the regulation of the finances
Of the Government but at no session Of Con-
Sress has there been such a series Of measures
adopted, as at that just closed. We allude parti-
cularly TO the ad uaLorem tariff, the Warehousng
bill and the Independent Treasury bill. These
three are all Important; but the greatest of these
10 the Independent Treasury act, that regulates
the operations Of all others. The Warehouse bill
is kind of auxiliary to the tariff, and, in connec-
ton with the Treasury bill, will have very favor
able influence upon our foreign trade, and pre-
vent those sudden and ruinous fluctuations in the
supply OF foreign merchandise which have
heretofore been so frequently experienced
The manufacturing and commercial classes
generally attach very little importance to those
laws regulating the finances of the Government;
they appear TO think that the tariff and the tariff
alone, has every thing to do with the trade and
commerce OF the country, when it is but secon-
Diary matter, compared with those laws affecting
the value and vou me of the circulating medium.
The manufacturers labor under the i'm preston
that their interests depend upon the rate Of duty
upon foreign fabrics imported into the country,
whereas II they would look little deeper into the
subject, they would find that the rate of duty hal
I'm fact, very little to do with the extent of our To-
reign trade; and that our i'm portatons are regula.
ted more by the value of our currency than by the
duty. five could only impress the importance and
force Of this fact upon the minds OF the manufac-
turing classes, we should not hear so much here
after about the tariff as we have during the past
few months 1t carnot be denied but that the enor-
nous imitation in the currency of the country
from 1884 70 1887, had an immense influence in
producing the enormous importatons of those
years In 1884, S and SO the tariff was highly pro-
tective, much than the act of 1872 has been
since the first year of It's opeation notwith stand
ing which the importations in 1886 and '36 were
more than double what they have been any two
years since. From 1889 to 1912 the tariff ranged
below revenue point, averaging in 1s4l and AZ
only about fifteen per cent on the aggregate inn
portations, Notwithstanding which the importa-
tons were only about one half the value of those
when the duty averaged above thirty per cent.
What was the cause Of this change this great
falling off in the extent OF our importatons2 1t
was nothing else but the changes in the currency,
which had been great as those in our foreign
trade.
According to the theory of the protectionists and
free traders the whole of our foreign trade
from 1892 to 1872, should have been directly the
reverse OF what it They find place in their
theory tor the operation of those laws regulating
the currency; they never dream of the effect
OF that III fuence, and their calculations therefore
very frequently fail. 1t is our opinion that the In
dependent Treasury act will have a more impor-
rant bearing upon the extent of onr importations,
and upon our foreign trade generally, than the
new tariff, about which 80 much has been said
and written; and if those depending upon protec-
ton will turn round and use their influence, for
the purpose of bringing into existence, and pre-
serving sound currency, upon pure specie ba-
sis, they will do more towards shutting out of our
markets foreign fabrics, coming into competition
with similar articles of domestic manufacture
that they could accomplish with all the tariffs in
creation.
ARMY AFPAIRs-THE DIsBANpING OF THE VoIuN-