The daily union., 1846-06-30
THE DAILY UNION.

and the gentleman from Kentucky [Mr TIBBArTsl
had discussed this question as though deioerale
proposition was made in this measure TO abolish the
existing mode Of collecting revenue. But the gra,
tuitous pothesis that gentlemen had been pleased
20 take up that direct taxation TO be resorted TO-
was contradicled by the bill under consideration II
pcrported 10 be a revenue bill, and proposed rate
Of duty taking the whole list of articles OF not less
than 25 per cent. Did that look as II they were
intending TO abolish the present system Of revenue,
! and 10 resort to direct taxatonl No; they sought
to modify the tariff and make II revenue measure,
and nothing less or more He had said that the
average rate of duty under this bill 25 per cent.
4 Here permit him to observe, we sometimes mysuiy
by calling things by wrong names; as, Tor example,
we speak of Hreyenue tariff" but we should say
a tariff of taraiiOn The taxation proposed by this
| bill amounts to 25 per cent
| Mr.. p. proceeded to inquire whether the taxation
proposed by this bill enhanced the price OF those ar
| ucles on which the tax was iad. Not from any
| doubt in his mind, because II seemed TO him too
ridiculous 10 question IT, but on account OF the pecu-
liar positions taken upon it by gentlemen who had
preceded him, and which he felt bound to answer.
| The gentleman from Pennsylvania, Mr.. STEWART,
and others, had taken the position that the higher
the duties, the lower the price, IN other words, the
higher the tax, the lower the prlce. This Propo-
| sition was founded on the idea that the producer
| pays the duty. Was this true' In investigating
this question Mr.. p laid down as propositions not
j 10 be conroverted-lst that every article of foreign
manufacture requires a specific sum TO produce it
that il was not produced for nOthngi I'd, that un-
less the importer reimburse himself for the cost
of production together with the interest Of the cap
tal invested, he will not seek this Market and Sd
that from the Improvements in machinery in foreign
countries, from the abundance Of capital in foreign
countries, from the increased population and the
consequent difficulty OIL living in foreign countries,
every article, the effect of the competition exist.
ing, is there produced at the very lowest price at
1 which il can be furnished exclusive Of duties,
| charges, &C. in our market Now, supposlng that
these propositions true, and that an article is
imported into this country, the cost the production
of which abroad is SIS, and you impose duty of s25
this S25 come out Of the cost Of the production
of the article so to bring down the price received
by the producer to S50 But suppose this was the
case the producer would not be reimbursed for his
outlay, and consequently would not send his articles
here except perhaps, in case of his having large
stock on hand for the time being and being obliged
TO sell. This would be at best but temporary; for
| no system of commerce could be continued which
returns the producer only two-thlrds the cost OF
| the production. IL not, what follows Why, the
very duty you impose, instead Of reducing the re-
cept Of the producer TO $50 is obliged to be added
| to the ATS, (the cost of production,) making the
price Of the article here sl0O-the tax of s25 being
added TO the cost Of production and being paid by
| the consumer. IL seemed TO him that this propo-
siton was sefevident, and could not be controyert-
ed by any amount ofingenuity or sophistry.
| But the gentleman from Pennsylvania adverted TO
fact as he said in support of his fayorite system,
viz: that the price all articles which protec-
tive duty had been levied had been reduced. He
would answer this by another fact which was
equally certain, viz: that there had been an equal
reduction in the price Of articles which were not
taxed. He instanced this by reference to the de-
crease within u few years. of the prices of tea and
coffee, which admitted free Of duty. Surely
the gentleman would not contend that there was a
secret magic influence in the protective system,
which not only reduced the prices of articles that
were taxed, but of those which not taxed also
Again: during the period the prices CT articles
in foreign countries had been equally reduced
Would the gentleman ascribe this to our tariff OF
1892
/ The fact was that this whole idea was chmerical
and erroneous. He denied that the proposition OF
the gentleman true. He asked for facts to sus.
tain it, and preferred not to take the pe DIRT Of the
gentleman as conclusive.
But, Mr.. p. contended even admitting the truth
Of the position that the prices had fallen Of all art
ces on which a tax was imposed, that this was not
fairly 10 be attributed TO the influence Of the tariff
One prominent cause the imitation of the cur.
rency in lS37-one dollar in specie representing six
or eight dollars of the paper circulaton-and the
i seauent increase Of prices. Our currency was now
reduced to a sound specie basis, and prices re-
duced in accordance with it.
He next proceeded to show that the tax imposed
at our custom-houses foreign importatons not on.
sumer but that it increased in the same ratio the
similar articles produced in this country OF this
we had test which demonstrated the fact beyond
all question. The cost of production of foreign
article being, as he had before supposed, S75 ard
the tax imposed upon it being s25 there could be
competition between the foreign and domestic article
until the price here reached 500; long as the
price continues under 800, the domestic article
4 enjoys monopoly of the market. And it was per.
fectly clear, from the love of gain which actuated
him, that while the domestic producer thus enjoyed
the monopoly, he would not go down to the cost o
production. He would not stop at S75. But il
| was said that home competition would reduce
the price Mr. P. would not quibbe on the subject
He was willing to give his opponents the full weight
of their arguments He admitted that when the do
mestic competition went to the extent of supply
gut of the market, 1t might bring down the price to
something like the cost of production. What then
would be the RESULT We would not collect a dollar
| of revenue the foreign article would be exclud
ed. And that was the test. Take the whole list Of
articles on which the returns of the custom-house
showed that duties were collected, and it was as
true as any proposition could be, that the price on
all these artices-equally of the domestic with the
4 foreign manufacture--was increased, to what ex.
tent cannot be exactly ascertalned.
The gentleman from Kentucky [Mr. YoUNe] said
the poor man paid none Of the duties under the tar
| iff Of ls42. He said the poor man was content
with domestic productions, and ergo paid no tax
| Mr.. P. did not contend that on domestic articles
consumed by them they paid tax into the fedora
treasury; but they paid an increase of price which
went into the pocke of the manufacture. This was
true beyond all controversy, ifhe had succeeded ir
establishing, as he thought he had the proposition
which he had laid down, that the domestic article
was increased in price correspondingly with the
tax levied on the foreign article.
He had been charged by those who were fat.
tenng on the spos and plunder of this protective
system, with entertaining unfrendly views towards
l. IN IIo mad ,pl
tirey any unfriendly feeling towards any interest
in this country The average rate of duty as he had
said, under this bill 25 per cent. Add to this
the cost of transportation, commissions for for.
warding and other incidental charges not less he be-
leved than Is per cent, and it made protection to
| the domestic manufacturer of 40 per cent. But the
! lowest estimate of charges he had heard made was
10 per cent; this gave protection of IS per cent
and was not this protection enough Besides. oul
manufacturers had the advantage of the cheapness o
water power in this country, and of fuels and ofmate
rials, ofequa skill and enterprise. With the sngl,
If small annount Of M al l,h