Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1846-09-25

If he did not, then, without disparaSihS 'hos'
gentlemen, his opinions are not worm lhe l'ape
mon which This article is written. II ne d'u SCI
that Mr.. Simmons bill reprobaled all al rGfo'e"
dulles, then we contend that he was adVoca''hs
principle he intended 10 discard, anu was auacA
ing one he intended 10 adopt
We are perfectly aware OF the dihcui'y OF &c
conciling MIR. Cay's opinions with Mr.. Clay
opinions, particularly on The subject OF the iafill
We have employed ourselves often IN remark
ing how one Of his positions rendered announcer
taken in the same speech, perfectly unienaoie
mill we have come 10 the conclusion 81 a lals
writer in the Southern Review, tina, he did no
exactly understand his own views; and mat ht
could nor appreciate logical absurdi'y bu
sin we have attributed 10 him some qualities o.
high order; and We thought that II he was cie",
and consistent on any point, IT was on Inc supJee
Of aa raloyep. duties. We thought, and sun 'nlhh'
that ii is perfectly evdcnt,ha,, with or without inc
home valuation, he preferred ad raDrem 10 specihc
duties. the more we examine the matter, Inc more
firmly is this belief fixed. The failure OF Mr. DAVIS
and the Editors Of the Times 10 make out their
noSitiOn still fQrtneT SuSHStHtHs W. wv S'"-~'
see how there can be any doubt on the subject
In SPEAKING Of The prineYies Of the Compromise
act Mr.. Clay defends The AD vALoREM d"ttes as q
principle incorporated into that act ~ less; ana
assa,ls specifc duties and determinations, aSinct
pes pyopeylp discarded fronl that act on tic same nc
eQsion. Did he mean that this language should
only apply to The home valuation Then why
did he Immediately compliment The al r8foTem
duties on The foreign radiation by saying, lha''he
had occasioned no difficulty 10 The Treasury =
II he meant to fall back upon specific duties, IN
less he could get the home patsat'on, why ana ne
say that notions of their utility arose from want
OF a proper understanding of the subject Did nc
intend TO take Mr.. Simmons idea OF spechcs ana
none o,her2 Then, why say he was pledged 10
any sort OF Qd ralorcm duties Why this long
ANALYSIS OF The principles OF The compromise ao'
when he intended 10 repudiale lis man feature
In the next paragraph TO The one we have eS-
amined, Mr.. Clay compares the ad ra'oren ana
specific principles without any qualification
His language is:
"Compare the difference between The specihc
tain rha, The later is Justly entitled 10 the prefer
ence. The one principle declares The duty shall
h. upon The real value Of the article taxed; The
specific principle imposes An equal duty on arl-
Giles greatly unequal in value. Coffee, Tor exam
pie Cand il is an article which always suggests
itself 10 nv ,houghls,) is one OF The articles on
which specific duty has been levied. Now, y
is perfec,lv well known that the Mocha coffee Is
worth a, least twice as much as The coffee OF 81.
Domingo or Cuba-yet they both pay the same
duty The tax has no respect 10 Their value, ou'
is arbitrarily levied on all articles OF speciiic
kind alike, however various and unequal may De
their value say, that in theory, and according
10 every sound principle OF usice, the al raiorem
principle of taxation is entitled 10 the preference
THIS LANGUAGE CLEARLY RErERs TO TIE Fo-
REIGN VALUATION UNDER THE COMPROMISE ACT
10 lie satisfied ofthis, it is only necessary 10 acd
that The residue Of The paragraph states that The
frauds to which THIS SYSTEM (Which he thus COM
pimen,s) is liable, can in great measure ne re-
NEEDED by adopting The home valuation proposed
by Mr.. Simmons. This shows concluslvely thai
he was no, referring 10 I'D ralorem duties win the
home valuation, but 10 I'D raioyem duties, as they
had been before levied, without difficulty 10 the
Treasury, under The provisions OF the Compro-
mise Act He speaks OF the al raiorea system
rs thing in existence, which had wofheu we'll
and could be made better.
MIR. CLAY continues by asserting, that from INC
origin OF the government until 1872, the aflicles
from which the greatest amount OF revenue was
orawn had been taxed on the al rGlorem primer
nle and that he thought it was the bes! mode
And he also says, that up 10 that Time those ou-
ties had been subject 10 fewer frauds Than those
incident TO specific duties. For fear OF being ac-
cused of misrepresentation, We quote his woids:
Aoain-wha, has been the fact from The orr
Gin of The Government until now The articles
from which the greatest amount OF revenue mas
heen drawn. such as woollens, linens, silks, cot
,ons wors,eds, and few Others have all been
faxed on The nd vaorem principle, and there has
bsen no difficulty in The operation believe, up
on The whole that il is The best node. believe
that il we adopt fixed rale al valoren, wheneV,
Or !; can be done, The revenue will be subjected
70 fever frauds, than the injustice and frauds in
cident 10 specifc duties. One Of the most proli-
fir sources OF the violation Of our revenue laws
has been. as every body knows, the efoIl 10 gel
in goods of finer quality and higher vainc,
admitted under the lower rate Of duty required
tor those of a lower value. The honorable gen
,leman from New Hampshire Mr. woodbury., y
and The honorable Senator from New YORK (Mr.
Wright, } both we'll know this. But II The duty
was laid ad valorem, there would be no monVe
for such an effort, and The fraud IN us preseh
form would have no place
This is direct comparison OF the I'D rdf"ff"
and specific duties, when the ioTmer were leVie'
on The foreign valuation before and after The pas
sage Of the compromise; and an appeal TO mem
hers d, the Senate 10 Prove, that with the mod'
Of valuation which had been adopted up 10 ina
lime the al ralo,cm duties were subject 10 fewe
frauds than any other.
We hardly think that it is necessary 10 WASTE
more of our time on This subject We hav
made out our case without pervcrling one iota q
MIR Claws speech lie alludes to Mr.. Simmon
on but two occasions. The first allusion IS, ina
no had understood that Mr.. Simmons though
ina, a satisfactory system OF home Valuation
could be devised, and that he (Mr Clay) wishe
him success in the attempt. This certainly inl'
mates that no such system had been devised. Il
another connexion, Mr.. Clay says "wilh The nom
valuation proposed by my friend from Rhod
Island (Mr Simmons, the nd calo,em system ca
be adopted with all practicable safety" anc
AR Simmons afterwards brought forward bill
containing nothing but specific duties. it eonl
no, be The one which MIR. Clay understood nun
nrorose for the purpose Of carrying out me a.
valorcm system. If Mr.. Davis and the Editor
The Times are right, they wouId repifS'", :"
r-s., WHO statesman as speaking a' ieus'h
an important, lon'-' .."sn every word s was to b
al ''"p u " he provisions of bill understood
I which the country had never heard OF, and whic
he did moi explain They would represent thei
erea, aprac,cal statesman" as contendins befor
Congress for a maximum rate OF ad valorem du
ties when he had agreed upon The principles OF
hill which discarded all ad valorem duties. The
represent him as UNFOLDING great principle o
the compromise in l543 when he had Privael,
adopted set OF specific duties, which that Com
promise repudiated ate the 10Th Of June. In
word they represent him as a knaye or fool