The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-08-08

| lHE BALTIMORE AMERICAN, IN speaking OF al Vao-
rem duties, makes very dangerous admission. Ii
says
"lf il were not for the fraud of false invoices and
for the low rates of valuation made in foreign
tries from which goods shipped, the principle o.
firing the duty according 10 the uaius could be very
good In Whsrs eal be applied ioihott
the danger fraud suastOn upon articles Of kHOton
value the iohigs admit IT,"
We quite concur with the American that the ad
vaorem principle Of taxation is good principle.
IL is in itself reasonable principle to article
according TO its value; and what is more, no other
principle Of taxation, as applied to an article OF
property, is at all reasonable or just. The ad valo-
rem principle does not discriminate against poverty
as the specific principle does. The ad valorem
principle states, its face, the proportion of his
treasury. II does what can be done to equalize the
inevitable hardship upon the poorer classes of
raising our UhOs in the shape of direct tax
upon the personal consumption of imported arti-
cles. 0fyery many Of these articles, the poor man
consumes even more than the rich man, and so
pays larger tax. When the duties are specific he
is almost sure to pay the larger tax.
The American says: "The wings admit the ad
yalorem principle, where it can be applied OthOut
The danger Of fraud or evasion, as upon articles Of
krOton paIus" Is this the fact Is it even an APP
Proclamation to the fact What articles are so
wholly OF known value as the various forms Of
iron MANUFACTURED Yet these have been from the
very beginning the fayorite objects Of specific du-
ties. No deny that, IN respect Of fraud the
ad vaorem principle upon iron is perfectly safe.
Yet, for the purposes Of extreme, and Of con-
cealed protection, we have heretofore had specific
duties on iron. Again: Are cassimeres, articles of
"kpown vaue''. Yet upon these, the wings adj
nit an ad valorem duty. Are linens, articles of
"known value" any more than silks Yet the
duties on linens are in the wing tariff ad valo-
rem, and those on silks are specific. This Of
silks, indeed, is test case. A pound Of some
kinds Of silk fabrics is worth near thirty dollars;
pound Of another kind is worth two dollars and
half Yet "the wings admit" upon these articles,
rising and falling through such an immense scale Of
values, not tax upon the palue, but, the contra
ry, and most monstrousy, tax merely on the
quantity. Can "the American" pretend that a tax
by the quantity upon articles like these is in itself
anything else but palpable spasiOn and fraud upon
the consumer
In the course Of his remarks, as cited by the Bal
timore American, Mr.. Webster expressed himself
as follows:
al venture to say that on two points public opin-
ion is settled: first to the utter folly of the ad
loren principle in the imposition Of duties; and do
not believe that there at this moment five gen.
tlemen in the Senate, who, if left To their own
| choice, would prefer that mode, nor indeed can |
persuade myself that there is man IN The tchote err
ecutipe government ioho, The bill noio 10 come
for the first time from the Treasury, tootid haze il in its
present form.
an the industry Of the land is against It; the
utactrers against il; the importers against IT,
the spuunsrs against IL; no crits God save IT,
il is against the sentiment Of the land The great prn-
cipe Of Just discrimination IN favor OF such art-
ces the general interest requires, is the principle
which commands the appreciation of the American
| people here tell gentlemen we shall have hence
forward no more ad valorem tariffs. We shall new
or go the principle Of horizontal tariff. This
bill cannot stand. 1t will not stand. Ii is house
built upon the sand and no intelligent man will think
himself safe beneath its roof; it will fall on him and
crush him."
The passages which have italicised here
strike us strangely. What can Mr.. Webster mean
| by saying of the new tariff bill that "not man'in
the whole executive government" would sustain it.,
and that because of its ad vaorem principlel What
proof would Mr.. Webster have from the Secretary
of the Treasury that he is in favor of the ad valo
rem principle If Mr.. Walkers report and his
original bill do not prove this, cannot understand
how anything can ever be proved Does Mr.. Web
ser mean that the notifications of the bill by the
Committee of Ways and Means have so changed
its form az to make it bad BILL in the view Of the
officer who originally prepared it, This can scarce
ly be- Indeed, it is quite certain that at the mo-
ment of making these assertions, Mr.. Webster was
speaking little-or not little at random.
| And having let his Imagination loose as to the
| preferences of "the whole Executive government"
the distinguished senator keeps up something of the
same "Ercles" vein in the remarks that follow
"No man cries God save the ad vaorem principle of
the bill ~ Why the votes of eighteen States In the
House of Representatives, have Just cried God save
it. against the sentiment Of the land Is not the
sentiment of the land represented in the national
legislaturei Gan the industry of the land against
itm What, in Mr.. Webster's view, is the industry
of the and He tells us--and here is the strain OF
the whole matter-''the manufacturers, the inn
porters, and the shipowners"-thess, and these
alone, he enumerates as constituting the industry OF
the land. These classes, he says, are against it.
They are the dominant classes in Mr.. Webster's
county of Suffolk. But he miscalculates widely
when he calls them the industry Of the land. Be-
fore the coming fall elections are over, Mr.. Webster
will probably discover, what in the enthusiasm
ofthe moment he to have forgotten that these
United States have agricultural population, and
that this population constitutes one large item Of the
national "industry." But we take issue with Mr..
Webster on the question whether the importing and
navigating interests against this bill Il may be
so in Boston; but as at present advised we ques-
ton whether 1t is so in New York, and in great
many other places. As to Mr.. Webster's vehement
denunciation of the coming hostility Of himself and
of his friends against the bill, to commence on the
5th of December next, we will only reply to him in
his own words, that if the threatened attack shall
end in sore discontinue, ait will not be the first