Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1850-01-22

l. power lo do being conferred upon him by a%. This Sli
ct Vt limiting tc expenses OF the revenue was not for III
rst time introduced in 1913. The late secretary h
treasury had recommended il in his first report and in III
subsequent reports made 10 Congress He had also furnish
ea Tue committee on Finance with estimates and in ctc
81 $50 900 " ''"'' ' t
II Is only by thus limiting the expenses Of collecting th
revenue that the abuses complained Of be broken p am
II must be done by Congress No Secretary of the Treasu
y upon coming into office, and finding certain number
employees VIII commence the task of reducing them. /
was wrong TO expect it of any Congress should
III me matter tlt would oppose the abolition of the
housing syseI because il of great benefit. Il
ealized thc amount of yearly received prcvcn
ted any sudden fluctuations in Tho quantity of imports Ii
henehied Importers 1t reduced tho price o imported
goods 10 consumers hence that the opposition 10 il
came from those districts interested in protection II ten
dcd towards free trade and he favor of free trade
far as II was compatible with n tariff for revenue. He
thcusht however iha II was time 10 abandon the
hoscs 10 private enterprise and considered the difference
s9oO between the receipts OF the warehouses and their
EXPENSES attributable 10 the Keeping such
houses He conceded that the establishment Of COL
lection districts increased the expenses; there
fore h. willing extend the limit TO any sum reasonable
and within Just bounds. lie thought evil would result
from tie abolition of the whole of rcycnuc-cuttcrs
They prevented no smuggling The people o this country,
10 their honor, We're opposed 10 smuggling There less
done here than in any other part of The world The Ameri-
can people nbhorred smuge There would be- evil
sui from dlscarsnS from office great number OF those
now holding thcm in reducing the salaries This rcduc
lion Of salaries would not prevent applications for tem if
IL did, he would reJoce in IT, This great desire for office
this abandonment vi all other walks lille obtain public
oiccwis great evil and the most dangerous one 10 the
institutions Of the country. He would hail any thing tend
ding 10 destroy il aS great moral reform.
Mr. WEBSTER said, il evident that Congress
not al this time prepared with the necessary information
Ia enable safely regulate by law the expenses collect
ing the revenues s II was unniormcd To great extent OF the
proper basis on which To flx m as there 4 variety
ut opinions as 10 the abolition Of in whole
or in part; variety Of opinions the abolition of the
warehouse system in whole in parthc thought the pro-
per course was Ia adopt the amendment Of the Senator from
New York. lie would cordially support il.
Mr. DICKINSON agreed with the Senator tha, there
not sufficient information before them which base
correct estimate His amendment took middle ground be-
tween the limitation and the estimates Of the Secretary of
season of the year he opposed the suppression of the
The underwriters depended upon the assist
ance afforded by these cutters and had been
made looking IN 4 substitute for them.
AIr. CALHOUN had been furnished with statement Of
the annual amount expended in the collection Of the
He asked attention 10 the great increase in that expenditure
In c2l the receipts from customs SIS 0D0 the
expenses Of It's collection SJ3U00 In ISIS the receipts were
s3 500000 the expenses 100000 This simple statement
showed there was something rotten and wrong in The sys
tim TIE expenses had Increased two hundred cent.
The expenses al this day ought in proportion be less than
they were twenty years ago You collect larger
for less in proportion than you small one. In S2l
he remembered WELL for he in Mr. MoSRoEs cabinet,
there not The least suspicion oi any wrong being
mcd in the revenue. There could, however be reform
by Congress without hearty corporation by the head Of
the Treasury. Without this co-operatun specification
ot appropriation by Congress would be useless lie hoped
he would not be considered sostca when he related that
upon assuming the head of the War Department. he found
the expenses o that department amounted To i000000 and
in three years without any aid from Congress- h had
ed il 10 S2,IUUUUO. The thing be done now, il the
Secretary would lead and Congress back the Secretary
But the thing would never be done. To do required
rea effort This very expense created an interest i'm the
country 10 maintain II. But that was mol the why il
would not be reduced The that the duties imposed
upon imports for revenue are not looked upon by the people
a. biTden on The contrary they all hail ii with pleasure
They are in favor Of keeping the expenses nj the govern
lncnt, ani thereby make necessity for higher be
derived from the duty Imports and consequently keep
up the high duties.
Mr. HAMIlN opposed In the abolition Of the revenue
service at this without any notice The commercial
'.sliln-B sliln -BkTitBtRY expressed similar views. i
Mr. DAVIS of Mississippi before voting oil The amend
mcnt inquired if the Treasury Department 10 have Tor
expenses OF collecting the the amount rs oA-
pended last year. and in addition the fund mentioned IN the
exception the proviso in the act OF March l7y! ii So
instead reducing the amount il increased II nearly quar-
Mr.. DICKINSON said it appeared as if such the
fact.
Mr. DAVIS then moved 10 strike out all of the last clause
of the amendment commencing with the word osether
And the motion strike out was ost-ycas Il, nays 3D.
The question then recurring the substitute offered a.
an amendment by Mr. DIcKlSsos, was adopted by yeas
and nays as follows
ry Clarke Clay Cooper, Corwn, Dawson Dayton Dickin
Douglass Greene Hanlin Mangu" Miller Mor9n Ton
pearce Pratt Seward, Smith Spruance Underwood, Up
ham Wales and Webster27.
NAys-Messs Atchson, Benton, Borland Bright, Butler
Calhoun, Cass Clemens, Davis Of Mississippi, Dodge OF
Iowa Dodge of Wisconsin, Downs Fech Footc, Houston
Hunter Jones' King Norris Rusk Sebastian, Shields,
soule, Sturgeon, Turney. Walker and Yulec-27
The Vice President voted in the affirmative.
Mr. HUNTER offered, 4 additional scction the fol-
lowing which was adopted
And be it further resolved That nothing in the act afore-
said shall be so construed as To deprive importer of the
privilege of the transportation of merchandise under bond
from one district another, and of rewarehousing the
same according the provisions Of the second section oil
hc 6ih August 1876 to establish waehouslng system,
and 10 amend an entitled "An act to provide revenue
from imports and change and modify existing laws I'M
posing duties on imports, and for other purposes
The joint resolution amended was then reported back
TO the Senate; when
Mr. DAVIS OF Massachusetts, renewed his motion to
strike ont the list clause the first secion pending which
motion, I'm . -
row which motion adopted