The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-02-24

DflAIto dDout tWO uliilouo anu Hudtt VI uui-
lars-not much less than the whole annual APP.
preparation Of the Federal government at the
time it was established
The power 10 pass such BILL is said to be
the one given to Congress to regulate COM
nerce-the same grant relied on as authority
for protective tariff
The regulation Of commerce, 80 fur as rivers
and harbors are concerned, was, when this gov
eminent was formed, understood to consist in
granting permission to the holders of property
ut harbors, to improve tle navigation, and in re-
strictins them in the charges they were to make
on the vessels coming into such harbors, and
profting by such improvements. Such was the
extent of this power then exercised by the
British government 1t merely granted perms-
sion to individuals or municipal corporations to
improve harbors or construct lighthouses, and
restricted tho charges they should make against
the vessels that received the benefits The
British government has to this day adhered to
that system 1t neither makes nor improves
harbors on its own account except to the ex-
tent of anchorage especially required for the
royal navy All the lighthouses of Great Brit
ain are even now private or corporate property.
But our republican, economical, constitutional
system, has expanded into vast annual govern
ment appropriation Of three millions for light
houses, rivers, and harbors--a general tax, un-
equally levied, for the benefit of the vessels that
are thus accommodated.
1t must be obvious that the power now as
sumed to regulate commerce. is unlimited, save
by the mere discretion Of the majority, and the
depth Of the public purse. This will be the
more clear the moment we consider on what
principle such system Of expenditure is to be
conducted. Shall the appropriations to the diff
ferent localities or sections be according to their
commerce. or their property, or their population,
or their area, or their representation, or their
taxation? Ii the power existed to the extent
claimed, some one or more, or all of these,
would be the conditions on which it should be
exercised But this bill observes none of these
conditions We have made a careful analyst
of it, and find thAs if we look at the location
alone of these expenditures, about one-half is
in the North, little more than one-fourth in
the South, and about one-fifth on those waters
that are common to both, but on which the North
has much the most population and territory.
New York, as usual, gets the lions share. AS
near as we can Judge, three-fourths of the ex-
penditures are for the North, one fourth for the
South.
The commerce of the South we consider to
be greater than that of the North; for, although
the South has but ten millions of population,
and the North thirteen, the South exports a
much larger portion Of her production, and i'm
ports much larger portion of her consumption
than the North. Almost the entire crop OF cot
ton, tobacco, rice, and sugar, is exported from
the plantation, and the provisions and clothing
of the planter are imported from other States,
foreign or domestic. But large portion of the
corn, wheat, and live stock produced in the
North, is consumed on the spot Of its produc-
ton. In manufactures the case is otherwise :;
but the proportion Of manufacturing labor and
capital is small compared with agricultural
In population, the South has ten millions to
thirteen in the North, much greater than her pro-
portion of this expenditure. In property, she is
about equal to the North. She receives but
one-fourth, instead of onc-half of the expendi-
ture Her representation in one branch of the
Federal legislature is nearly half; in the other,
nearly two-ffths. She receives but little over
one.fifth. Her area-the area Ct her STATES is
creater than that of the North-on that basis,
she fares still worse.
If her taxation is in the proportion Of her ex-
ports and her consumptio.l, it must be much
moro than half.
Mr. McLANE, of Maryland, chairman of the
Committee on Commerce, who reported this BILL
undertook to defend it against the charge of
sectional favoritsm lie gave the following
classification:
81. Louis harbor $50 ,0O0,2ed river $50, 600
Havre de Grace 20,000|Cumb land Isl. 81, 900
Win 'gton, N. C. 10000 Hog Island $4,000
Savannah 5O,000IBay. la Fourche 25, 900
New Castle Is 600 Beaufort, N c.. 1850
Pamico river 5000 Mobile $4,000
Del breakwa,er $4,000 James river 10000
Baltimore ~, 900 North Carolina 100, 900
Miss. @. and Ark.34O, 0O0
And said:
"Sir, these appropriations exceed in the ag-
gregate, 100000 = nearly half the whole
amount, which is very little over $2000,000.
The proportion, therefore, that the South re-
ceives, is greater than that the North receives,
calculating the ratio of population"
Now, it will be scen that he charges to the
South the appropriations for The Mississippi and
Ohio rivers, and for Cumberland and Hog Is
lands, amounting to more than $350,ooo. But
all these are for the common benefit of North
and South, since the whole northern coast OF
the Ohio belongs to the North, and so does the
eastern coast of the Mississippi above the mouth
Of the Ohio, and It's western coast above the
State of Missouri. Then there is the appropri-
alton for the Delaware breakwater, which il
much more for Northern than Southern trade.
Deduct these, and there remains only 100000
for the Sonth exclusively and more than double