The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1853-10-12
Treasury DEPARTMENT,


American products, are those about
which there will doubtless be the least
question.
Besides these objects in the proposed
reduction of the tariff of such an arrange
ment as will afford proportional benefit
and relief to every portion and interest
Of the country, there Is another which
ought by no means to be disregardcd =
| mean, to abridgc the labors Of the
Custom Houses This object will be
consulted by adding to the free list ar
ticlcs Of general consumption and arti-
clcs paying little duty, which but for
this consideration might properly be
made subjects of revenue.
| am, very respectfully,
JAMES GUTHRIE,
Secretary Of the Treasury
The Tariff now in operation was IN.
deed pfofessedly based on Free Trade
principles, but it was never conformcd
to them. To tax Iron, Sugar and Wool
thirty per cent, yet to permit Tea and
Coffee to come in free of duty, is not
Free Trade, as all men do know. Our
present One Hundred per cent impost
on Wines and Spirits is not a Revenue
duty, but in the highest degree Protec
tivc-Proteclivc OF the very meancst,
most dishonest, most pernicious manu-
facture in the country.-that Of counter
fclt Brandy, Madeira, Champagne. &c -.
out of our homemade Whisky and CT.
der, adultcrated with various noxious
and poisonous Drugs. And on what
Revenue principle is raw Hemp saddlcd
with thirty per cent duty, while that
same Hemp, manufactured in England
on its way from Russia to this country
is admitted at duty Of twenty FIVE per
cent This is but specimen of class +;
but, from the day this Tariff was cnac-
ted till now, we have been foilcd in cv-
cry effort to elicit from some advocate
of this Tariff any kind of justification or
explanation of these pernicious anoma-
lies
Mr. Guthrie's Circular is cautiously
worded, but it proves to us that his
views are much soundcr than they have
been represented lie is clearly hostile
to a uniform rate of duty. or any other
consistent application of the Free Trade
dogma to our Tariff system. lie plain
" recognizes and believes in the duty of
so adjusting our tariff as to protect and
encourage the more exposed and endan'
gerod branches of American Industry.
lie would reduce the Tariff, as it should
be reduced, by abolishing the present
charges on articles produced only abroad
which form the basis Of American Man
ufactures, and such others as do not
compete with our Home Products. We
should be willing to commit the revision
of the Tariff unreservedly into Mr. Gu
thrie's hands, only STIMULATING that he
should first renounce all political aspi-
rations, and solemnly pledge himself in
such revision to regard nothing else than
the permanent well-being of the whole
country.
To add to the Free List very many
articles which do not compete with any
product of our own Industry is indeed
the true way to reduce the accruing
Revenue and will, as the Secretary in
Inmates, reduce the amount of Custom
House labor also. But why not 60 fur
Their in the same direction and substi-
tute Specific for Ad Valorem Duties 2
VIGOROUSLY a great proportion of the
most arduous and perplexing labor now
imposed on our Revenue officers is that
of fixing the amount of duties actually
payable. If this could be effected by
merely putting the articles in the scales
and ascertaining their weight, not only
Custom House labors but Custom House
frauds would be essentially diminished.
May we not hope for SO desirable con-
summation
We only wish that Congress could
approach this subject forgetting that it
was ever a theme of partisan contention.
Were that point secured, we should feel
confident that the approaching Revision
of the Tariff would prove beneficial. in
many ways In largely extending the
list of Free Articles, especially those
which form the basis of Home Manufac-
lures. and so reducing the cost to our
people of the fabrics thus produced 2,
In reducing the amount of Revenue col
lected, and SO diminishing the public
burthens and the pressure of that leaden
incubus, the Sub Treasury, on the Cur
rency and Business of the County 3,
In eflacing the grieyous anomalies in
our present Tariff whereby larger per
centage is levied on certain raw materi-
ais imported, than on the Foreign fab
RIGS manufactured therefrom and 4, In
greatly simplifying our Revenue System
and closing avenues to Fraud by substi.
tuting Specific for Ad Valorem Duties.
Nothing but party spirit, party drill. and
the influence of Foreign money at Wash
ington, can prevent the prospective Re
vision Of the Tariff taking such a shape