The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1858-12-17

: Id'tlthldi country.
The periodical revulsions which have existed
IN our past history. must continue 10 return .,
intervals, SO long as our present unboun5ed SO.
TEN Of bank credits shall prevail They .:;,I
however, probably be the less severe in C,tr.a
because IT is not to be expected, at least G..
many years 10 come that the Commercial
tions Of Europe, with whose interests our Qua,
are so materially involved, will exnosp ,bara
selves to similar caiamitps But thi, snb;an.
was treated 50 much at large IN my las, annual
message that shall not now pursue il furtbo.
! Still, | respectfully renew the recommends.
ton, in favor ofthr passage of uniform baoi,-
ruPL law, applicable to banking institutions
This Is all the power over the subject, which
believe, the frd~ral government possesses
Such law would mitigate, though il mich,
! not prevent the evil. The instinct of selEnra.
erva'ion might produce a wholesome restraint
upon their banking business; if they knew IN
advance, that suspension of specie payments
would inevitably produce their civil death.
But the effects OF the revuSion are nou,
slowly but surely passing away. The enerov
and enterprise Of our citizens, with our un-
bo"ndrd resources, will, within The period Of
another year, restore a slate Of Wholesome in
dustry and trade. Capital has again accunuIa-
ted IN our large cities The rate of interest :,
th"re very low. Confilenc- is gradually revi-
wing, and 50 s1on as ii is discovered that tb.
capital can be profta5iy employed in 'commer-
cial and manufacturing enterprises, and lin tba
construction OF railroads and other works of
public and private improvement, prosperity
will again smile throughout the land. II i
vain, however, TO disguise the fact from our
selves, that speculative imitation of our cur
rency, without a corresponding initiation in
other countries whose manufactured come int,
competition with our own, must ever produce
disastrous results to our domestic manufactures
Notariif, short Of absolute prohibition, can pre-
vent these evil consequences.
Ia connection with this subject, il is Droppr
to refer to our financial condition. The same
causes which have produced p-cuniarv distress
throughout the country, have 81 reduced the a.
mount of imports from foreign countries, that
thu revenue has proved Inadequate to meet the
necessary expenses Of the government. To
supply the deficiency, Congress, by the act of
the 22d Of December, 1857, authorized the Is
sue Of $50 100000 OF treasury notes; and, this
proving inadequate, they authorized, BIZ the act
OF June l4th, 1883, loan OFFS 100000 :to
be applied to the payment OF appropriations
made by law"
No statesman would advise, that ne should
ordinary expenses of the government. This
would be a most ruinous policy. Ia case OF
war, our credit must be our chief resource, at
least for the first year, and this would be great
iy impaired by having contracted a large debt
in tune Of peace. Ii is our true policy 10 in
Crease our revenue so as to pqnal our eYpendi-
lures. 1t would BE- ruinous 10 continue TO bor-
row. BrsidrS, II may be proper to observe that
the incidental protection, thus afforded by re-
venue tariff, would at the present moment, 10
some extent, increase the confidence Of the man
ut3cturing interests, ant give fresh impulse to
our rtviving business. To this, surely, no Der
son will object.
In regard tolhe mode of assessing aad colI-c-
ting duties under strictly revenue tariff, [
have long entertained and often expressed the
opinion, that sound policy requires that this
should be done by specific duties, in cases to
which these can be properly applied. They
are well adapted to commodfirs which are usu-
ally sold by weight or by measure, and ,shich
from their nature are of rqual or nearly equal
value. Sach, Tor example, the articles Off
ron OF different classes, raw sugar, and foreign
wines and sPirts.
Ia my deliberate Judgment specific duties
are the best, If not the only means, securing The
revenue against fraudulent and invoices, ,ncb
has been th@ practice aioplrd for this purpose by
other commercial Eatiors Besides, specific
duties would afford TO the American manulactu-
rer the incidental advantages to which he is
fairly entitled undrr revenue tariff. The pres
ent system is a sliding scale to his disadvan-
tage. Under It, when prices are high and busi-
ness prosperous, the duties rise in amount when
he least requires their aid. On the contrary,
when prices fail AMI he is struggling against
adversely, the duties are diminished in the same
proportion greatly to his injury.
Neither would there be danger that high-
er rate of dnty than that intended by Congress
could be levied in the form of specific dutits.-
1t would bn easy to ascertain the average valua
ofany imported article for a series of wears
and instead Of su1jrctin5 it to an al ualorem du
ty al certain rate per cent, to substitute in its
place an equivalent specific duty,
by such an arrangement the consumer would
not be injured. Ii is true he might have 10 pav
a little more duty on given article in one year,
but il 50, be would pay a little less in another:
and in series of years these would counter
balance each other, and amount to the same
thing, so far as his interest is concerned. This
| Inconvenience would be trifling, when contras-
ted with that additional security thus afforded a.
galnst frauds upon the revenue, in which every
consumer is directly Interested
| have thrown out these suggestions as the
| fruit of my own observations 10 whicn Com
grrss in their better in dgrnent will give such
weight as they may deserve.
The report of the Secretary of the Treasury
will explain in detail the operations of that de-
partIneht of the government. The receipts IN
to the Treasury from all sources during the ifs
/ cal year ending 30ih June. 1858. inclndinr the