Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1858-12-07

. Il 81 = +.
December, 1857, authorized the issue of $780,
100000 of treasury notes, and this proving in
adequate, they authorized by the act of June
18th, 1858, loan of $20,OOO,O00, to be applied
to the payment of appropriations made by law.
No Statesman would advise that we go on In
creasing the national debt to meet the ordinary
expenses of the government. This would be
a most ruinous policy-it would be ruinous to
continue 10 borrow, besides may be proper to
observe that the incidental protection thus af-
forded by arevenue tariff, would, at the present,
to some extent, increase the confidence of the
manufacturing interests, and give a fresh i'm
pulse to our reViving business To this surely
no person will object. In regard TO the mode
of assessing and collecting duties undera strict.
" revenue tariff, have long entertained and
often expressed the opinion that sound policy
requires this should be done by specific duties,
in cases to which these can be properly appIi-
ed. They are well adapted to commodities
which are usually sold by weight or by measure,
and which, from their nature, are of equal, or
the articles of iron of different classes, raw SUI
gar, and foreign wines and spirits. III my de-
lIherate judgement specific duties are the best
II not the only means, of securing the revenue
against false and fraudulent invoices, and
such has been the practice adopted for
this purpose by other Commercial ma
lions besides specific duties would afford to
the American manufacturer the incidental adj
vlntages to which he is fairly entitled under a
revenue tariff The present system is sill
ding scale to his disadvantage under it. When
prices are high and business prosperous the
duties rise in amount when he least requires
their aid. On the contrary, when prices fall
aud he is struggling against adversely the duties
are diminished in the same proportion greatly
to his injury. Neither would there be danger
that higher rate of duty than that intended by
Congress should be levied in the form of speci-
tic duties. 1t would be easy to ascertain the
average value of any imported article for series
OF years. and instead OF subecting it to an adva-
Iorem duty at a certain rate per centum TO sub
stltute in its place an equivalent specific duty;
by such an arrangement, the consumer would
not be injured. 1t is true he might have to pay
a little more duty on given article in one year,
but II he would pay little less in another, and
III a series of years those would counterbalance
each other, and amount the same thing; so far
as his interest is concerned. the inconvenience
would be triillng when cOntrasted with the adj
revenue, in which every consumer is directly
interested.
have thrown out these suggestions as the
fruit of my own observations to which Con-
gress, in their better judgement will give such
weight as they may justly deserve.
In relation to the transit route across the
lsthmus, the President says, the govt has no
objection to q demand for fair cOmpcnSation
but insists that here after The route shall not be
closed by an arbitrary decree OF the govt of
Nicaragua; he recomends Congress to pass u
law authorizing him TO employ force to prevent
the obstruction or closing of the transit by law
less violence, similar necessity for the pro-
lection of the Panama and Tehauntcpec routes.