Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1858-12-10
The Unity Of the Cabinet.

suai.ssd with the history Of that reign. will
s3oahGlso remember the occasion Wherein it was
made saeh BY the summary ejectment OF sandry
Of his .sconfdential advisers"
In Ensisnd, when an Administration fails Of
majority in the House of Commons, the confden-
%ial advisers Of the sovereign forthwith abdicatc
their authority or. in case minority Of the Adj
ministrasioa dissent from the majority, the former
retire with view to making the administration
unit. |, has been reserved however, to the illus
trious Administration under which we live, to
illustrate in part, the old axiom of "a house divi-
ded against itself &C." and we trust that its fn-
ture history may vindicate the whole truth Of the
proverb
The President in his late message, has promul-
gated some very excellent Wing doctrine respect
ing the superior merit Of specific duties land home
valuation of course) over the present miserable
system of al ralorem duties and foreign valua-
ton. by which the government is annually cheated
out of a large amount of revenue. and honest i'm
porters in this country brought in competition
with the unprincipsl, and placed at great disad-
vantage. Quoth the President:
No statesman would advise that we should 60
on increasing the national debt 70 meet the ord'-
nary expense of the Government. This would be
n most runous policy. In case of war our credit
must be our chief resource. at least for the first
year, and this would he greatly impaired by hay-
ing contracted q large debt in time OF peace 1t ~
our true policy to increase our revenue No as t.
equal our expenditures II would be rulnous to
continue to borrow. Besides II may he proper
to observe. that the incidental protection thus nj
for,led by a revenue tariff, would Mt the present
moment to some extent, increase the confidence
of the manufacturing interests and give fresh
impulse 70 our reviving business. To this, sure
". no person will object
In regard to the mode eff assessing and collect
ing duties under a strictly revenue tariff. have
long enter tanned and often expressed the opinion
thai sound poficg requires his sho"tdbe doae ~
specific duties in to which these can he prop
crly applied. They are well adapted to eominod'-
ties which are usually sold by weight or by meas
urc and which, from their nature, are OF eanal or
Of nearly equal value. Such, for example. are the
articles Of iron of different classes. raw sugar and
foreign wines and spirits.
In nv deliberate Judgement, specific duties are
Tie best II not tic only Of securing ne rtre'-
against false and fraudulent ,"ro'ces, aud snra
has been tie practice adopted for h's purpose hy
other commercial nations, Besides, specific duties
would afford to the American manufactures tie
incidental advantages to which he is 'nirly enii-
tied under revenue tariff. The present system
is a sliding scale to his disadvantage. Under it,
when prices arc high and business prosperous, the
aid. On the contrary, when prices fall, and he is
struggling against adversely. the duties are dl-
minished in the same proportion greatly to his
injury.
Neither would there be danger that higher rate
of duty than that intended by Congress, could be
levied in the form of specific duties. 1t would be
easy TO ascertain the average value ofany imported
article for series Of years; and instead oi snec-
ting in to an dd rdiorcm duty Mt certain rate rer
centum, TO substitute in its place an equivalent
specific duty.
By such an arrangement the customer would
not be injured. tits true, he might have to pny
little more duty n given article IN one year
but II co. he would pny little less in another, and
in q series Of wears these would counterbaancc
each other, and amount to the Same thing. 81 FAR
Ms his interest is concerned. This Inconvenience
would be triAing. when eontras,cd with the idi-
tional security thus afforded against frauds upon
the revenue, in which every customer is directly
interested.
l have thrown ont these suggestions as tho fruit
Of my own observation. to which Congress- III
their better Judgment. will give such weight ns
they may justly deserve
It will be seen, therefore, that the President is
irrevocably committed TO the system of specific
duties. Now, let as what his Secretary of the
Treasury has to say in direct contradiction Of the
doctrines Of his Chief
1t has also been proposed to adopt the principle
Of home valuation, with u view. FIRST of increasing
the rate OF duty, and secondly, Of guarding against
un der valuation aud other frauds which are alles
cd to exist under our present system.
As MEASURE for increasing The rcrenne, his
proposition possesses no merit. Ii seeks to do indi
rectly what can be better effected directly If
the sole object is to increase the taxes it is better
to do so in bold and manly way. At present.
the duty 10 imposed upon the market value of the
merchandise in the principal markets OF the coun-
try from which the importation is made including
all costs and charges Of shipment.
To substitute for this rule the principle of home
valuation would be to add to such value Of the
chandise the insurance cost Of transportation, du
ty levied, and profits Of the importer.
1t ought to he q sufficient reply to the PROPOSE
ton that OF these elements entering into the
home value are not legitimate hects of taxation.
Other and more serious objections will be coEsid-
cred in another connection. The reason in favor
Of home valuation. which has been pressed with
the most earnestness. is that 1t WW protect the req
enae from fraud by undsr raluation The adro-
Gates Of the change alege that, under our present
system. the government is defrauded by rarions
means, Of its legitimate duties upon large portion
Of the imports. In proof of this charge compar-
ison has been instituted between the value OF our
exports and imports for thelast three years. show
seg that the imports were less. by large amou mt
than the exports.
This difference is charged to under valuaton.-
The remedy proposed Is either home radiation or
specific duties. II is true that the exports for the
last few years have exceeded the imports, but the
inference which has been drawn from it is not
necessarily correct. Other causes have contrihn-
ted to bring about this result it should be borne
in mind that our exports are valued at the port Of
expectation. When these exports reach a falling
market abroad, the return cargo will exhibit in the
Observation-Disclosures importatioRhe loss sustain ed
by the persons on whose account the exports have
bsen shipped. This often constitutes an importau,
element in accounting for that excess of exports