Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1860-12-05


er1e ol the country which they lave right demand.
ELECTION OF MEMBEGs CONGRESS.
again recommend lie passa.e Of law in
pursuance oftne provisions Ol the constitution appoint
ing day certain. previous the 4th March, each
year Oh all Qua iner Tor the ciecUu OF re prcsentatyes
throughout all the states A similar power mas already
been exercised, wi general apprubatOn appoint
the election OF electors president vice president
CT the United st tes MY attention earnestly Iii
reced 10 tnis subject, from the that the jjh
grest Terminated theLJd OF March, lo5J without
post department. / was then forced to consider
the best remedy Tor this omssion and Immediate call
Of the present congress Upon in
curry, however ascertain d that fifteen out OF the thir
ty-three states composing the conederacy without
representatives. and thd consequently, these fifteen
STATES would De distfanchsed b. sach call These f-
teen states will be in the condition tile 4th
halCh neAt zen oil them cannot oItI representatives.,
according TO existing state laws until different periods,
months d october aud NoTeinJer
In my last message gave warning that in time Of
buttons depend upon the power the president to
assemble full congress to meet the emergency.
TARIFF.
1t is quite evident the financial necessities
OF the sOYernnent,wIll require modification of
creasns the revenue. desire reterate the recou-
incubation contained in my last two annual messages
ties On all Imported articles which these prop
erly applied From long observation and peIiemce,
am cOnvnceu that specific duties necessary. both
ptect the revenue and to secure 10 our manufacturing
Gests that amount Of incidental encouragement which
unavoidably results from revenue tariff
As an abstract proposition it be admitted that ad
EaoTem duties would in theory be the most Just ana
equal But if the experience of this and all other COM
mcrclal nations demonstrated that duties
Iot oe assessed ana collected without Srcat nuus upon
the revenue then is the part OF wisdom 10 restore the
vaorem duty, this must be the result Under it the in
evitabe consequence IS real foreign goods VIII De en-
therefore, the duty the difference between their
real and fictitious value and to TINS extent We are DC
fraudei.
The temptations which ad valorem duties present
dishonest importer irresistible His object is TO
goods through the custom houses at the lowest
alton necessary TO save them from conhscation In this
he too often succeeds in spite OF the vigilance OF the
for the purchaser and another the house and
other expedients to deraud the government The hon
est importer produces his invoice the collector stating
the actual price at which lie purchased the article abroad
Not so the dishonest importer and the agent Of
the foreign manufacturer. And here it may be OBJ
served that very large proportion of the manu-
1actares imported from abroad are consigned fer sale to
commission merchants who are mere agents employed by
the In such cases no actual sale has been
made to fix their value The foreign manufacturer he
be dishonest prepares invoice OF the goods not
to escape detection In this manner the dishonest import
tage over the honest merchant they thus enabled
to undersel their fair trader and drive him from tho
ket In fact the operation OF this system has already
driven from the pursuits OhOnOraDe commerce many Of
that class Of regular and conscientious merchants whose
character throughout the world. the pride Of our coun
try.
The remedy for these evils to be found in specific
duties, this may be practicable. They dspe
with any inquiry at the Custom House, Into the actual
costs or value of ;he article and it the precise
amount ofduty previously fixed by law They present
no temptation to he appraisers Of foreign goods who re-
ceive but small salaries and might by underyalua i'll
a lew cases, render themselves independent.
iBssies specific duties best conform the rcqustion
the constitution, that mo preference shall be given
by any regulation Of commerce or revenue TO the ports
OF one state over those of another" Under our al
vaorem system sucn preferences are to some extent
inevitable and complaints have often been mace that
the spirit of this provision has been violated by lower
appascment of the same articles at one port than at
An Impression strangely enough prevails to some ex-
lies Noihins eau be more fall lc1us. Great Britain
gores in free trade, and yet her whole from i'm
- RAN 5a n i NJ s0 bcyn Fra,n
H.. o he n
valO~cm duties which it imposes shall be into
spech; duties within six months from ITS date, and tese
are to ascertaued by making OF the prices
for six months previous to that time The reverse OF the
prIp1stion would be nearer to the truth because much
larger amount of revenue would be collected by merely
converting the ad valorem duties IF tariff into equivc-
rent specific dntles 10 TINS extent the revenue would
be i'll rea and in the anne proportion the specific duty
might be diminished.
S eciic duties would secure to the American
manufacturer the incidental protection to which
he is fairly entitled under a revenue tariff, and to
this surely no person would object The trainers of
the existing tariff have gone further, and in lib
eral spirit have Disseminated IN favor Of large and
useful branches OF our manufactures not by raising
the rate OF duty upon the importation Of similar
articles from abroad but what is the same in effect
by admitting articles free of duty which enter into
the composition of their fabrics
klUnder the present system'it has been often re.
marked, that this incidental protection decreases
when the manufacturer needs 1t most,and Increases
when he needs it least, and constitutes sliding
scale which always operates against him. the
revenues Of the country subject to similar tuc
F. tuation. Instead of approaching steady st nd
1Sd as would be the case under system OF specific
Duties they sink and rise with the sinking sand
rising prices of articles in foreign countries 1t
would not be difficult for Congress to arrange
system of specific duties which would afford
additional stability both to revenue and our man
utactnres, and without injury or injustice to any
interest of the country.
This might be accomplished by ascertanng the
average value of any given article for a series Of
years at the place of expectation and by simply
converting the rate of ad valOrem duty upon it,
which mi ght be deemed necessary for revenue pur-
poses into the form OF aspecitic duty. Such an AZ
rangement could not injure the consumer If he
could pay greater amount Of duty one year, this
would be counternalanced by lesser amount the
next, and, in the end, the aggregate would be the
same.
desire to call your immediate attention to the
present condition Of the Treasury, ably and
clearly presented by the Secretary in his report to
Congress, and to recommend that measures be
promptly adopted to enable it to discharge its
pressing obligations. The other recommendations
of the report are well worthy Of your favorable con-
sideratiOn.
herewith transmit to Congress the reports of
the Secretaries of War; fthe Navy, OF the Interior,
andOf the Postmaster General. The recommends
tons and suggestions which they contain are high
ly valuable, and deserve your careful attention.
The report of the Postmaster General details the
circumstances under which Cornelius Vanderbilt,
my request, agreed, in the month OF July last,
to carry the ocean mails between our Atlantic and
Pacific coasts. Had he not thus acted this impor-
tant intercOlnmun must have been suspe aided
at least for a The Postmaster General had
power to make him any other comp .nsation
than the hostages on the mail matter which he
might carry. 1t was known at the time that these
post yes would fall far short Of adequate COM
pensation as well as of the which the same
service had previously cost the government. Mir.
Vanderbilt, in commendabe spirit, was willing
to rely upon the justice of Congress to make up
the deficiency and therefore recommend that an
appro priation may be granted for this purpose
should do great injustice to the Attorney Gene
eral were to omit the mention of his distinguish
Cd services in the measures adopted and prOsecu-
ted by him for the defense Of the government
against the numerous and uniOunded claims to
land in California, purporting to have been made
by the Mexican government previous to the treaty
OF cession. The successful opposition to these
claims has saved to the United otales public prop
erty worth many millions Of dollars, and to indi-
viduals holding titles under them to at least an
equal amount.
1T has been represented to me from sources which
deem reliable that the nhabitantsin several ppr
tons of Kansas have been reduced nearly to state
of starvation, account of the almost total failure
of their crops, while the harvests in every other
portion Of the country have been abundant. The
prospect before them for the approaching winter is
well calculated to enlist the sympathes of every
heart. The restitution appears to he so general
that it cannot be relieved Oy private contributions
and they are in such INDECENT circumstances as to
be unable to purchase the necessities OF life for
themselves l refer the subject to Congress II any
constitutional measure for their rellet can be de-
yised would recommend its adoption.
| cordially recommend to your favorable regard
the interests of the people Of this district They
are emnently entitled to your consideration, espe-
TALLY since, unlike the people of the States they
can appeal to no government except that Of the
JAMES BUCHANAN.
WASHINGTON CITY, Dec 3, 1860
John Butterworth, a year or two ago, found
huns old Eugshman in Bedford, Va intoxicated
and freezing by the roadside, whom he carried