Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1857-1865, 1860-12-08

conhscafion in the ports Of Mexico and soutl
Am irlcan Republics, when these may be in dis
turNad AID revolutionary condition. 1t is M
settled eonFleli0n that without such power, WI
ca4aot afford that protection 10 those engaged II
tne commerce pf the country which they have
ELEcTloS OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS-
again recommend to Congress the passage o
law, In pursuance Of the provisions OF the Con
stitution, appointing a certain dav nreTioSs =
the ~ OF March, in each year of an odd number
for the election Of Representatives Throughout
all the States. A similar power has already beer
exercised with general APPRECIATION, in the aD
pointment of the same day throughout the Union
for holding the election OF electors for President
and Vice President Of the United States. Ny at
tention was earnestly directed to this subject
from the fact that the 35th Congress terminated
on the Sd Of March. 1853, without making the nee
essary appropriation for the service Of the Post
Once Department, and was then forced to con
slider the best remedy for this omission. and an
immediate call of the present Congress was the
usual resort. Upon inquiry, however, ascer.
tanned that fifteen ont OF the thirty-fve States.
composing the ceRfederacy were without Repre-
sentatlFes and that consequently fifteen States
would be DISTINGUISHED by such call. These If
I teen States viii be in the sane condition on the
| eth OF March next. Two of them cannot elect
| Representatives according to State laws, until
! different periods. extending from the beginning
OF August next ultil the 9th of November; and
( you remember in ny last Message gave warning
that In time OF Sudden and alarming danger,
the salvation of q1r Institutions might depend
! upon the power Of the President Immediately to
| assemble full Co1gress to meet the emergency
4 TARIFF.
! IL Is now qufts evident that the financial
necessities of ths Government will reouire a
mod1ncatlon OF lc Tariff during your pres
ent session, Tor the purpose Of increasing
THE REVENUE.
In this respect, desire to reiterate the re-
commentator eo1tained in my last two annual
messages, lh iavol of imposing specific, instead
/ OF ad Vaiorem duties, on all imported articles to
whicn tnese can p'eperly be applied. From long
oOseiEAtlon ahQ experience, am convinced that
speclnc duties are teeessary, both to protect the
revenue, ana 10 sectre TO our manufacturing in
terests that amount of incidental announcement
wnlcn unaVoidabl!Fesults from revenue tariff.
/ AS an abstract PROPOSITION, IL may be admitted
that ad valorem dflcs would, in theory, be the
most Just and equak but If the experience Of this
and OF al other Commercial nations has demon
strated that such dfties cannot be asked and col
leeted without graf frauds upon the revenue
then 1t Is the part II wisdom to resort to specific
/ duties. Indeed, 1m the very nature Of an dd
/ rdt0rsH duty this must be the result under it,
The inevitable consequence is that foreign goods
viii he entered at l3ss than their true value The
Treasury viii thek kfore lose the duty on the diff
| ference between tieir real and fictitious value
and to this extent te are defrauded. The temp
tations which Gd r90rem duties present to dis
honest importer aie irresistible. His object is
to pass his goods through the custom house at the
very lowest Valuation necessary to save them from
conhscation. In tits he too often succeeds in
spite OF the vigilance of the revenue officers
Hence the resort 10 false invoices. one for the
! purchaser, another or the custom house /; and to
etEer expedients to defraud the Government
The honest importer produces his invoice to
the collector. stating the actual price at which he
purchased the articles abroad. Not so the dis
honest importer, and the agent Of the foreign
manufacturer. And here il may be observed that
very large proportion of the foreign manufae-
lures imported from abroad, are consigned for
sale 10 commission merchants, who are mere
agents employed by the manufacturers. In such
cases, where no actual sale has been made TO fix
their value, the foreign manufacturer, if he be
dlsnonest prepares an invoice OF the goods, not
at their actual value but at the very lowest rate
the dishonest importer and the foreign manufac-
turer enjoy decided advantage over the honest
merchant. They are thus enabled to undersen
the ialr trader and dive him from the market
In fact. the operation of this system has already
driven from the pursuit of honorable commerce
many Of that class of regular and conscientious
merchants, whose Character throughout the world
Is the pride of Onr country.
The remedy for these evils is to be found in
SPECIFIC duties, so Tar as this may be practicable
They dispense with any inquiry at the Custom
house into the actual cost or value of the article
and II pays the precise amount Of duty previously
fixed bylaw. They present no temptations to the
appraisers OF foreign goods who receive but small
salaries, and might by differentiation in a few
cases, render themselves independent. Besides,
specific duties best conform to the reQuisition in
the Constitution, that preference shall be Civ
en- by any regulation of commerce or revenue to
the ports OF one State over those of another In
der our ad UdOfsHe system such preferences are to
some extent, inevitable, and complaints have
often been made that the spirit of this provision
mas been v1olatedb bya lower appraisement Of the
same articles at one port than at another. An i'm
preston strangely enough prevails to some extent
that specific duties are necessarily protective du-
ties Nothing can be more fallacious. Great
Britain glOries in free trade, and vet her whole
revenue from imports, is at the present moment
collected under system Of specific duties II is
a striking fact, in this connection, that in the
commercial treaty Of 23d January, 1860, between
France and England, one Of the articles provides
that the 1d Uat0res duties which it imposes shall
be converted into specific duties within six
months from its date, and these are to be ascer-
talned by making an average of the prices for six
months previous to that time. The reverse of
the proposition would be nearer the truth because
much larger amount Of revenue wOuld be col |
lected by merely converting the al Udl0reHg duties
of tariff into general equivalent specific duties
To this extent the revenue would be increased. 4
and IN the same proportion the specific duty might
be diminished. Specific duties would secure to |
the American manufacturer the incidental protec- /
tOn to which he is fairly entitled under revenue
tariff. and to this, surely no person would object.
The trainers Of the existing tariff have gone fur |
ther, and in liberal spiris have Disseminated in
favor of large and useful branches of our manu-
factures-nOt by raising the rate of duties upon
the importation of similar articles from abroad,
but what is the same in effect by admitting arti-
cles free of duty which enter into the composition
of their fabrics.
Under the present system it has been often truly
remarked that this incidental protection de-
creases when the manufacturer needs it most and
increases when he needs it least and constitutes
a sliding scale which always operates against |
him. The revenues Of the country are subject to
similar nuctuatiOn, Instead OF approaching q !
steady standard would be the case under a
system of specific duties. They sink and rise
with the sinking and rising prices of the articles
N foreign countries. 1t would not be difficult for
Congress to arrange system of specific duties
which would afford additional stability both 20
our revenue and our manufactures, and without
injury or to any interest Of the country
This might be accomplished by ascertaining the
average value OF any given article for a series
Of years at the place Of expectation, and by
simply converting the state Of dd UGlOrem duty
upon IL which might be deemed necessary for /
revenue purposes into the form OF a specific duty |
Such an arrangement could not lnjure the con- |
sumer if he should pay greater amount OF duty
lesser amount the nea, and in the end the aggre-
gate would be the same. desire TO call your inn
mediate attention to the present condition of the
Treasury, so ably ane clearly presented by the !
Secretary in his repon to Congress, and to re-
that measures be promptly adopted to
enable it to dischargeits pressing oblgations.- I
The other recommendations of the report are
well worthy of your favorable consideration.
herewith transmit 10 Congress the rcports of
the Secretaries Of War of the Navy, Of the Inte-
rior, and the Postmaster General The recon-
and suggestions which they contain I
are highly valuable, and deserve your careful at
Lention.
The report of the Postmaster-G General details d
The circumstances uIHer which Cornelius Van {
1erbilt, on my request agreed, in the month of !.
July last, to carry the Ocean mails between our
Atlantic and Pacific costs. Had he not thus act
ID, this important Accommodation must d
nave bern suspended, d least for a season. The =
P NJ. General had no power to make him any
Jther compensation dan the postages on mail 81
natter, which he might carry II was known at
he time, these postage would fall far short OF an
dequate compensated as well as Of the sum
which the same service had previously cost the n
government. Mr. Vanderbilt. in a cOmmendable n,
pirit. was willing to rey upon the Justice Of =
congress to make up ihe deficiency, and there se
ore recommended, that an appropriation be Ia
-ranted for this purpost.
/ should do great injustice to the Attorney Gen.
raj were to omit the mention of his distin- |
uished services in the measures adopted and II
Prosecuted by him for the defence Of the Govern =
lent against numerous and unfOunded claims to q
and in California purpOrting to have been made ct
y the Mexican Government, previous to the b;
reaty OF cessiOn. IT.
The successful opposition to these claims has = =
lved to the United States public property worth b
lany millions of dollars, and TO individuals hold
lg title under them, at least an equal amount. n
FAMINE IN KANSAS. az
1t has been represented to me from sources M
hch deem reliable, that the Inhabitants in =
svcral portions of Kansas have been reduced 81
early to state of startation on account of the pT
most total failure of their crops, whilst the har OF
ests in every other portion OF the country have ~
cen abundant The ppspect before them for IL
he approaching winter ID well calculated to en- 81
st the sympathies Of eyfy heart. The destitn-
on appears to be so genfal that II cannot be re- :
eyed by private contributions. and they are in Du
ich INDECENT circumstances as to be unable to to
lrchase the necessities q life for themselves. /
fer the subject to COn9ess. II any cOnstitu- l,
onal measure for their elief can be devised, Oh
Ould recommend its ADDITION.
DISTRICT oPicoLUMBIA. Dc
cordially commend 10 your favorable regard
IL interests Of the peODe of this district They