Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1861-04-03
AnrnroAr rnorrcrroNIsn.

From the LiVerpco Mercury, March
The politicians Of what were lately the Unl-
ted States seem bent on turning a great nation
into a little one. Southern secession finds
Citing match in Northern protsotioniHm and
between the two it appears not improbable that
America may. at no distant dsy, cease 70 Be
numbered among the worlds great powers. II
The new tariff bill just passed By the Senate at
Washington has been correctly described It Is
about the most retrogTs6e piece OF legislation
hat snv country, either in the old or new
world, has seen Of late wears. It's Object ap-
pears 70 be to reduce to a minimum the for
eign trade Of the Northern Union, and to COM
pei the whole community Of consumers 20 pay
any price for the most necessary articles Of
civilized existence which an oligsrehy Of
manufacturing capitalists may think proper 10
exact The duties henceforth 10 be imposed
on some Of the most important branches Of
lnanufacture arr stated to be Absolutely pro-
hibitory in amount, beside being iDtolerablv
complex and intricate in the mode In which
they are levied We are told that the increase
Of the existing imports laid on The various de-
scriptions OF cutlery goods ranges from 90 to
$40 per cent. On cotton and woolen goods
shsrs are ad vslorsm daties and specihc duties,
duties levied on weight and duties levied
on measurement so curiously mixed or alterns-
ted that il will be a sort Of scientific problem
for the importing merchant 10 calculate what
he will have to paw on a consignment from
Lancashire OF Yorkshire The Republican
party while it strongly claims cur sympathies
on the all-essentiai point, Is committed 10 the
narrowsst dogmss % false and exploded p0-
litical economy; and Mr. Lincoln himself in
a late speech at Pittsburg, Pa, has shown that
be entirely accepts the absurd aud monstrous
doctrine that consumers are made for produ-
GERS The new President is distinctly Of opin-
ion that it is a grand point OF national policy to
buy IN the dearest market, and that country
grows rich and powerful BY paying more for
all The comforts and necessaries OF lie tbsn
they are worth 10 the markets OF the world.
We have no reason 90 suppose that be and the
majority which returned him will fail to carry
out convictions which they doubtless hold with
perfect sincerity and il the new tariff should
not be found sufficiently stringent fOr the pur-
poses Of the dominent einteres.s,o it viii
doubtless be made so in future sessions. We
are afraid we must take for granted that for
some time 10 come the fiscal legislation Of the
Northern Union will be largely inhdenced BY
snti-commercial fsllacias which have been
obsolete in Ibis country for a duzen years past
L is unfortunste for the North ttat the advo-
cscy Of sound economical princifas should De
almost exclusively confined b slsFe-owhers
and their sympathisers, and raat 81. yeae-soa
Davis should talk like a statesman and a man
courses like an Essex squire Of the Corn law
and top boot epoch.
L would be well for northern statesmen, II
thev wish to keep together what remains Of
the Union, 70 heed the warning uttered thirty
years ago by one Of the very best and wisest
Of American citizens. in an essay on @ the
Union," to which the events now passing be-
fore Us have given a new interest and value,
Chsnning pointed out that free States "cannot
be long held together if it shall be thought
that The power given for the general veal is,
through intrigue and selfish combinations, per- /
verted to bu.ld up a portion Of the Confede- /
racY at the expense OF the rest.v He especially /
applied this principle to fiscal legislation. "a |
restrictive tariff is necessarily a source OF dis
cord; to some portions OF the country Il must I
be an evil; nor viii they suffer patiently" /
This is ga kind Of legislation which, il per- |
sisted in viii almost certainly loosen, and may 1
rapture, The Union" The actual rupture Of /
the Union has been mainly brought about by /
causes uuconnected with false and selfish com /
msrcial legislation, vet there can be no doubt !
that this has bad its influence in determining
the Sou'h 10 risk the experiment "of a sepa- |
rate national existence" Thirty years ago it |
was a restrictive tariff which led South Caro-
Ina 70 utter the fret menaces of the dieunion
which has now been accomplished; and the
recent secessioaist manifsstoes Of some Of the
nalcoDteBt Ststes-Georgia more especially
place the commercial grievance In the front Of
their reasons for breaking up the Union. P-o-
.ectionist tariffs which tax the industry and |
1bstruet The trade OF the who'll federal com
for the supposed benefit Of particular /
classes in particular States constitute a real /
do not say an adequate ons-for /
dissolving 30 unequal a partnership; and It is |
impossible to say how far the new Southern |
may not find in unfettered COM |
merce with Europe a compensation FOR the
financial inconvenience and burdens Of sepa-
ration. Be this as it may, the North viii do
wisely 10 abstain from measures which NAV
perhaps set other States calculating whether
the hepef-s derived from the Federal Govern
ment are an equivalent for the daily and hourly
tribute exactsd bv New England cotton spin
ners aud Pennsylvania iron masters. Il
seems rash TO take for granted that the Pacihc
States and the Northwestern States viii al
ways be contented TO pay taxes, not to the
Federal treasury, but to certain privileged
classes in the Atlantic and Eastern States.
As vet these thisgs are little understood in
America, and it does not appear that CalifOr-
MIA, or Indiana, OF Michigan objects 10 give
more for hardware and cotton goods than they
are worth. But the day must come when these
things will be understood; and whenever that
daF arrives it is certain that either protection
ist tariffs or The Federal Union viii have to
give way. Considering how loosely The Federal
IA brio Is cementsd, and how easily Il may be
riven ssunder, one msrvels at the boidness Of
those Northern politicians who think the pres
ent moment good one foT sowing the seeds OF
neg sectional quarrels-