The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1861-03-27
What Shall be d0sle for "a sseye-



What Shall be dome for "a Reye-
NIUE.
From the N. Y Evening Postl
There are some difficulties attending the
collection Of the revenue in the seeding
States which it will be well to look ut atten-
lively. S
That either the revenue iron duties must
be collected in the ports of the rebel States,
or the ports must DC closed to impata,ions
from abroad, is generally admitted. lfneither
of these things be done, our revenue laws are
substantially repealed; the sources which
sup lly our treasury will be dried up we
shallhave no money to carry on the govern
ment; the nation will become bankrupt he
fore the next crop Of corn is ripe. There
will be nothing to furnish means of suhsiSt
ence to the army nothing to keep our navy
afloat roth ne to pay the salaries of the
public officers the present order of things
must come to dead stop. Allow railroad
iron to be entered at Savannah with the duty
of ten per cent, which is all the Southern
Confederacy think of laying on imported
goods, and not an ounce more would be i'm.
ported at New York !; the railways would be
supplied from the Southern ports. Let cot
ton goods, let WOODEN fabrics, let the vari-
Gus manufactures Of iron and steel, be entered
freely at. Galveston, at the great port at the
mouth Of the Mississippi, at Mobile, at Sa-
vannah and at Charleston, and they would
he Immediately sent up the rivers and car
red on the railways to the remotest~p parts OF
the Union. Nay, they would be sent directly
from these ports by sea to Baltimore, Phila
delphia, New York and Boston. Shoplleepeis
would be supplied with their silks and laces
from the same quarter. The shoe shops
would be furnished with their agsortments
from the French stalls, and the hatters' shops
would be filled with the work of French art
isans which have never. paid penny to the
government When these and other kinds
# merchandise were once in the country,
there would no way to prevent their free
circulation and sais. in every part of the
United States The mighty Mississippi and
its great tributaries, the long railways reach
| ing from one extremity of the Union to the
other, the active fleet of merchant vessels
employed in our coa>ting trade. would rapid
ly convey the untaycd merchandise to the
most distant neighborhoods of our great
domain. The government, without special
authorization from Congress, will have 10
power t. create a liI,e of custom houses along
the North Carolina and Tennessee frontier,
or TO cover the Arkansas border with stations
Of revenue officers TO intercept tn. contra
bandists. The whole country would be
given up.t to an irnmense system of smuggling
which, on,near two thousand miles of coast,
would meet with no obstacles, or Interrupt
ton, or encouragement.
To protect the interests Of the federal
treasury something must be done. The gen
eral expectation seems to be that the duties
will be collected or board of armed vessels
at the ports Of entry in the seeding States
Are our readers aware what feet this would
require ? There are seven collection dis
tricts in the little State Of Florida alone
thcra are four in Alabama. At every port
there must be- collector, wit! his army OF
appraisers, clerks, examiners, inspectors,
weighers, gangers, meaSuIers, and 81 forth
there must be a naval officer and his staff OF
entry clerks. five collect the revenue in
this manner, with fleet at every port and
a corps of custom house officers on board,
it will cost Us a great deal more than all we
! shall get .-
But can the revenue be thus collected ?
The importers arriving in the Southern har-
borS, will know how To address the Custom
! House officers. "We have q cargo, they
will naturally say, ION which we do not
! care to pay duties just ut present we must
! deposit it in the warehouses for tho term
during which we are permitted to do so by
law What will the officers of the customs
| do in that case ?: The governments has no
| longer any warehouses in the seeding ports.
Ti,a hAll af - rr,.~J -s--ssI would neither
be a proper nor sufficiently spacious red
pository for the goods. The duties in t,at
case cannot be collected and the collector
will be puzzled to know whether TO let tx
| ship proceed to her port or to detain her. I
w g happen to know that there areinpert-
lng houses at this, moment preparing to fake
advantage Of this opening for an unencun.
bered trade. They are getting ready to
convey their cargoes to Charl ston or Savan
all the goods will he land .dthere, and then
brought coaSt,wisc to New York, where,
being importations from port within the
Union, they will he subject to no duty.
What, then, is left for our government
Shall wei let the seeding States repeal the
| revenue laws for the whole Union i'm this
| manner? Or will the governm mt choo g
to consider all foreign commerce destined for
thos" ports where we have no custom houses,
and no collectors, a. contraband, and stop it,
when offering to enter the collection districts
/ from which, our authorities have been eX
PEELED? Or will the President call a special
session of Congress to do what the hast un-
| wisely failed to do--to abolish all ports ef
entry in the seeding States -sa-