Daily Democrat and news. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1859-1864, 1861-03-27

- 6e psepleSf ~ Vsitsd 6satss list
Ito faet sD6M b koown, and thst ws
b insoeu1 whithsk~ ars drifting, 10
ordsr IL W msx1se whether " ere
willise 8 = dawn into vas isSag1lasly,
withost ~ sasstiea a Cosgsso q TIE
coneoot q IL eosatsy.
Ibelieve that ~ QaeWss - this sooo-
latios will quiet tie oosstsy, ard restore
good vill and god feeling among The
people of ~ di6eeent seotioss. / ~
peat The eosvicaies thae 1lr. Lincoln
doss not mediate "a. Certain / sm
ths&, under ths laws - they now exise,
he cannot, consistent With biz oath, do
any ct thst will produce collision b.
tween the seceded States and the Feds-
raj Government In The fsst place, be
has NO power, under Tie sxis6isg lava
TO collect the revenue on ship board, =
10 suggested BY the partisan press. By
the Laws Of the Land, the revenue must
be collected at the ports Of entry, and
in the Custom Houses designated b.
law, and cannot be collected anywhere
slss, except IN specific casss provided in
the Law ITSELF BY reference to the oct
Of the ed OF March, 1899, it will be
seen that South Csrolins 10 divided into
three collection districts; that three
ports Of entry are established one at
Georgetown, ono st Charleston, and one
It Beaufort; and . Collector, Surveyor
and naval officer, are to be appointed
10 reside ct Charleston" The Custom
House oficsr are required to reside 1t
the ports Of entry designated in the law.
So it 10 with oil the collection districts
in Ill the other States. Another section
section eighteep-of the law makes it
unlawful 70 sntsr goods or collect reve-
nus elsewhere than the ''ports Of entry"
designated in the Law. Il expressly
prohibits the collection OF seveaue OF
the entry Of goods It any other place.
Then, = subsequent section - section
eighty-hvs Of the same lsw-makss one
exception to this rule; and that is, in
case . vessel 10 prevented BY ice from
approaching the pier or wharf 1t the
port Of entry, the captain, on application
to the collector, may receive spermit to
land the goods, and pay the duties ct
any other place in the district designat-
cd in the permit The only case, then,
where revenue can be lawfully collected,
or goods lawfully be entered, ct any
other point than the port of entry desig-
mated in the Law, il where the vessel is
obstructed by ice from approaching the
wharf 1t such port. Such being the
case, no revenue can be collected ct
Charleston, Savannah, Mobile or New
Orleans, or any other Of those ports
which are now in the possession of the
s'confederate" States.
1t has been suggested, and the people
Of the country, North and South, have
been led u believe, that it is the pur-
pose Of this Administration, without
authority Of law, to order revenue cut
ters down to those Southern ports, and
to collect revenue on board of them. /
wish to call the attention Of the Senate
and the country to the fact that the law
forbids the collection of revenue on ship
board or rrywhere else, except At
Charleston, At Savannah, ct New Orleans
and At each one of the ports designated
in the law. The President OF the
United States would subject himself just.
fully and lawfully to impeachment if he
should attempt to collect revenue on
ship-board, or in any other manner, or
1t any other place, than that authorized
by Law. The law in this respect stands
now just a. it did when Gen. Jackson,
in 1882, called on Congress for addi-
tional legislation to enable him to COL
lect revenue at the port Of Charleston.
Then Gen. jackson had no power to
remove the Custom House from the city
of Charleston to ship-board in the bar
Dor. He had no power to order the col
lection Of revenue any where else than
at the place designated by law. Be-
cause of the absence Of legal authority
to do this, he called on Congress to pas
. law which authorized him to collect
the revenue on land or ship-board, any
where within the harbor other than 1t
the place designated 1t the port Of entry.
Congress passed the law known to the
country - the "force BILL" The force
bill was passed March 2, 1898; and the
first and fifth sections, which gave suthor-
ity to collect the revenue 1t any place
in the harbor, and the power to use
military force, expired At the end Of the
next session Of Congress BY tho express
limitation Of the act. Hence the law
stands now just - it did before the force
bill was passed !; and t ere 10 no more
authority to collect revenue on ship
board now than there was before the
passage Of tho act in 1883. But, cir,
even If the force bill were now in ope.
ration, it would not be possible to collect
the revenue under it in the existing
state of the case-for that bill confines
the right to collect revenue within the
port itself, whereas ell these ports are
now in the possession of the Southern
Confederacy, so that you cannot place .
ship inside Of the bar. Your vessel
would have to be out in the open sea,
and could not come into the port at oil.
What is true of Charleston in this re-
spect is clearly correct Of Savannah,
Mobile, and of New Orleans.
They are ell situated from thirty to
forty, or fifty, and two hundred miles
from the sea You cannot and dare not
place . collector Of customs at either OF
these places until you conquer the city
where your collector 10 to reside. You
cannot, under the law, collect the reve-