Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1861-03-18

what Shall be done for asERovonues
There are some difficulties attending the
! Collection Of tee revenue In the seeding
states which it will be we'll to look at atten-
lively. ~ .sF
That either the revenue from duties must
be recollected in the ports Of the rebel states,
or the port must be closed 10 importetions
from abroad is generally admitted. Ifneither
Of those things be done our revenue laws are
substantially srepealed; the sources which
supply ovr treasury win be dried up; we shall
have no money to carry on the government
the nation will become bankrupt before the
next crop Of corr is ripe. There will be
nothing to furnish means Of subsistence 70
the army; nothing TO keep our navy afoat;
nothing to pay The salaries Of The public Of
| 6cers the present order Of things must come
10 a dead stop. Allow railroad iron 70 be
entered 81 Savannah with the low duty OF
ten per cent, which is all that the Southern
Goniederacy think qt laying on imported
goods, and not an ounce more would be i'm
ported at New York; the railways wolld d
supplied from The southern ports. Let cotton
goods let Foollen fabrics, let tho various
manufactures Of iron and steel be entered
freely 1T Galveston, ct the great port at the
mouth Of the Mississippi; ct Mobile, at Sayan-
nah and a. Charleston, and they would be
Immediately sent up the rivers and carried
on the railways TO the remotest parts of the
Onion. Nay, they would be sent directly
from these ports BY sea to Baltimore, Phila-
delphia, New York and Boston. Shopkeep-
ers would be supplied with their silks and
laces from the same quarter. The shoeshops
sf,.s- - -
from the French stalls, and the hstters-shops
would be filled with the work of French
artisans which have never paid a penny to
the government When these and other
klnds of merchandise were once in the country
there would be no way TO prevent their free
circulation and sale in every part of the United
States. The mighty Mississippi aud its
great tributaries, the long railways reach
ing from one extremity Of the Union to the
other, active feet o. merchant vessels en-
ployed in cur COasting trade would rapidly
convey the untaxed merchangise TO the most
distant neighborho0ds Of our great domain
The government, without special authorize
ton from Congress, will have no power to
create line OF eustom-h no lses alonRthe North
Carolina and Tennessee tronher, or 10 cover
the Arkansas border with stations of revenus
officers to intercept the contrabandists. The
whole country would be given up to an i'm
mense system Of smuggling, which, on near
Two thousand miles OF coast, would meet with
no obstacle, or interrr pion, or discourage
ment What would Mr.. WOod-screw Sim
mons, the Rhode Island senator, who caused
prohibitory duty on wO0d-screws to be in
serted in the tariff which had Just been passed
By Congress, in order thata single screw mill
might make all the wooden screws used in
the United States, and that its fortunate
owners might grow rich ''beyond the dream
of aVarice whist would this patriotic and
most disinterested legislator say il eargoes
of untaXed wood-screWs were 70 be brought
from the southern coast BY our rivers and
railways and on board OF our eoasting YES
sells, and dispersed ali over the country, and
his hopes OF gain disappointed? Mr.. Sim
mons would weep tears Of hickory.
TOprottct the interests Of Mr.. Simmons in
the first place, and those of the Federal Treas
ury in the next something must be DONE
The general expectation seems 70 Be that the
duties will he collected on board of armed
vessels at the different ports of entry in the
seeding States. Are our readers aware what
feet this would require2 There ere seven
little collection districts in the little State Of
Florida alone; there are four in Alabama
At every port there must be collector with
bis armyOf appraisers, clerks, examiners, in
speeters, weighers, gaugers, measurers, and
so forth; there must be q naval officer and
his staff OF entry clerks The Morrill, tariff
law, which We have just enact d, will make
larger number of all these nect ssary than
would have been required month ago.
Where twenty men would have then an
swered the purpose thirty viii now be need
ed. If We collect the revenue in this manner
with feet at every port and corps of Gus
tom house officers on board, il viii cost Us a
/ great deal more than we shall get.
But can the revenue be thus collected 2 The
importers arriving at the Southern harbors
will snow how to address the Custom House
officers q We have a cargo" they will
/ naturally say, ION which we do not care to
! pay duties at present. we must deposit it in
the warehouses for the term during which
we are permitted to do so by law What
will the officers Of customs do in that case2
/ The government has no longer any ware
houses in the seeding ports. The hold OF an
armed vessel would neither be proper nor
sufiGi, ntly spacious repository for the goods.
T a. le lAltcd IN tll1A CAoe cdluOt DC COll5Cttu;
and the collsgior will be puzzled to know
! Whetberto let the ship proceed 70 her port
or to detain her.
1--we happen to know that there are import
ing houses at this moment preparing TO take
advana Of this opening for an unencum-
besed trade. They are getting ready to
convey thair cargOes 10 IharlestOn or Savsn-
nah; the goods win be landed there, and
then brought coastwise TO New York, where,
being importations from port within the
7 Uniou, they will be subject to no duty. The
new tariff, With its strange formalities and
ingeniously devised delays forms an addi-
tional inducement with them to take this
eour.e.
What then, Is left for our government p
Shall We let the seeding States repeal the
revenue laws for the whole Union in thi:
msnner2 Or will the government choose Il
consider all foreign commerce destined FOL
those ports where we have no custom house
and no collectors, as contrsband, and stop j
when Offering to enter the collection district
from which our authority has been expelled
Or will the President cali q special session o
Congress to do what the last unwisely taile'
to do-to abolish ali ports Of entry in tn
seeding States ?-A, 7, Post
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