Washington telegraph. [volume] (Washington, Ark.) 1839-1871, 1862-09-03
The Confederate Constitution-No 4

Powers OF CoNGREss-The difficult
ties resulting from the embargo laws;
the publication excitement of 1889; the
passionate excitemeuts aud bloody con>
ficts which occurred in Kansas and other
territories, from the time of the Missouri
Compromise to .he election Of Lincoln
to say nothing of violent but les danger
Gus political connections regarding banks,
;utcrna improvements, &c. all sprung
from the vague and uncertain language
of the old constitution defining tn. pow
FRS of Federal Congress.
These powers were drafted with the ut
NEST care, and fully debated in every con
criyable aspect and bearing, not paly in
the convention, but in each of til, States
separately. Yet they were left 50 u icer-
tain that the different constructions, more
" less honest, of which they were sup
posed susceptible, have been the grounl-
.voili of all the parties whose contests
nave shaken the Republic, and finally lei
To lis dissolution.
The human intellect in its highest Dc .
vel"pemeDts can never acquire foresight
of all possible contingencies; sufficiently
clear TO frame government Of strictly
defined powers, concerning which much
honest difference of opinion my not
arise. All constitutions are experiments,
and that best of teachers experience, ac-
cnmulatcs for each succeeding generation
new STOCK of SQUAD political wisl ~. #
1t is thus only that perfection my tie
hoped.
Guided by this teacher, our Conf3de-
rate Constitution has made one step for
ward, and removed from further Discus
sion all the vexed questions Of the past. =
rhey are now settled in accordance with
the views which have always obtained
with Il great majority of the people Of the
South.
Iusi, Win W liiC l'V7"
who wished at the expense Of the con
sumers to foster and maintain our mann
facturers, contended for that power under
that clause of the constitution enabling
Congress "to lay and collect taxes, duties,
impost> aud excuses, to pay the debts and
provide FIR the common defence and gen.
,.ral W flare of the United States" They
considered this broad enough u Justify
duties which might by their OVID results,
aficctiug trade aud industry, promote the
general welfare of the country, aud, by
rendering it independent of foreign sup.
! lies, contribute to the common defence {;
al,hou.l. the revenue thereby accruing
might exc ell the necessities Of the gov
eminent, or amounting to a prohibition OF
implrtations fall short of them. 10 their
view the revenue was only one of several
objects to which tariff might be direct
ed, and not lis sole justification. 9th
ers, C, operating and voting with this
parry, adopted, nevertheless, a more plaus-
IDLE scphstry. They admitted that du-
ties should be directed to revenue alone.
aud that the requirements of the revenue
alone justified duties on imports. But
within those bounds they contenied for
the power of Discrimination" 10 Con
eress, rs to the articles upon which these
Import duties might be imposed, and con
tended for the policy of laying them Who'll
v upon such foreign goods as came 10
competition with our home manufactures,
up to the point required for revenue. Be-
| tween tbess there was indeed no practical
difference 10 order to bring the require
mepts of the revenue to the highest pciut
desirable for protection, the ancillary poll
cy was resorted to of depicting it by dis
tributiug amongst the States the proceeds
of the sales of public lands, The effects
Of this policy on the South, most Of
whose Inhabitants we're agriculturists and