Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1864-03-01

]
After protraced discussion by an eminent SEC
retAry Of State it il curious 10 find tbat our
Executive wholly abandoned the tariff law Of
1872, 20 Tar as 1t related to Portugal wines, col
ecfei duties upon the Portugal construction OF
the treaty. and even refunded such duties as had
been collected upon any other basis
Ii should be admitted that tho tariff OF lo4-
in some Instances, 1arren as 1t was OF any de-
script0n save the name OF the WINE country
Nhero productd, WAS to % limited extent daec-
tive but tho pretenson Of the mlnstero Of Por-
tugal that under the treaty this United States
werr precluded from lcyying specific duties upon
wines with rates according 90 then commercial
value, On the ground that wine was a generic
term, not dlyisible INTO species, and therefore
embracing in single word the weakest claret
and the strongest port, Oh talernlan, 0t
such as will be improved when 1t IS called ybe.
gar, all equally alike LITTLE deserved, II appears
IT, me, Il 6 complalsance it obtained II the Po.-
tuguesc argument was valid, all our tariff laws
have been o fault through Their diverse classlii'
cations Of coal, iron, hemp, and even as ~ car
pets aud other articles whict might be easily
cited not unlike IN name, but Of widely dissln'
liar character and value.
The posigon nl Portugal was and ID wholly
unten. bic, ur Nouid be were t no. sustained BY
20 respectable American authority. All that Z
II pec airy Tor Compress 70 dom order to main
tain it, constitutional power, Gs It taIpeaTs TO me,
j, 10 frame law descriptive Oi the class OF wiue-
1t may be prof osed to tax.-n0t leaving 1t solely
depend Mt for it, nomenclature upon Tie name OF
tho country from whence 1t Gomez, as that hurd-
ly concerns us in the ustment-aud specific
duty upon vines, with as many rates as sorts ii
yOn please, may be imposed with proprlety,
without infringement of any treaty and with
great benefit to che revenue. IL may ~ added
that il wac possibly 10 deIcrence 10 tho P0ftu
guesc argument, to which our own Government
had 90 patiently succumbed, that the tari Of
1861, il not that Of 1876, did not secure more
revenue from high-prlccd wines, and which seem
to EOssess favor and flavor in the ratio 0t cost.
II Is some consolation, perhaps, that consid-
cradle boon was yielded 70 annlcriOr and friend
" power and mot to any menace As IS, how
ever cheap wines are taxed too much and e1-
peaslye or luxurious wines too Little.
From the recital Of this case u is plain that
the power Of the House Of Representatives over
subjects OF taxation may easily be lampered
with, circumscrbed, and perhaps be gotten rid oil
altogether by the Executive and Senate, should
they ever persistcntly combine for this purpose,
and there appears % be no remedy. Having
under the forms Of treaty making, uuurped the
powers Of legislation. the Executive might at
once proceed To enforce that legislation as " the
supreme law Of the land Ii 1t be admissible
to regulate with Une nation by treaty the rate oi
duties on imports, would it not be equally SO to
fix by treaty the rule OF naturalization with
any other nation?
No ACTUAL RECIPROCITY IN rHR RECIPROCITY
TREATY
There is s. metbng 80 attractive in the terms
reciprocity, equality, and Tree trade, that our
assent is yielded TO measures whicn they are
presumed to cover with anteeedent inquiry OF
subsequent reflection, and 10 Is only alter pa
tlent examination OF the facts OF history, the
results OF ndisput ble experience, that We be-
come disgusted with terms, which, II not nyent.
ed Tor the purpose mlsead the understanding,
and are made 10 mask whole series Ct antasO-
nistic principles.
" hat reciprocity is there 10 making cotton
free to the United States from Canada when
Canada produces no cotton? King Cotton -
was IN DO danger from long staple or short rals-
ed north Vi the forty fifth degree. Whose AK Is
ground by making grinistones Tree to Canada
from the United States when the United States
are mainly dependent upon the British Provinces
for their own supplies? What equality there
in exchanging the grain and cattle markets OF
New York and Boston for those oiMontrea and
Quebec, when the former IN their normal condi-
ton are twenty-five per cent. better than the
latter, and VIXEN the latter under no cireum-
stances con be available 70 the united States
What if the advantage Of free trade in lumber
with country whose forests are lneXhaustible
and coeval with the world'" Who proposes
to carry Goals to New Wcastle or donkeys to SpaIn2
What Is the advantage Of free trade thar does
not include something we maze TO sell or some
thing that somebody is ready to buy
STATISTICS RELATIVE TO THE RECIPROCITY TRADE.
, The lacts set forth by the report oil the II n.
, Israel [. Hatch after a laborious investigation,
, in relation to The operation of the revenue laws
| and the reciprocity treaty, communicated to
= Congress June Is, 1860, would have attracted
5 more consideration but that 1t was manifest no
change would be made until the expiration OF
the iull trm OF the treaty, | shall reproduce
, some OF these CactS with many Others OF later
date derived from United States and British
b documents, but oonfung myself mainly 10 the
, trade Of the Canadas, as our trade with these
) provinces ia much The largest, and so are our
G complaints
T. In the four years from 1860 to 1868, inclusive
$ the ilnportatons free OF duty from Canada to
: the United States we're Sal ,07 1892, while the
f. importatious paying duty were Sl5,OO2,634, u
f nearly four times greater. but the importatlon'
free Of duty, after the treaty took effect, in foul
\ years, from 1856 to 1889 inclusive, were $50 /,
IS llS,925 and those subject to duty had taller
/. Of in the same time to s2l50 1874, or only ont
n IN twenty.eisht This Is tho first exhibition oI
y reciprOc,iy,
5 In 1855, when the United States collected
= duties only on S3l3,953 In value Of Canadian
II productions, those of American laborupou whicl
@ duties were paid IN Canada amounted to 81,
= 524 SOB This is the next exhibition Of reei
q procity, berg On the scale OF iorty.6yo to one
}. Daring 1856 1857 and 1858, the amount o
d American industry taxed in Canada was Sis,
2S4, ,2S3 more than that Of Canadian production
taxed in this country. By the returns OF late
dates il would seem that their trade has almos
II ceased to be source OF revenue to us, wail
n from our trade ttey obtain their accustomed
a liberal contributions.
70 In 1856 the articles received from Canada
O. and mode free by the treaty, amounted to SlT,
- $40 ,6s4 and ii valued according to the price
le actually obtained IN our markets, doubtless tn
Of amount exceeded twenty million dollars. Ha
is it been subject to an average rate Of duty, th
st revenue would have been not less than three 0
,g four million dollars, and to that extent wa
mainly bonus ~ the provinces
n BY the treaty the ancient laws Of trade haV
lie been subverled and our exports to Canado
IN which rmerly largely exceeded our import