The Daily empire. (Dayton, Ohio) 1865-1867, 1865-12-21
The Revenue Laws and Western
Interests.


clearing ipihsicc Of the revenue laws, than
in the article of tobacco. Il used TO be
i,voritc measure Of the old whig party to
advocate and seek to carry out by means
of congressional legislation, the protection
Of home manufactures; and we admit that :
there was time M the history of the .
country-in the infancy Of it, manuiac-
turing intcrcsts-when there was some /
show of reason in the doctrine. But long |
before the death Of that party the Amer |
lean people had discovered that protcc- |
tive tariG meant the taxing of the many !
for the benefit of the few; aud to the credit /
of that party-or at least the Western and
Southern portions of 1.-THE idea Of n pro-
tcctivc system was abandoned. with the
New England people, however, and their
representatives, the doctrine has never been
abandoned. In season and ont of season,
aud in every possible shape, they have Ia
bored aud finally succeeded in forcing this
odious system of class legislation on the
country.
In the very throcs ofthc recent revolution,
and i'm the darkest hour ofthc late bloodyand
dcsolating war, they never for one mo-
mcnt lost sight Of the selfish interests of
the Yankee nation. No matter If every
other interest of every other section was
crushed out and utterly destroyed, New
England must bc projected. Thus, when
wild fanaticism ruled the hour--whon all
the energies of the Government were put
forth TO sustain the credit of the nation in
the unnatural and rclonticss war into which
New England bgptry and Intolerance had
plunged the country, her schcmcing politi-
clans concocted the plan-sellish in the eN-
tremc--Of taxing leaf tobacco forty cents n
pound, that the finer article grown on the
Connecticut River might monopolize the
market TO the total exclusion or ruiuous
sacrifice of the entire crop of the West.
In no section of the country is the effect
of this villainous system ofleglslatlon more
severely felt than in the Miami Valley. In
the county of Montgomery alone-if we
are correctly Informed by men engaged in
the busincss-thcrc is at this time over fee
hundred thousand doilars ,oorth of the article
held, with the hope or expectation that
Congress may be induced to somewhat
modify the class legislation of the last ses-
sion so MS 10 admit of its sale at least Mt a
partial sacrifice.
1t is we'll known here, ms we have no
doubt IL is elsewhere, that many of the
holders Of the tobacco crop of the last two
seasons In the West, have been obliged to
borrow money at ruinous rates of interest
To enable them to carry their purchases or
their crops along, in the hope that some
thing in the way of relief would be done
at the present session Of Congress:
For ourselves, looking at the complexion
of the present Congress and the formation
of the committees that prepare its business,
we have but little hope that any thing will
be done to relieve the people of the West
from the onerous burdens they are Obliged
to bear for their Yankee task-mastcrs.
ii is not in the article Of tabacco alone
that the great West is suffering from thi,
oppressive system of legislation, though
this is perhaps the most aggravated, as il
certainly is the most apparent case of all
but also in every other interest whether IN
the products of its soil, or the industry o.
its mechanics, manufacturers and laborers
We might 20 on and ennumerltc almost
every article that enters into consumption
of the family, and show conclusively that
it is in some shape or other stamped with q
tax for the benefit of New England Ana
if the people of the West expect ever tc
emancipate themselves from the degrade.
tiou of subseryiency TO Nankeedom, they
must send different class of men TO Con.
gress-men who can see beyond a Negro
"burcau' and who are willing to recognize
the fact that there are some white men still
left in the country, whose interests ought
to DE consulted, ut least in proportion tc
their numbers.
Local conventions for the consideration
of any particular interest, we fear will dc
but little II any good They are only a!
ripples on the surface of the waters whicl
soon pass away and are forgotten. Wha
we need Is n general convention Of tn,
solid practical men of the West-men fresl
from the people, who will speak bold
manly words-thc words of truth and So
berness. Such IA convention would exer
an influence that would be felt all over tn,
country--an influence that might perhaps
extend even TO the members of the present
Congress.
TELEERArHs.-The Portland AdUertise
(Hon. F. o. J. Smith, we presmne), in al
article on the oppression of the tclegraphi'
system, says:
"We want nothing that Is not clearly
right, and mean to submit to nothing tha
Is wrong--but we do here and now say
that every existing telegraph company II
this country lives In glass house, which
L. L. lnlr.L.. Il.