Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1866-06-14

device of sectional malignity for the
violation of the Federal Constitution in
one of its plainest provisions. This is
one part of the cotton scheme contained
in this bill which We will call the South
ern feature. But there is another, or
Northern feature. =,
Section six provides, that upon all
articles manufactured exclusively from
cotton, when exported, there shall be al
lowed as drawback an amount equal to
the internal tax which shall have been
assessed and paid upon such articles IN
their finished condition, and in addition
thereto drawback or allowance Of as
many cents per pound upon the pound OF
cotton cloth, yarn or other articles man
ufactured exclusively from cotton and
exported. AS shall have been assessed and
paid in the form of an internal tax upon
the raw cotton entering into the manu-
facture of said cloth or other articles.
Thus, while in the case OF the Southern
planter or producer, the revenue officers
arc commanded to violate the Conslitu-
ton of the United States, by refusing
10 allow any drawback of the excise
tax on cotton exported in the raw state
in the case of the Northern manufac-
turer they are commanded to execute the
Constitution, by allowing a drawback on
the manufactured article, when exported,
to the amount not only of the internal
duties on the manufactured article, but
also to the amount of duties laid on the
raw material from which it is fabricated
In the case of the producer the Constitu-
IL toI c. he "a nf .
in the case of the manufacturer the rev
enue is sacrificed by returning to him, as
bounty, the entire amount of excise du-
ties previously received from him on
such portion of his manufactures as may
be exported. And, of course, should he
find O foreign market for all his manu-
features, the whole burden of internal
taxation will fall upon the planter or
producer of the cotton which supplies
his factory.
And what is the effect of this scheme
on other parties2 One effect is inevita-
bic and universal. 1t enhances the
price of a necessary article and thus
increases the burdens of the people, the
toilng and consuming masses of the
world For, under all circumstances,
the tax of FIVE cents per pound on the
raw cotton must be paid, whether ex-
ported OF manufactured at home. But
while the large bounty, thus granted TO
the manufacturer, in the shape of draw
back, aggrandizes his profits at the ex-
pense of the revenue and of the pro-
Queer, it discriminates largely in favor
of foreign against domestic consumers.
If the raw cotton be exported and man
ufactured abroad, the foreign consumer
pays no more than the five cent per
pound on the raw material If the cot
ton be manufactured at home, and the
article be exported, the
foreign consumer gets it free of the ex-
else duty, both on the raw material and |
on its manufactured product, while the
domestic consumers-the millions at |
to pay the internal duties |
on the raw, as well as on the manufac-
tured cotton. In any and every case the |
is sure of his profits, with |
large odds in his favor in the foreign |
market
Will any one pretend that such
scheme of taxation fulflls the constitu-
tional requirement that all duties, i'm
posts and excuses shall be uniform
throughout the United States?' 1t is not
plan conceived aud in
tended to enrich the manufacturing lords
Of New England at the expense of the
public revenue, and Of the producing
and consuming masses of the country |
and of the world-to clog the wheels of
and to crush the industry and
vitality of the South, for the
benefit of bloated aristoeracy of CAPT
tai in the North?