Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1867-01-19

experience, and at once legislats for the ma |
nifcst good of the psoples Why psrmit our
manufacturers tobeg that they may lives
The governmenA Of Great Britain has, BY
her protective system, piled duty upon
duty" for more than one hundred ana hfty
years, and hence upon protection is founded
her manufacturing supremacy. Yet her emr
issaries come to this country, and for sinister
purposes, extol free trade" speak scofting-
" Of protection" and endeavo. to per-
suade our people to believe and adopt the
absurd theory, that tariffs hinder the de.
velopment Of industry and the growth OF
wealth."
The great Republican party, in the Con-
yention which nominated Abraham Lincoln,
in Chicago, in 1860, as if preparing for the
very war which most of our statesmen were
at that period anxious to postpone, adopted
a resolution. (which" to use the language
of an eminent Pennsylvania, " declared that
the produce Of the farm shoul6 no longer be
compelled to remain inert and losing inter-
est while waiting demand in distant mar
keta; that the capital which daily took the
form of labor power should no longer be al
lowed to 60 to waste; that the fuel which
underlies our soil should no longer there re-
|
that the power which lay then petrifed in
the form of coal should everywhere be
brought to aid the human arm /; that our
vast deposits of iron ore should be made to
take the form Of engines and other maehi.
merry, to be used as substitutes for mere mus
cular force; and that all our wonderful re-
sources, material and moral, must and should
be at once developed. Such was the intent
and meaning of the brief resolution then and
there adopted, to be at the earliest practica-
BILE moment ratified by Congress, as proved
to bc the case when the Morrill, tariff, on the
memorable 2d o. March, 1861, was made the
law of the land. To that law, aided as it
was by the admirable action of the Treasury
in supplying machinery of circulation, we
stand now indebted for the fact that we have,
in thcrshort space of five years, produced
more food, built more houses and mills,
opened more mines, constructed more roads
than ever before, and SO greatly added to
the wealth of the country, that the property
of the loyal States would this day exchange
for twice the quantity of gold that could
five years since have beer obtained for all
the real and personal property, southern
chattels excepted, of the whole of the States
and territories of which the Union stands
composed"
If the principal of protection proved to be
such q talisman in the time of war, shall we
reject it in time of peacea If an answer
were needed to this question, reference could
be had to the repeated concessions to this
/. principle by the recent free traders of the
South Scarcely one of the ambitious mer
t who led their unfortunate people into rebel
lion, but now freely admits that if the Soutl
| had manufactured their own fabrics, on thei
, own plantations and cultivated skilled la
' Dor in their great cities, they would hav'
! been able to prolong their conflict with th'
e government and now to enjoy substantial
: instead of artificial prosperity, they must in
woke the very agencies they had SO long ant
e so fatally disreGarded. Words need not b
i multiplied upon this important theme, eli
= thcr to make my own position stronger, o
c 20 impress upon the people the value of nd
l. herring to system which has proved itsel
r worthy of our continued support, and of tn
c imitation of its former opponents.
L FINANCES.
t The exhibit of the finances of the Com
y monwealth, as presented in the late annut
d message of my predecessor, and the repoI
l. of the State Treasurer is certainly very gru
/, tifying; and the fattering prospect of til
It speedy extinguishmcnt of the debt whic
= has been banging, for SO many years, like
], dark cloud over the prospects of our Stat
It combined with the hope that o reasonabl
/. reduction will be made in our habitual al
S. nual expenditures, will cheer the people OF
,e ward in the pathway of duty.
A. Among the most delicate and importar
le obligations required of those in official p'
n stions, is u strict and faithful managemer
1t of the public revenues and expenditures
as the Commonwealth. Taxation should be a]
ir piled where its burdens may be least fel
r. and where it is most Just that it should
c. borne. Every resource should be CAREFUL
Or husbandcd, and the strictest economy pra
r, ticed, so that the credit Of the State shall
lie maintained on firm and enduring basi
lr ard the debt surely and steadily diminishe
ID until its final extingushment. Unnecessa
ID delay in this would, in my opinion, be i
r. compatible with our true interests.
lr That these expectations are capable
in speedy and certain consummation, has
ready been demonstrated. The public il
proyements, the cause of our heavy det
II. which seemed to be an incubus upon Il
en- prosperity of the State, so long as they we
h. managed by her agents, have been sold t
ly tax on real estate has been abolished, al
ut considerable reductions have already be
on made on the State debt.
ne This important branch of the administl
he tion shall receive my constant and zealo
as attention. ..r.
or EXECUTION OF THE LAWS.
,se The general and essential principles of ],
ut and liberty, declared in the Constitution
as Pennsylvania, shall be watch!ully guardt
h 1t will be my highest ambition to admin
.es ter the government in the true spirit of ii
,as instrument. Care shall be taken /" that I
of laws be faithfully executed" and the de
ell sions Of the courts respected and enforc'
of if within their authorized jurisdiction.
mt iuenced only by considerations for the pu
nd lie welfare, it is my imperative duty to
re- that justice be impartially administer
&C. That merciful provision, the pardoning pt
err er, conferred upon the Executive doubles
lhe for correcting only the errors of criminal
,an risprudence, and securing justice, shall !
ms be perverted to the indiscriminate prot
ON tion of those who may be justly sentent
led to bear penalties for infractions of the Ia
se, made for the security and protection of
die ciety. Those "cruelly" or Excessive
ere punished, or enormously convicted, are all
de. entitled to its benefcent protection, and o
md such should expect its exercise in their
mt, half.