The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1867-03-01
Grs. Jackson ON THE TARIFF.


GEN. Jackson on THE TARIFF.
The editor Of the Consultation may. not
have any more respect for the suthorit9kof
Gen. jackson now, than he used TO have
when IS Wing, he advocated the Tariff
himself, Is srdently as he now opposes It.
Bot we propose, nevertheless, to draw npon
the "drivelling assumptions of the old
General, in answer TO thefofiowins:
"THE CARE Crrr in it's daily attempts to dem
onstrate that il 10 good thing to tax the indus
try of the country for the special bencht OF manu-
featuring capitalists, invariably winds up with
the driveling assumption that the adoption OF
system of free trade win hreAk devn our home
manufactures and compel our Agrieulturists TO de-
pend on q distant, uncertsin and insuficisnt for
eign market This the editor Of the GATs re-
CARDS as the climax Of all argument on the sub
ject. He seems TO imagine il viii not only quiet
all opposition the part Of the farmers, mechsn-
les and lsboring men OF the country TO the infa-
nous schemes that have been devised to rob and
plumber them of the fruits Of that labor, but that
il is actually for their benefit that they should be
thus robbed and plundered. Because the editor
chooses to be fooli,h himself, be will find, per-
haps, that it is not safe TO presume that his read
e.s are fools also C0nsfitutiop.
answering an opponent, to call his a-gu.
ments dwelling assumptions, and himself
fool than to refate him by facts and argu-
ments
Henry Clay was not suspected of being
foolish and we quoted him the other day, in
support of this same !" dwelling assumption"
and we propose to quote now Andrew Jack
son, more fully, on the same subject.
We quote from letter written by Gen.
Jackson, in response to one from DR..
Coleman, of Virginis, in 1924, addressed to
Andrew Jackson, and asking his views on
the Tariff, saying at the same time, that the
people in that section we're opposed to.t
Under these circumstances it was that
"0ld Hickory" "took the bull by thu
horns, and spread himself in favor OF pro-
tective tariff:
Heaven smiled upon, and gave us liberty and
Independence. That same providence has blessed
with the means Of national indeper dence and
national defense. If we omit or refuse the
gifts which He has extended TO us, we deserve not
the continuation Of His blessings. He has FLIED
our mountains and our plains with minerals
with lead, iron, and copper, and given rs : oil
These being the grand materials Of our national
defense, they ought to have extended TO them ad-
equsts and fair protection, that our own manufac-
tories snd laborers may be placed on fair compe-
tition with those Of Europe; and that may
have within own country supply Of those
leading and important articles so essential to
war. Beyond this, lock at the Tariff with an
eye TO the proper distribution of labor and reve-
niue; and with view TO discharge our national
debt / am one Of those who do not believe thatA
4 - =.
curee 10 republic; inasmuch il In calculated to
raise around the administration moneyed aris-
t0craty dangerous TO the liberties Of the country
This Tariff mean judicious one-pos-
sesses more fsnciful than real dangers. will
ask whit is the real situation Of the agricultur-
istg Where has the American farmer market
for his surplus products' Except for cotton be
has neither foreign nor home market Does
not this clearly prove, when there is no market
either al home or abroad, that there is too much
labor employed in agriculture and that the chan
nels OF labor should be multiplied, Common
sense points out at once the remedy. Draw from
agriculture the supersbundant labor employ il IN
mechanism aud manufactures, thereby creating .
home market for your bresdstufs and distribu-
ting labor 10 . most profitable account, and bene-
fits 10 the country will result Take from sgri-
culture in the United States six hundred thousand
men, women. and children and you at once give
n home market for more bresdstufs than all Eu-
rope now furnishes us. In shoFs, sir, We have
been too long subject to the policy Of the British
merchants. II is time We should become n little
more AnericaniEsd and instead Of feeding the
paupers and lAborers Of Europe feed our own. or
else in short time, by continuing our present
policy, We shall all be paupers ourselves
That needs neither application nor en-
forcement. The whole subject is presented
in nutshell.
If the Constitution will publish that letter,
for the benefit Of its readers, and satisfy
them that it is mere dwelling assump-
tion,h we shall have no more to say
The argument may be elaborated, but its
substance is all there-encouragemen TO
manufactures that we may have market for
agricultural products, and that lsborers may
have employment, and that laborers may
have good wages, and farmers good prices.
encouragement 10 manufactures that we
may develope our own abundant resources,
and increase the wealth of the country. An
Americauizing, independence growing policy,
instead Of a British substituting and pauperiz
ing policy.
II is a significant fact that Calhoun arrsyed
South Carolina in open, forcible, and armed
resistance TO the very tariff enacted by Con.
gress, in pursuance of the views of this let.
ter of Gen. jackson. And it is notorious
that Jackson would have hung Calhoun for
his reasonable resistance to the authority of
the Government, had not that lily livered spir-
1t of Cancellation and compromise prevailed,
and conceded the demands Of the slavehold
ing traitors then, as at other periods of
our history.