American citizen. [volume] (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, 1867-01-23

fifty years, and hence upon protection is
founded her manufacturing supremacy.
Yet her emissaries come to this country,
and Cor sinister purposes, extol i" free
trade" speak scofhngly Of protection,
and endeavor 10 persuade our people to
lelieye and adopt the absurd theory thai
I tariffs hinder the development OF in
dustry and the growth Of vealth: =
The great Republican partysfn The
Convention which nominated Abraham
Lincoln, in Chicago, in 1860, as if pre-
pairing for the very war which most Of
uur sta;esmen were at that period an xious
to postpone, adopted a resolution, which" "
to use the language Of az eminent Penn
sylvanian. declared that the produce Of
the farm should no longer be compelled
to remain inert aud losing interest while
waiting demand in distant markets. that
the capital which daily took the form Of
labor power should no longer be allowed
10 20 10 waste tha; the fuel which un>
derliea our soil should no longer there re.
main TO be mere support for foreign
rails that the power which lay then pet.
lifeI in the form Of coal should every,
where be brought to aid the human arm;
that our vast deposits OF iron ore should
be made to take the form Of engines and
ether machinery, 10 lie used as substitutes
for mere muscular force and that all our
wonderful resources, material and moral,
must and should lie at once developed.
Such was the intent and meaning Of the
brief resolution then and there adopted,
to be at the earliest practicable moment
ratified by Congress, as proved to be the
case when the Morrill, tariff, on the mem
orpble "a Of 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 cir
culation, VIC stand now indebted for the
fact that we have, in the short 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 oe gold that could
the real and Personal property, southern
ohattels excepted, of the whole of the
States and territories Of which the Union
stands composed"
If the principle Of protection proved to
be such talisman in the time Of war,
shall We reject it in time Of peace +? If
IN answer were neeled to this question,
reference could te had to the repeated
concessions to this principle by the recent
tree-iraders Of the South Scarcely one
of the ambitious men who led their un-
fortunate people into rebellion, but now
freely admits that if the South had mans
ufactured their own fabrics, on their own
plantations, and cultivated skilled labor
in their great cities, they would have been
able to prolopg their conflict with the
government; and. now to enjoy substan-
tial, instead of artificial prosperity, they
must invoke the very agencies they had
30 long and SO fatally disregarded. Words
ueed not be multiplied upon this Import
ant theme, either TO make my own posi>
ZION stronger, or to impress upon the peo.
plc the value of adhering to system
which has proved itself worthy Of our
continued support and Of the imitation
Of its former opponents,
FINANCES
The exhibit of the finances Of the Com
nonyealth, as presen,ed in the late an
nual message of my predecessor, ond the
report of the State Treasurer, is certain
ly very gratifying; and the fatterlng
prospect Of the speedy extingui hmelt of
the debt which has been hanging, for so
many years, like dark cloud over The
prospects OF our State, CON riued with the
hope that reasonable red ion will be
made in our habitual annual expendi-
lures, will cheer the people onward in
the pathway of duty.
Among the most delicate and import.
an: obligations required of thos in Off
cial positions, is strict aud faithful
management Of the public revenues and
expenditures of the Commonwealth
Taxation should be applied where its bur.
dens may be least felt, and where it is
most Just that it should be borne. Every
resource should be carefully husbanaed,
ana inc BtrlctesL ecOuOuy pIscllseus 80
that the credit of the State shall be
maintained on a firm aud enduring basis,
and the debt surely and steadily dimin>
ished, until its final extinguishmeut--
Unnecessary delay in this would, in my
opinion, be incompatible with our true in
terests g-Ea E' r..H.E
That these expectations are capable of
speedy and certain consummation, has
already been demonstrated. The public
improvements, the cause of our heavy
debt, which seemed TO be an incubus upon
the prosperity of the State, so long as
they were managed by her agents, have
been sold +; the tax on real estate has been
abolished, md considerable reductions
hnve alteady been made on the State debt
ga This important branch of the admins
sration shall receive my constant and zeal
oua attention. ,r,.-.
srr EXECUTION OF THF LAWS.
The general and essential principles Of
law and liberty, declared in the Gousti-
tuition of Pcansylgania, shall be watch
fully guarded. 1t will be my highest
ambition to administer tho government
IN the true spirit of that instrument
Care shall be taken tthat the laws be
~ 4 II i 4 A. J r