Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-09-22


4. r. ENGLISH, COMMERCIAL FrSAScIAI
AND RIVER EDITOR.
JOHN AIESEIE, CAsHIER n BUSHES
AANAGER.
Editorial Roousa-No. ssS MAIE srsEET,
Up STAIRS ovKR GzEHAS NATIONAL RANK
Business Omce-No. IS MADISON STREET
FEEETRkBE VS.. DUTIES ON EXPORTS.
Opposition to high protective duties,
for the benefit Of the manufacturers OF
New England and the Middle States is
rapsdly developing itself In the shape OF
public sentiment in the Northwest, and
We again find the doctrine OF free-trRde
advocated BY leading journals, snd likely
% become a tenet In the political creed
OF . new and strong party, advocated by
which, and aided by other acceptable
doctrines, it will be likely to find sup
port in the South, whenever the South
again has 8 voice in public affairs.
We have heard and read, IN u day
much argument and defamation on the
subject Of tariff and ~free-trsde, in which,
after all, It has not seemed to Us that the
real first principles OF the matter were
often considered. In all the discussion;
a great moral consideration has ethel
been wholly overlooked, or little impor.
auce attached to It, compared with
what it deserves. It will not do to lay
human nature out Of the question, II
arguing the merits Of the two systems
snd human nature and even human
prefudices have, it must be confessed, 8
great desl to do with human action.
Nobody likes to give or pay on com
pulsion. 1t may be S very irrstionsi
prejudice; but our ancestors did not Ike
10 nav q stamp tax or duty on tea.
They cared nothing about the money,
buJ wanted the privilege Of raising II
themselves. voluntarily. II we know,
when we drink 8 bottle Of wine, or smoke
a cigar, that half s dollar Of the price We
pgv for the wine, and two cents Of that
which we pay for the cigar, goes to sup
mort the government that protects US We
say to ourselves, Well, the government
does not force Us 10 drink the wine 7
smoke the cigar we csn let il alone If
we will. and then we pay nothing !" and
so wa drink and smoke, and feel that we
bsv, made 2 voluntary contribution to
the treasury, if we thinkEof it all But it
I, tax-rstberer comes to US every morn
Ing. and demands g half dollar towards
surporting the government We soon
come TO look upon it as q great outrage.
Surpose We admit that, after all, We in
the former case only delude ourselves,
and inst the government really says to
Ms. " You shall not drink the wine or
rurn the cigar into smoke, unless you
ar.t psv me half 3 dollar for the privi-
leFe which is, to be sure, putting til
aI-.t.e different light yet, on reflection,
We say. THE Government has to be
maintained, that is certain, and we must
nav our part. What u true part Is,
an the political economists and Politi-
clans fn the Union could not figure oct
In ten wears: sDd after all it is q very
good Government thai tells Us II We do
NOT choose 10 drink the wine, we need
not uav the half-doIlar /" and so We
drink.
il. every country = certain proportion
Of the citizens must serve in the army
and navy, and those who do not must
nay % msintain them. Thousands will
oheeruIlv volunteer and enlist, who
would lsok upon the Government as an
enemy and tyrant If it impressed them,
and so Jorced them TO serve. Is this
feeling. call it prejudice If you will, Of
Ef-tIa worth? why, it is the very basis
and deepest foundation-stoue OF manly
independence and public liberty.
Tel q young man that he must and
shall marry a particular person, and ne
forthwith Rets about hating her. II he
had been let alone, or opposed, most
likely he would incontinently have be-
come eusmored Of her.
Try % force one to acquire the habit Of
using tobacco. He viii die first. Pro-
Bibit il, and see what he viii do.
You see this repUgnsnce to coercion
and compulsion, this perverseness, which
leads them to long to do hat which is
prohibited, even in children. To sternly
forbid the wine cup to the young, makes
more d-unksrds than leaving them to
touch it or not as they choose. To force
children to church makes four cut Of five
de.est it and weary Of the Sabbath.
God implanted these impulses in the
human heart FOR wise and good purposes.
The msxim, Resistance to tyrants il
obedience to God, - is but z develop
ment Of them.
so, too, He permits rs to enjoy scarcely
a pleasure without anneKing, a. its on
dillon, submission to something that is
necessary, but dissgreeable snd repug-
nan 10 Us. So it ia, that men ard
women are led TO rear aud maintain
children. and slave and toll for them,
that the human race may be Ferpetu-
sted. So be who would be honored for
deeds o. lofty heroism must incur dan
ger, front difficulties, undergo hardships,
and imperil bis lie. SO curiosity and
the qualification OF the intellect, and the
desire 70 Stake at perennial fountains the
burning thirst for knowledge, lead men
to explore deserts, wander Ike spectres
among northern icebergs, and encounter
fever and pestilence in African forests
and v~ildernesses. And so even the ig-
noble avidity Tor gold, and the greed for
the sensual luxuries to which it's posses
sion ministers, persuade TO the toll by
land and ses which build up cities, peo-
pies continents, and makes nations
mighty by commerce.
And therefore lt is that a tariff which
makes contribution to the support Of 6
government that preserves peace abroad
and order at home, and leads the country
rapidly onward in its unexampled career
Of property and glory, the condition of
the satisfaction Of al appetite, Of the pos
session Of q luxury, OF The indulgence Of
vanity or ostentation, IL s wise system,
because il initiates the law ofProvidence,
and leads men to do ch~eerfully, and al
most always uEconsciously, what II
would be ~ungracious and distssteful at
least to compel by coercion.
10 he sure, this is not the way in
which Statesmen ordinarily look at the
subject. So much the greater pity fol
the statesmen. Il only proves that they
habituslly neglect 10 take into account
the most potent springs that govern the
mechanism Of human action. An in.
stlact or a prejudice is many timet
stronger than reason or logic; and tn,
Statesmen who does not take them int
account is in state-craft what q quack
and chgrlatBn is in medicine. Mems
p~reiadicps, passions, and instincts have 3
-pecuniarv value, II we could but find s
means to weigh and estimate It. A,
long rs the world lasts men will fight, d
need be, for the privilege Of doing thing,
Of their own violation and not By com.
u@ulslon, and even for the privilege o.
s~elf-delusion In that respect. After all II
Is only to regard the country a. a great
importer, and the duty Is it's profit.