, 1869-12-23
COMMISSIONER WILLS REPORT

manufacturers, farmers, merchants, and
planters Throughout the country These
supply him with all the original capital in
facts which any one mind can grasp or han
die. The first whine Of the report, there
fore, is rs d compendio7s contribution Of
facts, sEd of estimates which, from their
logical basis. have nearly the force Of
facts, to the sum total Of knowledge on
the most involved Of all human problems
the equitable adjustment Of prodigious
burden uf taxation, 70 as to afford the least
injury 10 industry end the srrest and wisest
means of 1,splac,ng q deprecated currency
By sound one
In discussing the first question, Mr.
Wells Gets out with reinstatement Of the
flrt-which he argued mosetat length in his
previous rpport--that national prosperity is |
the result Of Labor md not Of legislation |
that, If the conditions Of labor are otherwise |
fayo1obls, the worst or the best legislation /
can form only IN incident among the more
potent reasons Of prosperity or disaster,
which depend, not On the laws Of Congress,
but On the laws Of commerce. His descrip- |
ton Of the general state of industry during
the past year would sum up in the single \
word declining" or perhaps in term
even more impressive threatening
Since lsco the country, including the late
ly rebel States. has expended nine thousand
millions Of dollars three Times tie valne Of
tie slaves, but not Of the Union-iI pre-
serving the Unio2 and abo,lshing slavery.
This was more than half in value Of oil the
property Accumulated in the country from
its discovery to that date. But, according
to Mr. Wells, the entire property
Of a country never represents
more than four years Of the gross earnings
of its labor. Our exhaustion OF wealth by
the rebellion was, therefore, equal to two
years Of the gross earnings Of our whole
people. Estimating the normal increase In
the national wealth nj c. per cent since
1880, reducing the same to currency, and
deducting therefrom the cost Of the war,
Mr.. Tel1s arrives Mt The conclusion that
- ~at z-in"raee" If -t],e-- national
wealth for the decade has been
from s1i,18s, 100000 in gcld values
toS.4, lss, ,o00, GOO in currency values. This
permanent increase in the wealth Ee esti-,
mates to be about 8 per cent Of the gross
annual product Of our industry, or about
Ssss ,000, 900 Per anuuu-about Sl3 80 per
capita for ouz entire population. As this is
but little more than the amount Of out na
tlonM taxes, it will be seen that they are
equal very nearly to half the net increase
Of carsal attending the industry on which
they bear.
MIR. Wells proceeds To show that even
this moderate estimate is in excess Of the
statistics afforded By the aesossrncnts of real
md personal property in the various sta.e..
In only one State Of the Union {Rhode
1saana) have tho aggregate values, estimated
IN gold. advanced upon those of 1850 and
even in this State the nuouu. of property
Per eop'ta, stated in gold values, has de-
clined. Among the facta Indicative Of this
decline in national wealth, VIC find TINT,
whereas at the close Of the war our secun-
ties on debts rulGc and private were
nearly all held at home, they
have since been exported 10
supply the deficiency in ons e1portablc
prcducts to the aggregate amount
Of from $500, ,ooo, ,ocO to $1,000, ,ooo, 900.
for what We are consuming at home. To
this prucess Of living by tho export of our
bonds. as Of every other process Of mere
running in debt, there Is limit which
must soun be reached. We mus. either
stop iml'ortasioDs, or largely increase our
productions, SO as to be able not only 10
pay FOR future Imports as we bny them,
but also II pay the interest, aad flu lilly the
PRINCIPAL Ct our foreign securities, or We
must GO into commercial bankruptcy. We
cannot stop importing, for our imports
tions consist largely of sugar, ten, coffee,
spices, and other foreign productions which
the people will not do without, except
under stress Of extreme poverty;
or Of wines md Injuries,
which the present abnormal concen-
tration Of wealth in the hands of few at
the expense Of the many only increases the
ability of the reh to purchase. The class
OF articles manufactured here are in tie
tnAin excluded, as, if they were not. the
tA7f would not be .'prntective.~ To
lessen onr importatio2s ia, therefore, i'm
possible The only alternative is to in
creaso our productions and our EXPORTS To
increase production, Mr.. Wells declares
three measures absolutely indispensable
l. a remission Of ut least fifty millions
Of annual taxation
>. The restoration Of specie payments.
). feadjnstment Of the tariff, retain
ing the purely revenue duties mainly at
their present stan dard, but converting
them from ad tolorem into specific duties !;
By reducing the 4'protectiye duties on
articles which form the raw. naAserials Of
other branches Of industry to about half
their present rates, and by putting ki1 or
seven hundred Of the two thousand articles
now On the tarif list, from which little or
no reTcnue is derived, upon tho free list
The Commissioner would rniso from cus-
toms S''o, ,aoo, COO, of which SSo, 500, ,Oo0
would te FROM strictly revenue duties on
ARTICLES OF food and drink, mainly liquors,
dried fruits, sugars, teas, vines, &c.
A1. Wells doea not state what
the percentage Of tariff would be on these
further than that it would be the present
rate, which ranges on most Of them at from
70 to e0rer cent. This rate, however, he
would express in a specific instead Of an
al talorfzn form. This would abolish At
once tie chief avenue u fraud in our Gus
tom Houses, viz, undezyaluation. The
legal duty could be stated by glance at
the article, without room for cavl or de-
ception. We believe hr. Wells might
safely have calculated upon an increase in
the revenue from this charge from ad rulo-
rf1n to specific duties Of 10 or Is per cent.
From textile fabrics and WIRES ho would
collect specific duties Averaging - par cent.
: On metals he would lay specific rates equal
to an nj rnlore,n Of % Per cent? reduc-
tion Of about one-ha1 On existing duties.
On fancy goods, drugs, md miscellaneous
articles, he levies enough 10 make the .otal
amount $l44,Oo0, 600. He estimatos the
elasticity Of the rsyeaue-i. e.,the tendency
Of tho remission Of some duties 10 il.
crease the productiveness Of Others, md
the natural growth Of the revenue--a,
$1,000, 600 per annum. which, with fines,
peua1ties, and foHeitures (5l ,ooo, ,Ooo),
would mike the whole amount of S15O,.
Oo0, 0,oOo.-- -~'-''s
The only statement in the report which
We h.Te scra eth -e -! il, tbs! tie Com