, 1872-10-16

The necessity of O change Of administration to
promote the business interests Of the country
is the subject Of letter written by the Hon. R.
II. T. Hunter, OF Virginia. and published by
the New York Herald. hIr. Hunter Was former
1y member OF the United States Senate, and
Was for many years Chairman Of its Finance
Committee. Mr Hunter gays that the Repubn-
can party after the war; had the easy task, not Of
imposing new, but Of reducing, old taxes No
exactions should have been made beyond those
necessary to pay the expense Of Government,
the interest on the debt, and a. moderate
1nBtalment Of the principal. The party, in i'm
posing upon the present generation 80 large
share of the burden, have pursued a course un-
known to nations Of respectable financial au-
thority. Great Britain pursues the policy Of ap-
plying surplus revenue to the extinction OF oner-
ous ta1es,-seeking, in that way, to fortify the
credit and ultimate solvency Of the nation. The
money left in the hands Of the people increases
at more than an nrith1netical ratio, and
the resulting prosperity, in the long
run, assures moro rapid liquida-
tion Of National indebtedness than could
be reached through the methods Of immediate
exhaustion. Neither the public credit, nor
sound policy, onlya ridiculous vanity of the
Secretary Of the Treasury for the time being,
demands that the people should be burdened
with oppressive taxation to redeem 500, 1000, 600
Of the debt annually. What is worse, this drain
upon the people is intensified by the most
bungling system Of finance ever devised
by a civilized people. Exorbitant taxes
are imposed upon articles of great
domestic production, upon the materi-
ais Of every industry. Our ocean shipping is
yaniHhing from the seas; the tariff has BUS
pended aud outdone the Confederate cruisers.
In 1860 II per cent Of our foreign commerce was
carried in American vessels; in 1871 less than 50
per cent. The diminution goes on, and is due to
the tariff, which is upheld by the Secretary OF
the Treasury, who ignores the teaching Of our
history that our commerce and shipping have
risen as the tariff fell. Continue the present
administration in power, and you continue
this system which robs us Of participation
in the profits Of our carrying trade, aud will
seriously impair the trade itself. Even manu-
facturers are depressed by this tariff. Under it
cotton exports have decreased one quarter; wool
len exports 60 per cent; that OF boots and shoes
more than 6G per cent. Among the wool-grow-
ers the tariff acts like "rot." The number Of
sheep dininishes as the duties on wool and
woollens increase. Manufactures could best be
promoted By q revenue tariff that would give
them their dye-stuffs and raw materials Us nearly
free as possible.
This exorbitaut tariff also withholds from cir
cu1ation large hoards Of specie which it places in
the hands Of reckless and unskilful Secretary,
whose administration of the Treasury is now
made memorable by employing the public funds
to help one class Of the business community at
the expense of another clase.
Moneyed men who support the present system
Of finance, in the belief that it will assure the
country stability in its currency and credit,
deeply mistaken. It taxes our foreign commerce
from the ocean; taxes all the implements Of ag-
riculture; taxes the materials Of all manufac-
tures, and shuts them out Of the markets OF the
world; and it subjects our moneyed men to the
use Of q currency which measures it's volume by
the discretion Of single man, and not by the
demands Of trade. We want not only 3 change
Of system, but change Of rulers.