The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-06-14
e...r.,;ne-Evils of High Duties.

Smuggling va -
uappy is the country whose peop's arc
.,nnle and frugal 10 their habits and wnose
,,nh,,c debt is no. large enough to require
the imposition Of onerous burthens upon 'ne
..v.n,rers. With war aud extravaganza
como heavy burtheus, inordioate saas'es,
snecu,ation, corruption, frauds ana eele'a,
denrayi,y. This country has run f"p'o
course 10 this respect.
It was plain to sill that she hieh oue'sS Hi',
,,osea mon foreign importations wouta 'cad
to smuggling, and we arc beginning 20 'aSe
dere,onmenls that show that the art Oh ssHsgg-
Cling has attained degree of success very
e.adi,.6le for theexperience the followers OF
fhc profession have had. From TIE changes
now brought against number Q! persons
In New York-wheh inculpate the seeoud
great dry goods house In THAT city--Re can
understand that tie art has been carried on
in a wholesale manner. The cases presented
involve 40 aggregate Of over two millions OF
dollars.
The prosecution in these cases, as in all
others OF the kind, will have difficulty In
producing proof, and it is reasonable to as
sumo that where fraud Is established 1t is but
n smsil part of that which has been success
fully practiced. We are given to understand
By remark Of Mr.. CLAFLIH, of the house OF
CLArL1S 4 Co., iucuIpated in The proseeu'
tions, that smuggling Of silks especially mas
been large. He said that it was impossible to
compete in the sale of silks except by Guy.
ina qoods that could not lie supposed to haze
maid tuU duties. This assertion Of so great
. merchant shows not only that the business
is large, but that he has yielded 10 what DC
coBfesses 10 be q necessity, and OouSht
lust such goods as be describes. The house
of CLArLlN & Co. has borne high repnta'
ton in New York, and has been considered
the competitor Of STEWARDS. We can see
that trade in such goods must embarrass
the business of class Of merchants very
much, and put them upon devious ways and
short cuts for self.protectiou. The pur'
chasing of struggled goods is the first stel
towards guilty traffic 10 them. We douo
not that many houses in New York have
that Mr.. CLArLIS has !; and we are sure tha
every prominent house suspects every othel
one OF underwriting prices by dealing II
these goods. Mr. CLArLIN has told the story
It is more than probable That prominent con
temporaries of CLAFLIS & Go. have helped
on the prosecution.
This story is not surprising. Large pub
lie debt and high customs duties demorallzf
trade, and make usuges common that wou'C
under other circumstances be regarded a;
dishouorablc. This nation is fairly upon the
career of the most corrupt, and must resort
to all the means for detection of fraud thai
prevail where it has grown out of the same
causes which now exist here. Such means
are themselves the fruitful source of corrup
ton.
We have no hope that the morals Of trade
can be bettered under present Government
impositions, while for general corruption
and fraud. young as this nation is, it is not
excelled by any other.
We do not mean to excep: to import duties
as an objsctio oable way of raising revenue
for the support Of Government. That is de.
cidedly the test way for supporting the
Federal Government. The internal revenue
laws have been far worse in their demoraliZ'
ing effects. The whole country has fallen
under them. The whi>key frauds are il.
Vulnerable, and illicit distIling has led to
murder. Witness the arrests and homicides
recently in Southwest Virgins. Il is bad
enough that the Government should DE poi
ssning single ciuss of society On the outer
boundaries of the Union. We should pro-
tect the interior by the abolition of the in.
ternal rev enue system altogether.