Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1882-12-02
WHOLE NO. 2,451.
Henry cLay on TIE rann.

Henry Clay on the TarR
Henry Clay, in his speech at Ra.
leigh, N. c., In 1884, said:
! In respect to the tariff there are
two schools, holding opposite and
extreme doctrines. According 10
one, perfect freedom in our foreign
trade, with no, or very low duties
ought to prevail. According to the
other the restrictive policy ought
on many articles to be pushed, by a
high and exhorbitant tariff, to the
point of absolute prohibition.
Neither party can hold itself up as
an unerring standard of right and
wisdom. FallabiIity is the lot of
all men, and the wisest know how
little they know. The doctrine of
free trade is concession to foreign
! powers, without an equivalent, to
the prejudice of native industry,
not only without an equivalent, but
in the face of their high duties,
restrictions and prohibitions applied
to American products, to foreign
powers, our rivals, jealous of our
growth and anxious to impede our
onward progress. Encouragement
of domestic industry is concession
to our tellOw-citiZens, to those whose
ancestors shared in common with
our ancestors, in the tolls of the
Revolution; to those who shared
with us in the tolls and sufferings
of our day; to those whose posteri-
ty are destined to share with our
pOsterity in the trials, in the tri-
umphs and the glorieS that await
them. 1t is concession to those
who are bone of our bone and flesh
of our flesh, and who in some other
beneficial form, do make and are
ready to make equivalent conces-
sions to us. 1t is still more. 1t is a
concession by the whole to the
whole; for every part Of the country
possesses a capacity to manufacture
and every part of the country more
or less does manufacture. Some
parts have advanced further than
Others, but the progress of all is for
ward and onward.
Again. 1 ask what is to be done
in this conflict of opinion between
the two extremes, which / have
stated? Each believes, with quite |
as much confidence as the other,
that the policy which he espouses is
the best for the country. Neither
has a right to demand that his |
Judgment shall exclusively prevail. |
What, again / ask, is to be done? |
Is compromise or reconciliation
impossible Is this glorious Union
to be broken up or dissolved, and
the hopes of the world, which are
concentrated in its fate, to be BIAS
ted and destroyed forever No,
fellow citizens. No! The Union
must be preserved. In the name
of the people of this noble State,
the first to announce the independ-
ence of the United States by the
memorable declaration of MeckIen-
burg, and which has ever since
been among the most devoted and
faithful to the preservation of this
Union, and in the name of the
whole people of the United States,
feel authorized to say that this
Union will not, must not, shall not,
be dissolved. How then can this
unhappy conflict of opinion be
adjusted and accommo-
dated? Extremes feliow-citizens
are ever wrong. Truth and justice,
sound policy and wisdom, always
abide in the niddle-ground, always
are to be found in the .jtSte nliLieit.
Ultraism is ever baneful, and If fol-
lowed never fails to lead to fatal
We must reject both
the doctrines of free trade and of
high and exhorbitant tariff. The
partisans of each must make some
sacrifices. of their peculiar opinions.
They must find some common
ground on which both can stand
and reflect that if neither has OBJ
tained all that it desires, or has
secured something, and what il
does not retain has been gotten by
its friends and countrymen. There
are very few who dissent from the
opinion that in time of peace the
federal revenue ought to be drawn
from foreign imports, without re-
sorting to internal taxation. Here
IS a basis for accommodation and
mutual satisfaction. Let the
which is requisite for an
administration of the !
when we are not
engaged in war, be raised exclusive
Ou IOESlSu IilTOItS anu III du-
usting tariff for that purpose, let
such determinations be made as
will foster and encourage our do
nestle industry. All parties ought
o be satisfied with a tariff for reve-
lue and Determinations for protec-
ion. In thussettling this great and
question in spirit of
mutual concession we do but follow
he example of our illustrious ances-
Ors in the formation and adoption
If our present happy Constitution.
t was that benign spirit that pre-
ided over all their deliberations,
md it has been in the same spirit
hat all the threatening crises that
rave arisen during the administra-
ion of the Government, have been
Luieted and accommodated.