Year: 1870

force an investigation which Will ultl:
mately, and perhaps not remotely, lead
us to adopt measures approximatlng
the principles of free trade. The long
used system of resorting to impost du-
ties for revenue, can not easily be aban-
doned suddenly now. For my own part,
in consideration of the injustice, frauds
and other evils which seem to be insep'
arabic from this system OF lndl-
rect and partial system of taxa
tion, shall rejoice as we ap-
proach the day when all the nations
will unite in adopting the system OF
unrestricted free trade. doubt not
we could now with safety enter upon
that race with all of them on equal
terms. With our bound Republic
and almost illimitable domain, our mex.
haustible mineral resources, Onr enlim'
tied water power, and soil and climate
adapted to the production of all that is
needed to supplf, the wants of man, it
cannot be that we should fall behind
the nations of the earth less favored
by Divine Providence. We should then
be able to put an end to the deceptive
and swindling system of erecting Gus
tom houses at the mouth of every little
stream where there is water enough to
float an Indians bark canoe. We could
then reduce oar national debt by selling
out the custom houses, now scattered
all over the land, and dismissing that
numberless horde of customs Office
holders, many of whom live by robbing
the nation, and fdtten upon the vitals
of honest labor; and we could then
come TO the plain. honest and straight.
forward system of direct taxation-ex-
acting of each citizen his just piopor-
tion of national, State, and local ex-
penses, according to his wealth, with
out regard to the mode of his invest
ments.


/ have said that this is the great
question of the future, and gentlemen
who expect to figure before the people,
in this department of life, may as we'll
get their sails accordingly. For thala
third of a century, slavery has given
material for shaping party organiza-
tions. But slavery, fugitive slave-laws,
WilMet provisions, and even negro
suffrage, are questions that are num-
bered among those of the dead past, ]
know that the friends of this oppressive
system of taxation expect their organi-
zation to live q little longer by the aid
of voting recruits under the Fifteenth
Amendment. 1t may be that they may
prolong their tyrannical existence u
short time. Our fellow.citizens from
Africa may vote with them year or
two; but even they are not so dumb
that they may not be educated on ques-
tions of political economy. There is no
nerve SO sensitive as that which leads
ts the pocket, and there are no subjects
on which even an ignorant African will
learn more rapidly Than the value of his
labor, and the justice of the high tariff
taxes you may assess upon his neces-
saries of life. 1t was not the ques
ton of slavery that produced
the South Carolina rebellion Of
1928, led by Calhoun and suppressed
10y old Hickory and General Scott. 1t
was tho high protective tariff of 1928.
The freedman already wants office, and
he will soon learn politics; and that
mighty mass of disenthralled Africans,
who willpursue agriculture and produce
that great staple of cotton throughout
the South, will, ere long, experience the
tariff. Sambo will also learn, too, as he
progresses in historical knowledge, that
this high tariff system originates in that
same spirit of avarice which long ago
caused New En5iang to bring his ances-
tors from Africa and sell them into cruel,
hopeless slavery. AS he tolls in the
sun-heated cotton.tields of the regener-
ated South, and wipes from his dark
brow the sweat of toll, he will inquire
of himself why should be taxed ninety
per cent. on the blanket that covers my
wife and children, and similar tax
upon my hat, boots and other necessary
articles, for the benefit of the New Eng
land manufacturer And, becoming,
day after day, more enlightened on
these points, it is not probable that at
the ensuing Congressional elections he
will support the candidate who thus
taxes him, against one who will relieve
him.


Mr.. President, the iustness Of the
principle of this resolution can not be
denied. Agriculture is the chief source
Of our national independence and
wealth. Without it manufactures and
the mechanic arts weuld sicken, and
commerce die; onr railroads and canals
wou'd be abandoned, aud our great
rivers and lakes become desert wastes
of water. 1t is the pioneer farmer who
opens the way for the progress of Chris
tian civilization, aud who makes the
wilderness to bloom ard blossom as the
rose.' If you give protective tariff
to others, give it to him. If you pro-
pose general free trade, he is quite
ready for that. We demand in his be-
half perfect equality. We ask nothing
more-will accept nothing less.