Texas National Register. (Washington, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 45, Ed. 1, Saturday, November 15, 1845 Page: 4 of 8
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TEXS JMJf IOR AT. REGISTER.
November I5
r.o.7.s"
LETTER OF MR. McDUFFIE pN
- THE TARIFF. .'
Mr. Editor: bivan wkh jome
apprebenuoo loe remarks ctfjogr
logtoncorrespoaaent in rejna wiw uiw-
bable course; of the administration in
fulfilling their pledge to reduce the tariff
to a revenue standard
To relieve royiclffrP the fean txqi-
ted by those remarks I addressed a leis-
ter to General ficDulBe who I knew had
greafpersonal -confidence in President
Polkto ascertain his opinion on. ihe sub-
ject arid received in answer the encloted
communicitiop which is vety satisfac-
tory to me and I think will" be Id the
public. ' .
If you concur in this opinion I hope
you will give it a place in your paper.
er?
.Cheek Hiti.S!ptv27lS45.
My dear Sir: .You ask me whether in
my opinion "it be possible that the con-
jectures of the WatshingtOvi correspond-
ent of the Charleston Morcury can be
true in relation to the probable course of
- r " . .- f n .it. ! it J
the administration 01 rar. cuik hi ink au-
justment of the tariff" and whether "such
a course would not be a palpable viola-
tion of the pledge to reduce the duties
upon foreign imports to the revenue stahd-
Mr
In answer to these enquiries 1 state in
the first place my confident belief thai
these conjectures cannot be true ; ncl in
the 6ecoud place that the course they
ascribe to the administration would be "a
palpable violation of the pledge 10 reduce
ihe duties: fopon foreign imports to the
-revenue standard and of all the pledges
of the. party by which Mr. Polk was
-elected.
A brief exposition of. the true principles
of a revenue tariff and a reference to
-Hifr. Polk's Inaugural Address will be
.sufficient I think to banish your appre-
hensions. "It is obvious to remark that
jl revenue tariff is the lowest rale of duty.
-upon every ioreign import wai wm rai&c
-the required amount of revenue. The
smallest addition to that rale upon any
one article with the view to increase the
price of its domestic rival is plainly
and intentionally" a protective as contra-distinguished
from a revenue duty
But if the additional duly not only en-
hances the price of both the foreign and
domestic article but diminishes the reve-
nue it would be the most barefaced
mockery the-.most impudent and hypo-
critical disguise by which a mercenary
and merciless oppression ever attempted
to Tconceal its deformity to call this a
revenue dut'. Now it is only necessary
to apply these plain if not self-evident
nronositions. to the articles which it is
the supposed intention of the administra-
tion to favor and protect by exempting
thenYfrom the general rule of reduction.
Take for example two leading articles
ofVugar and iron. Next to salt these
are articles of the most general consump-
tion bv all classes of people.
In a great financial and economical re-
form reducing the duiies upon foreign
' imports 10 a general average of 20 per
cent. upon what principle of justice
equity or sound policy upon what sha-
dow of constitutional power can a rate
of duty be imposed upon these articles
higher than the general ..rate necessary
tfr$revenue. at the same time adding to
the public burdens and diminishing the!
tiublic revenue? It is hecause-sugar aridi
iron are produced by a few wealthy su-
gar planters and iron masters not equal
iu number to one in a hundred thousand
rf'.those who consume the articles and
pay from 'the pockets of mediocrity and
poverty!' the contributions .extorted by a
free government arid let me not say a
democratic administration--- add to
the fortunes of a raonied oligarchy? Gap
" vit be believed that Mr. Polk bound by
be. united lies of interest aud duty to
sustain the great principles of free trade
and unshaokled industry which he has
so ablv supported through a long course
ofpubiic service will now when elected
to the highest station towhich ambition
or patriotismcan aspire betray his polit-
ical principletvarid sacrifice those popu-
lar .masses by Whose voluntary and un-
solicited suffrage he was raised" to pow-
T'l trust ndt:tHe'tale.M jfn his Tr i&u-'
gural Addressee very distinctly lay 3
down tne doctrine inai revenue is '.he
object of all duties upon imports and
protection the incident. -
' Nothine can be more plain. If protec
tion tb particular classes 'at the expense of
ail oineis icsuus irom revenue duty
as it does irom an revenue dmies it is
an unavoidable incident not to be desired
but: regretted. It s impossible to sepa-
eae the protection given to the sugar
planter for ey.amplfc by even a revenue
duty of 20 per cent. from ihe twofold
burthen ir.irjosed upon everybody else
iiwj. wiii j oj .Fdising io rne consumers me
price oV imported sugar which yields a
reyer.ue equal to the burthen but the
price of domestic- sugar which imposes
ati equal burthen and yields no revepue.
It is this last result which unjustly trans-
fers the money of the many to the pock-
ets of the few which constitutes the in-
cidental protection of a revenue duly a
result which so far from being desirable
to the people at large- can only be re-
(garded as a public evil unavoidably re-
sulting from an unequal system of taxa-
tion. ' . .
Now let us suppose ihe duties upon all
foreign imports including sugar and iron
reduced to a revenue standard of 20 per
c nt. and take up the case of the sugar
planters and iron masters at this point.
What ground would they have to com-
plain of such an adjustment of the duties
upon imports? Goold they pretend that
any one of these duties imposed a bur-
then upon them not equally imposed upon
the body of the people? The whole of
these duties would operate precisely upon
them as upon others; with the exception
of the duties upon sugar and iron and
these while they would operate as taxes
upon all the rest or the people would
operate as bounties to them equal tp20
per cent upon the whole amount of su-
gar and iron they produced for sale.
Suppose for example a sugar planter of
Louisiana produces .sugar annually to
the amount of fifty thousand dollars
probably a fair average ; and an iron
master of Pennsylvania iron to the same
amount: the amount of other imported
and protected articles consumrd by each
certainly would not exceed ten thousand
dollars. Thus under a revenue tariff
these injured citizens would have to pay
20 per cent on $10000 equal to $2000
to the. government and to their coufede
rate monopolists and would only receive
20 per cent on $S0000equal toS10000
from the great body of the people ! Their
ground of complaint then against the
levelling equality of a revenue tariff
would be that they received under it
only five times as much in bounties as
they paid jn taxes and bounties united 1
And what under these circumstances do
they modestly demand of the federal
government and of a free trade demo-
cratic administration? Simply that the
bounty of- twenty per cent. resulting
from a revenue duty be raised to fifty by
a protecting duty swelling their clear
and real income derived from the system'
of federal taxation" frorneighl to twenty-
three thousand dollars ! This plain state-
ment literally exhibits the character not
only of the protective duties upon sugar
and iron but of the whole system of pro-
tective monopoly and I am sure no honr
est patriot can think of the unjust iniqui-
tous and audacious demand made by
those bloated arid heartless plunderers
that the administration should sacriBce
their principles and the vital interests of
the people to secure their allegiance for
the support or 'tne touowers and victims
whom they at the same lime deceive and
plunder without feeling bis blood boil in;
bis veins with the warmest indignation.
Taking a more comprehensive view of
the subject it may be stated as a fact
that the greater part of the revenue from
imports is derived from duties on the
class ofprotected articles principally
sugar iron and iron manufactures cot-
ton manufactures and woollen manufac-
tures. Now all these interests are united
together in a plundering confederacy
Upon the principle that each may rob
the other that all may rob the commu-
nity at large. As I have before stated
each of them would receive at least five
.times some of them twenty times as
much as they-pay even under a strict
leyenue system. Is it not apparent
therefore that to permit those interests to
control Congress in the matter of taxa-
tion would be to put the power of taxa-
tion the most important of all political
power in the hands of those who have a
deep pecuniary .interest in increasing the
taxes? If the manufacturing nations of
Europe would agree to supply the fede-
ral revenue by a perpetual tribute would
these monopolists consent to a total re-
peal of the duties On imports and free
i he country from taxation? They cer-
tainly would not. They solemnly declare
that these duties which are surely taxes
to the country are e&sentialto their pros-
perity ; that to reduce them from fifty to
twenty per cent. would "be injurious to
them but to repeal them altogether would
be absolutely ruinous. Here then is a
confession of vt hat is apparent without it
that those who receive the taxes impudent-
ly claim the prerogative of prescribing to
the government what burthens shall be
imposed on those who fay them! If we
submit to these things can we claim to
live under a responsible representative
republic? It ought never to be forgotten
that a system of taxation by which three-
fourths at least of the public revenue is
derived from duiies upon foreign manu-
factures the like of which are extensive-
ly produced in the United States is the
most burtliensome and unequal of all the
known systems that now exist in civil-
ized nations reduce and modify it as we
may. The whole of the duty imposed
on this class of articles is a discrimina-
tion against the imported and in favor of
home made manufacture to the full ex
tent of that duty
Now when we recollect that all foreign
imports are as truly the productions of
domestic industry as their home made
rivals and that the industry 'which ac-
quires the foreign article is as much enti-
tled to be exempted from taxation as that
which makes the domestic article; it will
be seen that the very lowest rate of reve-
nue duties upon sugar and iron and upon
all manufactures ot iron cotton and wool
is an unjust discrimination in favor of
one branch of domestic industry and
agains't another. The true point of eatia-
lity and justice as I have always' main-
tained Would be to impose the same rale
of duly on the home made that we im-
pose on the imported manufacture. The
exemption therefore of our home made
manufactures from the duties imposed
on those we import is a most liberal con-
cession gratuitously made by the people
to the manufacturers ; and that they are
not satisfied with this discrimination is a
proof how feeble is ihe sense of gratitude
and justice among masses of men when
their interests are in question. But our
system is as burtliensome as it is une-
qual. It may be safely stated that it
imposes a pecuniary burthen on the peo
ple three times as great as the amount of
revenue it yields to the Treasury. The
duty on imported cotton manufactures
for example may be assumed to average
40 per cent.' and the amount imported
set down at ten millions. This will yield
a revenue of four millions. But thecot-
ton manufactures annually produced in
the United States and equally enhanced
in price with the foreign by ihe duty
imposed on ihe latter amount to thirty
millions ot dollars. Jporty per cent on
this gives us twelve millions as the ad-
ditional burthen imposed on the people
by the duty on cotton manufactures ; so
that the people are subjected to a burthen
of sixteen millions to obtain a revenue of
four paying to ihe cotton manufacturers
who are now realizing from 20 to 40 per
cent on their capital three dollars for
every one they pay to the Government !
Now. let us compare this duty on cotton
manufactures with a like duty on tea
and coffee which the manufacturers art-
fully prevailed upon Congress to exempt
from duty altogether by the act of 1832.
Let us assume that we annually import
tea and coffee tothe amount of ten mil-
lions of dollars under a1 duly of 40 per
cent. This will yield' a revenue precise-
ly equal to thai derived from the duty on
sS
nou
w
cotton manufactures and will
only one-fourl.h of the burthen
impose
on the
people l be money collected at the
custom-house would be the full measure
of the popular burthen. And yet it is
one of the schemes of tbe manufacturers
lo let tea and coflee remain free of duty
in order to create a necessity for increas-
ing the duties on sugar iron and the va-
rious manufactures embraced in the pro-
tective system. Of all foreign imports
lea and coflee areramong the most proper
subjects of a revenue duty inasmuch ai
they yield the largest amount of revenue
with tbe least burthen to the people and
that burthen is equally distributed among
the consumers. But the manufacturers
who carry their manufactures to China
.to exchange them for tea and to Brazil
and Cuba lo exchange them for coffee
understand perfectly well the benefit of
free trade if it be only confined to them-
selves. They are like Sir Robert Peel
fisherman who said to that minister "I
am a free trade man sir but you must
not touch the duty on fish." I have
doubt therefore that a powerful effort
will be made by the manufacturers to in-
duce Congress to iolate the true princi-
ples of a revenue system and ihe solemn
pledge contained iu the compromise act
of 1833 by leaving tea and coflee with
the long list of foreign imports used by
them in manufacturing free of duty. But
this scheme I am sure can receive no
countenance from the administration.
They will recommend no discriminations!
as we have been semi-officially inform-
ed but with a view to revenue; and upon
every sound revenue principle the high-
est rale of duty should be laid upon such
articles as are not made in the United
Slates. If this class were sufficiently
extensive the whole of the federal reve-
nue should be drawn from it. We should
ihus have no weahhv and influential
class drawing princely incomes from tho
extorted contributions of the people and
stimulating ihe government to all sorts Of
extravagant expenditures with a view to
keep up a system of high and oppressive
duties.
In any scheme which the administra-
tion may present for adjusting the tariff
I feel confident that the leading feature
will be the tolal abolition of minimum
and specific duties. These are fraudu-
lent contrivances that serve no other pur-
poses but to deceive the people and dis-
guise oppression. Let us have ad valo-
rem duties that every body can under-
stand. Lei the people see the full ex-
tent of their burthens and if they must
be oppressed let it be "so nominated in
the bond." As these duties now stand.
low priced articles consumed by the poor
pay ihe highest rates of duty while those
of the highest price consumed by the
wealthy pay the lowest rale. This is a
fatal objection to all specific duiies. A
yard of calico for example which costs
six cents in Manchester pays nine cents
duty which is 150 per cent on its cost;
while a yard of the finest colored mus-
lin which costs 30 cents pays only nine
cents equal to 30 per cent on its cost.
These revolting deformities must be re-
moved and I feel assured that Mr. Polk
will cordially co-operate in- the patriotic:
labor.
It is apparent that the days of monop-
oly and commercial restriction are num-
bered in all the civilized nations of the
earth. Even in Great Britain so long
held up-to"us by our monopolists as an
example for imitation all parties now
concur in the principles of free trade.
and differ only as lo the lime and man-
ner of reforming ancient restrictions and
abuses. And permit me lo say that the
day that shall witness the downfall of
commercial restrictions and the establish-
ment of freetrade among the nations of
the earlh will be the greatest and most
glorious era that ever marked the pro-
gress of improvement in tho temporal
affairs of man. It should be the ambi-
tion of our statesmen to take the lead in
this great reform which is destined as I
firmly believe to contribute more to th
liberty prosperity and peace ot the na-
tions than any event since the advent ot
our Saviour. In this view of ihe subject
few men ever occupied a more responsi-
ble position than Mr. Polk and I have
every reason to believe he fully realizes
that responsibility and will so far elevate
bis views above the miserable schemes of
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Texas National Register. (Washington, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 45, Ed. 1, Saturday, November 15, 1845, newspaper, November 15, 1845; Washington, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth80139/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.