Press enter after choosing selection

Number Three--Veto Of The Provisional Tariff Bill

Number Three--Veto Of The Provisional Tariff Bill image
Parent Issue
Day
11
Month
July
Year
1842
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

Washington, Jur.e 29, 18-12. To the House of Rcprcsnlaliccs: 11 which originated in the House of rpresentativesentitled ;'An aot to extend for a limited pcriod the present laws for laying and collecting dutieson imports," wiih tke folio wing object ioiid: nds - in other words abrogates íor thc e provisión of the act of 1833, commonly d the compromise act. The only ground on which tliis departure írom the solemn adjustment of a grand and agitating quc3tion seems to have been regardcd as exped i ent, is thc alledged necessity of establiahing by legisíative enactment rules nnd regulations for assessing the duties to be le vied on imports after the 30th June according to the home valuation; and yet the b)H exprcssly provides that ' 'if, before the Hrst of August, tliere be no larther legislalion upon the subject, the laws for laying and collecting duties shaíl be the same asthough thisact had not been passed." In other words- that the act of 1S33, imperfect as it is considered, shall, in that case, continue to bu, and to bo executod, as iaw under sucu rules and regalations as previous statuea had decribed, or had enabled the cxecutive department to prescribe for that purpose - leaving the sitpposed chasm in the revenuo laws just as it was before. I ara certainly far from being disposed to deny that additional legislation upon the subject is very desirable. On the contrary, the necessity, as well as difficulties, of cstablishing uniformity in ths aupraisement to be made in comformity with ihe true intention of that act, was brought to the notice of Congress in my message to Congress at the opening of its present session. But, however sensible I may be of the embarrassments to which the executive, in the absence of all aid from the superior wisdom of the legislature, will be Hable, in the enforcement of the ex6ting laws, I have not, with the sincerest wish to acquiesce in itsexpreesed uill, been able to pursuade myeelfthat Ihe exigency of the occasion is so great as tojuetify me in signing the bill in question, with my present views of its character and efFects. The existing laws, as I am advised, are sufficient to authorize and enable the collecting olficers, under the directions of the secretary of the treasury, o levy the duties imposed by the act of 1833.That act was passed under peculiar circumstances to which it is not necessnry that I should do more than barely allude. W ha te ver may be in theory its character, I have always regarded itas importing the highest moral obligation. It has now existed for nine years unchanged in any esBcntial particular, with as general acquiesence, it isbelieved, of the whole country, as that country has ever manifested for any of her wisely establiahed institutions. It haa insured to it the repose which alsvaya flows from timcly. wise and moderate comiséis - a repose the more striking because of the long and angry agitations which preceded it. This salutary law proclaims in expresa terms the principie which, ■while it led to the abandonment of a scheme of indirect taxation founded on a fatae basis and pushed to dangerous excess, justifica any enlargement of duties that may bc called for by the real exigencies of the public service. It próvidos "that duties shall be laid for the purpose of raieing such revenue as may bc necessary to an economical ndmiuistrationofthe government." It is. therefore. in the power of Congress to lay duties as high as its discretion may díctate, for the necessary uses of the government, without infriiiging upon the objsets oitlieact of 1833.I do not doubt that the exigencies of the governmeiu do require an incrcase of the tariff of dutics nbove 20 per cent, and I as Hule doubt but that above as well as below that rate, Congress may so discrimínate, as to give incidental protection to manufac'.uring induatry - tlius to make the burdena, which ít is compolled to impose upon the people for the purpose of government, productive of a doublé benefit. This, most of the reasonable opponenta of protective duiics eem willing to concede, and if we may judge ironi the manifestations of public opinión in all quarters. this is all that the manufacturing inier.ests really require. 1 ani happy in the persuasión, this doublé object can bc most ea6ly and .efieetually accomplished at the present juncture, withcut any departure from the spirit and principie of the statute in question. The manufacturing classes have now an opportunity, which may nev-er occur again, of permanently identifying tkeirinterests with those of the whole country, and making tfaem in the highes' sense of the term. a r ational -concern. The moment is propitious to the interests of the whole country in the intro■duction of harmony among all its parts and all its everal interes's. The same rate of imports and no mere as wiil most surely re-establish the public credit, will soQUte to the nanufactnrer all die protection he ought todeeire, with eve.-y prospect ot permaneüce and stabüity which the hearty acquie8ence ef bc whole .country, on a reasonable 6y8tem, can faold out to hinuBut of hís universal aeqmësenee, and the harmony and confidence, and the niany other benefits that will certainly rcsult from ii, I regard the suspension of the law for distributing the proceeds of :he public lande, as nn indespensibie cjndition. This measure is, in my judgment, .callcd for by a large number. if not a greit niajorityof th people of the United States, by the tale of the public credit and finances, by the criticnl posture of our varioua foreign relations, and, above all, by that most sacred of all duties, public #aith. The act of September last, which providea ior the distribtttion, couplcs it inseparably, with lhe,conditioa thai it ehall cease - Ist. ïn case of war; 2. As joon, and so long, astho ra'.e ol duties shall. far any reagon whatever, be raised above 20 per cent. Nothing can be more clear, express of imperative than this ianguage. It is in vais to alledge thit a deficit in the treasury was known to exist, and means taken to supply it by a loan when the act wae passed. It is true tUat a loan wasauthonzed at the same session, during which th distribution law was passed, but the most sanguine of the friends of the two mensures, entertained no doubt but that the loan ' K'ouid be $tLerly tukcn up by capitalists, andspcedily rciinbursed, by a country dcttiiu-d, as iiey noped, soorTto enjoy an overflowing pos perny. Tlie vcry turma of the loan, making it rcdeénii!)lu in thiee years, deinonstrato this beyoud nll cavil. Who at that time foresavv or imagincd the poss.büiiy of ilie actual átate of things, whoti a iiation that has paid oF lier wholedebt since the Ia3! peace, while uil the other great powers have been increaflitigtheire, and whose resources, al rcady so great, are yet but in the ióiaöcy of theü (evelopincDt, should bo compelled to hagsj.'o in the money maikct for a paltry eum, nut i-qual to one yeur's revenue on her economical systein'? - if the distiibutiori law is to be indefinitely suspended, according not only to its own terina, but by universal consent, in ense of war, whereiuure tlie actual exigencies of the country or the mural obliyation to provide for thein, less, under present circumsiances, than they could bc wcre we aclnally involvodin war? Jt appears to me to be the ind isycnsable duiy of all concerned in the adminÍ6tratiou of public aíiuire. to see that a state of ibinge, so huniiliating and so perilous, sliould not lust a moment longer than is absulutely unavoidable. Much less excusable sliould we be irj parting withany portion of oor available means. nt lenst until tlio detna.ids of the treaaury were fully supplied. But besides the urgency of such considerations, the fact is undeniaüle that the distribntion act could not have become a law without the guaranty in the proviso of the act itself. This connection. thnstneant to bc inseparable, is sever'd by thobül presented to me. The biii violatcs the piinciple of thracts of 18''. and September, 1841, by suspending the flrst, and rondering. for a timo, the last inopcrate. Duties above 0 per cent are proposed to bc ievied, and yet the provis) in the distribution act is disregardf.d; the proceeds of the sales are to be distributed on the Ist of August, so that while the dutics proposed to beenacted exceed 20 per cent, no suspension of tüo distribution to the states is permitted to take place. To abandon the principie for a month, opens the way to its total abandonment. Ifsuch is not meant, why postpone at all? Why not let the distribution talie pkiceon the Ist of July, if the law so directs? - which, howcvcr, isregarcled as questionable. 13ul, why iiot have limited the provisión to ihat effect? lp it for the accommodation of the treasury? I see no reasjn to believe that the treasury will bc in betler coudition to meet the payir.ent on the Ist of August than on the Ist July. The bilí assumes that a distribution of tlic proceedaof the public lands is, by existing laws. to be made on the Ist day of July. li$42, notwithstanding there has been an imposition of duties on imports exceeding 20 per cent up to that day, and directs it to be made on the iirst of August next. Jt seemeto me very clear that this conclusión is equally erroneous and dangerous, as it would divert from the treasury a fund sacredly pledged for the general pm-poses of the governiiient, in the ev.:nt ot a rato of duty above 20 per cent being found necessary for an economical adminstration of the government. The bill uudor consideration is designed only asa tomporary measure, and thus a temporary mensure passed merelv for the cjnvenience ol Congress is made to affect the vital principie of an important act. If the proviso of the act of September, 1841. canbe suspended for the whole period of a temporary law, wby not for the whole period of a permanent law? A doubt may be well entertained, in fact, according to strict legal rules, whether the condition having been thus expressty suspended by thia bill, and rendered inapplicable to a case where it wou ld othcrwise have clearly applied, will not be considered as ever after satisfied and srone.Without exprcssing any decided opinión on this joint, I see enough init to justify me in adhcrng to the law as it stauds, in preference to subecting a condition so vitaüy afiecting the peace of the country, and so solcmnly enacted at a mouentous crisis, and so steadfastly adhei'ed to ever since, and so replete, if adhered to, with good to every interest of the country, to doubtul orcaptious interpretation. In discharging the high du ty thus imposed on me by the constitution, I repeat to the House my entirewillingness to co opérate in all financial measures of a consütulional character, which, in ts wisdom, it may judge neccssary and proper, o re-establish the credit of the government. I elieve that the proceeds of ihe sales of the pubic lands beiag restored to the Treasury, or more )roperly to speak, the proviso of the act of Sepember, 1841, being permitted to rcmain in full 'orce, a lariff of duties may easily be adjusted, vhich. while it wlll yield a revenue sufficient to maintain the Government in vigor by restoring :s credit will afibrd ampie protection and iníuíe a new life into all our manufacturing establishnents. The condition of the country calis for such legislation, and itwill afibrd me the most sincere pleasure lo co-operate in it. JOHN TYLER.TwicE Ten Dollars is the fine in thisinslnnce, lor the crime of being frce. Last week we noticed the case of a coloree! free man in St. Louis, who had to pny $10 for the privilege of leaving that city. But tliis week the papers present us a case where the fine is $20. Doubtless the elevated standing of the criminal asa. clergyman rendercid it necessary that he shouid be amereed to a larger amount. Fixeu. - On Tuesday last, n clergytmn of color, nanied Fiench, from the District of Coluinbia, was arraigned before the Orphan's Court of (Lis County, chargpd with having entercd the State contrary to the Act of Assembly, passed at December session, 1838, chap. .38, and lined twenty dollars.- Hagerstoien (Mil) PLcdge. Let this paragraph have your attention a moment. Had Mr. French. as connected with tho Foreign Mission Board, been sent to 'some hoathen country to preach the Gospel, and had therc been rudely seized - brougln before a court fined in whatsoever amount they listed - and then commanded to leavc the kingdom forthwith. whatan uproar would have been made about it! Andyet, fellow-Christian, and ye brethren witl him of the clergy. do you think that Rev. Mr. French cares nothing lor thesoulsof his ignoran and enslaved kindred? Is not the command un to him "go preach the Gospel" as truly as to any othcr missionary or missionary board? - Moieover, is not the Gospel message ns truly sent to his heathen brethren in America as in África or any foreign land? Why is i t that we are so tame, and can read such an item of intclÜgencc as this with such indifference? Had some untutored prince ou the coast of África so insulted u missionary- 'forbidding his preaching, and rinirg him $"20 for no crime but that of having a white complexion, we shouid all have expressed our abhorrence of such lyranny and impiety. The prince would have been called a monster in iniquity, aud the deed one of the "ferocities ofheathenism." But since the same deed is done in Christian America, and under the ChñUian laws of Maryland. how altered is

Article

Subjects
Old News
Signal of Liberty