Press enter after choosing selection

Address: Read At The New York State Liberty Convention Held ...

Address: Read At The New York State Liberty Convention Held ... image Address: Read At The New York State Liberty Convention Held ... image
Parent Issue
Day
1
Month
September
Year
1845
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

(Cuncludcd.)In the application of these principies c to the current political topics of the day, t it will be found that the party adopting i them as its aülhoritalive rule of practicc, 1 will be "thornughly furnished to every good work" of a sound practical ( manship, and will have little or no occasion to doubt or to hesitate in the dispositionof any question of public policy or of political economy, that could be propoundcd for its solution EXPOSITION OP THE CONST'.TUTION. In the light of ihese principies, which , were placed by our fathers at the venj basis of our separate and independent existence.asa naiion, and which form, of ïiecessity, the corner stone of our American CONSTITUTIONAL LAW,WÍtllOUt whicll it has no significnncy, no meaning, nor even existcnce- we mny readily onderstand and construe tlie Federal Constitulion of 1737-9, into the Preamble of which the very same principies were incorporated, as a key to its meaning, and clothing it with all the authority it contains. It is self-evident that if the Conslitution be construed in accordance with those principies, and understood as being conformeel to them, then there can be no constilutional or legal slavery in the United States. All men achnit that slavcry is the greatest possiblc viulalion of those principies, yet few seem to reflect thai this admission is, in realily, equivalent to a declaration that slavery is at war with the Constitution, or in other words, that there is no legal or constitutional slaver). in the nation.And as slavery is thegreatest possible violation of the Constitution, ihere is manifostly no other duty d'ïvolving upon the Federal Government so obvious and palpably binding upon it. as the abolUion of that slavery, unless the fundamental trinciples, the grand object and the living sriRiT of the Constitution is to be sacrificed to the mere letter! But if the ground should be taken, and if we concede that the strict letter of the Constitution, rather than its grand scope and prvailing spirit, should be our guide in the construction of thnt instrument - if the testimony of contemporaneoushistory be accordingly set a-side, and the dictionaries dcfining the meaning of icords be resorted to, in itsstead, it will be found than not a singlo word, syllable or letter of the instrument recognizes even the e.istence of a slave, or of s'avery, or makes the least guaranty, provisión, or compromiso on the subject. It is only by keeping out of sight the main object and living spirit of the Con stitution, and at the same time presuming its intention to be something more aiK something different from any thing thai is expressed in the strict letter of the in strument - that the claims of constitution nl slavery can be admittcd for a momentine assumpiion is, umi uie iramer&ui uw Constitution inlended wliat lhcy were very careful not to express, and at the same time was n manifest and direct opposition to the dcclared object and design they professed to have in view! Just ns though the people could be bound to abide by theseere inlentions of their servanis who drafted an instrument for them, intentions not expressed in the instrument Uselfj and which thcy were careful lo conceal! The Madison Papers (sometitpes quoted in thisdsscussion) reveal to us the fact that the framers did not intend that the clause concerning "persons held to service and labor" should be understood as referring to slaves. In the firsi draft the word "servitude" had been employed, but "on motion of Mr. Randolph of Virginia, the word servitude was struckout, and the word service unnnimously nserted, the former being thought (snys lr. Madison) to express the condition of slaves,and the latter the obligation of free persons." - [Madison Papers, v. III. p. 1569. By the strict letter and by the living spirit of the Constitution, "the United States shall guaranty to every State in his Union a republican form of government." - "No Stateshall passany bilis of ajtainder, or laws impairing the obligaion of contracts;" and "no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property, without due process of law." This later provisión, being an amendmenl, conrols and sets aside whalever, in the orignal instrument, might seem to conflictwith it. Tf the definitions of Madison and Jeffbrson be correct, then no slaveholding State can be a republic. Slavery exists only by an attainder of blood, and by laws annullingthe obligation of contracts: and not a single slave in the country was ever "deprived of liberty bydue process of law." And "Congress shall have power to mahe all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers."■ More than all this. The Declaration sf Independence, adopted prior to the Federal Constitution of 1787-9 by the ariginal thirteen States, was equivalen lo an act abolishing slavery in those States. The courts of Massachusetts have thusdecided - and slavery in the other States rests on no firmer basis than it did in Massachusetts. ANTI-SLAVERY ACTION.A Liberty party in power, and holding hese views, would consequentlv regard P tnd treat all men as equal, extendingthe ike proiection to all. It would know no laves, in law; holding all cooílicting - ictments ond decisions to be unconstitulional, nuil and void. It would allow no kidnapping on our free soil. It would permit noofíicers orolhers to arrest persons as being fugitive slaves. It would punish as criminal ihe holding of slaves in any portion of the country. It would abolis!) slavery, not only in the District of ColumhiaandTerritoiies, but throughoul the United States. Nor is ihere the east danger ihat the slave States would even nttempt to resi-st ibis action - in the presence of the slaves, by any resort to ihysical force, or even by withdrawing om ihe Union. ELECTIVE FRANCHISE FilEE PEOPLE OF COJLOB, &C. The Liberty party, if true to its principles,will recognize the doctrine of POPULAR sovERKio.NTY, and EQn.u.iTY, every wliere, iffekpeciïyo of properly or color, regarding iree acoess to the ballot-box, not as a mere franchise, to be conlracted or expanded at the pïeasur'e of tho.-c who are in power, bul as an original and inherent riiht. It will Hot legislate forcolored men or for white, but sim pi y for t MEN. The rightof voting, of jury trial, ( eligibility to office, liability to share in ( public burdene, will all follow the same ( equal rule. Men coming into the State of New York, (for cxample) from the State of Virginia, whatever may be their hue, or their condition, whether they may have been slaveholders, or slaves, will be treated in every respect like men coming from Massachusetts, or any other State. They will come to the ballot-box as soon in one case as in the other, and enjoy equal protection - agree ably to the express provisions of the Federal Constitution, itself, which knows nothing of slaves or of color, and makes no e.xception in their case when it says, Art. IV. sec. 2, clause 1,) "The ciüzens of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of cilizens of the sevcral States." Teacher of religión, too, equally with other men, white and colored, would, on the same principie, be suhjected toall the liabilities and burdens of other citizens, and clot lied with the saine eligibilities and privileges.ANNEXATION OP TEXAS. Their fundamental principles,uncss ' linquished, can not fail to guidc and sustain ibe Liberly party in every possible exigency or problem nrising out of the proposed, the probable, or even the consummated annexation of Texas to the United States. Such n mensure, while lending, must of necessity be opposed by the members of that party. They can not receive to their fraternal embrace a nation with nn anti-republican form of govemmeiit, especially for the object of extending slnvery. And besides this, hey can not particípate in the act of annexing to this nation any foreign nation at all. Tbeir principies teach them that the functious of civil government are fulfílled when all the individual human beingscomprised under it are srecured in the enjoyment of their natural and origiiihl rights, unimpaired. Extent of territory, beyond tho cunvenicnt exërcise of ihcse funciiorK",for thr.m has no charms. National aggrandizement, nntional glory, national power, are terms without desirable meaning in their vocabulary, beyonJ lbo simple judicial execution of justice between a man and his neigbbor. Acquisition of foreign territory, whether by conquest, negoliation, or legislation, as it bas no place in the Constitution of their country, or in their own conceptions of the business of a just and wise government, lias no place in their political creed. The nnnexation of Texas, if it takes place, must be the sole work ol the opponents of tho Liberty party and of its creed. But the Liberty party, while guided by its principies, is neither to be frightened nor cajoled out of its principies, nor diverted nor disheartened from the pursuit of its objects, and the steady promotion of its enterprise, by thedanger or by the fact of annexation, from whatsoever quarter the clamor, the sophistry, or the consummated deed may come. In order to prevent an addilion to our territory, [should the alternative ever be fairly presented, which t has not,) Liberty party, while it remains such, can never assist in electing oppressors to rule over the territory that we now possess! So faras the slaves in Texas are concerned, it is only a question whether they shall b3 held in slavery under one government or under another! As liltle interest in the queslion have the slaves in this coun try, who are perhaps almost equally lia ble to be sold into Texas while that coun try is under its own government, as they would be were it incorporated into ouus.isut were 11 omerwise, xne j-iiueny . larty, guided by its principies, (which s lo norpermit the choice between two t ■noral evils, nor the doing of evil that t jood nny coiné,) could never 1 sent to el?ct a wicked or unjust ruler, or i to vote for the continuance of slavery in 1 Lhe Federal District and in the present l American States, for the sake either of ! preventing tlie sale of American slaves into Texas, orof preventing the laborers of Texas from beconvng, for the first time, enslaved. Nor could thcy do it for the sake of preventing anincreaso of political strength to the slnve power in the United States. Tiiey can not bow down toa smaller demon, as a base and unwise means of keeping their necks from under the yoke of a greater one. Still less will they seek to propitiate the saine great fiend, by lifting at ils cor, when he most clamorously demands their aid! If lhe position of the Liberty party, in these respecís3 is not propefly appi'eciated, understood,aíid lionored, it must bc by those whocither have no corect moral prir.ciples themsclves, or who have failed to learn the greatest Íesson of íioite wisdom - the highest point of true political sagacily, to wit: the safety of sliaping our mmsures in strictbrmity with Jirst principies, anu me eiain ruin attendant on an abandonmen'. )f these principies, and a resort to the ;hess-bonrd ot adroitly managed expedimts, in tlieir stead. Not less bright and cheering is the light shed by the principies of the Liberty party, on the course it shall pursue, in case of the ultímate annexation of Texas to the United States. Such an act being a violation of the Constitution, and not legally binding, might be annulled wlienever the party shall come into power, as it may do, before the growth of Texas, with its political power, could prevent. - Or, if the two nations acqmcsce in the proposed Union, as il becomes cemented in fact, the Liberty party, in power, only finds the sphere of its legitímate jurisdíction enlargedl Let the Texan slavehold ers understand that annexation to the United States is annexation to a countryder ivhose original Ueclaration oí nntional existence, and fundamental constitution ofgovernment,slaveholding is unlawful, and its legal vnlidity impossible! - Let them know that a growing party holding these views is already in the field, and will probably soon hold the reins! - Then let them accept of annexation If they choose.DtSSOLUTION OF THE UNION The principies ÍF the I.iberty party, therefore, can not fnil to regúlate iis position in regard to the continuance ofour national Union. That Union was formed for the sole purpose of protecting human RiGiiTs, and has no valué any fariher than it can it Can be made a means tbr obtainingand sccuring THAT END. To ask of a truc Liberty party that it shall sacrifice the end to the preservation of the mean, and compromise human rights to prevent a díssolution of the Union, would be to ask of it an act of suicide, as well as of self-contradiction, absurdity, and idolatróos attachment to o thing'of no real worth. And when the "Union" ahall have become "destructivo of these ends"- then, in the truthful language of our natiooal Declaration of lndependenco, it becomcs Ihe riht, as it isie duty, of the people to throw off soch government." Nor would this, of ncessity, involve scènes of carnage and lood. Let the non-slaveholding States ense to send Representatives to Congress, o vote in national elections, and refuse aying duties on import?, and they cense o bo members of the present Union, of ourse. And no attempt to coerce them would be made. This the non-slaveholdng States are morally bound to do, unless ieir political connection with the presnt Union can enable them in some way, o bring about the abolition of slavery. Ifthe Federal Constitution contained "guaranty" of slavery, as some supose, or even such a "compromise" as ecured that abominable aystem oj" desotism from the nclion of the Federnl Government, organized to "establish jusice" and "secure the blessings of libery," then, manifestly, a radical iimer.dment of theGonstitution would need to be nade, or it would become a burden and a nuisance too intolerable for the endurance of a Christian and free people. - Thus much, the Liberty party ought disinctly and boldly to say; but before it proceeds farther to hoist the flog of disunion, it should diügently inquire ' er the facts of the case are such as to require or even warrant such a course, in the present juncture of affairs.lf it boïrue, as it doubtless is, that the n, Nforth aswell as the South are deeply M, volved in the guilt of the slnve system, U and if it be true likowise that the u ern or non-slaveholding States, under the v present federal arrangements, still hold a f controlling power over the entire slave i f system; not only as existing in the t trict, Territories, and inter-State slave W trade. (which is admitted by all j ble men,) but likewise, either directly or , indireotly, over the slave system, in all the slave States; thcn have the , holding States no moral right to desert the slaves, in the hour of their utmost need, and lcave them to the tender merciesoi their task-masters, until all )rac- ticahlc efforts havo been made in vain fr their relief. Be it so - as it doubtless is - that the liberties of the non-sla eholding States can not be permanently maititained in connection with slnve States, it remains true that they have no moral right lo seek their own exclusive security, by cutting themselves loose from their equal brethren who are enslaved at the South} and crushed by a petty oligarchy, whilethere is hope in, their case. In estitnating the sacredness of the obligations which bind usto the South it is chieily the oppRess. irn MA.TORiTY. white and colored. and notmerely the insignificant .minoritv of a 25U.OÜO slaveholders, whose claiiris upon t us requirctobe especially examined. - And the Liberty party, believing, ns it - doubtless does, that the political power f of the free States is adequate, in some f way to the emancipation of the enslaved, and professing likewise to "remember ( them that are in bond ns bound wilh , them," would contradict its own ■ mental ruiNciPLKS, should it follow those who are sounding a retreat fromthe contest, in the farm of "disunioi;," at the very moment vvhen a glorious victory is apparently awaiting them. Uur business, ns a component and a controlling portion (as we trust) of this great nation, is not to abdícate the government, but to administer it. Guilty as we are in yielding to a fulse interpretation of the Constitution, and to a cruel misapplication of its power that has solongcrushed the slave, we can no more wash our hands ín innocenCy} by a 'dissolution of the Union," than the controlling partner in a slave ship or on a slave plantation can becomeguiltless by selling out his stock to his partner, making him a present of it, leaving the slaves in their cliains!And besides, the Liberty party can as easily persuade the people of the North 1 to exert their political power for the ( lition of slavery, and (in that vvay) the ( preservation of the Union, asto persuade them, on the grounds of the evils of slavery, to termínate the Union itself. The sime political power that could do the one could do the olher; and the same love ofl liberty and detestation of oppression that would dissolve the Union, to protect the überties of the white ir.an, would wield the power oí the Union, lo protect the WHITE AND THE COLORED. ALIKE. CLAS9 LEOISLATIONS- MONOPOLIES. With equal precisión and certainty do ihe principies of the Liberty party indícate the posïtion t should assume on everyother question nrising wilhin the : legitímate field of free govermnent. There can be nothing partizart, seliish, or sectionnl, in its objects, or measures, if ü principies are to be ils guide. Agninst all such political activity, it must stedfastly set its face, U must be neiiher a Northern party nor a Southern party- a white man's party nor a colored man's party- a rich man's party nor (cxccpt ashe may nccd more protection) a poor rnan's party, an employer's party nor n laborer's party, a planter's party or a servant party, a slave's party or a freemnn's party, but holdiiig all alike to be free, and prolecling all as cqual and tree men. It must neither be an agricultural party, ñora manufacturing party, a landholder's party nor a tenant's party, a níerchant's party nor a consumer's party, n money-lender's party nor a money-borrower's party, a cottongrower's party nor a wheat-growers party, a conon-spinner's party nor a nax-spinslcr's party, a wool-grower's party nor a turnip-grower's party, a shoe-black's party nor a shoe-wearer's party, a wood-sawyer's party nor a wood-consumer's party. It must legislate, not for c.tstes and classes, but for MEN, and for all meiï ALIKE. It must créale NO MONOPOLIES and sustain and recognize none. I must promote the inlercsts of the people, sitnply and solely by protecting their individual and original rights against unlawful nggression?, not by directing them hoio to get rich, nor by legislativg them either into importers, or manufacturers, or prodiccrs. It must show no partiality either lo the "gréat in1 térests of the country' - (the interests of the men of great weallh) - nor to theillle interests of ihose who, wilh little or 10 capital earn their daily bread by their D laily toili As it must nöt tax the cloth ' nanufacturer for the benefit of the cloth v oearer, so ncither must it tax the cloth ivearer for the benefit of the cloth l facturer. Ás it must not lax the grower ' for the benefit of the öortaumer, so neither ( must it tax the cionsiimer for the benefit of the grower. It must nót impair, in in any direction, or in any degree, the original and natural right of a single individual, however humble, for the benefit ol any class of men5 however numerous or however useful - nor even for any estimated 4'best good of the whole." It must neither control the literature nor the religión nor the industry of the people, but leave them free to sludy as they please. worship as they please, and tcork as they please, taking care simply, that no pne of them tramples upon the equai rights of bis neighbor. Essentinl as nre intelligence, religión, and industry to the welfare of a people and to the existence11 of a free governntiont, they are the priceless jewels ihat the government can not créate, and cnn not mend, though they may mar, for "no free State was ever upheld whoily by its ovn coercive pöwer.L'ROf ECTIVE TARIFF AD FREE TRADE. Can it be doubted that these positions re involved in the principies avowed by ie Liberty party hitherto! Or can it be iflicult to foresee the coursc, that such a arty, f remnining true to its principies, mst ultimatöly takej in respect lo the uesiion of protöctive tariíTor free trade? Abolitionisls, including Liberty party nen, have ahvays stigmatized the slave iystetri asbeingthe most odiousand grindng "mo.nopoly5 in the land - as unjust hecause legislating for thö benefit of one articular caste of class at the expense :f another - as anti republitían because t creates and sustains castes and classes. They havedenied the moral rightsof governmenti?, (Siate or National) to uphold this monopoly and these castes. They have denied that any real or supposed pecuniary benefitS) individual or public, could warrant the infraction of the righis of the enslaved. They have insisted on ihe immediate and uncunditional restoration of their original and inalienable righl to the disposal and the direclion of their oten vuliistry, rejecting, indignantly5 the pretensión that the. government may take care of them, and direct their industry, and provide for1 lhem, on the ground" thatthey can nol takc cdrc of Uicmselces.' Hott Uien can the Liberty paity with any show of impnrtiality and consistency, do olherwise than to repudíate all monopolies, nnd castes, and class legislations, whether hearing upon while men at tlje North, or coloretl at the South? IÍ the slave has a right lo dispuse of his own labor, hasnot eVery other man the snme right, including, of course the right to dispose of the avails of his labor in whatever markethe chooses? Ifthè slaves may be trusted to "take care of themselvcs" in this matter, are our frec citizens to be told that they need the "protective" superintendeuce of Uie governmentover their concerns? %- That the pecuniary aifairs öf the nation would sutler shipwrecks ifeach individual were permitted to decide for himself whether to manufacture his clothing or buy it- whether to buy tí of his next door neig! bor' or of one who should supply hin cheaper from a distance? It is well known thataur northern ope ratives have never asked nor desired such protection any more than have the Southern. ïhey dread the high Dr.ces of cot' oa fabrics, as the slave dreads the highprice of colton and ugnr. lt is ihewell i known signal for ïhore labor and f ed privileges without a eorresponding ' crease of cOmtkn-satiox ín return. The eapitalists concerned in manulactures candorive no benefit from a prötéclive tariff, any fuilher or any Jonger than , they receive the unjust tax levied upor. consurners fur their especial benefit. - And wlicn by tlie stinulu3 of artificial legislation, any particular product of agriculturo ür of manufacture is inCreased beyond the natural demand, a ruinnus reaction ensues, nol unfrequently involving in a general bankruptcy the very class for whose benefit the unjust bounly was granted. On this ground, from the first, the most substantial, prudent and sngacious manufacturers, to a great exlent. have heen opposed io the policy altogether. To competo with the ppuper labor of Éurope by creating (and by similar meUiods) a rival pauper population at home, must prove as ruinous in political economyj ás it is unjust and merciless in ethics. The present distresses and pending contest in Ëngland, distresses introduced by tarifls and class legislations - and contests of the oppressed masses, against them, should be a beaCon lo wam us; in düe season. Similar distresses,iressions, and conflicts. already rising, in iurown böasted New England, may fur)ish us with illustrations nearer home. - Cl Uready the slaveholder points (and not . vithout some occasion) to our white slavcs f-; jf the Rorth." And already the growers v and the manfachirers of cötlori are c ing their affinitiesfor each other, as lords t over laborers, anü are preparing to lesee. A tariff for protectlon we need not ' cuss largely. since the discerning leaders ofbolhlhe great parties, perceiving the rising sentiment of the country against itj have found it necessary to disclaim any higher rates tlian are required by the necessilies of the recenue, both the rival parties expressing themselves in nearly the same terms. TAMVP FOR BKVENCE.The real quesHon of '"free trad'' which nust ut no distant d y become a proniitient lolicical question, in this counlry, is tlie ques ion wheiher the nnlional revemie eball bc upphed by direct taxalion or by dinies on ra rts. The Hamers of our present Constiluion very manifesüy coutemplated (to soy the east) the large preponderancy of direct loXalon over dttlies. On no other EUpposition :ou!d the non 6laveho]ding States ever have :onsented 10 an interpretaiton of the Consti tution givin tho slave Siales ü dispropbrtionate represention on condition of their b'-ar'mrr the bnrdens of a direct taxntioh nccnrdiug to ihe sume ratio. Aailing thcmselves of their politiad ndvnntnge, the slaveholders with characterisiic ndroilnoss soon shaped the jiol icy of tlic counlry in such a manner as to slip ihëlr hecks out of the pecuhiaryaêqaWdèpihey hoi] stipulated to pal) for their predomi riancy; for slav-pholders undereiand the art of einding sny payments for services renderod! Tothis fact, doublless, the country is indebt ed for the prcvalence of Ui e doctrine t lat the nntiotial reverme muat be snp lied by the rf!ceipts of the Cuytom House. UntiïHing nt times, to pay any tliing, eVen llie form of du tiesi he slaveholders (or rnther t!ie rabid portion of them) have clamored fnr ffee trnrie. - Whenever the ÑCrth ghall larn the policy of eiving it to ihem, il) full moasur?, subjectmg iliem to n direct tox on their twelve hundred millions of slave properl}', they will be in a position to study the policy of striking this twelve hundred miliioriö of dollars from the rntcable list, trnnsfonnmg linee raiDions of human beings from the position of luxahlt pruperly to ihat of Utx paying men.' As a peacel'n), avuilable, and unquestionably coniti tutional instrumentaüty agaiilst elavcry- (it indirect mensures are to be selecledj the abrogation of Öüsiom House dlilirs preKfiiis cWms which necd only to be examincd, in order to their being held of incomparable valuu. Such a procesa the slaVB sytera could wilh difliciilty survive, for a single ycar. To object, as eorfte do that the pcople jn eneral would never conseul lo pay, in the form of a dnecl tai what they nmv pay indiilies without perceivin it, is oniy lo say, in other woids, ilt if the people kncw and real zed tlie enormou omount of taxes whicli ' they pay to support unnecessury expendilure-, they would eoon terminote the imposition, i wbidi they doubiless would do, aiid this is one grand reoeon why il 6huuld be done. For we ho!(i it a sKinder o the people to say thai ihat they ate so stupid as to prefer ppjung 50 dollars, as annuul cash tnx qn inerclmndiz" tiiroucli the Custo:n Huuse rat her than pay a jen er twenty direct tnx to tax gnthecer.- r t hal they are to vpatriolic as to refute paváog (ml with their eyes open) iheamoun' reullyneeded. TÍie cheerlul biipport of the State GovcrnmeMt by d.roct tnxes, (cinefly) though tnuch heiiVierJltaii they need be is a sufficienl refutation of the slamler. The whole syfitem of ctiltíw on ihiports wil! be fonnd, 011 exüninalion, lo be one ol j the most grogs and siupendoiia hyalemns ol' decepiioti and injustice ever inflicted upon Ihe masscs, by the few whose busness and moxim it U, to fleece the people na mnch ns they can, and by a procfeís v:c1j shall prevent them from knowing when, how, or hovv mnch! What farmer or mechanic- .vha individual heud or a family- can teil, or can form a tolerable coTijecturc, how muoh he pay tttclonti! governmeiit, in a singlo year? Not Ihö mallest purchnseol" foreign tncrchondize can e moke without pRJriílg a tnx. The unnolicéd nx gatherer tomes to day - comes to morrov -comes every day in theyeor. At momin, t noon, and ot cv-nnin;?, he sits nvrsiMe Í lic fürtiily lnble,and slily pockels his pcnce, hdiicled Trom every motnhful ihat ?8 swaMow■d. Not a rajr of cioth can a momber of the amilv wrap round Iiim in winter or siimmtr, iy nigln or by doy,witliout pain a tax. ttí- ellippnt foreiffnors who VisH uft, smtie ót üur 'irhpliCHy and caí! us ip. people thaf aro tavd without knowinjtf it - who pronn undef "hard times' without "gitessing' the reason - who cali oursflves the freeát pénple otí ?arth but rnust ask le.ijre of oor povernment whetlier we may hoe corn or spin colton; who watch the newppapers hnlf ihdaya irf the year to Icnow wheiher n vo'e in Corrjrress or State Leyiplature - a Govornnr's Messipe', or a Prepid-ni'. - wlll not make us bnkropls - and fixile ls to the v.-oods or to the pof lioiise! A peoplo who have conclnded that they do not knotv wbeth'èr it is best for theni io bny goodii cheap or der. and must keep tvo vornciotislegislatürcs under pny, half the time, to teil them--or to pay tchn may lend money (or rather their own promlssory notes) to snel) persons as may wish to hirc ofthfirn! Do the PRiNCirtES of the Libtriy Party supply no tóuclwtone by which .wcfc schemes of legislation may be tested? No remedy for ihe pvils fhey have introdnccd!And what charactr have those principies r be?tow tipnn Ihnt feature of the Cnstorti iouse laxation by which the tnx-payers are otnpeiled to pay,fiof accordinfr, either to theif apiláis, iheir incumes, or tlioir pnp.-ible erfnings, but nccordinjr 'o the number of moulhgi vhelhcr of rich of pnor, ihnt have to be fed- ir hv of backs that lmve to be protecteu from the coid? It il tb bc tolerfttedj forevcr, and wii hout censure, by the advocates of eqnal rights, by the frirfidi of tlie poon that the wealthiest man in cnmmun'ty iscotnpelled to poy no more into the national treaury than ihe poorest, tha is cumfortnbly clothed and fed? The demoraUzing nature and tendency oí all Cusrom Hoiise systems, in ni! nation is & sfill more serious and insupernlile objectiort agninat such arnineinents. As no people have ever vet been fotind so nmliscerning asnot to fccl the gnevutis wrongr done to them ntlie invas-ion (ly thogovemmnnt ihnl should protect them) fof their original ripht lo buy where thr.y picase: so no natiofl hns been foutid in which the "Custuni ÍÍoi)6e oath' U-ns Dot proverbiallv nnd almost nniversally reearded as ha ving no binding forcé, and where ihfelatts were not evadtd to the f uil extcnt ro wliich tlip wit of man sharpened by ö Varice and hnn?er, is competent. No has any nation vet sncceeded in spcnrin the nid of ün lier officcrs, tifie wakers, icc fcc, whn werö not, to a fearfnl cxtènt, nccpssible to bribery and, as a class, ín ihe penpetration of fevenUé frands. The most pninfullv eraphic tlescriptions of embezzlement and decpption on record rirfi thoso fcniihoc ed with tlie irhportdtion of goods! On all the spaboard disirictis öf rner cantile nat'ons, the business of kaiigglinj; biJ comes one of Ihe settled avocation of a Urge por! ion of the people. nnd feV whönre at all coniipcted wit'i maratime or rhercaritileaftnirs n our seaportp, can claim ihat they do uot, in frntnp wk y. connivp in the proces.- But a!l thé power and vijrilanre oven ofiue Brilish Govprnmrnt and Brhisri Nnvy hnve never snffico.l évon to put nrty conridersblë check to the business of Fmiijrifliiijr. in which so mncli cpiial nnd sd many thonsnrids iind 'en? óf th'insnnds of pprsóns au? en?nped. Tten look at hè conijmativfc exper.ses of collccliriff tliis Cüsfoifj nytiéé naiional tax.- Put down the actual roccípts ot twrnty-five milüons ofdf.Hnrs. But wlio cnn cstimntetlei probubïe e.i pen?es of tlic Custom Fïoüse establishment? In the sfnglê city of New York nlonP, aböve öne tlinusnn merf öre consföntly phiplnved in the business. The chif mao the collector, ip f-aid to Imfre realized a miich hijrlipr annunl incom th;.n the Presidpflt ot the United Stafes. Evrry senport lowrt in the na'ion, must hüve ita Ciiftom House es tahlishtnent. in propoirion to its bufine6S.--i Theo cometlio reveuue ruUtí-s, how many we know not, mniirtpd and enipJoyed fonstnntly f.r the san?e service. The N?y, the Diplo- ma:ic Deparnnent, ihese ore chiefly needed to nepotiate and to enforce the commercial arrnnvrements not neet!d o llie systcm of Freö Trade.In 1827, (the Treaftirers Kcport or wmcn happens lo be at hund) tlie Custom House receipts wcre n linie short of $23,000,000 Expenditurcs för Navnl service 4,000,000 Military estnblishtnenf, nearlv 6, 000,000 fOf ihe Ctistom House and Reverme Cutter expende, we bare no dnta of eetittinto.) Civil, diplomBtic nrd miscrllmieous, 2.SOO,000 Scnnty bs ore our ."-tutistice, we have data cnourh t sPri fhai a very large propörtioh of rcteiptt1 of the Na'ioual treasory, throügh the Ciist"m House, is expended, eitlier in cullecting it, or m providing fr ils collection, in pffting ttie expense of tlie lejrislation, by wliich, at every Fession, its details are ndjtisted, and of iheforeign dipiomscy needed on- ly by an artificial sytem of commercial inter course di&placing the naturaL RKTUK.NCHMBNT. We come then by n nouirnl orocess to ihafc matter of rf.trkchmkt, of which rivfl par. lies hnve promispd stt mucli, nnd accomilishel si liule. Very evidently no real rotrenclinieut cun orne, coinr, but thrcigh U.o iboüMon of al! ihose class ifigislaiions, ti'onopulicp, snd artificial systems of comniercisl intercouise thiit, nf necessity, re quiie vast cxpenditures in t{j? direction and managemeni of them. Yet Mmnge to teil! We have had porties pkonisino retrfticbment wboec avQ.vcd jwüey wa tho in;r4öC uf ttll

Article

Subjects
Signal of Liberty
Old News