National Intelligencer. (Washington [D.C.]), Vol. 47, No. 6818, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 3, 1846 Page: 1 of 4
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Vol XLYIL
WASHINGTON: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1846.
No 6818
FREE TRADE AND OUR FOREFATHERS.
The late propositio •. Andrew Stewart,
of Pennsylvania, to fight the new Tariff law for the
protection of British industry and capital, and for
the destruction of American Manufactures, by
Home Associations of persons (friends of their
own country and its arts) who shall bind themselves
not to consume the foreign productions which Lo-
cofoeoism and its leaders prefer to our own—that
proposition, we say, may or may not find, in the
present state of party management and subservien-
cy, spirit enough to sustain it, even among the
States and the masses of working popuhoban most
interested in manufactures, most depeo susb'on their
encouragement for all their well-being. A party
ever appealing to domestic names and household
feelings, because it is by these that men are most
easily misled; a party that brands men “ Federal-
ists” for merely daring to oppose an Executive su-
premacy and usurpations that federalism never ven-
tured to imagine ; a party that calls men “ British
Whigs” for all their conservative efforts to save
every thing really American—our laws, our institu-
tions, our morals, our industry; a party that
breathed flames of war for fifty-four-forty—stigma-
tized as “ traitors” all who shrank from that sense-
less extravagance—then crept out themselves at
forty-nine, but still have the effrontery to vilify
men as “partisans of England” for having calmly
advocated a rational arrangement; the anti-Bank
party, that filled the country with banks ; the anti-
Credit party of Repudiation; the Hard-money
party of empty Subtreasuries and defaulting Re-
ceivers; that party which made such a cheap and
such a “ bloodless acquisition” of Texas, at otily
the cost of our Constitution and fifty millions of
dollars to begin; that party, we say, merits such
an extreme confidence from all Americans, from all
the manufacturing interest, and from Pennsylvania
in particular for all its achievements, that it will no
doubt easily succeed (as its Organ here boasts that
it is doing) in persuading every body that its doc-
trines are to be believed, however fatal its doings,
and that its theories are perfectly to be relied on,
though its pledges are openly falsified. Bless us,
Pennsylvanians and all the rest of you ! why, con-
sider ! is not this sagacious, this scientific Admin-
istration going to make philosophers of you all ?
Certainly it is. Now, it is against all example for
philosophers to be rich : so its first step is to make
you poor ! The virtues of abstinence, contempt of
pain, and all that, cannot be taught to prosperous
people, but they will be easy for you to learn when
you have not a copper left to cross yourself with.
To make you as meek as Job, it means you should
be as poor. It is going to enlighten you, but you
must pay for your schooling.
There was a time, to be sure, when your ances-
tors—not quite so vain of their freedom as you, but
more careful of it, had yet sufficient pride and self-
respect to defend themselves, by voluntary priva-
tion, against a legislation hurting them infinitely
less than this, and to achieve that independence
of Britain and her workshops which is now to be
taken away from you. Would you have a speci-
men of what they did? Here it is—a venerable
document; part printed and part written by the
hand of the Father of his Country.
- An antiquarian friend has sent us three copies of
the following paper ; one of them as it came from
the press, and without the additions, in the untnis-
takeable handwriting of George Washington, (we
print them in italics,) and the Fairfax county signa-
tures which follow. The signature of Gen. Wash-
ington himself and of many of the eminent names
of Virginia are, as the reader will perceive, in the
list annexed.
Examining the articles of the original Associa-
tion, our readers will find that they form not merely
a Tariff, but a strictly prohibitive one. Our colo-
nial forefathers could not legally tax British or
other foreign goods : but, to defend their indepen-
dence, and to make the Government which had in-
jured them retrace its steps, they could renounce
the use of foreign goods ; and they did so. In the
first roll of subscribers (that at Williamsburg) will
be found nearly all the most eminent names of Re-
volutionary Virginia. The second list contains a
few more remarkable ones—as of John Marshall,
George Mason, Richard Harrison, and William
Grayson.
The Association entered into last Friday, the 22d
instant, by the gentlemen of the House of Bur-
gesses and the Body of Merchants assembled
in this city.
We, his Majesty’s most dutiful and loyal subjects of Vir-
ginia, declaring our inviolable and unshaken fidelity and at-
tachment to our gracious Sovereign, our affection for all our
fellow-subjects of Great Britain, and our firm determination
to support, at the hazard of our lives and fortunes, the laws,
the peace, and good order of government in this colony ; but,
at the same time, affected with great and just apprehensions
of the fatal consequences'certainly to follow from the arbitrary
imposition of taxes on the people of America, for the purpose
of raising a revenue from them, without the consent of their
representatives; and, as we consider it to be the indispensa-
ble duty of every virtuous member of society to prevent the
ruin and promote the happiness of his country by every law-
ful means, although in the prosecution of such a laudable and
necessary design some unhappy consequences may be derived
to many innocent fellow-subjects, whom we wish not to in-
jure, and who we hope will impute our conduct to the real
necessity of our affairs. Influenced by these reasons, we do
most earnestly recommend this our association to the serious
attention of all gentlemen, merchants, traders, and other in-
habitants of this colony, not doubting but they will readily and
cordially accede thereto. And at the same time we and every
of us do most solemnly oblige ourselves, upon our word and
honor, to promote the welfare and commercial interests of all
those truly worthy merchants, traders, and others, inhabitants
of this colony, who shall hereafter conform to the spirit of this
association; but that we will upon all occasions and at all
times hereafter avoid purchasing any commodity or article of
goods whatsoever from any importer or seller of British mer-
chandise or European goods, whom we may know or believe,
in violation of the essential interests of this colony, to have
preferred their own private emolument, by importing or sell-
ing articles prohibited by this association, to the destruction
of the dearest rights of the people of this colony. And for the
more effectual discovery of such defaulters, it is—
Resolved, That a committee of five be chosen in every
county, by the majority of associators in each county, who,
©r any three of them, are hereby authorized to publish the
names of such signers of the association as shall violate their
agreement; and when there shall be an importation of goods
into any county, such committee, or any three of them, are
empowered to convene themselves, and in a civil manner ap-
ply to the merchant or importers concerned, and desire to see
the invoices and papers respecting such importation, and, if
they find any goods therein contrary to the association, to let
the importers know that it is the opinion and request of the
country that such goods shall not be opened or stored, but re-
shipped to the place from whence they came : and in case of
refusal, without any manner of violence, inform them of the
consequences, and proceed to publish an account of their
conduct.
Secondly. That we, the subscribers, as well by our own
example as all other legal ways and means in our power, will
promote and encourage industry and frugality, and discourage
all manner of luxury and extravagance.
Thirdly. That we will not hereafter, directly or indirectly,
i mport, or cause to be imported, from Great Britain, any of
the goods hereafter enumerated, either for sale or for our own
use, to wit: spirits, cider, perry, beer, ale, porter, malt, pease,
beef, fish, butter, cheese, tallow, candles, fruit, pickles, con-
fectionary, chairs, tables, looking glasses, carriages, joiners
work, and cabinet work of all sorts, riband, India goods of
all sorts, (except spices,) calico of more than 3s. sterling per
yard, upholstery, (by which is meant paper hangings, beds
ready made, furniture for beds, and carpeting,) watches,
clocks, silversmiths’ work of all sorts, silks of all sorts, (except
women’s bonnets and hats, sewing silk, and netting silk,)
cotton stuffs of more than 3s. sterling per yard, linens of more
than 2s. sterling per yard, (except Irish linens,) gauze, lawns,
cambric of more than 6s. sterling per yard, woollen arid worsted
stuffs of all sorts of more chan 2s. sterling peryard, broadcloths of
more than 8s. sterling per yard, narrow cloths of all kinds of
more than 4s. sterling per yard, not less than gths yard wide,
hats of greater value than 10s. sterling, stockings of more than
36s. sterling per dozen, shoes of more than 5s. sterling per
pair, boots, saddles, men’s exceedings 25s. and women’s ex-
ceeding 40s. sterling, exclusive of bridles, which are allowed,
portmanteaus, saddle bags, and all other manufactured leather,
neither oil nor painters’ colors, if both, or either of them, be
subject to any duty after the 1st of December next. And that
we will not import, or cause to be imported, any horses, nor
purchase those which may be imported by others after the 1st
of November next.
Fourthly. That we will not import or bring into the colony,
or cause to be imported or brought into the colony, either by
sea or land, any slaves, or make sale of any upon commission,
or purchase any slave or slaves that may be imported by others
after the 1st day of November next, unless the same have been
twelve months upon the continent.
Fifthly. That we will not import any wines, on which a
duty is laid by act of Parliament for the purpose of raising a
revenue in America, or purchase such as may be imported by
others, after the 1st day of September next.
Sixthly. That no wine be imported by any of the subscri-
bers, or other person, from any of the colonies on this conti-
nent, or any other place, from the time of signing this associ-
ation, contrary to the terms thereof.
Seventhly. That all such goods as may or shall be import-
ed into this colony, in consequence of their having been reject-
ed by the association committees in any of our sister colonies,
shall not be purchased by any associator ; but that we will
exert every lawful means in our power absolutely to prevent
the sale of all such goods, and to cause the same to be export-
ed as quickly as possibly.
Eighthly. That we will not receive from Great Britain, or
make sale of, upon commission, any of the articles above ex-
cepted to, after the first day of September next, nor any of
those articles which may have been really and bona fide or-
dered by us, after the 25th of December next.
Ninthly. That we will not receive into our custody, make
sale of, or become chargeable with any of the articles afore-
mentioned that may be ordered after the 15th of June instant,
nor give orders for any from this time ; and that in all orders
which any of us may hereafter send to Great Britain we will
expressly direct and request our correspondents not to ship us
any of the articles before excepted, and if any such goods are
shipped contrary to the tenor of this agreement we will refuse
to take the same, or make ourselves chargeable therewith.
Provided, nevertheless, That such goods as are already on
hand, or may be imported according to the true intent and
meaning of this association, m«y be continued for sale.
Tenthly. That a committee of merchants, to be named by
their own body, when called together by their chairman, be
appointed to take under their consideration the general state
of the trade in this colony, and report to the association, at
their next meeting, a list of such other manufactures of Great
Britain, or commodities of any kind whatever, now imported,
as may reasonably, and with benefit to the colony, be ex-
cepted to.
Eleventhly. That we do hereby engage ourselves, by those
most sacred ties of honor and love to our country, that we will
not, either upon the goods which we have already upon hand
or may hereafter import within the true meaning of this asso-
ciation, make any advance in price, with a view to profit by
the restrictions hereby laid on the trade of this colony.
Twelfthly. That we will not at any time hereafter, directly
or indirectly, import, or cause to be imported, or purchase
from any person who shall import, any merchandise or manu-
factures exported from Great Britain, which are, or here-
after shall be, taxed by act of Parliament for the purposes of
raising a revenue in America.
Resolved, That a meeting of the associators shall be called
at the discretion of the Moderator, or at the request of twenty
members of the association, signified to him in writing ; and
in case of the death of the present Moderator, the next person
subscribing hereto be considered as Moderator, and act as such
until the next general meeting.
Lastly. That these resolves shall be binding on all and each
of the subscribers, who do hereby, each and every person for
himself, agree that he will strictly and firmly adhere to and
abide by every article of this association from the time ot tiis
signing the same until the act of Parliament which imposes a
duty on.tea, paper, glass, and painters’ colors be totally re-
pealed, or until a general meeting- of one hundred associators,
after one month’s public notice, shall determine otherwise, the
twelfth article of this agreement still and for ever continuing
in force, until the contrary be declared by a general meeting
of the members of this association.
of the Trade
Ro. C. Nicholas
Richard Bland
Edmund Pendleton
Archibald Cary
Richard Henry Lee
Henry Lee
Charles Carter, Coro toman
Thomas Jefferson
Severn Eyre
Thomas Whiting
Edward Hack Moseley, Jr.
George Washington
Burwell Bassett
Spencer M. Ball
James Walker
Edward Osborn
Southy Simpson
Richard Lee
John Alexander
W. Lyne
Edward Ker
Alexander Trent
John Talbott
Joseph Cabell
Gardner Fleming
Samuel Harwood
Humphrey Roberts
Thomas M. Randolph
Robert Wormeley Carter
Jerman Baker
John Gilchrist
James Archdeacon
Robert Donald
James McDowall
Alexander Baine
John Smith
Purdie & Dixon
James Buchanan
Thomas Scott
John Burton
William Clayton
Richard Randolph
Benjamin Harrison
P. Carrington
James Pride
William Acrill
Peter Poythress
James Mercer
N. Edwards, Jr.
Richard Adams
Thomas Newton, Jr.
Francis Peyton
Alexander Banks
- John Johnson
Archibald Govan
Hugh McMekin
Foushee Tebbs
Archibald McCall
Daniel Hutchings
Henry Morse
Nathaniel Terry
Isaac Read
William Rind
Benjamin Harrison, Jr.
Josiah Granbery
Thomas Barber
James Robb
Lewis Burwell
Neil Jamieson
James Cocke
Walter Peter
Richard Baker
Robert Crooks
Benjamin Howard
John Winn
R. Rutherford
John Esdale
Archibald Campbell
Nathaniel Lyttleton Savage
James Balfour
Jacob Wray
W. Cabell, Jr.
John Fisher
Daniel Barraud
Hartwell Cocke
James Mills
Edwin Gray
David Jameson
Daniel McCallum
Charles Duncan
James Donald
John Wayles
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
John Bell
Robert Gilmour
Thomas Adams
George Riddell
Henry Taylor
John Bland
Alexander Shaw
Robert Miller
John Banister
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Thomas Bailey
Merriwether Smith
William Robinson
Ro. Munford, Mecklenburg
James Wood
Roger Atkinson
Bolling Stark -
J. H. Norton
Thomas Pettus
Lewis Burwell, of Gloucester
John Woodson
Abraham Hite
Henry Feild, Jr.
Jamos Parker
William Roane
Edward Brisbane
Wilson Miles Cary
James Baird
John Blair
Neill Buchanan
James Wallace
Archibald Buchanan
Richard Mitchell *
Andrew Mackie
Cornelius Thomas
Thomas Everard
James Dennistone
George Purdie
William Snodgrass
Patrick Ramsay
Benjamin Baker
Walter Boyd
Patrick Coutts
John Tabb
Neill Campbell
Richard Booker
John Donelson
John Page, Jr.
Neill MeCoull
Robert Andrews
Thomas Jett
John Tayloe Corbin
Samuel Kerr
John Tazewell
James Robinson
John Prentis
Archibald Ritchie
William Holt
Samuel Eskredge
John Greenhow
Thomas Stith
Haldenby Dixon
James Edmonson
William Russell
Anthony Walke
John Wilson, of Augusta
Thomas Hornsby
The Subscribers, inhabitants of the county of Fairfax, in
the Colony of Virginia, having duly considered the above
' agreement and association,
and being well convinced of the
utility and real necessity of the measures therein recom-
mended, do sincerely and cordially accede thereto ; and do
hereby, voluntarily and faithfully, each and every person for
himself upon his word and honor, agree and promise that
he will strictly and firmly adhere to and abide by every ar-
ticle and resolution therein contained, according to the true
intent and meaning thereof
John West Thomas Kirkpatrick
William Ramsay Jonathan Hall
John Carlyle Henry McCabe
John C. Dalton George Gilpin
Robert Adam Will. Balmain
John West, Jun. Richard Harrison
Harry Piper John Muir
James Steuart James Kirk
Thomas Carson G. Mason
John Hite, Jun.
THE LATE REVOLUTION IN MEXICO.
The New Orleans Times of the 25th ultimo con-
tains copious extracts from late Mexican papers,
from which it appears that the revolution in Mexico
has not only been completely successful, but con-
summated with a singular degree of unanimity.
The same paper mentions the receipt of a letter
from the city of Mexico, dated on the 8th, which
makes no allusion to the imprisonment of Gen.
Paredes. For this reason, and because it believes
that Paredes left the capital on the 31st for the
North, at the head of 4,000 troops, and must have
been pretty far advanced on his way when the re-
volution broke out, it is inclined to doubt the cor-
rectness of the information heretofore received as to
the imprisonment of that officer. All other accounts,
however, go to confirm this intelligence.
In the same letter above alluded to, it is stated
that some of the disaffected citizens of Monterey, in
conjunction with a few inhabitants of American
origin, who were aided by the crew of the U. S.
sloop-of-war Falmouth, took possession of the city,
hoisted the American colors, and proclaimed the
Californias annexed to the United States.
The subjoined extract exhibits the manner of
conducting a bloodless revolution in the Mexican
Republic, such as has j ust taken place. The reader
must premise, that on the 3d ultimo, as soon as
news reached the city of Mexico of the declara-
tion, or, as they call it, pronunciamento, at Vera
Cruz, the troops of the party opposed to the then
existing Government adopted a preamble and ar-
ticles similar to those promulgated at the latter city,
iu which the causes and objects of the revolution
are set forth ; and that these proceedings have been
politely communicated, through Gen. Salas, the
chief of the revolutionists, to Gen. Bravo, the act-
ing President of the Republic.
From the “ Republicano” of the city of Mexico, August 6.
Events or Yesterday and of this PvIorning.—Since the
3d instant, repeated notices have been given to the Govern-
ment ; but in the most respectful terms, and almost in the tone
of entreaty. Both these communications and private letters,
addressed to Senor Bravo and Senor Quijano, by the General-
in-chief of the pronounced forces in the citadel, remained
either unanswered or were answered in an evasive manner by
asking for time, and seeking to gain time. The last time fixed
upon for giving a definitive answer was two o’clock in the af-
ternoon of this day, (August 5th.) The General-in-chief of
the citadel waited until after that hour, and having received no
answer, arranged his columns for the attack ; but when they
were about to execute the movement, the Generals D. Martin
Carrera and D. Jose Urrea presented themselves on the part of
the Government, and stated that Gen. D. Benito Quijano was
empowered as General-in-chief to treat with the pronouncers,
if both parties should appoint commissioners to meet at a desig-
nated place. The Lreneral-in chiex or iiic iHum.uni,,!
drew up a new communication with this view, stating that the
commissioners appointed on his part would attend before five
o’clock in the afternoon in the convent of San Francisco,
where they would await those appointed by Gen. Quijano.
The commissioners of the chief of the pronunciamento attend-
ed according to appointment; but those of the Government,
after the lapse of more than an hour, had not made their ap-
pearance. In consequence of this, and of Gen. Quijano’s
having sent a new communication, stating that a junta of
wax would meet at seven o’clock in the evening, and that a
reply would be given in the course of the night, the General-
in-chief of the pronounced forces determined to wait no longer,
and commenced his march with two strong columns, com-
posed of some infantry, a body of cavalry, and some light
pieces, which, being arranged in the most efficient manner,
advanced without meeting any impediment until they surround-
ed the palace, the forces occupying it being confined within
the limits of the principal square.
At this stage of affairs, General Quijano promised that his
commissioners would attend at nine o’clock at night, in house
No 10, in the first street de Plateros, occupied by Dr. D. Pe-
dro Vanderlinden, the director of the military board of health
In fact, almost an hour before the appointed time, Generals
Carrera, Urrea, and D. Ramon Morales appeared as com-
missioners of the general commanding the forces of the Gov-
ernment ; and on the part of those of the citadel, Generals
De Pedro Lemus, D. Antonio Vizcayno, and D. Ramon Pa-
checo, honorary intendant of the army. A long discussion
was entered into, which lasted until half after one in the morn-
ing, and the result of which was that the General-in-chief of
the forces of the Government was to accede to the plan pro-
claimed in the citadel, and every article of it; it being further
determined, on the part of- the pronouncers, that, in conside-
ration of the deference and respect for the national will mani
fested by Seiior Bravo, as well as in testimony of the respect
due to his former services, he should be allowed, while in the
capital, the distinction ot a guard of honor, such as the ordi-
nance assigns to captains-general; that neither he nor his
ministers, nor the chiefs, officers, and troops who have sup-
ported} his cause, should be molested ; and that, immediately
upon the ratification of the plan, the Government should cease
its functions, the troops defending the palace to remain under
the orders of Seiior Salas. The latter occupied the palace at
three o’clock this morning. The chiming of bells, the boat-
ing of drums, and music of the military bands, vivas from a
large concourse for General Santa Anna, who is invoked in
the plan, and a salvo of twenty-one guns from the battery of
the citadel, at daybreak, were the first celebration of this
event. As yet no Government has been organized, and the
General-in-chief of the pronounced forces is to continue in
command until the arrival of General Santa Anna, who is ex-
pected within a few days.
Santa Anna was received at Vera Cruz with
every demonstration of enthusiasm and joy. He
arrived on 16th ultimo, on board the English mer-
chant steamer Arab, accompanied by his own fami-
ly, and Gen. Almonte, the ex-Ministers Rejon and
Haro y Tamariz, Senor Boves, ex-Deputy from
Yucatan to the Mexican Congress, and several other
individuals. The Picayune says :
“ Upon the appearance of the Arab off Vera Cruz, Com-
modore Conner repaired on board the steamer Princeton, and
an attempt was made to intercept the Arab ; but the morning
was calm and she slipped into port without hindrance, with her
valuable freight. Opinions differ as to the intentions of the
Commodore towards Santa Anna, some believing that he had
no desire to intercept him. On this subject we learn, by
letters received by the U. S. brig Perry, at Pensacola from
Havana, that before Santa Anna left Havana, our Consul,
Col. Campbell, had a conversation with him to the following
effect: Col. C. inquired if the General was in favor of the
war with the United States. To which the General replied,
‘You know how it is ; if the people of my country are for
war, then I am with them ; but I would prefer peace.’ Be-
fore leaving Havana, he requested and received from Colonel
Campbell a letter of introduction to Commodore Conner. He
also took with him a valuable box of cigars, intended as a pre-
sent for the Commodore. Upon arriving off Vera Cruz, he
took good care to waste no time in the presentation of his let-
ter or cigars.”
The two Republics of New Grenada and Equa-
dor have had difficulties subsisting between them
for some time past. By the arrival at Philadelphia
of the barque Rowena, in thirteen days from Puerto
Cabello, we learn that each Republic has appoint-
ed Commissioners charged with the duty of settling
all causes of dispute.
SPEECH OF Mr. JOHNSON,
OF MARYLAND,
ON THE TARIFF QUESTION.
In Senate, August 18, 1846.
Mr. JOHNSON said : Mr. President, but for the very im-
portant character of the measure now submitted to the judg-
ment of the Senate, I should not venture to participate in the
debate. If the subject was of ordinary character and interest,
embracing bat few topics and admitting but few illustrations,
I should have been restrained, as well by respect for myself as
for the Senate, from taxing its time and patience further; for
all must be conscious who had the pleasure of hearing the hon-
orable Senators from Maine and Massachusetts, (Mr. Evans
and Mr. Davis,) who have preceded me, that, as far as the
particular questions they have spoken to are concerned, the
whole matter has been exhausted. Bringing to the discus-
sion great accuracy and fullness of knowledge, and applying
it with the most consummate ability, whoever undertakes to
follow them may well despair enforcing any thing they have
said.
It“is my purpose, therefore, to avoid altogether, as far as I
may be able, the ground thus ably occupied. In what I am
about to offer I propose to do by considering, under three dis-
tinct heads, the effects of the bill now before us.
1. I shall, in the first place, inquire into the principle of
2. I shall proceed to show, in a way which has not yet
been attempted, the practical effect of the bill on the domestic
industry and on the laborers of the country.
3. And I shall, in the third and last place, bring forward
some facts not as yet presented, to show that, assuming as
correct the estimates submitted to us at different times by the
Secretary of the Treasury, from the beginning down to that
which he sent us yesterday, or adopting those which the chair-
man of the Committee of Finance laid before the Senate, or
those which I understand have been submitted by the chair-
man of the corresponding committee in the other House,
the bill will not produce an amount of revenue sufficient to
meet the wants of the country.
In the first place, then, I propose to inquire into the funda-
mental principle of vhe bill. I understand it to be founded on
the opinion maintained and laid before Congress and the coun-
try by the President of the United States, in his annual mes-
sage at the commencement of tbe present session, and by the
Secretary of the Treasury, in his annual report—that Congress
possesses no constitutional power to protect the domestic in-
dustry of the United States, either directly, by the taxing
power, or by any other power through the exercise of the tax-
ing power. It is very true, Mr. President, that the present
chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, the distin-
guished gentleman from South Carolina, (Mr. McDuffie,)
said yesterday that, neither in this debate nor at any other
time on this floor during this session, had the question been
mooted or the power denied ; yet I am sure that I should be
doing that honorable gentleman great injustice and the other
friends of the bill equal injustice, if I should assume that this
declaration was intended to be understood as a concession, on
his or on their part, that such a power did exist. But, however
that may be, both the President and the Secretary of the Trea-
sury, in the discharge of their respective duties to the nation,
have recommended to us a bill even more objectionable than
the present, on the very ground, amongst others, that there is
not in the constitution any authority, expressed or implied,
under which the industry of the country can be protected, in
whole or in part, either directly by the taxing power, or by
any other power to be exerted by means of the taxing power.
Now, Mr, President, it does appear to me passing strange
that, at this period of our national existence, in the year 1846,
fifty-seven years since the constitution was adopted, it should
be officially declared by two such high officers of this Govern-
ment that it possesses no authority to protect our own labor—
the industry of our own citizens—against restrictions imposed
by foreign legislation, and imposed to injure it; that we have
no power to defend our own industry against the countervail-
ing duties of other nations, no matter how destructive they are
found in their practical results, nor how clear it may be that
they were levied for that very end.
Mr. President, if this opinion be well founded, then there
is no such protective power any where wittiin me limits oi rae
TTnitpd States: for. if it be nnt in the General Government,
we are entirely without it. So far as my reading and my
knowledge extends, the value of any nation’s industry can be
protected against the rival industry of other nations only by
the exercise of this very taxing power ; and the result is, that,
notwithstanding the power which has been exerted and is now
exerted by all the other Governments of the world for the. en-
couragement and protection of their own commerce and ol
every variety of their own industry, and however effective and
advantageous such protection may have proved, we, the peo-
ple of the United States, are in possession of no such power,
either in our General Government or in our respective State
Governments. That is the clear and undeniable conclusion ;
and if it be so, then it is equally clear that we are independent
but in name; if it be so, then are we in a state of colonial
vassalage, laboring under all the evils of that condition, but
without any of its countervailing benefits, if there be any ; if
it be so, then I aver that we are still colonies, and colonies ol
England, without enjoying the advantages of such assistance
as a mother Government might, in her generosity or by her
interest, be disposed to confer upon us.
But is it so, Mr. President ? Are we without a Govern-
ment, so far as relates to that most important of all other pow-
ers—the power of protecting ourselves against the legislation
and the rival labor of other nations of the world ? A glance
(and it shall be but a glance) at the condition of things subse-
quent to the declaration of independence and prior to the
adoption of the present constitution, and for some time imme-
diately succeeding it, will bring us to a correct result.
So long as we were colonies, our industry could be most
effectually protected, either by the power of the British Parlia-
ment to enact countervailing laws for the benefit of their colo-
nies, or by enacting laws authorizing the colonial governments
to pass such countervailing laws. This power was exercised
from time to time, and advantageously. But we passed from
the colonial state; we declared ourselves independent; we
achieved our independence in many a well-fought battle field,
and a seven year’s war ended in the recognition by the mother
country of these United States as a free and independent na-
tion. The war of arms was thus caused to terminate. In
that war of arms we came off’ victorious, and, in the joy of our
hearts and in the glow of our patriotism, thought that we had
conquered for ourselves independence in fact as well as in
name. But what at once succeeded ? Great Britain, who
had failed to subdue us by force, commenced upon us a war
of commercial regulations—regulations which were intended
to secure to her own subjects advantages over and to the inju-
ry of the people of. the United States in all the various pur-
suits of human industry. What was the effect? Our trade
languished ; our public and individual credit rapidly declined;
our national and individual debts largely increased, and we
found, to our amazement and dismay, that, so far from en-
joying the happiness, the plenty, and the wealth which we
had promised ourselves in the peaceful employment of our
own labor, under the protection of a free and independent
Government of our own choice, we were even worse off, in
these particulars, than we had been before our independence
was accomplished.
From the date of the treaty of peace down to the year
1789, the state of the country became absolutely insufferable.
How was this attempted to be corrected ? The States of the
Confederacy, in the exercise of their sovereignty, first, each
State for itself, and, secondly, by the combination of several
States, attempted, by a system of countervailing imposts and
other commercial regulations, to redeem the dilapidated con-
dition of the industry of the country, to revive its credit, and
to restore its general prosperity. Virginia thus interfered,
Maryland thus interfered, Delaware thus interfered, other
States thus interfered. But what was still the practical re
suit ? Each of these States, having authority only over its
own ports, could not prevent free importations of goods into
the ports of the other States ; and goods thus imported duty
free would, in spite of every attempt to prevent it, find their
way into the consumption of those States where these same
goods had to pay duty. Thus the attempt to which portions
of the country, under distress and emergency, had vainly re-
sorted, utterly failed ; and it failed, not because the means
which they employed were not in their own nature sufficient,
and would not, if universally employed, have effected all that
was hoped for and all that was needed, but precisely for the
want of power to make their operation universal. I speak,
sir, but the truth of history when I say that it was this very
difficulty, this very imbecility to which I have just referred,
that brought the Federal Constitution into existence. The
new Federal Government, among other great and wholesome
powers conferred upon it, was endowed with the power to
regulate commerce and to lay duties and imposts ; and at once,
and by the exercise of these two important prerogatives, it
was enabled to accomplish that which the power of the States
had been inadequate to effect. The constitution so came into
being, and, at the time of its birth, the entire South, the
Middle States, and the Northern States, all held the same
opinion, not only as to the existence of the power in Con-
gress to encourage and protect, by taxation, American labor
and American industry, but as to the absolute necessity for
its exercise.
In proof of this unanimity of sentiment suffer me, Mr.
President, to read one of five memorials presented to the first
Congress of the United States, from Boston, from New York,
from Philadelphia, from Baltimoie, and from Charleston. I
will read, sir, from a memorial signed by eight hundred and
twenty-six inhabitants of Baltimore :
“ To the President and Congress of the United States : the
petition of the tradesmen, mechanics, and others of the
town of Baltimore, humbly showeth :
“ That shice the close of the late war and the completion
of the Revolution your petitioners have observed, with serious
regret, the manufacturing and trading interests of the country
rapidly declining, while the wealth of the people hath been
prodigally expended in the purchase of those articles from
foreigners which our citizens, if properly encouraged, were
fully competent to furnish.
“To check this growing evil applications were made, by
petitions, to some of the State Legislatures. These guardians
of the people in several ot tbe States interposed their autho-
rity ; laws were by them enacted with the view of subduing or
at least diminishing the rage for foreign and encouraging do-
mestic manufactures ; but the event hath clearly demonstrated
to all ranks of men that no effectual provision could reasonably
be expected until one uniform efficient government should per-
vade this wide extended country.
“ The happy period having now arrived when the United
States are placed in a new situation, when the adoption of the
General Government gives one sovereig n legislature the sole and
exclusive power of laying duties upon imports, your petition-
ers rejoice at the prospect this affords them that America,
freed from the commercial shackles which have so long bound
her, will see and pursue her true interest, becoming indepen
dent in fact as well as in name ; and they confidently hope that
the encouragement and protection of .American manufactures
will claim the earliest attention of the Supreme Legislature ol
the nation, as it is a universally acknowledged truth that the
United States contain within their limits resources amply suf-
ficient to enable them to become a great manufacturing coun-
try, and only want the patronage and support of a wise ener-
getic government.
“Your petitioners conceive it unnecessary to multiply ar-
guments to so enlightened a body as the one they have now
the honor of addressing, to convince them of the propriety
and importance ol attending to measures so obviously necessa-
ry, apd, indeed, indispensable, as every member must have
observed and lamented the present melancholy state of Ins
country, the number of her poor increasing for want ol em-
ployment, foreign debts accumulating, houses and lands de-
preciating in value, trade and manufactures languishing and
expiring. This being a feint sketch of the gloomy picture
this country exhibits, it is to the Supreme Legislature of the
United States, as the guardians of the whole empire, that every
eye is now directed ; from their united wisdom, their patriotism,
their ardent love of their country, your petitioners expect to
derive that aid and assistance which alone can dissipate their
just apprehensions, and animate them with hopes of success
in future, by imposing on all foreign articles which can be
made in America such duties as will give a just and decided
preference to their labors, and thereby discountenancing that
trade which tends so materially to injure them and impoverish
their country, and which may also, in their consequences, con-
tribute to the discharge of the national debt and the due sup-
port of Government.
“Your petitioners take the liberty to annex a list of sucli
articles as are or can be manufactured in this place on moderate
terms ; and they humbly trust that you will fully consider
their request, and grant them, in common with the other me-
chanics and manufacturers of the United States, that relief
which, in your wisdom, may appear proper.”
I will not read the others, but they alL hold substantially
the same language. The memorial from Charleston was
directed more particularly to the subject of encouraging and
protecting ship-building and all the manufacturing industry
employed in ship-building. These it prayed should be en-
couraged by the action of the General Government. Accord-
ingly, by one of the first acts of Congress, manufactures are
mentioned in association with other things, as objects which
it was intended to protect by the passage of that act: this ap-
pears in the very preamble of the law itself. It is in these
words:
“ Whereas it is necessary, for the support of Government,
for the discharge of the debts of the United States, and the
encouragement and protection of manufactures, that
duties be laid on goods, wares, and merchandise imported.”
No man then doubted either the power, or the expediency,
or the absolute necessity of exercising it. The effect proved,
and at once, the wisdom and the patriotism of the men of that
day. The resources of the country were developed, public
and individual credit were restored, our drooping energies re-
TivvyO, aiixt v... turtcJ ui-TOOT V.U u. ocToor o£-unexampled DIOS-
perity, which astonished the world. .From that day until a
comparatively recent period, although act after act was passed
by Congress for the self-same purposes which were avowed in
the act of’89, none, no not one, was found, with reputation,
or without reputation, to breathe so much as a doubt, far less
to deny the power of Congress, to grant such protection, or
the propriety of granting it. And again, I speak but the truth
of history when I say that in proportion to the encouragement
and defence extended by these laws to the industry of the
country, was the improvement of the country. These protec-
tive acts continued to be passed without dispute or question
■from 1789 down to 1822. Some little doubt was then, and
for the first time, intimated in the State of Massachusetts (at
that period extensively, and almost exclusively, engaged in
commerce) as to the power. But there was not so much as
a whisper of any such opinion from the South, where, unfor-
tunately, as I sincerely believe, for themselves, as well as the
whole country, such protection is now held by a portion of the
people to be not meiely unconstitutional, but positively unjust
and tyrannical. I do not deny that this change in the opinion
of the South is the result of honest conviction, but still the
fact remains that it is a change, a very great change, an utter
and radical change, of opinions long and patriotically main-
tained, and long and beneficially carried out.
I shall not go into a histoiy of the troubles which have
grown out of this difference of opinion, from the time it first
manifested itself in the South, down to the time when it proved
so fruitful a source of controversy, discontent, public agitation
and alaim. Its effect has been to disturb ail the elements of
our national industry. Congress lias protected that industry
one day, and refused to protect it the next. One day it has
been encouraged, the next day stricken down. At length our
domestic horizon was darkened by these lowering clouds which
arose previous to the compromise act, and threatened us with
the horrors of civil war. A distinguished Senator from Ken-
tucky, (Mr. Clay,) contrary to the judgment of many, but as
the country admitted, from the purest patriotism, recommend
ed tlfe passage of that celebrated law, and succeeded in carry-
ing it through both Houses. It was then, and has ever since
been denominated the compromise act—but of what was it a
compromise ? Not of the protective principle, not by surrender-
ing that principle, or admitting that the power to proteet did
not exist, but by determining, from a sincere conviction that
such a course would be best for the manufacturing interest
itself, while at the same time it would avoid the awful calami-
ties of civil war, that the practical exercise of the power should
not in the then condition of the country be carried beyond a
defined limit.
The voice of pacification was heard from these walls ; the
warlike sounds which threatened the shedding of fraternal
blood were hushed. The North breathed freer, the men of the
Middle States ceased to be dismayed, and the men of the South
rejoiced, and all had cause to rejoice. For it is my sincere
belief, that if this compromise law had not passed, and South
Carolina had not been satisfied, and if we had attempted by
force to execute upon her the laws of the Union, as would
have been done, the end ol this Government and of our happy
confederacy would have been.
And now let us inquire what was the practical operation of
that far-famed arid patriotic compromise act ? It resulted pre-
cisely as had been predicted by some in this unvarying fact,
that just in proportion as the rate of duties descended in the
scale, did the general prosperity of the country fall and sink
with them ; and when these duties had reached their lowest
point, every man acquainted with the history of that day must
admit that a scene of universal distress in the South as well
as at the North, in the West as well as at the East, over-
spread the entire country, to an extent never before seen.
And what were we to do ? what did the patiiotic statesmen
of that day resolve to do ? The credit of the Government was
gone ; its accredited agents who went to England to borrow
money were, in London, and to the disgrace of the United
States, almost driven from ’change ; we could not have bor-
rowed at the rate of sixty in a hundred ; and while the public
credit was thus prostrate, our individual credit failed even in
a greater proportion. Establishments which had cost millions,
which had added tens of millions to the public wealth, which
had employed hundreds of thousands of industrious hands,
spread domestic comfort and private happiness all around
them, were sacrificed under the hammer, not only to the utter
ruin of their proprietors, but almost to the starvation of the
operatives to whom they had given bread. It was under this
condition of things that the act of ’42, which the Senate is
now invoked to destroy, earn'd into existence. The act was
founded on the principle that the labor of the country was to
be protected, and, as a means to this, that the capitalists were
also to be protected, without whose money the labor of the
country could not be made to flourish. The law was passed,
and what has been the result ? From ’42 to the present pe
riod, when the manufacturing portion of our community is
thrown into general consternation by the fear that your new
bill shall pass, what has been the state of the nation ? I leave
it to you, who are asking us to destioy this law, to say whe-
ther the business of this country ever knew a happier or a
more prosperous period. When was personal wealth better
secured, private labor better rewarded, and individual and pub-
lic credit occupying a higher position ? Let any man point
me to a brighter period in our history.
And, Mr. President, is not the nation taken by surprise
when it finds that you are in earnest in an attempt to repeal
this law ? I know that it is easy for gentlemen in the South
to say that they would have been surprised if such a bill had
not been recommended, but if they will be as candid as their
nature prompts them to be in all other things, must they not,
one and all, admit that the supporters of the present Chief
Magistrate in other portions of the country have been equally
surprised that such a bill as this has found its way into these
halls under his recommendation ? Must they not, as honest
men, admit, one and all, that, if Mr. Polk, when a candidate
for the Presidency, with the frankness and manly indepen-
dence which became him, had declared, in advance, that such
a bill as this should, if he succeeded, be passed under his
sanction, and by his influence, that he never would have been
President of the United States ? The Senator from Massa-
chusetts took occasion this morning to say that, when in Penn-
sylvania, during the last Presidential canvass, he saw meqns
resorted to (whether ignorantly or designedly) to mislead the
honest and confiding Democracy of Pennsylvania. I will here
"dd my testimony to the same effect. I have been myself
witness once, if not oftener, to the same disgraceful exhibition.
On my way to address a mass meeting at Lancaster, in that
State, I stopped at the town of Columbia, and went into what
I was told was a Democratic tavern. On the wall of the bar-
room I saw a handbill, on which was printed, in large capi-
tals, “ The tariff act of ’42 to be preserved only by electing
James K. Poik.” I wanted to get possession of one of the
bills to make use of it where I was going, and I purchased one.
[Mr. Haywood. What did you give for it ?]
Mr. Johnson. I think I gave a quarter of a dollar, [a laugh,]
but it was worth more than that to Mr. Polk. It and tricks
like it served to make him what he is, the President.
[Mr. Dallas. I never saw the handbill.]
Mr. Johnson. If you never saw that one, sir, you must
have seen several very like it during the canvass. This hand-
bill proclaimed to those whom some of our friends on the other
side of the chamber are fond of speaking of as “the hard-fisted
democracy of the country,” that there would he a meeting at
Columbia a few days afterwards, and urging them to come out
in their strength to hear the best men of the democracy explain
the democratic tariff of ’42—to hear that tariff vindicated from
the mouths of men on whose integrity they could rely, men
who were incapable of deception. Among those “ best men”
was, if I remember right, the present Secretary of State. He
was one of those who was to demonstrate to the confiding de-
mocracy of Pennsylvania that the tariff of ’42 was a democra-
tic measure ; that the Whigs had attempted to defeat it, but
could not, and who called upon them to elect James K. Polk
that they might ensure the continuance of the tariff of ’42
“ without the alteration of a letter.”
Now, I do not say that any honest man was engaged in
such deception, and I have only mentioned these facts to show
that the people were deceived—grossly, shamelessly, degrad-
ingly deceived, and I hazard the assertion that no delegate from
Pennsylvania will deny that if, with the candor and manliness
which became him, Mr. Polk had written to Pennsylvania
avowing that, should he become President of the United States,
the tariff of ’42 should not be suffered to stand a single session
of Congress, he would to this hour have remained James K,
Polk. Well may the people of Pennsylvania say, in their
memorials, that they are astonished—that they have been be-
trayed and shamefully defrauded ; and well may they say that
their only ray of hope is found here in the Senate of the Uni-
ted States; and with no less truth may they add that that ray
of hope proceeds from the Whig members of this body, and
almost from them alone. In the entire history of our party
struggles ; in all the agitations of the political elements ; in
all our conflicts for power during every former period of the
Government, never has there existed such absolute, open, and
vile deception as has been practised by Democratic leaders
and politicians on confiding Pennsylvania.
I hear, or at least I see, it said in some Whig papers that
Whigs have no sympathy for her. That, sir, is not my case,
1 have sympathy, deep sympathy for her. The people of
Pennsylvania are an honest upright people, simpie-hearted
and confiding, and they have been betrayed. They trusted
and they have been deceived. They were prosperous and
happy, and they are to be impoverished. And all for what—
for what} Why, to carry out “the revenue standard” of
duties ! All because you have become suddenly enamored of
Hie principles of free trade. All promises made to Pennsyl-
vania, whether express or implied, are to be broken, scattered
to the wind. Those promises were to he found In every ham-
let and log cabin in Pennsylvania, in the shape of a letter writ-
ten by the Democratic candidate, if not written to deceive at
least deceiving. That letter, with all its soft and specious lan-
guage, is now to be kept in the back ground ; and when those
who read and fondly believed it now come here exercising their
sacred privilege as freemen, and lay their complaints before the
Senate that the protective system is about to be destroyed and
their daily bread taken from them, they are contemptuously
told in the columns of the Government organ that they could
not have been deceived; that no man of common sense
ever suppose that, it Mr, Polk proved successful in the con-
test, he would not adopt the principle of free trade as the lead-
ing principles of his Administration.
Hear what is said in the organ of the 17th instant. Com-
menting upon some remarks of the Senator from Massachusetts
(Mr. Wedsteh) the day before, it says
“ Mr. Webster tells us that the present Administration are
the most accomplished ‘ panic makers’ in the country. Strange
assertion, indeed, and it has no other foundation than this : that
the Administration and its real friends, and the real friends of
the country, are carrying out a reform which has long been
demanded by a suffering people, which Mr. Polk has promised
and which it was known to every man of sense in the com-
munity would be carried out by the Democratic party the mo-
ment they came into power.”
I should not refer to the language of this editor unless it had
the stamp of at least a quasi Presidential authority ; and I
think my friend from New York over the way (Mr. Dickin-
son) will agree with me that this paper is at least “a quasi
public document.” [A laugh.]
It was known, says the organ, to every man of sense that
Mr. Polk was no protective man, but, on the contrary, that he
was a free trade man. This is stultifying at one blow all De-
mocratic Pennsylvania. That is all they get for working night
and day in the good old Democratic cause. And when her
Senator comes here and presents the memorial of hundreds on
hundreds of his Democratic constituents complaining of broken
faith and violated pledges, all he gets in reply is to be told,
almost in words, upon the President’s authority, that he and
they were fools.
But to proceed. 1 carried that purchase of mine to a mixed
meeting elsewhere, and I thought it I produced it there it would
be a taking thing. Accordingly, I spread it out upon the
hustings and told the people that I got it in Pennsylvania ; but
I found it to be of no use at all. It made no impression, and
why ? The Democracy were induced to believe that “it was
a Whig trick ;” “ that it had been gotten up to deceive the
Democrats!”
And now what is the condition we are in ? I would not
speak words of provocation ; I do not speak in any offensive
sense, but only as the Senator from Mississippi (Mr. Speight)
said a few days since, in “ a legal sense.” [A laugh.]
If this tariff bill shall be passed, how will it be done ? ^ The
bill came to us last Monday week. A proposition was intro-
duced to pursue the usual course in this chamber by referring
the bill, but that motion was voted down : first, because the
Finance Committee was not full, (though it could have been
made full in five minutes ;) and, second, beeause the com-
mittee would not have sufficient time to examine it meaning,
of course, that the Senate would. What else ? A week
elapses ; the chairman of the Committee on Finance at length
appears and debates the bill with his usual ability and courtesy.
And what was the ground he assumed ? Simply this : to
show that it would raise sufficient money, and that the adop-
tion of the ad valorem principle would prevent frauds, and
would put an end to the injustice perpetrated under the former
system ; or, to use his own words, would “get clear of the
unjust, unrighteous, and villanous. principle which marked
the tariff of 1842, and every other tariff law ;” thus slander-
ing, virtually, all previous Congresses, Whig and Democratic,
from the days of Washington down. The honorable chair-
man, however, touched only on the capacity of this bill to raise
sufficient revenue, and said he would leave all the other topics
connected with it to be discussed by his friends on that side
of the chamber. I had the Senator from South Carolina (Mr.
McDuffie) in my eye. He entertains the opinion, and I
know most sincerely, that the constitutional question is the
main question involved in the bill, and I wanted to hear him
discuss it. If I could have got the floor, I meant to provoke
him to defend it. I wanted to hear him say that this
principle of free trade had been distinctly avowed by his
own favorite candidate for the Presidency. He had heard
a speech made on our side of the chamber, and made
with distinguished ability, in which the Senator from
Maine (Mr. Evans) tore to atoms all the estimates of the
chairman of the Finance Committee, so that he was com-
pelled to admit that he had been in error to tbe amount of
some two or three millions. (But, in these days, that is a
small concern.) The chairman said, indeed, it was a matter,
of little consequence ; nor did it make much difference whether
the bill would raise much money or none at all; that, accord-
ing to the modern doctrine, is a question for the Administra-
tion alone—that is their affair, not ours nor the country’s.
[speech concluded on the next page.]
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National Intelligencer. (Washington [D.C.]), Vol. 47, No. 6818, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 3, 1846, newspaper, September 3, 1846; Washington, District of Columbia. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1024867/m1/1/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .