A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents. Volume 4, part 2: John Tyler
History
A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents. Volume 4, part 2: John Tyler
Presidents -- United States; Tyler, John, 1790-1862; United States -- History -- Sources; United States -- Politics and government
3. A third objection remains to be urged, which would be sufficient in
itself to induce me to return the bill to the House with my objections.
By uniting two subjects so incongruous as tariff and distribution it
inevitably makes the fate of the one dependent upon that of the other
in future contests of party. Can anything be more fatal to the merchant
or manufacturer than such an alliance? What they most of all require
is a system of moderate duties so arranged as to withdraw the tariff
question, as far as possible, completely from the arena of political
contention. Their chief want is permanency and stability. Such an
increase of the tariff I believe to be necessary in order to meet the
economical expenditures of Government. Such an increase, made in the
spirit of moderation and judicious discrimination, would, I have no
doubt, be entirely satisfactory to the great majority of the American
people. In the way of accomplishing a measure so salutary and so
imperatively demanded by every public interest, the legislative
department will meet with a cordial cooperation on the part of the
Executive. This is all that the manufacturer can desire, and it would be
a burden readily borne by the people. But I can not too earnestly repeat
that in order to be beneficial it must be permanent, and in order to be
permanent it must command general acquiescence. But can such permanency
be justly hoped for if the tariff question be coupled with that of
distribution, as to which a serious conflict of opinion exists among the
States and the people, and which enlists in its support a bare majority,
if, indeed, there be a majority, of the two Houses of Congress? What
permanency or stability can attach to a measure which, warring upon
itself, gives away a fruitful source of revenue at the moment it
proposes a large increase of taxes on the people? Is the manufacturer
prepared to stake himself and his interests upon such an issue?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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