=332. Political Factions and the Tariff of 1824.=—The fight over Missouri was not the only indication that the Era of Good Feeling was to be of short duration. Politics throughout the country were becoming personal in character and therefore more or less petty. The influence of the Revolutionary statesmen was waning, in spite of the prestige of survivors like John Adams and Jefferson. The right to vote no longer depended in the main upon the possession of property, as had been the case when the Union was formed, but was being extended to all male citizens of the age of twenty-one. This extension of the franchise was largely due to the example set by the new Western states, which were naturally far more democratic than the older commonwealths. As a result, political tricksters were fast controlling the vote of the masses. Offices were being given for political services, and congressional caucuses and state cliques were dictating nominations. The nominating convention, with its opportunities for “wire-pulling” and its aptitude for selecting compromise candidates, was also coming into vogue in state politics, and political clubs, like the “Tammany Society” of New York, were beginning their sinister work. Under these circumstances it is no wonder that, as the tariff of 1816 was not sufficient for their purposes, the manufacturers of the Middle states and New England should have endeavored to obtain legislation of a more decidedly protective character. Aided by the West, which believed with Clay in creating “a home market” and thus adhering to a truly “American policy,” they succeeded, in 1824, against the wishes of the South, in passing a tariff act with higher duties, especially on wool, woolens, cotton goods, iron, and hemp. They had nearly succeeded in 1820 in carrying their point. Now, on the eve of an election, the politicians who were supporting the various Presidential candidates were afraid to risk votes by opposing such strong financial interests, and three sections[145] were in any case stronger than one. But the passage of such an act under such circumstances was sure to give trouble, for although in theory designed for the good of the nation, protection really involved financial loss to one section, the South, which, as a whole, did not yet realize the fact, but was beginning to do so. [Illustration: JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.]