Daily National Intelligencer

THE PROPOSED NEW TARIFF
Report of the Secretary of the Treasury
(CONCLUDED.)

basis of a surrender of a part of the natural
2. The social compact is formed on the
benefit of the whole Society. The federal
all rights of individuals, for the security and
compact is formed on the basis of a surren-
der of a part of the political rights of each
state, for the benefit and security of the
whole confederation. Hence, in the attempt
"to conciliate the various national inter-
est which arise from the pursuits of agri-
culture, manufactures, trade and naviga-
tion," it is necessary to recollect, that the
common object of the nation will not inva-
riably correspond with the separate objects
of individuals, or of their professions, nor
with the local objects of the respective
states, or of the industry of their inhabi-
tants:
Providence, the territory of the United
Under the beneficent dispensations of
States produces almost all the natural fruits
of the earth; and, pursuing the subdivision
of which labor is susceptible, the citizens
of the United States are engaged in the
cultivation of almost every art and every
science, within the scope of human know-
ledge. But the fruits produced, although
they are the fruits of the nation, are not the
same in every state; and the labor employ-
ed, although it be the labor of the nation,
is employed upon very different materials,
with very different results, in the different
sections of the Union.
the national character is formed, and the
principles of general policy, by which
From these considerations are derived
the national interests are maintained. The interests of agriculture require a free and con-
stant access to a market for its staples;
and a ready supply of all the articles of use
and consumption upon reasonable terms:
but the national interest may require the
establishment of a domestic in preference
to a foreign market, and the employment
of domestic in preference to foreign labor
in furnishing the necessary supplies. And
furnish most, when foreign commerce is
the interests of foreign commerce
again, the interests of foreign commerce
are, that it should be the only medium to convey the natural pro-
ducts of the country to a market, and to
provide for all the wants of the people in
the fabrics of the manufacturer and the ar-
tist: but the national interest may require
(contemplating equally the state of peace
and the state of war) that the people should
be as independent in the resources of their
subsistence, as in the operations of their go-
vernment. It must, however, be the aim of
every just system of political economy, to
secure the national interest with as little
prejudice as possible to the peculiar inter-
ests of agriculture and of commerce.
There are few, if any, governments,
which do not regard the establishment of
domestic manufactures, as a chief object of
public policy. The United States have al-
ready so regarded it. In the earliest acts
of Congress, which were passed after the
adoption of the present constitution, the ob-
for the discharge of the public debts, is ex-
ligations of providing, by duties on imports,
pressly connected with the policy of encou-
raging manufactures: In the year 1790,
the secretary of the treasury was directed.
by the House of Representatives, to take
the subject of manufactures into considera-
tion, with a view particularly to report up-
on "the means of promoting such as would
render the United States independent of
foreign nations, for military and other es-
sential supplies. In the year 1810, the
legislature again manifested a marked soli-
citude to ascertain the progress of the na-
tional independence in manufactures, by
an enquiry into the state of the several ma-
nufacturing establishments and manufac-
tures, within the several districts, territo-
ries and divisions of the United States
combining the business of the census with
But it was, emphatically, during the pe-
rnod of the restrictive system, and of the
war, that the importance of domestic ma-
nufactures became conspicuous to the na-
tion, and made a lasting impression upon
the mind of every statesman and of every
patriot. The weapons and munitions of
war, the necessaries of clothing and the
comforts of living, were at first but scantily
provided. The American market seemed,
for a while, to be converted into a scene of
gambling and extortion; and it was not the
state of the supply and the demand, that
least of the evils generated by the unequal
-an illicit traffic with the enemy, by land and
by water, was corruptly and systematically
prosecuted, from the commencement to the
termination of hostilities.
From these circumstances of suffering
and mortification have sprung, however,
the means of future safety and independ-
ence. It has been thought, that with res-
pect to industry applied to manufactures,
as well as with respect to industry applied
to commerce, individuals should be left to
pursue their own course, untouched by the
hand of government; either to impair or to
restrain. Without examining how far this
opinion is sanctioned by experience, it is
sufficient upon the present occasion to ob-
serve, that the American manufactures
particularly those which have been intro-
duced during the restrictive system, and
the war, owe their existence exclusively to
the capital, the skill, the enterprise, and
the industry of private citizens. The de-
mands of the country, while the acquisition
of supplies from foreign nations was either
prohibited or impracticable, may have af-
forded a sufficient inducement for this in-
vestment of capital and this application of
labor; but the inducement, in its necessary
extent, must fail when the day of competition returns. Upon that change in the con-
dition of the country, the preservation of
the manufactures which private citizens,
under favorable auspices, have constituted
the property of the nation, becomes a con-
sideration of general policy, to be resolved
by a recollection of past embarrassments;
by the certainty of an increased difficulty of
reinstating, upon any emergency, the manu-
factures which shall be allowed to perish
and pass away; and by a just sense of the
influence of domestic manufactures upon the
wealth, power and independence of the go-
vernment.
The object to be encouraged and pro-
tected merits, in its intrinsic value, as well
as in its general influence, the attention of
the Legislature. From the peace of 1783,
until the year 1808, the march of domestic
manufactures was slow, but steady. It has
since been bold, rapid and firm; until, at
the present period, considering the circum-
stances of time and pressure, it has reach-
ed a station of unexampled prosperity. The
attempt, however, to obtain detailed and
accurate information upon the subject, has
only been successful, in a very limited de-
gree; and, consequently, the result must
be presented to the view of Congress, rath-
er as an outline and an estimate, than as a
complete and demonstrative statement of
facts. With this understanding, the Ame-
rican manufactures may be satisfactorily di-
vided into three principal classes; allow-
ing for such diversities of shade, as will
sometimes seem to render the classification
of particular manufactures doubtful, or ar-
bitrary: First class. Manufactures which
are firmly and permanently established:
and which wholly, or almost wholly, sup-
ply the demand for domestic use and con-
sumption. Second class Manufactures
which, being recently, or partially estab-
lished, do not at present supply the demand
for domestic use and consumption; but
which, with proper cultivation, are capable
of being matured to the whole extent of the
demand. Third class. Manufactures which
are so slightly cultivated, as to leave the
demand of the country wholly, or almost
wholly, dependant upon foreign sources for
a supply.
1st Class. In the first class, it is believed,
the following articles may be embraced:
Cabinet wares and all manufactures of
wood.
Carriages of all descriptions.
Cables and cordage.
Hats of wool, fur, leather, chip, o
straw, and straw bonnets.
Iron castings, fire and side arms, can-
non, muskets, pistols.
Window glass.
Leather, and all manufactures of leath-
er, including saddles, bridles, and
harness.
Paper of every description; blank
books.
Printing types.
2d Class. In the second class. it is be-
lieved, the following articles may be em-
braced:
Cotton goods of the coarser kinds.
Woolen goods of the coarser kinds
generally, and some of the finer
kinds.
Metal buttons.
Plated wares.
Iron manufactures of the larger kinds;
shovels, spades, axes, hoes, scythes,
&c.; nails, large and small.
Pewter, tin, copper, and brass manu-
factures.
Alum, coppers.
Spirits, beer, ale and porter.
3d Class. In the third class, it is believed
the following articles may be embraced:
Cotton manufactures of the finer kinds:
muslins, nankeens, chintzes, stained
& printed cottons of all descriptions.
Linen of all descriptions, linen cam-
brics, lawns.
Hemp en cloths, sail cloth, Russian and
German linens.
Silk goods of all descriptions.
Woolen goods of many descriptions;
worsted goods of all kinds, stuffs,
camb'ets, blankets, Carpets, and car-
peting.
Hosiery of all descriptions, including
knit or woven gloves.
Hardware and ironmongery, excepting
the large articles, cutlery, pins,
needles.
China ware, earthen ware, porcelain.
Glass of all descriptions except win-
dow glass and phials.
The matured state of the first class of ma-
nufactures, relieves the task of forming a
tariff, with respect to them, from any im-
portant difficulty. Duties might be freely
imposed upon the importation of similar
articles, amounting wholly, or nearly, to a
prohibition, without endangering a scarci-
ty in the supply; while the competition
among the domestic manufacturers alone,
would sufficiently protect the consumer
from exorbitant prices; graduating the
rates of the market generally by the stand-
ard of a fair profit, upon the capital and
labor employed. It is true, however, on
the other hand, that by imposing low duties
upon the imported articles, importation
would be encouraged, and the revenue in-
creased: but without adding to the comfort
or deducting from the expense of the con-
sumer, the consumption of the domestic
manufacture would, in an equal degree, be
diminished by that operation, and the ma-
nufacture itself might be entirely supplant-
ed. It is, therefore a question between the
gain of the revenue and the loss of the ma-
nufacture, to be decided upon principles of
national policy. Under the circumstances
of an abundant market, the interest of the
consumer must stand indifferent, whether
he price of any article be paid for the be-
nefit of the manufacturer, or of the importer:
but a wise government will, surely, deem it
better to sacrifice a portion of its revenue,
than to sacrifice those institutions which
private enterprise and wealth have connect-
ed with public prosperity and independence.
The second class of manufactures pre-
sents considerations of the most interesting,
and not of the least embarrassing, nature,
in the formation of a tariff. Some remarks
have already been made upon the danger
which at present threatens those manufac-
tures, as well as upon the policy of render-
ing them permanently beneficial to the na-
tion; for it is respectfully thought to be in
the power of the legislature, by a well-tim-
ed and well-directed patronage, to place
them, within a very limited period, upon
the footing on which the manufactures in-
cluded in the first class have been so hap-
pily placed, by the lapse of a few years,
and the perseverance of a comparatively
few individuals. The means of promoting
this great object are various; but it ap-
pears to have been the early and continued
practice and policy of the government, to
afford encouragement to domestic products
and manufactures, rather by the imposition
of protecting duties, than by the grant of
bounties and premiums; and, indeed, it is
in that course alone, that the subject pro-
perly falls within the scope of the present
report. Although some indulgence will al-
ways be required, for any attempt so to re-
alize the national independence, in the de-
partment of manufactures; the sacrifice
cannot be either great or lasting. The in-
conveniences of the day will be amply com-
pensated by future advantages. The agri-
culturalist, whose produce and whose flocks
depend for their value upon the fluctuations
of a foreign market, will have no occasion,
eventually, to regret the opportunity of a
ready sale for his wool or his cotton, in his
own neighborhood; and it will soon be un-
derstood that the success of the American
manufacture, which tends to diminish the
profit (often the excessive profit) of the im-
porter, does not necessarily add to the price
of the article in the hands of the consumer.
Assuming, therefore, the ground, that the
manufactures of the second class will be
fostered by the legislative care, the amount
of the protecting duties, and the mode of
imposing them, in order to be effectual, be-
come important considerations. It must be
agreed, upon all hands, that the amount of
the duties should be such as will enable the
manufacturer to meet the importer, in the
American market, upon equal terms of pro-
fit and loss; and that the mode of imposing
the duties should be such as to secure the
resulting competition from the influence of
clandestine or illicit practices. There still,
however, remains a diversity of opinion as
to the amount which will be competent, &
as to the mode which will be efficient; and
the aim of this report will be to strike the
medium which appears to be best establish-
ed from all the information that has been
collected.
The third class of manufactures does not
require further attention, at this time, than
to adjust the rate of duty to the amount of
revenue which it is necessary to draw from
them. They have not yet been the objects
of American capital, industry, and enter-
prise to any important degree; and the pre-
sent policy of the government is directed to
protect, and not to create manufactures.
There is, however, a distinct view of the
subject which ought not to be omitted.
Where the demand for raw materials, or
manufactured articles, in any of the depart-
ments of domestic industry is wholly, or al-
most wholly, dependent upon the supply
from foreign nations, the access to the A-
merican market should be easy, if not en-
tirely free. Acting upon this principle, it
will be proper, above all, to respect the in-
terests of ship building and navigation at a
period when the equalization of the duties
upon tonnage and merchandise, by the o-
peration of acts of Congress, and treaties,
will probably give rise to an interesting
competition between foreign vessels, and
vessels of the United States. The shipping
interest, and the manufacturing interest,
must however be reconciled; and consalt-
ing best interests, the following suggestions
are respectfully offered:
1. Imported iron cables, anchors, & bar
iron; cables, cordage, hemp, pack
thread, twine, and seines; sheet cop-
per, copper nails, and lead; so far as
they enter essentially into the construc-
tion and equipment of ships, and are no
supplied by the American manufactu-
rer, ought to be lightly taxed.
2. The case of foreign vessels employed
in bringing to the United States goods
that are not the growth or manufac-
ture of the country to which the ves-
sels belong, may furnish a proper field
for legislative regulations.
3. The case of goods imported from
countries which by law confine the car-
riage of such goods to their own ves-
sels respectively, will also furnish a
proper field for similar regulations.
The principles involved in the proposi-
tion for a new tariff, in relation to the pro-
tection of domestic manufactures, being
thus presented for consideration, the more
general principles of the system remain to
be briefly stated, in relation to the produc-
tion of the revenue—Thus:
1. Articles intended as the source of re-
venue should never be so heavily char-
ged with duties as to prevent importa-
tion, or much to diminish it.
2. Articles should never be so heavily
charged with duties as to create a temp-
tation to smuggle.
3. Articles of great size and weight, of
comparatively small value, are difficult
to be smuggled; and, other things be-
ing equal, they may be charged with
higher duties.
4. Articles of small size and great value
are easily smuggled, and must be cha-
ged with low duties, to destroy the
otherwise fatal temptation to evade the
law.
5. Articles imported to a great amount
should rather be charged with specific
duties upon their weight and meas-
ure, in order to guard against evasions
and frauds, than with ad valorem du-
ties on their value.
The difficulty of carrying the last men-
tioned rule into practice, has been found al-
most insurmountable. It has been already
intimated, that in the classification of man-
ufactures, there were several articles dif-
ferently classed, which can scarcely be dis-
tinguished from each other, & which could
not be separately described, with such dis-
tinctness and precision, as is requisite in a
tariff, to mark the line of discrimination for
different rates of specific duties. In the
cotton and woollen manufactures of the U.
nited States, for instance, there are several
kinds of goods extensively produced, whose
names are arbitrary, and continually chang-
ing; and whose texture and quality are so
various, and so easily altered or disguised
as to elude the vigilance and skill of the
custom-house. For this reason—and con-
sidering, also, that the ascertainment of
duties by the original cost of the goods, ac-
cording to their weight and measure, is
sometimes a source of vexation to the im-
porter, leading, perhaps, to great corrup-
tion in the execution of the law; the prece-
dent of the existing tariff has been generally
pursued, which subjects all goods (for exam-
ple, all cotton and woollen goods) whether
fine or coarse; and whether they are, or
are not, of the kinds manufactured in the
United States; to one common rate of du-
ty. A general description designates the
article; renders the imposition of the duty
uniform and certain, at all the ports of en-
try; and effectually guards against mis-
take or evasion.
Upon the principles, and with the views,
thus stated, the proposition for the new
tariff has been formed. The variations
from the tariff of permanent single duties
consist, principally, in the following points:
1. The rates of the duties ad valorem are
changed in number from three to eight.—
The increase of the number will not, it is
thought, be attended with any disadvan-
tage; and it will, at least, afford a better
means of ascertaining hereafter the value
of articles of different descriptions, which
are now blended in one class: as well as
the amount of the duties collected from
each description. The amount of the rates
of duties ad valorem is also changed from
12½, 15, and 20 per cent. to 7½, 15, 20, 22,
28, 30, 33 1-3, and 35 per cent.
2. The rates of the specific duties are
generally increased upon the amount of the
permanent single rates, averaging, with the
increase of the rates of duties ad valorem,
an aggregate of about 42 per cent. upon
the aggregate product of the customs, es-
timated at about 12,000,000 dollars per
annum.
3. The following articles heretofore free,
are charged with duties, to wit:
Cents.
Alum, per cwt. 200
Copperas, do. 150
Copper in sheets, rods, bolts, or nails,
per lb. 4
Gum Arabic, and Gum Senegal, ad
val. 7 pr. ct.
Mahogany, per cubic foot, 12
Tin plates per box, of 100 square feet, 150
Woods for dying.
Brazil, Braziletto, Camwood, per
ton, 600
Fustic, Logwood, do. 300
Nicaragua, do. 800
Wire, brass, ad val. 22 per cent.
4. The following articles heretofore sub-
ject to an ad valorem duty, are charged
with a specific duty, to wit:
Iron, in bars or bolts, per cwt. 75 and 150
cents.
5. The following articles, heretofore
subject to specific duties, are charged with
duties ad valorem; because the product of
the specific duties has been so inconsidera-
ble, as to render it useless to distinguish
them from the mass of articles charged
with duties ad valorem; to wit:
Cents.
Woollen or cotton cards, former duty
per doz. 50
Glauber salts, do. per cwt. 200
Hair powder, do. per lb. 4
Lime, do. casks of 60 gls. 50
Malt, do. per bushel, 10
Ochre, yellow, dry, do. per lb. 1
Do. in oil, do. do. 1½
Pewter, plates and dishes, do. do. 4
Starch, do. do.
Spanish brown, do. do.
Quicksilver, do. do. 3
3. The means of enforcing the Tariff
The means of enforcing the collection of
the duties on imports, or in other words
the means of preventing or detecting frauds
upon the revenue, require a prompt, ener-
getic, and steady attention. The remedies
to be provided for the existing defects
should be particularly applied, 1st, to guard
against smuggling, by the clandestine intro-
duction of merchandise, without report, en-
try, or permit; 2d, to guard against smug-
gling, in the case of duties ad valorem, by
fraudulent entries of merchandise upon
fictitious invoices; 3d, to guard against
smuggling, in the case of specific duties,
by fraudulent entries of merchandise upon
false statements of the weight, or the mea-
sure; and 4th, to guard against smuggling,
by clandestinely relanding merchandise ex-
ported with the benefit of drawback, or by
fraudulently obtaining debentures for duties
on merchandise exported in cases that are
not entitled to the benefit. The details ne-
cessary to give effect to a system embrac-
ing these objects, must unavoidably be
postponed until the sense of congress shall
be ascertained; but it is proper at this
time to bring distinctly into view the es-
sential features of the system. In addition,
therefore, to the provisions contained in the
laws which now regulate the collection of
duties on imports and tonnage, the follow-
ing propositions are respectfully suggested:
1. That a competent judicial authority be
provided to take cognizance of all
suits, prosecutions, informations, and
libels, for debts, fines, penalties, and
forfeitures, arising and accruing under
the laws of the United States: a pro-
vision rendered indispensable by late
decisions of some of the State courts
declining such cognizance, in certain
cases.
2. That a more competent provision be
made for the employment of custom
house officers, cutters, and barges.
3. That an adequate fund be created and
set apart for the creation of custom-
houses, warehouses and stores, at the
principal ports of entry: a fund to be
created, first, by retaining an addition-
al amount of the duties, in cases of ex-
portation for the benefit of drawback:
and, secondly, by imposing a small
duty, to be called "warehouse money,"
upon every permit for unlading mer-
chandise.
4. That provision be made to enforce more
effectually the duty of reporting and en-
tries vessels, and exhibiting manifests
of their cargoes, upon their arrival in any
port of the United States; and to abolish
the privilege of making port entries.
5. That provision be made to guard more
effectually against imposition under pre-
tence that vessels arrive in distress, that
goods are damaged, and that invoices are
lost.
6. That provision be made to place all the
avenues to the cargoes of vessels, before
unlading, under the seal of the custom
house, and to keep the same more effectu-
ally in the charge of the inspectors, while
unlading.
7. That provision be made, that all invoi-
ces upon which entries may be effected
shall be endorsed by the American consul,
by a notary public, or by some other trust-
worthy agent, or officer, to be designated
by law, at the place of exportation, certi-
fying the merchandise to be priced "at
the then current market price;" that en-
tries shall only be permitted upon invoices
so endorsed; and that the invoices shall
be conspicuously stamped, with the seal
of the custom-house, at the time of entry
8. That provision be made authoriz.ng the
collectors, in all cases of suspicion, to add
to the invoice price of the merchandise
ten per cent. beyond the addition now pre-
scribed; and if the importer refuse to pay
duties on that amount, then either to take
the merchandise on account of the United
States, at the additional price, or to per-
mit an entry upon the original invoice.
9. That provision be made, that in all cases
the custom house officers shall send mer-
chandise imported to the public stores for
examination; and that they shall be there
compared with the invoice, identified as
to the kind and quality, ascertained as to
the weight and measure, and estimated as
to the value.
10. That provision be made, requiring from
the person who offers to enter merchandise
a declaration, whether he acts as owner,
consignee, or agent; and whether he has
been instructed, after entry, to hold the
merchandise to the order of the shipper;
in which last-mentioned case, the collect-
or may be authorized to suspend the entry
until the shipper, or the person having
an order from him, appear to make it.
11. That provision be made, requiring the
seal of the custom-house to be stamped
upon all the original packages, &c. of mer-
chandise entered for exportation, and
with the benefit of drawback: which
shall remain entire at the time of exporta-
tion, and which shall be certified by the
consul, or other proper person, to remain
entire at the foreign place of landing, in
order to discharge the debenture bond
12. That provision be made more effectually
to secure the revenue from fraud and im-
position, in the transportation of merchan-
dise from district to district, and general-
ly in carrying on the coasting trade.
13. That provision be made more effectually
to secure the revenue from fraud and im-
position, in making out invoices in the mo-
ey of foreign countries; particularly of
such countries as employ a paper currency.
But while these suggestions are offered to
guard the collection of the revenue, and to se-
cure to the manufacturer the full benefit of the
protecting duties, it must be recollected, that
there are some provisions in the existing laws
which require to be modified, in behalf of the
merchant.
For instance.
1. The time allowed by law to complete the
export entries, for the benefit of drawback.
is only ten days; and if not completed
within that time the whole amount of the
drawback is forfeited. The period should
be extended, and the penalty for non-com-
pliance should be reduced.
2. The right to export merchandise, with the
benefit of drawback, ceases at the expir-
ation of a year. The period might, with-
out injury to the revenue, be enlarged.
3. The period allowed for making a return of
damaged goods, with a view to a corres-
pondent abatement of the duties, is limited
to ten days; and the importer is some-
times charged with the whole duties on
perishable articles, under the present res-
trictions, after the articles have perished,
or are greatly decayed. A discretion should
be confided to the proper officer, to make
a proper abatement of the duties in both
cases, upon satisfactory proof of their ex-
istence.
(The remainder of the report is already published.)