ON THE COMPROMISE TARIFF.IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, FEBRUARY 18, 1842.[MR.CLAY, in presenting a memorial from citizens of Pennsylvania, in relation to the tariff, and in opposition to the tariff act, took occasion, as requested by the memorialists, to express his views in regard to the subject, briefly, as follows.]TWOmotives had operated on my mind, and I believe on the minds of others, to induce them to concur in the passage of the law, (of 1833.) The first was, to avert the calamity of civil war, the fire of which having been lighted up in South Carolina, threatened to extend its flames over the whole union; the second was, to preserve from utter destruction the system of protection which Pennsylvania favored, when the law was passed; and I will repeat here, although it will not be long before I shall have an opportunity to go into an examination of the whole subject, that if the compromise act had not been adopted, the whole system of protection would have been swept by the board, by the preponderating influence of the illustrious man then at the head of the government, (general Jackson,) at the very next session after its enactment. With regard to the operation of this act, it is a great mistake to say, that any portion of the embarrassments of the country has resulted from it. Other causes have contributed to this result, and it is to be attributed to the experiments which have been made upon the currency. The embarrassments are also to be attributed to the action of the states, which, by plunging into schemes of internal improvement, have contracted debts abroad, and thereby given a false and fictitious appearance to the prosperity of the country; and when their bonds depreciated, the evils under which they now suffer, as a consequence, ensued. As to the compromise, I have already said, that it is my purpose, as long as I shall remain in the senate, to maintain, that the original principles of the act should be carried out faithfully and honestly; and if, in providing for an adequate revenue for an economical administration of the government, they can at the same time afford incidental protection, I shall be happy if both of these objects can be accomplished; but if it should be necessary,for the interests of Pennsylvania, to go beyond a revenue tariff, for the purpose of obtaining protection, then I hope that every senator and representative from that state, and those of other states, and other interests, who think it necessary to transcend the revenue, will take up this subject of protection, and carry it to the point which their local interests demand.In reply toMr.Calhoun,Mr.Clay combated the idea of that senator, that the tariff had created the embarrassments which had existed for a long time in the country. He referred the senator to the discussions upon the tariff acts, for the purpose of showing that the reverse was true. If the senator would look to the tariff acts of 1824, ’28, ’32, and the compromise act of 1833, he would find that the revenues of the country had never been more from these acts, than the expenditures of government. The whole surplus revenue, about which so much had been heard, and which was attributed to the protective policy, originated exclusively in the extensive land sales, which had swelled in one year to the enormous amount of twenty-six millions of dollars. These excessive sales alone, had exceeded the amount of the surplus revenue which had ever been brought into the treasury.Hereafter, I shall be able to show, that it will be impossible to stand by the twenty per centum, even by withdrawing the whole of the land fund from its appropriated purpose of distribution, and placing it in the treasury.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, FEBRUARY 18, 1842.
[MR.CLAY, in presenting a memorial from citizens of Pennsylvania, in relation to the tariff, and in opposition to the tariff act, took occasion, as requested by the memorialists, to express his views in regard to the subject, briefly, as follows.]
TWOmotives had operated on my mind, and I believe on the minds of others, to induce them to concur in the passage of the law, (of 1833.) The first was, to avert the calamity of civil war, the fire of which having been lighted up in South Carolina, threatened to extend its flames over the whole union; the second was, to preserve from utter destruction the system of protection which Pennsylvania favored, when the law was passed; and I will repeat here, although it will not be long before I shall have an opportunity to go into an examination of the whole subject, that if the compromise act had not been adopted, the whole system of protection would have been swept by the board, by the preponderating influence of the illustrious man then at the head of the government, (general Jackson,) at the very next session after its enactment. With regard to the operation of this act, it is a great mistake to say, that any portion of the embarrassments of the country has resulted from it. Other causes have contributed to this result, and it is to be attributed to the experiments which have been made upon the currency. The embarrassments are also to be attributed to the action of the states, which, by plunging into schemes of internal improvement, have contracted debts abroad, and thereby given a false and fictitious appearance to the prosperity of the country; and when their bonds depreciated, the evils under which they now suffer, as a consequence, ensued. As to the compromise, I have already said, that it is my purpose, as long as I shall remain in the senate, to maintain, that the original principles of the act should be carried out faithfully and honestly; and if, in providing for an adequate revenue for an economical administration of the government, they can at the same time afford incidental protection, I shall be happy if both of these objects can be accomplished; but if it should be necessary,for the interests of Pennsylvania, to go beyond a revenue tariff, for the purpose of obtaining protection, then I hope that every senator and representative from that state, and those of other states, and other interests, who think it necessary to transcend the revenue, will take up this subject of protection, and carry it to the point which their local interests demand.
In reply toMr.Calhoun,Mr.Clay combated the idea of that senator, that the tariff had created the embarrassments which had existed for a long time in the country. He referred the senator to the discussions upon the tariff acts, for the purpose of showing that the reverse was true. If the senator would look to the tariff acts of 1824, ’28, ’32, and the compromise act of 1833, he would find that the revenues of the country had never been more from these acts, than the expenditures of government. The whole surplus revenue, about which so much had been heard, and which was attributed to the protective policy, originated exclusively in the extensive land sales, which had swelled in one year to the enormous amount of twenty-six millions of dollars. These excessive sales alone, had exceeded the amount of the surplus revenue which had ever been brought into the treasury.
Hereafter, I shall be able to show, that it will be impossible to stand by the twenty per centum, even by withdrawing the whole of the land fund from its appropriated purpose of distribution, and placing it in the treasury.