anomaly of a people stripped of the right to foster their own industry, and to counteract the most selfish and destructive policy which might be adopted by foreign nations. This surely cannot be the case; this indispensable power, thus surrendered by the States, must be within the scope of the authority on the subject expressly delegated to Congress. "In this conclusion, I am confirmed as well by the opinions of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Madison and Monroe, who have each repeatedly recommended the exercise of this right under the Constitution, as by the uniform practice of Congress, the continued acquiescence of the States, and the general understanding of the people." This is a substantial repetition of the argument made by Mr. Madison, upon the question of the constitutional power of Congress to protect manufacturing and other industries, differing only in the fact that it is more extended. And it is among the wonders of the present age that some modern politicians represent these distinguished men as having entertained opinions directly at variance with their express avowals; and others who assume to know far more of the Constitution and the rules which govern its interpretation, than they did. General Jackson was not what the world calls a learned man, in the sense of having acquired a large fund of information from a long course of study. The faculties of his mind were developed and strengthened by constant contact with the actual realities of life, not enervated by the pursuit after visionary theories, which men of genius sometimes follow with the same enthusiasm as children do butterflies, and with the same practical results. He had no leisure, if he had felt inclined, to pore over the pages prepared by closeted students and college professors with a view to construct the speculations of political economy, which they miscall science, as the basis for the sophistry of free trade. But he had learned the character and construction of the Constitution and Government- as he declared in his letter to the Governor of Indiana-"in the times and from the sages of the Revolution," and had drawn the inspiration of patriotism from their example. He, moreover, possessed a most exact comprehension of the use and meaning of language, and never failed, in anything that came from his pen, to convey his precise meaning and intentions, plainly and without disguise. In the foregoing extracts from his messages, he did so with such perspicuity and emphasis, as to leave no ground for cavil or doubt about his opinions upon the question of either the constitutionality or expediency of the policy of protection. And his whole argument shows how urgent he was that the Government should maintain this policy in whatsoever tariff legislation should ensue. He realized, of course, as everybody does, the difficulty of adjusting the duties upon imports so as to satisfy conflicting interests, and avoid local and sectional prejudices. As to the law then existing, he regarded its advantages and evils as both overrated. But he entirely repudiated the idea of abandoning the principle of protection. On the contrary, he endeavored to excite the patriotism of the people of every section, in behalf of their common national interests, with the evident desire that the question should rest upon national grounds. With this view, he said: "While the chief object of duties should be revenue, they may be so adjusted as to encourage manufactures. In this adjustment, how ever, it is the duty of the Government to be guided by the general good. Objects of national importance alone ought to be protected; of these, the productions of our soil, our mines, and our workshops, essential to national defense, occupy the first rank. Whatever other species of domestic industry, having the importance to which I have referred, may be expected to compete with foreign labor on equal terms, merit the same attention in a subordinate degree." And after a further discussion, intended to enforce the necessity of “adjusting the tariff with reference to its protective effect," he continued: "I am well aware that this is a subject of so much delicacy, on account of the delicate interests it involves, as to require that it should be touched with the utmost caution; and that while an abandonment of the policy in which it originated—a policy coeval with our Government, and pursued through successive administrations -is neither to be expected nor desired, the people have the right to demand, and have demanded, that it be so modified as to correct abuses and obviate injustice." He again called attention to the satisfactory condition of the finances, showing that the balance in the Treasury at the beginning of the ensuing year would be about the same as the previous year, and thus that the surplus continued to accumulate. And as the accumulation would be more rapid after the extinguishment of the public debt--which time was rapidly approaching-the condition of affairs remained as it was at the time of his first message: that is, most favorable for a strictly revenue tariff, if he had entertained any purpose whatsoever of recommending an abandonment of the protective system. But he had no such purpose. On the other hand, he did not intend to let even the inference be drawn from his silence, that he desired or would approve of any such abandonment,- for, in plain words, he said it "is neither to be expected nor desired." We find, therefore, that every President, during the whole period from the beginning of the Government under the Constitution up to December, 1830- Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, John Quincy Adams, and Jackson-was directly and explicitly committed to the support of the policy of protection. None of the light which some modern politicians think themselves wise enough to throw upon the subject, had flashed upon their minds! They were so unenlightened as to prefer the practical policy which wise statesmanship had established and experience sanctioned, to the theories of political economists, who were more adept in the art of so employing words as to make "the worse appear the better cause," than in the science of government! They, therefore, availed themselves of every proper occasion to declare during all the periods referred to, that the Government had no higher duty to discharge than to give just protection to all the diversified industrial interests of the people, so as, by that means, to develop the great natural resources of the country, and make it absolutely independent of all foreign countries, as well materially as politically. CHAPTER XXIV. SECTIONAL AROUSED INTEREST SOUTH-TARIFF OF 1828 FREE TRADE IN THE THE HE country was now approaching a time when it was destined to realize the fierceness and danger of sectional controversy. In the cotton-growing States the advocates of free trade, under the lead of the politicians of South Carolina, had succeeded in forming a party, composed of most excitable materials, in opposition to the tariff. They characterized the law of 1828 as "the bill of abominations," and insisted that if the measure of protection which it contained were persevered in, it would reduce the people of their section to the humiliating condition of "hewers of wood and drawers of water" at the feet of the Northern manufactures. Their appeals to sectional prejudices were not only earnest, but in the very highest degree inflammatory. General Jackson, however, remained undisturbed, and met the question with his ordinary courage. In his message |
