.

SOUTH CAROLINA, March, 1831.

Dear Sir: The majority in Congress, like the satellites of Charles the Tenth, presume to think themselves fully capable of governing the people, without being called upon to answer for their errors. During their two last sessions, we were kept in anxious expectation that the Tariff, so justly termed "the bill of abominations," if not repealed in toto, would, at least, have been modified in such a manner as to afford relief to an injured people. The President, from a zealous devotion to the public interest, recommended some alterations of the law, as he wisely thought there was a necessity to repeal the obnoxious parts, which bear particularly hard on certain portions of the population of the United States; and without reference to any section of the Union, his motive was, no doubt, to benefit the poorer classes of all who are engaged in agriculture, commerce, and the mechanic trades. In his Message he expressly says: "The present Tariff taxes some of the comforts of life unnecessarily high; it undertakes to protect interests too local and minute to justify a general exaction, and it also attempts to force some kinds of manufactures for which the country is not ripe." What can be more just than these remarks? Was it not due to the feelings of this faithful friend of his country, that his advice should be received with the most prompt and respectful attention? The very reverse was the case. His prudent recommendations were criticised in the most improper manner, and rejected with contumely. The President felt it to be a duty he owed his fellow-citizens, to exercise a virtuous influence to relieve them from the burdens of taxation; for, although friendly to manufactures, he is inimical to oppression. Every part of his able Message ought to have been distinguished by a calm deliberation, and free and dignified discussion. The people of the United States are insulted when an indignity is offered to their Chief Magistrate; and of the conduct of the Committee on Manufactures they have much to complain. The intolerant spirit of a majority has been shamefully exhibited towards a numerous and highly respectable body of citizens of Philadelphia. No less than three hundred and fifty honest and laborious blacksmiths and manufacturers of hardware represented their grievances, in the most lucid, explicit, and respectful terms, to Congress, and prayed, in their petition, for a repeal of the duty on iron; but they have experienced the same disrespectful treatment as

was exhibited to the President. The enlightened men, of every age and nation, have been opposed to a Restrictive System. Washington and Jefferson were always in favor of low duties, and the words of that great and experienced statesman, General Hamilton, cannot be too often quoted. In the thirty-fifth number of the first volume of the Federalist, he expressly says: "Exhorbitant duties on imported articles serve to beget a general spirit of smuggling, which is always prejudicial to a fair trader, and, eventually, to the revenue itself: they tend to render other classes of the community tributary, in an improper degree, to the manufacturing classes, to whom they give a premature monopoly of the markets: they sometimes force industry out of its more natural channels, into others in which it flows with less advantage; and, in the last place, they oppress the merchant, who is often obliged to pay them himself, without any retribution from the consumer." No law passed by an American Congress since the Declaration of Independence, has ever operated so unfairly as this same Tariff of 1828. It fosters a vile spirit of monopoly, by protecting a very small class of the population, to the serious injury of every other: It has been made an instrument of intrigue and faction, to elevate demagouges and popularity-seekers to power: It taxes, without mercy, all the most necessary and useful articles of life imported from foreign countries, and thereby increases in price every article manufactured by the United States. No efforts have been left untried, by the advocates of the Tariff, to secure their favorite measure, and lull the people into an ignominious submission. An eminent writer has truly said, that "when the multitude are to be dealt with, there is a charm in sounds." The empty title of the "American System," can have no charm but for the vulgar ear. It has been introduced to beguile; it is plausible, and not without its effect; but it has been applied to a bad cause, which cannot be much longer sustained, unless the people are willing to relinquish their freedom, and be subservient to despotism, and a nefarious policy.

With a view to appease and divert the people, the Tariff party have circulated a rumor, that whenever the National Debt is paid, high duties will not be necessary. This is, indeed, a paltry subterfuge, worthy of the source from which it emanates. Patience is already exhausted, and no longer becomes a virtue when put to the test of such artifice. Every man of common sense in the United States must know that a sale of less than one-fourth of the public lands would extinguish the debt. It was never contemplated by those patriotic statesmen, to whom we are indebted for the Consti

tution, that duties should be levied on imported goods for the purpose of protecting domestic manufactures. The sole object was to raise a sufficient revenue, by moderate duties, to meet the exigencies of the State; and, I sincerely believe, if the Congress under the Washington Administration had attempted to force upon the people such a law as the present Tariff, it would have met a general resistance from Maine to Georgia. There was a time when men were lauded to the skies for resisting a Tea Tax, and Stamp Act; but those who ought to resist "the bill of abomination," are denounced as nullifiers," and traitors, and such like opprobrious names; but he deserves to be a slave who suffers himself to be intimidated by ribaldry and empty threats, when engaged in vindicating his own rights and those of his country. Let our adversaries, the redoubtable champions of looms and spinning-jennies, enforce submission within the walls of their manufactories, but the hardy mariners and yeomanry of America, I trust, will not much longer submit to be their dupes and pliant tools. I thank God that our cause is rapidly increasing in strength. Maine and New Hampshire-two bright stars of the East-will never be obscured by the Tariff darkness which pervades their sister States. Boston-that polished and hospitable city-contains many brave and enlightened patriots, who will assist to restore commercial prosperity, and will unite with the South in resisting tyranny. Let her worthy sons who so nobly advocate the cause of Free Trade persevere, and they will triumph. Let them show the spirit now,

that actuated their ancestors at the commencement of the American Revolution, and all will be right in spite of the puerile language, and the low vulgarity by which they have been assailed at a late election. Their cause is a righteous one, and must prevail against persecution and intolerance.

The advocates of the "American System," in order to reconcile the people to their selfish doctrine, have declared their intention of rendering the United States perfectly independent of Europe. But this, however, laudable the motives, is fully consistent with all their chimerical projects. It is very certain there is no perfect independence in commercial transactions; for interest will ever regulate men as well as nations, in their intercourse, from which mutual advantages arise. France and England draw their chief supply of cotton, rice, and tobacco, from the United States, and give us, in exchange, the articles of their manufactures we most need. It is, therefore, our interest to cultivate the most friendly and honorable understanding with these, and all other nations, by whose trade we may

benefit. It is the most egregious folly that a Government can be guilty of, to interfere with the regular and natural course of trade, by an unjust Tariff, which must, necessarily, embarrass and distress. "Honesty is surely the best policy," and all measures adopted in opposition to this maxim, will produce fraud and distrust. We have professed to act in the true spirit of liberality and justice to all nations; but since the passage of the Tariff Law of 1828, the character of the United States has much depreciated in the general estimation of foreigners, who now charge the people of America with being sordid and selfish. The present Tariff, in every feature of it, is characterized by the most flagrant violation of justice and fair dealing, particularly with regard to Holland and the free ports of Germany.

I am, dear sir, yours,

HERMANN.

SOUTH CAROLINA, March 30, 1831.

Dear Sir: You must not infer from the occasional interruption to our correspondence, that I am disposed to relax in contributing my humble efforts to aid the cause of Free Trade, which you have so ably and meritoriously sustained in your valuable paper, by sound argument and well-established facts. The champions of the American System availed themselves of our lukewarmness to propagate their doctrines among the people of those sections of the United States where they expected to make converts, either by flattering the vanity of some, gratifying the avarice of others, or exciting a spirit of hostility against the citizens of States who would not submit to be the willing dupes of a sophistry which can easily be refuted and exposed in its proper colors. You have truly observed, Mr. Editor, that "the present day may very appropriately be called a time to try men's souls," and that "this country has never been so near a political vortex as at this moment." Faction and artifice have succeeded in imposing on the freemen of this nation a burden of taxation, in the form of a Tariff Law, which, to the eternal disgrace of our Republic, has been tacitly borne, without making an efficient struggle to shake it off. It is time for the people to calculate their strength, judge for themselves, and be no longer misguided by the ambitious and mercenary views of designing and visionary men.

No stronger proof can be exhibited against the abitrary conduct of the majority in Congress, than the rejection or cold and unfriendly reception of those measures which militate against their favorite Tariff. Public opinion has been set at defiance, freedom of debate has been abused, coarse and taunting words have been utterred in place of mild and gentlemanly language, and discord has reigned, where, in the happy days of Washington, peace and liberty presided. Unjust reproaches have been heaped on the liberal party, from which not even the Chief Magistrate has been spared. His endeavor to relieve the poor from taxation, has been, in the opinions of the Tariff gentry, a most henious offence. But it is for the people to judge of the conduct of their Representatives, and determine how far they can be justified for having refused to repeal the most obnoxious parts of that law, usually termed "the bill of abominations." The President did no more than his duty, and that from the most pure and patriotic motives. He deserves well of his country. Any panegyric from my pen, on his character, would be a work of supererogation. A grateful country has rewarded his merits. Envy and calumny cannot taint his bright fame. Whilst many of his countrymen were reposing in security, he was enduring all the hardships of a military life, and fighting the battles of his country; and, in the evening of his days, he is still found devoted to her service. He lives, like the mighty oak of the forest, unscathed by time or tempest, and, when he falls, posterity will do justice to his memory.

The Committee on Manufactures appear to have been extremely sensitive whenever the Tariff question was agitated. They were violently opposed to a modification of it, sensible, as they must be, that a bad work will not bear the test of strict examination, lest it crumble into nought. They candidly acknowledge that "any change in its provisions would shake confidence in the plighted faith of Government." Let me tell these gentlemen, in the words of Mr. Jefferson, error alone needs the support of Government." Truth can stand by itself. So, forsooth, the people must do homage to this Committee, and continue to be subject to the oppressive operations of a law which the President very properly recommended should be revised, and that "each interest should be presented singly for deliberation." But they were determined not to follow his advice, convinced that a bad cause would not admit of free investigation, without undergoing a thorough reform. An attempt was made to raise the duty on salt, that most necessary article of life, but, fortu