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OLD SERIES, VOL. LX
the CHRONICLE & SENTINEL
igPVBLISHBD DAILY, TRI-WEEKI.V, AND WEEKLY
BY .1 . W. & W. S. JONES.
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dIUGUST.I, G. J.:
THURSDAY MORNING, DEC. 17, 1816
Annual i ueasuuy Report.-We commence
to-day, and shall conclude to morrow, the An
nual Report ot Mr. Secretary Walker. Like
its predecessor ot last year, this document con
tains nil the stale and oft-refuted arguments ot
its author in favor of free trade, and the conse
quent Uierctrom. We have
not space to-day to notice it further.
■ TUeJi&porb h " ill be seen, recdfiTniends the
imposition ot a duty ot twenty-five per cent, on
Tea and C flee. So that if lie Secretary’s
suggestions be adoptrd by Congress, the democ
racy of Georgia may enjoy th? high gratifica
tion of i-.txtir i.lling up n "Walker’s Coffee"
which will, doubdesr, be less nauseating to
them than was ‘•liawson's Coffee" in 1811
Vio'ation of the Sovereignty of a State.
Mr. Polk says in his Message:
“ The Congres. of Texas, on the nineteenth
of December, 1836, passed *■ an ai t to define
the boundaries ot the Republic nt Texas," in
which they declared the Rio Grande,/rem tZs
mouth-tv Us source, to be their boundary, and by
the said act they extended their “civil and po
litical jurisdiction” over the country up to that
boundary."
He then goes on to try and make it appear,
that this pretension of Texas, was made good
by her acts, and says:
“ This was the Texas which, by the act of
our Congress of the twenty ninth of December,
1816, was admitted as one of the Slates of our
Union.”
Now, if anyone will cast his eye upon the
map ot Mexico and Texas, he will find by
tracing the Rio Grande "front its mouth. to ils
source" that Santa Fe, lately taken by General
Kearney, is east of the Rio Grande, and conse
quently, according to the Texan Congress and
Mr. Polk, was a part of I'exas. Not only Santa
Fe, but Taos, Albuquerke and a number of
other Mexican towns, will be found on the east
of that river, which, according to the Message,
is the western boundary of Texas.
Hou happens it that Gen. Kearney was or
dered to march upon Santa Fe, in Mexico, il
that town was a part of Texas ? Or, how hap
pens il, that all that country, east ot the Rio
Grande, as well as the rest of New Mexico, has
been annexed to the United States by General
Kearney, acting under the direction of Mr.
Polk? I low couhltl he annexed to this country,
if it was already annexed? What right!.r.d Mr.
Polk to infringe upon the rightsof the sovereign
Stale of Texas in that way, <7 Santa Pc ti’.z? a
part, of its territory ?
One of two things must be true, cither Santa
Fe and all that section of country cast ot the
Rm* Gam I-. <t> I« ■/ ■ Gr, r- . . ,
<n<t, ivir. rowms rn the mast unwarrantable
manner, permitted a sovereign State lobe dis
membered and established a portion of it into a
officers appointed over it. Il the" first is true,
Mr. Polk stands convicted of aggression on
Mexico, if the latter is true he has been guilty
of dismembering a sovereign State with
out its consent, and in utter violation of the
Constitution and the laws.
How will his friends relieve him from the
dilemma? liar he an advocate here, who can
come forward to his relief and successfully de
fend him?
Is tie not caught in a net which lu* has woven
for himself, and does he not stand wofullv in need
o! the aid an 1 sympathy of* his triends? They
may sympathise with him. but they cannot aid
him.
Suppression of Documents.
The facts us the case referred to, in the fol
lowing, which we copy from the Baltimore Pa
triot, are ot too much importance, and two se
rious a nature, not to be called for and fully in
vestigated. If they are true, they present the
conduct of the President in a still more discre
ditable light.
Correspondence cf Me Baltimore Patriot.
Washington, Dec. 10, 1816.
When the bill sanctioning the war with Mex
ico was before the Senate at the last session of
Congress, Mr. Calhoun was reported to have
said mat he would sooner plunge a dagger to
his heart than vote for it, with the information
which he possessed!
What was that information ? I have it from
reliable au.hority, that, a correspondence of an
important nature, in this connection. has been
suppressed by the Executive from the Legisla
tive department of the Government, and is now
on the files of the State Department.
This correspondence shows, that before cur
army was ordered to proceed from the Nueces
<o the Rio Grande, by Mr. Polk, a letter, or di
rection, was sent by the Mexican President,
Herrera, to th? General commanding the Mex
ican Armv of the Noith, Arista, to propose to
General Taylor ofthe American army, tha‘ the
lorcjsofthe two nations should keep entirely
suit <4 the disputed territory between the Nueces
<ind tin* Grande del N >rle—that this proposition
was made accordingly, and that it was forward
ed by General Taviorio the President ot th?
United States. The document was kept in si
lence in the State Department, and not commu
nicated to Congress. At the same time that the
President kept this important prupusitlit n trunr
Congress, he, without condescending to consult
Congress, orders our armv to take possession of
this lispnied territory! This, lam credibly in
formed, i* the truth o* the case. Was it a know
ledge ot this important fact, that caused Mr.
Calhoun to express himself so emphatically ns
he did at the time alluded to? Perhaps the
tacts in the case will be called for by resolution
_fCongress. Nous vtrrons.
Can anv one conceive ot any good reason
why the President should have withheld the
letter, if such a one had been received ? Noth
ing of a public interest required it. But this
tetter would have shown from an official source
that the Mexicans were desirous of peace and
indisposed to war, and that would not have
been compatible with the schemes which Mr.
Polk had in view! Hence the document was,
(if the correspondent pf the Baltimore Patriot is
not misinformed) kept back from the Represen
tatives us the people.
This we suppose is a little more of the new
light ot Democracy in its delectable “progres
sions.”
Ihoin th ? lln ion of Sll u rd. iy n i ’dp.
Official Intelligence.
Major Turnbull, of this citv, Captain J. E.
Johnston, Lieut. Scammon, Lieut. Derby, and
Lieu:. Hardcastle—all officers ot the Corps ol
I‘opogranhical E igine*rs—wi.l leave Wash
ington to mm low morning lor the army of the
west. The} will travel the national road,de
scended the river, and expect to join General
Scott at Braz >s Santiago.
Knm »r of Another Revolution in Mexico.
‘‘ MOB 11. E, DE C EMB ERS, 1S 16.
“Extract ot a letter from an Olficer of the
Army to Washington. The news from Mexi
co shows that country in an awful state ot anar
chy. Sama Anna Ir.s gone back tn Mexico,
and there are only 16 00.) disaffected, half
starved troops al Potosi. Gen. Taylor ought
to be there now with 9,000 or 10.000 troops. It
is said Herrera will be elected President, and
in that event peace will b? certain.”
[We stop here. The other p uts of the let
ter are very interesting. Tney recommend some
plans ot operations for carrying on the war, and
the occup.ui >n of important strongholds as the
best guaranty for peace. But we decline de
tailing them, though they are characterized by
great promn’ness us movement and energy of
action ]
REPORT OX THE FINANCE! I '.
Tkeamry Department, Dec.!), 181(1.
In obedience u> the “act supplcm;*niaiy to
the act toesiablisJi the Tieasury Department,”
she undeisigned lespectlully submits the fol
lowing rt-poH: .
I lie receipt an I expenditures for the fiscal
year ending 30ihJ;me, 1816, were as 10l
1 iws:
RECEIPTS AND MiIANS.
From casfnins $26,712 (> ~87
F. nin sales of public 1and52,691.4'.' 1<
From irmcellaneoussources 92,'2C. 71
Total receiptss29,l99,2l7 06
Add balance in the Treasury Ist Ju y. 7,6"»8,3C6 22
Tot.il means 575 '2>
to u'>“ Mi'n 1'.Y.'.?'.!))',11 ISO
Leaving ;» balance in the Treasury on lhe
l'i July. Wifi. (as inpt ais in detail by ac-
c.H.ipauyif.g s atement A )019.12C.439 OS
The climated receipts anti expenditures tor
the ii-cal year ending 30;h June, 1817. areas
follows:
RECEIPTS. 1 IZ.
From customs. Ist quarter, by actual re-
turns ot the c011ect0r556,153.8.6 33
For the 2d. 3d, and 4«h quarters, as estim i-
tci |21,631,904 6?
Total t’r.>m customs.’27.‘•3s,7.’• I t'O
From sales of public lands 3.400.000 (Ml
From misvellantoiissources.. 100,000 00
From Treasury notes, updry the
ai tof 2M July, IHIG «-..n00.0D0 JO
From loan under the same act. 5,000,000 00
Avd balance in lheTreasury Ist .Inly, 1846. 9,126,439 ()>
Tola! means as estimatedsso,462,l7o IB
EXPENDITURES. VIZ :
1 \Tie 7sVquar| X eG ’ enduig’3o?h
Sep embrr. 1816. (as appeals
in detail by the accompany-
ing st.i emeni B ) am’nt to. 14,055.C6l i.7
The eslim <ted expendi ures lor
the public sei vice dui mg she
L’.’oct ! H46*! to Mth June,
1847, aie as follows, viz :
Civil list, foreign intercourse
and miscellaneous pin poses 5,310,022 61
Army proper, including volun-
teers 19 579,137 HI
Fortifications, oidnance, arm
ing militia. &c 2 :'71.7G3 38
Indian Dep.titment 1.643.772 H
Pensions 1,498,612 62
Ticrsury noses 1,1i36,9c6 82
|’m n <0 * HI. .7.T. ?\ ?. 3,010 00
outstanding and payable
ulien piesented 430.183 97
Naval establishment 9 278,771 !•
’55,211,21269
Excess nf expenditures over
m.-atts Ist July, 18174,/r9,(42 01
The estimated receipts, means and expendi
ture- I t lhe fiscal year commencing the is'. Ju
ly, 1817; ar«d ending 30ih June, 1818, are as
lui!uus,'viz:
From customs for lhe four quar teis... .$28,000.t!00 00
From sale' of public lands3.9)o.oiio 00
From miscellair: ous sources 100,000 00
Total revenues32,6<>o 000 00
Deduct deficit o’.’lst July’, 1847 1,779012 01
Total m ansfor the service of the fiscal
year ending June3oih, 1818527,220,957 99
EXPENDITURES.
The expenditures duimg the same period, as
estimated by ihe several Departments of Stax-,
Treasury, War, Navy, and Postmaster Gene
ral, viz:’
The balances of former appropriation-
which will be required Io t>e expended
• In yen 721 281 31
Permanent and indefinite appropt lattons. 3,340.111 72
Specific appropriations asked tor this year. 11,717,355 48
Total estimated expenditure#ls,7Bl,7Bl 51
'I his sum is composed ot lhe following par
ticulars :
Civil list, foreign intercourse, and misccl-
I,menus ? $6,011,399 SO
Army proper 6,370.21 J 25
Volumec-r517,932,331 00
Fortifications, ordnance, arming mtli-
, ia &,.1,672,165 00
Pc unions 2.10 <690 00
Indian Depaitmenl 1,216,913 00
Interest on public debt,.l 1,-1O J ,311 72
$15,781,784 51
Deduct tolal means lor the st t vice ot the
ft ..t r «.r «■>. G. .1 she -tn, ,,cr. DU
Excess oFexpenditutes over means Ist Ju-
ly, ; i;518,5«0,526 .'2
This excess is based on the assumption that
the hole amount of five millions is outstand
ing ol Treasury notes authorized by the act of
22d July, 1816, under a renewed authority now
requested to be conferred by Congress to issue
the same; but as the whole amount cannot be
outstanding at the same time, on account of the
number of notes cancelled before a new note is
issued, the excess of expenditures over means,
on the Ist of July, 1848, should be estimated at
nineteen millionsx)f dollars, which will cover
all expenditures, including that of the war. if
continued up to that date.
It is important at all times, as shown by uni
form experience, but especially in a period ol
war, to Keep a balance of at least four millions
ol dollars in the Treasury, in order io supply
midland branch mints with bullion for coinage
and foreign coin for lecoinagc, as also to be
enabled at all times to pay the public creditors
ai every point, both in and out of the country,
with punctuality and dispatch. Although,
then, the actual deficit on the 30th <4 June,
IBH, not exceed nineteen millions of
dollars, the necessity id having a surplus of
lour millions in the Treasury at all times re
quires that a loan of twenty-three millions
snould be authorized, unless additional revenue
is raised by some new provision ol law. As
one id the means of augmenting the revenue,
it is propi sed that Congress shall authorize a
duty of twenty-five pcrctnt. on tea and coffee,
which it is estimated would reduce the loan re
q tired to nineteen millions of dollars.
Annex- <l, marked C. is a table id’ the imports
of tea consumed in the United Stales, and also
ol coflee, from 1821 to 1816. Il will be per
ceived that the imports ol tea, b ing 16.891,020
pounds, consumed in the United Stales lor the
last li<cal year, amounted to the value <d
$3 9*3 337, and of coffee, being 124.336 051
pounds, being of the value of $7,802,891,
making an aggregate ol $ 11,786,231, a duty ol
twenty-five p r cent, on which would yield an
anr. na I re venue of 5'2.916 557,75. Afler ma k
ing a full allowance for decreased consumption
on account ol the duties, the additional annual
revenue I’n m ihi* source might safely be esti
mated at 82 500,000.
'i'iiiu doty, ho wever, would be rendered nuga
tory, in part, /or several years, unless it were
imposed during a very early period of the
session, and to go into effect at a time not
later, if possible, than the !<t of January next
Between that date and some time eat Her in the
spring, large importations ot tea, and to come
extent of coffee, ar * brought into the country,
and oight to be subjected to the duly, in order
that revenue should be raised from such imports.
It this is not done, and the duly is to go into
operation at a much later period, the tax will
operate as an enhanced price to the consumer,
without producing a correspondent revenue.
I‘he stock now on hand, and that would Le im
ported forthwith, namely, ol cutlee from Cuba
and St. Domingo, and .some other ports, andol
tea in part Irom the bonded warehouses ot
Europe, coming in free of duly in anticipation
of the law, would contribute nothing to the
revenue of the country, whilst the pt ice or (he
slock on hand here, as well as that thus brought
in free of duty, would be augmented nearly in
the same proportion as it the duly had actually
gone at ( nee into effect. A delay, then, in im
posing this duly on tea and coffee, whilst ii
would tax the consumer lor several years nearly
as much as if the duty was imposed at once,
would, during that whole period, bring very
little revenue into the Treasury. Such a delay,
then, would only enable a lew individuls to
amass large fortunes at the expense i f the
people. Such has been the alm >st uniform ef
fect of the postponement of the operation ot
laws imposing new or additional duties, 1
which the examples arc numerous under the
tariff of 1842, as also preceding laws. The
ieduction of the loan from twenty-three to
nineteen millions, together with the imposition
of this duty on tea and codec, towards meeting
the payment, will, it is conceived, make a dif
ference in the terms on which the loan can be
effected, which, in the period of twenty years,
would save a large amount of the tax to the
people of the United States; whereas, if no
Mich duty is imposed, and, as a consequence, a
loan fora sum so large as twenty-three millions,
without this ad litiema! revenue, must b? made
during a period of war, uncertain in itsduraiion,
and attended with heavy expenditures, judging
of the future by the past, the Government may
be s ibjeeted to a serious loss in negotiating the
loan, or involved in embarrass nents alike in
j minus to the credit and honor ol th’country.
In negotiating far so large a sum as nineteen
or t.venty-three millions in time of war, with
I heavy expenditures, uncertain in their duration,
all experience at home and abroad/proves that
a loan lor a long term will save a large amount
I to the Treasury, compared with one ol shorter
| date; and it is believed that in this case the
loan should be for a period ol twenty years, rc
| serving the power conferred by existing laws.
I to purchase the stuck at the market price at any
1 prior date, when our means may permit, so that
thedrbt may be extinguished as soon as possi
. ble, and long before its maturity, if practicable.
* The »u»n ot S*3O.GOU for supplying deficiencies ol
I revenue irom postage, and tlso SXM.iKk) for postages of
i (’ongre-s and of lhe Executive Departments, are in
j eluded in the above sum.
I ♦ The sum cf S's|.iHlo for supplying deficiency in
| revenue f; o.n pn»uge». 5275.1XW lor p.stages of Con-
I gtess and Executive oflicers, and sll' 75.) ot the dehl
| Assaulted by the Hailed States for the ciues of the die-
I triciut Cj ’imbia. are included in the above sum.
Iti this wav, nntiut oi Unary ciicumstanccs lhe
•tdvamages ola long and short loan aie, losi mc
ex’er.t e.nnbined. Th<- first half <>f the loan
sh-'tii !, it i> thought, tu? negotiated tally in :!'■■?
sptine, payments bemg tequired only as the
money' mav lie needed; and the remaim! it
wants.', should be negotiated some time during
the succeeding summer or tall, payments only
to be made also in th:', case as the money may
I required, s . that no larger stun may be bor
rowed, in any event, than may be demanded by
lhe wanisot lhe governiuent.
Incompliance with lhe proviso of the first
section o! lhe 10 h ot August lasi, a lull slate
men t is herewi.h communicated (marked D)
of all Tteasiiry notes paid under th? provisions
of that art, amounting on the first of this mom.h
io 917 116 31
Table E, hereto annexed,showstl epayments
made since lhe lih oi March, 1815,0 t lhe prin
cipal and imerest of the up to the
first of lhe piesent monih The ainom.t cl
ptinctpal thus pai-i was^-t. 680.605 0’?, and of
interest $1 528,042 62; making ar. aggregate of
public (h-b' pa;’l sir.- e lhe 4 h oi t \larch, 1845,
o! $3 208 617 61, of which (except lhe sum o;
$513,600) me whole atnoun: consisted of debl,
or interest upund- bf, incurred before the 4 h of
March, 1815.
Siatement F, herein annexed, shows lhe
amount ot Treasury notes issued under lhepro
visions ot the act of the 22J July last, being a
t< lal of S 3 853J0Q,; oi which ’ lhe amuiiui. oi
§1,766,450 bore an interest (done mill
on every *»ne hundred dollars, and $2 086 650,
an interest of five and two-filihs per cem. p< r
at: num.
In ihe same statement will be found the
amount pai l into ihe Treasni j' on account oi
the live millions loan, which in pursuance of
public notice heieio annexed,(marked Ff,) was
negoiiated at six per cent interest, under lhe act
oi the 22.1 id July last, either at par, or, as was
lhe case tor a small portion, above par. The
sum paid and enteicd on the books oi lhe Regis
ter <1 the'l’rensury was, on the Ist December
last,s-3,461,600 The payments are slid pro
gre-sing, the slock bearing interest only from
lhe date of ihe actual depo'ite of the money in
the Treasury.
In the same table will be found a statement of
the public debl of every desciiplion, prircipa!
and interest, due by lhe United Slates, including
loans, Treasury notes, &e. amounting, on the
Ist December la-t, to §24,256.491 60, ofwhich
$‘17,783,799 62 was conltacled hclme the 4:h
March, 1845; leaving the whole debt incurred
since that date s>6 167,694 98, embracing $320,-
000 of ihe Mexican treaty indemnity debt as
sumed bv Congress at iis last session.
At lhe dale of ihe repeal of liie Tariff of 1812
ihe revenue was declining 'The receipts under
il info ihe Treasury were less by the stun ol
$815,444 83 during the last fiscal year, leimi
nating on the 30'h June, 1816, than the receipts
during the li-cal year ending on lhe 30di June,
1815. That ihis f!«?c!ine was p:«.grt-.-.ive, and
arose from lhe prohibitory character of lhecpeci
fie duties is proved by rhe table hereto annexed,
(marked G) from which it appears that lor lhe
fiscal year ending on ihe 30ih June, 1814, the
excess of revenue produced by specific over .ad
valorem duties was §81,860 74; whereas, dur
ing the fiscal year ending 30m June, IBls~jh ■
ad valorem ex< ceded ihe specific duties $>1,737,-
379 57, and during the last fiscal year ilm ad
valorem exceeded the specific duties .$2,663 533
91. As the specific duties, in their practical
operation, were becoming every day more pro
hibitory, the revenue under the Tarifi ol 1812
must have continued to sink so rapi lly as soon
to have caused a great deficit, even in lime of
piace, and thus have required ultimately a re
sort to direct taxes or excises to support lhe
govci nment.
The duties collected at the ports of Balti
more, Philadelphia, and New Y.uk, during the
first live days «»t December, 1816, under Ihe
new tariff, amount t 05116802 97; an.l,dur
ing the fust five da vs < I December, 1815, un
der the old tariff, to 5208.371 50. This rate of
augmentation, it is not supposed will continue;
but that the revenue from duties this year will
reach the amount estimated now, and in my
repm i to the Senate of the 16th July last, at $27,-
835,731. is, lor the reasons (herein staled, fully
believed.
Herewiih arc transmitted the regulation-,
marked H, adopted by this Department ia <. L,c
of August last I ,' establishing the constitutional
Treasury. Il will de perceived, by reference
to the instructions, that this Dcpailment has
proceeded to cany into lull effect the intentions
ot Congress in the inactment of this law, and
the rules established in relation to Treasury
drafts have rendered it impossible that they can
ever be con verted into a circulating medium.
The bill, however, is defective in some of its
details. No appropriation is made by the law
for the payment of the salaries ofthe assistant
treasurers, or the additional salaries of the
treasurers, of the mint, nor for the compensa
tion o! the examining agents authorized by the
law. and whose services are so necessary un
der’its provisions fur the security ol the pub
licmoney. The provision for incidental ex
penses is wholly inadequate. The number of
clerks, also, is insufficient to transact the pub
lic business under the ptovisioiis of this law,
and, it is thought, ought to be augmented from
ten to twenty, more than five times the latter
number having been required to transact the
same business when these moneys weie kept,
transferred, and disbursed by the banks. No
adequate security is pruvi led by law lor the se
curity of the public money in the hands of dis
bursing agents ; and whilst transfers are re
quired to be made from place to ’.dace ol specie,
no appropriation is made by this law to pay the
expenses A these trans.'ers, or to enable dis
bursing agents to pay the public creditors al all
limes and places with punctuality and despatch.
The powers of the Department i:j relation to
that portion of the public moneys which must be
paid on the other side of the Atlantic, or in any
foreign country, through the medium ol agen
cies existing, or to be created there, an t by the
operation ui foreign bi Is ol exchange, are not
sufficiently defined by law. This authority,
which experience has shown to be necessary
at ail limes, is now rendered of the highest im
port r. nee by the payments and disbursements
required to be made in so many portions of the
Republic of Mexico, and many of them so dis
tant from any depository. The great object
in these cases would nut be to circulate paper
among out troops in Mexico, but to facilitate
the obtaining and transfertng specie there lor
circulation, through the operations of foreign
exchange, on terms highly advantageous to the
Government. It being the anxious desire ol
this Department, even tor beneficial purposes,
never to exercise any doub'Jul powers, the pro
priety ol some more clear and adequate [ire
visions on this subject is submitted to the en
lightened consi ieutiun ot Congress.
In connexion wiih the amendments proposed
to the bill organizing the constitutional Trea
sury, far the moil iii.por’apj. would be the estab
lishment ol a branch ot’ the mint ot the U:ii ed
States at the city ot New York, to perform
among i s other tunvii ns, rhe duties app r:.lin
ing to adepositoty of the public money. Du
ring the period of more than hall a century, the
mint and branch mints have had deposited with
tbpip about one hundred and sixteen millions ol
gold and stiver Li:l I ion and coin, no j uriiuii of
which. It s ever been lost to ths Government;
and as two-thirds ol our whole revenue is col
lected at the city ol New York, a brancn there
would place beyond all hazard th? security ol
the public money; and al the same time greatly
enlarge the circulation ot gold and silver. For
the re.iicn slated in my last annual report, for
eign gold coin will not, to gny extent, circulate
as a currency among the people, it is necessary
that this coin should receive the Ametican
stamp, by recoinage at our own mini, into ea
gits, halt and quarter eagles, in cider to enable
it to pass into general circulation. When we
consider the vast amount of foreign coin that
is brought into the city ot New York, through
the operations cf business as well as of the cus
tom house there, as also by emigrants from
abroad, the importance of converting ail this at
once there into American coin can scarcely be
over-estimated.
It the specie r.ow flowing within our limits
remains in foreign coin, it may find i's way.
noi into circulation, but into the vaults of the
banks, where it might be made the basis, as of
ten heretofore, of bank and paper expansions,
and, ;f so, ruinous revulsions could not fail to
ensue, it i-s important to a|l the great interests
ofihe country, but especially to manufacturers,
that the currency should not le redundant or
depreciated, and excessive imports ol foreign
merchandise brought as a consequence into rhe
country. In connexion with the Constitution
al Treasury, a btanch olthemint at New :k
would be most ireful in converting the foreign
into Ametiea?. coin, encouraging thereby its
circulate n among the people, instead 11 triple
and quadruple issues ol bank paper.
We are beginning to realize the benchsof
the new tariff’ many imports having been ware
housed in anticipation ol the new duties, and
some already paid. By free interchange ot
commodities, the foreign market is opened to
our agricultural products, ourtonnagc and com
merce are rapLly augmenting, imr exports en
large.!, an i'he price enhanced; exchanges are
in our favor, and specie is fl nving within our
’units. The country was never more prospe
rous, and we have neverenjoye ’* uch large and
profitable markets for all our produe.s. This
is not the resultol an inflated currency, bn: is an
actual increase ofwealthand business. Whilst
agriculture, commerce, and navigation, released
liom onerous taxes and restrictions, are thus
improved and invigorated, and manufactmes
are not depressed. The large profits ol manu
facturers may be in some cases somewhat di
minished, but that branch of industry, now re
posing more ir. its own skill and resources, is
AUGUSTA, GA., WEDNESDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 23- 1846.
still prosper-us and progressive. New manu
factories are being erected ihroughout lhe coun
try, and still yield a greater profit, in most cases,
than capi.al invested in other pursuits.
Commerce between nations is but an ex
change of their respective products, specie li
quid,:iicg only the occasional slur mating bal
ances, and cannot long be maintained loany
great ex’ nt by sales fur specie only. 'I bus, if
England opens her markets i > our products,
whilst we exclude bv high duties must ol the
fabrics site would sell in exchange, her specie
would rapidly diminish, and such a commerce
mu-t laegni>h and decline. She might still,
from necessity, purchase a portion <>l onrpro
dticis; but a necessity equally stern and irre
sistible from exhausted means would soon com
pel her to reduce the purchases and price, and
thus diminish ihe balance demanded from her
in specie. To maintain, then, permanently
a pn filable commerce with England, the bar
riers must be broken down on both sides; her
corn Laws repealed, and < u’ duties reduced, so
as to permit an exchange cl her labries’for our
products. Wish high duties on our part, we
could realiz? but little permanent advantage
from the repeal of her corn laws. Such high
duties would continue in force, as against our
fanners, the British corn laws nearly aspec
tually as though they had never I een repealed.
B< 1 ire the repeal ot those laws, lhe advocates
of our protective policy conceded U»Jt, if Eng
land would open her markets for our breadsiufß
and provisions, we should receive her fabrics in
exchange. Now her markets ate thus opened
to these products, and ihe friends of lhe protec
tive tarifi, abandoning lheir former position,
wi u!d still a* rest by high duties the exchange
of English fabrics for our breads!uffs and pro
visions. If the reduced duties are continued
on both sides, so as to pcnnii a reciprocal in
lerchatige of commodities, the f u' ign market
now opened for our breadstuff* and provisions
must be maintained.
Our f.tr meis now have and must telain our
home market, wi hor without the tarifi.becau.-e
breadstuff* and provisions cannot pit fi ably be
imported here. The lew diverted fioin farming
io manufactures by a high tariff bear no com
; arisen in number with the people ofthe world,
whose n.; ik' is are lost in whole or in part by
Inch duties. Nor is it chit fly the farmers, but
ihe merchant, the ship-builder, and ship-owner,
ihe seaman, and the thousands i f laborers in
the marts ot our foreign commerce, that furnish
much the larger portion of those •.» ho ate driven
by a high tarifi from existing pursuits into
m:inufaclures, and consuming, as they all did,
our own breadstufis and provisions, as wellbe
ture as alter thischange of lheir pursuits, no
additional market is thereby secured to lhe far
mer. Indeed, there is an absolute loss, in so
tar as lhe machmciy of lhe manufacturer,
which consumes no breadstuffsor provisions, is
substituted for the manual labor engaged in ag
riculture, commerce, and navigation. The
numb* r of manufacturers would not be increas
ed (if increased at all) more than one-tenth by
the differente bet we- r. the tariffed IB42and that
;d 1816; and of that tenth more than one-half
would not have changed from agricultural pur
suits. In the meantime, when commerce and
navigation fbmrish under low duties, a larger
numlxrol consumetsu!breadstufis and provis
ions are diverted to those pursuits from agricul
ture lh.an would be driven from it into manu
factures by high duties. Nothing, then, is
gained in a home maiket to the farmer l>y high
duties, whilst the markets of the world are lost
or dimini-lynl. Ihe population of lhe world is
now one thousand millions, increasing at the
rale oi not less than ten millions per annum,
with but little augmematic nany whereof bread
stulls and provisions, except in our own coun
try ; yet our fanners are asked to abandon this
immense market in lhe vain attempt to create
an adequate home markei by sacrificing agri
culture. commerce, and navigation lor lhe bene
fit of manufactures.
Experience is against the protective policy. In
England, alter a long trial and ruinous results, it is
abandoned, and here, under the tariff of 1842. the
price of breadstuff-; and provisions fell, and have
now risen with the reduction of duties and the
openir., of a foreign niuket. From a long peace,
Europe is becoming so densely populated that her
poorer soil and more uncertain climate afford a less
adequate supply of food from year to year for her
rapidly increasing population. Under a system of
kw duth-ft and a Ipi iprovul in»erchanf»c of ram.no
.Hitt s, it wiii t»e the mreren, not only of Great
Britain, but also of most of the continent of
r.uropy, to take a larger supply of food from us;
but by airestir-g this exchange of their fabrics for
our products, it becomes their inteicst ami in fact
a necessity, to look for and encourage markets else
whrie, and also, by extraordinary means arid high
government bounties, to drive capital into agricul
ture there, to supply the wants nf theirpooplc,un
able to purchase out products, for which, by high
duties, we demand payment in specie. If we te
ceive the fabrics of Europe in exchange for cur
products, it will be their interest to encourage and
enlarge tl at commerce,and it must goon rapidly
augmenting until our country becomes the granary
for Europe, and ourexp-uttlierc of food shall even
exceed that of cotion, great as that is destined to
bo under a system of low duties. With this en
largement of our exports will come a correspon
dent increase of our imports and a great augmenta
tion of the revenue of the Government and of the
prosperity of the people. 'I here will be a gieater
number more profitably engaged in agriculture,
commerce, and navigati m. The increased num
ber .?.nd prospuity of those classes, constituting
four-fifths of the whole people, will enable them
greatly to extend their puichases; and the manu
facturers, Lj the increased ability and mein- of
our own people, will derive, in a scii«H of years,
a gieater bene <t than by destroying the ability of
their customers, by excluding their produ ts from
the foreign mirket, and depriving them to that ex
tent of the means to puichase at heme or abroad.
If the ship-builder constructs ami the navigator
freights more vessels; if the farmer sells more
breadstuff- and provisions, aud the planter more
cotton nd at better prices; if the merchant trans
acts a larger and more prosperous business; if the
seamen increase in number and receive better wa
ges; if the working classes employed in connexion
with trade in cur Ametican marts of foreign com
merce arc increased and rendered more prospe
rous. they must ail be enabled to purchase muie of
our own manufactures and at better prices. Under
such a system of iccip.ocal interchange of com
modities with all the world, the great city of New
Yoik would become (what she now is for the
States of this Union) the great mart for the com
merce of th? various nations of the earth. Loca
ted nearer the centre of the commtree of the world
than any European city, she would goon augment
ing until she had surpassed them all, . nd within
her own limits and suburbs would affjrd a larger
home market for our breadstuff’s and provisions
than the whole number '.shorn a protective tariff
would drive from apiculture to manufactures.
Such would be the effect on New Yo:k as a mar
ket for breadstuff's and provisions, whilst New Or
bans, Phi’aiclphia, Baltimore and other great
commercial maits would move onward in an ac
celerated progress, augmenting the demand for ag
licu’tuia! products as well as for foreign and do
mestic manufactuics. I'his i» the true method of
building up a home market for the products of al!
our indu-try. This is themost equal,ju-i, certain,
acd permanent, as wgll the most effectual and
' m; ithensive protection aud encouragement, not
only of manufactures,but also of agnculturc, com
mcice, and navigation, and the labor connected
with evciy brnnch of American indu-try. Table
I. hereto annexed, shows that the aggregate value
of cotton, rice, wheit. rye, Indian cuin, < ats, and
baiely was, on the 30th July, 1846, under the old
tariff. $493,331,906, and'-n the bt of December,
IS4G, when the ne\y tariff went into effect, >609,-
287,565; making an aggregate difference in the
pi ice of slls 955,659 It is tin that the failure
of certain crops in Gieat Britain and the continent
his to some extent affected prices ; but then there
are opposing causes, such as the emrmous freight,
low exchange, &c., which in the -absence of re
duced duties, must have kept the prices on the
3uth Julv and >st of ptcember i;:or? nearly the
same. If, however, but sixty millions be added
by the new tariff to the value if the products of
agriculture and the profits of commerce and navi
gation, more tha: one half would be employed in
purchases us domestic fabiics, whi. h, in the ab
serce of those augmented means and profits, could
not have found a market at fair prices at home or
abroad. Whilst vast sums iiave been and st'il arc
being expended by the construeuon of railroads,
canals, and other improvements to transport cur
products to our great seaboard cities, when they
reach those points, the farmer and planter, instead
i f finding the ocean as a highway, prepared to
carry their crops ficc of all toll or tax to all the
world, meet the laws of their own Government
closing in whole or ia part that highway to those
markets l'*i their products, by heavy duties on
nearly all the fabrics that can be sold in exchange
The labor em< . >yid in agriculture, com
merce, and navigation is as r»|iich
labor as that engaged in with
less ot machinery as a substitute. As you de
press these three great interests, the demand for
workmen in thus? pursuits is diminished The
labor thus depiivtd of employment is thrown
into th? po .verol the manufacturers, and must
enable them to bringdown wages to me lowest
! point which wiii ass ord a scan y subsistence:
whereas, it agriculta. e, commerce, and naviga
tion are improved, as the result of low duties,
there must be increased competition and de
mand h r laoor, and i s wag -s must be en
hance!.
The home market can never be suubient for
ttr rapidlv incieasing agricultural ; r >ducts,
' but it is for all our manufactures, and for a
I vast amount b -sides, which is imported yearly
! from abroad. us enlarge the market for
i < nr own nianuiaci-jres al home, by removing
| taxation and restrictions from agriculture, com
: merer, an ! navigation, an-’, with augmented
I means, those engaged in these pursuits will fur
nish a larger and belter home market for our
I manulactures, than the? can ever derive in a
ies ol years by diminishing the profits ot
< ther pursuits by high duties and oner-ms res
t' ict!.»ns. The great bo :v of American consu
mers, not engaged in manufactures, are the
customers ot the manufacturer, and to affect in*
jutiously me means id these who purchase
must r ventualiy diminish Ihe profits of those
who sell the manufactures. By extending our
own commerce, and navigation;
by increasing the profits ol those engaged in
those pursuits, by relieving them from heavy
taxes, and opening to them unrestricted ex
changes wi;h all ihe world, a far larger and bet
ter and rnoie permanent, and eventually more
profitable home market, will be secured to the
manufacturets, than any they can ever derive
from diminishing lhe means ot their custo
mers engaged in other pursuits. When the
farmer and planter, the merchant and naviga
tor are most ; rosperous, the}' will purchase
more of American as well as foreign manu
factures. In this manner labor, untaxed and
unrestricted by legislation, will find its way into
the most natural channels and prosperous pur
suits, and the aggregate wealtl of the whole na
tion will advance most rapidly. Thus, whilst
a large and profitable maikei, aotdependani on
legislative bounties or restrictions or taxes, will
be built up a: home for our own manufactures,
the foreign market for them will be extended
by freer exchanges. Ts e expt tt of our manu
factures last year amounted in Value to $9,569,-
349, which must go on rapidly augmenting un
der a more liberal Such of
our manufactures as, h interior loca
tion or other causes, do not reL” ire high duties,
const iHitingfaj the larger
are especially gr -ally the protective”
system, and ihe higher the duties the greater
tire resulting injurious effects. They are in
jured both in the home and foreign market
The ir jury arises in lhe home market by dimin
ishing the means of thdr customers here to
purchase their fabrics; and they are injured iu
the foreign market by restrictions upon lhe ex
changes there of lheir exports ol home manu
fa* lures for foreign imports. Under a sys
tem oi low' duties ail ourexporls would be great
ly augmented, and we should export largely, not
only breadsluffs, provisions, cotton, rice, and
tobacco, but als->, in time, sugar and molasses,
and ultimately large quantities of wool and
hemp, as well as manufactures of-wool, hemp,
and cutton. Already Indian corn has become
a new article of export, and in time, by a sys
temof liberal exchanges with all lhe world,
iron would take its place on our list of expoils
to foreign counit its.
ft is as unw : se and unjust as it is repugnant
to equal lights and republican principles, to
force, by legislation, any class of the communi
ty to buy from or sell only to another. High
duties are equivalent to a legislative resolve
that the farmer shall buy and sell only in the
home market, and not to any extent in any of
the other markets ofthe world. Such a system
neceshat ily brings into conflict the interests of
the various classes composing the Union, and
one c lass is depressed tor the benefit ot another.
But, by opening al! the markets at home and
abioad to all our people engaged in every pur
suit, agriculture, commerce, manufactures, and
naviga:ion, insteadol beingantagonist in erests,
would soon all be united and iiarrnoniz'’d in
advancing together the public welfare. Such a
tariff must soon sati>fy all classes and all branch
es of industry, placing this great question on a
permanent basis, taking it. as well as all the
pursuits of business, out ofthe arena of politics,
and out ol the struggle to advance or depress ri
val polili al parties or aspirants. So long as it
is sought to advance particular branches ot in
dustiv at the expense ot others at high duties,
the tariff v.iil be a source of never-ending po
litical agitation; rendering unceilain all the
pursuits of business; defying all calculation as
to the investment ol capital; fluctuating with
every election ; and iisir.g or tailing with the
successive elevation or downfall ol political
parties. No tariff ever can be permanent
which forces the American people, for the ben
efit ofany class or portion ot them, to buy orsell
only in such markets as may be prescribed by
law. Sue!*, a system, although it might for a
time obtain a transient victory, cannot ultimate
ly and permanently be sustained by the Ameri
can people.
The British corn laws and our Tai iff of 1842
were i: ntical in principle, although applicable
to btlcicnt imports. In England the effect was
by the corn laws to build up a home market tor
agricultira! products at the expense ol manu
factures. Here the effect was, by protective
duties.in lavur ot numutacrarcs, to impair the
maikct abroad lor our surplus agricultural pro
ducts. In England it was called the protection
of agriculture; here the protectiono! manufac
tures. In England the blow was aimed at ma
nufactures; here the injury was inflicted on
agriculture, commerce and navigation. To
build up an adequate home market here for
our vast an I tapidly augmenting agricultuial
p.' oducts by taxes on the exchange of our ex
poits in toreigi) market -, was as impossible as
it would be to establish a sufficient home
market for British manufacture* “by the corn
laws. Manufactures are the great British
experts, and agricultural products, the chief
Auu-rican expotts: and any restriction up
on the exchanges ot either in the foreign
matirrt, to which exporters must always
look fur a purchaser, must be disastrous in its et
feets. The ruinous consequences ot the pro
tective system having been proved in England
by her own most cnlightene*!statesmen, and de
monstrated by experience, it has been surren
dered there by must ot those who sustained it
heretofore under the lead of its own former most
able ar.d distinguished advocate; and now
when it has tailed abroad, after reducing mil
lions to want and misery, we are asked alter its
overthrow there and here to re establish at home
the condemned and abandoned British protec
ive policy. Al the very time when the markets
ol Great Britain are opened to our products by
the repeal ot her corn laws, we are desired to
prevent thHr operation in !av«»r ot those pro
ducts by high or prohibitory duties on the only
fabrics tor which the}' can be exchanged.
There yet remains tobacco, one otour impor
tant staples, on which heavy duties, not tor
protection, l>ut tor rpyvnue only, are still im
posed in England; but it our present com
mercial policy is maintained here, it is not
doubted that even on this article me present
high dmies will be reduced, with the progres
sive advance there and throughout the world ot
the more liberal and enlightened system of un
lestricted exchanges.
It is believed that the Tai ill of 1816 w i’ll vin
dicate itselt by its results; that it will furnish
more revenue ‘han the act it superseded, and
more rapidly advance tfie business and pros
perity c 4 the whole country. The duties arc
imposed only lor revenue to support the gov
ernment, to bring money into the Treasury, and
net to enhance prices or to advance particular
classes or | ur«ui’s at tire expense o» others.—
The duties aie assessed on all imports in exact
p opur:ion io their value, and not according to
the system ol specific duties and minimums,
by which the per ceniage ol taxation invariably
rises as the value of the article is depressed,
and sinks as it rises in value, thus uniformly
discriminating in favor ol the wealthy lew, and
against ihe toiling millions. No adequate rea
son has prep bpep advanced why ail duties
sh »ild not be imposed on all articles in propor
tion to their real value. As to mer
chants and public officers are as familiar with
the f -reign as with the home price current. The
duty being assessed on each cargo in propor
tion io its value a: the port i t exportation, that
value bHng governed by the price ai the one
port from which the shipment \vas made, is
much more easiiy ascertainable than the home
value, which is different in nearly all our prin
cipal i. i ies No apprehensions are entertained
by this Depaitment ot imposition by fraudulent
invoices or false valuations. Il is fully
believed that a system ol fair and honest
valuation can and will be established by in
crea cd vigilance al home and ahrqad, by mak
ing one custom-house and one set of appraisers,
a check upon the other, thus establishing uni
formity throughout the Union, and finally sub
j?c:.ing the whole to supervision here under the
immediate direction and superintendence ot
this Department. It is believed that the aggre
gate revenue under the new Tariff, exceeding
that under the old, will demonstrate that the go
vernment has net lost by fraudulent invoices or
false valuations under the system of duties ad
vab-rem, and that t.he duties will be collected
according to the actual valuation ot the impo’ts,
which is not pretended, nor was it designed that
they sho’.’l 1 be under a system of minimum or
specific duties. It is respectfully submitted that
the new svstem so just and equal in all its pur
poses, should have a fairtria! Even thjse uho
oppose it as erroneous, ought io desire that
it should be fairly trird. |f ii fails, as
they believe, it can then be abandoned, and the
old system restored; but if the new Tariff suc
ceeds, as is the ronfilent belief of this Depart
men-, it will be a triumph otjustice andolequal
rights reflecting the highest h -nor on our free
institutions.
r i< remarkable that all ihe able and philoso
phical writers on this great question, both in
Europe and America, unconnected with pany
or poliiics, an 1 influenced only by a regard for
truth and the best interest of all nations, have
long and faithfully advocated the great doctrine
'•I free exchanges, even when the practice ot
G-vein-nents was opposed to their views; and
they now enj >v the high satisfaction of seeing
what they regarded as axiomatic truths incor
porated in:o the policy of the iwu greatest Pow
ers o the world, and moving onward to the great
and final victory of universal peace and un
restricted commerce.
A copy of ihe instructions for carrying into
♦•fleet ihe new tariffis hereto annexed, marked J.
In connexion with ihe finances, the sugges
tions matte in my lasi annual report in regard
to the reduction an 1 graduation of ihe prices of
the public land* in favor of settlers and cultiva
tors, are again respet tfully submilted io the con
sideration of Congress as a certain means ot
augmenting the revenue The public lands
now subject to sale at private entry exceed one
hundred and for’y millions of acres, a vast por
tion of which, lung in market, is wholly unsale
able at existing rates, but would, it reduced and
graduated, find many purchasers at lower rates
The sales in the Chickasaw cession in ihe
States of Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee
establish the fact that lhe application ot the
principle of reduction and graduation rapidly
augments lhe proceeds of the sales. The addi
tion to ihe wealth ut lhe nation in the augment
ed value of these lands, as well as lhe crops that
have been already raised upon them, cannot be
less than thirty millions of dollars. This dis
trict, having bven sold for the benefit ot lhe
Chit kasaws, is the only one ot the land districts
in the new States to which lhe principle of te
duction and graduation has been applied, and
lhe result has proved the beneficial effects otlhis
great measuie, both as a means ot augmenting
the revenue and increasing the public welfare.
By a communication from the General Land
Office (hereto annexed, marked K) it appears
that ihequaniity of public lands in that cession
is 1 316.925 acres, ol which 3,681,309 have been
sold. The average price lealized in less than
nine years, up to lhe 30. h ol June, 1815, was
ninety-one cents per acre: lhe lands being sub
ject to sale by the treaty the first year al $1.25
per acre; the second year al $1 per acre: the
third year at 50 cents per acre; the fourth year
at 25cents per acre; and the fifth and all suc
ceedih'g years aT 12| cenis per acre. TffisTsTS'
lower price and a much more rapid reduction
than was proposed in regard to the public lands;
and yet this district, in which the sales were
made in lhe same manner (except the gradua
tion) by the United Stales as other public lands,
has commanded a larger proportional sum in
lhe same period than any other land district in
lhe United Slates. It also appears, by lheoffi
cial report from the Commissioner of the Gen
eral Land Office, that if the wnole of the pub
lic lands in each ofthe land districts of the seve
ral new' Slates ot the Union had been sold with
in lhe same period, at the same rates, there
would have been a saving to this Government,
including interest at six percent on its revenue
Hom public lands, of $61,990,657. But few ot
these lands were purchased tor speculation, but
(as the entries show) chiefly by settlers and cul
tivators, distinguished for enterprise and indus
try as well as for moral worth and intelligence;
anti whilst contributing largely in money from
lhe sales, have added many millions of dollars
to lhe aggregate wealth ot lhe nation in rhe im
provement an<l cultivation ut these lands. If a
graduation bill, in the form in which it passed
lhe Senate on its return from lhe House during
the last session, should become a law, it would
increase the revenue from the public lands from
half a million to a million of dollars per annum;
and, if adopted, together witn the proposed duty
on tea and coffee, the loan might be safely re
duced to eighteen millions of dollars. 11, how
ever, the principle of graduation anpli?d to the
Chickasaw cession were adopted as it cards all
the public lands, it would increase for many
years the revenue from that source, as proved by
the data presented in ihe tablebefoie referred to,
several millions of dollars per annum.
It is believed that the sales at the prices re
duced and graduated should be confined io limit
ed. quantities sold only for settlement and culti
vation. In this manner, whilst lhe aggregate
wealth of the nation and revenue ol lhe Govern
ment are rapidly augmented, the wages oi labor
must be enhanced, by affording to our w'orking
classes and lhe industrious poor certain means,
whenever a reduction of their wages shall be
be proposed, of purchasing homes for them
selves and families, it lhe reduced rates to be
established in rela ion to lhe public lands by the
grad: ation bill.
Some augmentation ot the revenue might be
produced by removing several onerous restric
tions in lhe pre-empti m law, and especially by
extending its just and salutary provisions to the
unsurveyed land to which the Indian title has
been extinguished. By returns from the General
Land Cilice up to the Ist of November last, it
appears that, whilst lhe surveyed lands not yet
offered at public sale, to which lhe pre-emption
principle n »wexten<ls, amounted to 15,665,441
acres, the unsurveyed io which the Indian title
hasb?en. extinguished amounted lo 92,060,572
acres, the opening of which to pre-emptions
could not fail to augment lhe revenue It
would carry thousands of settlers upon these
lands in advance of the surveys as w ell as the
sales, who would desire to purchase lhe farms
occupied by them ; lhe existence of which would
give increased value lo lhe remaining lands,
and largely augment the proceeds ofthe sales.
Whilst the measure would thus increase the re
venue, it would secure homes tu those enterpri
sing and patriotic settlers who move in advance
into lhe wilderness, extending ihe blessings of
civilization,diffusing the influence and advanc
ing the progress of republican principles, and
soon adding State alter State to the American
Union.
No inconsiderable addition could also be made
to lhe revenue by authoiizing lhe sale of that
portion of lhe public lands containing copper
and other ores, whilst thus measure would more
rapidly develop lhe resources of this valuable
region, and at the same time convert into own
eisand proprietors those who now occupy lhe
relation of tenants to the Federal Government
as a landlord.
It Congress, at an early period ot the pres
ent session, would impose the proposed duty on
tea ana coffee, reduce arid graduate the price
of the public lands in favors ot settleisand cul
tivators, extend the pre-emption system to the
unsurveyed lands to which the Indian title has
been extinguished, and authorize the sale ot
that portion of the public lands containing cop
per and other valuable ores, the loan might safe
ly be reduced tium twenty-three to seventeen
millions ot dollars.
Annexed are copies, marked I. of instruc
tions issued by this Department to carry into
effect the act of the f».h ot August estab
lishing the warehouse system. The large ma
jority by which this law was passed, and the
highly beneficial results already accomplished,
clearly indicate that it may be regarded as a
part ot the sealed policy ui the country. That
it would have been more advantageous if there
had been no limit to the timelor retaininggoods ( in
the warehouse, L the belief ol this Department;
but th • measure having been adopted in is pre
sent lurni as a compromise ot conflicting opin
ions, no recommendation issubmitfed to disturb
that compromise. It is believed, hereafter,
that this great measure wi'l vindicate itself so
clearly by its resuits that amendments may Le
obtained by very general consent at a future
period. Both as a means ot augmenting reve
nue, and ot increasing the commerce and pros
perity ol the country, it is a most important
meisure. Under its beneficial influence uur
own great commercial cities will soon rival,
and ultimately surpass, the largest marts ot
European commerce, augmenting most rapidly
the wealth and business ol the wh de country,
tmpi riant as it is to agriculture, commerce,
and navigation, manufactgrcj also will derive
from i’ T i;, a series ui years great advantages.—
I’he benefi s in augmented mean*, accruing tu
those concerned in agriculture, commerce,ana
navigation, arising from the warehouse bill,
will enabled them to puichase more ol our own
manufactures, whilst that interest will not be so
setiously anected as it has been by auctions
and forced sales of foreign merchandise. Most
ot these goods, undertime warehouse bill, will
wait in «io»e tor a puichaser, instead of forced
sales in cur market, because the goods cannot
be wart housed. As this bill will also terder
uur great commercial cities immense marts of
assorted cargoes, where merchants from all the
world will eventually come to seek a supply,
our own manufactures will otien be bought as
a part u| those assorted cargoes by purchasers
that never would have been found in the absence
ot such a system.
In Liverpool and its suburbs the number
ot bonded warehouses is estimated at five hun
dred, and in London and other parts ofihe
Briti-h empire at many thousand. These im
mense structures, stretching along their fine
docks and mighty basins, a single warehouse
often covering many acres of ground, and stor
ing throughout the yen assorted cargoes ot
several hundred millions ol dollars in value,
invite to these marts the merchants and com
merce of the world. Indeed, thisisoneof the
great means by which England has built up
her vast commerce: and for a long series of
years her whole people, v<heiher fur or against
protection, acknowledge the important benefits
of this system. Here the advantages would
ultimately be still greater, inasmuch as our
chief commercial cities are already nearer than
-hose ol Europe to the centre ct ihe territory,
population, and commerce < f the world, and
are destined, at no distant day, to be brought
still nearer, when the wa et» ot the Atlantic
and Pa ific shall be united at the Mexican
isthmus, which, combined with our possessions
on the Pacific, would revolutionize in our fa
vor the commerce of the world, and more rapid
ly advance our greatness, wealth, and power
man any event lhat has occurred since the adop
tion ot the constitution.
It is deemed important that our revenue laws
should be extended to Oregon, not only as a
means of collecting duties there, but also to de
feat any effort that might be made Irom Asia or
elsewhere to introduce foreign merchandise
free ot duty into Oregon, no wacknowledged to
be a pan of ihe Union, and then claim the
right under the constitution to bring such ar
ticles horn Oregon, exempt from duty, into
any other part of the Union. Two collection
districts might perhaps be conveniently estab
lished, the one near ihe mouth ol the Oregon
river, ar. 1 the other at or near Puget’s Sound.
With a system of liberal donations of tracts of
land in Oregon sufficient tor farms to settlers
an i emigrants, this highly interesting portion
ol ihe Union would soon contain a considera
ble population ; and. near and convenient as
it is to Asia, its commerce would rapidly in
crease, and large revenues accrue lo the Gov
ernment.
Much tim? and attention have been given
by this Departure! t lo the highly important sub
ject of our lighthouse system, placed by Congress
under its supervision. In lhe month of June.
1845, Lieutenants Thornton A. Jenkins and
Richard Bache, of the Navy, were detailed by
lhe Navy Department to visit, under instruc
tions from lhe Treasury, some of lhe princi
pal European lighthouses, as well as our own.
Having completed lheir examination before the
close ofthe last session of Congress, they com
municated the result to this Department in a
most able and interesting report, containing lull
and valuable information upon this subject.—
Accompanying this report was a most able pa
per from Mr. Leonor Fresnel, the distinguish
ed Secretary oi lhe Board ot Lighthouses in
France.
That paper, together with lhe report from
this Department, were communicated to Con
gress <»n the sth of August last. Having ex
amined with great c re the relative advantages
ofthe reflecting lights and ofthe refracting or
lens apparatus, nodoubt is entertained of the
superiority ofthe latter, as furnishing a light
more brilliant as well as more economical.—
In lhe report of this Department on this subject,
on the s:h of August last, lhe organization of a
with out expense to the Government, to
ernrmr or tifinK 111 n pe n numden
of the Coast Survey, two naval officers, two en
gineer officers, the one of military, the other a
topographical engineer, and a secretary, who
might be a junior officer ofthe Navy, was re
commended as lhe most efficient means of com
bining that information possessed by no one
person in regard to coasts and channels, the
wants of navigation, lhe location and construc
tion of lhe lighthouses, the mechanical princi
ples involved in lighting, which would enable
this Department to render lhe whole system
more useful and economical.
The coast-survey and lhe lighthouse system,
the warehouse bill and lhe ad valorem revenue
tariff, are all great, efficient, and co-operative
instruments in giving to our own country ad
vantages overall others as cempeticors for lhe
com met ce of lhe world.
The survey of the coast of lhe United States
has made rapid and satisfactory progress during
the past year. This department has watched
with great interest the gradual development of
the plan for extending the survey to all sections
ot ihe coast, and it has, in successive years,
sanctioned the estimates for this important ob
ject. 'Those now presented by lhe superinten
dent ate in pursuance of the policy which has
received the approval ofthe Department, and ot
two successive Congresses. The plan is recom
mended by economy,and lhe rapidity with which
lhe fruits ot lhe work are realized in the produc
tion and circulation of maps and charts ot diffe
rent parts ot lhe coast. The highly interesting ex
ploration ofthe Gulf Stream, u hich has proved
so important and successful a pari ofthe work,
has been attended with lhe loss of one of lhe
most valuable assistants in the survey, and an
ornament to lhe profession to which he belong
ed. Lieutenant George M. Bache, ofthe navy,
commanding the coast survey brig Washing
ton, was, with ten ot lhe petty officers and sea
men, swept from the deck in lhe hurricane of
theß:h September, never to regain the ship. The
surveying officers have borne cheerful testimo
ny to the coolness and ability which he display
ed onthisf ying occasion; and the execution,
after he had perished, ol lhe last order which he
had given, was the means, under Providence,
of saving the lives of these under his command.
This Department has united with that ot lhe
navy in recording these opinions, as also in ex
pressing a strong approval ofthe conduct of the
surviving officersand crew ofthe Washington,
who. in the midst of ihe most extreme danger,
preserved perfect coolness and effective disci
pline, and finally succeeded in bringing lhe wreck
into port.
Having now presented, in regard to the sub
jects entrusted to its supervision by lhe two
Houses of Congress, the vie us of this Depart
ment, it is gratifying to know that to them be
longs ihe uuwerlo correct ail itseuors, and, un
der the guidance of an all-wise and gracious
Providence, to advance all lhe great interests,
the honor, welfare, and glory ol our beloved
country. R. J. WALKER,
Secretary of the 'Vreasury.
Hon. John W. Davis, Speaker ofthe House of
Representatives.
‘•The Chronicle and Sentinel says, 1 Father
Ritchie and his co-laborers are sick of the name (f
Whig,’ and ‘ that word cannot be uttered without
suggesting the term Toby. ’ That journal is mis
taken The term Whig, when applied to those
who now go by that name, suggests another word
descriptive of a character poetically represented
by Poliolc, as one
‘ Who Media the livery of Heaven
To serve the devil in.’ ”
We thank our cotemporary of the Federal Union
for the above suggestion, (although we disclaim the
paragraph,) but as we generally prefer to consult
the highest authorities in reference to the appro
priate principles and propensities of the
self-styled Democracy, we desire to avail ourselves
of the following extract from Mr. Calhoun, who,
with all due deference to the distinguished posi
tion of our cotemporary, we regard as a little high
er authority. What says our cotemporary to it ?
If either party has been guilty of appropriating
“ we think Mr. Calhoun settles the ques
tion as to which it is:
“ I am mortified that in this country, boasting of
its Anglo-Saxon descent, any one of respectable
standing, much less the President of the United
States, should be found to entertain principles
leading to such monstrous results; and I can
scarcely believe myself to be bicathing the air of
our country, and to be wi’hin the walls ol the Se
nate Chamber, when I hear such doctrines vindi
cated. It is a proof of the wonderful degeneracy
of the times—of a total loss of the true conception of
constitutional Liberty. But in the midst of this
degeneracy, I perceive the symptoms of regenera
tio i Ii is not my wish to touch on the party de
signations that hare recently obtained. I, however,
cannot but remark that the revival of the party
names of t ! ie Iftvolulion, after they had so long
slumbered, is not ivith mt an indication of a return
to. those principles which lie al the foundation o.
our Liberty.”
What is there (he continued) in the meaning
of Wh g and Tory, and what in the character of
the times, which has caused their sudden revival,
as party designations at this time ? I take it that
the very essence of Toryism—that that which con
stitute* a Tory—is to sustain prerogative against
privilege—to support the Executive against the
Legislative Department of the Government, and to
lean to the side of power agaia<t the side of liber*
ty ; while the Whig fbg is, in all these particulars,
of the very opposite principles. • • I must say
to those who are interested that these party names
should not be revived, that nothing but their re
tersir." thei’-course can possibly precent their ap
plication. 'l'hty owe it to themselves —they owe it
to the Chief Magistrate whom they support, as the
head of their party, that they should halt in the
support of the d spotic and slavish doctrines which
ice hear daily advanced, bfare the return of there
riving spirit of liberty shall overwhelm them, with,
those wh.o ari leading them, to their ruins
Late from Havana. —Capt. Etchberger, ol
the brig Midas, arrived in Baltimore on Satur
day, from Havana, which place she left on the
2 I inst., bringing dates later than those received
via. New-Orleans. In relation to the prospect
ol fitting out privateers in Cuba, Capt. M. tells
us, that a Mexican officer was in Havana, with
commissions for letteis ot marque —that he
asked SI,OOO apiece for them, but could find no
purchasers. The impression ot Gen. Camp
bell, the American consul, was that no priva
teers would be fitted out in Cuba. It is pretty
strongly believed that the jeports which find
their way into the papers, are got up bv inte
rested parties, Englishmen, perhaps, who de
sire to get the carrying trade, &c.
Some us the officers and crew of the U. S.
ship Boston, had arrived at Havana in an Eng
lish schooner from Nassau.
One of the fiuits of the annexation of Texas is
the institution against our Government, by Gen.
Leslie ConmL«, of Kentucky, of a claim, amount
ing to $69,200, which sum the Government of
Texas owed him when it became a member of »he
Union. He made his investment in the Wai Debt
of Texas, in the winter of 1838-39, and the pub
licfaith of Texas was pledged to meet it, in this
language; “And so much of the revenue arising
fiom imports and direct taxation as may be neces
sary, is appropriated and hereby set apart for the
payment of the interest.'’ Gen. Coombs contends
that the U S. Government, having taken possession
of the custom-house of Texas, i* bound to pay all
demands against the extinct Republic, for the
liquidation of which the imposts were pledged by
law. — Richmond Whig.
The Philadelphia Ledger describes a singu
lar incident. A few days since, the transmis
sion (»1 messages upon the New York telegraph
line was suspended for several hours, which
□ pun an inspection ofthe wires in the vicinity
of the city, was found to have been caused by
the following curious incident. A large owl
was found suspended from tne wires, three
miles above the inclined plane, with his talons
entangled among them, the copper wire having
been twisted round the iron cords ot the western
line. The owl was dead when discovered, and
it is supposed that he had alighted upon the
iron wire, and while in that position, the other
was blown against him, and a connection b“ing
thus formed, he then icceived a shock ofthe
fluid, which deprived him of lite, or so crippled
him, that in his flutterings he became en
tangled in the wires. The removal ofthe de
funct owl and the disentanglement of the
wires, enabled rhe renewal of communication
between the ’.wo cities
FRIDAY MORNING, DEC. 18, 1546.
A New Candidate for the Presidency.
The Memphis Eagle says:
“ We learn that Gov. fl. V. Brown, of Ten
nessee, is,in sober earnest,aspiringio be Presi
dent of these United States. A few years ago,
such an idea to be found bewildering such a
heal, would have been considered indubitable
evidence for any jury that ‘the brains were
out.’ Nowadays, however, it is proof ot no
such thing, and we can give no good reason
why Gov. Brown may not aspire to be the suc
cessor of James K. Polk, whose equal he cer
tainly is in every particular. We are not in
dulging a humorous, though it may excite in
many a laughable, vein. For we are credita
bly assured (hat sucli are Gov. Brown’s mode
ra'e and modest aspirations. He is determined
ed to run for Governor again, as a starting
point (or the Presidency; and a bad one it will
be to his goading ambition, unless he counts a
defeat for Governor, as was the case with Mr.
Polk, in his disastrous gubernatorial race with
Gov. Jones, one grand step up the Presidential
ladder. Aaron V. Brown, President, r osr
United Stales, and Commander-in-Ck'. f o ds
Armies and N ivies' How does it sound good
irigndsJ NRUJuUnorg wo rhaj
of JYffles K. Polk h»-e soun3etl in su- ■. ass
ciation, two years before he became ‘.mt? ng
else,’ had any one thought of so spea ring o'
him. This is a ‘great country.’”
Why, the aspirants tor the Presidency can
hardly be counted. They are as numerous as
the equals of James K. Polk.
It is not at all surprising that Mr. Brown,
whom nobody knows, whose fame is so exten
sive that the peopleof the United States never
heard of him, should aspire to rule over them.
Democracy has established a new order of
merit. The “old standards” are too much dis
posed to follow in the beaten track ot our fore
fathers. They are even prudish enough, now
and then, to turn lheir eyes towards the Consti
tution, which those old ’76’ers established, to
cramp the energies and restrain the impetuous
genius of Democracy, in its fiery career ot a
glorious conquest over itself.
They are foolish enough to look to the Con
stitution, because Washington and Jefferson,
Madison and Monroe, and a number ot others
ot those old-fashioned “rev.iiutioners,” used to
ask what did the Constitution say, when they
were about to make laws lor a free and intelli
gent people.
These sober old patriots, as well as some
who wish to imitate their example, even studied
the Constitution, and were reputed wise enough
lo understand it. Their experience in public
affairs made them too slow and cautious; they
entertained the absurd notion that a little time
for reflection was necessary in (he proper man
agement of public affairs. The more they look
ed into the “charterof our liberties,” and the
more experience they had in public matters, the
more they pretended to see the necessity lor
rigid scrutiny, into measures of national policy,
lor the preservation ot those liberties and the
promotion ol the prosperity of the country.
It is perfectly evident to Democracy that all
these qualms ol conscience, and notions about
due deliberation, are inconsistent with the age
in which we live, and a due “ progression” in
politics or morals. We can travel thirty miles
an hour by steam, and send letters by lightning
at the rale ot thousands ol miles per minute.
Democracy requires that the mind shall act
with proportionate rapidity, end, in order to ef
fect it, it is necessary to lay aside these stub
born “old fellows” who will read, study, think
and deliberate for thoie who do not, who know
but little, and who, in their ignorance, will
make up for running over and trampling down
the Constitution, by the blind celerity ot their
movements.
Hence, the elevation ol such men as Mr.
Polk to the first office in the land, and the con
sequent aspirations for the same place ol several
thousands like hini.
Mr. Brown would be very silly indeed to
stand back for Mr. Calhoun, Mr. Benton, or
Mr. Cass. He would be behind the age if he
did, at least the age of Democracy I Genius is
only calculated to impede the “progressives”
with theories,constitutional abstractions, and
loomuch Z/gAZ—Wisdom, abhorring humbugs
and reverencing constitutions and laws, will
halt too long and often at the political sanctuary
—Patriotism, that wears the image t of one’s coun
try around the heart, is sure to be bewildered
with national honor and salety—but the gay,
young, cunning demagogue, who has sense
enough to follow the popular torch lights,
whose wisdom consists in strategy and decep
tion, and whose national honor is party tri
umph and a capture of the spoils, he is the
darling to lead the “progressives” in their on
ward sweep Irom ocean to ocean and from
pole to pole ’
Mr. Brown sees as plain as the nose upon
his face, that greatness and fame and public ser
vice having nothing to do with Democratic suc
cess! That was illustrated in the success of
Mr. Polk, and may be in the elevation ol Mr.
Brown! Messrs. Calhoun, Cass, and Benton,
and all the other “ big guns” in the Democratic
ranks cannot, dare not complain, that they may
be made to play second fiddle to Air. Brown,
'Pom, Dick or Hany, for they played second fiddle
to Mr. Poll:. They have aided in starting the
game, let them its fiuits.
If they wish to stop its progress now, we
quote upon them, as very apposite to the case,
‘ I’ will never do \ogive it up to Mr. Brown,
It will never do to give it up so.”
M. J. Williams, for several years Rector of
Cokesbury School, has been elected Professor of
Mathematics in the South Carolina College, in
place of Professor Twist, resigned-.
Mr. Clay arrived in New Orleans un the
11 th inst. in fine healih.
We perceive by a notice in the last .Montgome
ry Advertiser, that that paper and the Flag of the
Union, heretofore published at Tuscaloosa, are
to become united, under the title of “ The Flag
ot the Union and Montgomery Advertiser,” to
be published tri-weekly, at Montgomery.
Thanksgiving Day on Sunday. —Governor
Brown, ot Tennessee, has appointed “the last
Sabbath day ot (he present year as a day ot
Thanksgiving and Prayer.”
A meeting was held at Gallatin, Tenn., last
month, to raise funds to ai l in the erection of a
monument, at Nashville, to the memory of the
'Tennesseans who fell at Monterey. In connec
tion with a report of the meeting, the Gallatin
Union iecords the following interesting event:
One of the ladies present, who had a son
wounded in the battle, sent into the committee
the follow.ng note: “Mrs. Mary Elliott pre
sents to the committee the enclosed sum, which
she desires to have appropriated for the follow
ing inscription on the monument—Sacred to
the memory of Peter Hinds Martin, who fell
on the 21st ot September at the batJe of Mon
terey, while defending the pr istrafc form us her
wounded son, Julius C. Elliott.”
A Virginia Woman.— The people of Peters
burg, Va., are making efforts to raise ano
ther volunteer company. The members of the
first company raised have been presented by the
citizens with revolving pistols. The Republi
can relates the following ot a lady of Peters
burg, whe being herself too indisposed to go
out,sent loi a gentlemen to tell him her anxiety
to aid the volunteers.
“Sir,’ said she, “1 wish to have the honor of
contributing to the puichase of that flag which
is to be pre*en cd tu the volunteers; and, more,
if there is a young man in this company who is
about to leave a poor, widowed mother behind, do
let me know h. r name, and I will take caae us
HER WHILE HE IS AWAY
Despatches for the Squadron. —The U.
S. revenue cutter Ewing went to sea from the
S. W. Pass at hall-past 10 o’clock, A. M.,on
the lOih inst with a fair breeze, having on
board Lieut. Hunter, bearerol despatches from
the Government to Com. Conner.— Pic.
VOL.X.--NO. 52.
POSTM ISTER GENERALS REPORT.
The general interest felt in the operation of tho
act of the 3d March, 1845, on the revenues and ex
penditures of the P. O. Department induced me to
direct the Auditor lo ptepare a qusiteriy statement
of them from its re-organixatiou in 183' to the
30th June last. The tables accompany this report
marked A and B.
From table A it appears that the annual average
income from the Ist July, 1836, to the 30th Jm>e,
1845, amounted to the sum 0f54,364,624 65
Whilst the income for the yearend
ittg 30th June, 1846,the fust under the
new law, amounted to 3,487,199 36
Making a loss of revenue, the first
year under the new law when com
pared with the annual average of the
nine preceding years of $877,425 30
And making a lass of revenue the
first year under the new law, as com
pared with the preceding, 0f5802,624 45
The revenues, as above staled, include lhe
postages paid on matter which went free through
the mails prior lo lhe passage ot the late law,
of which no account was kept prior lo the coin
mencemer.t et the test year.
i h di:..inc-;<oo of the revenues of th- De
partmen. ail- s principally fioin the losaort let-'
ter posing which wiupr<“.ansutd.wjib hatot
-
! iuc. t,f ti.l.. Jehc.eitc.
in the revenue ci tho j, »t year n be tra< rd
toottier causes than a reduction ol the rates of
postage by the act ot the 3d March, 1845.
Ist. Expresses still continue lobe run between
principal elites, with as much regularity as lhe
mails; and it is believed, collect and transport
letters lor pay, out ot the mails, in great num
bets. The penalty provided by law tor lhe
commission ot such offences, can rarely be en
forced tor lhe want of sufficient proof. The
writer, lhe receiver and lhe carrier, refuse to
testily against each other; because by so doing
they may subject themselves to a similar pen
ally. The agents of the Department have no
authority lo arrest the odenders and seize upon
lheir bags or trunks, and have them examined
belore a proper tribunal ; and hence convictions
seldom take place, and if they do, a recovery of
the money alter judgment, from inabililyot sucli
offenders to pay, is as uncertain as lhe convic
tions.
21. Advantage istakenol that provision o( the
law which limits the weight of a single letter in
* an ounce, to cover the correspondence ot third
persons; and even pack ages of letters addressed
to different individuals are collected together
and placed under a single cover and directed to
some third person lor distribution, by which
means 100 letters thus enveloped weighing 8
ounces are charged under 300 miles, 80 cents,
and over 300 miles #1,60 when lhe Department
is entitled to receive under lhe law 5 or 10 dol
lars according to thedistance. These practices
can seldom be detected, and when detected the
only penalty is lhe payment of the true postage.
The Department is thus compelled to pay tur the
transportation whilst those who collect and dis
tribute receive the profits.
3d. Advantage is taken of that provision of
the law which authorizes letters in relation to
the cargo lo be taken over mail routes tree of
postage, to cover correspondence in relation to
other matters. They are generally marked on
the outsideol ihe \eiler "inrelalionlo the cargo,"
tree. Agents are unable to detect the imposi
tion. Those engaged in the practice retuse to
disclose the taels, and the carriers themselves
are often ignorant ot the truth of the case, and
the offenders escape with impunity. It that
privilege had been restricted to the bills of la
ding, or open letters relating to the cargo, much
abuse would have been avoided on the principal
railroad and steamboat routes.
Transient newspapers, advertisements, print
ed or lithographed circulars, in great numbers
are addressed to postmasters and others, not or
dering them, which are not called for, and if
called tor refused to be taken from the offices.
These and similar practices to tvade the pay
ment ol postage, with the immense inass of dead
letters, averaging annually between one and a
hall and two millions in number, encumber the
mails unnecessarily and without any profit to
the Department.
To remedy these evils, 1 respectfully suggest
that the law be so amended as to make the sin
gle letter weigh one quarter instead of the hall
ounce ; except in the case ot a letter weighing
less than halt an ounce and written upon a sin
gle sheet of paper.
That the same power be given to the P. O.
Department, to prevent a violation of its re
venue laws, as is now given the Secretary of
the Treasury against smugglers.
That all letters passing over mail routes,
which relate to the cargo, be free, when (hey
are unsealed, and subject to the inspection of
the P. O. agent, when fraud is suspected. And
that the postage on newspapers be so adjusted
as to approach more nearly the cost ot transpor
tation and delivery, and bo made more equal
andjust, as between the publishers. This may
be accomplished without any material interfe
rence with the policy of disseminating intelli
gence among the people by their genera! circu
lation.
When this policy was first adopted, news
papers were lew in number and published in
the principal cities, and low postages seemed
necessary to secure the object, and the rales
were fixed without much regard to the size or
weight, or the distance they were io be trans
ported; whilst the letter postage was made
high so as to cover the expenses ot the lianspor
tation of both. The reasons upon which this
policy was founded, have in some measure
ceased. Newspapers are now published in the
principal villages throughout the Union, and
furnish the means of information to almost
every neighborhood. The injustice to written
correspondence by taxing it with the transpor
tation of newspapers has been partially re
moved by the reduction of the rates ot letter
postage. From this act of justice an injury
has resulted to the community at large by trans
terring the cost of transporting newspapers up
un the general revenues. No satislactory rea
sonnow exists why those who buy and sell
newspapers should have the cost of transporta
tion paid out of the revenues collected from
the great body ol the people.
The low postages on newspapers without re
gard to size, weight, or the distance to be taken,
operate unfairly as between the publishers
themselves, by enabling those papers published
in large commercial cities to compete with the
village press for circulation in their respective
localities, whilst the sending papers free for
thirty miles from the place of publication,
counteracts to some extent this advantage— each
alike unjust to the other, and both unjust to the
community,as the burthen of both is thrown
upon the treasury.
/Is an act of justice between the publishers
themselves, ihe rates of postage should be re
gulated according to the size or weight of the
paper and the distance to be carried, reserving
the right to them ot takingtheir own paper over
mail routes out of the mails; and, as an act of
justice to the community these rates should I*
so high as to cover any deficiency which the
reduced rates of postage un letters may make
so as to render the income ol the Department
equal to its expenditures.
Transient newspapers or those sent by others
than the publishers to the subscribers, as they
are usually sent in lieu ot letters, should be
rated higher than other newspapers.
All printed matter passing through the mails
should be prepaid, and all letters prepaid or
ra ed with double postage.
Some such amendments of the late law are
believed to be necessary to give the cheap pon
age system a fair trial by securing to the De
partment its legitimate revenues; and if adopt
ed by Congress it is confidently believed (ruin
the reductions which have been made in the
sections already let to contract, and anticipated
savings in the other two sections, with a proper
econctny in the other branches of the service,
that there will be no need of calling upon the
Treasury for further aid alter the Ist of July,
1818, when the whole service will be placed
under the new law.
Table B exhibits the expenditures quarterly
under the appropriate heads. From this it will
beseen that the annual average expenditures
from the Ist July, to 30th June, 1815.
amounted tu 34,499,59.3 58
And the expenditure for the year
ending 30th June, 1846, the first
year under the new’law, to the
sum of 81,081,297.22
Making a reduction tor the first •
year under the new Jaw, when
compared with the annual ave
rage expenditure of the nine
preceding years of 8115,29636
And when compared with the ex-
penditure ot the previous year
a reduction of 3236,131.57
The whole expenditure for the
year ending 30th Jone, 1846,
amounted to 31,081297.22
The income furthesame time, in
cluding the postages paid by the
diffeierit branches of the Execu
tive government amounted to. .83,487,199.35
Leaving a deficiency of income of 3597,097 87
The deficiency was supplied by
drafts from the Treasury as the
service required 3650,000".G0
Leaving a balance on hand un the
Ist July, of money# drawn from
the Treasury during the fiscal
year, ot 852.902,20
The tables submitted by the Ist Ass’t P. M.
General, accompany this leport, marked C
1,2, 3, and furnish many minute and iDicrestiDg
details ot the service*.