Wabash Herald, Volume 1, Number 33, Rockville, Parke County, 26 November 1831 — Page 4

From Badger's wecKiy .uu16... AMERICA. t Where's Babylon, th? first empire, 4 "WVreno her ramparts rise There her lofty Babel ryre, fe Peering io eastern stie. An J where Assyria, famed of oM, That great and wicked nation An,iJ whose stree a the prophet told Ita dread denunciation! And Egypt where! where first the light Of ecience gleamed obscure; And as in dark oblivion's pite Rear'd the stupendous tower. Greece, where thy Arcadian bower, Where art and rcience dwelt! 9 here isthe eumptnous Tertian power And he heaven's vengeance d.alt. f duns Alexander who unfu I'd Boundless power petulant, now! Hbile the laurels of a conquered tworl.l Wreathed his ambitious brow! O RoTie ard tarnished is thy glory! Has ger.ius fied the pcene! f till s culptur'd fragments tell the etory Of much that thou ha-t been Che weed has round the relics clung, And ages o'er them swept. And time her awful requiem sun j, And many a spirit wej t. America! to thee, blest lan4 ! turn from empire's fall, "e' h' ra stern fate's imperious land Has stietched oblivion's pall. ?To thee who Phoemx-Iike art merging Frota dany a nation's wreck, Xike the morning sun's bright verging, Or beams that night bedeck. V ehrld it stretched from tea to eea, From dy-pring to its goal; And I ke he.- wandring rivers free, Like her oceans, no cont'd. fler arrpte lapse wta blessing seeming, And beauty's o'er her soil, , And her high mor.nrain peaks are gleaming In heaven's prepicious emiie. A T vce :son her mighty waters, A vo;ce is on fcer floods, XI ! jcycus by h3r sons end daughter lie i d from her pathless woods. Jt is the v ice c'libcrty. It's on h-sr rivers rolled, Thit, ona-d murmuring to the sea, The eacred theme have vli. The dwllers on the rock and mountain. Have bid its chorus rise; forth bursting from the brighten'd fountain That f cm it's bosom flies. ft reathM the forest's sunles glen, And mingled with the blet, Tnat rose and told the joy, and the In deeper accents past. C;or Liberty alone is thine 'Twere madness urjrcnrcUl; J5ut Science, Art, and Truth divina Thy sacred rights uphold. Where hatred burning sara?e bands, R"is'd the red seal ping-knife And tomahawk, with cruel bands. And m-h'd to the bitter strife And oft at eve's soft placid hour. The ebon Indian stray'd Where yonder trees the path embower, And woo'd his sooty maid, Where was the Indian war-whoop heard. And frenzied wild pow-wow, Is preach'd th? everlasting word, ; Thet-uth in Jeus now. Ton syb'l songs, and demon spells, Utter'd in mystic tone; Whose meaning there one stands ani tells Amid the throng alone; Heason her dignity disphys, And Genius rers its throne. And with an eagle glance surveys A realm from sone to ?one. Frcm th New-York ftiandard. FREE TRADE CONVENTION. The following is the Rf port to the convention by Mr. Berried, of Georgia, and adopted by that body TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNIILH JS FATES. A portion of jour fellow citizens, resident in different States of the union rb. are numerous respectable, and intelligent, who, like yourselves, are attached to the principles of free government, and ardently devoted to the jreat constitutional charter, which concentrates and upholds them who ask only an rqual participation in the benefits, and are ready to bare an equal hare of the burthens, of the government, who are willing, moreover, to concede to others a perfect tight to im full enjoyment vf whatever they

a&ktbr themselves. Such a portion of

your fellow citizens, whose condition, character, motives, ana views, are uius faithfully delineated, have deputed Us to represent them on an occasioa deepy interesting to their feelings as men. and vitally important to their interests as citizens ot tbis great confederated republic, t hey have called upon us to unite our counsels for the redress of the grievances under which they labor, and liave enjoined it upon us as a duty to omit no means tor the accomplish ment of this object, which may consist with our obligations as citizens, and with their own faithful and ardent de votion to the bond of our common un ion." In the performance of a duty like this, we cannot be insensible of the propriety of a frank and respect ful communication with our fellow cit izens at large. We are members of the same great political family. Our interest are common, and so also are our duties; and it cannot be that any portion of our brethren can desire to withhold Trom us Our just share of the benefits, or to subject us to an undue proportion of the burthens, which liow trom the government under which we live. We have equal confidence in their justice and intelligence, and assure ourselves that it is onlv necesan to bring home to their understanding the conviction of the evils under which we suffer, to secure their cordial co-operation in prompt and effectual meas ures for tlieir removal. We would commune with you, then, in the spirit of these feelings. We must speak wkh frankness: It may be that our language will borrow strength from the conviction of our wrongs, but we will not forget the just respect due to those who di'Jer from us in opinion, and cannot be unmindful of the affection which we bear, an which we earnestly desire to cherish towards our brethren thro'out the union. The representative of portions of i our fellow-citizen? belonging to fifteen different 'states of this confederacy, have assem bled in the citv of Philadelphia to consider the grievances which thev suffer under the existing tariff of do i:s, ani to devise, if happily they may do so, some constitutional and peaceful mode of redress. Speaking generally, they have come together as strangers to each other, with all the variety of opinions on most subjects, which springs from different habits and pursuits, and is parhaps ine if ably incident to the imperfection of our common nature. On one engrossing question. that which constitutes the subject of this address, looking as well to its principles as its details, they have found a concurrence of opinion; which, as they believe, entitles them to ask for that opinion, and for the reason" on which it is founded, the attentive and dispassionate consideration of the American people. Among the evils which Cow from the tariff system, as at present established by law, the ardent and determined opposition to that svstcm which exists in various parts of "the union the dep and settled discontent which is felt, and has been ma'ifested by a numerous patriotic and intelligent portion of our fellow-citizens cannot fad to awaken the liveliest solicitude of every lover of his counfrv. Iet it be rmemhred that this is no transient feeling the offspring of momentary excitement. one whicii mav be expected to p;ss a w av under the influence of a more calm and dispassion reflection. No; the sys tem of which we complain is not of re cent ongir, and the feHig of discontent which was coeval with its institu tion, time and experience have onlv served to strengthen and increase it. Let. those who sincerely desire to per petuate the hle-smg$ which we enjoy. -Tok to this consideration with the at tention which if demands. This isemphaticallv a government of opinion. The vigor of the laws is a moral force. Tue bond which unites us is the sense of our equal rights the assurance of our capacity to assert, and the feeling that we actually enjoy them, take irom any considerable portion ot the American people the consciousness that they are in the full possession of thcij rights as freemen; substitute font the (-spirit of discontent, which springs from the conviction of wrongs inflicted, not inadvertently, but with deliberation, w hich are no! temporary but enduring; and you array against the government a force which is of like character with that which sustains it, you awaken a feeling of resentment which is goaded into activity by a sense of oppression, and embittered by the recollection that it is the hand of a brother which Inflicts it. Such m the feeling which pervades a numerous and respectable portion f the American people. It cannot be defied, and may not be disregarded, without putting to hazzard the safety of the conlederacy. Do you doubt its existence, its nature or degree! Look to the character of this assembly, o the circumstances under which it is convened. Give your attention to the history of the

past, and Le admonisfied of the ribvel and extraordinary spectacle which is presented to our view. Do not close your eyes to the fact that this assembly is altogether withdut a parallel since the foundation of the government that we are freemen, and the representatives of freemen, who speak to you of our rights that we have come from different and distant partsof the union, to join in demanding their restoration that a consciousness of strength is the offspring of united counsels; and that our purpose is not the less firm, because it is announced to you peaceably and in the spirit of conciliation. A numerous and respectable portion of the American people do not merely complain that this system is unjust, but they question the right to establish it.

1 hey do not doubt they utterly deny the constitutional power of congress to enact it. In justice to that body, we nvitc your candid attention to a brief consideration of their views on this subject. The constitutional validity or invalidity of an act of congress does not necessarily depend upon the question whether the judicial department of the government would allirm the one or the other of these propositions. It may be that an act w ill in itsoperatioi and eltect be subversive of the princi pie? of the constitution, and yet on its face be superior to all just exception on that ground. Literally and in termsv it may be in execution of an expressh granted power in its operations and effect it may not onlv transcend that power, but mav directly contravene it. Under the pretence of supplving a revenue.congress may raise money beyond the purposes to which it can be legiti mately applied, or may increase the duties to an amount which will be pro hibifory of importation, and consc quently destructiveof allrevenueto be derived from that source. Still such an act would purport to be in the exe cution of the power to lay and collect taxes, on courts of justice judging of it by its terms, ar.d by what is apparent on its lace, would not affirm its validi ty. But the constitution is equnlly onhgatory on every department of th1 government on the legislator who enact, as well as on the judge who interprets a law. If the former shall so veil his unlawful purpose a t.j defend it from the scrutiny of the litter, is if les a violation of AiV constitutional obli gation! If it be such a violation, can it be constirurior a!!v valid? If instead of the abence of any ex press grant of povor to p'-otcl manufactures, the constitution had contain ed an express clau-e or irhiKtion of an act ol congress, imposing duties be yond thepurpasejof revcn-ie.and there by operating as a bounty to the tmnu tacturer, would, they insist, he idmittrd to be in violation of the constitution. &. yet the repugnance would not he man ifest upon its lace, and would therefore elude the judicial power. A numerous and intelligent portion ot the American people believe that this view is applicable to the. tariff of; iJyi. 1 hey admit the power of con gress to lay and collect such duties as they may deem necessary for the pur pose ot revenue, and within these hm rs so to arrange those duties as inciden dentally, at:d to that extent to give pro tection to the mar.utaciure-. I hey de ny the right to convert what they de nominate me incidental into tne prin cipal power, and transcending the Inn its of revenue to impose an additional duty substantially and exclusively for the purpose ot affording that protection. 1 hey admit that congress may counter vail the regulations of a foreign power which may he hostile to our commerce, but they deny their authority perma nentlv to prohibit all importation for the purpose of securing the home market exclusively to the domestic manufacturer thereby destroying the com merce they were entrusted to regulate and fostering an interest with which they have no right to interfere. That portion of. our fellow-citizens of whom we speak, do not therefore hesitate to alarm, that if the right to enact the tann law oi 135 be reterred to the au thority to lay and collect duties, &c. it is a palpable abuse of the taxing power, which wasconterred for the purpose of revenue if to the authority to regulate commerce, it is as obvious a perversion of that power, since it may be extended to an utter annihilation of the objects which it was intended to protect. - Waiving, however, this discussion, we concur in the opinion, mat it tne ag grieved pa"ty is deprived of the protection which the judicial department might otherwise afford, it would streng then his appeal to the American peo ple to unite with him in correcting the evil, by peaceable and constitutional means. , , But there is a viw of this subject which may claim the concurrence of ail those who are prepareu u aamit that the tariff is unequal in its operation, oppressive and unjust. The con .... . t . j . . stitution of the United States had its origin in a spirit of compromise. Its object is the security of those rights

------ - V - - which are committed to its protection; its principles that of aD equal participation io the benefits and the burthens of the government. A system of taxation which oppresses the many for the benefit of the few, is therefore unjust not merely with reference to the great and immutable principles of right which are applicable to human conduct but is moreover in direct collision with that constitutional equality of right, which this instrument was thus confessedly intended to secure. A distinguished jurist of Massachusetts, one who is advantageously known as such to the people of the union, has said of this system of which we complain, that it is calculated "to destroy many of the great objects for which the constitution of the United States was originally framed and adopted.'' Who will affirm that such a system can consist with the spirit of the constitution? Its enactments may be so veiled a3 to elude the judicial power, and may therefore be obligatory upon the other departments of government, but as between constituent and agent,between the people and their rulers, the charter will in such case have been violated, and it will belong

to them to correct the evil. It is because of the danger of these interests which have grown up under the system? A just consideration of the subject will lead to a directly opposite result. If it be conceded that the system is oppressive, unequal and unjust, can those who profit by it deceive themselves with the expectation of its permanency? Is it prudent to close their eyes to the consequences, to which, sooner or later, this convictionmustinevitably lead ? Distinguished as this system is by every characteristic which may define a tyranny the most odious, why should we, who are its victims, not stand upon our chartered rights! As men and brethren, we appeal to you, then, to unite jour efforts with ours in the correction of this abuse. A system which is unequal in its operation, and therefore unjust which is oppressive, because it burthens the many for the benefit oflhe few grossly fatally, unwise and impolitic, since it it is subversive of the harmony of the union which is in violation of the principles of the government, and utterly at variance with the spirit of justice and mutual concession in whicii the constitution was conceived and adopted ; such a system, if persevered in, must alienate our affections from each other, engender discontents and animosities, and lead incvitahly, and with a force which no human power can resist, to the most awful of all calamities. We entreat those who differ from ns, seriously to ponder this view of the subject. We entreat vhem not to misunderstand us. We cannot be deterred from the discharge of our duties to ourselves and our common country by the menace of consequences, and we are equally incapable of using its language to others. it is as men and brothers in the spirit of an affection which is still warm and undiminished, that we could call their attention to inevita' le results, which neither they nor we will have power to avert. "Examine the subject for a moment in its connection with the principles of an enlightened political economy, and see if the consideration which are ur ged to sustain this system are not falla cious and delusive. The view must be necessarily brief- consisting of hints and suggestions, rather than an extended argument, or of minute details; but our object will b attained if these may serve to awaken a spirit of dispassionate inquiry. We arc the advocates of tree trade. The argument which sustains it rests upon a proposition which may not be denied. It isthe unquestionable right of every" individual to apply his labor and capital in the mode which he may conceive best calculated to promote his own interest. It is the interest of the public that he should so apply it. He understands, better than can be un derstood by the government, what will conduce to his own benefit: and since the majority of individuals will, if properly protected, be disposed to follow their interests, such an application of their industry and capital, must pro duce, in the result, the greatest amount of public good. Let it be remembered that the question relates exclusively to the application of capital. It cannot he generated by an act of legislation. The power of the government is limited to its transfer from one employment to another. It takes from some less fa vored interest what it bestows on one which it professes to protect. It is equally untrue that such a system gives greater employment to labor. Its oporation is confined to the simple change of its application. Laws which protect by bounty any peculiar species of labor, cannot be said to encourage American industry that is, directed to various objects. These laws favor only a single class; and since the bounty is not sunolied bv the government, but taken from the pocket of an individual, the protection which is, given to ene

species or labor, is Eo given tit tlig expense of every other. That course of legislation Jenves American capital and labor to the unfettered discretion of , those' who possess the one and apply the other, can alone be denominated the "American system' The interference of government with' . the right of the individual to apply his labor and capital in such mode as he may think most conducive to his own interest, thus necessarily operates to diminish the aggregate amount of production. In other words the amount of the necessaries avl conveniences of life which are enjoyed by like community is necessarily diminished. If all nations then were willing to adopt ther 53 stem of free trade for which we con- y tend, which is according to the spirit of t Christianity and calculated to unite r? i tions in harmony and peace, it canndt; be doubted that theintcrcst of each I would bc promoted. The onlv oucu- i

tion which can be raised on the part of the subject is, whether the adoption of a restrictive policy by one or more nations makes it the interest of others to reciprocate those restrictions. The answer seems to be sufficiently obvious & satisfaetorj-. The proposition which asserts the superior advantages of a free trade among all nations rests upon the following principle. The universal freedom of action which i n! ows, tend most thoroughly to developo lhc moral and physical" energies of each nation, and to apply them to those objects to which they are best adapted. Tho proposition must be equally truein relation to each nation, whatever may be the policy adopted by others. The nation which resorts to a restrictive policy, legislates to her own disadvantage by' interfering with the natural and most profitable emplovment of capital. To the extent to which shethus excludes another nation from and accustomed or desirahle market, she occasions, it is true, in that nation als a displacement of capital from its natural channels. But can the remedy consist in a retaliatory system of legislation? in a system of further restricttion imposed by the latter nation. If it bc true that a restrictive system is injurious to the nation impressing it does it cease to be so in regard to ihfi. latter nation, because of the wrong" done by the former, and because it is, also injurious to such nation? When., we apply these views to the corn laws--of Great Britain, consider with refe-. rence to their effect upon us, U not obvious that a system of pretended retaliation which unfetters the productive energies of our own people whatevermay be its effects upon that nation,, must necessarily increase the evili. we ourselves are destined to sustain. It is strongly urgtd as a motive to the continuance of the existing tariff, that its operation has been to effect a remction of prices. These have ia fact fallen since 1816, and our oppo n nts contend that this has been the re suit of domestic competition. A moments relection will demonstrate the . fallacy of this assertion. We present a single fact in the outset. The diminution of price has been general as well in rclatiou to articles which are not protected by the existing tariff of duties, as to those which are. It cannot therefore have arisen from this cause. Let us remember now that this diminution of price has occurred every where abroad as well as at home, and not only in an equal, b ut, as a necessary consequence of the tariff in a greater degree there than here. Ampng the Causes which has produced this result, two prominent ones are presented to your consideration, the diminished amount of the cir culatingmedium of the world, and the astonishing improvements which have been introduced in the modes of pro duction. The cost of production is less: the value of money has become greater. Can we wonder at the result? Take the case of cotton goods thesehave fallen in price here since the enactment of the tariff. But the same , thing is true not only in an equal, but in a greater degree abroad and the reason is obvious. The causes which have produced this result those which have been before stated; have elsewhere been left to exert their full influence of the tariff. The reduction therefore with us has necessarily stopped at a point, which is ascertained by adding the amount of duty to the pnee , of the imported article. - Thus the diminution of price here has not been, producod by theV tariff, but in despite of jt and has been retarded by it. But for this law the imported, which would take the place of the domestic f article in the country, would be obtained at a price greatly below that which we actually pay, and the difference amounting yearly to many millions of dollars, would be saved to the com mu, nity. It cannot be doubted that tha prices of all commodities, the domes, tic production of which is forced by the imposition on a foreign article of similar description, are raised by the