I. To all these arguments, it was again urged in reply CHAPTER that the duty on molasses was nothing more, in fact, than a substitute for the state duties heretofore levied on the 1789 import of New England rum, and which, by the adoption of the new Constitution, had fallen to the ground. Though paid, in the first place, by the Massachusetts importers, it must ultimately fall on the consumers of the rum, who were scattered throughout the United States. To this were added various reflections on the deleterious effects of rum, by which Ames was provoked into the following diatribe, betraying already, at that early day, the ultraconservative cast of his temper. He "was for treating as idle the visionary notion of reforming the morals of the people by a tax on molasses. We are not to consider ourselves while here as at a church or school, to listen to the harangues of speculative piety; we are to talk of the political interests committed to our charge. When we take up the subject of morality, let our system look toward that object, and not confound itself with revenue and protection of manufactures. If gentlemen conceive that a law will direct the taste of the people from spirituous to malt liquors, they must have more romantic notions of legislative influence than experience justifies." The House would not reduce the duty, but, for the consolation of the distillers, agreed to what they had refused in committee-a drawback to the amount of three cents per gallon on all rum exported to foreign countries. The list of articles being gone through with, a special committee was appointed to bring in a bill. The resolutions respecting tonnage duties coming up, May 4 Lawrence made another vigorous effort to do away with the discrimination in favor of allied nations. "As we had no treaties with Spain and Portugal, they, as wel. as Great Britain, might take offense, and might retort by CHAPTER levying duties on our fish, of which they received large I. quantities. A commercial treaty with Great Britain, 1789. now that the new government had commenced its opera tions, would be more likely to be secured by more moderate means. It was the inability of the old confederation to fulfill its engagements which had hitherto been urged by the British government as their chief objection to a treaty of commerce. Possessed of capital as Great Britain was, she was far better able to bear the loss of a suspension of trade than we were, and, in such a contest, would have a decided advantage. Even as matters now stood, our trade with England was very advantageous. Why run the risk of losing it, without an object worthy of the sacrifice? Our vessels and products were admitted into Great Britain on terms more favorable than those of any other foreign nation; and we possessed, also, the advantage of trading to her possessions in the East, which might be regarded as a partial compensation for the loss of the West India traffic. Why run the risk of exclusion there also ?" Madison, in reply, still dwelt on the popularity of the proposed discrimination, a policy adopted in all or most of the states, New Hampshire having set the example, which had been rapidly imitated. Supported by Fitzsimmons, he still insisted that, in a war of commercial regulations, the advantage would be wholly on our side He was sorry that Spain and Portugal should fall into the same category with Great Britain; but, as they had no treaties with us, he could not discover any principle which would sustain a distinction in their favor. The House, after an animated debate, sustained Madison's views by a decisive vote. The representatives from Georgia and South Carolina admitted the policy of discriminating in favor of our al 1. lies, and also of protection to our own shipping; but they CHAPTER warmly protested against the extent to which this policy was proposed to be carried. A gloomy picture was drawn 1789. of the distresses and embarrassments of these two states. The planters, according to Jackson, "courted by luxury, which had exposed all its charms to impassion their souls, and prompted on by the flattering terms of obtaining a gratification of their wishes by a long credit, had put themselves into the power of commercial harpies, and were persecuted by British tyrants in the shape of creditors." Many of the old ante-Revolutionary debts still remained unpaid. After laying so many duties to encourage manufactures, a heavy tonnage duty must now be added to protect American shipping! It would be impossible to obtain a sufficient supply of American ships; and besides, they could not compete with British vessels, owned by the creditors of the planters, who took the produce in payment of their debts, and insisted also on the additional profit of transporting it. On the other hand, the discrimination in favor of American shipping, to the full extent agreed to, was zealously maintained, not by the Eastern members only, but by Madison and most of his colleagues from Virginia, who evidently expected that state to take a leading part in commerce and navigation. It was as yet a matter of doubt whether Baltimore or Norfolk would become the great port of the Chesapeake; indeed, there were those who entertained hopes that Norfolk might even rival New York. The tariff bill having been reported, and being under May 12 discussion on the question of its second reading, Parker, of Virginia, moved to insert a clause imposing a duty of ten dollars on every slave imported. "He was sorry the Constitution prevented Congress from prohibiting CHAPTER the importation altogether. It was contrary to revolu I. tion principles, and ought not to be permitted." The 1789. only state which seemed to have a direct pecuniary interest in this question was Georgia. In all the other states at present represented on the floor, the importation of slaves, whether from Africa or elsewhere, was prohibited. Even South Carolina, just before the meeting of the Federal Convention, had passed an act, as she had been accustomed to do occasionally in colonial times, when the prices of produce were too low to be remunerative, prohibiting, for one year, the importation of slaves -a prohibition since renewed for three years. But, notwithstanding this temporary prohibition, the same jeal ousy as to her right of importation, so strongly manifested in the Federal Convention, was now exhibited on the floor of the House. Smith, the representative from the Charleston district, "hoped that such an important and serious proposition would not be hastily adopted. It was rather a late moment for the first introduction of a subject so big with serious consequences. No one topic had been yet introduced so important to South Carolina and the welfare of the Union." Sherman threw out some suggestions similar to those he had of fered in the Federal Convention. He approved the object of the motion, but did not think it a fit subject to be embraced in this bill. He could not reconcile himself to the insertion of human beings, as a subject of impost, among goods, wares, and merchandise. He hoped the motion would be withdrawn for the present, and taken up afterward as an independent subject." Jackson "was not surprised, however others might be so, at the quarter whence this motion came. Virginia, an old settled state, had her complement of slaves, and the natural increase being sufficient for her purpose, she was careless of recruiting her numbers by importation. CHAPTER But gentlemen ought to let their neighbors get supplied before they imposed such a burden. He knew this 1789 business was viewed in an odious light at the eastward, because the people there were capable of doing their own work, and had no occasion for slaves. But gentlemen ought to have some feeling for others. |