12 ■ the public acts of public men. Thoroughly convinced that a considerable portion of the American people were cheated of their suffrages in the last Presidential election, and finding the verdict which they then rendered re*- lied upon here to force through Congress a measure which they condemn, and which I believe to be fraught with mischief to the public welfare, I have felt it to be my duty to expose the perfidy which has been practised, and to invoke the just indignation of the people upon the authors, great and small, of that perfidy. Let a severe, but just retribution be visited upon them, as a warning in all after times to ambitious and unprincipled aspirants, teaching them to know, that the people, ever ready to sustain and honor those who are faithful to them, possess intelligence to detect, and virtuous resentment to punish those, who by falsehood and dissimulation, and double dealing, win their confidence and support only to deceive and betray them. Thus, and thus only, can practical effect be given to the principle, which is the foundation of our political institutions, that the people are competent to govern themselves. For it must be obvious to all, that this principle will become inefficient and inoperative, when it shall be permitted to any man to go “ unwhipped of justice” whoreaches the Presidency by professing himself favorable to a system of public policy, and, when safely installed in power, employs all the influence of his high station to destroy the policy which he was elected to maintain. Upon such a man, and all his guilty coadjutors, the people.of the United States owe it to themselves, to honor, truth, and justice, and to the principles of their Government, to visit a blasting indignation ; and I hesitate not to say, that if there is yet left among us a remnant of the spirit of our Fathers, this duty will in due time be performed. Mr. Chairman, I have occupied so much of the hour to which I am lim* ited by a rule of the House in refuting the argument so zealously and per- severingly urged—that the people, by electing Mr. Polk, ratified the decree of the Baltimore Convention, and that therefore Congress is bound to pass the bill now before this committee,—as to have but a few minutes left to devote to an examination ofiits probable effects upon the national interests,and contrast the same with the actual realized operation of the tariff act of 1842, which this bill proposes to repeal. I do not regret that I am thus restricted, for the arguments upon which the supporters of the opposing systems of policy rely to sustain their respective theories have been ably presented during this debate, and on many former occasions, insomuch that but little which is either new or original can now be said on either side of the question. The tariff of 1842 is founded upon the principle that it is expedient to raise, by duties on foreign imports, a sufficient amount of revenue to defray the necessary expenses of Government, and to discrimin’ate in laying those duties so as to extend, in the language of Mr. Polk, when he was a candidate for the Presidency, “ fair and just protection to all the great interests of the whole Union, embracing agriculture, manufactures, the mechanic arts, commerce, and navigation whereas the bill under consideration is founded upon the free trade theory as set forth by Mr. Polk in his message since his election to the Presidency, and by his Secretary of the Treasury, in his annual report made at the commencement of the present session of Congress. Thousands of political agitators have constantly employed their talents, for mere party purposes, in endeavoring to excite the passions and preju
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM4ODY=