Some
Southern speakers thought that the duties on cheap dry goods used by
their slaves rather discriminated against them. They pointed to the
fact that New England manufacturers scarcely needed protective
legislation, when the stock in their cotton mills was selling at
sixty-five per cent. above par and was paying heavy dividends. This
conviction grew steadily among certain Southern States for four years,
until a change in the tariff schedule brought one of them to open
revolt.
A comparison of the votes on the tariff measures of 1816 and 1824
exhibits this sectional tendency. In 1816, a protective tariff in the
House gained sixty-three Northern votes to fourteen against it. Eight
years later there were eighty-eight votes for a higher tariff and
nineteen opposed to it. If it had not been for the duty on canvas,
Massachusetts would have viewed the measure favourably and would have
made the vote one hundred to seven. The North was evidently beginning
to appreciate the value of protection. The Southern members in the
House, in 1816, stood less than two to one as opposed to protection.
In 1824, they stood nearly four to one against the policy.
Pages:
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539