TARIFF 



5704 



TARIFF 



industry. In the next year the internal reve- 

 nue tax, which had prevailed since the War of 

 1812, was abolished, and President Monroe in 

 a message to Congress frankly recommended a 

 tariff solely for protection. Efforts were made 

 in Congress to secure such a law, but no im- 

 portant tariff act passed both Houses until 

 ' 1824. This law, which raised the average duty 

 to thirty-seven per cent, was based on the prin- 

 ciple that such foreign-made goods as com- 

 peted with domestic products should be ex- 

 cluded from the American market. 



The tariff was rapidly becoming the most im- 

 portant political question. The loose construc- 

 tionists, under the leadership of Henry Clay, 

 were the expounders of the "American system," 

 which included a high protective tariff. The 

 Tariff of 1828, generally called the "tariff of 

 abomination," laid almost prohibitive duties on 

 woolen and cotton goods and a few other com- 

 modities. This act aroused great opposition in 

 the South, which then exported each year about 

 $25,000,000 worth of tobacco, cotton and rice to 

 Great Britain, whereas the imports of manu- 

 factured goods from Great Britain amounted 

 to $15,000,000. The South feared that prohibi- 

 tive duties would lead to retaliation by Great 

 Britain and thus kill its export trade in raw 

 materials. The South also declared that the 

 Constitution gave Congress power to levy du- 

 ties for revenue only and not for protection. 

 The protests against this act culminated in the 

 nullification movement, led by John C. Cal- 

 houn. Congress modified the duties slightly in 

 1832, but still recognized the principle of pro- 

 tection. 



As the tariff of 1832 was still unsatisfactory 

 to the South, in 1833 a compromise was ef- 

 fected whereby the duties would be gradually 

 reduced until 1842, after which year there was 

 to be a uniform duty of twenty per cent on all 

 imports. In 1842, however, the Whigs passed 

 a new law providing high duties. When the 

 Democrats were returned to power in 1845 they 

 promptly passed a new bill, the Walker Act, 

 which was called a free-trade measure; it low- 

 ered some duties, but, in fact, it retained many 

 of those which had been the subject of con- 

 troversy in the preceding half century. In 1857 

 the duties were lowered again, this time without 

 much opposition, because there was a growing 

 surplus in the national treasury. 



The policy of decreasing the duties was 

 abandoned at the outbreak of the War of Se- 

 cession. The sentiment against protection had 

 gradually increased after 1828, and except for 



the period of 1842 to 1846 the duties had been 

 slowly lowered. Under the stimulus of war, 

 Congress passed the Morrill Act of 1861, rais- 

 ing the average duty from twenty to twenty- 

 seven per cent. During the next four years not 

 a session of Congress passed without some in- 

 creases in duties. After the war, except for one 

 law in 1867, the tariff question was lost for fif- 

 teen years in a mass of other legislation which 

 seemed more important. In general, the opera- 

 tion of these protective tariffs coincided with 

 an astonishing growth in manufactures. There 

 was a feeling throughout the country that pro- 

 tection was necessary and beneficial. 



About 1880, however, the government's an- 

 nual surplus began to increase, and Congress 

 spent it wastefully. The demand for a real 

 remedy, a lower tariff, led to the appointment 

 of a Tariff Commission in 1882 to ascertain the 

 effect of the existing tariff laws and to recom- 

 mend changes in them. As the commission and 

 Congress were both controlled by high protec- 

 tionists, the resulting law of 1883 lowered but 

 few schedules; it was designed to give only 

 such reductions as would silence the demands 

 of the opposition. The tariff became one of 

 the issues of the campaign of 1884, which re- 

 sulted in the defeat of the Republicans and the 

 election of Grover Cleveland, the first Demo- 

 cratic President since the War of Secession. 



The Mills Bill of 1888, embodying the low- 

 tariff ideas of President Cleveland and his 

 party, was passed by the House, but failed to 

 pass in the Senate, whi(5h the Republicans con- 

 trolled. The Republicans, in their turn, inter- 

 preted the outcome of the campaign of 1888, 

 which returned Harrison, a Republican Presi- 

 dent, as an endorsement of high tariff. The re- 

 sult was the McKinley Tariff Act of 1890, which 

 raised the average level of duties to a higher 

 point than ever before. A noteworthy feature 

 of the act was the reciprocity clause, added 

 through the influence of James G. Elaine, then 

 Secretary of State. A month after this act was 

 passed the Democrats secured control of the 

 House as the result of the November elections. 

 In the ensuing Presidential campaign the tariff 

 was again the issue, and Cleveland's second 

 election seemed to make a lower tariff inevi- 

 table. Then the severe panic and crisis of 1893, 

 followed by depression in all lines of business, 

 made caution and compromise necessary. The 

 Wilson Bill of 1894 made so few reductions that 

 Cleveland showed his disapproval by allowing 

 it to become a law without his approval. (See 

 CLEVELAND, GROVER.) 



