No. 149.] 295 



ed at home. Were Richard Cobden an American, if we may be- 

 lieve his own declaration, he would favor the tariff of 1842. 

 This is the position of the great champion of free trade in Eng- 

 land in our own times. 



But there arc men who can neither see the distinction between 

 tlie two things which are called by the samo name, or discern 

 any difference in the application of the same thing to different 

 circumstances. 



Why is it that England has the balance of trade alvrays in her 

 own favor and against all otlier countries? Tlie wisdom of her 

 commercial regulations is beyond praise. Slie consents to no real 

 reciprocity in trade, but charms the world by a voirvinal equality, 

 and lulls it by a word. There is no reason why the oalauce of 

 tradev.dthEnglandshould.be against us, as has almost always 

 been the case, except for a short time when the famine in Europe 

 made England dependent on us for subsistence, and opened her 

 market to our agricultural produce. 



At present our commercial system would seem to be as bad as 

 the most malevolent ingenuity could devise. Advalorem duties 

 computed upon foreign invoices are bringing ruin upon our mer- 

 chants and manufacturers alike — closing themillsof theone and 

 absorbing the profits of the other. The inducements to fraud -are 

 too obvious and tempting to be withstood. The advantage is en- 

 tirely in the hands of the foreigner. The fcicilities for deception 

 by false invoices proffered by our present tariff are seized upon 

 by the merchant abroad, who may either send two invoices, one 

 for the custom house, and another for his agent, or where the 

 agent has some apology for a conscience, may send but the one to 

 enter by, thus relieving him from the legal liabilities of perjury. 

 There is good reason to believe that instances of both these frauds 

 are of frequent occurrence. A single example from the mass of 

 evidence upon this point will suffice. A merchant of your city 

 who had been in the habit of purchasing Hamburg cigars at the 

 wholesale price of eleven dollars per thousand, wishing to make 

 a large shipment of the article to a foreign market, applied to a 

 German dealer to sell them to him, subject to debenture and was 

 refused. After much persuasion, however, he prevailed, and 



