WASHINGTON, Sept. 24, 1850.
I have but time to
say a word. . . .
There has just been
another desperate attempt to get a tariff. Messrs. A—— and G—— were put forward
to pioneer the measure. Mr. G—— moved to reconsider a bill from the Committee
on Commerce, giving Canada vessels a right to lade and unlade in our ports,
&c., so that it might be sent to the Committee of the Whole on the State of
the Union, to be there amended by a tariff. So the motion prevailed. Then a
motion to lay the subject on the table failed. Then came the question about
committing with instructions, which failed by a large vote. So the whole thing
slumped. We are surrounded by lobby members from Pennsylvania and New England.
The men who have been ready to barter away liberty and blood and souls for
profits have failed again miserably. Mr. Webster's promise made at the Revere
House, that, if the North would go for conciliation (that is, the surrender of
liberty), they could then have "beneficial legislation" (that is, a
tariff), has not been fulfilled.
I regret as much as
any one the suffering of our laboring classes; but there is a retribution in
all this which gratifies one's moral sense.
Good-by to you, my
friend!
SOURCE: Mary Tyler
Peabody Mann, Life of Horace Mann, p. 335
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