Colonization Society. Climatology of the U. S... California Trees.. 280 578 Caucasian Race, and the Negro... 45 268 273 Mobile, Commercial Growth of... 238 Marion C. H., S. C... Men, their National Equality. England's Supply of Food. Coal-American Coal Fields.. 5 653 Democratic Party. Education-Public Schools. 37 Levee System of the Mississippi.. 437 113 erty. Gold Regions of British America Hot Springs of Arkansas. Hog Statistics.. Horse, his Characteristics.. Insurance Companies of New-Or- leans. Insurance.. Intellectual Labor. India... Insect World. Iron Mining in the U. States. Liberia Lumber Trade of Virginia. Regard to... Education in North Carolina.. 716 Manufactures, United States.. .1, 352, 355, 555 Manufactures of Lowell.. 443 Fish and their Propagation.. States.. Federal Compact. Galveston, Commerce of. Gardening in all Ages... Gardens, English... .... Mexico 337-Acquisition of 366 ........ Lake Trade. Money Methodist Church, South.. 437 Mississippi-Seeks a Gulf Port... 229 281 179 Mississippi River, and New-Or- 115 613 723 Nullification-its History Georgia, Notes on.. Negro Races and White Races. 710 56 659 99 288 120 189 472 567 473 122 308 549 613 503 356 724 165 448 679 Mobile, Commerce of, in 1857-58, 711 North Carolina-Education.. North America-its Great Divis- Norfolk, Virginia. North and South-their Relations 664 116 609 594 277 226 316 664 29, 118 Oregon...... 602 355 Officeholders, North and South.. 331 463 343 United States Expenditures...... 242 209 Wines of Europe and America.... 218 583 War of 1812-15.. Virginia Manufactures... White-Maunsel.... 715 455 604 78 483 Wheat Crops of the United States. 574 358 602 White Race, the Best Slave Race....661 DE BOW'S REVIEW. JULY, 1858. ART. I.-DIRECT TAXATION AND FREE TRADE. We have on several occasions referred to the subject of Direct Taxation, and indicated the many considerations which should induce the adoption of that system of revenue in our country. When Mr. Boyce, of South Carolina, made a movement in Congress for the appointment of a Special Committee to analyse and report upon the expenditures of the Government, and to propose a plan of reform, we heralded it with gratulation, and offered him the right hand of fellowship in his labors. The result of the investigation so far has been communicated to the country, in a report, exhibiting great research and ability, and which has been received with marked attention and favor in the North and the South. It is our belief that Col. Boyce has inaugurated a movement the effects of which will be felt in the future financial policy of the Government. It will interest our readers to have the report, and we give it to them without omitting a line.-EDITOR. ́ The expenditures for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1857, independent of the public debt, as appears from the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, are $65,032,597 76. The first question is, whether those expenditures are greater than what they should be under an economical administration of the government. We think they are. The best mode of determining this question is to compare the present total expenditures of the government with the total expenditures of the government at some past period of our history, and, further, to compare some of the leading items of our expenditure now with the leading items of our expenditure then. With this view, we have compared the receipts and expenditures of 1857 with 1823, the result of which appears by the following statement: 1828. 1857. Year. Population. Receipts. Receipts, pro rata, as to population. Expendi- Expenditures, Military ex- Naval expenditures. penditur's. 10, 606, 540 $20,540, 666 $1 93.66 $9,784, 154 80 94.24 $3,096, 924 $2,503,765 28,500,000 68, 969, 212 1 41.99 65,032,559 2 28.18 19,159,150 12,651,694 Inc. of 1557 over 1829 17,898, 460 $48, 428,546 49.33 55, 248, 405 1 38.94 16,062, 226 | 10,147,928 If space would permit, the contrast might be carried into many other items of expenditure, and the results would be startling. But enough has been done to show that the ratio of expenditure is far in excess of the increase of population. The expenditures ought not, for very obvious reasons, to increase in proportion to the increase of population. But conceding that it should, the expenditures of the government, in round numbers, should not exceed $28,000,000; whereas it is $65,032,559 76-an excess of $37,032,559 76. This result is sufficiently striking, but it is rendered much more so when we consider two important facts: 1st. That 6,196,000 acres of the public land were granted during the last fiscal year for railroad purposes, which may be valued at $15,490,000, being at the rate of $2 50 per acre. 2d. That appropriations to supply the deficiencies of the last fiscal year have been called for, amounting, in round numbers, to $10,000,000, making the total expenditures of the government, in round numbers, for the last fiscal year, $90,000,000!-an excess over the ratio of expenditures in 1823 of $62,000,000. The administration of the government in 1823 was not considered peculiarly economical; on the contrary, it was pronounced at the time by some as extravagant, and really was much more so than the first term of Mr. Jefferson's administration. For a further illustration of the increased expenditures of the government, see exhibit A, at the end of the report. Considering as established the proposition that the expenditures of the government are far in excess of what they should be, we pass on to consider the remedy, if remedy there be, for this lavish waste of the public money. What is the remedy for this vast and increasing expenditure? The only remedy likely, in any degree, to be effectual, is to change the existing system of taxation. The regular increase of our expenditures shows that it is not attributable to any particular party or administration, for this increase has gone on constantly under every party and every administration, with the regularity of a great principle. To make an individual a prodigal, you have only to supply him with an unlimited amount of money; to make a government extravagant, you have only to do the same thing. The first economical defect of our present system of taxation, by duties on imports, is, that it operates as a bounty to one, and that a very important class-the manufacturers. Under the operation of this first defect, the great manufacturing class, which represents a vast capital, which is intensely alive to its peculiar interest, which is vigilant, active, powerful, and capable of prompt and ready combination, is |
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