enable them to get higher prices than they would get otherwise. Labor is cheaper in England and France and Germany than in the United States; and if we do not tax the productions of that labor, as they come here, it is said that the wages of labor must here sink to nearly the European level.

Beside all this, it is thought desirable that we should have a variety of arts and trades among us, so that every person may find that employment which suits his taste and genius; so that all the various resources of the country, animal, vegetable, mineral, physical, social, and moral, may find development; and that we may produce within ourselves, all we want to eat, drink, wear, and use: thus to secure our independence in time of war, and when our ports may be blockaded.

For these various reasons, and others, it is claimed by some politicians, that we should adopt a protective policy, in laying duties; a policy, the purpose of which is to tax foreign articles which come in competition with our own products, and thus enable our producers to get higher prices than they would otherwise obtain. This policy was adopted in the outset of the government, under the Constitution, and has prevailed during the greater part of the time, since. It may be added, that a similar policy is adopted in all other civilized. countries.

But there are statesmen among us who hold that this protection is partial; that it takes money out of the pockets of one class, and puts it into those of another. They maintain that if you put a tax on foreign cloths, you raise the price of the article here, and enable the manufacturer to get larger profits and as the people at large must buy their

clothes, this higher price comes out of their purses and goes into those of the manufacturers. This they consider a tax upon the consumer for the benefit of the producer.

Those who hold these opinions, generally repudiate the protective system, and insist that free trade is the true policy of nations. They would raise no revenue from duties; they would have no custom-houses; they would let the ships of the world come, and buy and sell without restraint. To supply the expenses of government they would resort to direct taxation.

Some of these politicians insist, if we are not yet prepared for free trade, that still, the Constitution does not authorize taxation, or the laying of duties for any other purpose than revenue: that the rate should be, therefore, uniform; and consequently they advocate what is called a horizontal rate of duties, as twenty per cent., for instance, on the value of all imported articles; or at least that nothing shall range higher than this general scale.

These persons say that if manufacturers, or agriculturists derive accidental or incidental protection from this horizontal range of duties, it is all very well: but you must not lay a lighter or heavier duty, with a view to protection. They oppose, therefore, as unconstitutional, discriminating duties, or protective duties; that is, duties varied with a view to protection: the only protection they approve, is that which is accidental and undesigned, or, to use the common phrase, incidental. Every revenue act which is framed with a view to encourage the producers of the country, is deemed a trespass upon the Constitution.

We shall not undertake to decide between these two opposite schools-the friends of a protective policy, and the friends of free trade-further than to state a fact that ought not to be lost sight of, viz., that the former has generally prevailed from the foundation of the government, and, right or wrong, the state of things is adjusted to it.

Leaving this dispute to the politicians, we remark that the Secretary of the Treasury is called upon for a multiplicity of facts and views, which relate to the various questions that occur in Congress, touching finance, revenue, &c. It is indispensable, therefore, that he be a man of accuracy, and of minute as well as extensive information, upon financial matters.

The annual expenses of the government may be stated at about twenty-five millions of dollars. About twenty millions are obtained by customs. The other great source of revenue is the public lands.

These consist of vast tracts in the western country, amounting to a thousand millions of acres. The price at which they are sold, is one dollar and twenty-five cents the acre. The annual proceeds of the sales have varied from two to twenty millions. In 1841, a law was passed, giving the proceeds of these lands to the several states; but this policy is yet unsettled. The land office is attached to the treasury department.

In the treasury building is also an office devoted to the affairs of the Mint. This latter was established at Philadelphia, in 1792, and in 1835 a branch was established at New Orleans, for the coinage of gold and silver. There are branches also for the coining of gold at Charlotte, North

Carolina, and Dahlonega, in Georgia. These several branches are under the control of the director of the mint at Philadelphia. The records of these several establishments are kept in the appropriate office, in the Treasury Department.

CHAPTER LVIII.

Secretary of War.

THE War Department is an extensive building near the President's house, which contains various rooms, to accommodate the several officers attached to the establishment.

The Secretary of War has charge of the army, and of the forts and garrisons of the United States. He is also charged with Indian affairs; that is, the execution of treaties with the tribes of Indians along our western frontier.

He is charged with the providing of muskets, cannon, and other munitions of war, and their preservation in the different arsenals throughout the country. He is charged with the marching of troops to their destination; the providing and transporting of military stores, &c.

In time of peace the duties of this officer are extensive, but in time of war, they are in the highest degree arduous and responsible.

The army is under the command of a MajorGeneral, who is styled the commander-in-chief, and who has his head-quarters at Washington. There are two divisions of the army, at the head of each of which is a Brigadier-General. The

aggregate of the army is about eight thousand men, and the annual expense is about four millions of dollars.

CHAPTER LIX.

Secretary of the Navy.

THE Navy Department is near the President's house. The duties of the Secretary, are to take charge of the Navy; to see to the building of ships, their equipment, and their fitting out with men and stores; to see to the care of them while in ordinary, that is, laid up in port; to plan voyages and cruises; in short, to superintend the whole business. of the Navy.

There are several Navy Yards in the United States, where vessels are built, refitted, and taken care of while in ordinary. These are vast establishments, and attended by great numbers of persons. The principal are at Washington, Philadelphia, Norfolk, and Charlestown, near Boston.

At Washington there is a board of Naval Commissioners, consisting of three officers of the navy, whose duty it is to see to the detail of constructing and employing the public vessels, under the superintendence of the Secretary.

The Navy, though on a small scale, acquired great reputation in the war with England of 1812, and it is now a favorite with the nation. The whole number of ships, sloops, and steam vessels, belonging to the United States, is about ninety. The whole number of persons employed in and about them is nearly ten thousand. The annual expense is about seven millions of dollars.