CHAPTER VIII. The Rise of Modern Political Methods. The accession of Andrew Jackson to the presidency marked an era in the political history of the United States. The eight years during which he served were years of unusual prosperity to the country, and two new States were added to the Union. These were Arkansas (June 15, 1836) and Michigan (January 26, 1837). The development of the West was rapidly progressing. Inventions and improvements were contributing to the general advancement. Steam was applied to railroads (1831), and with the application there sprang up the gigantic railway system of the present EARLY AMERICAN RAILROAD TRAIN. day. The screw CAPTAIN JOHN (1836), and by means of this invention ocean commerce has been revolutionized. McCormick's Reaper, one of the greatest labor-saving agricultural implements ever invented, was devised (1834), rendering possible the cultivation of larger fields of grain and breadstuffs, and thereby building up the great agricultural interests of the Northwest. Immigrants from Europe were pouring steadily into the country, and the population of the United States had increased to thirteen millions. By 1835 the public debt incurred by the war of 1812 was paid in full. The tide of population flowing towards the Northwest again encountered a savage check; this time at the hands. of the Sac and Fox Indians of Wisconsin. These Indians, after ceding their territory, had declined to give it up, and under a celebrated chieftain named BLACK HAWK, resisted the encroachments of the whites (1832). Black Hawk was defeated and taken prisoner by GENERALS ATKINSON and SCOTT, and the Indians were removed west of the Mississippi. The Indians of the South also became troublesome. The Cherokees of Georgia had by this time attained to some degree of civilization; but complications arose between them and the State government, and it became necessary for the United States Government to adjust the difficulty. This was done by the payment of five million dollars to the Cherokees, who relinquished their lands and removed (1837-'8) to a region beyond the Mississippi, that had already been organized (1834) as the INDIAN TERRITORY. BLACK HAWK. It was attempted to remove the Seminoles to this region; but these Indians resisted so violently that war ensued and lasted for four years. The hostiles were led by MICANOPY and OSCEOLA. Among the atrocities perpetrated were the massacre of MAJOR DADE with one hundred and seventeen men, and the murder of GENERAL THOMPSON. During the course of the war the Indians were defeated by GENERAL CLINCH, near the Withlacoochie (December 31, 1835); by GENERAL GAINES, near the same spot (February 29, 1836); by Governor Call in the Wahoo Swamp, not far from Tampa Bay (October, 1836), and by COLONEL ZACHARY TAYLOR, near Okeechobee Lake in the Everglades. In this last battle the defeat was so crushing that nothing remained but to hunt down the different bands of Indians that scattered them selves through the swamp. Osceola died a prisoner at Fort Moultrie, and many of the Seminoles were finally removed. Although Jackson's administration was marked by the increased prosperity of the country, it was remarkable for the many heated contests in which the President was engaged. The President of the United States and the party to which he belongs are held responsible to the American people for the proper administration of affairs. In order that the policy of an administration be efficiently carried out, it is necessary that the leading officials of the government be in full accord and of the same party with the chief executive. Jackson was the first President to recognize this principle. Those who preceded him had made but few removals from office. The controversies in which Jackson was engaged during his administration made ANDREW JACKSON. he could place per- The Bank of the United States. A second National Bank, similar to the one designed by Hamilton, had been established at Philadelphia under a charter for twenty years (1816). Its capital stock was thirty-five million dollars, of which amount the United States Government held seven million dollars. It had branch ins.itutions at different points, and its purpose was to regulate the currency and serve as the fiscal agent of the government. At first its affairs were badly managed, but LANGDON CHEVES of South Carolina becoming President of the Board of Directors (1819), it attained in the three years of his incumbency a condition of sta bility and usefulness. In 1832 the question of renewing the Bank charter came up in Congress. A bill favoring it was passed, but the President vetoed it. The veto was sustained. In 1836 the charter expired, and the funds belonging to the United States were distributed among several State banks. what are termed the Civil Service Reform measures of the present day have been instituted, whereby appointments to minor offices are sought to be determined by fitness as ascertained by Civil Service Examinations, held at regular intervals in various parts of the country. QUESTIONS. What was the condition of the country during Jackson's administration? What can you say of the Western States? Inventions and improvements? What resulted from the application of steam to railroads? What do you know of the screw propeller? McCormick's Reaper? Increase of population? What Indians obstructed the tide of Northwestern emigration? What do you know of Black Hawk's War? What Southern Indians became troublesome? How were the difficulties with the Cherokees adjusted? What do you know of the Seminole War? Dade? What do you know of the United States Bank? What useful purpose did it serve? For what is Jackson's administration remarkable? What political principle did Jackson recognize? What of the Civil Service Reform measures of the present day? CHAPTER IX. The American System. The most important of the political controversies that characterized Jackson's administration, was that which arose between the government of the United States and the State of South Carolina. It was occasioned by the measures adopted by this State to nullify what to her was an oppressive and extortionate tariff act passed by Congress in 1832. Before we consider this controversy let us understand something of the nature of a tariff. Every citizen is interested in the maintenance of a good government, and should contribute to its support in proportion to his means. To this end he pays TAXES, and the manner in which a government levies these taxes is either DIRECT or INDIRECT. The former is that employed by local and State government; the latter is that by which the Federal Government derives most of its revenues. The principal method of taxing indirectly is by levying a TARIFF upon imports, collected by customs officers at what are called ports of entry. When a tariff is levied solely for the support of the government it is called a TARIFF FOR REVENUE. Thus, if a tariff of twenty-five cents be levied on a yard of cloth sold for one dollar in England, its selling price, when imported to this country, is increased to one dollar and twenty-five cents, and the citizen who buys it practically pays one dollar for the cloth and twenty-five cents tax to the general government. A tariff upon foreign goods, besides yielding revenue to the government, may encourage incidentally the manufacture of such goods at home; for if the cost of production be the same at home and abroad, the domestic manufacturer is enabled either to undersell his foreign competitor in the American market, or to sell at the same price and increase his profits to the amount of the tariff that the foreign maker is compelled to pay to pass his goods into this country. When a tariff is levied solely for the encouragement of American factures, it is called a PROTECTIVE TARIFF, and the American industry in whose favor a discrimination is made. against foreign competition is said to be PROTECTED. manu England has always been one of the greatest of manufacturing nations, and her goods are to be found in every market of the world. We have seen Tariff Classification. Originally instituted as a means of revenue, it has come to be considered that tariff may have for its object either revenue or protection. Strictly speaking, a tariff for revenue can be levied only upon such goods and materials as | are not produced in this country; other wise protection will form an incidental feature of it. A tariff whose sole object is protection must be high enough to render unprofitable the importation of such goods as compete with those of domestic make; otherwise there will be incidental revenue. Sheet-tin is not manufactured in this country, therefore, the tariff upon it is purely a revenue one; but the duty on stamped or manufactured tinware is so high as to prohibit importation, and is, therefore, a strictly protective tariff. Sugar is imported in large quantities. It is also manufactured in this country to a limited extent. The tariff on sugar is, therefore, one for revenue with incidental protection. The import tax on manufactured iron is comparatively high, but not too high to prevent im portation whenever the demand for it is greater than home production. The tariff on iron is, therefore, a tariff for protection with incidental revenue. According to the object they subserve tariffs may be classified then under four headings: TARIFF FOR REV. ENUE; TARIFF FOR REVENUE, WITH INCIDENTAL PROTECTION; TARIFF FOR PROTECTION; and TARIFF FOR PROTECTION, WITH INCIDENTAL REVENUE. It will be observed that the largest revenue to the government from tariff is derivable from the duty on goods not manufactured in this country, and largely imported, embracing luxuries and articles not producible here. On the other hand, the principal articles of necessity are made here, and they are generally protected-resulting in small importations and consequent decrease in revenue to the government. The practical application of these two principles is the difference existing between the two great political parties of the present day: one claiming that high tariff on articles of necessity is a tax and burden on the people individually, the other insisting it is a benefit to the country at large and therefore to the people as a whole. |