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Show 466 INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. its interests; and every frictl(l of onr free in. Utntions shonl!l be always prepared to maiutain lltlimpairc(J and in full vigor the right' and sovereignty of the States, and to confine tho action of the general government stricLly to tho sphere of its appropriate duties. There i , perhaps, no one of the powers conferred on tho federal government so lin.l>lc to abuse as the taxing power. 'rho mo t productive and convenient sources of revenue were ncce ·sarily given to it, that it might be able to perform the importaut dutie~ imposed upou it; and the taxes which it lays upon commerce being concealed from the real payer in the price or the article, they do not so readily attract the attention of the people as smaller sums clemancle<l from them directly by the tnx-gathercr. Bnt thr tax imposed on goods en hanccs by so much the price of the eommo< lity to the consumer; and, as many of the,·c duties arc imposed on articles of necessity, which arc daily used by the great bo~ly of the people, the money raiscc1 by thc1;o imposts is drawn from their pockets. Concrress has no right, under the Con 'titution, to take money from tltc IH'Oplc, unlrss it i::l reqnired to execute some one of tho Hpccific powers intrusted to tho government; and if t!Jcy raise more than is necessary for such purpo es, it is an abuse of the power of taxation, and unjust and oppressive. It mny, indeed, happen that the revenue will sometimes exceed the amount anticipated when tho taxes were laid. When, howover, this is ascertained, it is easy to reduce them, and, in such a case, it is unqne, tionably the duty of the govern~ mont to reduce them; for no ci rcum tances can justi fy it in assuming a }WWPr not given to it by the Consti tution, nor in taking away the money of the people when it is not needed for the legitimate wants of the government. Plain as these principles appear to be, you will yet find there is a constant effort to induce tho general govel'llment to go heyond the limits of its taxing power, and to imposo INAUGURAL AND FARE"WELL ADDHE~SES. 4()7 unnecessary burdens upon the people. M n:ny powerful interests arc continually at work to procure heavy dnties on commerce, and to swell tho revenue boyoud the real necc~s i~ ti cs of the public service; and the country has already felt the injnrions eff cts of their combin ed influence. 'J'hry sttcc·eedcd in obtaining a tari[ of duties bearing most oppressively on the agricultural and laboring classes of sociely, and producing a reven ue that could not be nscfnlly employc<l wi I hi n the range of tho powers co11ferred upon Congn ·..;s ; a11d, iu order to fa, ten upon tho people this unjust nucl ull cqual system of taxation, extravaga11t schemes of in ter~ nal improvements were got up in various quarters, to sqna11 ~ der tho money and to purchase support. 'l'hus one uneonstitntionnl measure was intended to be upheld by another, and the abuse of the power of taxation was to be maintained by usurping the power of expending the money in in ternnl improvements. You cannot have forgotten tho severe und don utful struggle through which we passed, when the executive department of the government, by its veto, endeavored to arrest this prodigal scheme of injnstice, aud to bring back the l 'gi ·lation of Congress to the boun~ daries pre, cribed by the Constitution. The good sense and practical judgment of tho people, when the subject was brought before them, sustained the course of the executive; an<l this plan of unconstitutional expenditures for the purposes of corrupt infiucueo is, I trust, finally overthrown. 'l,ho result of this decision has been fel t in the rapid extinguishment of the public debt, and the large accumu~ latiou of a surplns in the treasury, n otwith tanding the tariff wa re<luced, and is now very far below the amount originally contemplated by its advocates. !Jut, rely npon it., the design to collect an extravagant re venue, an<l to burden you with taxes beyon<l tho economical wan ts of tho government, is not yet abandoned. The various inLerestR which have combined togetllor to impose a heavy tariff, and |