Two evils would spring from this source: the oppression of
particular branches of industry; and an unequal distribution of the
taxes, as well among the several States as among the citizens of the
same State.
Suppose, as has been contended for, the federal power of taxation were
to be confined to duties on imports, it is evident that the government,
for want of being able to command other resources, would frequently be
tempted to extend these duties to an injurious excess. There are persons
who imagine that they can never be carried to too great a length; since
the higher they are, the more it is alleged they will tend to discourage
an extravagant consumption, to produce a favorable balance of trade, and
to promote domestic manufactures. But all extremes are pernicious in
various ways. Exorbitant duties on imported articles would beget a
general spirit of smuggling; which is always prejudicial to the fair
trader, and eventually to the revenue itself: they tend to render other
classes of the community tributary, in an improper degree, to the
manufacturing classes, to whom they give a premature monopoly of the
markets; they sometimes force industry out of its more natural channels
into others in which it flows with less advantage; and in the last
place, they oppress the merchant, who is often obliged to pay them
himself without any retribution from the consumer.
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