The power of levying and borrowing money, being the sinew of that which
is to be exerted in the national defense, is properly thrown into the
same class with it. This power, also, has been examined already with
much attention, and has, I trust, been clearly shown to be necessary,
both in the extent and form given to it by the Constitution. I will
address one additional reflection only to those who contend that the
power ought to have been restrained to external -- taxation by which
they mean, taxes on articles imported from other countries. It cannot be
doubted that this will always be a valuable source of revenue; that for
a considerable time it must be a principal source; that at this moment
it is an essential one. But we may form very mistaken ideas on this
subject, if we do not call to mind in our calculations, that the extent
of revenue drawn from foreign commerce must vary with the variations,
both in the extent and the kind of imports; and that these variations do
not correspond with the progress of population, which must be the
general measure of the public wants. As long as agriculture continues
the sole field of labor, the importation of manufactures must increase
as the consumers multiply.
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