Page:Life of Henry Clay (Schurz; v. 1).djvu/372

360 the public debt was extinguished, but immediate, as he was not in favor of a rapid extinguishment of the debt. Instead of abolishing protective duties he would rather reduce the revenue by making some of them prohibitory. He also insisted upon “home valuation” — i. e., valuation at the port of entry — of goods subject to ad valorem duties, and upon reducing the credits allowed for their payment. When objection was made that this would be a defiance of the South, of the President, and of the whole administration party, he replied, as Adams reports, that “to preserve, maintain, and strengthen the American system, he would defy the South, the President, and the devil.”

He introduced a resolution in the Senate “that the existing duties upon articles imported from foreign countries, and not coming into competition with similar articles made or produced within the United States, ought to be forthwith abolished, except the duties upon wines and silks, and that those ought to be reduced; and that the Committee on Finance be instructed to report a bill accordingly.” On this resolution, which led to a general debate upon the tariff, he made two speeches, one of which took rank among his greatest efforts. Its eloquent presentation of the well known arguments in favor of protection excited great admiration at the time, and served the protectionists as a text book for many years. He declared himself strongly against the preservation of existing duties “in order to accumulate a surplus in the treasury, for