se of this power of
discrimination plainly and palpably unconstitutional?

I have already said, the power to lay duties is given by the
Constitution in broad and general terms. There is also conferred on
Congress the whole power of regulating commerce, in another distinct
provision. Is it clear and palpable, Sir, can any man say it is a case
beyond doubt, that, under these two powers, Congress may not justly
_discriminate_, in laying duties, _for the purpose of countervailing the
policy of foreign nations, or of favoring our own home productions_?
Sir, what ought to conclude this question for ever, as it would seem to
me, is, that the regulation of commerce and the imposition of duties
are, in all commercial nations, powers avowedly and constantly exercised
for this very end. That undeniable truth ought to settle the question;
because the Constitution ought to be considered, when it uses well-known
language, as using it in its well-known sense. But it is equally
undeniable, that it has been, from the very first, fully believed that
this power of discrimination was conferred on Congress; and the
Constitution was itself recommended, urged upon the people, and
enthusiastically insisted on in some of the States, for that very
reason. Not that, at that time, the country was extensively engaged in
manufactures, especially of the kinds now existing. But the trades and
crafts of the seaport towns, the business of the artisans and manual
laborers,--those employments, the work in which supplies so great a
portion of the daily wants of all classes,--all these looked to the new
Constitution as a source of relief from the severe distress which
followed the war. It would, Sir, be unpardonable, at so late an hour, to
go into details on this point; but the truth is as I have stated. The
papers of the day, the resolutions of public meetings, the debates in
the contentions, all that we open our eyes upon in the history of the
times, prove it.

Sir, the honorable gentleman from South Carolina has referred to two
incidents connected with the proceedings of the Convention at
Philadelphia, which he thinks are evidence to show that the power of
protecting manufactures by laying duties, and by commercial regulations,
was not intended to be given to Congress. The first is, as he says, that
a power to protect manufactures was expressly proposed, but not granted.
I think, Sir, the gentleman is quite mistaken in relation to this part
of the proc