twenty-five per cent. was sufficient for all the legitimate purposes of
government. Here he found himself in direct opposition to Mr. Clay,
whose political existence was staked upon the opposite theory. Mr. Clay
answered in a great speech in the Senate in February, 1832, and forgot
himself in personal denunciation of Mr. Gallatin as a foreigner with
European interests at heart, and of utopian ideas; for this he expressed
his regret to Mr. Gallatin in an interview arranged by mutual friends at
a much later period. Mr. Gallatin's views were accepted as the policy of
the country, and after some shifting of parties, in which friends and
foes changed ground in subordination to other political exigencies, they
prevailed in the tariff of 1846, the best arranged and most reasonable
which the United States has yet seen.

It is certain that Mr. Gallatin was opposed to "protective" revenue. His
preference was for an "even" duty on all imports. This is not the place
for an economic discussion. The true policy of the United States is
probably between the extremes of protection and free trade. The nature
of our population has been changed by the enormous immigration of the
last fifty years. Moreover, instead of an absolute freedom from debt the
nation has had to endure the legacy of debt left by the Civil War, to
meet which a development of all its resources of manufacture as well as
of agriculture is required.

_Administration_

To arrive at a correct estimate of Mr. Gallatin's administration of the
Treasury Department, a cursory review of the establishment as he
received it from the hands of Mr. Wolcott is necessary. This review is
confined to administration in its limited sense, namely, the direction
of its clerical management under the provisions of statute law. The
organization of the department as originated by Hamilton and established
by the act of September 2, 1789, provided for a secretary of the
treasury as head of the department, whose general duty should be to
supervise the fiscal affairs of the country, and particularly to suggest
and prepare plans for the improvement and support of the public credit;
and, under his direction and supervision, a comptroller to adjust and
preserve accounts; an auditor to receive, examine, and rectify accounts;
a treasurer to receive, keep, and disburse moneys on warrants signed and
countersigned; a register to keep the accounts of receipts and
expenditures; and an assistant to the secr