ut of you, and be a very heavy and ruinous one, at least.
The merchant no more than advances the money for you to the public and
will not, nor cannot pay any part of it himself; and if he pays more
duties, he will sell his commodities at a price portionably raised. Thus
the laborer, mechanic, and farmer must feel it in the purchase of their
utensils and clothing--wages, etc., must rise with the price of things or
they must be ruined; and that must be the case with the farmer, whose
produce will not increase, in the ratio, with labor, utensils and
clothing; for that he must sell at the usual price or lower perhaps,
caused by the decrease of trade; the consequence will be that he must
mortgage his farm, and then comes inevitable bankruptcy.

In what manner then will you be eased, if the expenses of government are
to be raised solely out of the commerce of this country; do you not
readily apprehend the fallacy of this argument? But government will find
that to press so heavily on commerce will not do, and therefore must have
recourse to other objects; these will be a capitation or poll-tax, window
lights, etc., etc., and a long train of impositions which their ingenuity
will suggest; but will you submit to be numbered like the slaves of an
arbitrary despot; and what will be your reflections when the tax-master
thunders at your door for the duty on that light which is the bounty of
heaven. It will be the policy of the great landholders who will chiefly
compose this senate, and perhaps a majority of this house of
representatives, to keep their lands free from taxes; and this is
confirmed by the failure of every attempt to lay a land-tax in this state;
hence recourse must and will be had to the sources I mentioned before. The
burdens on you will be insupportable--your complaints will be
inefficacious--this will beget public disturbances; and I will venture to
predict, without the spirit of prophecy, that you and the government, if
it is adopted, will one day be at issue on this point. The force of
government will be exerted, this will call for an increase of revenue, and
will add fuel to the fire. The result will be that either you will revolve
to some other form, or that government will give peace to the country by
destroying the opposition. If government therefore can, notwithstanding
every opposition, raise a revenue on such things as are odious and
burdensome to you, they can do anything.

But why should the number of ind