ABSTRACT
While it would not be just to say that all the opponents of the present system of duties are in favor of free trade, yet the leading arguments employed in favor of a tariff for revenue only terminate in that theory. They are designed to excite odium against the system upon the ground that it imposes obnoxious taxes which the people ought not to pay. It is true that the duties upon imports are in the nature of taxes, but it is also true that they are without the odious element which makes taxes seem oppressive. If they fall upon the consumer at all, they are paid voluntarily and without compulsion. There will always be, as there has always been, more or less difficulty in selecting the articles to be made exempt from duty by being placed upon the free list.
