ABSTRACT
The tariff of 1846 underwent no change until 1857. It continued during the last half of Mr. Polk's administration, the whole of Mr. Fillmore's and General Pierce's, and until the first year of Mr. Buchanan's - making, as already stated, eleven years. A portion of this debt was created on account of the expenses of the Mexican war. Nevertheless, the necessity for raising revenue to provide for the payment of these was as great as that which required the ordinary expenses to be paid. The Mexican war, which commenced in 1846 - the year the law was passed - resulted in the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, in 1848, by which the United States acquired New Mexico and California. It had been long known that the mountainous regions of the latter contained large mineral deposits, only awaiting the presence of an active and enterprising population to assure their development.
