The Senator from Ohio says that I propose a tax on “slaves,” and then
carefully reminds me that “slaves” are persons, and therefore not,
according to the Constitution, to be taxed, except by a capitation
tax. Now, Sir, I have to say, in the first place, that the tax which
I propose is not to be regarded as a tax on slaves. If applicable to
persons, it is to the masters, and not to the slaves. It is a tax on
slave-masters, as I have already said,--precisely like the tax on
auctioneers, which is sustained by the Senator. It is a tax on a claim
of property made by slave-masters. The Senator may call such a claim
property or not, as he pleases. It is at least a claim of property,
and as such I propose to tax it. Why not? The Senator admits that at
other times slaves have been expressly taxed,--actually taxed in name.
In the tax of 1815 there was a tax on “land _and slaves_.” The Senator
does not doubt the constitutionality of such tax. Sir, I am content
with this authority, which goes beyond anything that I propose, and I
am not troubled by any scruple, lest, in imposing a tax on the claim of
the slave-master, I recognize property in man. At most, I recognize a
profitable claim, and tax it.
The remarks of the Senator were occupied chiefly with two
heads,--first, eulogy of slave-masters, and, secondly, vindication
of his proposed tax on cotton. I have little to say of the Senator’s
eulogy. There are two authorities on that head, which the Senator will
pardon me, if I place above him: I mean Mr. Jefferson and Colonel
Mason, both of our early Revolutionary days. Mr. Jefferson assures us
that the whole commerce between master and slave is one of boisterous
passion, tending to barbarism.[68] Colonel Mason exclaimed, in the
Convention to frame the Constitution, that every slave-master is
born a petty tyrant.[69] And yet, Sir, in the face of this authentic
testimony, from persons who knew Slavery and all its influences, the
Senator eulogizes slave-masters, and pleads for their exemption from
taxation. Eulogy is for the dead. I would not add to the odium justly
belonging to a tyrannical class, but I do insist that justice shall
be done to their victims; and when the Senator interposes eulogy, I
interpose against him the rights which have been violated. So long as
men persist in such outrage, so long as they persevere in maintaining
an institution which annuls the parental relation, the conjugal
relation, the right to instruction, the right to the fruit of one’s
own labor, and does all this merely to make men work without wages, so
long as men support this unjust and irrational pretence, they must not
expect soft words from me. If the Senator from Ohio finds it in his
generosity to plead for slave-masters, he must excuse me, if I decline
to follow him. He does not know them as well as I do, nor does he know
their victims as well as I do.
The Senator dwells much on the importance of a tax on cotton. The
subject was fully canvassed yesterday, and the vote of the Senate was
against him. He now seeks a re-hearing out of the ordinary course.
Would it not be better, if his proposition were postponed to the next
stage of the bill, when it will be strictly in order? Meanwhile, in
pursuance of my promise to be brief, I content myself with saying, that
the desire of the Senate to tax cotton is no reason why they should
refuse to tax the claim of the slave-master. The two are not in any
way dependent upon each other. Let the Senator from Ohio carry his
cotton tax, if the Senate agree with him. But, Sir, I insist, that,
whether cotton is taxed or not, the claim of the slave-master shall
not be permitted to escape. I do not say the property, but I say the
claim. It ought to be taxed, not only for revenue, but also for the
discouragement it will fasten upon an odious pretension, which has been
to us the fountain of trouble and war.
Mr. Sherman’s motion to strike out the tax on slave-masters and
insert the tax on cotton was then lost,--Yeas 15, Nays 22.
* * * * *
Mr. Henderson, of Missouri, then moved to amend the amendment
of Mr. Sumner by adding,--
“_And provided, further_, That the tax herein prescribed
shall not be levied or collected in any State where a
system of gradual emancipation may have been adopted at the
time of the collection.”
May 29th, this was lost,--Yeas 15, Nays 20.
Then, on motion of Mr. Fessenden, Mr. Sumner’s amendment was
further modified by substituting a tax of “two” dollars,
instead of “five,” on account of each slave. Before the vote
was taken, Mr. Sumner assigned the reason for the higher rate.
The Senator from Maine [Mr. FESSENDEN] said that he had looked simply
at the revenue to be obtained by a tax. But, pray, will not a larger
revenue be obtained at the rate of five dollars than at the rate of
two? There are the slaves,--count them, and tax them. The process is
simple, with no chance of evasion. Besides, Sir, I cannot forget, nor
can the Senator, that throughout our history we have heard constantly
of “incidental protection.” But, if incidental protection is just and
expedient, then is incidental discouragement, and the tax I propose
may be sustained on this ground. We do not hesitate to tax whiskey and
tobacco as luxuries, indulgences, vices. Why should we hesitate to tax
the worst luxury, the worst indulgence, the worst vice of all, which
is Slavery? Therefore, for a double reason, first, for the sake of
revenue, and, secondly, for the sake of discouragement to Slavery, I am
for the larger tax.
After further debate, the question was taken on the amendment
of Mr. Sumner as modified, and resulted, Yeas 14, Nays 22. So
the amendment was lost.
* * * * *
June 5th, at the next stage of the bill, Mr. Sumner moved his
amendment in the following form:--
“_And be it further enacted_, That every person claiming
the service or labor of any other person as a slave shall
pay a tax of two dollars on account of every person so
claimed: but in no case shall any person so claimed be sold
for the purpose of collecting the tax.”
The yeas and nays were ordered, and, being taken, resulted,
Yeas 19, Nays 16. So the amendment was agreed to.
* * * * *
June 6th, Mr. Anthony, of Rhode Island, who had voted for
the tax on slaves, moved a reconsideration, not because he
had changed his opinion, but, as he said, at the request of
Senators. This was to give an opportunity for another vote.
In the debate which ensued the amendment was assailed by Mr.
Doolittle, Mr. Browning, Mr. Cowan, and Mr. Hale. The latter
quoted the words,--
“And if we cannot alter things,
Egad, we’ll change their names, Sir,”[70]--
and insisted, that, however it might be called, it was a tax on
slaves; on which Mr. Wade remarked from his seat, “So much the
better.” Mr. Sumner said in reply:--
MR. PRESIDENT,--I presume there is no difference among Senators in
desire to follow the Constitution. The Senator from New Hampshire [Mr.
HALE], on my right, cannot be more desirous to follow it than the
Senator from Pennsylvania [Mr. WILMOT], on my left. In that respect
they are equal. Nor do I believe that the Senator from Illinois [Mr.
BROWNING], over the way, can claim any particular monopoly of such
devotion. In that respect, Sir, we are all equal. Our difference is as
to the meaning of the Constitution. But it is a poor argument which
finds its chief force in asseverations of devotion to the Constitution.
Conscious of my obligation to support it, and of my loyalty, I make no
such asseverations.
Nor again, Sir, do I believe that the Senator from New Hampshire can
take to himself any monopoly of praise for denying the whole offensive
pretension of property in man. Is he more earnest in this denial
than many other Senators? Is he more earnest than the Senator from
Pennsylvania near me? Is he more earnest than myself? Has he denied
it oftener in debate or public speech? To me the pretension is absurd
as it is wicked. A man may as well claim property in a star as in
his fellow-man. And yet, Sir, with this conviction, I cannot forget
that I am here, as a Senator, to legislate with regard to existing
institutions, and to see things as they are. I cannot be blind to the
_fact of Slavery_. Slavery exists as a monstrous fact, an enormity, if
you please, but still it exists; and as a legislator I am to act on its
existence. Am I not right? Can I presume on this occasion to be guided
by my inner conviction that there is no property in man, when, looking
to the Slave States, I am compelled to see the great, unquestionable
fact of pretended property? To my mind, it is more practical to
recognize the fact, and to proceed accordingly.
The Senator from Illinois insists that this is a capitation tax, and
he reads the text of the Constitution. What is a capitation tax? The
precise definition in Webster’s Dictionary--if the Senator will excuse
me for going to an authority which is not a law book--is “a tax or
imposition upon each head or person, a poll tax.” Such is the tax with
regard to which the provision of the Constitution read by the Senator
was adopted. This provision is not applicable to any other tax, but
simply to this special tax.
Already I have reminded the Senator that he has voted to tax
auctioneers, to tax jugglers, to tax the slaughterers of cattle, and to
tax lawyers. I might add other classes. I now propose that he should
tax claimants of slaves, a class offensive to reason and humanity. That
is all. If you look at the census of 1850,--that of 1860 is not yet
published,--you will find among the different classes of our population
the following: mariners, 70,000,--I will not give the hundreds;
merchants, 100,000; planters, 27,000; wheelwrights, 30,000; teachers,
29,000; tailors, 52,000; overseers, 18,000; lawyers, 23,000; farmers,
2,363,000; slaveholders, 347,000.
Now, Sir, would any one say that a tax on the business of the mariner
was a capitation tax? Would any one say that a tax on the business
of merchants, of whom we have one hundred thousand, was a capitation
tax? Would any one say that a tax on the business of the planter was
a capitation tax? that a tax on the business of the wheelwright was a
capitation tax? that a tax on the business of teachers was a capitation
tax? that a tax on the business of tailors was a capitation tax? that
a tax on the business of overseers of plantations, who apply the
lash, of whom there are eighteen thousand, was a capitation tax? that
a tax on lawyers, already voted by the Senator from Illinois, was a
capitation tax? that a tax on farmers, if you will, of whom, happily,
we have two million three hundred and sixty-three thousand, was a
capitation tax? And will any one say that a tax on slave-masters, of
whom, unhappily, we have three hundred and forty-seven thousand, is a
capitation tax? Senators may imagine it a capitation tax, Senators may
call it a capitation tax, but no imagination and no energy of assertion
can make it so. It is not a capitation tax. It is a tax on the claim
of the slave-master in the bones and muscles, the labor and service of
his fellow-man, and, so far as the tax can have any influence, it must
discredit and discourage such claim. Therefore, Sir, I say confidently
that the tax is in every respect constitutional, and it is also a tax
well worthy of adoption, because, at a moment when Slavery stands
revealed as the very pest of our land, it will operate to discredit and
discourage it.
In no other way can you obtain so much revenue so easily and so
beneficently. But if you refuse to impose this tax, you concede a
special immunity to a most offensive pretension, and leave those who
profit by it to gather their profits without any of that burden so
freely imposed upon the honest industry of the country, and upon so
many classes of our citizens.
The motion to reconsider was carried,--Yeas 22, Nays 18.
The question then recurred on the amendment, and it was
lost,--Yeas 17, Nays 23.
* * * * *
This narrative shows how the effort to tax Slavery finally
failed, not on its merits, but from tenderness to slave-masters
of the Border States.